Chapter 398: Chapter 398

Going down the stairs, we soon found ourselves beneath the arena grounds. Inside of a large spacious room that looked to be the size of a football stadium.

Glancing around, I couldn't help but be amazed by what I saw.

The whole room was filled with capsules. Endless amounts of capsules. If I had to estimate, I'd say at least over a couple hundred of them.

…just imagining the costs made me shudder.

Observing the capsules from the distance, I took special notice of how the capsules were arranged.

The capsules were grouped together in groups of six as they each faced outwards and were positioned in a way that they formed a circle. Behind them, large monitors with numbers displayed on the screen could be seen.

Next to the capsules, people clad in white uniforms holding onto some tablets and doing regular check-ups on the capsules were a common sight.

Staring at the scene before me, I couldn't help but be amazed by the sheer scale of the operation.

Nova Academy truly spared no expense when it came to training its students. This wasn't just some simple exercise—it was a full-fledged simulation, complete with cutting-edge technology and dedicated staff monitoring every detail.

As I took in the sight, a familiar voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Alright, listen up!" Instructor Jean's voice boomed, his energy noticeably different from earlier. "Each of you will be assigned to a specific capsule. Check the monitors for your assigned number and head there immediately."

At his words, the crowd stirred as students started looking around. I followed suit, my eyes scanning the screens above. After a few seconds, I spotted my name along with five others.

"Team 7, huh?" I muttered under my breath.

As I made my way toward my designated capsule, I noticed a few familiar faces of main character.

...But they were quite away from us.

Not that it's matters anyways.

As soon as we reached our destination, instructor Jean's voice sounded onec again, this time with more authority then before.

"Now, I want your all attantion here for moment."

Saying that instructor Jean raised his hand and said,

"First things first, everyone that participates in the game will have their strength suppressed to G rank by default…"

Pausing and noticing that a commotion was about to erupt, raising his hand and speaking louder, instructor Sean continued speaking.

"Before you say anything, this was a decision that the academy has made in the last intra-academy tournament, and there is a specific reason as to why we chose to do it that way."

"In short, it's so that we can see the student's actual skills instead of just watching them dominating the opponents through ranks. This is so that we can provide a fair…"

As I listening to instructor Jean speak, a frown involuntarily appeared on my face.

…this completely changed the playing field.

Right now, the chances of us winning diminished by a lot. Although Aric and Evelyn were skilled, if the opponents played their cards well, we could very well lose this game if we were not careful enough. Content orıginally comes from 𝗇𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗅✦𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾✦𝗇𝖾𝗍

Still, I believe it was still safe to continue with the plan that I had previously proposed as it didn't particularly focus on brute-forcing our way towards the opponent. Moreover, with everyone's rank suppressed to G, the key to victory wouldn't be individual strength but teamwork, strategy, and adaptability.

I glanced at my teammates. Aric and Evelyn were the strongest among us, but that wouldn't matter as much now. The others had varying levels of skill, but none stood out as particularly exceptional. That meant we'd have to rely on coordination and tactics to win.

As instructor Jean finished explaining the rules, he clapped his hands. "Alright, now that everyone understands, get into your capsules. The match will begin shortly."

Without hesitation, I stepped toward my assigned capsule and placed my hand on the biometric scanner, Just like me rest of my teammates also follow my actions on their capsule.

A soft beep confirmed my identity, and the capsule door slid open with a hiss. I climbed inside and settled into the seat, feeling the smooth padding conform to my body.

The moment the capsule closed, a holographic interface lit up before my eyes.

[Processing student information…]

[Fingerprint scan…check]

[Genetic data test…check]

[Loading time…50%…80%…94%…]

[User information loaded]

[Rank 3, Lucas Darkhart, confirm access Y/N]

As I regained consciousness, opening my eyes the first thing I saw were rows upon rows of blue texts.

Thereafter, taking a minute to adjust my mind to the sudden changes, I looked through the information and pressed Y. As I had already experienced this once, I wasn't too fazed by the process. The moment I confirmed access, the world around me blurred, and I felt the familiar sensation of being pulled into the virtual space.

A few seconds later, my vision stabilized, and I found myself standing in the middle of a city.

A broken city, to be exact.

Rubbles and broken glass appeared all over the streets and moss and vines covered some of the buildings in the distance.

This looked just like a post-apocalyptic ghost city. Completely deserted and worn down. Almost like it had been abandoned for decades. The air was thick with dust, and a cold breeze swept through the ruined streets, carrying the faint echoes of a past long forgotten. Cracks ran deep along the pavement, and the buildings, once towering symbols of civilization, now stood as hollow, crumbling husks.

I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

This was the battlefield for our match—a desolate, decayed cityscape that would serve as the perfect setting for a code breaker competition.

As I turned around to survey the area, the rest of my team materialized beside me. One by one, they appeared, their figures shimmering briefly before solidifying completely.

Aric was the first to step forward, his sharp gaze sweeping across the ruins. "A cityscape, huh? This changes things," he muttered.

Evelyn crossed her arms and scanned the surroundings. "The lack of open space means ambush tactics will be more effective. We'll need to be careful."

The rest of the team—Hora, Volt, and Zack—shifted uncomfortably. Their expressions ranged from nervous to mildly interested, but none of them looked particularly confident.

"Now let's code breaker began!"