The students followed Mr. Douglas through a massive set of steel doors that opened to the outside field. What awaited them was no ordinary training ground. A hundred-meter lane stretched out before them, lined with glowing sensors and dotted with light indicators every ten meters.
"Welcome," Mr. Douglas said, his voice carrying across the open air. "This is the Dash Track. Here, we will measure your speed."
The murmurs died down as he continued.
"Normal humans peak around 9–10 meters per second. The fastest Olympic sprinters in history barely scrape past that. Awakened hunters, however, routinely break 20 meters per second and beyond. Your goal today is simple: prove you can move faster than the unawakened world. Fail, and you fail the trials."
Some students visibly paled. Others,like Vince, smirked in confidence.
On the left side of the field, a towering digital screen came alive. Bright numbers and colored tiers appeared, displaying the official Speed Rankings (SR):
[Speed Rankings (SR)]
•Normal Human Average: 5–8 m/s
•Peak Human (Unawakened): 9–10 m/s
•Absolute Human Limit: -12 m/s
[Awakened Hunters:]
•F-Rank: 13–19 m/s
•E-Rank: 20–29 m/s
•D-Rank: 30–44 m/s
•C-Rank: 45–69 m/s
•B-Rank: 70–99 m/s
•A-Rank: 100–149 m/s
•S-Rank: 150+ m/s (recorded only in the world's top hunters)
Gasps rippled through the students. Some exchanged nervous glances, breaking even 20 m/s already sounded insane to them.
Yukon, however, only smiled. At my current level, breaking 35 m/s should be a walk in the park.
"You are required to react the moment the light turns green and sprint to the end," Mr. Douglas said. "The sensors will record your top speed. Understood?"
The students nodded in unison.
"Since there are only twenty-four of you left, I will divide you into three groups, eight people each."
"Are we competing against each other?" Hannah asked, stepping forward.
"I wouldn't put it that way," Mr. Douglas replied with a faint smile. "But in the spirit of growth, I encourage you to. Just remember, what matters is breaking twenty meters per second. Anything less, and you're out."
A murmur rippled through the group. Yukon noticed Vince glaring at him from across the field, jaw tight. It was obvious, Vince wanted nothing more than to beat him here.
The first group was called. Hannah jogged confidently to her lane. At the signal, the green light flashed, WHOOSH! The runners tore down the track, dust kicking up behind them.
Only five of the eight cleared the requirement. Hannah led the pack, her figure cutting through the wind like a blade. The screen flashed:
[Speed Score: 31 m/s]
There were gasps and whistles.
"No surprise there."
"She's the governor's daughter, after all."
"She's so damn fast… I'd marry her in a heartbeat."
Hannah brushed sweat from her brow, barely out of breath. The applause rolled across the field.
The second group was called. This batch had spirit, but none matched Hannah's dominance. Four passed, scores ranging between 21 and 27 m/s. Respectable, but unremarkable.
Then, at last, it was Yukon's turn. To his amusement, fate placed Vince right in the lane beside him.
"Don't think you'll beat me this time," Vince sneered, cracking his knuckles.
Yukon rolled his shoulders, unfazed. "Little boy, you don't have anything I'd even want to beat."
The countdown began. The world narrowed to the flashing green light.
3… 2… 1… GREEN!
They exploded forward. The crowd blinked. The race was over almost before it began.
"What the hell!?" someone shouted.
"Did anyone even see him move!?"
The board lit up in bold letters:
[Speed Score: 36 m/s]
The field went silent for a heartbeat, then erupted.
Vince staggered across the finish line, panting and sweating. His score flickered on screen:
[Speed Score: 22 m/s]
Just above the pass line, but pitiful compared to Yukon's thunderclap of a run. Vince's face twisted with fury as Yukon stood tall, chest rising and falling with calm, a mocking grin tugging at his lips.
"Thirty-six meters per second," Mr. Douglas announced, adjusting his glasses, clearly impressed. "Remarkable. You have a very promising future, Yukon. Keep pushing at this rate, and you might even stand among the S-Rank hunters one day."
Yukon inclined his head politely. "Thank you, sir."
But inside, he smirked. S-Rank isn't my ceiling. I'll fuck the world. I'll be the first SSS Hunter and deepthroat the planet.
Out of the twenty-four who had passed the first two phases, only fourteen remained. Those fourteen were ushered into the next stage, the Agility Test.
The students entered a vast steel dome called the Evasion Chamber. It was a circular arena lined with automated drones. The moment it powered on, glowing red eyes flared in the dim light. The drones began to circle, firing padded projectiles at randomized speeds and angles.
The students ducked, rolled, and sidestepped, their every move tracked by a digital system that measured evasions and reaction times.
When the final buzzer blared, the results appeared overhead:
[All Candidates Passed.]
A collective sigh of relief.
The next stage was the Multi-Reflex Strike Test. A wall of strike pads spread across twenty meters, each glowing at random intervals. The students had to land a precise strike on each lit pad before it switched. It wasn't just speed that was tested, but accuracy and stamina.
The hall rang with rhythmic impacts, bam, bam, bam!—as hands and feet blurred against flashing lights. By the end, sweat poured from the students, but again the board confirmed:
[All Candidates Passed.]
Mr. Douglas clasped his hands together, his voice carrying a gravity that silenced the room.
"Now… the final test."
All eyes locked on him.
"You will be deployed into an E-Rank dungeon. Not a simulated one, a real one. This dungeon was artificially designed and secured by our facility, but the beasts within are alive and dangerous. Skilled hunters captured them for this purpose."
Gasps rippled through the group. Hearts raced, blood pumping.
For most, this would be their first encounter with a dungeon beast. The thought of stepping into that darkness, facing something truly inhuman, set their nerves alight. Fear and excitement mingled in equal measure.