The Bleeding Moon over the Bleeding Forest remained as bright as it was when he first arrived, and the rustling of leaves stirred by the wind continued, creating the same faint and gentle sound that contrasted with the tension lingering in the current moment.
At this moment, Eren did not know whether to cry or laugh at the playful comment of the system, even in such a serious situation.
He turned to look at Megan, who had gone to inform the others that he was an unawakened person participating in a gold-rank survival mission.
Her revelation sparked varying reactions from the others as they all turned to look at him.
The chubby middle-aged woman wearing a floral black dress looked at him with worry in her eyes. Her expression made her seem like a caring mother staring at her injured son.
Next to her stood the eye-patch man with a missing arm, staring at Eren with an uncaring expression on his face.
Beside him was a blonde-haired man in his early thirties dressed neatly in a black suit. He appeared like a businessman, and the expression on his face was hard to read, hovering somewhere between disgust and worry.
Not too far away from him stood a young Asian man who appeared to be in his mid-twenties. From his simple clothes and the glasses he wore, he looked like a student. Just like the fireball user, he appeared worried as well.
Eren simply stared back. Although he could consider himself a mildly nonchalant and confident person, he still had not gotten used to being stared at by others. While he could clearly see the worry on some of their faces, there was still a strong sense of discomfort growing within him.
After observing Eren for a short while, the chubby woman walked up to him, her face still carrying that same concerned expression.
"Try communicating with your system before it's too late," she said when she was only a few steps away from him.
Eren did not know how to tell her that his system was not even taking him seriously. Even now, it was still cracking unfunny jokes and shifting the blame for its mistake away from itself.
But he still tried anyway. He did not need an expert to explain to him that a gold-ranked mission for someone like him was nothing but certain death.
[There is nothing I can do.]
It responded. This time its tone sounded more serious, but in a way that did not help matters at all.
"What do you mean there is nothing you can do?" Eren barked at it telepathically, his outward expression turning into a deep frown.
Seeing this reaction, the chubby woman became confused and even began to wonder if she had said something wrong.
Meanwhile, Eren and the system got into an argument, with Eren crashing out and trying to make sense of the situation, while the system simply responded like some cold and emotionless artificial intelligence.
Its responses at the moment were so different from earlier. While it sounded more serious now in comparison, it only made Eren more frustrated.
Eventually, he ceased arguing with it as there was no use continuing. He then turned to the chubby woman and relayed the response he had received.
"You can talk to your system with your mind?" she asked, sounding genuinely confused.
She was not as loud as Megan, so the others did not hear her.
Eren nodded, but he was confused as well. Was it strange that he could do that? Shouldn't everyone be able to communicate with their system through their mind? he wondered silently.
He could not keep the curiosity inside and asked her if it was strange.
"It is not strange, but it is very rare. For example, none of us here can do that," she responded before adding in a slightly lowered voice, "Also, if you like your life, you should not tell anyone about this, alright?"
"Yes, but why though?"
"It is for your own safety. Those who were like you that I know of in the past either ascended faster or died earlier. But they did not die in survival missions like you might expect. They died in real life, slain by other survivors. No one has been able to figure out the exact reason yet, so you should be very careful," she said.
Eren swallowed.
Not only had he been mistakenly sent to a level far beyond his power, the stupid system he had might even get him killed if he somehow managed to survive.
'Is my luck just this bad?' he wondered to himself.
And to his annoyance, his system responded.
[I am beginning to think that as well.]
He remained silent, choosing to ignore it completely.
"My name is Rita. Come, let me introduce you to the others. We still have about two minutes before the trial mission commences. When it does, there will be no time for leisure talk like this."
She grabbed his hand and dragged him toward the others without even bothering to ask for his name.
She pointed at the Asian man and said, "This is Lin Fan, our tank."
Lin Fan wore a faint and friendly smile and waved at him.
Eren observed Lin Fan for a few seconds, studying him carefully. He could not help but wonder how someone who looked so lean could play the role of a tank in a survival mission.
"This one is Tony, our magic archer. He hasn't told anyone his surname yet, so we all decided to call him Tony Stark. You can probably guess the reason for that already." Rita's voice halted his thoughts as she introduced the businessman.
Tony seemed to hate the nickname as he frowned at her coldly. He did not even bother to respond to Eren and simply turned away, staring silently at the nearby trees.
Rita also did not bother to argue with him as she simply dragged Eren along and took him to the next person.
Before she could introduce the eye-patch man, he stepped forward himself, stretched his right hand out for a handshake, and introduced himself in a monotonous voice.
"Levi."
Eren accepted the handshake without wasting time. He was curious about Levi's role in the group. Unfortunately, Levi only gave a small nod before stepping back to his earlier position without sharing anything further.
The next was Megan, but since he already knew her name, there was not much introduction to be done. She only added that she was a healer.
After the introductions were finally over, Eren briefly introduced himself to the group as well.
Once that was done, he was called aside by Megan, Rita, and Lin Fan.
The three of them began sharing survival tips with him based on their own experiences.
Tony remained frowning in a corner, while Levi simply observed them without speaking.
Nonetheless, his eyes lingered on Eren longer than they should have, as though he was trying to find something about him that escaped the attention of others.
'He looks just like him,' Levi thought to himself.
"Even if our group is under attack, do not try to run away. This place is gold-ranked. It's 1000x more difficult than a copper-rank survival mission, which should have been your real trial mission," Lin Fan warned seriously.
"Also, you haven't awakened your talent yet, which makes it even harder for you," Megan added.
Rita patted his shoulder and said in a sympathetic voice, "Don't worry, I'll protect you."
Her words made Tony hiss loudly from the side.
"He is going to die anyway. Why are you guys giving him so much attention?" he scoffed.
"Ignore him," Rita said to Eren.
"Ignore who?"
Tony began strolling toward them, clearly provoked.
However, before he could take another step forward, he suddenly felt a strong grip on his shoulder, forcing him to stop as a small groan of pain escaped his mouth.
He turned back and was met with an ugly frown from Levi, who was now standing directly behind him.
Levi simply shook his head without saying a single word. Yet, his simple action alone was enough to deter Tony from lashing out.
Tony gritted his teeth, removed Levi's hand from his shoulder, and slowly walked to another corner, pretending to let go of his grudges.
At least, pretending like he did.
'Tch, supporting the weak handsome bastard over a useful teammate. Let's see how it plays out,' he thought to himself with a frown, folding his arms and looking in another direction.
Eren quietly observed Tony's behavior and noted to himself not to trust him.
[Meeting time is over.]
In the sky above them, a massive holographic window suddenly appeared, and a female robotic voice echoed in the surroundings.
[Mission starts in 10 seconds]
[10]
The countdown began.
Everyone exchanged gazes with one another.
The five of them had determination in their eyes.
As for Eren, there was only anxiety.