Modern Monster

It didn’t take long before Sen spotted his team. They were only a block away, after all. He had separated from the others in a frantic attempt to find someone, and luckily, he was somewhat successful. If you call that a success, Sen thought grimly.

As he drew near, he could see the lost and distressed looks on their faces before they noticed him approaching with their new teammate in tow.

At least I found someone to join our team, and maybe he won’t be that useless since he has a good Super Sense, he thought, trying to stay optimistic. Kaiyo turned her head and made eye contact with him as he approached, waving her hand with a delighted tone.

“SEN! You actually found someone?”

“Hello, fellow teammates!” Baru puffed out his chest in greeting.

“This is Baru. Baru, this is Kaiyo, Hana, Hyo, and that’s Hono.”

“YEP, THAT’S ME!” Hono smiled happily at Baru.

“Woah! Three girls!” Baru's eyes widened. “This is even better than I thought.”

Hana’s excitement instantly faded like a candle. She deadpanned the new team member with the look of “Really out of all people? This guy?”

Sen wasn’t too thrilled about his pick either, but it would be a waste of time to complain about it. Instead, he decided to gather some more information.

“Hono, do you know anything about the first challenge?” Sen decided to push his luck by asking, and as he suspected, she shook her head disappointingly.

“Sorry, sadly I don’t. I only accidentally overheard that the academy was doing teams of six this year, so I don’t know any other details.”

Hmph, so she just overheard somebody after all? But how did somebody get that information in the first place, then? It’s hard to believe it was simply a rumor. Just as Sen contemplated these thoughts, a loud announcement at the entrance sounded off, making him whip around to gaze at the grand stairs that led up to the academy.

“Young Knights, please enter the academy with your group. There, someone special will explain the next challenge. Keep in mind, it would be much appreciated if you enter the academy in a single-file line, and don’t rush—”

Too late.

Before the announcer could finish, contestants at the bottom of the academy stairs were already running up as if a vile monster were chasing them. Hundreds of people pushed each other aside in a desperate attempt to be the first to enter.

I’m not sure what they gain from trying to be the first to enter. It won’t give them any more of an edge over others, Sen thought while observing the chaos.

“GOOD RIDDANCE! PLEASE WALK UP IN A SINGLE-FILE LINE!” the announcer exclaimed, clearly fed up. But his plea was in vain; the young Knights continued rushing forward like it was a track race.

“Alright then, this year’s students are going to be a hassle,” the announcer sighed. “Guess it doesn’t matter, just come into the academy.” He deliberately gave up, touching his long, grey mustache to calm his nerves. I almost feel sorry for him.

Sen and the rest of the team began following the massive crowd up the broad academy stairs. Hiking on them, he soon realized that the stairs were actually made of–

Marble. That must have cost a lot. It could have been used to clean the dirty cities, help our inflation crisis, or even put that money into our corrupt educational system. Better yet, make healthcare more affordable or attempt to reduce homelessness.

But, of course, this was one of the most famous academies in the world. They had to upkeep their grand and powerful status somehow. So, I wasn’t really shocked.

Since Sen’s team was at the rear of the crowd, it was easier to navigate through the large numbers of people. It also gave him a good opportunity to size up the competition.

Most people looked average, but Sen knew the most dangerous were those who kept silent. He couldn’t judge people’s strength by their appearance or speech alone. Personality and other characteristics were one thing, but power was a completely different matter.

I wonder… that guy who bumped into me, Sen recalled. It was only for a brief moment, but my gut told me that person wasn’t like the other contestants. And with a shiver running down his spine, he predicted that there would be many challenging people ahead.

With every step Sen took on the marble stairs, he grew more uneasy. Was he being watched? He felt uncomfortable. What am I saying? I know that they’re watching. Somewhere hidden from the naked eye, there have to be hundreds of cameras monitoring everyone’s movements. What you plan to do is going to be interesting, Asashi. Sen bluntly stared at a drone hovering silently above him. I doubt you’ve figured out that I’m even here yet, but when you do, what will happen next? Throw me out? Punish me? Put me in jail for breaking a rule that doesn’t exist? He knew Asashi wouldn’t be able to hear his rather bitter thoughts, but if Sen saw him standing in front of him, he would have said the same thing.

“FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!” Baru’s voice snapped Sen out of his thoughts.

“HOW MANY GOD DAMN STAIRS DOES THIS ACADEMY NEED?” Baru complained. Even though they were behind thousands of people, the announcer unfortunately heard his complaint.

“If you’re having trouble with this, how could you even become a Knight?” the announcer retorted with a microphone from atop the stairs.

“Humph, that announcer guy is pissing me off,” Baru cursed under his breath.

“I HEARD THAT!” The announcer made eye contact with Baru from above. “I might be old, but I have the best hearing alive, you little imbecile.”

He must have Hearing as his Super Sense, Sen realized. It wasn’t possible for someone without that specific Sense to hear from such a distance. Not to mention, it was impressive that he could even hear Baru with so many people around. From Sen’s observation, the announcer had to be at least a Silver-ranked Knight.

Finally, as they reached the top of the academy’s entrance, Sen witnessed the grand golden doors swing open to let the contestants in.

Interesting… Sen started to gather a few hints already.

He recalled the announcer stating that the first challenge would be held inside the academy itself. However, Sen couldn’t imagine how they would facilitate thousands of people competing against each other in such a small space.

That must mean the first challenge won’t involve hand-to-hand combat but will instead test a team’s coordination.

To put it simply, Sen guessed the next challenge would be something that would disqualify many without forcing them to fight each other with their own strengths.

If I’m right, this will help me survive longer in the challenges ahead.

Sen walked behind the throng of contestants and entered through the enormous doors. To his surprise, there was nothing inside. He didn't know what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn't this. It almost made him stop in his tracks.

It was just a football-field-sized room. There wasn’t any special décor around the walls like the outside of the academy had, but more or less just a large empty space. At least, that’s what he guessed—it was quite dark inside, the only light coming from the open doors, so Sen wasn’t able to confirm.

“What is this, some kind of joke?” a few people in the crowd bellowed.

“This is ridiculous. What do they expect us to do in here?” another shouted brashly.

While everyone jumped to conclusions, Sen had to hold back from letting out an exasperated sigh. There’s obviously something more to this…

“ENOUGH!” A voice so deep and powerful silenced everyone’s complaints in an instant. The room suddenly brightened with lights illuminating from above. Out of nowhere, a tall cylindrical pillar appeared in the middle of the large room. Settled on top was a mysterious hooded figure with a blank white mask covering their face. The clothing the odd man wore weren’t extravagant by any means either. It was just a simple black loose hoodie.

“No, it can’t be…” Baru gasped. Sen looked at him with confusion.

“Who’s that guy?”

“YOU MEAN YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF HIM?” Baru exclaimed in his face.

“No, I haven’t. Care to take a couple of seconds to explain who he is?” Sen pushed him away.

“Well, he’s one of the Diamond-ranked Knights!” Baru explained. Sen looked back at the masked Knight and pondered briefly. That’s odd. I remember each Diamond-ranked Knight by name, but I’ve never heard of him before.

“I heard he’s pretty new, climbing the ranks of the academy faster than anyone in history. It’s said he has the power of all the Senses…” Baru stared in awe. “They call him the White Storm. They even have a statue of him.”

“Why do they call him the White Storm?” Sen asked.

“It’s quite ironic since he has long black hair, but one of the reasons they call him that is because of his mask. Second, legend says that the moment you make eye contact with him, you freeze in fear. Hence why they call him the White Storm,” Baru explained.

Should have probably guessed so. I wonder why I never knew about him? Sen thought. Well, I guess even I make mistakes sometimes. I’m only human.

“Dear students…” the masked man began. “This school only expects perfection. Every flaw, every minuscule detail will be observed. Any slight defect in your power will affect your chances of joining, but I don’t expect you to pass. After all, you all might not even know how to use your powers efficiently yet. But this is where you get the wrong idea about this academy. We only pick the people with natural talent. So, if you think you’ll have a chance with no talent, I hate to break your delusion, but you’re dead wrong…”

There was something menacing about the way he spoke. The difference in power between him and the contestants was already apparent. Sen didn’t feel threatened by many people, or even monsters at that, yet he couldn’t help but feel a shiver run down his spine. He hated that feeling.

“I want you all to understand that, in this world, the strongest survive,” he spoke firmly. “Or should I say, only the strongest have a chance to thrive.”

Sen didn’t know if it was a coincidence, but the masked man’s words felt worryingly targeted at him. Of course, he doesn’t know I’m senseless. A Diamond-ranked Knight wouldn’t even care about that.

“This day and age, people say you should be proud of yourself, weak or not…” the masked man continued. “Those people will get nowhere in life. If you take pity on yourself and accept that you are weak, then you deserve to be eaten by monsters. You can always improve. You can always be stronger and smarter. DO NOT ACCEPT YOURSELF!” he bellowed in a dark, commanding voice.

After a few moments of pure silence, someone snorted in the crowd.

“Pfft, that’s ridiculous. You’re making people insecure about themselves,” a young woman called out. A few gasps arose around Sen. Hmph, probably not the smartest move.

“HAAA!” The White Storm cackled as if he had heard the best joke of his life. “Wow, such a brave little girl I'm impressed. Guards, take her away!” he commanded, letting out a volley of crude laughs.

“WAIT, WHAT? This is outrageous—you can’t do tha—” Her voice was cut off as Sen guessed the guards took her out of the academy.

“Oh dear…” Kaiyo gasped.

There was a long pause followed by confused and fearful murmurs after the White Storm’s display of authority.

“What are you all looking at? Are you shocked? HAAA! You all are so soft. This is nothing compared to what you are going to go through. Alright then, moving on… Above you will drop down techno watches. On the watch, you must fill out your name and your team’s name. Then, participants need to register themselves as part of it. Is that understood?” A murmur of agreement came from the students. “Good, now let’s begin.”

Thousands of watches fell from above as the masked man finished his short explanation. Sen and the rest of his friends caught one before it crashed to the ground.

“A weird way to give us the watches, but okay…” Hana narrowed her eyes. “Alright then, how does this work?”

“Greetings, fellow Knights. I am Techno Watch. Please fill out your full name here (_____),” ordered the watch.

“HOLY CRAP, DID THE WATCH JUST TALK?” Baru exclaimed. “This is fricken sick! How old are you, Techno Watch?”

“Well, I’m currently ten years old, since that’s when my programmers made me.”

“Oh… Well, I guess she’s too young…” Baru sighed sadly. “Damn it! I even get rejected by an AI!”

“I’m not so sure you should even hit on an AI.” Hana curled her lip in disgust.

“Listen, I don’t have that many options, so it was worth a shot.”

“I don’t think that should be an option,” Hana snapped back.

“Alright, let’s start this already,” Sen shook his head.

He attempted to drown out the arguing and murmurs from people so he could calmly think rationally to himself.

I already gave my real name to the registration lady, so this won’t make a difference regardless. If I try to use a fake name, it’ll most likely block me. If I use my real name, though, it will put me in the center of attention, and Asashi will spot me far quicker than I planned. But… what if I go a completely different route than he would expect?

“Hello, MR. Sen Ano. Please enter your team’s name (_____).”

“What should our team name be?” Kaiyo wondered.

“DUDE! It should be an awesome name, like Team Baru or something,” Baru suggested.

“No, not happening. What do you think, Sen?” Hana prompted.

Sen decided on a pretty bold move… “Your team name is now (TEAM SEN).”

“NO FAIR! Why did he get to do his name as the team and not mi—” Baru stopped as Hana stared at him with a menacing look. “Actually, I think it’s a great name. B-B-Best name ever, if you ask me. Hahaha…” Baru laughed nervously as Hana gave him a death stare.

“Good, Baru, now let the adults talk,” Hana ordered.

“I like a girl who puts me in my place.”

Hana blinked. “OKAYYYYYY, this is the part where we kick him out of our team, right, Sen?”

If I had a choice, I would kick all of you out. But that’s not possible in my case. I need their strength to help me pass through these challenges.

“Congratulations, you are now part of (Team Sen).”

“Looks like it worked. I registered as part of your team!” Kaiyo looked at her Techno Watch.

“Already done, too.” Baru gave a thumbs up.

“Same here.” Hyo nodded.

“YAY! I’m officially part of your team!” Hono giggled.

“Looks like I’m in, too,” Hana confirmed.

It didn’t take long before more people started finishing.

“I gave you degenerates plenty of time. Are you ready for the first challenge?” The masked man asked in a harsh tone.

“WE WERE BORN READY, WOOOOO!” Baru exclaimed. The masked man turned to look at Baru. “Hmph, looks like we have some genuine energy. Alright, moving on…”

“OH MY GOD, Sen, did you see that? He just complimented me! This is the greatest day of my life!” Baru cried.

I guess being complimented by a Diamond Knight is big for some people, Sen shrugged.

“Before I explain the first challenge, I want to remind you this challenge is supposed to test your survival skills, thinking, and fast reaction time. So, without further ado…” The masked man's voice trailed off...

Why did he stop? Sen thought.

“SLAM!”

A loud slamming noise came out of nowhere before the light completely vanished around them.

“The academy's front door closed?” Sen realized. “Why?”

The dark, ominous room was filled with murmurs of confusion and fear. The artificial beams disappeared along with the natural sunlight that came from the door. It’s so dark I can’t even see the pillar where the masked man is, he grimaced. Wait... Something clicked in his brain, but before he could even voice his thought, it was too late—

“HAHAHA!” The masked man cackled in the darkness. “The first challenge starts here! Escape the Academy…”