[Nightmare]

"W-What are you two looking at?"

"Don't ask ridiculous questions. We're looking at you, idiot."

David asked the question, and the person answering was Helix.

Helix stared at David with a complicated expression while Lina was beaming with a merciless grin.

After a moment of awkward silence, Helix sighed inwardly.

"Congratulations." Helix said with a slight smile.

David blushed furiously.

"How was it, big man?" Lina asked with a wicked smile.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"Losing your virginity, David." Helix replied with annoyance burned into his heart.

"H-How do you know—"

"Because you're glowing and oozing pheromones." He interjected.

"I-I…." David stuttered.

"Am avoiding the topic as if I didn't know what you two were talking about.

Stop acting like a virgin, big boy." Lina laughed.

"How was it?" She continued.

"It was…."

"A supernova of ecstasy mixed with a surprising lack of accomplishment?" Helix asked with a gentle smile.

"Y-Yes, something like that." David replied.

Lina looked at Helix quizzically.

"You…." She said with a dumbfounded expression.

"Me what?" Helix asked with a bored expression.

"You sound like you're speaking from experience." She said with a narrowed gaze.

"Why do you know what it feels like?"

Helix shrugged.

"Probably the same reason that you know what it feels like." He replied with a wicked grin.

"I-I…." Lina stuttered when she realized she had walked into Helix's trap.

After recovering, Lina went on the offensive.

"So I take it you did too?" She asked with a mocking smile.

"Who knows?" He replied mysteriously.

His poker face was as chiseled as a stone statue.

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"I'm sure Kylie would beat you senseless if she found out. You know?" She chastised with a narrowed gaze.

"Lucky for me, Kylie will never find out if I did." He chuckled.

Lina gave Helix a wry smile.

Kylie couldn't hear about the events in Myriad.

It wasn't conjecture—it was a stone-cold fact.

It was a reminder that Helix didn't want to come to Myriad—they did.

Lina had no right to chastise what he did here, and she understood that.

"What about you, Lina? Is it true that you did as well?" David asked.

Lina gave him a mysterious smile and shook her head.

"I didn't sleep with him, but let's just say that he gives really good massages that only high-class maidens get to enjoy." She replied with a pompous attitude.

David blushed, and Helix chuckled.

Helix took a moment to scan his surroundings.

He had just finished breakfast and was now standing in a coliseum the size of a football stadium.

The coliseum was made of a beautiful golden slate-like stone, giving it a godly aura.

Fifty teens around the age of eighteen filed into the area, and twice as many grown adults were present.

'If they are trying to wage war, why not recruit athletic people?' Helix thought to himself with suspicion in his eyes.

The other forty-nine students were not much different than he was in terms of physique.

While there were three athletic young men, most of the [chosen] ones were lanky men and women, and quite a few wore glasses.

Almost all of them looked geeky like his group.

The sight made Helix narrow his eyes with suspicion.

'Also, these people know how to motivate young men.' He chuckled inwardly.

'They brought the servants to the training grounds to motivate the [masters] to work hard and not embarrass themselves.

If the people brought from Earth have broken stats, I wonder if they purposely chose individuals easy to manipulate?' He pondered.

'Desperate virgins with weak wills and lust for harems and fantasy.

My kind is so weak-willed and manipulatable,' He thought with a bitter expression.

"I will treasure my servant as if it were a divine grade item." Lina announced, breaking him out of his thoughts.

Helix chuckled. His light laugh was halfway between a scoff and a mark of amazement.

"Happy for you."

He understood what she was saying, but he couldn't help but feel disturbed about relating the servants to objects.

Lina shot him an annoyed glance.

"Just because you're love bound to another woman doesn't mean you should be jealous of those that treasure their new companions." She chided.

"Hoh?" He replied while scanning the servants.

Lina gave him a quizzical glance before following his eyes.

Some were gossiping with bright smiles, while others were silent and neutral.

However, many didn't look as though they were [treasured].

The sight of some made him secretly grit his teeth in anger, pity, and disgust.

Lina scanned through the servants while actively avoiding their facial expressions.

When she found her servant, she studied his expressions.

The attractive man had light brown hair, a chiseled body, and sky blue eyes.

He fell under the [silent and neutral] category.

David's servant also had a slight smirk as she gossiped with a few other women.

Helix was grateful that both of their servants were in decent moods after last night.

Lina scanned the audience for Emilia.

When she found her, her gaze didn't last long.

She quickly averted her eyes when she saw the beautiful woman's radiant smile.

Helix chuckled at her response.

"How…." Lina whispered in disbelief.

Following her eyes, David's gaze landed on Emilia as well.

The young woman looked more beautiful today than she did last night.

But she didn't look more [mature].

For some unexplainable reason, humans can tell if another has had sex with someone else by their aura.

However, Emilia didn't have that aura.

"Is it just me, or does she look… happier?" David asked.

"Yeah… What did you two do last night?" Lina asked in astonishment.

Helix shrugged while David stared at him as if he were a sex god.

"Listen up! My name is Macron, and I'll be your training instructor for the next three months.

As of this moment, you're all my legal property from the hours of 7 am and 2 pm!" A gruff man's voice bellowed.

A few people started snickering, only to receive a brutal gaze from Macron's dark red eyes.

He had a large build, neatly cut dark brown hair, and light brown eyes as sharp as swords.

He was gruff-looking despite being clean-shaven.

Macron's glance only lasted a moment, sending shivers down their spines.

"When you're in this arena, you only have two options:

One, you can obey my every word.

I will do everything to help you achieve greatness in record time if you do this.

Two, you can disobey my every word.

If you go this route, I'll treat you to a cup of poison, bathe you in hellfire, and break your legs before throwing you to the wolves." He declared.

The fifty new [recruits] eyes' widened with surprise and shock.

"In case you're wondering, no, this is not an accurate depiction of what will happen to you." He chuckled in response to the confused looks.

"In Myriad, we don't have tiny Earthian [wolves].

So when I break your legs, I'll throw you to an 800-pound Kaltrop instead.

Earthians who have seen them describe them as a love child between a Velociraptor and a baby Tyrannosaurus Rex.

I don't know what either of those things are, but if they describe walking death with sharp teeth—it describes Kaltrops well." Marcon explained with a narrowed gaze.

Cold sweat poured down the students' spines as they looked at the man before them.

"However, if you follow my lead, it won't be long before I no longer have that option to break your legs, and Kaltrops won't threaten you.

But until that day, you're nothing but weak lambs." He chuckled with narrowed eyes.

"Today, we will give you an ancient relic that measures your power and affinities to spirit particles.

From what I understand, you Earthians call this ancient relic a [system] and your power [stats]." He continued.

The student's eyes lit up like a New Years' firework display at his words.

"It will also bestow you with a [Nightmare], a unique active skill.

It's also similar to a class, as Earthians call it.

It's going to be distributed now!

Circle around me. After I open this box, a colored patch will fly out and attach to your neck.

At that point, you will be bonded with your Nightmare and receive your system.

After it's affixed, it's permanent for life.

There's no going back or changing what you receive.

You don't choose your Nightmare—your Nightmare chooses you!" Macron announced.

The students circled the man who had picked up a large black box engraved with elaborate magic circles.

The silver lines reflected the sunlight and illuminated their bodies.

Macron infused spirit particles into the box, and it shone with a light green color.

Before Helix could react, a crimson-red object flew at him and attached itself to his neck.

It instantly transformed into a crimson-red tribal tattoo of a sun.

A video game interface opened before his eyes, and a chat box launched.

Words started typing themselves on the screen in a frenzy.

"Hello there, mister! You've been judged to be the hero worthy of leading the human race to fight muah, the evil god of Myriad.

Will you accept the call?"

A dialogue popped up with a simple message.

—

"You've been granted the title of [The Protagonist].

Do you accept? [Yes/No]"

—

Helix stared at the screen in disbelief before closing his eyes and calming his beating heart.

The journeys of his favorite light novel protagonists flashed before his eyes.

Here was his chance to live the life he had read about since he was a young boy.

His action was instantaneous.

Helix chose the answer [No] without the slightest bit of hesitation.

Disclaimer: Grammatical mistakes and minor inconsistencies = more content. Thank you for reading!