CHAPTER 142: 142. 345TH BATTLE ROYALE

[Welcome to the 345th Battle Royale—Participation Round 5!]

Participants: 100/100

Location: Collapsed

Start the MAYHEM!!

A translucent blue holographic screen materialized in front of me, buzzing with static and gleaming like it had a vendetta against subtlety.

"Collapsed," huh?

As if on cue, the world around us flickered to life—or rather, death. The environment looked like someone had dragged a modern metropolitan city through an apocalyptic paper shredder.

Skyscrapers were reduced to heaps of twisted steel and crumbling concrete. Flames danced lazily from half-buried homes, while broken glass glittered in every direction like angry stars. The air was thick with smoke and the lingering scent of ozone.

And we were dropped right into the middle of it.

It was immersive—disturbingly so. But then again, we weren’t here physically.

Our real bodies were safely strapped inside high-end VR pods, reclined in comfort while our minds were slingshotted into this virtual hellscape. At least, "comfort" was subjective.

Because here’s the thing about these pods: they were designed to make you feel everything. Every stab, every burn, every fracture. Sure, it wasn’t permanent damage. But when someone in here died? The pain was no less real than the scream that came with it.

From my side, a familiar voice groaned.

"Collapsed? Seriously?" Kaelira’s tone was half-whine, half-grumble. "I hate this stage. I saw a few previews of it online—right before that pixelated freak scared the hell out of me."

She shuddered, visibly, even in our digital forms.

And yeah, she wasn’t exaggerating. That "freak" she mentioned? A purple-haired girl with crimson eyes and a glitchy, jerky movement pattern. She’d flashed across her screen while she was reading forums, staring straight into the camera with innocence which was creepy.

Unsettling didn’t even begin to cover it.

She looked eerily similar to the character who was appearing in regular intervals in the turn based rpg I had played the other day.

After that initial jumpscare, Kaelira had slammed the console shut and refused to interact with anything until this round loaded. She’d spent the entire wait time muttering curses under her breath, like some kind of anti-pixel incantation.

But the more I thought about it, the more something began to click.

There was a thread.

I remembered seeing a forum post—a thread talking about sightings of an unusual game character and that people wanted a refund because of the eerie character. According to them the character wanted "Help."

But the one time I had encountered her in the game the little freak it didn’t say anything.

I hadn’t given it much thought at the time. Probably just another glitch or easter egg character or just the devs acting like jerks. But now? With what we saw?

Something wasn’t right...

I rubbed my temples and blinked the screen again. ’System stats.’

The interface slid open in front of me like a translucent neon panel written in numbers:

— Stats —

Health: 200,000 / 200,000

Strength: 1401

Stamina: 1260

Speed: 1440

Endurance: 1330

Dexterity: 1250

Luck: 62

Stat Points Available: 5,000

A decent stat spread—if I was trying to stay balanced. Which, up until now, had been the plan. Pour points evenly. Keep my options open. Don’t overcommit.

But.

Balance doesn’t win wars. Specialization does.

I glanced over at Kaelira. She wasn’t just some tagalong player—she was sharp. Smarter than most, and blessed with a sixth sense for game mechanics. And she’d told me something a while back—something that stuck.

"If you want to control mana well, get your dex up. It’s not just for speed or aim. It’s for concentration. Control. Precision. It’s what lets you control mana without breaking your brain."

She had about 600 in dex at the time. Said it helped her use her abilities and skill much faster than the average person of the same rank.

And now that I thought about it, it made perfect sense. Coordination, focus, subtle movement—all of it fell under Dexterity.

"Alright," I muttered to myself, opening the distribution menu. "Let’s see what happens."

No hesitation.

+5,000 to Dexterity.

The points surged through me like lightning, and suddenly my whole body felt lighter. My vision sharpened.

With a deep breath, I activated the skill I’d been focusing on.

’[Mana Control]’

——[Mana Control]——

Rank: ★★★★

Description: The ability to manipulate ambient mana with precision and efficiency.

Effects: Mana efficiency increased by 90%.

Bonus: Dexterity over 1000 → Additional +10×5% mana efficiency.

——[Close]——

It was... pretty damn cool, honestly.

The moment I dumped those points into Dexterity, everything just clicked. My movements sharpened, my reaction time dropped to zero, and even my perception of mana felt eerily crisp—like someone cleaned the foggy lens I’d been seeing the world through.

Every step was smoother. Every breath more efficient. Even standing still felt calculated.

I exhaled slowly.

’What kind of good-for-nothing gamer am I?’ I sighed internally, dragging a hand down my face. ’Can’t even figure out the basics of stat synergy without someone spoon-feeding it to me. Shame on me.’

I wanted to curse myself more—really go full monologue about my past sins as an oblivious, surface-level casual—but unfortunately, my inner narcissist had something to say about that. So I stopped.

Instead, I scratched the back of my head and turned to Kaelira, who was currently sulking like someone had stolen her candy and dignity in one sweep. She looked dead inside. Or at the very least, bored enough to want to be.

She was practically scouting for a quiet little grave in this hellscape to lie down in and nap.

"What happened to you?" I asked, strolling over. "So scared you’re sleepy now? Don’t worry—if you crash, the purple freak will definitely visit your dreams and scare the shit out of you. That’s free real estate."

I said it with the brightest, most joyous grin I could muster. Pure serotonin. Weaponized positivity.

Kaelira responded as expected—by glaring at me like I’d just pissed in her coffee.

"Can you not talk like a lunatic for one fucking minute? My head hurts, you dumbfuck!" she snapped, massaging her temples like she was fighting off an aneurysm. "I’m not even joking. I’m so tired all of a sudden. Must be some VR pod feedback loop. Or maybe this crap-ass system’s just allergic to sleep."

I tilted my head. "Yeah, yeah. Blame the tech. Go on. Tell the evil VR pod it’s at fault. It’s obviously the reason you’re trash at this game. Not you. Nope."

Kaelira narrowed her eyes and practically snarled. "It isn’t an excuse, you shithead! I’m genuinely—ugh—hurting. And for the record, I already told you—I suck at PvP. Doesn’t mean I’m bad at combat. This is more like a real fight than those twitchy FPS shooters. I’m better here. You probably wouldn’t know—those games actually require brains."

Ouch. That was below the belt. Which meant she was losing the argument.

I smirked and opened my mouth to toss back something even pettier, but—

Crunch.

Footsteps.

I snapped my mouth shut and immediately raised a hand, finger pressed firmly against my lips.

Kaelira went quiet.

"Someone’s coming," I whispered, voice barely audible.

She didn’t argue. I grabbed her wrist and dragged her lazy-ass away from the exposed street corner, moving through the rubble toward a collapsed building that used to be, maybe, a pizza shop. Now it was half-dissolved concrete and melted metal.

We ducked beside a broken staircase, half-submerged in debris. Just enough to hide.

Kaelira whispered near my ear. "Did you see how many?"

I shook my head. "No. Just heard the steps. They were synchronized—definitely a squad. But I couldn’t pin the count."

She gave a subtle nod and went quiet again.

Silence followed. Long. Tense. The kind of silence that feels like the world’s holding its breath.

Then—

Footsteps again.

A figure appeared at the edge of the staircase. A man—tall, broad-shouldered, wielding a longsword like he was cosplaying a knight.

He wasn’t cautious. Just wandered in, half-paying attention, scanning the room with lazy eyes.

Rookie mistake.

His back was to me. And in this game? That’s practically suicide.

I didn’t hesitate.

I moved like I’d rehearsed it a thousand times in some darker, bloodier lifetime. Slipped behind him, grabbed his jaw, twisted with sharp force—

CRACK.

His neck snapped like brittle wood.

+1 Kill

A silent blue hologram pinged into my view. No sound. But the faint glow and shimmering light of his deletion? Yeah, his teammates would definitely notice that.

And as expected—more footsteps.

This time, not synchronized.

Panicked. Erratic. Angry.

I crouched again and counted the pulses. One. Two. Three.

Three more. A full four-man squad.

A halberd user, bristling with armor. A brawler with gauntlets so big he looked like he boxed tanks for breakfast. And a bow-wielding girl, scanning rooftops with a narrowed gaze.

They came into view, just on the other side of a broken wall. The brawler spotted me first.

Our eyes met.

He lunged—

—and then froze.

No, not froze.

Fell.

All three of them did.

Heads sliced clean from shoulders. Clean. Precise. Like guillotines made of shadow.

Their bodies collapsed into light, pixelated particles rising into the digital sky. Gone.

I blinked.

Standing behind their corpses was Kaelira.

Twin daggers in her hands.

Both dripping red.

She gave a casual flick of her wrist and the blood sprayed off like it didn’t even belong. No hesitation. No flair. Just business.

Her eyes met mine.

No words.

Just the silent agreement: don’t mess with us.

I stood there, mildly stunned.

’COOL.’

It was all I could think. Not in a sarcastic way. Not even as a joke. Just a raw, sincere thought rising up in my mind.

She looked cool.

Kaelira twirled one of her daggers around her finger and finally spoke.

"That’s three. Plus your one."

I raised an eyebrow. "Since when did you get good?"

She rolled her eyes. "I told you. PvP isn’t my thing. But in real-time combat like this? I don’t freeze. You do."

"Excuse me?" I narrowed my eyes.

"Don’t worry, you’ll catch up eventually," she smirked, already moving past me, scanning the battlefield ahead like she was shopping for her next kill.