CHAPTER 39: THE LUNARIS (1) ARRIVAL[1/2]

It was nighttime at the Heartland Coliseum, but the arena was still bright as though the sun had not left the sky. The people were still wide awake and energetic, chanting and cheering at the top of their lungs for the students who had managed to survive the Survival Matrix, especially the star of the event, whose name no one still knew.

With the bright lights, the crowd easily pinpointed their star, and their eyes never left him.

Looks of admiration were fixed on him. Some were so captivated that they didn’t even cheer.

Some young ladies felt he was the most handsome man they had ever seen, like a prince from folktales, while young men felt inspired just from gazing at him.

Even in the VIP area, plenty of powerful couples were quietly plotting to bring him into their families. At this point, they didn’t care if he already had parents, if they weren’t as rich or influential, they would pay his family off—this was how serious they were about him.

Not only them, but plenty of high-ranking hunters and owners of hunting guilds had already begun making bids. With such a genius in their guild, many improvements could be made, and the attention of the world would be on them, which would translate to a larger stream of income.

The Ashleighs heard all this commotion, and their regrets over how they had treated their son only grew heavier. They felt ashamed.

Below, at the center of the coliseum, the surviving trainees gathered. Out of more than four thousand who had entered the Survival Matrix, only about five hundred had made it to the finale.

Currently gathered in the middle, they interacted with one another, first sharing the nature of their danger zones, which ranged from infested forests, bloodscapes, to desert-type zones. Each spoke of how challenging it had been and how life-threatening the conditions were.

From their conversations, it was clear that none of the danger zones were easy. Even the gentler ones, like the forest zones, carried insidious hazards that gradually chipped away at their health points.

Amid the discussion, the most important question arose.

"Which team took down the boss monster?"

"It has to be Drever’s team or Selena’s... or maybe both teamed up. That would explain how fast it happened."

"No, you’re wrong. I was on Selena’s team. We only faced a few mini-bosses. The boss never appeared."

"I was on Drever’s team. We didn’t take down the boss either. The mini-bosses we even faced wiped out more than half of our team. A boss would have done devastating damage."

"So who actually defeated it?"

No one knew for certain. Or rather, those who did were too stunned to speak.

Lyra, Ashton, Logan, and over fifty other trainees who had witnessed Marlon defeat the ice dragon in less than a minute were staring at him, amazed and dumbfounded.

It took some time for others to notice the tension, and when they did, confusion followed.

"Why are they staring at Masochist Marlon like that?"

"Masochist Marlon is here? How did he survive? Why is everyone staring at him?"

"I think he did his usual brutal teasing... even Lyra and Johnathan look affected. What did he say this time?"

"Dude, what are you even talking about?"

Meanwhile, the crowd’s chants continued, growing louder. Some shouted "golden child!" and "genius!" but most of the participants assumed they were praising stars like Drever or the Whitlock sisters, so they didn’t react.

"Lyra, what’s wrong?"

Selena approached her sister calmly, placing her hands on Lyra’s shoulders.

Lyra tilted her head slowly but gave no response. Selena didn’t press further, she was already used to being ignored by her younger sister.

So she turned to Logan and Ashton. From the start of the examination, she had seen her sister teaming up with them, so they were the right ones to ask.

Logan and Ashton were initially flustered by the polite camp belle standing before them, asking questions in her calm, emotionless voice. But they quickly regained composure.

Logan pointed at Marlon. "That’s why everyone’s staring."

Selena frowned and looked at Marlon. He stood in the middle of all the attention, unbothered, interacting with his system with a crafty smile. She wondered how he had survived the Survival Matrix, but her bigger question was why her sister and the others reacted so intensely.

"What did he do?" she asked.

Logan heaved a long sigh, as if preparing to drop the biggest bomb.

"He defeated the boss," he said, emphasizing every word. "By himself."

Selena’s eyes narrowed. Surely they were joking. Who could believe such a claim?

Before she could process the impossible information, Ashton added, admiration in his voice, "Not just any boss—the famous and feared Ice Dragon!"

"And in less than a minute!" Logan exclaimed.

Ashton continued quickly, excitement clear in his voice, "Can you imagine that? What would take an E-rank hunter hours, he did in just one minute. Effortlessly. Not a single scratch. The ice dragon? Totally dominated. The coolest thing I’ve ever witnessed up close."

The two of them went on, showering praises on Marlon as though he were a living deity.

Selena stared blankly, disbelief etched on her face. She detected no lies in their words but she could not accept them.

Before she could even begin to berate them for trying to play a joke on her, Gigaman’s loud voice announced,

"The first-ever Survival Matrix test has been concluded. Please give a round of applause to the youngsters who have proven themselves worthy." His loud and clear voice spread across the coliseum.

The crowd was already chanting and cheering, and now, with the addition of a massive round of applause, the entire area erupted into a thunderous cacophony.

At Gigaman’s cue, the noise reduced slightly as he continued.

He praised the winners and congratulated them in cheerful tones, and after a lengthy five minutes of commentating, he revealed what everyone had been waiting for.

"The ranking of the top ten participants will now be revealed. In tenth place, we have Max Payne, with over thirty-three thousand points."

On the holographic screen, the face of a white-haired young man wearing a gentle smile appeared, alongside his contribution points and rank.

The crowd cheered loudly, and people whispered and discussed his name.

The ninth to sixth places were announced, and then the fifth place.

"Holding a spot among the top five performers is our very own Lyra Whitlock, with sixty thousand points!"

Immediately, the crowd erupted once again with claps and cheers. As she was well-known, the response was several times louder than the others before her.

Selena looked at the holographic screen and then at her sister. She smiled gently. Though surprised by her score, she knew her sister was capable.

"And ranking above her is Miranda Hargraves, with seventy-two thousand points."

On the screen appeared a young lady with a calm expression. She had long purple hair and violet eyes that made her an exquisite beauty.

Marlon stared at her. She was a childhood friend of his body’s original owner. She awakened her talent at a young age, and like others with the same fate, her family had kept her isolated, making her go through intense studying and combat lessons, only allowing her to join the academy when she came of age.

At the training camp, she rarely appeared in public and remained in her tent most of the time.

’I’ve only seen her once in six months, and that was because she came out to restock her room with food,’ Marlon recalled.

The third ranking was announced immediately, and it went to Selena.

The crowd erupted, chanting her name with admiration.

But the participants were baffled.

"Selena is in third place?"

"Selena is the strongest, second only to Drever. They could even be on par in terms of strength."

"If she’s third, Drever must be first. Then who is holding the second position?"

Selena was also very confused. She could accept second place—she knew and understood how she felt short in combat powers compared to Drever. But third? There was someone higher than her. It was unbelievable.

Before she could digest what she had just heard, the second position was announced.

"Dominating the second position is Drever Sterling, with ninety thousand points."

Drever’s picture appeared on the screen, accompanied by the contribution points he had made.

The crowd erupted with cheers.

"Norian Sterling’s son is just as awesome as him. I told you he would surpass the Whitlock sisters, didn’t I?" a spectator taunted his friend sitting nearby.

"He is only ahead of Selena by about four thousand points. That is not a huge gap," his friend defended.

"Who cares? Is he above her or not?"

"He is, but he is still nowhere near our star. He definitely scored above one hundred thousand when he killed the ice dragon. He might even have more if he had taken the last bits of the challenge as seriously as he did in the beginning."

While the crowd debated, the participants were shocked.

If neither Drever nor Selena was holding the top spot, then who was?

That was when the name was announced.

"And at number one, we have our star, the golden child who not only shattered the record as the youngest to complete a 4-star difficulty breakthrough trial, but also single-handedly defeated the dreaded Ice Dragon, scoring an incredible two hundred and ten thousand points: Marlon!"

The entire gathering of participants fell silent, all eyes turning toward Marlon.

"Marlon?"

"I must be dreaming. This can’t be real."

"Succeeded in a 4-star breakthrough trial and defeated the ice dragon? Did we fall under some trance spell inside the Survival Matrix?"

"It must be. There’s no way he scored more than me. This is total bullshit."

Selena’s face turned pale at that moment.

Even Drever and the usually calm Miranda wore dumbfounded expressions at the revelation.

On the screen, Marlon’s battles were displayed, shifting between different incredible scenes — mini-bosses being slain by a single punch and, the one that made everyone widen their eyes, the scene of him killing the Ice Dragon.

With these scenes, no one could refute it. They could only accept it, but the shock was still fresh, and they could not take their eyes off him.

Nonetheless, before Gigaman’s voice could continue commentating, the sky above Heartland Coliseum shifted. A deep, unnatural hum vibrated through the air. The cheering faltered, replaced by murmurs of confusion.

People looked up, and their awe turned into disbelief. Thousands of tiny lights blinked in the night sky—at first, they seemed like stars, but they moved, converging into massive shapes.

Norian Sterling stood up abruptly from his position, observing the approaching entities with a deep frown — He already knew what or rather who they were.

"They are here..." he muttered coldly.

..

Thanks for staying till the beginning of the second volume everyone. This Chapter might feel a little under because

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