You have 5 minutes to prepare for Challenge 3! For Challenge 3, you will be divided into 10 groups of 20. The is strength in numbers, though whether you use to form them is up to you. Your mission is to survive until the Challenge ends. Intentionally attacking or bringing harm to another student is forbidden and will result in death.

No time limit given, Nathan thought to himself.

He knew it meant the Challenge would likely last at least three days – long enough to force them to need to use the Points Shop. He doubted the people running the game would let them get food from the kitchens and the cafeteria was empty during the last two Challenges, from what he could hear.

Of food, not monsters.

There was always the possibility that he was wrong and that it would last less time than the cooldown to access the Points Shop during the wave. However, he would treat the Challenge as if it would last that long and conserve his food, eating only what was needed to keep his strength up.

When the timer reached zero, he received the Challenge Start message and opened his eyes. Samantha was in his group again, and Madeline was in it that time. The latter girl immediately took to gathering a group of people she trusted to be useful. At the end of that, she set her sights on Nathan and Samantha, making her way over with the other two she had managed to convince immediately.

Nathan already didn't trust her, with the bull she had been spewing about Keith. He didn't know how much of it was true, and while he had little reason to trust Keith and plenty to believe he was behind the whole thing, she had her own secrets about the ordeal as well, even if most of their classmates were unaware.

What reason did she have for making others distrust Keith? That made him suspicious.

"Samantha," Madeline said when she arrived. "You're the best fighter I know. Nathan, you've surprised me with your ability to fight, I didn't know you did martial arts. The more of us gathered together, the easier of a time we'll have surviving. Would you two mind joining up with us? As it said – safety in numbers."

"No," Nathan stood, stretching, then began walking away.

"No, thanks," Samantha said.

"Samantha," Madeline frowned. "It'd really be best if we formed as much of a team as we could. If he doesn't want to join, that's on him, but we could really use your skills. The more talented fighters we have, the better a chance of survival we'll have."

"Sorry," Samantha said. "But you're right in that we need to work on teams, for however long this will last. And Nathan will probably be by himself if I don't join with him."

"I don't understand," Madeline frowned. "Why do you suddenly have an interest with him? I haven't seen the two of you talk once since we started high school. This-this thing starts, and you're suddenly attached to him?"

"We've known each other since we were little," Samantha stated, then turned and left, leaving Madeline and their other classmates behind to mull over her statement.

Samantha knew where Nathan would likely head, and so made her way there, though she did have to fight a few monsters on her way. Despite that, she knew that had Nathan not already passed through, there would likely be at least two or three times as many of the beasts, based on the amount of blood filling the halls.

His trail wasn't exactly subtle, and led the way as well. One thing she had learned in the previous two Challenges was that the bulk of the bodies of the monsters – the larger parts – would fade away after about a minute.

After about five minutes, Samantha located Nathan on the second level of the Dome, the largest of their school's gyms. It could hold over four thousand people in the bleachers to the sides of the court, which was the purpose of it having two levels. A track formed a sort of balcony around the inner edge of the second level as well, giving a clear view of the court below.

When Samantha arrived, the bleachers both above and below were open, despite that not being normal, and the thick, heavy curtains that could section off the upper section's bleachers were drawn shut on one side. It was behind that where she found Nathan, entering just in time to see him drop his heel onto the head of one of the monsters before quickly following that up with a punch to the throat as he muttered something under his breath. The knuckle's burst triggered the moment it impacted, blasting apart the throat of the monster.

Some of the blood and neck bits hit Nathan's arm or landed on his face or chest, and he pulled his fist away, examining it for a moment before performing a swift roundhouse kick to the side of the monster's head.

Samantha stared, shocked that the thing had survived. That was a critical point he blasted apart, which meant it took triple damage. Based on its various other injuries and burst pits, it should have been dead already.

Nathan followed the monster, which had flown with his kick, and quickly jabbed it twice more in the back. The thing fell to the ground, and he looked over to his classmate.

"You've got a bit of monster on your face," was all she could say.

Nathan shrugged, using a hand to wipe what he could off, though knew that he'd only become even more coated in monster guts. A fair bit already covered his body.

That done, he moved to a corner of the space and sat down, resting with his back wedged into the corner.

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"That one looked tougher," Samantha commented, walking towards him.

"Three Points."

"How many of those have you fought?"

"Just the one."

Samantha nodded. So far, everything had given her only one or two, and from what she knew, the same was for others. As she walked closer, her step faltered, just a little. Nathan was hiding it well, but his left arm…

It was limp during his fight. The Three-Pointer had managed to break through his Health and damage his arm.

"Is your arm broken?"

"No."

Samantha sighed, knowing she'd get little else out of him, and just moved to sit near him. After a few minutes, she pulled off her backpack and sat it in front of her, then looked over at Nathan, realizing that his was missing.

"Where's your backpack?" She asked, and he pointed up to the top of the stacked bleachers.

She couldn't see his backpack, and so assumed it had fallen in the gap between the stack and the top row. While standing, she'd probably be able to see its top if from a few steps back, but sitting so close to the stacked bleachers meant it was out of her sight.

Realizing that he probably tossed it up there when the fighting started, she returned her gaze to her pack and pulled one of the water bottles from the side, taking a long drink from it. The water fountains worked, so she would have no issue refilling it, if needed.

The two of them rested there until night came, only needing to fight every half hour or so, though Nathan usually beat Samantha to the attack, reminding her of just how fast he had been, back when they talked regularly and didn't have the System increasing their speed.

Before he admitted his crush to her and she shot him down. He did it the summer before freshman year, and she told him that she saw him as just a brother and that she didn't want to risk ruining their friendship.

It seemed to be too much for him to handle, having confessed his feelings to her, because he stopped talking with her entirely after that. Most of their classmates from their small middle school had likely already forgotten that the two of them had hung out in the past – Nathan was easily forgettable back then as well. The only thing about him that stood out was his relationship with Samantha.

When night fell, Samantha suggested they take turns keeping watch, and Nathan simply nodded. Before he could offer to take first – which she knew he would do – she said she would take first and wake him if she needed his help.

He opened his mouth to argue, but Samantha stopped him, saying that he'd fought more than her already and needed his rest, especially with his injured arm. Nathan frowned, but nodded, then settled back into his corner and let himself drift off to sleep.

Samantha watched Nathan. There was still a little bit of some monster or other on his face, but past that, he was fairly clean. He had platinum-blond hair that somehow remained perfectly styled, despite all of his fighting so far, but she remembered that from when he was younger. His hair had a natural style to it. Slightly-messy, but overall neat.

His sharp jawline, and high cheekbones. While they were closed, she knew his blue eyes were a deep, almost vibrant blue. The last few years, she had wanted to reconnect with him, but just looking into those eyes turned her away.

She had liked him back then, too, but turned him away because even though he'd gathered up the courage to ask her out, she didn't have the courage to respond. And then he cut her off, unable to continue simply being friends with someone he liked knowing she didn't like him back.

He had grown even more handsome since back then, though even more distant to the world at large. Samantha wondered went on in Nathan's head. She knew he observed everyone and everything, taking in more details than he'd ever acknowledge. He was able to glean secrets from others without a word being said.

And had trusted her with some of his own, before the day he cut her out because of her words to him.

Tearing her gaze away from Nathan, Samantha began watching the curtain, in case something came through. The monsters seemed to decrease in number once night fell, and she only had to fight every hour or so.

At three in the morning, Samantha woke Nathan, though the moment she crouched beside him and spoke his name, his eyes opened, awake and alert, causing her to wonder if he'd even slept.

She settled down against the wall, and though she wasn't comfortable, she quickly fell asleep.

Nathan looked at her, then stood and stretched, testing his left arm. It was sore, but it wouldn't be an issue. He'd always recovered from injuries quickly. As one point to prove it, his arm had been broken when she asked.

He walked to the other side of the space they were in and performed a series of stretches, then accessed his Skills Shop and bought Item Box, then read its description.

Item Box Level 1 Storage: 2 items per Level of this Skill Same-type Stack: 3 items per Level of this Skill

I was right, then, he thought to himself before walking over to the high stack of bleachers and jumped, grabbing onto one of the bars for the rounded railings. He used those and the 'steps' to climb to the top, then walked down to his backpack and picked it up.

As a test, Nathan attempted to send his backpack into his Inventory, but it failed to enter. Through a few more tests, he confirmed that while containers were fine, containers of containers were not. The backpack itself had to be empty, but he could put packs of jerky or containers of dried fruit in without an issue. The types of fruit had to be separate, though, meaning he could only store two of the three types he had.

Though I could always increase them with more Skill Points, he thought to himself, before looking at Samantha. What did she pick?

Nathan turned and face the monster that had pushed its way through the gap between the curtain and the wall, then charged it.

"Impact," he muttered as his fist connected with the monster's throat.

His knuckle's Burst ability triggered, and the force from both impacts sent the monster stumbling back onto the track. Nathan quickly followed, striking it several more times, killing it and earning a single Point from its death.

With that monster dead, Nathan looked around. The track and the other bleacherspace of the second level had roughly forty monsters shambling along it, with three of them spotting Nathan and making their way towards him.

I should've just let it come all the way in and kill it, he thought to himself as he launched himself at the nearest monster.

The further monsters ignored Nathan, but just to be on the safe side, he went around the full track, clearing them all out, his body tired and exhausted by the time he finished, though he was a couple of Levels stronger.

Not that it makes much difference, he though. I'm not getting that much Experience anymore. It's sharply dropped.

Nathan returned to his hideout. There were no portals up on the second level, just down on the actual gym floor, so he knew they were a bit safe. It probably took a long time for that many monsters to go up the bleachers to reach them, and they seemed to be a bit more lethargic, now that night had fallen.

Settling down into a corner, he watched and waited until Samantha woke around nine. They had made it through their first night.