Upon opening my eyes, I found myself in a neon-lit dark room with walls covered with all sorts of guns, ranging from pistols, assault rifles, submachine guns, energy rifles, sniper rifles and so much more. Etched onto the wall was a timer of 15 minutes. In the middle of the room were 4 other examinees, all of them wearing the same white uniform. I looked at my clothes and noticed I was wearing exactly the same thing. They were all looking at a floating electronic screen filled with a block of text.

For the second half of the exam, all participants have been divided into groups of 5 to fight in a battle royale. You will be working together as a team to defeat all the other groups and win. Note that only your individual performance will be evaluated during the exam duration. Factors include, combat ability, critical thinking skills, teamwork capabilities, survivability and inner mentality. Do your best, you only get one life.

Looks like everyone here is my groupmates…..

“Hello everyone!” A guy with an orange undercut greeted with a cocky grin. “I’m Marko! The Genius Gunner of Sector 5! Just follow my lead and we’ll get through this exam with flying colors! Why? Because I’m the best of the best that’s why!”

He grabbed an assault rifle and stood proud pointing his thumb on himself.

“It’s true, guys!” a black haired bowl-cut boy with glasses spoke up, holding a submachine gun. “I’ve been with him for most of my life, and I can say this man’s a genius!”

“Heh. Thank you, Ryan. I’m glad you understand!” Marko said.

“Well, I don’t mind either way,” a white-haired boy with gloomy black eyes covered in eyeliner said, holding onto a sniper rifle. “As long as I get accepted into the academy, that’s good enough for me.”

“Heh, as if I'd let some idiot tell me what to do!”

A boy with brown spiky hair protested.

“What was that?!” Marko stomped over to him and grabbed his uniform.

“Heh. Not only are you an idiot, but you’re pretty deaf as well,” he sneered at Marko with his ruby red eyes.

“Who are you to call me that?!”

The brown-haired boy pushed Marko away and lifted his hand up. A glow of orange manifested from his fingertips, igniting a fire on the top of his palm.

T-That’s…..magic!

“My name is Cyrus. I am a Mage, one of the chosen ones. Assuming that you were all picking up firearms, I’m guessing I’m the only one here who can use magic. Unless-”

He looked towards me and asked, “Can you?”

“No…”

Cyrus grinned and looked back towards Marko.

“I’m not interested in listening to any of you, you’re all just weapon users.”

“Damn it!” Marko said. “Fine, have it your way! So what if you're blessed with magic? We don’t need you! Everyone, ignore him!”

I’ve been awfully quiet all this time, so I had to say something to try and save our declining chemistry.

“G-Guys!”

All eyes pointed over to me.

“The exam notes say teamwork capabilities are a factor for our individual performance. If we don’t work together, then-”

“Heh, there’s plenty of other factors. I’ll just have to excel in everything else then,” Cyrus shrugged.

“But-”

“Are you telling me what to do, dude?” Marko glared at me. “Why don’t you just shut up and follow my lead. I already told you to ignore him!”

Why am I the one getting yelled at?

“I was just trying to help….”

“Come here, NOW.”

It seems like I got unlucky with my group. Everyone seems so unfriendly…..This sucks……

Don’t say that! I can’t complain. A true hero endures hardship with a smile on their face.

I lifted my cheeks to show a soft grin and walked over to them.

“Time to set up the plan!” Marko said. “Emo dude! Since you’re the sniper, watch our backs!”

“My name is Fenris….”

“Me and Ryan will be the main striker force! And uh…what’s your name?” Marko peered his eyes to me.

“It’s Lars.”

“Well, Lars. What are you waiting for?! Go pick a weapon already! How am I supposed to know where you’re going to be?!”

“R-right, sorry!”

I hurriedly looked around the walls, running through all the guns with my fingers…….

No, I can’t use any of these.

“What’s taking you so long?! Hurry up! We only have 5 more minutes!” Marko yelled.

“S-Sorry! Just give me a few more seconds!”

Haaah…

My breathing had become a little ragged, with my hands fumbling through the weapons and my eyes moving in multiple directions. Until finally, I had found what I was looking for.

Fully painted in black, with a length made of shimmering steel and a sharpened edge. Almost instinctively, I had drawn my hand over to the display.

I held the sword and swung it around, then placed it into its sheath.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Marko said. “Why did you grab that useless piece of junk?”

“Dude, no one uses swords anymore. That’s like old school,” Ryan perked his glasses up. “Almost everyone either uses guns or magic. It’s been outclassed for decades. Only the lowlives of the South Sectors still use them.”

“Who the hell brings a sword to a gunfight? Use something else!” Marko said.

“Um…I can’t use guns. The only weapon I can use is a sword,” I scratched the back of my head.

As embarrassing as it sounds, I had zero talent in using anything other than the blade.

“HUH?! Why are you even trying to be an Enforcer anyway?!” Marko slammed his fist into the weapon display.

“E-Even if I’m talentless with guns, I can make up for it by working hard with what I can use!”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Marko slammed his palm into his forehead. “You’ve got to be the worst teammate ever! Even worse than that mage dude!”

My smile started to quiver, but I kept myself together.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Calm down, Lars. Breathe. Breathe. You’ve already heard this before, no need to be so affected by it! Just grit your teeth and power through!

“Why not just make him the decoy?” Ryan adjusted his glasses. “He can fight in the front and bait our enemies!”

Marko lifted his finger up. “Ah! That’s a great idea!”

He slapped my back continuously and smiled at me.

“That’s okay with you, right? Since all you can do is fight up close, it all makes sense! Right?!”

“R-Right.”

Decoy…I guess that doesn’t sound too bad for a melee fighter like me.

“Then it’s settled!”

Your time has run out. Teleporting players………

A ray of light crashed down over us, brightening the surroundings until everything went white……

………

Ugh…….

Once the light had finally faded from our vision, we were suddenly in a different place.

Gloomy gray skies with pockets of puffy white clouds. Underneath them, we stood on the ground, staring at a silent sea of hollow buildings covered in shades of dark and light.

This feels familiar…..The type of familiar…that’s rather unsettling.

The examinations have begun. You may now start killing your enemies.

“You guys can do whatever you want,” Cyrus said. “I’m not interested in working with any of you.”

The brown-haired boy took off on his own and stormed away.

“Tsk, selfish prick. Who cares about him?!” Marko said.

“All right team, let’s go-”

BANG!

Before Marko could say anymore, a bullet flew past him and struck the ground.

“D-Damn, already?!” Ryan said.

More bullets followed right after, prompting all of us to move away immediately.

“The noises! They’re coming from over there!” Marko pointed northeast towards a building, where four gunners pointed their guns from the windows of the fourth floor.

“Go distract them, decoy!”

“W-wait!”

Marko pushed me over in their direction and started running the opposite way.

This is happening way too fast!

They’ve completely set their targets on me, with trails of gunfire chasing right by my tail. A zip of metal grazed through my shoulder as I hopped into a wall of debris for cover.

“Argh!”

Despite being in the virtual world, I could still feel the swelling sensation of pain coursing right through my nerves. How realistic is this supposed to be?

My vision suddenly had a flash of red, and I noticed a health bar on the corner of my vision, with 95/100 Health Points.

The rain of bullets continued to fire down upon my cover, causing particles of dust to fly all around me.

"Ack, ack!"

I can’t stay here forever!

Breathe, Lars. Breathe slowly.

Where did my team go?!

Looks like I can activate communications…..

I frantically clicked on an icon resembling a microphone and spoke out.

“Can anyone hear me?! I need assistance asap! Do you copy?!”

“Copy. Just do your damn job and distract the enemy! How are we supposed to kill them if you’re just hiding there?!” Marko said.

“They already have their eyes on me!”

“That’s not enough! You need to leave your cover and move someplace else!”

“It’s too dangerous! They’ll shoot me down in an instant!”

“Stop wussin around and run!”

Damn it…..can I really do this?

I clutched the left side of my chest tightly to the point where I could feel my ribcage. My heart felt like jumping back and forth, seemingly trying to burst out of my body.

Breathe…….

“HURRY UP, YOU IDIOT!” Marko yelled on the comms.

I have no choice!

Biting my lip, I pushed off the ground to propel myself forward and ran like the wind.

“AGH!”

Metal pierced through flesh, spilling blood all around my body. Every shot was a new surge of pain registered in my nerves.

It hurts! But I’ve got to keep running!

90. 80. 75.

My health was only three quarters left when one of the heads of the enemies blew up along with the sound of a heavy bang.

“Nice shot, emo boy!” Marko said.

“It’s Fenris…."

Marko followed up by shooting another enemy down, scaring away the rest of their squad and causing them to run away.

“I’m saved…..”

“Don’t just stand there, sword boy! Go after them!”

“R-Right! S-sorry!” I fumbled my sword.

We charged into the building and rushed through the stairs. Reaching the fourth floor, we realized that they had just been waiting for us to come up here and started to fire their guns towards us. We hid ourselves behind some pillars in order to escape the ambush.

I can’t get into melee range, I have to get closer!

Marko shot another guy down, so there should only be 2 of them left.

“We have them outnumbered! Charge!”

The remaining two soldiers tried to run, but they were quickly shot down by Ryan and Fenris.

“Nice one, guys!” Marko high-fived both of them, then he glared at me.

“Except you, though. You were completely useless!”

“Sorry….”

I couldn’t do anything to help…there was no denying that.

“Still don’t get why you use a sword…..” Marko walked away.

Fenris looked at me expressionless, before following suit.

“Just keep playing as our decoy. It’s the only thing you can do,” Ryan said, tapping my shoulder with a disappointed look on his face. “Idiot……"

I gripped my sword tightly, with the arm holding it trembling involuntarily.

Calm down. Calm down. Calm down!

Steady…….Breathe…..1….2….3……..

It's still early in the game, there are many more opportunities for me to shine! Don't worry!

"What are you standing around there for?!" Marko yelled. "Let's go!"

"R-Right!"

We continued to run around the streets and came across another squad just a few moments after our first encounter. Fenris snipes down one of them, alerting their teammates to fire straight at us. And by us, I mean me.

“Sword boy! Where are you going?!” Marko yelled.

“EEEEK!”

They’re all aiming their bullets at me!

I weaved my body around randomly, trying to be shifty with my footwork and hoping for the best. My vision started flashing red again and along with it came the pain of metal grazing through my skin. It’s a good thing it doesn’t feel too realistic, otherwise, I would have lost my sanity by now!

I ran off to the side of the path to escape inside a nearby restaurant. The enemy continued to chase after me, so I couldn’t even catch a moment to breathe.

I’m doing way too much as a decoy! Give me a break!

Being left with no choice, I ran over to the back of the restaurant and dove right under the counter on a whim. The only thing I could do was cower underneath, hearing gunshots hitting through the wall right above me.

How am I supposed to kill anyone?! Is there really no way to reach them?

I looked over to the hand holding my sword, still shaking as it desperately tried to hold on to its hilt.

Calm down. Calm down! Please!

The throbbing sensation of my heart only grew stronger, my chest continued to heat up and my head was starting to feel light. My lungs were begging for air, feeling short out of breath. I was losing focus.

Think! Think! Think! What can I do to get through this?! There has to be something I can do!

Stop panicking, Lars!

STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP! CALM DOWN!

I tried beating my chest to make it all go away, but it didn’t work.

Please, just stop…..Why am I like this?

“How pathetic.”

“Huh?”

I looked up and saw Marko, Ryan and Fenris staring at me from above, as if they were looking down at a filthy dead rat.

“Get up, sword sucker. Heh. That name suits you way too much,” Marko said.

“What a loser. Why are you even on our team anyway?” Ryan said.

They turned their backs on me and walked away. On the floor, were the dead bodies of the people who ganged up on me earlier.

It’s over already….?

I haven’t even done anything yet. Not even a single kill….

“D-Don’t give up…” I muttered to myself.

At this rate, I can’t be accepted into the Academy. I have to do something! I won’t let it end like this!

But how?