I was back in that stupid lobby, with that stupid Saturial floating while reading some book.

  What an annoying turn; I was shaking.

  I just walked until I got to Redhead and sat beside her.

  “I’m sorry,” I said.

  “Huh?” she replied, her gaze snapping to me. “Oh, don’t worry about it. From my count, you and I were in 9th and 10th for that round.”

  I quickly looked to the side. That was what she was doing–counting. I spotted Noah and Nico, and the guys I knocked off, among others.

  Muscles, Pretty Boy, Scary Lady, the Mummy, and the Roguish Man with sense were all still in the game. Actually, on second inspection, Pretty Boy’s fangirl was still in too.

  “So, that arm’s your weapon?” Redhead asked. Her voice became hushed. “You know, the Signature one?”

  My eyes widened slowly. “Yeah. Pretty obvious for those who know.”

  “Don’t overestimate how much people know,” she warned. “I didn’t think a fake arm was an option. Worked out for you, huh?”

  “Well, not like I wanted to lose my arm in the first place.”

  Redhead glanced past me. I followed her gaze and saw Noah approaching. The kind guy waved at me.

  “Hey,” she said.

  I looked at her again, and she pushed an item into my hand. I held it in front of my eyes–it was a slightly red key—like the ornamental kind.

  “What is this?” I asked, confused.

  “It’s called a Core Key.”

  Her words made my ears buzz. It was in my hands. It was so ordinary looking, but it was a Core Key! I’d have another level as soon as I used it!

  ***

  Core Key

  Fire Attack

  ?Fire Combo Finisher

  ***

  The information beamed into my head as soon as I read it. I had an idea of how to use it now.

  “You get it in your head?” Redhead asked, her eyes probing mine.

  I nodded. “This is really kind of you.”

  She shrugged, a gentle smile curling her lips. “Don’t be. I just don’t want those angry eyes pointed at me.”

  “Are you sure you want to give me this key?”

  She winked. “I don’t need it.”

  I cracked a smile. “Understood. Thank you.”

  “That key’s called a Fire Strike key, by the way.”

  I raised a brow. “How do you know that?” I asked.

  She tapped her head. “It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?”

  I raised a brow and glanced at the key again, its screen popping up again.

  ***

  Fire Strike Core Key

  Fire Attack

  ?Fire Combo Finisher

  ***

  I did my best to hide my surprise. The thing had actually changed names. I guess that made sense. There were probably many Core Keys out there.

  I met her gaze again. “Hey, can I ask you a question?”

  “Go for it.”

  “The weapon you used—that wasn’t a Signature, right?”

  Redhead stole a glance at the Saturial. He was still floating, reading his book. “It’s like that launcher you have,” she quickly replied.

  “Huh, where did you find yours—”

  “Hey, 15th Place.”

  I restrained my groan and looked up at the Saturial, who had not stopped reading.

  “Do not force us into another penalty game, please.”

  I raised my hands. “Alright. Got it. Sorry.”

  Redhead patted my shoulder. “Just don’t lose your cool, okay? You’ve got to stay sharp.” She looked to the side. “You too, newbie.”

  Noah, surprised that she had spoken to him, nodded after I nudged his leg. “Yes, Miss. Thank you,” he said. “Erm, sorry, what’s your name again?”

  I looked at Redhead expectantly. She shrugged and smiled.

  “Nythe. That’s my name, Nythe.”

  Noah grinned. “Good to meet you. I’m Noah.”

  “I’m Set.”

  A voice came from behind us. “You monster.”

  I sighed and stood up to greet the old man. “We’re going to do this again?”

  “You better not cause trouble for us,” he said, shaking with fear, because anger could not be found in any crater of the pitiful face he was wearing.

  “Hey, Saturial,” I called. “I’m going to guess we can’t fight while in this Lobby, right?”

  “Hmm… Yeah, finally, you’re using your brain, 15th,” the Saturial replied, barely minding us.

  I cracked a grin at the old man. “I guess a Smite’s not enough to get some sense through your head.”

  “Stop causing a ruckus,” he spat back.

  “Stop leaving your brain in the sludge pile.” I glanced past him, and at 30th, who was in the furthest corner, shivering in the fetal position. “I’m going to help you out—since you seem to care so much. If you don’t get out my space before I count to 10, I’m going to fuck that kid up more. And when I do? I’m going to parade him around like my little bitch puppet trophy. And you? Oh, if you get lucky, I’m going to smear whatever filth I draw from his body all over your chest.” I placed a finger on his chest and pushed him back a step. “Scram, old man.”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Unable to say anything, the old man backed up, his palms in full view.

  “Keep your cool,” Nythe whispered. “You never know how sensitive the overseer for a Trial is.”

  I chuckled. “What? You mean he’s not the most sensitive?”

  “Not by a long shot,” she whispered, her eyes conveying that she knew many stories.

  I groaned and scratched my head. “Yeah, alright… Noah, how’s Nico?”

  “Just shaken, man—oh, another turned up—but yeah. Nico’s not used to this sort of thing. He was already struggling before we came here.”

  “Can’t help that,” I said, noting that three, including Muscles, arrived.

  “The big guy,” Nythe whispered. “I’m pretty sure he got seventh.”

  “Wonder who knocked him out,” I whispered as Nythe rose.

  “Another one,” she said, her eyes on the woman I recognized as Pretty Boy’s fangirl.

  Noah’s mouth dropped. “She’s fifth then.”

  “That’s a really good placement for her,” Nythe said.

  And then, shocking me, Pretty Boy appeared.

  Nythe held my shoulder. “Keep it under control.”

  Pretty Boy’s gaze met mine while Noah remarked in the background how quickly everyone was showing up now.

  Pretty Boy rolled his eyes and walked toward a wall. And then, Roguish Man appeared, laughing. “Suck on that, fuck face!” he yelled, eyes pointed at Pretty Boy.

  The sudden callout made all the nobodies turn, and made a few of them shake. The Roguish Man grinned, looked around, and grinned harder when he spotted us.

  He walked over, hands in his pocket, and greeted us with a “This is where the smarties are standing, right? Hope you don’t mind if I join you.”

  I shrugged and grinned. “Did you hurt Pretty Boy over there?”

  “Better believe it was marvelous.”

  I nodded and he took a spot with the group. To my surprise, Nythe spoke to him.

  “You sure you should be running your mouth like that?”

  “Come on,” Roguish Man said, scoffing. “Thanks to our friend here, I’ve got a pretty good sense of how many insults I can throw without getting in trouble.” He looked at Noah and bobbed his head. “I’m not sorry for calling your brother a bitch.”

  “I… Yeah. Okay,” Noah said, clearly surprised to the point of being unable to form an answer.

  “Who do you think’s gonna win?” Nythe asked Roguish Man.

  “Does it matter. This is probably going to be the most normal-looking result. Either way, she is going to end up in first.”

  I thought on his words and realized what he meant. Whether Scary Lady got first or second, she was going to be the overall first-place competitor.

  And then they arrived at the same time—Scary Lady and the Mummy. They exchanged nods and went their separate ways. Scary Lady saw me and winked, though.

  With everyone back, the Saturial closed his book and got on with the show. The results came on with familiar pomp and circumstance.

  Nythe’s track was right. We were indeed ninth and tenth. Noah was sixteenth. Nico was seventeenth. Oh, that Old Man—he came in 18th. And for the two who arrived at the end, the Mummy came in first, and Scary Lady came in second.

  “Whoa, the Mummy did well,” I said.

  “Honestly, these are the results I would have expected for the first round,” Nythe whispered. “Top Two wise, at least.”

  “If we hadn’t met that bandaged man, Set,” Noah said.

  “Yeah, he would have been higher.” I chuckled. “Too bad for him. Hey, Nythe, what happens if we lose at the end of the rounds?”

  “Penalty Game with just the losers. I’ve heard it can be brutal, but the three times I’ve lost haven’t been bad.”

  “Interesting,” I replied. “Thank you for speaking.”

  “Thanks for making it worthwhile.”

  “Has anyone died in those penalty games?” Noah stammered.

  Nythe glanced at the relatively disinterested Saturial. “I’ve only heard about one really brutal game. This Saturial—”

  He looked our way, and Nythe shut up.

  I smirked at him. “So, we can’t spoil what you’re about, huh?”

  “Can you find it in you to be quiet? If you can’t, go mock the competitors,” the Saturial replied.

  I looked at Nythe and Noah again. “Got it. We can only talk about what’s going on in here.”

  Roguish Man chuckled. “See? We can namecall all we want with this guy, fucking bitch that he is.”

  The Saturial cleared his throat and made sure we were all paying attention. “Alright, seeing as we have now completed two rounds, here are the results totalled up. Let’s see how we’re doing.”

  The results shuffled.

  “And in first place, with 58 points… The new first-place competitor!” the Saturial announced.

  It was Scary Lady.

  “Finally,” she said, chuckling.

  “And in second place, with 57 points, unable to beat the consistency of placing in second back-to-back…”

  The Mummy.

  “Well, sometimes, new blood is strong blood,” the Mummy said.

  “And not to be forgotten, proving the consistency of coming in fourth…”

  Pretty Boy.

  Pretty Boy was in fourth.

  After them, the other faces settled. I picked out all the relevant people.

  Muscles had 52 points. Roguish Man had 51. Noah had 50. Nythe had 48. The old man had 32. And then Nico—he had 17 points, one point below the previous 30th place loser.

  As for me, I had 37 points.

  I breathed a sigh of relief. “Good… I’m not in the bottom 3.”

  “And neither is Nico,” Noah said, beckoning him over.

  “Don’t get comfortable,” Nythe said. “Bottom Five is still dangerous. Your brother needs to score in the top 10 next time.”

  “Noah, if it comes to it, I’ll help you guys out,” I said.

  “Thanks, Set,” Noah replied, grinning.

  “Hold up, guy,” Roguish Man said, holding up a hand. “Fuck face over there picked up something nasty in the last round.”

  I looked over at Pretty Boy. He was just standing there.

  But then, another voice boomed.

  “Hey, Saturial! I play my Ruling card,” Muscles declared.

  An “Uhoh,” escaped Roguish Man. “This is going to be real nasty.”

  An announcer’s voice boomed with the same force as the Divine Smite announcements. “Ruling Played!”

  Murmurs spread through the participants. Muscles stayed calm, the white card in his hand shining.

  “Ruling Changed. Players below 35 Points at Trial’s end will be the Trial’s Pitiful Losers.”

  Nico’s shoulders slumped while Noah’s mouth fell open. All around us, there were mutters that were dangerously close to becoming yells.

  “Ahh. Well then,” the Saturial said. “Looks like final placements don’t matter for determining losers anymore. It’s all points.”

  “H-Huh?” Nico stammered, his eyes watering.

  “This isn’t fair,” Noah said, shaking.

  I looked at Roguish Man. He still had his eyes trained on Pretty Boy.

  I looked at the board. A cutoff line was created in the display. Because of that cutoff, many more were added into that “danger zone.” Nico and that annoying old man, included.

  “Fuckers,” Nythe muttered.

  The comment made me look at Pretty Boy.

  “I’m playing this card,” Pretty Boy shouted, revealing his card.

  The announcer’s voice boomed. “Privilege Played! 15 Points will be taken from a participant and given to five others.”

  Pretty Boy’s eyes were right on me.

  The word left my lips automatically. “Fucker.”

  “Him. The one without the arm,” he said, pointing at me.

  My points were reduced, and now I was below the threshold at 22 Points.

  “15 Points Taken! Who receives these precious points?”

  Pretty Boy shrugged. Woman next to him, and then me, him, her, and that one over there.

  Nythe looked at me. “Sorry.”

  “Just tell me if you were in on it.”

  “I wasn’t… But I knew these guys had a way of getting those cards… Be happy that they got those weak-ass cards and not some terrible ones.” She looked down, her jaw clenched. “I’m really sorry.”

  “I’m going to believe you,” I replied. “So, I’m not going to let them get in my head and make me burn someone who has helped me.”

  Nythe nodded. “Thank you.”

  Noah, meanwhile, shook his head. “This is so brutal. And for what?”

  We had no answers for him.

  And as for where my points went, Nythe, Pretty Boy, Muscles, Pretty Boy’s fan girl, and the old man who had been pestering me got 3 points each.

  “Yes!” the old man cheered. “I’m safe!”

  I looked at the scoreboard.

  “Hey,” Nythe said to Noah. “Your brother needs to place at 13th or higher. That’s doable.”

  Noah sounded encouraged. “Right,” he said. “Thanks, Nythe… And… Hey, Set?”

  “I know what I must do now.” I looked at Noah. “Sorry, man. I need you to help your brother without me.”

  Roguish Man stifled a chuckle. “Rage on, Set. If you get the chance, disfigure that punk for me too.”

  Noah gulped and nodded. “Thanks for everything, Set.”