My Scumbag System

I took a deep breath and stepped into the darkness of the chamber. The world outside vanished behind me, swallowed by shadow. My private comm crackled to life with VEGA's voice, a blade wrapped in silk.

"Subject 217-B, Satori Nakano. Aspect: Thermal Incision. Provisional Threat Level: C-Rank."

A pause, as if she was tasting the data.

"Hmm. A rather underwhelming profile for such a... noisy public debut. Let's see if we can't find out what makes the 'Stray Dog' so special. Or if you're just another mutt with a loud bark."

The gate slammed shut behind me with a deafening, final boom, plunging me into absolute blackness. For a moment, there was nothing but the sound of my own breathing and the gentle hum of the suit against my skin.

Then, with a sound like a thousand match strikes, the chamber ignited with light.

I stood on a circular platform, the sole point of light in what looked like an abandoned factory. Rusted machinery loomed in the shadows. Broken conveyor belts snaked across the floor like the corpses of mechanical serpents. The air smelled of dust and old metal.

"This scenario is designated: URBAN DECAY," VEGA's voice purred in my ear. "A classic favorite among Guilds for testing a prospect's ability to utilize terrain in confined spaces."

A holographic countdown appeared in my vision: 10:00. Ten minutes. To do what?

"Your objective is simple, Cadet Nakano. Survive."

The moment the last syllable left her digital lips, I heard it—a low, chittering sound from the darkness beyond the platform. My hand instinctively moved to activate [SEVER].

"Oh, I should mention," VEGA added, her voice dripping with false concern, "that your combat data suggests an unusual ratio of lethality to visible damage. How fascinating. I've adjusted the parameters accordingly."

The chittering grew louder, coming from multiple directions now. Red eyes gleamed in the darkness—dozens of them.

"Show us what you're really capable of, Stray Dog."

The first creature lunged from the shadows—a grotesque hybrid of spider and human, its too-many limbs skittering across the floor with unnatural speed. Behind it, more shapes emerged, a small horde of the same monstrosities.

I centered myself, calling up both [SEVER] and [EMBER] in each hand. Time to put my newly boosted stats to work.

"Come on then," I muttered, a grin spreading across my face as the first monster leapt toward me. "Let's give the audience what they paid for."

My hand slashed forward, a trail of invisible force followed by a lick of flame. The creature's head separated from its body in a clean line, the wound cauterizing instantly. No blood, just the smell of burning synthetic material.

Not Gate-spawn. Test constructs. Artificial.

I sidestepped the swipe of its razor-sharp appendages, the movement so telegraphed it felt lazy. I didn't even need to look as I came up behind it, my hand already moving to sever its spine.

Two down. At least ten more emerging from the shadows.

My HUD flickered with new information:

[COMBAT EFFICIENCY: 78%]

[TACTICAL ACUMEN: 65%]

[APPEAL SCORE: 87%]

The scores were updating in real-time. Interesting. The Appeal Score was highest—apparently, the audience liked a clean, flashy kill. Or maybe it was just the whole "Stray Dog" narrative working in my favor.

A spike of warning shot up my spine a half-second before a spike lunged at my back. I didn't think; I just ducked, feeling it sail over my head, then hit the perpetrator with multiple [Severs].

[COMBAT EFFICIENCY: 85%]

[TACTICAL ACUMEN: 73%]

[APPEAL SCORE: 93%]

The numbers climbed higher. I was on the right track.

"Fascinating technique, Cadet Nakano," VEGA commented, her voice suggesting she was genuinely intrigued despite herself. "Fascinating. Minimal collateral damage for maximum lethal effect."

I ignored her, focusing on the battle. The creatures were coming faster now, their movements more coordinated, as if adapting to my fighting style. I needed to change tactics.

Leaping onto a broken piece of machinery, I gained the high ground, forcing them to climb to reach me. As they scrambled up, I picked them off one by one with carefully aimed [SEVER] attacks, followed by [EMBER] blasts to ensure they stayed down.

[COMBAT EFFICIENCY: 91%]

[TACTICAL ACUMEN: 88%]

[APPEAL SCORE: 95%]

The countdown timer showed 5:23 remaining. Halfway through.

This was easy. Too easy. That should have been a warning.

A blur of movement caught the corner of my eye—something much larger than the spider-creatures. I turned just in time to see a massive, gorilla-like construct with arms like hydraulic pistons launching itself at me from the darkness.

It moved impossibly fast for something so large. Before I could react, it slammed into me with the force of a freight train, sending me flying across the room to crash into a wall of rusted metal. The impact knocked the wind from my lungs, pain blossoming across my ribs. I felt something crack inside me, a sharp stab that made my vision swim momentarily as I struggled to breathe through the white-hot agony.

[COMBAT EFFICIENCY: 81%]

[TACTICAL ACUMEN: 75%]

[APPEAL SCORE: 98%]

My Appeal Score went up? Apparently, the audience enjoyed seeing me take a hit.

Sadistic bastards.

I rolled to my feet, ignoring the throbbing pain in my side, dodging another crushing blow that left a crater in the concrete where I'd been standing. Chunks of shattered floor sprayed outward like shrapnel. This thing was on a completely different level from the spider constructs.

Its massive fists were laced with some kind of blue energy that crackled and sparked with each movement, leaving trails of azure light in the air like afterimages. Whatever this monstrosity was, it wasn't just bigger—it was fundamentally more dangerous.

"Escalation phase initiated," VEGA announced calmly, with that same detached amusement that made me want to reach through the speakers and strangle her. "Let's see how you handle a true challenge, shall we?"

The gorilla-thing roared, the sound reverberating through the chamber like thunder, beating its chest with arms thick as tree trunks before charging at me again. This time I was ready. I activated [SEVER] at maximum output, channeling every ounce of power I could muster, slashing horizontally at its center mass—

Only for the invisible blade to skitter across its surface like a knife against stone, leaving only a shallow groove in its synthetic skin. The construct didn't even slow down.

Ah, shit.