READY FOR BATTLE

The doctors had completed their treatment of the students. Some had a mental shock and a bit of taxation but nothing physical. After a while, all of them had regained normalcy. They were eagerly awaiting the score announcement.

"Thank you all for waiting. We have completed our analysis and given scores based on your results. The scores will be displayed on the Jumbotron Screen. Starting now, there will be a lunch break of an hour and then we will reconvene here for the next round. Let me give you a hint of the next round so that you can make proper preparations during the break. The next round will be..." Prof. Sawyer paused for a while and looked at everyone's face.

The level of anticipation on the face of every student had piqued.

"The next round will be….Battle Royale!" concluded Prof. Sawyer.

The students started to stare at each other. In this round, everyone is an enemy. It is everyone for themselves. The Examiners deliberately announced the next round to create this situation of panic and distrust. It was a test of mental strength.

Nevertheless, the results just came in. All eyes were on the big screen.

"Whoa….I came in third. I can't believe it man", Melv gave a big smile. He got 60 points.

"Sixth? How is that possible? There must be some mistake. It can't be..." Kaisha was clueless why she got such a low rank. She received 55 points. Some students had received the same points and finished earlier, thus by certain calculations they ranked higher.

There was a gnashing of teeth coming from the side of Kaisha. It was none other than Ton. He had been placed second with 70 points. "Lucky B-star-! You won't be 2 times lucky today. I will make sure of that in the next round." Ton clenched his fists.

As everyone guessed Noah had taken first place with 80 points.

"Those stingy examiners. How can you get only 80? You took out the tail of the Chimera and even injured one of its heads." Melv was shouting at the top of his voice. He was not satisfied with Noah's result. Noah tried to calm him down.

"It's okay. After all, I couldn't finish the job. I don't mind this result." smiled Noah.

The students went on the break but everyone was avoiding the other. You cannot share your tactics this round or they might result in a backstab. No alliances are what most of them thought. Except for some who were glued to Ton and Kaisha for securing their pass marks. They would do anything to get the pass marks. Ton assembled a big gang to take care of his nemesis once and for all. However, Noah was already anticipating something like that from Ton.

Noah and Melv were eating their lunch when they were joined by an unexpected guest.

"Do you want an apple?" asked Angelika, taking a bite at it.

"No, I am fine..." replied Noah.

"But you should..." Angelika winked at him and left.

"What was that about?" asked Melv. "No idea man. What she says and does, makes no sense to me sometimes..." replied Noah.

An hour of break was almost over. The anticipation was killing everyone.

"What will be the rules? What will be the passing marks?" Everyone kept wondering. The Examiners were also back from the break and took the stage. Prof. Sawyer started to announce the rules and regulations.

"The details of this round will be put on screen. Let me brief you on the rules. As I said earlier, this round will be a Battle Royale. The map size is 10X10 km, having an 80% land area. The map is segregated into hills, plains, rivers, desert, volcanoes, seas and even snow-capped mountains. The students will get an aid drop and can choose their drop locations. No weapons and ammunition will be provided initially. You will have to scavenge for loot and drops that will spawn at locations or even from another student. The loot will contain weapons, armor, ammunition, medicines and other special abilities. It will be a fight to kill your opponent first and be the last one left standing. Please note that once killed you cannot respawn and it will be the end of your exam. Voluntarily logout will also result in your disqualification in this round."

"Your score will be calculated based on your survival, kill points and certain bonuses. There will be some surprise bonus items on the map based on events. The details will be on screen. The safe zone of the map will grow smaller during the match at regular intervals, forcing the remaining students into combat with each other. There might be certain natural calamities over an area for a certain period of time. So camp wisely and beware of the incoming snipe. There will also be monster spawns at places. They will drop certain loots but will not be considered for kill count. So Survive, Scavenge and Eliminate!"

"We wish you all good luck."

As Prof. Sawyer finished her announcement, the details were displayed on the screen.

Battle Simulation Test No.2 - Battle Royale

Points Per Kill: 1 point

PLACE - - POINTS

1 - - 20

2 - - 14

3 - - 10

4 - - 18

5 - - 7

6-10 - - 6

11-20 - - 5

21-50 - - 4

51-100 - - 3

101-120 - - 2

SURVIVAL:

MINUTES - - POINTS

60 - - 15

120 - - 30

175 - - 40

BONUS:

KILLS - - POINTS

8 - - 5

15 - - 10

30 - - 20

The rules were quite simple. The students were already experienced in playing tons of battle royale games. So it was easy to understand for them. The only question was the bonus items. Their location was provided on the map but not the abilities.

Noah looked at the bonus items. "Wait, there is something called Eden's Apple? Apple? Was Angelika trying to tell me something? It might have been a coincidence as well."

"Bro. Just stick with me. I am a pro at these types of games." Noah's thoughts were interrupted by Melv's loud proclamation. Noah slowly turned at Melv.

"Don't flatter yourself. You can only loot and camp. Either you die trying to reach the safe zone or at the first sight of the enemy and make excuses that the game was lagging. I know how you play games."

"That's not true. What will I do if it lags? I just…" Melv continued.

"Leave it. This one is an exam. So you have to be serious."

"Yeah, yeah!" Melv made a gesture with his hand.

They started to study the map carefully. Weapons and armor details were not shared. They will have to find those out for themselves at spawns.

"The Central Business District is a prominent place near the center of the map. Most people will gather there. We have to avoid early fights and get some loot at least." Noah and Melv discussed.

Students from other classes also came to observe this match. The top 3 will be decided here and they have to face the last 3 of the Gamma Class. So everyone started speculating. Ton was a sure choice. Kaisha maybe another one. But Noah was not even close in their eyes. He might have received a lot of points in the earlier round. But this one is different. It's not wild beasts anymore, something more dangerous, humans themselves. So Noah's chances were even less to them.

"Don't disappoint me, pervert!" Angelika whispered from a corner of the Arena. She was also watching the match closely. She had sparred with him regularly for the last month and somewhat discerned his capabilities.

Inside the personal gallery, the reputed personalities were also having a light bet among themselves regarding who would win. Principal Beck allowed it this time only for fun. He had also placed a big one on his favored one.

The students had taken their capsule seats. They had dived into the virtual setting and were waiting at the initial spawn area awaiting the drop. The countdown has started -

5

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3

2

1

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