Error?

[In the Control Room]

The flashing of a red bulb drew the eyes of all inside the isolated room filled with nothing but screens, the shuffling of chairs, and people.

"ERROR! ERROR!"

The workers' minds went into overdrive as they tried to figure out what had happened.

A man with a long ponytail oversaw this operation with a raised brow. He had just returned back after changing out of the messy robe he had just worn.

Dressed in his newly acquired black cloak, pants and black latex glove, he gave off an aura of mystery. Tied in his hair was a hair ornament depicting that of a beautiful dark purple butterfly.

He then turned towards his assistant beside him. They were a beautiful woman with blonde hair in a bob-cut—dressed in a grey suit and office skirt.

In her hand was a clipboard with a variety of names. A couple of curious ones were Marionette's and the Second Prince's names down.

Her face was emotionless as she jotted them down. Noticing the man's stare, she turned her gaze towards him.

"Yes? Mr Mirage?" she answered with a monotonous voice.

"Are we currently having an error right now, Vicky?" He asked with a warm smile—his eyes closed and his head tilted slightly to the side.

"..."

They stared at each other for a brief moment—their expression remaining the same. Vicky then eventually broke this staring contest of theirs.

"It would seem so, sir."

"I see... must be the rage nowadays... we've been getting so many lately it's hard to process new and unexpected ones."

He muttered to himself—wrapped his arms around his back as he wandered over to one of the workers.

The man was sweating so much one would think he had just entered a sauna.

"What seems to be the problem?" He inquired in a calm, flowery voice—his hand grasping the man's shoulder tightly.

"O-oh! Sir Mirage! J-just a small issue. That's all! We'll get it fixed soon! Isn't that right, guys?" The worker looked towards his fellow coworkers—nodding anxiously, hoping their words would satiate the man's curiosity.

His colleagues nodded back vigorously—hiding their subtle fearfulness of the man.

"Good... just because the Headmaster isn't here, don't you think any little mistakes can pass through, alright? We're having enough trouble closing down that gate, and having any more trouble is unproductive if it can be solved right away."

His increasingly tightening grasp on the man's shoulder finally relaxed and pulled away.

Mirage then began to move over to the next and onwards.

The workers he had just interrogated finally let out a sigh of relief. His body shot up once a hand fell on his shoulder once more. Luckily, this time, it was just his colleague instead of his overbearing boss.

"Psst! What're we going to do?" they whispered to him—tapping at a particular screen displaying a pod surrounded by staff members.

The worker retrieved a handkerchief from his pocket and patted his forehead.

"We just have to repair it before the exam ends... I can't believe one suddenly malfunctioned at such a precarious time like this..."

The pod on the screen suddenly malfunctioned without any sort of warning being given. No smoke, no noise, no shaking... nothing...

It was like something intangible or invisible had sabotaged or tinkered with it.

Inside this pod was a young, beautiful woman with short white hair that reached her shoulders—her eyes closed and resting soundlessly. It was Lillian.

***

"PUAH~!" (10)

Lillian, currently ignorant of the fact that her pod had suddenly malfunctioned, took a swig from the bottle filled with red liquid.

The burns on her body disappeared, and the pain from it was alleviated.

She licked her lips at the taste of strawberry. (2)

"This thing's pretty good!" (10)

After she had survived the serious burns given by Xander's passionate, fiery hug, she quickly dispatched of them and looked over her spoils that appeared upon their disappearance.

Beside her were three bottles of the same type he had just drank, a putrid purple sack with a brown stain at the bottom, and four spherical objects placed strangely far away from where she was seated.

"This is some good shit! I'm glad I took this chance! Phew~... I didn't actually think I was going to win..." Her lips curved into a small smile. (22)

"I either got SUPER lucky or... I'm a natural-born fighter!" (10)

She rested her hands on her hip and turned her nose to the sky—proud of herself for winning against such strong opponents.

"Now then... I have four health potions..." She swirled each one in her hands before pinching the sack and pinching her noise with a repulsed expression, "Monster bait..." She stated with a strained voice.

"And lastly..." She stared at the four objects with stars in her eyes, "Magic grenades!" She exclaimed—throwing her arms in the air. (20)

"Oh boy! How glad I am to get these back!" She cradled them—caressing them like they were kittens in her arms.

Half an hour or so ago, she had stumbled upon one of these grenades and used them to take out a dozen or so Beach Stone Crabs.

She would continue this cycle of finding more and blowing up the high population of crabs.

Of course, during this cycle of hers, she did have to battle with a few contestants. Nonetheless, she came out on top.

Luckily for her, most of them were just some spoiled rich kids.

Lillian looked up towards her ranking. Seeing she had risen by two places, she smiled softly, "Just a bit more..."

Her eyes danced across the names. The number of contestants had drastically dropped from a couple of hundred to a mere 26.

Almost 93% of the total contestants that had entered this exam had been eliminated in a matter of about 35 or so minutes.

"That's insane..." She muttered under her breath, staring dazedly at the board until...

[New Quest Acquired]

"Hm? A quest...? Right now? If it's going to tell me to pass the exam, it's a bit late."

Opening her system, she went into her quest section and found the name of the mission just below her current one.

[Quest Title: "Virtual Endangerment"]

[Quest Description: "In the world outside of this virtual space, the Host's tool to enter this world had suddenly undergone a malfunction under the influence of a known enchantment.

The tool's enchantment to safely eject the Host out of this virtual realm had been deactivated—leaving the Host without the protection of the pain-dampening effects and the comfort of safety after death. Secure yourself first place in the exam, or survive long enough for it to end.

Lady Luck rewards those brave enough to entertain her fantasies..."]

"..." As Lillian read, the grimmer her face got. Like a dam that had been unleashed, she yelled:

"What the... HELL!?" (10)