Trial by Fire

Two weeks later, Sanjay was training with guns in the basement of his new mansion. As soon as he acquired the house, he contacted a contractor and asked him to build a training facility in the underground basement. After directly paying ten million dollars, the contractor happily constructed a training ground with strong, reinforced walls. This place could also be used as a bunker in case of an emergency.

According to the contractor, it was not an unusual request. Nowadays, many people have their private training facilities. For the general public, such facilities are easily available for rent outside. Sanjay, however, wanted a place where he could train as much as he wanted and in complete secrecy.

The floor was scattered with all kinds of weapons. If rocket launchers weren't restricted items, he would have liked to buy and train with them as well.

Today was the day Sanjay was planning to attempt the trial on the third floor. There wasn't much he needed to take. He had contracted a mid-sized company for their premium plan, and they had already delivered it to him within hours.

He opted for the premium plan to assess the accuracy and level of detail in their work. After reviewing the information and plan, he found it much more comprehensive than what was available online. As for its accuracy, he could only verify that after entering the trial.

After making his final preparations, he moved toward the Tower. The South Asian Tower looked the same as always, with people moving in and coming out. Some were happy about achieving good ranks, others were sad over losing a friend, and some were nervous about going in for a trial.

He noticed a group of fifteen people preparing for a trial run. Their trainer was giving them some last-minute pointers. Ignoring the group, he showed his identification to the soldiers at the gate. After confirming his ID, they allowed him to pass.

Upon entering the gate, a voice echoed in his head:

[Assigning random location.]

Last time, on the second floor, a random character had been assigned. This time, it was a random location. He needed to be cautious while using his skills.

A few seconds later, he found himself standing inside an almost-destroyed building. He approached a broken window to observe the scene outside. The surrounding buildings were all in ruins, as if the city had been through a war.

The report he had received from the mid-sized guild was accurate. This truly was a desolate world, almost devoid of humans. What replaced humanity was far more dangerous. He saw a mechanical android, armed with a machine gun, patrolling the streets.

In this world, robots had taken over. The AI named Horizon, which humanity once trusted, had evolved into a sentient being and waged war against humans. Despite their efforts, humans were unsuccessful and fell to their own creation. Some resistance groups still existed but were barely surviving by staying hidden.

[Mission:

Kill at least one mechanical being. Survive for at least one month.]

The system released the mission. The third floor was much harder to clear than the previous two. On the first floor, humans had the advantage of intelligence; smart individuals could evade zombies and even defeat them. But that wasn't the case with robots. These fully mechanized beings were designed solely to kill. Their infrared, thermal, and hyperspectral vision could detect humans even behind walls, and their seismic and acoustic sensors could pick up the smallest sounds or vibrations. They were equally effective in daylight and nighttime. Surviving for one month while hiding inside buildings was almost impossible.

Killing them was even harder. With titanium alloy bodies, simple attack skills had no effect. The documentation from the planner suggested hunting the robots as a team and leaving the mission world as soon as possible. It was too unstable—a single mistake could easily cost him his life. Here, they weren't hunters; they were prey.

The only way to survive was to find a resistance safe zone. The resistance had discovered methods to hide from the robots. However, locating their hideout was another challenge. It relied entirely on luck. Even if someone managed to find the hideout, they wouldn't be allowed to spend an entire month hiding there. Everyone was required to contribute and fight. There were no weak individuals left in this world; it was survival of the fittest.

The documentation suggested finding the resistance safe zone and forming a team to hunt the robots. The casualty rate on this floor was extremely high, and no one had ever achieved higher than a C rank in this mission. The only person to accomplish that was an S-rank hunter fifteen years ago, now one of the strongest humans alive. Even he had formed a team to hunt the mechanized robots back then.

This time, Sanjay wasn't confident either. His greatest strength—guns—was almost useless here. Even the advanced weapons he could replicate wouldn't significantly damage the mechanized robots, except perhaps an atomic bomb—something Sanjay hadn't even seen, let alone replicated.

Sanjay's plan was to kill a few mechanized robots and leave the third floor. Currently, he was rank twenty, and to promote to the next level, he needed 171,900 more points. That required killing 17,190 robots. To achieve such a feat, he would have to enter their base, but even with his level-twenty power, he wasn't confident about killing more than one hundred robots when surrounded.

For now, his priority was finding the resistance hideout. There was one way to locate it. To gather more humans for their army, the resistance had created multiple graffiti marks on the city walls and, more frequently, in the sewers.

The inspection of the sewers by the robots was minimal because, during the war, thousands of nuclear bombs had been deployed. Due to rain and other environmental factors, the radiation and waste levels were highest in the sewers, making it a death trap for anyone who ventured there.

However, the resistance took advantage of this and posted multiple graffiti in the sewers to mark their location. Why they did this, knowing that humans couldn't survive in the sewers without proper protection, Sanjay had no idea. Perhaps they wanted to leave some hope for the humans left behind. Most of the graffiti were decoys, with only a few being real, designed to mislead the robots into thinking they were remnants from the human era.

Sanjay created a hazmat suit and wore it over a bulletproof jacket and the gas mask he had previously crafted. He armed himself with his M4A1 carbine and carefully checked his surroundings for any robots. Thankfully, the android patrolling nearby had already moved on. From the window, he spotted the sewer cover in the middle of the road.

He exited the building silently, ensuring he made no noise. Sticking close to the walls, he approached the road, crouching and scanning for any signs of androids. After confirming the area was clear, he moved toward the sewer cover and began opening it, taking care to minimize any sound.

A ladder leading downward came into view. He switched on his torch and peered below. The sight of green, toxic wastewater confirmed the hazardous conditions. Even with a hazmat suit, survival wasn't guaranteed for an ordinary person. Fortunately, Sanjay wasn't ordinary; his strength of thirteen units was no small matter.

He quickly climbed down the ladder and closed the sewer cover above him. Activating the inbuilt torch in his suit and the one attached to his gun, he began his journey through the sewer.

The water was almost stagnant, as if something insoluble had mixed into it, making movement difficult. Choosing a direction, he started walking, remaining in high alert. Robots occasionally conducted inspections to check for humans hiding in the sewers. He also kept a close eye on the walls to ensure he didn't miss any markings.

After a few minutes of walking, he finally spotted graffiti on the wall. It depicted a beautiful mountain, and below it was written: "Aim for the highest cloud, so that if you miss it, you will hit a lofty mountain."

What could it mean? Was it directing him somewhere? A mountain was a massive landmark, visible even from hundreds of kilometers away. Yet, when he was on the surface earlier, he hadn't seen anything resembling a mountain, let alone a hill.

He began to think, and his eight units of intelligence kicked in. Perhaps it wasn't referring to an actual mountain. Maybe it was a metaphor—"aim for the highest cloud" might mean something else entirely.

Then it struck him: the broken tower. He had seen a tall, broken tower earlier. It was hard to miss. Before the war, it must have belonged to a major corporation. That tower could very well be the tallest structure still standing. Perhaps he would find a clue there.

Although the tower wasn't in the city center, it was still some distance away—at least seven miles. Judging by the sun's position, there was still half a day until sunset. He estimated he could reach the tower within this time, dodging the robots. Traveling at night was too dangerous, as the robots' enhanced vision far outperformed human eyesight in the dark.

With a clear destination in mind, Sanjay retraced his steps to the sewer entry point. He carefully climbed the ladder and paused to listen for any activity outside. Hearing nothing, he silently opened the sewer cover just a crack to survey the situation.

To his dismay, he saw a mechanical android heading directly toward his position. Thankfully, he hadn't opened the cover fully and had checked first. He quickly closed it. However, even this small vibration was enough for the android's sensors to detect movement.

The android began moving toward the sewer cover. Activating its thermal vision, it scanned the area and spotted Sanjay below. Had Sanjay been farther away, he might have gone undetected, but at this close range, he was as visible as daylight.

[ Human detected. Termination initiated ]

The android said this, and the muzzle of the machine gun in its hands started rotating, pointing towards the sewer cover.

Sanjay also heard this. He pointed his gun, but the muzzle was faster. The bullets broke through the cover. Just as they were about to hit Sanjay, a shield appeared, blocking the bullets from hitting his body. The shield was none other than the defensive pendant he got from Alisha.

The shield didn't allow a single bullet to pass through. Seeing this, a confident smile came to Sanjay's face. He pointed his gun at the android through the broken cover and started shooting. The bullets met the titanium alloy, but nothing happened.

The bullets from the android's muzzle kept hitting Sanjay. Neither could directly hit the other. But over time, Sanjay knew he would become weak, as reinforcements could arrive at any moment. He didn't want to be surrounded.

Seeing an opportunity, he threw a flash grenade at the android. The android didn't try to dodge. A huge bang erupted, and the surrounding area was covered in bright light. The android staggered, trying to maintain its balance. Seeing a few milliseconds of opening, Sanjay jumped up from the sewer onto the road.

But the android didn't give him time to settle. Its machine gun started shooting again. Sanjay's shield could no longer hold and broke into pieces, disappearing. Instantly, another shield was created to replace it.

Before exiting the building, Sanjay had already created five defensive crystals for protection. Now there were only four left.

"Shit," Sanjay muttered, feeling a headache coming on. With no other option left, he created a bow in his hands. It was the same level ten bow he had replicated from Alisha. As it was his prize from the tower, he could bring it inside along with the storage pouch.

He pulled the string, and a fiery arrow materialized. Aiming the arrow at the android, he released it. Before the android's advanced features could react, the arrow hit it, and a huge explosion erupted.

Even with the shield on, Sanjay was pushed back. The android was blown into pieces, and Sanjay saw its head fly off into the distance.

"Finally, it's over," Sanjay sighed.

At first, he hadn't planned to use the bow, thinking the gun would do at least some amount of damage. The arrow he created consumed ten units of mana and was slow. In the same amount of time, he could have released hundreds of bullets from his guns. But seeing the nonexistent damage on the android, he realized the gun might truly be useless in this trial.

As a gun lover, it was hard for him to accept this. Did the usage of guns stop at this floor? No, he shook his head. There must be a way—he just needed to find it. The mana bullet must be the key to enhancing its power. He resolved to explore this option when he reached the fifth-floor trial. Until then, the bow would have to suffice.

He was running, thinking all this in his head. It had been two to three minutes since the battle started. Reinforcements could arrive soon. The reinforcements were not human, and they would not take ten to fifteen minutes to arrive. He needed to move away from this area as soon as possible.