"Order!" The celestial thundered.
"Return order lest I be forced to strike you all down."
Of course, she was merely bluffing. But her cold tone and piercing gaze made it next to impossible to catch her bluff.
Unwilling to be struck down, the chosen quickly calmed down.
"As you can see from the weapon descriptions displayed before those of you with weapons, it is beginner level, mainly for this round. But if luck be on your side, it can extend to the next rounds," she said
"Just like the shards, the weapons are also graded."
Those with weapons nodded, affirming her words.
Every weapon was a 3-star superior grade. But to each their own varying stats.
And the stats, if not great, were decent.
To this, the chosen admitted the celestial were at least generous.
"Be aware of this," the celestial continued calmly.
"The ratio to which time flows by in your world is not equal here. In here, time flows slower. For example, an hour here is less than nine minutes in your world. It is a 7:1 ratio. That is, 7 hours here equals 1 hour in your real world."
"Isn't that too slow?" the Chosen murmured.
"Does that mean if we spend eternity here, they wouldn't even notice much in our real world?"
"It's quite a cool concept."
"At least we don't have to worry about missing important events in our real world while we are here."
That is good, Yuin thought.
With such a time difference, I can quickly get back home to my siblings after the rounds.
Another thought that contradicted this soon hit him.
The corners of his lips creased in embarrassment.
Why am I lumping myself in with the Chosen? If I survive today, I'm sure nothing will be dragging me back here.
"Now…. for the quest."
Everyone turned their gazes to the celestial.
Their chests pounded with anticipation and some quivered with excitement as the awaited moment was finally upon them.
Without a word from the celestial, a glowing screen appeared before all of them.
___________________
Chosen: 11,835
Alive: 11,835
Dead: 0
Quest Clearers: 0
Failed: 0
_________________
༄ROUND 1༄
•PRIMARY QUEST•↡
[Slay 330 Elite Red Orcs]
•SECONDARY QUEST•↡
[Locked] [Complete the primary quest to unlock] [Optional]
________________
•RED ORC GRADES•
Lower Red Orc → [Level 1–5]Primitive brutes driven by instinct. Weak individually, but tenacious. Crude weapons. Easily outwitted but a bit hard to kill.
➤ Low threat. Training fodder.
________________________________
Standard Red Orc → [Level 6–15]Hardened warriors with sharpened aggression. Begin to exhibit pack tactics. Dangerous in numbers. Wields heavier arms and armor.
➤ Moderate threat. Can overwhelm unprepared parties.
________________________________
Elite Red Orc → [Level 16–25]Tactical enforcers with battlefield awareness. Coordinate strikes, flank enemies, andexploit weaknesses. Deadly precision.
➤ High threat. Requires coordination to survive.
________________________________
Champion Red Orc → [Level 26–40]Warlords of destruction. Trained in specialized combat arts, often wielding enchanted weapons. Rarely fight alone. Can lead entire squads with strategic precision…. +
➤ Major threat. One can turn the tide of a battle.
________________________________
Boss Red Orc → [Level 41–60]Terrifying juggernauts who blend brute force with battlefield tactics. Possess unique powers, like shockwaves, rage-induced regeneration and more. Rule warbands with iron will…. +
➤ Critical threat. Capable of decimating armies.
________________________________
Overlord Red Orc → [Level 61–100]Legendary conquerors born of war and dark magic. Command legions with supernatural control, tear through fortifications, and defy death itself. Each is a walking apocalypse.
61-70 → Early Overlord
71-85 → Greater Overlord
86-95 → Apex Overlord
96-100 → Transcendent Overlord
➤ World-tier threat. One can raze civilizations.
_________________
•TIME ALLOTTED•
—7:00:00
•QUEST COMPLETION•
—Rewards
•FAILURE TO COMPLETE QUEST•
—Death
_______________
A deafening silenceshrouded the chosen. The air was still. Even their breaths could barely be heard.
They simply gazed at the interface.
Set aside the limited time required to slay that many Red Orcs that some chosen already found absurd, the majority of them were in stunned silence because they just discovered the existence of a world-tier orc.
Those who felt responsible for protecting their world could already foresee the destruction and possible near-extinction of their kinds, should the celestials release an overlord Red Orc into their world.
Their situation now weighed heavier than it had. And their goals to gain strength now burned brighter.
There was no room to slack.
While the majority of the chosen were worried and concerned for this, Yuin didn't really grasp the situation.
Since he only got by on a meager vocabulary, he couldn't really read the Red Orc grade descriptions thoroughly.
He could only pick out the simple words which happened to not be the crucial ones.
But he sensed the shift in energy and air around everyone.
I am missing something important.
He folded an arm across his chest, and rested a hand on his chin as he studied the interface.
But a functional illiterate remained a functional illiterate.
He thought about asking a chosen but everyone was stern faced and focused on what was in front of them.
Disturbing them seemed like a burden, so he couldn't bring himself to.
If it's something important, why isn't the celestial talking about it?
I might be missing some crucial information here, jeez, he worried.
As he did, he felt his player's gaze heavy on him.
Yuin straightened up and turned to him.
Their eyes met for a brief second but the player instantly turned away in cold sweat.
"Not so fast!"
Yuin grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back.
"Here," he pointed at the interface. "Can you tell me what's written?"
His player followed his hand, and stared a while at what Yuin was pointing, giving Yuin the impression that he was reading it.
But after some moments, his player returned his gaze to him.
"I can't see anything though," he blurted, adjusting his thin, rose gold rim glasses.
Yuin's brow twitched, irritation stirring.
"I think because it's a quest for the chosen, not the players, so we can't see it," the player added.
His reason sounded no more than right so Yuin couldn't even be annoyed with him.
"Hah, just forget it," he said with a frustrated tone and a dismissive wave.
Meanwhile, the other sets of chosen whose priority was their own survival, were in panic for how absurdly difficult the quest seemed.
Not only were they to slay Elite Red Orcs whose threat levels were high, they had to slay 330 of them.
That too, within 7 hours.
And failure meant death.
"Isn't this the same as telling us to just die?"
"Why did they make us believe we had a chance to begin with?"
"This is absurd! They brought us here to eliminate us. The chosen were merely food for the monsters, not any saviors as they made us believe."
Their voices of worry drifted through the field.
Some trembled in silence, while some still held hope amid the fear.
"Focus now," the celestial beckoned. "Behold with your eyes, your adversaries."
With a single sweep of her hand, the dense wall of fog looming on one side of the field dissolved, uncovering a second wall of fog at the far end and the sight the first had concealed.
Sprawled across the wide expanse where the first fog had just faded were countless Red Orcs, their forms scattered over the landscape in varying shapes and sizes —some tall, some squat.
Clad in various clothes and armors, they wielded all sorts of heavy weapons.
Their faces were designated with different kinds of marks and symbols.
Their horns were jagged with their tusks poking out of their mouths.
Their numbers alone greatly overwhelmed the total numbers of the chosen present.
But more than their overwhelming numbers and appearances, something else baffled and stilled the chosen in place.
The orcs were disciplined. They stretched wide across the field in ordered ranks and measured rows, their lines set with strategic intent—arrayed in the kind of formation drilled into seasoned warriors.
A group of them at the front, carried spears in one hand and on the other, lofty shields stationed as a defense wall round about, protecting the ones with weapons—the offensive fighters.
What's more, they weren't roaring or attempting any attacks. They remained in their formation, seemingly awaiting a signal from a leader.
By appearance alone, the chosen could tell the orcs weren't to be underestimated. Since the majority of them were more focused on the world-tier level orcs earlier and were concerned for their homes, they didn't really take into account the possibility of the Elite Orcs having such presence.
It didn't seem a mere battle with them having the upper hand. The orcs seemed to have come prepared for a war.
A cloud of fear hung over most of the Chosen.
"I-I.. I knew it! We were brought here to die!"
A chosen staggered back in fear.
"C-can we really survive this?"
"They're tall."
"They seem like…. they'd tear us apart with ease."
The chosen who weren't able to secure any weapons were in more panic than most. They'd begun to foresee their doom.
"H-how are we supposed to fight those with our bare hands?!"
"Can we even do any damage without a weapon?"
The dread was thick.
Met with such reactions from the Chosen, the celestial's face bloomed with thrill.
"Why do you fret?" She asked.
Her green eyes were alight and glowing in excitement.
The grin on her face was wide, which invited more sense of dread.
"From the beginning, this was never merely a quest for slaughter, but a war against tactics, formations, and intelligence," she said with excitement.
Her arms were spread as if glorifying the destruction that was about to take place.
"Should it not be this way, when you, the chosen, are a species with high intelligence that have been given time to prepare? Should you not be met with opponents of equal traits?"
She cackled lowly, the sound grating and creepy.
"The quest…. starts now!"