Martial Online.

"Haah… haaah…" A player named Foxbreath dragged his feet behind him as he trudged through the barren wasteland.

His teammate, Penguinstrike, followed behind him with an equally exhausted expression.

While players around them jogged or ran, they were barely able to walk, as they had been very exhausting last night.

They had to run the entire night to escape those flesh-eating zombies.

In real life, they weren't very athletic and often spent hours after school in the nearby PC Cafe, where they played games and watched movies.

After the release of Martial Online, they received the most physical activity since the moment they were born.

Unfortunately, it didn't matter, as their real bodies weren't affected by the continuous physical activity.

They thought they were quite powerful players, as they had achieved high levels and defeated many opponents in the game.

They thought they were powerful enough to reach the second or third round, but realization struck them, as their lack of physical activity in real life now made them suffer.

"T-this sucks!" Foxbreath shouted out loud while looking at the mountain in the distance.

It looked close, yet so far.

"T-this is stupid!" Foxbreath shouted. "H-how can this decide the strongest players? This is a game, so why should the real physique of the gamers matter?!"

"Ngh…" Penguinstrike nodded in agreement with a frustrated expression on their faces. "I-If we had our avatar physiques, we would've finished already!"

Even though they weren't overweight, they didn't look athletic either. Their bodies were average in build and lacked any visible muscle definition.

They continued to shout frustratingly, wishing that the Game Master would hear them so they would understand their frustration.

However, no one heard them except the players that passed them. But they had no time to focus on them, who've obviously given up already.

"Ngh…" Foxbreath raised his gaze to the top of the mountain and saw his vision turn hazy.

It was as if the mountain's top was shrouded in dense fog. It seemed so far away, in a place that wouldn't be possible to reach.

They saw players running in the passageways of the mountains, and some were climbing steep cliffs. Occasionally, they saw some figures fall from the mountain among screams.

"Fuck it…" Foxbreath whispered, and he started to slowly jog up the small hill.

"Ngh…" Penguinstrike immediately tried to follow his teammate by jogging behind him, but his feet were burning, and he struggled to keep up.

Luckily, he didn't have to run long as they reached the decision point at the foot of the mountain.

They were already at the breaking point, and they had only finished the first section.

The mountain and the cloud section were left.

Penguinstrike leaned on the wall and breathed heavily. "I-I suppose it's time to give up. W-we can't reach the top."

Foxbreath looked silently up at the towering peak, determination burning in his eyes.

"Let's climb." He said with a resolute tone.

Penquinstrike looked at his friend with a shocked expression and scoffed. "Did you lose your mind? We can barely walk, let alone climb. Also, I am afraid of heights, so I ain't going anywhere."

Foxbreath put his foot and hand on the mountain wall's holds and began to ascend slowly.

"Wait, stop!" Penguinstrike grabbed the rope and stopped his friend from moving any further up.

He was barely able to hold Foxbreath back.

"Come on…" Foxbreath breathed heavily and looked down at his friend with a fiery gaze. "We can do this."

"No, we definitely can't." Penquinstrike firmly shook his head.

At that moment, a team of two rushed past them, and started climbing up the wall with incredible speed and agility.

"H-huh?!" Penguinstrike looked at the two in awe and disbelief.

"Get out of the way!" A firm-sounding voice said and pushed Foxbreath out of the way before continuing to ascend the wall effortlessly.

"Ngh!" Foxbreath grunted in surprise and caught the person by his foot before he could fully pass him.

The person's lime-green eyes turned down to meet Foxbreath's gaze with a mix of annoyance and curiosity.

"Boss." A red-haired woman had climbed slightly above them and looked down at the scene with a frown. "You'll need help?"

"No." Cerberus said with a scoff, and he kicked Foxbreath off the mountain wall.

Foxbreath tumbled downward and fell three meters to the ground. He looked dazed and confused, but ultimately unhurt as he continued to lie on the ground.

Cerberus then reached out to the ledge above him and pulled himself towards his teammate, Redheart.

"Whoo…" He breathed heavily and started climbing at an insane speed.

They were unlucky enough to start the tournament from near the very back, but they continued to fight through the whole night through the zombie hordes and managed to close the gap to the front.

At the bottom of the mountain, Penguinstrike helped Foxbreath stand.

"S-should we give up?" Penguinstrike suggested. "Even if we try to run to the finishing line, we won't be able to qualify."

"Why…" Foxbreath bit his lip and cried loudly. "T-this stupid game!"

"D-dude?" Penguinstrike opened his eyes in shock.

"Fine, let's give up…" He said tiredly.

Penguinstrike nodded with a pained expression and pressed the forfeit button. Foxbreath did the same, and they then disappeared from the tournament dimension.

…

Two flashes of light appeared in a dark expanse of space.

"Where are we?" Penguinstrike asked and tried to open his interface to log off, but was unsuccessful.

Foxbreath looked to the dark sky and noticed that this place was different from the dark expanse of space during deaths.

This was another dimension covered in a thick blanket of swirling black mist.

Swoosh!

At that moment, a swirling white mist descended from the dark sky and engulfed the two players in its embrace.

A misty figure appeared from the swirling mist and greeted them with a melancholic smile. It had the body type of a female human, but its features were hazy and indistinct.

"Foxbreath and Penguinstrike, you've officially been disqualified from the tournament."

"…" Foxbreath sighed and asked. "We know that already."

"Can we leave?" Penguinstrike asked. "I'll need some sleep."

"Of course, if you wish to." The misty woman smiled and then waved her hands, creating two misty doors.

"If you choose this door." She pointed to the left one. "You'll return to your beloved world, and you can finally rest."

"However." She then pointed at the right door. "If you choose this one, you'll participate in the Wild Card competition."

"Wild Card Competition?" Penguinstrike asked with a frown.

Foxbreath's expression brightened up.

"Yes." The misty woman chuckled. "All the players who failed in the first round will have another chance to rewrite their destiny."

"What's the point…" Penguinstrike sighed heavily. "Is it another running bullshit competition? How can you find the strongest team like this?!"

"Hehe." The misty woman shook her head. "There're reasons for everything, but in this Wild Card Competition, you have your strength back."

"You mean…" Foxbreath looked excited. "We have our levels, skills, and stats back?"

"Yes." The misty woman smiled. "The Wild Card Competition starts once the first round is completed. Do you want to take your chance and prove yourselves?"

Foxbreath and Penguinstrike looked at each other before nodding determinedly. They rushed inside the right door and vanished from the misty realm.

The misty woman smiled and slowly vanished from sight, and then the two misty doors vanished like they had never existed.

…

"Ngh!" Moriarty and Ambrose struggled to climb as the wind whipped around them, threatening to knock them off balance.

However, at that moment, Ambrose reached his hand towards the ledge above and pulled himself up.

"Oh…" He stood tall, and looked in front of him with amazed sight.

There was a cloudy road in front of him, with a golden finishing line in the distance.

"Ngh…" Moriarty struggled to climb up, but then Ambrose grabbed his hand and pulled him up.

"Ah, thanks." Moriarty breathed heavily, looked in the direction of the cloudy road, and felt the breath get stuck inside his throat.

They had finished the climbing, and now only the cloud road towards the finishing line was left!