The screen lit up in front of me, names popping up like the world's weirdest lottery.
I wasn't even looking for mine—I just stared, wide-eyed and bouncing on my toes like a kid waiting for her gifts.
My face made a weird expression, blank at first and then scrunching up slowly.
"OH—oh no. No, no, no. This is real," I whispered, staring at my name floating at the top like some cursed crown.
"Wait… I'm first?" I asked no one, the screen just flickering like it was proud of itself. "That's alphabetical, right?" I questioned.
And is if right on queue, another screen popped up.
[Team leader: Pixie—Soul Strength Highest in Team]
"Oh come on!" I groaned, stomping once. "Soul strength? What does that even mean?" I asked again, but nope.
The System doesn't care.
While I continued worrying about how to deal with that bratty kid name Vayu, who by the way was 2 years younger than me, I heard a pair of footsteps making way towards me.
He walked towards me with a calm, and permanent look of "I tolerate you" on his face. His wind aura flickered around him like he was too cool for gravity.
"You know I'm not built for this shit!" Squeking out loud, I continued, muttering to myself. "I dont even have a single power…"
The bou tilted his head and smirked, as if his ears had heard what I just said softly. "You're the one with the highest soul strength though."
"Because I'm emotionally unstable!" I said. "That's not a power."
Next came Eren Romero, big guy, wide shoulders, arms like stone pillars.
I heard he once punched the ground during a spar and accidentally made a small trench.
"Pixie," he greeted, nodding politely, then turned to Vayu. "Yo."
He didn't question anything. Just walked in like we were already mid-mission. I liked him.
Lina Romero, the walking forest.
She had vines braided into her hair and a green scarf wrapped around her wrist, her hands glowing softly with healing energy as she walked up to us.
She smiled shyly, but in that terrifying way that made you stand up straighter.
"You haven't eaten, have you?" she said, looking directly at me.
"I—what? How did you—"
"You look pale. Don't pass out during the trial. I have a tea recipe—"
"Congrats, now we have a talking recipe book to ourselves." Vayu muttered under his breath.
"Haw," The tree like girl huffed. "You should be scolded more." She said, not batting him another eye.
Then came Kane in a puff of smoke.
Like a bad magician's trick, he popped up, spun in place, and posed like he was a ninja from some off-brand comic book.
"Team C's best distractor, at your service!" he said, voice muffled because half his face was hidden in a scarf.
"You look like you're about to rob a bank," I said.
"Thank you," he grinned.
Then his eyes flicked up to the glowing list, saw my name, and pointed. "You? You're the leader?"
Vayu raised an eyebrow too, curious to how I would react.
Lina didn't say anything, but she was definitely judging me. Hard.
"Okay, I get it, I'm a 16-year- old child," I snapped. "But I'm a child with terrifying soul power and a slightly unhinged imagination. So unless one of you wants to argue with the giant glowing orb in the sky, I'm in charge."
Then Vayu leaned closer to me and whispered, "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
I raised an eyebrow, unable to understand why this guy was being so comfortable with me.
Truth was, I didn't want to be the leader. I wanted to prank someone, float around with Vayu's wind powers, maybe hide in a tree and pretend to be a bird.
But the system picked me, and… I couldn't argue with that.
Besides, I had to prove something. Especially with him on the other team.
I turned to Vayu, my smirk returning.
"Everyone's panicking because I'm the leader," I said. "But you and I both know… there's only one person here who can beat Noah."
Vayu blinked, but didn't disagree.
He just tilted his head and said, "Try not to get blood on your cute little shows."
"Pixie," Kane called, already crouched low, playing with smoke between his fingers. "If I vanish mid-fight, don't wait for me. That's just me being strategic."
"That's you running away."
Eren raised a hand. "Do we have a plan?"
"Step one: Confuse everyone.
"That's not a plan," Lina snapped.
"That's a vibe," Kane nodded.
Vayu shrugged. "As long as we win."
Before we could keep arguing, Grandpa Venus stepped forward again. His robes shimmered, like the stars themselves were woven into the cloth.
"You all saw your teams," he said, voice echoing across the massive hall. "You will now get two minutes before your first match begins and you're teleported to the location for Phase 2."
"Wait—no real time to get to know them?" I called out.
"That's the point," he said, smiling like a smug cat. "You think real fights give you prep time? This isn't some drama club."
I raised a hand. "I'm actually in the drama club—"
"Then you'll die dramatically," he said cheerfully.
Kane turned to Vayu. "We're gonna die. But like, funny die, right?"
He rolled his eyes. "Just don't pull another one of your horror illusion traps."
Eren gave me a look like he was already planning my funeral.
Kane was vanishing into smoke just to show off.
Vayu sat on a rock like he was already over it. And Vayu?
Soon, all of us started walking together to the portal that had appeared in between the virtual reality room.
I looked at the spiralling circle of colours that hovered into the air.
'So this is how we'll start our phaee 2, huh?' Everyone else moved too, teams spreading out, enemies forming right before my eyes.
I looked at the people I might have to fight.
All of them, walking was some kind of war.