"Fuck.Fuck.Fuck.Fuck.FUCK."

Stay calm.

Even if you are staring death in the face, keep a cold rationale, and never falter. 

My heart stops running through my chest as I take a deep breath.

Think things through.

The only thing stronger than a sharp sword is a quick brain.

I take note of my surroundings as my brain starts to pick up the pace.

Don't Die.

Anything is possible as long as you stay alive.

Being faced with the incredible sight in front of me, I couldn't help but think back on the three rules that have kept me alive to this day.

"Even so... this can't be real, can it?"

Even as the words left my mouth, I already knew the answer. The blue box shining in front of me told me all that I needed to know.

Planet E13GTE, Designation EARTH. After being observed for a long time, it has been decided that your planet will be ascended into a D rank planet. I am called The System, and I will be here to help you along your journey. Whether you become a hero or a villain, a king or a peasant, a god or a cold corpse... this will be determined by your actions. Good luck humans... you will need it. Time Until Integration - 10 Minutes

A quick glance at the 10 minutes until integration spurred me into motion. I was in the middle of nowhere because for some odd reason I had the urge to go out for a walk in the forest behind my college campus. I was easily over 30 minutes away from campus, but I was only around 5 minutes away from a small river that had drinkable water. The best thing to do in case of unknown events is to secure a source of water and food. Forgoing the idea of food at the moment, I begin the trek to the river while thinking of what this could mean. 

"Earth is becoming a D rank planet... so does that mean there are higher ranks? Logically speaking, it should go from D to C to B to A and maybe even to S. I wonder what the differences between the different ranks are." 

Coming face to face with the river, my monologuing ends.  A sigh escapes my body as I take in my reflection. I had straight black hair and black eyes that seemed to stare into the soul. My light brown skin seemed to meld into my black and red hoodie and black jeans. I never considered myself handsome, but I also never considered myself as an ugly individual. In preparation for whatever 'integration' entails, I start stretching to warm up my muscles.

After stretching, I bring my eyes to a timer that showed up in front of me in anticipation.

10

9

A breath escapes from my mouth as my body starts to tense up.

8

7

My hands clench into a fist as my mind wanders to a few of my associates.

6

5

4

"You... what are you?"

"How could you?!?! I thought we were friends!"

"No matter what happens, I will NEVER forgive you."

Scenes of my past pass through my head as the timer continues to tick ever so slowly.

3.

 

 

 

2.

 

 

 

1.

All of my surroundings turn white as a sense of weightlessness fills my body. As I feel my body start moving, I feel my consciousness start to fade. Right before my consciousness fades entirely, I hear a machinelike voice speaking.

"Integration has begun. Selecting Chosen."

///////// ??????? minutes later /////////////////

Hngh

A groan escapes my lips as I feel my consciousness start to return to me. Sitting up I find myself surrounded by a lot of other people lying on the ground.

"Hogh? I didn't expect people to wake up yet. It seems that we have some interesting chosen this time."

Hearing a voice, I feel my body jolt up as I try to locate whoever was speaking. Looking around there were a few people who caught my eye. There were only 3 other people that were also awake. One was a skinny guy with tan skin wearing a white hoodie and glasses seemingly thinking about something. Another was a male teenager with blonde hair and green eyes wearing blue jeans and a t-shirt looking around with a sharp gaze. The last one was a girl in what seems to be all black attire with light red hair and red eyes that held a certain fire. I find myself stuck in her eyes when she suddenly locks eyes with me with a fierce glare. They all seemed interesting, but they didn't seem to be the one that spoke.

"4 irregulars. Never a dull moment in the tower."

The same voice speaks again but this time I am able to pinpoint who is speaking. Floating in the air above me was one of the most beautiful women that I have ever seen. Long white hair flowing down a body that is filled in all the right places. At first glance, she seemed like a human, as long as you ignored the white wings that seemed to float outwards from her back. With a white robe and a killer smile, she seemed to be the incarnation of an angel. While gazing toward her, we lock eyes and I take note of her light blue eyes with a cross inside of them. She smirks toward me before continuing to speak.

"Alright, since we have some time before the trash wake up why don't we play a game?"

A sense of confusion fills me as I find the other 3 also looking at each other.

"Before we do that, where are we and who are you?"

Deciding to bite the bullet, I fire the question at the woman in hopes of a useful answer.

"All in due time. Anyways, you guys have 30 seconds to decide whether you want to play this game or not. There is no penalty for not wanting to do it. Do be warned though, if you fail this game it is likely that you will no longer be living." The slight smirk on her face seemed to turn slightly darker at that moment.

Slightly frustrated at the lack of an answer, I try to think of the benefits of playing this 'game'. Before coming up with an answer I take a look at the other 3 people that were awake. Glasses was shaking his head, Blondie closed his eyes and turned away, and lastly, the red-haired girl was seemingly lost in thought before finally shaking her head. 

"10 seconds left."

Fuck it. I've never been one to shy away from a challenge.

"I'll do it."

The smile on her face seems to grow even wider in response.

"I look forward to it, come closer."

As I step over a few people's bodies lying motionless on the ground, I see glasses and red looking at me as if I was insane. After a few moments, I find myself face to face with the breathtaking beauty.

"Alright, the game is simple. Just stay standing for 30 seconds and you win, got it?"

Her blue eyes seemed to stare into my soul as her smile resembled a devil instead of an angel.

"Just stay standing for 30 seconds? I have 2 questions. What's the catch, and what's my reward?"

As she comes closer to me I smell the slight fragrance of flowers.

"No catch. I'm just going to throw a little bit of killing intent your way, and you just have to not go insane. It's super simple really. If you pass then I'll give you a hint about what's going on here."

Thinking it through, there didn't seem to be anything too crazy with the game.

"Fine. I'll agree if you add on 1 extra condition."

Her eyes seem to flash with disdain as she nonchalantly responds to me.

"Depends on the condition. Don't overstep your boundaries HUMAN."

My blood runs cold at the way she calls me a human, but I don't back down.

"I just wanted the pleasure to know your name."

Her expression seems to freeze as she registers what I just said before she breaks out into a cute laugh.

"You know, you're pretty interesting. If you don't die here, I wouldn't mind talking to you some more... Nonetheless, let us begin."

As the last word leaves her mouth, a single emotion filled my body.

FEAR.

My entire body is enveloped in a thick killing intent that seemed endless. As I stare into her blue eyes, they no longer seemed as pretty as before. Sweat gushes out of my body as the killing intent grows in intensity. My entire body was screaming in fear as if it found its natural predator. Instead of a beautiful young woman in front of me, it was a blood-soaked demon that would kill me for fun.

"You can resist this much? Interesting. 20 seconds left, do try not to die."

UGHHH

Barely managing to stifle a groan I feel my mind starting to creak under the pressure of such thick killing intent. It felt like I was on an ancient battlefield going face to face with a legendary warrior. My legs start to shake before I forcefully stabilize them.

"Is this... all.. you got!?"

Barely managing to force a smirk onto my face, I stare straight into the woman's eyes.

"Hmph. Courting Death."

The killing intent she transmitted increased twofold and for a moment my mind goes blank.

'Maybe I can just let go, and I won't have to face this pain anymore' I think to myself, and I feel my legs start to buckle underneath me. Right before I give up, a voice inside of me spoke with unwillingness.

"NOT LIKE THIS!!"

A burst of energy explodes outward from my body and the woman has a look of shock on her face as she stares at me. If I were able to look into my eyes, I would see a bright red sword in my right eye.

"A mid-rank sword variant blessing? You shouldn't be able to awaken that yet, even if you're irregular. Maybe you are the incarnation of a rank A being? No that doesn't make any sense."

The killing intent disappears as the woman starts to mutter to herself.

"Did... I ... succeed?"

Through bated breaths I manage to ask the woman if I passed, breaking her from her reverie.

"Interestingly enough, you did manage to succeed. Though the method is kind of... whatever, I'll just treat it as my loss."

A breath that I didn't realize I was holding in was released as I collapse onto the ground. On the ground I find myself looking up toward the sky, only to realize that the entire sky was dyed red. Sighing, I mark that as a later problem and look back toward the woman only to find her inches away from my face looking into my eyes.

"The more that you fight, the higher your chance of survival. Never take the easy way, it will always be harder later on."

After saying that she turns to fly back into the sky.

"Wait! Your name... you never told me your name."

She turns back to look at me and with the cutest smile I have ever seen she responds.

"Lexi StarBorn."