Wallace leapt out of his chair with anger on his face, his face twisted with rage. He stared angrily at the kind middle aged man who gave the warning to Zack.

“You little shitty bronze mark. When this examination starts, you’ll be the first one to–”

“Ahem!” cleared a voice from the front of the lecture hall.

Every soul in the auditorium froze what they were doing to look down at the professor’s podium. Standing behind the podium was a broad shouldered figure, someone who had clearly not been there just a moment ago. By his side were five guards wearing helmets that stood awkwardly like animatronics. 

With a bow tie and a tuxedo, the authoritative man who just spoke had a deep voice and well groomed gray mustache that anyone in the country could recognize. It was the popular television host Callow Bitterman, the titular host of the popular Late Night with Callow Bitterman show, where he entertained the hottest celebrities and most famous personalities. But why was such a famous talk show host addressing them here? Callow retired shortly before the Royal Road servers closed down. Now that he thought about it, it was the day before the servers were closed. What once seemed like an unrelated coincidence now felt a bit more sinister. 

“Those of you who are still standing, find a seat immediately. The lecture is now beginning,” announced Callow Bitterman in a serious tone. His famous voice carried with it a familiar professionality that could be heard on all streaming broadcasts around the world. 

Murmurs began to spread across the room as Zack quickly found a seat to sit in, next to a blonde haired university girl who nodded at him when he sat down, her long straight hair spilling down her shoulders. She carried a faint expensive perfume smell, and her pretty sloped nose complemented her dazzling snowy blue eyes that had a sheen that looked like they were watering and sparkling. 

“Hey,” he acknowledged her. “I’m Zack.”

“Ariel,” she replied in a friendly tone with an elegant gesture, despite appearing a bit shaken. “Pleased to meet you.” 

Zack was momentarily stunned. It wasn’t just her attractive appearance that shocked him, but rather everything from her mannerisms to her outfit denoted affluence. She looked like she had just stepped out of a fashion exhibit. Looking closer at her, he realized that she was wearing designer clothing from top to bottom that Zack had only seen glimpses of in advertisements. 

“I just can’t believe that this isn’t a dream,” Ariel continued, a bit of tremor in her voice. “Is there going to be another monster this time?” 

“Probably. There was a damaged fence outside,” Zack replied, still finding it strange that his homeless looking self was sitting next to someone who looked like one of those rich social media influencers that were spoiled by their parents. 

The television host standing in the front of the auditorium cut off Zack’s reply before he could continue. 

“Welcome, examinees. Those of you who have made it here have all passed the preliminary examination. I applaud you for surviving thus far.”

“However, not all of you have passed in the same manner.”

A woman cried out from her seat. “Let us out of here, you assholes! I want to go home!” 

Carrow Bitterman snapped his white gloved fingers at the interruption. Instantly, a pair of animatronic guards appeared by the sides of the woman and grabbed her arms.

“Any further interruptions will result in ejection from the lecture hall. Do you understand?” 

A low growl came from outside in the courtyard, sending a wave of shock across the examinees. Whatever it was, its size could be felt from the vibrations that its growl sent through the walls. Judging by the previous examination, monsters were par for the course, but hearing the beast gnash its teeth cemented the reality of the danger that lay outside. 

The stupefied woman could only nod feebly, not wanting to get thrown to the beast like a sack of meat. With another snap of the gray haired Carrow Bitterman’s fingers, the animatronic guards loosened their hold in her arms and stepped back, before disappearing once more. 

“Ahem. As I was saying… While some of you merely survived the first examination, others have thrived and even vanquished the challenges presented to you. This is the kind of proactivity that this program hopes to foster among each and every one of you. Seizing the initiative is essential for those that wish to climb the Tower and explore the Labyrinths as well as earn the goodwill of sponsors, and so we have created a suitable challenge to push all of you to survive.”

“But before I explain the challenge ahead of you, let me distribute the mark rewards. First are the bronze marks.”

Callow lifted a bronze index card into the air and began to read off names. Gasps filled the auditorium as beams of light shone down from the ceiling as each of fourteen names were called, including Ariel’s. 

A bronze colored origami square landed in her hand. Then, several items appeared in front of her. A medkit, two flares, and a children’s lunchbox the same color as her origami square. It was a strange set of items to say the least. 

Across the lecture hall, examinees were glancing at each other suspiciously, as players whispered to form alliances and keeping mental note of who the bronze marks were. Those who had bronze marks were not so easily won over, however. Several players eyed the distributed items greedily, without a doubt already making plans to pry them from dead players’ bodies. 

All the while, Wallace silently stared at a few people including Zack. If what the other man said was true, then Wallace was on the hunt for any gold marks, and that included him. 

There was a particularly muscular man wearing sunglasses, in a tank top that displayed biceps that were bigger than a person’s head. He received the bronze mark. Despite his intimidating outer appearance, Zack felt a sense of meditative calm coming from him. Possibly a martial arts practitioner. 

“Hm… that is quite a few bronze marks this time around. Not too shabby,” Callow Bitterman said. “I hope that at least a few of you survive.” 

“Now, onto our esteemed silver marks. I am proud to announce that there are four of you this time around, and wish you the best of luck in your trials to come.” 

Callow held up a silver index card and read from it. 

“Wallace Seferant.” 

“Sofia Alley.”

“Alicia Xin.” 

“Nicolas Abernickel.” 

Beams of light and several items appeared in front of the four silver marks, and all four of them hastily covered up their belongings, unwilling to divulge any information about what they held. Zack didn’t see anything particularly different other than a slightly larger lunchbox and a small pouch bulging with what appeared to be tokens of some kind. 

“I hope that you will all attain an Alias as soon as possible,” Callow said gravely, without pausing to explain just what exactly an alias was. 

“Now, this concludes the–” Callow started, before pausing with a frown. “Hm? Another card?” 

His eyes grew wide as a golden index card appeared in his hand, with only one name on it. “This cannot be… a gold mark?” 

“Sylvester!” Callow bellowed. Not a moment later, a tabby cat stepped out of a dimensional portal and landed on the podium next to him. 

“You called?” the gray tabby cat spoke, leaning down to lick its balls. 

“A talking cat?” Ariel exclaimed softly, her eyes squinted to see it. She still looked visibly shaken by the beast outside, but the presence of the cat had calmed her a bit. 

Zack felt very much the same way. Whatever creature was right outside that door, he hadn’t seen or heard of it before in his currency mining days. The prospect of going up against an entirely new enemy type did not sit too well with him, and he felt his palms begin to sweat ever so slightly. The presence of a ridiculous talking cat was a much needed mental break. 

“What is the meaning of this?” bellowed the television host, shaking the golden index card at Sylvester the tabby cat. 

Sylvester twisted his head and scanned the index card, then sniffed it. “That’s an authentic gold mark. Don’t make such a fuss.”

“A gold mark? When was the last time we had one of these?” 

“Several cycles ago,” Sylvester replied casually, laying on its belly and yawning. “You should treat the gold mark with respect. He is an important and valued guest, and several sponsors have already taken an interest in him.”

Suddenly, the cat stood upright and looked up at Callow with a serious look on its face. “Do not disappoint the sponsors. You can be replaced far more easily than I can be. The council is watching, as always.” 

With that offhanded threat, Sylvester leapt off the table. “I’ll be off now,” he said, disappearing into a portal and leaving the auditorium in stunned silence. 

Callow cleared his throat in an attempt to take back control of the situation. “Ahem. Now that Sylvester has verified the authenticity of the gold mark, I humble present to you the first and only gold mark present. Zachary Abraxas.” 

Zack felt Wallace’s greedy gaze drill into him as a light from above shone down once more, and a brilliant golden origami square appeared in front of him as the entire auditorium looked on in silence. 

“Does that mean he killed the monster in the preliminary examination?” an examinee whispered from behind. 

“Yeah, I think so,” their tablemate replied. 

“That’s amazing. How is that even possible?” 

“Who knows. Maybe he’s had experience killing before. Just look at how dirty he looks,” the examinee replied. 

“Ah. I was going to ask to work with him, but maybe not. That sounds scary.” 

Ariel shifted away from him a little, frowning slightly at the comments that were being whispered. Her friendly demeanor was replaced by a more distrusting one as she physically distanced herself from him and crossed her arms. Although he had to admit it that stung his feelings ever so slightly to be typecasted, he couldn’t really blame her for being cautious. 

[You have received a Gold Mark reward set.] 

Zack quickly took the golden origami square and tucked it into his pocket. After that, three extra items appeared before him aside from the items given to bronze participants and a larger lunchbox.

There was a small, stubby brass key with a circular end, the kind that would unlock utility closets at a school. It had a small tag attached with the words storage room written on it, making its use unambiguous. 

[Key to the Storage Room has been received.] 

Next, a pouch with ten tokens inside, the same bonus that the silver marks received. 

[10x Vending Machine Tokens have been received.] 

And finally, an unassuming journal that appeared to be handwritten and weathered. This was a unique item, one that the silver marks did not receive. The moment that Zack took it into his hand, it disappeared. 

[Chronicles of Gakuen High has been uploaded onto your phone.]