Nothing remained where the monster fell. No loot drop. No fanfare announcing experience gained. Just black blood, a rancid stench, and six kids gasping for air.

  "Hff-- hff-- hff--"

  The silence lasted three seconds.

  "Hey."

  Cha Runa pulled himself up, breathing ragged. His eyes were bloodshot. Without a beat of hesitation, he stalked toward Jeong Noah.

  "Were you trying to get me killed back there?"

  "W-what? What are you talking about? I couldn't see either--"

  "Couldn't see? You're the size of a refrigerator and you couldn't see? You blocked the whole lane and I almost died!"

  SHOVE.

  Runa rammed his palm into Noah's shoulder. Noah stumbled back, face crumpling with injustice, but despite his size, the aggression pinned him down. He couldn't get a word out.

  "I was trying to cover you--"

  "Bullshit! Cover me? You were hiding behind that scrap metal because you were scared. Just say it!"

  Runa grabbed for Noah's collar. The situation went sideways in an instant.

  "Will you SHUT UP? I'm losing my mind over here!"

  Stolen story; please report.

  Yoon Serin -- still crouched on the ground with her head in her hands -- screamed.

  "You screwed up all my calculations! He aggro'd the thing with that war cry and my mana circuit got tangled -- can you not see that? I'm about to throw up!"

  "Who asked you to whine?"

  Kang Gayeon cut in, glaring at Serin while she tied a rough bandage around her thigh wound.

  "Desk jockey. Did you even swing once? You sat in the back and watched. Don't talk like you did something."

  "Excuse me? Desk jockey?"

  Insults flew. Voices climbed. The terror that had gripped them seconds ago was now rerouting itself as hatred -- aimed at each other.

  It was pathetic. These were the nation's hand-picked S-Class prospects. A stray dog would've laughed.

  Han Seorin watched the circus with a blank face. She wiped the monster's fluids off her palm onto her pants and thought:

  Hopeless.

  She had no intention of stepping in. They could kill each other for all she cared. But there was one thing those idiots were forgetting.

  [Bzzt.]

  [Engagement concluded.]

  The dry voice of Central Control crackled through the in-ear comms.

  [No chatter. No rest period. Proceed to Sector B immediately.]

  Everyone froze. Runa threw a punch at empty air, seething. Serin bit down on her lip and swallowed whatever was about to become a sob.

  "...You heard them."

  Seorin spoke for the first time. Her voice wasn't calm. It was cold.

  "You want to fight? Fight. But do it while you walk. Unless you'd rather get shot for insubordination."

  She didn't spare the monster's corpse a glance. She just started walking. It wasn't leadership. It was the resignation of the person who read the room first.

  "And you. Big guy."

  "...Huh?"

  Noah flinched.

  "Keep your eyes open next time. You block my line again and I'll put this spike through you before the monsters get the chance."

  Her eyes weren't joking. Noah swallowed hard. Runa spat on the ground.

  "Cold bitch."

  Someone muttered it under their breath. Seorin didn't respond. She could live with being hated. Being hated meant being alive.

  The six of them started walking again. Not as teammates who trusted each other's backs. As rivals who saw each other as obstacles.

  From deep in the forest of collapsed buildings, the cry of a second monster echoed through the ruins.