Chapter 562: A Coffin for the Living
Chapter 562: A Coffin for the Living
"Thirty minutes," I said to no one in particular. "Plenty of time to have a complete mental breakdown."
"You don’t have mental breakdowns." Natalia adjusted my collar with the sort of possessive attention that made my stomach do things unrelated to competition anxiety. "You have tactical recalibrations."
"That’s the nicest way anyone’s ever described my poor life choices."
Maki jumped from my shoulder to Natalia’s, a move that surprised everyone including me. Natalia stiffened for half a second before her hand came up automatically to scratch behind Maki’s ears. The cat purred loud enough to vibrate through Natalia’s combat suit.
"Your familiar is defecting," Skylar observed.
"My familiar does whatever causes me maximum psychological damage."
"Smart cat."
"Dangerously so."
The prep room emptied as competitors filtered toward the simulation pods. I caught glimpses of other guild members through the corridor. Silver eagles on blue fabric. Crimson panthers on gray. The visual hierarchy of the Academy’s social order on full display.
Julian Valerius passed our doorway. His right hand was wrapped in a medical brace that probably cost more than my entire wardrobe. Our eyes met for exactly one second. His expression communicated approximately seventeen different varieties of hatred before he moved on.
"He’s going to try to kill you during the tactical challenge," Isabelle noted, falling into step beside me. "Random team assignments create plausible deniability for friendly fire."
"Julian doesn’t do friendly anything."
"Which is why you should watch your back."
"I have you for that."
She made a sound that might have been approval. Coming from Isabelle, that was basically a marriage proposal.
The simulation pod chamber sprawled across an entire floor of the Atoll’s underground complex. Fifty pods arranged in concentric circles around a central monitoring station where technicians in white coats adjusted settings and checked readouts. Each pod looked like a coffin designed by someone with an aggressive modernist aesthetic. Smooth white surfaces. Glowing blue seams. A reclining interior lined with sensors that would interface directly with the nervous system.
"Full immersion simulation," Cel explained, materializing at my elbow. "The pod stimulates sensory neurons to create a completely realistic combat environment. Pain, temperature, proprioception. Everything except actual death."
"What happens if you die in the simulation?"
"Forced ejection. Automatic disqualification from this event. Zero points."
"So don’t die."
"That would be advisable."
Competitors sorted themselves into pods based on guild affiliation. The Sentinels occupied the premium spots nearest the monitoring station. The Phantoms clustered in the eastern quadrant. Our section sat at the far edge of the chamber, practically in the maintenance corridor.
Reyna stood at the entrance to her pod. Crimson hair braided tight. Combat suit hugging curves that had no business existing on someone who could generate enough voltage to power a small city. Her broken arm was wrapped in a regeneration sleeve that glowed faintly green. She caught me looking and smiled.
Not a friendly smile. The kind of smile that made you check your insurance policy.
"Nakano." Her voice carried across the chamber. "Ready to lose?"
"I was about to ask you the same thing."
"Confident for someone who barely survived yesterday."
"I won yesterday."
"You survived yesterday. There’s a difference."
"Is there? Because from where I’m standing, you’re the one with a broken arm."
Her smile sharpened. "This? A love tap. Barely even felt it."
"I can hit harder next time."
"Please do."
The air between us crackled with something that wasn’t quite hostility. More like mutual recognition. Two predators acknowledging each other across a crowded room.
Natalia’s hand found my lower back. The touch communicated several messages simultaneously. I’m here. I’m watching. If she keeps flirting with you I’ll freeze her reproductive organs.
"Good luck, Cabana."
"I don’t need luck, Nakano. I have talent."
"Talent’s overrated."
"Says the C-Rank who beat an A-Rank yesterday."
"Says the A-Rank who got beat by a C-Rank yesterday."
Reyna laughed. The sound was genuine and surprised, like she hadn’t expected to find me funny. "You’re interesting, Nakano. I’ll give you that."
"I’m a lot of things."
"We’ll see which ones survive the simulation."
She disappeared into her pod. The white surface sealed behind her with a soft hiss.
Natalia’s grip on my back tightened. "She wants you."
"She wants to fight me."
"Same thing for her type."
"Should I be worried about your jealousy?"
"You should be worried about surviving the next two hours. My jealousy can wait."
I kissed her. Quick. Hard. Possessive in a way that probably looked inappropriate for a public venue but felt absolutely necessary for my continued psychological wellbeing. She kissed back with equal intensity, her cold fingers curling around my jaw.
"Win," she said against my lips.
"Planning on it."
"Not planning. Doing."
"Yes, my queen."
She released me with visible reluctance. I walked toward my designated pod. The interior looked like a dentist’s chair designed by someone who hated dentists and chairs equally. Sensors lined every surface. A helmet hung from the ceiling, bristling with neural interface nodes.
"Competitor 47. Nakano, Satori." A technician in a white coat read from her tablet. "Please enter the pod and assume the reclined position. The neural interface will calibrate automatically once the helmet is applied."
"Any chance of permanent brain damage?"
"The simulation operates within VHC safety parameters."
"That’s not a no."
"Please enter the pod."
I entered the pod. The surface was surprisingly comfortable. Temperature regulated to match my body heat. The interior smelled like ozone and hospital antiseptic.
The helmet descended. Nodes pressed against my scalp with gentle pressure. My vision flickered. The world dissolved into static.
Then darkness.
Then light.
I stood in a forest clearing. Ancient trees stretched toward a gray sky. The air smelled like pine and something rotten beneath it. A mist hung between the trunks, thick enough to obscure anything beyond twenty feet.
A notification appeared in my vision. Not from the System. From the simulation itself.
COMBAT SIMULATION INITIALIZED
OBJECTIVE: REACH THE TEMPLE AT THE CENTER OF THE FOREST
ELIMINATE ALL HOSTILE ENTITIES EN ROUTE
SCORING: COMPLETION TIME + KILL COUNT - DAMAGE TAKEN
TIME STARTS: NOW