Several minutes passed by unnoticed.
Kai, Daniel, Damon, and Xavier—all four of them had decided upon their weapons. As decided before, Kai and Xavier chose the shields and spears. While Damon and Daniel went away with shields and longswords.
Just as Kai had suggested before, they all went toward the gap between the fences and recreated his plan.
With Xavier and Kai standing around the corners, their shields up and spears that peaked from the corner—waiting to apprehend the enemy's legs.
While Damon and Daniel stood right in front, just like others, their shields up to create a semi-circled barrier that could easily block and imprison monsters, making them prone to their attacks.
"I still can't believe you were able to come up with such a strategy in such a short time...!" Xavier had regained his usual enthusiastic demeanor as he could not help but look at his newly found idol—Kai.
Kai smiled in response since, at that point, it didn't matter, even if the other people looked suspicious.
Why?
Because, the experience of getting admiration from another, the subtle aftertaste of happiness that filled one's mind—all of it, was something new that Kai had never experienced before.
With time, they seemed to have regained their composure and forgotten about the problem that lay ahead. And, System seemed to have noticed that as well.
Just then, it sent another one of its windows and, once again, replaced their worry-free faces with expressions of concern.
---
[The Second Trial—Trial of Endurance—has begun!]
[Monsters are being awakened.]
---
As if the system could sense their nervousness slowly fading away, it had decided to punish them in its own way.
For a brief moment, silence had befell upon the world. The silent hum of wind softly echoed, as Kai's senses flared up in an instant.
It wasn't a hunch, because this time, he really felt as if he was dying. His body began to shake uncontrollably while his breath grew rough and uneven. Sharp gasps escaped his lungs as tears began to flow out of his eyes like an unstoppable river.
Kai's legs had long since given up and were ready to let him fall to his knees, although, his mind managed to maintain some of its sanity.
As soon as he felt that something was up, he mustered up all of his strength in his arms and plunged the shield and the spear into the ground, letting them become his support instead.
Looking at him falling into such a state, others were shocked and even... Taken aback.
A state that leaves one's body unable to think or perform properly, leaving it in a painful, immovable state—They were all familiar with such a skill. Too familiar.
Damon and Daniel stayed put, scanning through the area like hounds catching a scent.
Xavier on the other hand, wasted no time and abandoned his post. Leaving his weapons behind, he ran behind Kai and supported his trembling body with both his hands.
*Huff... Huff...*
Approximately a minute later, Kai seemed to have begun to calm down. The tremors in his body started dying out while his breathing automatically regained its rhythm.
It was, once again, too sudden of a reaction to be something natural.
His legs gained their strength once again. Although weak, he could stand on his legs once again.
Slowly, as he turned around, he saw the determined look of Xavier, who stood right beside him.
Kai roughly understood his intention as the corner of his lips curled into a smile.
"Th..ank you.." his voice slightly wavered thanks to his rugged breathing.
Xavier looked at him. Happily; a smile tugged onto his face as soon as a few words of appreciation entered his ears.
Realizing that he had regained his composure, Damon couldn't help but quickly ask.
"Kai... Was that 'Fear'?" His eyes didn't dare avert from the grass fields; his voice, though, wasn't as stable as before.
Kai shook his head up and down in response.
"Then... It must be..." Daniel's facial expressions worsened as if he had already guessed the situation and had long since realized the enemy's identity.
"Yea... it's a 'Champion'."
As soon as the word 'champion' escaped Kai's mouth, Damon's grip tightened around his sword. Daniel's jaw clenched. Xavier… for the first time, didn't smile
Let it be the strong and physically capable—Damon, the perfectly balanced guy—Daniel, or the enthusiastic kid—Xavier.
Each and every one of them had lowered their eyes in disappointment because they all knew that the 'Champion' wasn't someone they could handle.
***
Champion.
As the name goes by, it was a title given to those who surpassed everyone else by a margin so big that others could only admire its height from far below.
Throughout the whole humanity that played even a little bit of the game—"The Seven Calamities"—in its sixth Calamity, they were well aware of the name "Champion."
Although, it was, but a nickname for the title "Goblin Champion."
Goblin Champion was a title given to a single warrior of a tribe that surpassed everyone else and could fight hundreds of others at the same time and would still manage to claim the victory.
It wasn't just that its raw strength seemed unsurpassable that even after spending months, people still found it difficult to match up with it.
But it also had many traits that made it stand up to its name, "the nightmare."
And one of these traits was "Fear."
It was a state inflicted upon those with higher levels of consciousness, potentially the higher levels, to make it equally difficult for even the veterans.
In the state of "Fear", the target would freeze up for a certain time in a defenseless position, which it would take advantage of and kill the people without even batting an eye.
And as of now...
In front of 4 literal newbies whose stats and skills were nothing but human, such a being was about to show up as their enemy.
An enemy that they had to defend against and survive for 30 minutes.