Legitimately, this entire thing is killing as the first test. Enjoy. ^ ^(')

Anyways, today is a special day, and that certain person whom I will not name... I hope you enjoy all the bloodshed~! (Just so you know, this chapter was hardly even done, but I went on and finished it in one fell swoop just for the occasion. You're welcome~.)

-X-X-X-

Ren's P/O/V

This whole thing is crazy.

Legitimately, that Jimmy sounded like she was no more than 13 at best!

So...

He cringed as they passed by yet another crushed building on fire with the blood of people flowing out underneath.

How the HELL can she possibly be the mastermind behind all this sh*t?!

Yes, he knew perfectly well that appearances didn't mean everything (prime example being a certain undead white-haired devil on Earth) but... still!

Then again, he'd been preparing to kill, manipulate, and use people before he was even ten, so he was probably a hypocrite for saying/thinking such things.

"Does anybody know what we're even supposed to do?" Turtle spoke up. Ren had to give it to her, she looked totally fine even midst all the gore and destruction. He'd assumed that she was the typical weak-willed young teenage girl, but she was taking all of this in stride very well. She mentioned she's a world where there are Angels and Demons, he recalled. I'd thought she was an Angel from her cheerily bright personality, but... it would make more sense that she's fine with all of this if she's a Demon from Hell.

"Not a single clue," Remily confessed. This was somebody he had to watch out for-why? 

He cared greatly not to get any injuries or have his ears bled out by the end of this, thank you very much. Remily's temper was very short-almost as short as her height. Then again, she was the youngest out of all of them, being only 14.

"So, just wondering," Remi said-ah yes, the one who seemed to hate humanity, Ren could tell- "If we don't even know where we're going aren't we just wandering around pointlessly?"

He... had a point there.

"I'm sure we'll get somewhere if we just keep on moving forwards!" Turtle said cheerfully. "So-OOF!"

"Wait." Taurus's arm had shot out and smushed into Turtle's face. The rest of the group also slowed down and stopped.

"What's up, blind boy?" Remily asked.

"My name is Taurus, not 'blind boy'," Taurus replied calmly. He turned towards another path. "I think... we need to go over there."

"Wait, what-Hey!" 

Without waiting for the rest of them, Taurus had already strode off. Remily huffed. "Ugh..." Because Jimmy had told them to stay together-and because they didn't have any other destination to go to anyways-they dutifully followed after Taurus.

I get the feeling that Taurus can see the future...

Imagine the surprise all of them felt (if not showed) when they emerged onto a wide expanse of cleared-out land. It was rocky and barren, very hard, and was completely cleared-no destroyed buildings, no fires, no bodies, no nothing.

What surprised them most, though, was that there were already throngs of other people there are well. Ren counted maybe 300 or 200 people had gathered-maybe even 400. There were older people, families gathered together, even some young people. (None of them were familiar to Ren, of course, but he had to admit he felt a teensy bit relieved that at least there were these many survivors.)

The instance they stepped foot onto the land, a glowing pink screen appeared in front of Ren. 

WELCOME! PLEASE SELECT A WEAPON:

- gun

- knife

- bomb (one time use only)

- spear

- sword

- other (type in. NOTE: limited choice of weapons)

- none

NOTE: YOU CANNOT CHANGE YOUR WEAPON AFTER CHOOSING. 

"Did y'all get a weird 'choose a weapon' screen too?" Remily called, affirming that Ren wasn't hallucinating.

"Yeah..." Turtle looked curiously at the screen, before pressing 'none'. The screen vanished. Everyone else also pressed 'none'.

"Dayum, am I the only one choosing a weapon?" Ren joked. After a moment of debate he tapped on 'knife', that being his most-used weapon. There was a flash of pink light, then a knife appeared in his hands and his screen vanished. "Oh, this is nice! It's all sharp and everything! I'd like to know where they got this~"

"What I want to know is why there are so many people here," Remi made a face of disgust as they ventured a little deeper into the crowd. Most of the crowd also had weapons-a good portion of older people with guns, and some with other weapons.

"They're survivors, good for them!" Turtle clapped happily.

"... If there are only 300 or 400 survivors out of the '1 trillion people' Jimmy told us about, then you should not be clapping," Remi said with a deadpan expression.

"Oh. I forgot about that."

"Is this like the common area for the survivors or something?" Remily ducked to avoid a person's arm. "Remi's right, there are an awful lot of people here."

"Well, maybe-"

Ren's sentence was interrupted because he jumped when a sharp, gleeful voice suddenly shouted out, 

"Welcome to the First Test Area, everyone!!"

All the gathered people turned around as the air shimmered above them. With a small poof! of golden sparkles and dust, a... creature appeared there. She looked like a small pixie of sorts, who was about half the height of a typical human being with extremely slender features-including pointy ears and long slender pointed nose-and delicate fairy slightly transparent wings on her back. She was wearing short fairy robes, her long golden hair falling all the way to her pointed feet. In her hand, she carried a wand.

"My name is Yosei and I'm gonna be your Administrator~" The fairy creature sang happily. When she smiled her teeth were razor-sharp. "Are you all prepared? 'Cause in real fights, there ain't no countdown, so~" She snapped her fingers and a large glowing gold screen appeared in front of all of them. "The first test will begin... now."

- - -

FIRST TEST!

The test is: Kill all people in the area you are in.

Conditions to pass: Be the last one standing. Any killing methods are valid.

Time limit: 30 minutes

If you fail: A very painful death by being exploded internally, of course!

Reward: You live! (+one more skill and sponsorship!)

- - -

Remily's P/O/V

They have GOT to be kidding. 

She squinted at the words written on the scroll, rubbing her eyes twice. Yeah nope, they're still there. 

Yosei was still hovering above them, while the people clamored and shouting at her. "Now, now, don't get rowdy now," She tutted. 

"This is bullsh*t!" One man shouted at her. "You expect us to kill all the people in the area?! I don't see no f*cking area!"

"Yeah, what area?!" Another person yelled.

"If you'd just listen for one minute, you'd know what I'm talking about," Yosei bared her teeth in annoyance. "You'll be put into groups of thirteen and fight to the death. I'll put your there in your groups." She waved her wand and a shimmering beam of light expanded and engulfed all of them, blinding them as well.

"Ugh...!" 

When Remily could finally see, she didn't see any big changes at first-but soon she saw lines running across the ground, separating the group into countless sections. When she counted, she saw that, indeed, inside each 'section' were thirteen people. What worried her, though-not like she'd ever admit it-was the fact she couldn't really see her new group. They weren't next to her anymore.

After a minute of searching, she found them-all pretty close by, close enough that Remily could monitor their actions with relative ease.

"HEY!" She attempted to wave, but her hand touched a seemingly invisible wall. There was one in every section, curtaining them off from the outside world.

"This is what I mean by 'areas'," Yosei spoke again, still sounding irritated as she flew above them. "Are all of you ready? Any questions?"

Without waiting for any answers-and speaking over the protests that had started-she shouted, "We'll begin, because I'm nice, in three seconds!" She drew the number 3 in the air, the number appearing in a large golden mark in the air. 

"THREE!"

Calm down, you know what you should do, your power will protect you...

"TWO!"

The number ticked down to 2.

"ONE!"

Stay alive, stay alive, just stay alive...!

"And... FIGHT TO THE DEATH!!"

Immediately, as to be expected, people hesitated. But eventually, they started to fight as they found out there was no way to escape from the 'areas'.

"Hey! That little girl over there looks weak, let's get her first-ARGHHH!"

Remily didn't flinch, but cringed as the man that had tried to attack her just sank to the ground, dead with a bullet wound through his heart.

I don't want to kill anybody directly if I can help it. 

Remily turned away, instead trying to find her group. I should check on how they're doing, I don't even know if they have proper powers or not...

First she sought out Turtle-who was doing much better than Remily had been worried over. Her hair had elongated, and had tangled up several people before mercilessly beheading them, and the rest of the people died when Turtle shoved a hand down on the ground and sharp ice spikes spiked up, spearing them right through the heart. 

She looked for Taurus, who was blind-but this next trip was too quick. By the time she looked, all of the people in his area were dead. That was... superhumanly quick. Behind him, she thought she glimpsed a ghostly phantom-like woman with a katana, glowing purplish-gold, before it vanished. Huh. Did I just imagine that...?

Remi was next on her list; while he was infuriating, Jimmy had mentioned that he didn't have any powers which was kind of troubling-but like Taurus, he was very quick. With his garrote, he had already done a Turtle-style beheading execution while the others were speared with his needles. Now he was calmly wiping blood off his garrote.

Finally she checked on Ren. Out of all of them she was worried about him the least. Right off, when she'd met him, he'd given off an aura of deadly bloodlust despite his friendly demeanor, which made her slightly suspicious. But when she went to find where his area was, to her surprise she couldn't even see him. Instead, she briefly caught him rolling what looked to be two dice, before a giant cube of sorts appeared-a large glowing cube with a chessboard-style design. After roughly three or four minutes, it vanished-and she saw everyone was dead. Ren was totally unharmed, but had some bloodstains on his previously clean white dress shirt. Is that his power...?

But what disturbed her most of all... was how unbothered they all looked. Even as they killed 12 other people, their expressions hardly changed at all. Turtle at least looked sad and regretful-she was attempting to bury the bodies... then just settled for laying them down in a comfortable position since the ground was too hard and dry.

Everyone else, however... Remily felt a small shiver run up her spine. Their expressions never changed. They were all blank and almost... bored.

Gods, tell me I did NOT just team up with a bunch of psychopaths...!

She was distracted from watching her teammates brutally fulfill the requirements of the test when her shield activated and five guys sank to the ground, dead from bullet wounds through their chests. Wincing, Remily looked away again. 

Now freaking out, the rest of the people in the area tried to attack her as well. She turned away as the sounds of them dying sounded, disgusted and slightly terrified.

Hey, Remily!!

Remily jumped severely as Turtle's voice sounded in her head. GODS, WHAT THE HELL-

Sorry to have startled you! When Remily looked over to where Turtle was sitting, she waved cheerily. I just quickly copied telepathy to say hi and to check up on ya. How are you doing?

Fine, Remily replied telepathically. My ability killed all of the people...

Oooooh, that must be one super-strong ability then! Turtle said eagerly. Anywho, that's good. I already looked at the others; they're doing just peachy. 

They seem like complete psychos, Remily deadpanned, completely serious.

Turtle laughed nervously in her head. Well, I mean, I come from HELL, so I guess I can't say much... okay then I'm out! Stay safe and we'll regroup with the rest of the gang when this whole thingamabob is over! Then she vanished from Remily's head.

Remily shook her head, kind of dumbfounded. She says she's from Hell, and yet how can she be so bright and cheerful...?

She let out a breath and sank down to the ground. Whatever. Let's just wait it out.

Turtle's P/O/V

Turtle was thinking that she really, really, really hated waiting. 

Granted, she had hated it from the get-go (spending who knows how long in a dark cave with no clue of when she was supposed to get out does that do you) but really, she was starting to think she could've at least laid low until there were only 5 minutes or something left. Now, sitting on the ground and doing nothing except watch the others struggle, she was regretting it.

In a moment of brief panic, Turtle had very dumbly decided to 'Okay she wants us to kill everyone except ourselves? Let's do that just to be safe' and promptly did so, which resulted in her current predicament.

"I'm boooooored," she groaned out loud, flopping down. As she did so she saw Remily, who was also sitting. Remily... she's not going to make it unless she changes her mindset... (Granted, Turtle hated killing as well, but it would suck if she died, without ever seeing her Lynoi/Noira fantasies fulfilled and CRUSHING THOSE TESTS-)

She was also bored because for some strange reason, Kuro had been strangely quiet inside her head for a very long time. It was starting to make her worried; he hadn't piped up even once yet. Kuro, don't vanish on me now, you're on my side, right...!

Well, then again, I seem to have quite the strange other team... Turtle glanced over at Taurus, who was throwing punches to empty air-so fast that she could barely see his fists. He's blind, and yet so very powerful... His mind was filled with strange things-some of the future (? Was he like her, then?), mostly blackness, and a good portion filled with who he assumed were his friends; the names Scorpio, Virgo, and Pisces kept bouncing around.

Remily, despite her adoraaaable temper, has a good heart, Turtle mused. And she's the youngest, which surprises me. Well, another gal pal~!

Then there were the last two of the team-Remi and Ren. Turtle's face dropped as she remembered what she had glimpsed inside their minds while checking in. Both of them had such traumatic pasts... She herself considered herself one of the 'lucky' demons, who had never been subject to the prejudice of the angels and the oppression as she was in a cave for most of her life, 

Based on what she had seen in Remi's head, it made sense that he hated humanity. Honestly, she was appalled; she herself, with her friend's mother, Grace, being synesthesic as well, was actually fascinated with it. How interesting it would be to able to see the world like they could...! Turtle also caught many thoughts in his head; centered on a strange trio whose names were Feyre, Fenrys, and Roux, as well as a person named Cosmos and others. I'm not going to try and change his hatred... Turtle had already tried that with some of her fellow Demons; most of the time that did not end up well, and besides, Remi liked to conserve! That was enough for her, because saving the Earth was also very important. ... but I'll try to at least get him to learn how to open up to those who care for him, or at least open up to somebody.

What mystified her, though, was how Ren was still sane at this point. Actually, the better word is... She looked over briefly to his area, watching as he mindlessly tossed a pair of dice (who knows where they came from) into the air repeatedly. How can he still be so... seemingly unaffected? 

His past was full of tragedies, pain, and even a stalker from what she had glimpsed and yet he had laughed and grinned good-naturedly at them earlier. His thoughts were mainly preoccupied with thoughts of two girls named Kaia and Anika, and a white-haired boy named Bea-there were an awful a lot of questions about that particular person-and an occasional thought of two children who looked kind of like him. (Siblings?) Then again, he is plotting most of the time... 

She shook her head, sighing. And I thought I had friends with trauma. Yeesh. Whoever designed those guys must've been in a bad mood to give them such tragic backgrounds...

("A-ACHOO!!"

"My lady, are you okay?"

"Nnn... I'm fine. It's either my allergies, the cold, or... somebody's talking about me."

"... No offense, but it's probably the last option."

"You're right, Evan...")

Finally, after a lot of waiting, everyone was dead except for a group of around 100 or so people, maybe less. The ground was pretty much covered in blood and bodies.

"Well! That was fun!" Yosei clapped gleefully and grinned ferally, apparently enjoying the bloodied field before her. "Congratulations to the survivors~! Now, as promised, you all get rewards!" She snapped her fingers and glowing pink screens appeared in front of everyone. "Right now as you are, some of you people would die instantly if you experienced some of the harder tests. So~! Some people are going to get sponsors! And-" 

Yosei flinched as a buzz sounded in her ear. She scowled. "Excuse me, sponsors are also called Constellations because of my ORV-obsessed boss. Besides that, they're all super powerful and some of y'all are lucky enough to have 'em as backup! Ain't that great?"

There was a lot of murmuring, but definitely no cheers or shouts for joy. Yosei sighed. "You're all so boring. Anyways, if you don't see a sponsorship offer, then you can just choose one of the six offered new skills. Keep in mind! You can only choose one sponsor, and one skill! No cheating, or you'll die painfully on the spot!"

Turtle looked at her screen, surprised when she saw three names. Interesting!

CONSTELLSPONSORS CHOOSING!

- Choose a sponsor/constellation, who will be your backup and do everything a sponsor does!

1. Sole Resident of the Deepest Black Hole

2. Shifting Gender Equality Orb

3. Gardener of Roses and Thorns

Turtle was still thinking-but what was up with those fancy names?? Were they even real names??-when a ding! sounded and a fourth option popped up.

Or, would you like to take the SPECIAL GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY DEAL/CONTRACT? (Note: You can refuse and choose your sponsor regardless.)

That sounds very interesting! Without really thinking Turtle tapped on that option and a moment later static sounded inside her head. After a second of strange fumbling noises a familiar voice started speaking telepathically to her. Testing, testing, does this thing work?

Jimmy?

Shush, nobody knows that 'cept you guys and some constellsponsors, the person that was most definitely hurriedly shushed her. But yeah hi! It's me! Did you read the contract-slash-deal yet??

Reading it right now!

CONTRACT DETAILS WITH THE CONSTELLATION [Guardian of Lost Souls]:

Good things!:

= All-expenses-free, top-rate protection! (To some measure, since people would be suspicious if you were completely protected against everything)

= One death-stopper chance (I can save you from near death/bring you back from death ONLY ONCE.)

= Faster skill growth

Bad (?) things!:

= You cannot take on any other constellsponsors

= You cannot take on any new team members unless I give the 'okay!'

= A higher exposure to monsters/threats/etc.

Is this exclusive? Turtle asked curiously.

Kind of, Jimmy replied cheerfully. I have blessed others with my blessing, but no special deal-slash-contract for them! How about it? Do we have a deal?

Turtle spent a moment thinking, then shrugged. Sure, why not!

Okie-dokie then! Thank you very much for doing business with me~! A mark should have appeared on the upper right side of your forehead. That basically means we're in a contract and it will hurt painfully if you try and break contract rules without telling-slash-asking me first.

Curiously looking in the screen, which kind of reflected her appearance back at her, she saw that indeed on the upper right side of her forehead a mark in the shape of a small paper airplane had appeared. 

Anywho, you're not going to get a new skill because you have two very powerful skills already in use, apologies that that. I've gotta go now, cya~! Good luck!

With that Jimmy's voice vanished, along with the glowing screen... and the first test was over.

-X-X-X-

That concludes! *claps* The first official chapter! Woohoo!

(I apologize if things sound a bit rushed. I do not write very good beginnings... TvT')

~Fun Fact!: Yosei's name means 'remaining life' and 'fairy' in Japanese, fitting considering her appearance and what the first test is.~

~Random Fact!: The screens are glowing pink because hello, it's always blue screens in video games and etc. It's time to shake things up, Jimmy-style!! (And yeah, the excessive enthusiasm in the announcements is intentional to make it seem funny. Heehee)~

~Creator's Note: Most of you guys know the MC's backstories-and how they impact the character-but when time comes for their POV, I won't stress that too much because that would distract from the main point of the story. (For example during Ren's POV his stalker wasn't mentioned at all, neither were Fandom Academy, Anika, Kaia, or Bea.) The backstories and the MCs' own struggles will come into light eventually, just not yet. Thank you!~

Anyways, that certain person, I hope you liked the bloodshed (?) as well as the ORV reference.

~ORV = Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint. That's where I got the 'sponsorship' and 'constellations' from. You can read the webnovel or the webtoon, it's a great story to check out!~

Thank you very much for reading! See you (hopefully) soon! \^O^/

-awakened-angel-chan