The battlefield exploded into chaos. Roars, curses, and the clash of steel filled the air—
the unofficial battle royale hosted by the Carillian Academy had truly begun.
In less than ten minutes, several participants had collapsed where they stood, brought down by sheer exhaustion or reckless overcommitment.
Those still standing grew tense and cautious, and for a moment, the fight ground to a stalemate.
It wasn’t that the candidates lacked intelligence or strategy.
Many of them had entered the dungeon with the same plan Vinny had:
stay out of unnecessary fights, avoid drawing attention, and observe quietly from the sidelines.
But youth has a way of burning through reason.
Once the fighting started, pride took over.
What began as cautious sparring turned into stubborn refusal to back down—
and then into deadly seriousness, as restraint gave way to the fiery spirit of their age.
Win or lose, once they started fighting, they couldn’t stop.
Every participant was now locked in a relentless battle, unable to pull back.
Their mentality had shifted entirely.
Especially those who had been about to claim victory—
only for a wildcard to suddenly intervene, steal their points, and leave them one step from elimination.
Blinded by rage, they threw caution aside.
If they were going down, they were taking the wildcard with them.
The nature of the competition had completely changed.
Would there still be a winner in this swirling melee?
Maybe—
but it wouldn’t be among these young fighters, still locked in their endless brawls across the wilderness.
As the old saying goes:
when the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman reaps the reward.
Carrying his spear, Vinny circled quietly around the battlefield.
Fortunately, the furious clash in the center had drawn nearly all attention.
Newcomers instinctively dove toward the noise, chasing after the main fight, and none of them noticed Vinny slipping away.
From a distance, the battleground was a chaotic mess of shouting, steel, and dust.
A few candidates equipped with the Backstab Soul Armament tried to take advantage of the confusion,
but once they jumped in, they quickly found themselves trapped and barely escaped—
half-crippled and bloodied for their trouble.
“That was close... We should hide in the town by the mountain. As long as the mountains stand, there'll be firewood... uh, uh—”
The stealth-clad candidate’s words were cut short as a cold ice crystal spear pierced clean through his chest.
He barely had time to shudder before his token shattered and he was forcibly teleported out of the dungeon.
Thank you for nature’s gifts.
Vinny’s points ticked up to 20, and another map fragment dropped at his feet.
Glancing at it, Vinny saw it was Fragment No. 4.
Perfect.
His luck was holding strong—
now he had three fragments connected.
Carefully piecing them together, he managed to form a relatively complete map.
It showed a vast wilderness, a winding forest path, and a small town nestled against the mountains.
A small town?
Next to the town, a neat note had been written:
The town is a neutral zone. Attacking others within its bounds will provoke the guards.
Interesting.
The map didn’t just show locations—
it also pointed out the unique rules tied to certain areas.
No wonder candidates with full maps held such a decisive advantage.
The terrain around him now matched the map almost perfectly.
Vinny tucked the fragments away and adjusted his course, abandoning the open field to skirt along the forest’s edge.
The woods themselves teemed with monsters,
some looking far stronger than the usual dungeon fodder.
Vinny vaguely recalled hearing that rare monsters in these trial dungeons didn’t just offer large point rewards—
they also sometimes dropped rare treasures, or even ancient lost techniques.
This particular dungeon had been discovered by the Carillian Academy.
Among all the dungeons under their control, it was considered the safest,
and the best suited for trial competitions.
But even the academy hadn’t managed to map everything inside.
If they couldn’t fully uncover its secrets,
what chance did the participants have?
Then again—
there were always exceptions.
Some "cheating" players stumbled into incredible opportunities simply by luck.
Why?
Because this dungeon had been {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} originally discovered by the ancient Carillian Empire—
and it was packed with treasures from that lost civilization.
And Aesphyra, as the last living descendant of the imperial family, naturally had the right to inherit those legacies.
Walking quietly through the forest, Vinny found the path strangely empty.
No monsters, no people.
Eventually, he reached the tree line and spotted a small town resting against the mountain’s base.
Was it an original feature of the dungeon, or had the Carillian Academy added it later for the assessment?
The original story hadn’t specified.
The dungeon assessment had always been shown from Aesphyra’s point of view, and many side details had been glossed over.
As he approached the town entrance, Vinny spotted two figures standing stiffly near the gate.
He slowed immediately, caution tightening in his gut.
Drawing closer, their appearance became clear—
and his eyes widened in shock.
The two figures were fully armored, wearing blue-tasseled helmets, brass shoulder plates, chainmail visors, and plate boots.
It was unmistakable.
They were clad in his Soul Armament, [Armor Fortress].
Or rather, an earlier, non-upgraded version of it:
the tassels were shorter, the metal lacked the ornate golden engravings.
What the hell was going on?
Had other candidates somehow chosen [Armor Fortress] too?
No—
something was wrong.
The two figures stood completely still, leaning on their double-edged spears, not moving an inch.
Then Vinny remembered—
the map had mentioned town guards.
Could these two armored figures be the guards?
He frowned, piecing it together.
[Armor Fortress] had been created during the time of the Carillian Empire.
If this dungeon really was a remnant of the empire, it would make perfect sense for the town guards to be wearing relics of that age.
Still—
he wasn’t about to take any chances.
Vinny cautiously approached and called out:
"Could you please make some room?"
No reaction.
The two guards stared blankly into the distance, unmoving.
Vinny picked up his pace, slipping carefully between them, ready to summon [Armor Fortress] at a moment’s notice.
But the guards didn’t react.
Not even a glance.
He passed through without incident.
It confirmed his guess:
these were the town guards the map had warned about.
As he glanced back at them, he noticed—
they had no breath, no heat, no signs of life at all.
Good thing he had that map.
Otherwise, he might’ve assumed they were enemies and attacked—
and the consequences would’ve been disastrous.
Inside the town, the atmosphere was heavy and still.
Not completely empty, though.
There were others—
but for a moment, Vinny wasn’t sure if they were alive.
After a few moments of observation, it became clear:
The wary glances, the tension hanging between groups—
these were all candidates too.
Everyone here had realized the town’s rules.
No one dared attack, but everyone kept their distance,
watching each other with open suspicion.
Seeing that violence really was prohibited,
Vinny casually dismissed Frostfang,
the weapon transforming into two small, icy earrings hanging from his ears.
The town still felt wrong somehow.
Maybe it was the dead-eyed guards.
Maybe it was the absence of any real townspeople.
Maybe it was the fact that every other living soul was hiding behind a thin mask of civility,
waiting for a chance to strike.
Either way, Vinny stayed alert.
The real battle was far from over.
Vinny approached a building with a beer mug sign hanging above it.
He was surprised to find a pub in such a place.
On a whim, he pushed the door open and stepped inside.
The pub was empty, clearly no one was in the mood for a drink.
He walked up to the unmanned counter and noticed a sign that read, “Beer – 2 points, Juice – 1 point. Just show your token and state your order.”
A vending machine? How advanced.
This must have been a feature added by the Carillian Academy, right?
Vinny held up his token and said, “A glass of juice, please.”
“Ding Ding!” A point was deducted from his score, and a beer glass filled with juice rose from the counter, appearing right in front of him.
Fancy, huh?
Wait, you actually deducted points for this? A single glass of juice?
Vinny grabbed the juice, sat down on a chair, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt cheated.
He decided he had to drink the juice since he’d spent points on it.
Perhaps because he felt foolish for spending points on juice, the drink tasted sour and unpleasant.
But no matter how bad it tasted, he’d bought it himself. If he didn’t drink it, someone else might get it for free.
Fine, he thought, might as well take a break.
Vinny took a sip of the juice and leaned back on the bench.
It was so quiet, with no noisy pedestrians on the streets.
The security in this town was impressive. With such good security, there shouldn’t be any fights, right?
Just as he was thinking this, the tavern door creaked open in the wind.
Before Vinny could react, a gust of wind swept past him, knocking the glass of juice off the table and onto the floor.
“Tick-tock, tick-tock...” Vinny stared in silence as the juice he’d bought with his hard-earned points pooled on the floor.
Then, he slammed the table and shouted angrily.
“Who dares disturb my peace?!” Vinny’s eyes locked onto the young man who had burst into the tavern, frantically looking around as if searching for something.
“Shut up, kid! If you make another sound, I’ll kill you!” the disheveled young man threatened, his voice filled with anger.
Oh, really?
Vinny was even more incensed now.
This guy had spilled his juice and still had the nerve to act tough?
If they weren’t in a neutral zone, Vinny would have already taken action.
Wait a minute...
Vinny observed the young man more closely. He was dressed like a beggar, his clothes in tatters.
But the fabric didn’t look old or worn. In fact, it was clear that the clothes had once been expensive.
For some reason, they were now torn and dirty.
Combined with the young man’s earlier panicked words, Vinny suddenly understood.
This guy was being chased.
Tsk tsk, what a pity! How could he escape here? Is there any hope for him if they flee to this place?
But just as he was wondering whether there would be a fight in the town and how the guards would react if it happened, it unfolded right before his eyes.
Regardless, he hoped everyone would be okay.
Vinny clasped his hands together in a silent prayer.
“Hey, listen to me,” the young man threatened, “if someone comes in and asks if you saw anyone enter, just say no, got it? Otherwise, I’ll crush your head right now!”
What kind of nonsense is this? How can this guy be so arrogant?
Vinny looked the disheveled young man up and down with disdain. He was clearly a stranger.
Since Vinny had no memory of his face, he must be a minor supporting character, a mere passerby.
We’re all just background NPCs here, so why are you acting so high and mighty?
Are you proud of being chased around by another nobody?
As if you’re some big deal.
Vinny was thoroughly unimpressed.
Today, he was going to teach this guy that even among passersby, there’s a hierarchy.
In the original work, Vinny at least had a name.
How could someone like him, who’s been hunted by the protagonist, be treated like this by some nameless nobody?
He was hunted by the protagonist. What about you?
Who’s chasing you? How dare you talk to a renowned villain like that?
Thinking this, Vinny felt insulted by the young man’s arrogance and was about to flip the table in defiance.
Ding... At that moment, accompanied by calm, light footsteps, the tavern door creaked open once more.
Her inky black hair cascaded down, and her pair of noble, cold violet eyes radiated an air of supremacy, like a monarch gazing down at insignificant insects.
Vinny fell silent, quietly retracting his movement to overturn the table and slowly sitting back down in his chair.
Then, he looked at the terrified young man with newfound respect.
Sorry, buddy, forgive my shortsightedness. I take back what I said earlier. You’re actually quite impressive.
Brother, the one chasing you is actually the protagonist!?
And not just any protagonist...
Vinny carefully observed the beautiful figure standing at the door.
The black-haired girl’s face was as pale as the first frost, her skin as white as snow, and her appearance resembled a cold plum blossom blooming in the depths of winter.
No matter how beautiful others might be, in her presence, they would seem like withered trees in the dead of winter.
Her inky hair fell to where her black stockings met her thighs, like a melt-in-your-mouth chocolate ice cream served in a pair of brown loafers.
She wore a short-sleeved top with laces for ease of movement and a black skirt.
Though her attire was casual, her regal aura and noble temperament, which seemed to look down on the world, were impossible to conceal, as if everyone in the world was undoubtedly her subject.
This unique image of a cold beauty matched the portrait in his memory.
There is no mistake; she is one of the original work’s female protagonists, the Empire’s Grand Princess, Isatia Lanteville.
Moreover, she had another identity.
In the original story, she was Vinny’s fiancée, though they had never met. She had a forgotten engagement with Vinny, one that would be annulled if she ever remembered it.