While all the participants were trying everything to reach the finish line, Kyle was walking inside a long yet narrow opening. He didn’t know where this small opening would lead him, he just walked trying to reach the end.
The thing Kyle didn’t know was that Vice Principal George was just standing behind him, making some hand seals in the air. The Vice principal looked at Kyle back and sighed, If he had a chance he would have stopped this lad from getting the skill.
But now that Kyle had already learned the skill, there was nothing he could do. After completing the hand seals, the Vice Principal crushed some mana stones making the mana density in the air stronger than before.
Kyle who was unaware of Vice Principal George’s presence, felt a familiar sucking force from behind. He wanted to turn around to see what was happening but his vision turned dark again.
“Huh??”
After a while when his vision returned, Kyle saw he was standing on the dungeon road.
“Why am I…. Ughh”
Barely able to complete his sentence, he started throwing up again in the middle of the road.
Suddenly, a participant running toward the finishing portal passed from Kyle’s left side.
The participant was none other than Alec! who just got the lead after leaving Carcel, Mia, and Lara behind.
Alec looked back dumbfounded. He saw Kyle throwing up with a shocked expression. Alec didn’t remember anyone going past him. How did this person appear here? And how did he pass the road without defeating the Warp Bear?
Not Just Alec even Kyle was dumbfounded seeing a participant running past him. Kyle turned around to see where Alec was running and his shock increased. The dungeon finishing portal was just a few meters ahead.
Kyle pinched himself and said with disbelief,
“Am I dreaming?”
While he was busy believing what he was seeing, another participant passed from his right side.
Carcel who was just behind Alec also turned his head back to look at Kyle.
‘I don’t remember seeing him.’ Thought Carcel but he didn’t stop running toward the exit.
Just a few seconds later Mia and Lara both appeared and also passed by Kyle’s left side, showing similar surprised expressions as Alec and Carcel.
Kyle looked at the participants running toward the finishing portal and finally snapped out of his shock. Even though he wanted to rest because he was feeling nauseous after throwing up, he still started running toward the finishing portal with all his might.
Kyle looked at the portal with a burning gaze.
‘I can do it.’
But he was running so slowly that soon a few more participants passed from his left side, leaving him behind.
After three to four minutes, Kyle was still running when he heard the ground Rumbled. He turned his head back to see the reason.
“Sh*t!”
Kyle cursed loudly seeing thousands of participants approaching him from behind. This time he didn’t hold back and started running with everything he got. Because he knew If he didn’t reach the portal he would be definitely crushed under the feet of those thousands of participants.
The first person to enter the finishing portal was Alec, followed by Carcel, Mia, and then Lara. Afterward, some more participants entered the portal.
Even though Kyle was running with his life on the line, he still got 36th place in the first round.
When Kyle enter the finishing portal, he again felt a familiar sucking force as he appeared at the same place he was standing before the start of the first round.
After the first 1000 participants appeared, the remaining participants were directly sent outside the Arena Stage. The Crowd cheered loudly for the top participants, feeling excited to see the young talents.
Vice principal George appeared again floating in front of the 1000 participants. He checked everyone’s flag with his spiritual sense and nodded.
“First let me Congratulate everyone who passed the first round.”
While speaking Vice Principal George glanced at a pale-looking participant with a sharp gaze, who looked like he was on his last leg.
‘I sent you almost near the finishing portal, yet you still didn’t get 1st place. How disappointing.’
Kyle who was barely holding himself to not to throw up again, felt a chill run down his spine. His danger-sensing abilities were top notch and right now he felt like a dangerous person had set his eyes on him. He looked around to see who was targeting him but finding no one he gave up.
The Vice Principal left after saying that the participants had 60 minutes to rest before the Second round began.
All the participants who didn’t come alone went toward their friends and family members. Kyle with his pale face also went toward the crowd and located his Second Brother.
Neon looked at Kyle with a beaming smile and said,
“Hahaha Kyle you did great, I did see you at the start, roaming inside the forest but then you disappeared. How did you suddenly reach the finishing portal?”
Seeing the happy expression on his brother’s face, Kyle felt proud and started boasting to his heart’s content.
“Do you think I went inside the forest without any reason, I already knew these types of competitions have some hidden path that leads to victory.”
It was not like his brother would know what happened inside the dungeon.
Neon offered some food to Kyle, but he rejected it. He had a bad experience in the first round due to the sudden teleportation. If in the second round, they also used teleportation it was better for him to stay empty stomach.