"Wait, is that… I know that figure."
"Hey, hey," Rean waved. He was weirdly happy. He got no response, so he walked up to the figure.
The figure lit up as well. He recognized Rean. "You're that guy from the awakening, aren't you?" he said.
"Yes, that's me," Rean replied.
"Wait, so you're still alive. I guess you made it as a somewhat decent hunter. By the way, my name's Xander. You're Rean, right?"
"Yeah, how did you know?" Rean asked.
"You mentioned it last time."
This was a lie. Rean didn't introduce himself to Xander. He noticed this but just played along.
'I have been monitoring this guy online since he seems to get brought up on national news once in a while.'
"Wait, if he's here, that would mean—"
"Hey, Rean, you're a vessel, right?"
Rean was shocked. "Vessel? What's that? Um… huh…" He tried brushing it off. "Wait, yeah, I am—and so are you."
Rean composed himself. He was only just realizing this wasn't a mere simulation, and above all, since it was a vessel strengthening program, that meant everyone present would be a vessel as well.
"Hey, aren't vessels supposed to be rare? Well, at least that's the implication I got," Rean said.
"Well, it's rare, but I guess we just happened to both be present that day. As you can see, there are only four other people here besides us," Xander said.
"Yeah, I guess only six of us chose to opt in."
A monk stepped up. It was the Second Seat.
"Greetings to all."
He summoned a magic circle and simply said, "Good luck."
Everyone was shocked. There were no preliminaries, no setup, no reintroduction.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Go in," he emphasized crankily.
All six of them went in. It looked like a gate, but they could clearly tell it was something else. It looked like a looping sphere; when they got close, they were sucked in. They seemed to shrink as they entered.
All six landed safely. It was a white space. No visible floor, but they could stand somehow. They could even float at will.
A system notification popped up. This time it wasn't just individual-sized. It was as wide as a big screen. Most notably, they could all see this very screen.
The Second Seat's voice was broadcast through the screen, with visuals accompanying it.
"As you all have noticed, this isn't a gate or dungeon but a null space.
Null spaces are universes that occupy nothing. They constantly produce life with changes in the environment, but that life dies after some time. Your presence here will undoubtedly create life, and that is your task.
You are to slay every such produce. The null space will collapse in on itself in two days. If you cannot find a way out with the clues you're given, then you players should consider yourselves no longer set to game.
You will all exchange the names of your vessel skills. No descriptions, just names. That will be all."
"Here—"
His voice ceased. The visuals transitioned to a timer.
The giant system interface began counting down.
"Ok, let's get moving, people," Xander ordered.
"This is how we'll do it. We're only six, so just go with your first name and then drop your evolution skill."
'What? Why did he call it that—evolution skill?' Rean thought.
'If I'm not mistaken, chances are that Xander is ahead of us in this whole vessel stuff.'
"Ok, before we begin introductions, I have a question. Has anyone here run a gauntlet?" Xander asked.
Everyone was silent. The tension was clear. The gauntlet wasn't something they had just heard of, but they doubted it'd be significant this early on.
'Wait, does that mean Xander has run the gauntlet? What? I should ask him about it. No, wait—I can't just ask him, at least not yet. I have to gather all I can, articulate my thoughts, then my questions will come,' Rean thought.
'Great, so none of these guys have even run the first phase of the gauntlet. Damn, it makes sense why we are even up to six. Older vessels are probably busy clearing jails, towers, and dungeons. They don't have time for this baby stuff,' Xander thought.
"Ok, my name is Xander. I can class-change at will."
"My name is Zane. I can copy skills of dead opponents."
"I'm Kara. I can evolve monsters at will."
"I go by Zeus. I can transform all."
"My name's Rean. I can evolve and assimilate talents."
"Ok, I'm going last. I'm Victor. I can multiply spells infinitely."
"Ok, introductions over. Something's probably going to happen soon. Everyone stay sharp," Xander said.
'Woah, some of these guys sound insane. What do you mean multiply infinitely? What's class-change? Even a whole transformation gimmick? These guys are bound to be impressive. As usual, I gotta do my best if I'm going to keep up,' Rean thought.
'I can't be doing too much. I have to check my actions. I'll shadow Xander, gauge what he knows, and assimilate as much as I can.'
'It wouldn't be far-fetched to assume all these guys are better than I am.'
'I'm also the only one with my extension. These guys think they can keep up without it.'
"Hey, look," Zeus said.
A creature fell from above—if you could even call it a sky.
"It looks human. Wait… it looks just like this Rean guy. What the hell is going on?" Zeus said.
"Like me? Huh? What's going on?"
Immediately, the figure zipped around.
"It's fast," Xander noted. "Could this thing possibly be replicating Rean's skills? If so, it wouldn't be far-fetched to prepare for some kind of attack to start the assimilation process."
Xander got pierced from behind. Everyone just looked ahead in shock. Xander was the lead—he was now hurt.
"Guys, I'm fine. It's just a scratch," he said as he summoned his mana skin.
Xander's skin covered his entire upper body. He looked like a steeled monster. It stretched across his whole top-left side.
He used a spell, and immediately, his wound healed.
"I don't get it. Why isn't that thing attacking? It should have begun evolving Xander's skill, so why doesn't it start attacking to hasten the process?"
'Wait… don't tell me… don't tell me it can't evolve Xander's skill.'