26 TWENTY SECONDS TO LIVE

Yoshimitzu Corporation dominated the gaming industry when it introduced Battle Arena—a hybrid online computer game that merged MMORPG and MOBA.

However, without the Core Logic, a sentient and self-governing system that allowed players to customize their characters, skills, and equipment within reasonable laws, there would be no Battle Arena. After all, it was the prized creation of Mister Yonco Yoshimitzu that set his company on a global pedestal and powered the game's online world.

Because of Battle Arena's quasi-sandbox nature, the professional scene became an all-out competition of customization. Teams hired their game developers who then spent most of their time studying in-game materials and craftmanship for breakthroughs.

As for WisDoom, Aildrin Gentrix took over. Not just on his team but on the entire gaming world of Battle Arena. He was the boy behind twenty percent of player-made skills and equipment recorded in the game. All of which was patented only for his team's use.

With his fame, tirades from competitors followed. His father, Adil Gentrix, happened to be one of the senior game developers for Yoshimitzu Corporation. However, without evidence of direct help from Mister Gentrix, all those accusations of hiding under the shadow of his father remained as they were. Accusations. And Aildrin officially became a stand-alone genius in the eyes of the crowd.

One of his famous creation was his weapon Soulsworth. It started as a flamberge, a wave-bladed sword for his character, Lonestar—a human swordsman by race and class. Then it evolved into twelve forms and bypassed his class restriction. As to how he managed to pull it off, even the top developers of Yoshimitzu Corporation did not have the answer, especially his father.

Countless game developers spent a lot of time studying the Battle Arena—the three-lane map used in rank matches and competitive scenes. Many had thoughts of experimenting on some of its parts, but only Aildrin managed to literally move the most unthinkable of them all—the Healing Fountain.

"This kid is crazy!" Lidar thought as he was a beat too late to intercept the skill. His greatsword slashed at a kite shield, which was previously Aidlrin's key-shaped sword. He then jumped back.

Lidar, Titans' vice-captain, spent a considerable amount of his time in meticulously studying Lonestar. He even memorized by heart the twelve forms of Lonestar's weapon. With just the shimmer of Soulsworth, he could predict the next form and the probable skill that would accompany the transformation. However, the key-shaped blade was a new one—Soulsworth's thirteenth form.

Meanwhile, MidKing, the Top Global Wizard and Titan's Team Captain overrode Lidar's command upon seeing a new variable on the battlefield. "Destroy the barriers!" he said. He was famously known as "The Professor" in the game for his prowess to deconstruct strategies and the secrets of player-made skills and equipment. Still, just when he thought that he had already understood Lonestar, he found himself back at the elementary level.

"If I were you, I'll tell them to stop. I've upgraded this barrier. No one's leaving until I die!" Lonestar said. "And you alone won't be able to entertain me. Why don't you call your friends?"

"Hmph! Let's see if this fountain could help you survive in the next twenty seconds then." Lidar's team stopped hacking on the yellow barrier and turned toward Lonestar. Their creeps have started the attack too.

"Titan's Wrath!" A purple aura enveloped Lidar, giving him three times his basic strength.

"That's it! You've finally used a skill. Lidar, the King of Basic Attacks, show me what you've got!" Lonestar said.

Twenty seconds. Within those time, the Healing Fountain would gradually restore Lonestar's health, and he must survive the onslaught within this limit.

"Liston Barrier!" A white sphere enveloped Lonestar, and four triangular blades came out of it like the four arrowheads pointing to the main directions. Attack and Defense.

Lidar arrived together with the militiamen. He brandished his greatsword with unprecedented speed.

Sparks flew around Lonestar as he braced himself. He did not activate the Healing Fountain yet.

MidKing and Misfortune, the Dwarf Gunner started to attack too from a distance. The archer creep and ballista joined them. Meanwhile, Madd, the Orc Tank, and Majinma, the Elf Assassin arrived to support Lidar.

Within just five seconds, the barrier broke, but Lonestar managed to eliminate the militiamen. He then quickly tapped the Healing Fountain. "Wish me luck," he said through their team chat—the agreed code for their countdown.

"Cursed Vengeance!" Lonestar activated another Tank Skill, which returned half the damage he received for the next five seconds. He happily faced the attacks of Lidar, Madd, and Majinma as he dashed to the archer creep and ballista. However, the Healing Fountain could barely maintain his health at eighty percent.

"Increase your damage input!" MidKing said. A pillar of purple flame in the shape of a snake rose behind him. He had already accepted the possibility of facing Delubio together with the other four members of WisDoom. So their goal as a team was to eliminate Lonestar as soon as possible without wasting their other skills. Or else, things would not be on their favor.

"Poison Flame!" The snake lurched towards the charging figure of Lonestar.

Due to the large AOE of the skill, Lonestar had no choice but to take the brunt of MidKing's attack—a newly custom-made skill that inflicted true damage and poison, ignored defensive buffs, and lowered the target's magic resistance. His health bar plummeted to fifty percent.

Aildrin bit his lip. The tapping of keys increased especially from his station, and Osho who sat beside him felt the urgency.

"Hold on! We're about to finish Delubio! Last ten seconds!" Osho said. It was exactly the remaining time for the healing effect of the fountain.

The kite shield transformed into a pair of machetes, and Lonestar made a quick work of the archer creep and managed to disturb MidKing and Misfortune's rhythm. However, his life bar continued to plummet to forty percent despite the healing from the fountain. His weapon then transformed into a warhammer as he dashed towards the ballista.

Aildrin paid more attention in avoiding the crowd control skills and burst skills as much as possible. However, some managed to disturb his flow. But, he's confident that he'd be able to pull this off.

The data from the past three matches against Titans were enough for him to make reasonable estimates. Back then, he tried to take the five head-on without the fountain's help. His longest record was on their third match—two seconds. And now, he had survived for the past fifteen seconds. Five more to go!

With the ballista taken care of, the warhammer transformed into a wand. Four successive instant heals enveloped Lonestar, but they were still not enough. He dashed back to the fountain with three seconds remaining and ten percent health bar.

"You're a pain in the ass, kid!" Lidar said when he saw that the wand transformed back to the key-shaped weapon.

Thunder clapped with a boom in the entire map. Delubio has fallen. It was the fastest boss raid ever in Battle Arena's history—thirty-one seconds.

"Frozen Fragment!" Lonestar's key-shaped blade then turned blue and everyone around him froze in midair.

Aildrin grinned. A few meters away from his character were the projectiles and blades of his opponents. After this two-second pause, the fountain would disappear and so would he.

He quickly planted the key-shaped sword back to the ground and turned it. "Inter-Dimensional Summoning!"

Everything happened quickly. Time resumed, the fountain disintegrated, Lonestar fell to the ground, and the barrier disappeared.

Four figures then appeared before Lonestar's dead body. The first one had curly green hair, pointed ears, red robes and a sun-shaped wand wherein three mini-meteorites revolved.

Red Hot Chili Pepper, WisDoom's Elf Mage!

"Fire Wall!" When the yellow pillars disappeared, a circular wall of flame from Red Hot Chili Pepper replaced them.

"Backoff, fools! Thunderclap!" A mini-giant figure clad in golden armor named Cold Oven stomped the ground with his warhammer. Lidar and Majinma backed off before he could crack the earth, but Madd remained to contest his skill.

"Lava's Embrace!" Red Hot Chili Pepper was quick to give support. She and Cold Oven were best known for their partnership—Twin Furnace!

Cold Oven's golden armor and weapon smoldered like a furnace. Madd backed off upon MidKing's command, but the giant tank pursued them.

"Regroup! Charge out of the flames!" MidKing said.

"Where do you think are you going, old man?" A colony of bats cut off MidKing and Misfortune. It was no other than WisDoom's Vampire Assassin, PEN1!

Osho could not help, but grin. He sent a fist to Aildrin's shoulder in person. Within his inventory were two stones—gold and obsidian. To resurrect and to summon.