The Recruitment Exam of the Portuguese Association of Exterminators:

  Difficulty: F

  Location: Lower tier, controlled Dungeon.

  Requirements to pass: Reach the top of the dungeon, the fifth floor.

  Number of participants: 50.

  Enemies: Low-class demons.

  Bonus: The more demons you exterminate, the greater the final bonus. Defeating the boss that guarded the last floor was equivalent to the highest reward. Collect their mana stones as proof. However, simply reaching the last floor was enough to obtain your license.

  Expected completion time: 3 hours.

  The participants were dropped at random points on the first floor and had to find the stairs to the second floor, all the way until the last one. If they wanted to give up, they had to drink the teleportation potion given by the association, which would send them back to the entrance room. However, it did not work during combat.

  The association was not responsible for any physical or psychological damage that the participant might suffer. This had already been established in the contract.

  "What a beautiful place."

  Jonas Solberg took a step forward. A step on rock-solid ground. The place was well lit, with a blue and dark aura that swept across the entire area. Light winds were felt, causing his clothes to fly slowly. It was a maze. Only right and left were the ways to go, as if he were in a giant circle.

  In his hands rested a simple dagger, one without any kind of magic effect, one that he had bought at a local shop, not made to kill demons. It was one that had once been inside his precious bag.

  "This is gonna be so fun..." He stretched out, surprisingly calm and carefree. "I can't wait to exterminate every single one."

  Taking a look to the sides, he chose to go right and slowly walked in that direction. Always attentive, careful at every corner, but it seemed to be nothing. Not even the slightest sound.

  Until something appeared.

  "A Goblin!?"

  A small, green, and disgusting creature that carried no sword in its hands, depending purely on its dirty claws.

  Jonas readied his dagger and did not tremble. Quite the opposite, he smiled broadly.

  "A Goblin is nothing to me. An F rank? C'mon, I've fought against far worse things. Come on!"

  With a growl, the Goblin jumped in the boy's direction. Both hands aimed forward, trying to make a scratch.

  Jonas's dagger swung forward, confident, without any trace of fear. This would usually be seen as a great thing for an Exterminator; everyone knew "Confidence is key."

  But maybe for being too confident, or simply for not having any experience, he dropped the dagger and the Goblin bit his arm.

  "S-Shit!" Like a hungry dog, the Goblin sank its teeth deep into Jonas's flesh. Jonas lost all his confidence, and it was replaced by what he had previously tried to hide: fear.

  The pain was incredibly bad. Of course he had been bitten by a dog before, but nothing compared to this. While a dog bites and runs away, a Goblin bit trying to tear your arm off, attempting to turn you two into different entities.

  "G-Get out!" Jonas tried to punch the skull of the Goblin with his free arm and hit it squarely. Once, twice, three times, all useless. The Goblin wouldn't let go of the bone.

  Jonas felt his arm go slightly numb, and then he slipped on top of the Goblin, both of them hitting their heads on the ground. An accident, definitely one. But in that position, with the Goblin beneath trying to tear him apart, he saw a chance.

  "Wait, I can—" With his free hand, Jonas gave up on punching and simply grabbed both of the Goblin's nostrils.

  "P-Please, please, please... C'mon!" he shouted, desperate, as the Goblin did not let go. The plan was simple: make the Goblin unable to breathe, thus it would have to detach from Jonas's arm, since both of their breathing would be impaired.

  But it was taking too long. The Goblin refused to let him go. Jonas questioned whether Goblins even breathed through their noses; he didn't have an answer to that question, one that could cost him his arm.

  But he had luck.

  The Goblin pulled its mouth open, gasping for air, waving its arms effusively in all directions.

  In a quick moment, taking advantage of his enemy's lack of air, Jonas grabbed the dagger he had dropped right behind him and plunged it into the enemy's head. The enemy lost all movement and slowly turned into pure blood.

  Seeing the sight, Jonas could only take a very relieved breath. Even though he was pale and dizzy. "I did it... I killed the monster... Man, I'm so cool."

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  But even so, he realized one of his arms was almost cut in half. Half of his left arm had been severed; it was nearly detached, like splitting a chicken wing.

  "This is bad though..." he muttered, completely aware of his dire situation. Yet he smiled. It didn’t seem like he really cared. His feeling was pure satisfaction.

  But there was something way worse.

  Right behind him, inch by inch, one by one, green eyes camouflaged in the darkness began to appear. And they turned out to be something that could be a new synonym for terrifying: hordes of monsters. Small, cunning goblins, sharp gray wolves, and slimes spreading goo across the ground, all with a single prey in mind: Jonas Solberg.

  Jonas knew exactly what that vision meant: that bunch of monsters slowly crawling in his direction would suddenly dash to his death.

  What a stupid and na?ve boy he had been. Why had he decided to participate in this? For the noble motive of wanting to help others? Maybe Jonas Solberg was a very empathetic person, but not the type who volunteered. Then, for money? Maybe. He lived quietly, with two loving parents, and even an infant sister that he knew was his duty to take care of as the older brother. Expenses were high; his parents didn't earn very well, but nothing was urgent.

  Then why? Easy: because it seemed cool. Simple as that. It would be extremely cool to be the greatest Exterminator of all time. To stop being an isolated, quiet, and forgotten boy, to everyone gossiping about him.

  And now, he had no choice but to face the destiny he himself had chosen. His free will had led to this situation, entirely fair and even expected.

  He knew it. Hence he did not cry.

  "I-I can deal with y'all..." He stood up with some difficulty. His heart surprisingly did not speed up, nor did he tremble; the pain in his arm was invisible. Why? Because he had taken out a very fat life insurance policy before arriving here.

  "C'mon... I'm ready..." He held the dagger, pointing it forward, smirking. "I said come! I'll die this way!!"

  As he wished, the demons jumped in his direction. There was no time or energy for him to dodge or counter.

  One wolf tore a piece off his shoulder. Another finished tearing off his arm, which had previously been almost severed.

  Once more, Jonas fell to the ground.

  "D-Dang it, I really suck uh?" He closed his eyes, feeling all those demons surrounding him. "Go on. I'll accept it... I'm just an idiot."

  In his mind, nothing really ran through. There was not a single thing he regretted; after all, his family was fine, and he had died doing what he always wanted.

  The monsters jumped, aiming to eat all of his body, and—

  "It is me."

  "Eh?" When Jonas opened his eyes, he only saw all those demons running away. Wolves whimpered, and the Goblins left their swords behind.

  Jonas checked his body. "Is this a dream? Did I die and go to heaven?" It didn't seem like it. His body was the same as before: no left hand, no right shoulder, countless scratches and bloodstains covered his body, exactly as it had been after the battle.

  "What the heck?!"

  He could barely stand; it was extremely difficult using only one hand, and combined with his wear and tear, this made it almost impossible. So, he crawled to the nearest wall like a disabled soldier. Upon arriving, he leaned back and sighed deeply.

  "It's over? How did I survive? Was that a voice or something?... Damn it—"

  "Hey, someone's there!?"

  Those voices echoed in the distance as they approached the scene.

  "Y-Yes! I'm here! Please help me!!" screamed Jonas at the top of his lungs, feeling a bit of hope.

  What he saw was everything he wished at that moment: a group of four people.

  In front, a huge man with a shield bigger than him and a sword, a Tank.

  Behind, a brunette girl in light clothing, holding a bow and arrow, and a young boy holding a medium-sized sword, the DPS.

  And finally, a girl wearing a brown dress and holding a staff in her hand, the Healer.

  "What just happened to you!?" the leader shouted, stepping forward with authority.

  "There were monsters... A-And... augh."

  They surrounded Jonas, and without any orders the Healer crouched down, touching the remaining part of his arm. "You're really hurt... The monster who did that to you must have been really strong! But we're on the first floor—"

  "It was a Goblin."

  Jonas's words contained a hint of shame, but they were true.

  "Ah?! How the heck did a Goblin do that to you!?" said one of the DPS.

  "Was it a special one!?" the other added.

  The Tank looked into Jonas's eyes, exuding calm. "Boy, what rank are you?"

  "...What?" said the Tank, without understanding a thing, "You don't know?"

  "Ah... No, I don't."

  "Well, at least your level? Or your class?"

  "Level 0, a civilian like everyone else!... tsk, I don't have one." Jonas Solberg sighed. "Actually, I don't even have the TEC. I faked it."

  "What!?" All the 4 future Exterminators screamed in surprise. And more importantly, concern.

  "What the heck were you thinking!?" The Healer gave him a slap on the face.

  "You idiot! That's suicide!" The male DPS said.

  "B-Boy... Why would you do that!?" The Tank asked.

  Jonas didn't need to think, "I tried to register, but they quickly told me it would be impossible, since I have some heart problems."

  I remember it like it was yesterday... "You can't practice any risky profession." Those words pierced my chest, and they are still embedded there to this day. But even so, I want to follow my dream. I want to prove to that doctor, my brother, and my parents that a weak heart won't stop me.

  Jonas showed no remorse whatsoever. And the others realized it wasn't a good idea to crush the dreams of a dreamy boy.

  "But that is so dangerous to yourself." The female DPS spoke. "They didn't want to let you in for a reason!"

  "I don't really care..."

  About ten minutes passed; few words were spoken, the quiet broken only by Joana regenerating Jonas's body.

  After those ten minutes had passed, Jonas's arm stopped bleeding, but it didn't regenerate; the rest remained there along the way, his hand. Along with that, his superficial wounds healed.

  "Done." Joana stood up and stretched her arms. "You cost me a ton of mana, you know? It's best not to do such reckless things."

  "What's done is done and can't be undone." The Tank lowered himself to put the only remaining part of Jonas' arm on his neck. "Rodrigo, help me carry."

  "Roger that! Mr. Jo?o!" Rodrigo ran to the other side and put the rest of Jonas's arm on his neck as well.

  "What are you doing? I can walk, you know."

  "After a large amount of mana has been sent to your body, it's best not to exert yourself too much." Rodrigo gave a thumbs-up. "Count on us!"

  "We're trying to make everyone pass." The Tank had a peaceful smile. "We're going to gather every single participant, and we'll all go together. In the end, we'll divide the mana stones among ourselves. That's how we'll get through this."

  "Well, I don't know if they're gonna let him pass," the other DPS said. "You know, he's faking his TEC."

  "That's a problem for later." The Tank nodded. "Let's go!"

  "Wait a second." Joana interrupted as she crouched down once more, right over the spot where the Goblin Jonas had killed lay. Her hand sank into the creature's skull, and then she quickly pulled out a bright blue stone. "You almost forgot to remove the mana stone from this one. Idiots."

  "Haha. Good, Joana."

  "Hey, may I ask something?" Rodrigo said to Jo?o.

  "Sure."

  "Could you show me your status screen? I would like to see what you spent your points on—"

  "Ahhh, not the time."

  A huge amount of time passed. So much that Jonas could safely walk again. But it was useless. He did nothing.

  The team spent a huge amount of time on the first floor. That was normal; the first was always the biggest. They found more people, some in death situations, some sleeping, but decided to invite everyone they found. And everyone said yes. When they decided to count, they were already 35 humans.

  The team finally found the stairs to the second floor: a giant stone staircase, perhaps larger than the entire tower. But they went through it.

  The second floor was almost the same. Hordes of goblins and wolves came, slightly larger than before, but their combined forces dealt with them easily. They found some new people, and quickly they found the stairs.

  Third and fourth floor, nothing much changed. Easy peasy. For each group that came, they put them in a sack, with the intention of dividing them up at the end.

  Everything else went smoothly; they managed to gather a total of 49 people. A total of 0 deaths. Something that had never happened before.

  Until they reached the stairs to the fifth floor.

  "W-What is that?!" One of the Exterminators exclaimed.

  "It's the boss!!!" Another added.

  In front of them there was something that could be classified as anything but normal. It was giant, with eight red eyes and eight long, hairy legs. Black as night, with a disgusting mouth emitting green fluids: a giant spider.