Chapter 373: The Cruel Reality

“That was just one instance.”

“The other was the city’s Seven operation—that Anomaly designated as 【Bear】. Fierce as it was, Lady Pandora killed it in a single strike! At that moment, I even thought Lady Pandora’s strength might be a cut above Lady Poppy’s!”

“But 【Bear】 died too quickly. It’s hard to use that as a basis for comparison...”

“Then you come up with a better basis! Since none of us have seen them fight properly, this is all we can do...”

“If you ask me, Lady Poppy could’ve killed 【Bear】 too—probably even faster.”

The squad members chattered back and forth, their discussion growing more animated by the minute.

Their voices were kept low, but in the cavernous, dim corridor, every word still rang with startling clarity.

Realistically, only a handful among them—if any at all—would ever reach Rank-3 in the future.

The gap in status only made discussions about beings far stronger than themselves all the more exhilarating.

It was like sitting in a tavern, talking about distant wars and far-off heroes. It had nothing to do with them, yet it stirred their blood all the same.

Only two people remained silent: the squad leader, and Betty—the same member who’d had her own ideas earlier.

Someone noticed Betty hadn’t said a word and asked her directly:

“Betty, what do you think? Don’t you agree Lady Poppy is stronger?”

Betty hesitated. Her round face carried a complicated expression, as if she’d rather not join the discussion.

But faced with a direct question from a teammate, she reluctantly spoke up:

“I think... Lady Poppy is very strong, but Lady Pandora’s strength grows faster.”

“A year ago, maybe there was a gap. But now...”

She didn’t finish the sentence, but her meaning was clear.

Her words only fueled the debate. Some agreed, some argued back, and the volume slowly rose.

Then, at some point in the discussion, someone let out a wistful sigh:

“If only the captain were Rank-3 too. If only that time half a year ago...”

Before the words could fully leave his mouth, the entire squad fell silent.

It was as if someone had slammed a switch. The atmosphere dropped instantly.

Silence descended.

The members who’d been passionately debating moments before now clamped their mouths shut.

Their eyes darted away, unsure where to look.

One of them looked like he wanted to slap himself.

Because everyone knew exactly what had happened half a year ago.

The squad leader—the quiet young man walking at the front of the formation—had made his first attempt at Rank-3 advancement half a year ago.

Everyone remembered how excited he’d been that day.

And they remembered the days after, when he lay in a hospital bed, face pale as paper, unable to walk for a full seven days.

The advancement had failed.

The price of failure was brutal.

Even now, his strength had only barely recovered to his previous peak at the very limit of Rank-2.

For the past half year, his strength had at times fallen behind the deputy squad leader’s.

He’d also grown quieter—no longer the spirited captain who’d always joked around with his team.

Sometimes, his teammates even felt his silhouette seemed more stooped than before.

As for the deputy squad leader, he was currently walking near the middle-back of the formation.

He looked to be in his late twenties, his face carrying more wear than the others’, with fine lines at the corners of his eyes that didn’t match his age.

In truth, his strength was the same as the captain’s—long since at the limit of Rank-2.

But since arriving in this world, he had never attempted a breakthrough.

On one hand, it was because he’d learned from the captain’s failure and feared repeating it.

On the other hand... the truth was, he had already tried.

And not just once.

Every attempt had ended in failure.

Each failure left irreversible damage to both his body and his spirit.

One could say his condition was actually worse than the captain’s.

Advancement was never a simple matter.

Just because they had reached Rank-2—crossing the Academy’s first two-year threshold—didn’t mean they would be lucky enough to cross the next five-year threshold.

Talent, resources, luck, and mental fortitude—all were indispensable, and none could be missing.

Some had enough talent but lacked resources.

Some had ample resources but fell short on mental fortitude and luck.

Others had everything, only to fail at the final hurdle and never rise again.

This was reality.

Cruel and cold, showing favor to no one regardless of effort.

In the midst of the awkward silence, the deputy squad leader let out a bitter laugh and stepped forward to break the tension.

“Ha... it’s fine. Don’t make those faces.”

“The captain only failed once. He’s got a solid foundation—unlike me...”

He patted the captain’s shoulder. His tone was light, but the desolation in his eyes was impossible to hide.

“I’m truly out of chances. But the captain still has hope. Keep working at it, and maybe next time it’ll succeed.”

“Besides, we’re already luckier than most in the Dead City. We can get our hands on That Lady’s potions—the price, the quality...”

The captain’s steps faltered slightly, a flicker passing through his eyes.

He didn’t look back at his teammates. He simply nodded, his voice a little hoarse:

“True. Thanks to That Lady’s potions... the backlash from my failed advancement was greatly reduced. That’s why I recovered so quickly.”

It was the truth.

Without those potions, he doubted he could have even recovered to mid-Rank-2, let alone stand here leading the squad again.

“As for you...” The captain turned his gaze toward the deputy squad leader.

“Don’t lose heart either. As long as you advance before the cleanup mission ends, the time limit won’t be an issue. The Academy does grant leniency to personnel serving on cleanup missions.”

The deputy squad leader just shook his head helplessly.

He was the person in the squad who’d been stuck at Rank-2 the longest.

His five-year limit had already arrived during the past year.

If he hadn’t joined this cleanup mission, he would have long since been struck from the Academy’s apprentice registry for exceeding the deadline.

What that meant, he understood better than anyone.

Even though he was still on the registry for now, if he returned to the Academy without reaching Rank-3, the outcome awaiting him would not change.

The Dead City was harsh—brutal environment, fierce competition, constant struggle for survival—yet it was still part of the Academy’s internal “campus,” enjoying protection and preferential resource allocation.

Dangerous as it was, it still had rules to follow and places to find refuge.

Once you left the Dead City and headed to the high-intensity battlefields against Greater Demons, you’d truly be gambling for advancement amid near-certain death.

Greater Demons would never be as “gentle” as the Dead City.

Alternatively, he could simply give up on growth entirely, transfer to logistics, and become a cog in the vast machine.

He would burn himself out to provide resources for higher-ranking Demon Hunters until he was ground down to slag.

But that kind of choice meant no dignity, no future.

Just day after day of being used up, until not even the value of being used remained...