Sixteen minutes had passed.
Fourteen minutes remained…
yet to them, those fourteen minutes felt like hell itself.
Their bodies were breaking apart, slowly… piece by piece.
Breathing became a struggle.
Every inhale felt heavier than the last.
Their energy was nearly gone.
Some of the participants had already begun to mutter…
whispers that made no sense.
As if they were seeing something no one else could see.
The chamber had changed.
It was no longer just a test of endurance.
It had become something far worse.
A test of the mind.
Milo stood there, his body bent forward, breathing heavily.
Each breath burned his lungs.
Beside him, Herax remained standing tall.
He refused to bend.
Refused to show even a trace of weakness.
Not here.
Not in front of Milo.
Solir stood a few steps away.
His breathing was rough, his body clearly reaching its limit…
yet among them, he was the most composed.
His eyes moved between Milo and Herax.
Then, in a low voice, he spoke:
"Hold on…
We're almost there."
Milo slowly raised his head toward Solir.
His vision was blurred.
The world around him felt distant…
and Solir's voice barely reached his ears.
Inside his mind, he whispered:
I have to endure… no matter what it takes.
He forced his eyes to move, scanning the remaining participants.
Their numbers had dropped drastically…
yet the tension between those still standing was overwhelming.
Each of them was fighting their own battle.
Selunarion Selea was still there.
Her body trembled under the pressure, barely holding itself upright.
She looked like she could collapse at any moment.
Not far from her, the wild girl with the bat had already fallen to the ground.
She was sitting there, unmoving…
only seconds away from defeat.
There was also a blond-haired boy.
His red eyes glowed faintly.
He looked unstable… as if he had lost his grip on reality.
And yet
He was smiling.
As if he was enjoying this.
Then, Milo noticed another one.
A young man, his lower face covered by his shirt, wearing glasses.
He leaned against the wall with one hand,
while the other pressed firmly against his chest.
For a brief moment, their eyes met.
Then the man simply looked away.
These were the ones Milo could still make out…
The rest had already faded beyond his blurred vision.
Milo staggered backward.
His body nearly lost balance with each step, as if even standing was becoming a privilege he could no longer afford.
But in the end, he stopped.
He forced himself to stand still.
Breathing heavily… his chest rising and falling in uneven rhythm.
He whispered to himself:
Should I just stop…?
I'm not even forced to push myself this far…
I've already reached my limit…
His voice trembled inside his mind, not from fear…
but from exhaustion.
He slowly raised his head again.
Solir was still there.
Watching him.
This time, Solir's gaze was different.
Sharp. Firm. Unshaken.
He didn't hear Milo's words…
but his eyes said everything.
No words were needed.
There was trust there.
Expectation.
Pressure.
Why…
Milo's thoughts grew heavier than his body.
Why don't some of them feel the same exhaustion I feel?
His breathing was unstable, but his mind kept pushing forward.
He had felt this before.
Not exactly like this…
but close.
Every time he used his special ability, it was the same feeling.
At first, everything was under control…
then slowly, his body would start to shut down.
While Milo was focused on his thoughts, frustrated by details that no one else seemed to notice, something began to form in front of him.
The air felt heavier for a moment, as if the pressure of the chamber itself had shifted. Then, within his blurred vision, a figure slowly appeared not as someone who physically entered the space, but as if his mind had started to project him.
Light clothing, pale and almost pure skin, long green hair flowing down with two distinct strands framing his face, and sharp green eyes. The expression on his face carried a strange, unsettling smile calm, yet deeply poisonous in its presence.
There was no need for doubt. Milo knew exactly who it was.
Toxivar.
For a brief moment, Milo's breathing faltered. Not just from exhaustion, but from the impact of seeing him here, in this state. It felt like his mind was being pressed down even further, as if Toxivar's presence alone was enough to shake what little stability he had left.
Toxivar's smile remained unchanged. Confident. Almost amused.
Milo's doubt grew, even though he knew deep down that this was nothing more than a hallucination. Yet, despite that awareness, tension still crept into his body.
He stared at the illusion of Toxivar with sharp, angry eyes, as if trying to reject his presence completely.
Toxivar, on the other hand, remained calm. That same unsettling smile never left his face.
"What's wrong, Milo?" he asked casually. "Are you having stomach pain?"
Those words were enough to provoke Milo.
His anger surged instantly, and for a moment it felt like he was about to activate his special ability without hesitation.
But what he didn't realize…
was that doing so here would mean immediate defeat.
Not because of the test itself
but because the ability would drain the last remnants of his strength before it could even properly manifest.
A split second before he acted, he felt a hand grip his shoulder firmly.
Not harshly… but firmly.
"Milo!"
The voice cut through the haze in his mind.
When his awareness snapped back to reality, his blurred vision slowly focused.
And there he was.
Solir.
Standing right beside him, holding him steady, looking at him with a serious, grounded expression.
When Milo finally regained his awareness, he slowly looked around.
The eighteenth minute had already arrived.
Selunarion had fallen.
The red-eyed blond boy was gone as well, eliminated from the test.
The chamber felt emptier now… heavier in a different way.
Milo shifted his gaze toward Solir, and after a moment, he lowered his head slightly in silent gratitude.
Solir gently removed his hand from Milo's shoulder.
"I won't force you," he said calmly. "If you can't endure any longer, just give up."
Milo shook his head slowly.
A firm refusal.
"I'm fine… I can still continue."
Milo glanced around for a moment until he found Herax behind him.
He was still standing firm, though his head was slightly lowered.
Milo watched him briefly, then chose not to disturb him.
He simply gave a faint smile.
For one person, however, this test felt completely different.
Korito Kuroka.
Even as the test reached the nineteenth minute, he showed no signs of exhaustion.
Not even a hint.
Nearby, his cousin, Komiya Kuroka, was struggling like the rest, clearly exhausted.
She looked at him… with a mix of resentment and envy.
Comparing herself to him in that moment
was the very reason she kept going.
Komiya lowered her head, whispering with sadness and self-hatred.
"Why…? Why is he better than me at everything? I can't surpass him… not ever…"
She looked at Korito, still standing without a hint of exhaustion, and clenched her hand.
"…it's like he isn't human."
It felt as if Korito was standing at the peak of a towering mountain…
while Komiya was still at the very beginning of the climb.
The gap between him and the others was overwhelming.
Not just for Komiya
but for anyone who dared to compare themselves to him.
Milo was on the verge of collapsing. He had stopped caring, his awareness fading along with the feeling of his own body. He no longer wanted to push himself.
Just as he took his final step before falling
a strong hit struck his back.
It snapped him back.
He turned slightly, trying to see who hit him.
Herax.
He was smiling.
A faint, tired smile… as if he had just given Milo one last push.
And then he collapsed.
His body hit the ground before vanishing.
He had failed the test.
Milo stood there for a moment, stunned.
He hadn't expected Herax to fall… not before him.
A second later, another participant one with a build similar to Herax collapsed as well, disappearing just moments after.
Now…
none of Milo's friends remained.
Except Solir.
Ten minutes remained. Milo's heart pounded, not only from exhaustion but from the feeling that victory was close, yet focusing on the time made those ten minutes feel endless. The only thing he kept telling himself to keep going was: break your limits… you can do it… there's not much left.
Nine minutes remained. The waves became even more intense, to the point that Milo's legs started trembling. His energy was completely gone, and he had lost all sense of time. He had already broken his limits, yet he refused to fall before the others… he didn't want to lose, at least not before everyone else did.
Eight minutes remained. Milo glanced at the timer and smiled for a moment, thinking he could continue a little longer, but in the very next instant, he collapsed. His body fell to the ground, unable to move or speak.
Minute twenty-two.
He had fallen, leaving Solir alone.
Slowly, he opened his eyes, trying to understand what had happened. The pain was gone, the pressure had disappeared
he was out of the virtual space. Herax ran toward him despite his exhaustion, calling his name, but Milo didn't move at all. He remained lying on the ground, still trying to process everything… until his eyes slowly closed, and he fell asleep.
That was as far as Milo could go.