Darkness stretched endlessly around Milo. He couldn't feel his body, nor the ground beneath him. Only silence remained, cold and suffocating, yet somewhere within that silence… someone was breathing. Slow. Heavy. As if something enormous was standing right in front of him.
Milo kept questioning the identity of that person. No matter how hard he tried to think, nothing came to his mind. It was as if his thoughts had been completely swallowed by the darkness surrounding him.
He couldn't remember anything that had happened throughout his life. Not a single memory remained clear enough for him to grasp.
Yet strangely… he didn't care.
None of it mattered to him now.
The only thing occupying his mind was one question.
Who… was that person?
The figure slowly knelt beside him, speaking in a calm, quiet voice. Milo tried to look at him properly, but no matter how hard he focused, he couldn't recognize his face. It was blurry… distorted… as if something was preventing him from seeing it clearly.
And yet, despite that, the person felt strangely familiar.
Too familiar.
Milo stared at him in confusion. He felt as though he should know him… as though he had seen him somewhere before.
But he couldn't remember.
Not even the words reaching his ears made sense. The voice sounded heavily distorted, like broken noise mixed with static.
Then, slowly, light began to return.
The darkness around him faded little by little until everything disappeared completely.
Milo's eyes suddenly opened.
"Ah…?"
He found himself lying between Herax's arms while the latter shook him awake.
"Milo! You finally woke up!"
Milo slowly began to realize where he was. His vision was still blurry, and his body felt unbearably heavy, but the familiar voice in front of him pulled him back to reality.
"H-Herax…!" Milo said in confusion as he quickly looked around. "What happened? Did the test end?!"
Herax quickly helped Milo stand up. Milo struggled slightly before finally managing to remain on his feet, though his body still felt completely drained.
As his vision slowly cleared, Milo realized they were standing in a large arena crowded with participants. Many of them were sitting on the ground in exhaustion, while others remained silent, staring toward the massive gate leading to the testing chamber.
It was still closed.
Which meant the test hadn't ended yet.
Hearing Milo's question, Herax finally answered:
"Twenty-seven minutes have already passed. There are only three minutes left until the test ends."
Milo placed a hand on his head, still trying to gather his thoughts.
"I don't really remember what happened… but I completely exhausted all my energy."
Herax looked at him for a moment before replying calmly:
"You did well. Twenty-two minutes."
"Milo!"
Milo turned immediately toward the voice.
Solir was standing beside him, while Aurelius walked slowly next to him. Both were approaching at a steady pace.
"You're finally awake..."
As Milo looked at Solir, a thought crossed his mind. He suddenly realized that Solir might have lasted even longer than him.
Herax leaned closer and whispered beside Milo:
"Solir stopped at the twenty-fifth minute."
For a few seconds, Milo froze in silence.
Then he glanced back at Solir.
Inside his mind, he whispered:
He really has changed… Solir isn't the same as before anymore.
Solir stood still in front of Milo.
"Are you alright?"
Milo scratched the back of his head and gave a faint smile.
"Don't worry. The test just exhausted me, but I'm fine now."
Solir smiled back at Milo.
"Good..."
Solir turned his gaze toward the gate leading to the testing chamber. His expression shifted instantly calmness fading, replaced by a sharp sense of determination and resolve.
"There are still some people inside the test… which means there are still people better than me in certain aspects."
Solir lowered his voice, almost whispering to himself. His expression remained serious, his eyes fixed on the gate as if he could still see through it.
"I'll break them in the next tests..."
Before the test ended by a minute and a half, the gate of the chamber finally opened.
Two figures stepped out.
The first was the young man with glasses and a shirt pulled up to cover the lower half of his face. He walked slowly and calmly, every step measured despite the clear exhaustion weighing on his body. His breathing was controlled, as if even fatigue had to obey his discipline.
Right behind him came another young man.
He moved with quiet confidence, almost arrogant in the way he carried himself. His gaze was sharp and steady, observing everything without rushing, as if nothing around him could truly shake his composure.
His hair was brown, thick and slightly messy, falling in loose, uneven waves that naturally framed his face and moved lightly with each step. Beneath his jacket, his build was visibly strong, his presence carrying a quiet physical pressure that didn't need exaggeration to be felt.
Together, they walked out of the chamber as if they still had something left to prove.
The two of them glanced at each other.
The glasses-wearing boy's gaze was cold and restrained, but beneath that calm surface there was something sharper an unspoken warning. As if his eyes alone were saying that this wasn't over, that he had seen something the other had not.
In response, the other boy met his stare without hesitation.
His look carried quiet arrogance, not loud or emotional, but steady and dismissive like he was silently telling him: Even if our results are the same, I'm still above you.
No one else around them was able to notice it the invisible tension forming between the two.
A silent rivalry, building in that very moment, unnoticed by everyone except the two of them.
Time continued to pass until the test finally came to an end.
Thirty minutes had fully elapsed.
The gate remained open for a moment… then silence fell over the arena.
And in the end, the only person who managed to clear this extremely difficult test stepped forward.
Korito Kuroka.
All eyes turned toward him.
Some looked at him with admiration, others with jealousy and resentment, unable to hide their emotions.
Behind him stood George, accompanied by his guards, now that the second test had officially concluded.
George stepped forward, raising his voice to address everyone.
"The second test has ended. To be honest, its main objective was not survival for thirty minutes. We knew very well that most of you would never reach that time due to its difficulty. And yet… some still did."
For a brief moment, his gaze shifted toward Korito.
Then he continued.
"The next test will take place the day after tomorrow. I hope you all rest and prepare yourselves well."