The director's voice echoed again from the platform, sharp and decisive:
"All qualified participants have now been announced. Those whose names were not called must leave the arena immediately."
Some of the remaining contestants stood frozen in disbelief, as if they couldn't comprehend that their journey was over, while others bowed their heads in silent defeat, retreating with heavy steps toward the exit. Guards stationed around the field began to move with precision, guiding the eliminated participants out beyond the walls and locking the gates tightly behind them.
The director took another step forward, opening a new file in his hands before speaking again, his tone was calmly:
"The second test… will not be a battlefield. This time… we'll be testing something entirely different. Not your strength, but your mind, your composure, and your teamwork."
He pulled out a single sheet of paper, raising it like a declaration, and continued:
"Each group of qualifiers will be placed inside one of the surrounding buildings you see around you now. They may look small from the outside… but inside, they hide something completely different."
Everyone's eyes turned toward the surrounding structures: wooden huts, stone towers, watch posts, and more. There were no visible doors, no clear exits.
"Each building… is a maze. But not a random one. Inside, you'll find puzzles, traps, and choices that could change your fate. None of you knows what awaits within."
He paused briefly, scanning the faces before him as if trying to gauge their readiness.
"You will have only two hours. If you fail to escape within the time limit… your entire group will be deemed a failure."
Murmurs of unease began to rise.
"No one is allowed to survive alone. If one member fails, you all fail. If someone escapes alone, that group will be considered traitorous and completely disqualified."
Eyes began darting between teammates, as everyone quietly reassessed their odds.
The director raised his hand toward the surrounding buildings and declared:
"Now… each group has the right to choose which building they wish to enter. Think carefully."
A heavy silence fell over the field, as if everyone waited for someone else to move first. Then, gradually, the groups began to scatter, trading wary glances as they studied the mysterious buildings.
Akio's group stood in their place, scanning the area in silence. Ann placed her hand under her chin, studying the structures closely, trying to read their design and placement.
"That small tower… it looks simple, but its structure isn't symmetrical. Could be deceptive. And that hut over there is probably filled with primitive traps."
Akio nodded eagerly and pointed to the third building, which had narrow, high windows.
"I think that one's the easiest! If there are windows, we can just break them and get out!"
Ann chuckled softly:
"You really think they'd be dumb enough to leave actual windows for you to climb out of?"
Mabushi crossed his arms with disinterest.
"I don't care what kind of building it is. I'll get out and win no matter what."
While the debate went on between Ann and Akio, Silvara stood quietly behind them, her eyes fixed on the buildings. One structure caught her attention: an old, gray, square-shaped building. No decorations, no openings, no visible door. It looked abandoned and dull, yet there was something strange about it… a faint aura that whispered to instinct itself.
Across the field, Ken stood silently with his arms crossed, staring at the same building. He noticed the ground in front of it was untouched, no footprints at all. No one had even tried to approach it. No ornaments, no windows, no marks of life.
He finally broke his silence, stepping towards the group and saying with a dry voice:
"That building there. We're going inside it."
Conversations stopped immediately. Everyone turned to where he pointed, then back at him in surprise.
Akio raised an eyebrow.
"Huh? Why that one? It looks boring, and dangerous!"
Ken replied flatly:
"Because it's the only one everyone avoided. That means it was designed to be the hardest. And this test wasn't made for people looking for the easy path. If we're going to pass… let it be through the place no one dares to choose."
Silvara added softly but firmly:
"It's also the only building that feels… lifeless. That alone makes it suspicious. The others scream to be explored, but this one… this one hides on purpose."
Ken turned towards her.
"So, you agree with me?"
Silvara nodded silently. The group fell quiet for a moment, until a low mocking laugh broke from behind them.
Mabushi was laughing with his hands in his pockets.
"Oh, perfect. Now we've got a genius general and a mysterious priestess, talking to us like we're clueless soldiers in their unit."
He stepped closer to Ken, his tone was sharp with challenge:
"You think you're the leader here? Who put you in charge?"
Ken didn't even glance at him.
"No one did. But you're not fit to lead a team that requires thinking."
A short laugh escaped Ann before she could stop herself, and she quickly covered her mouth, glancing nervously at Mabushi.
His eyes narrowed, his teeth grinding as he stepped closer:
"Keep that arrogance up, genius… and see who's got your back when you fall."
Ken, unfazed, simply began walking toward the gray building. Silvara followed him in silence.
Akio and Ann exchanged a helpless look.
"I guess… I don't have a better plan,"
Akio said.
And they followed too. Mabushi stood alone for a moment, then waved his hand lazily.
"Fine, I'll tag along… just so I don't die of boredom."
He trailed behind them, stubborn fire was still flickering in his eyes. The group approached the gray building in silence, walking behind Ken. But when they were only three meters away from the wall, something none of them expected happened.
The air trembled before them, and a vertical line split open across the wall's surface from top to bottom, slowly widening, as if the wall itself was being torn apart from inside.
There was no handle, no mechanical sound, nothing but a smooth, eerie widening in the wall until it formed a perfect black circle leading into the unknown. Ken stopped at the threshold, staring inside.
Akio spoke in a low voice:
"Hey… there wasn't a door there a moment ago, right?"
Ann replied, her smile was gone:
"It's like it just appeared out of nowhere… literally."
Silvara murmured:
"The place is responding to us… as if it's watching."
Then, with a single step, Ken entered first. Silvara followed him, then Akio and Ann went in. Mabushi lingered for a moment before the entrance, peering inside with a crooked grin.
"Well then… let the madness begin."
He stepped through, and the doorway sealed shut behind them in utter silence. The moment they crossed the threshold, darkness swallowed them whole. A faint light soon filtered down from above, revealing a narrow chamber of dull gray stone… no windows, no furniture, no exit. Just an empty, suffocating box of rock.
Mabushi let out a short laugh, resting his sword on his shoulder.
"Oh, wonderful! This is the 'deadly maze'? Just an empty stone room? Whoever designed this needed a bit more imagination."
He strode toward one of the walls, studying it with mockery, then swung his sword dramatically.
"Allow me to carve us a window to this masterpiece of stupidity."
He slashed the wall hard, but the result was nothing like he expected. The instant the blade made contact, the entire space shuddered. The walls shrank in a blink, then dissolved. The floor beneath them broke apart, the ceiling vanished completely…
And the room changed.
They found themselves standing in a vast black void with no ground, no sky… only endless darkness filled with faint points of light, glimmering around them like distant stars.
Random objects floated in the air: a broken clock, a bicycle suspended midair, a wooden door without a wall, upside-down pillars, chairs hanging in reverse, pages of books drifting before fading away—like they had stepped into the mind of a lunatic.
Akio spun in place, shouting:
"Where's the ground?! I—I don't feel anything under my feet!"
Yet they neither fell nor floated. They were simply standing on nothing.
Ann whispered as she looked around:
"What is this place…? Even gravity feels wrong."
Mabushi jumped in place, frowning down at the void beneath him, then shrugged and muttered:
"I think… we're all dead, and this is some ridiculous reward for our sins."
He waved his sword lazily through the air, adding with a sarcastic tone:
"Or maybe… this is someone's mind having a complete breakdown."
Then he began shouting toward the stars:
"Hey! Is this a psychological test? Are we supposed to face our past or something? At least show us where the bathroom is first!"
Ken and Silvara stood opposite him, silently analyzing the strange space.
Silvara whispered without looking at him:
"There are repeating points… same objects, same layout. It's like this place is constantly rebuilding itself."
Ken replied quietly, eyes fixed on a wooden door floating in front of him.
"Or maybe… we're trapped inside a loop."
Meanwhile, Akio was hopping across floating book pages like he was in a platform game, laughing and shouting:
"Oooh, this is fun! It's like those augmented reality games they made in the State of Irallus! Look at me… double jump!"
He leapt onto a window frame, spinning in the air before landing on it in a wobbly balance.
Ann shouted from a distance:
"You idiot! You could fall!"
He laughed back:
"There's no ground to fall onto! Worst case, I'll land on… stars?!"
He jumped toward an upside-down chair, but the moment he touched it, the chair vanished.
"Ahhhh—!"
He fell… but he didn't fall. His body froze midair, suspended in an invisible point. Then the world beneath him reshaped itself, forming a stone platform out of nothing, and he landed flat on his back.
He exhaled, chuckling breathlessly:
"Oh, this is insane… I love this place!"
At that moment, while Akio laughed on his back, Silvara walked behind Ken, and Mabushi clapped mockingly at the madness around them, all the lights went out. The stars vanished. The floating objects disappeared. Everything was gone.
They were plunged into absolute darkness… no sound, no movement.
Then… the void split open with a glowing red light. From within came a distorted a childlike voice, but twisted, echoing like it crawled out of hell itself:
"Which one of you… bears the greatest sin?"
The blood froze in everyone's veins.
Then… a long black hands began to emerge from the crack, reaching, searching… for something… or someone. One of them grabbed Ann's ankle.
She screamed as she was yanked toward the red fissure, her eyes widened with terror she had never known.
"Someone… help meee!!!"