Chris yawned as he sat through his high school graduation ceremony, just waiting for it to be over. Why was everyone so obsessed with these meaningless events full of pretentious speeches and a brief moment on stage after your name was called? Wasn't the monotony of sitting through eight hours of classes five days a week for over a decade enough? Why add an extra couple hours on top where you didn't even learn anything?!? Chris would never get people. As the principal launched into a second speech, closing out the ceremony, Chris began to nod off, until his friend Derek nudged him with his elbow, letting him know it was time to stand and file out, which had to be done in a specific order for no known reason.

"Ugh, finally." Chris grunted as they finally made it out, spreading his arms wide as he stretched. "I was beginning to think they'd never let us leave."

"But it's finally over! We're free! We can do whatever we want!" Derek announced, throwing an arm around Chris's shoulder. "We can hit the bars, find you a girl, or three-"

"Dude, no." Chris stated flatly, shaking his head. "I just want to relax tonight, alright? You, me, Penny, Thad, that's it."

Derek frowned. "Are you sure? You only have a week until…"

"I'm sure." Chris nodded. "I'm not going to suddenly turn into a different person just because of the Trial."

"But-" Derek began.

"Hey, you said we can do whatever we want, right?" Chris interjected. "This is what I want."

Derek grimaced. "Ugh, fine. Let's find the other two then."

They looked around a bit, until they saw a girl waving at them through the crowd. "There you guys are!" Penny exclaimed as she rushed up to them. "So, what are we doing tonight? I just got my fake ID, so-"

"Chris already vetoed that." Derek sighed. "He just wants a quiet night, just the four of us."

Penny turned to frown at Chris. "Chris, quiet nights are not the appropriate way to spend your pre-Trial week! You have to live! Do you really want to go through the Trial regretting everything you didn't do?"

"No, but do you really think I'm going to regret missing out on getting drunk and acting like an idiot?" Chris retorted, raising an eyebrow.

Penny grimaced before sighing and shaking her head. "Why can't you just be normal for a change."

"Would he really be Chris if he was?" Another voice chimed in as Thad walked over from the same direction Penny had come from. "Let me guess. You want to spend the week training and hanging out."

"That would be nice." Chris nodded. "I will take a break the day before the Trial, though. I should be in peak condition when I go in."

"As if it'll change anything." Penny grumbled bitterly.

"Hey, no sense in just rolling over and taking it, right?" Chris shrugged. "My chances may be low, but if I don't even try, then I won't even have low chances. I'll just die. I'll be facing the lowest of the low, so they aren't that much more powerful than I am. If I play my cards right… Who knows? Maybe I'll get lucky and run into a benevolent high-tier."

"If you can find a place to hide, maybe I can find you and-" Derek began.

"Dude, no. You need to focus on yourself in there." Chris interjected, shaking his head. "You're a mid-tier. You don't have the leeway to worry about me."

"You just said we're facing the lowest of the low!" Derek retorted.

"Yeah, which means if I'm really careful, I might get lucky. If you're careless, you could be unlucky. This is the Maze we're talking about. If you don't take it seriously, you're screwed." Chris countered.

"But-" Derek began.

"Derek, he's right." Thad interrupted him. "Don't underestimate the Maze. I don't want to lose two friends."

The group fell silent at that, a heavy mood weighing down on all of them. Or, at least, everyone except Chris. He'd accepted his condition years ago, and this was just the final stage. He wasn't about to suddenly make a big deal over something he'd always known was coming. You see, Chris lived in the City, the last stronghold of humanity, hidden deep underground, far away from the rest of the world. Above the City existed the Maze, a labyrinth of tunnels weaving their way to the surface, full of creatures that would attack any human on sight. The Maze protected the City by naturally filtering the creatures, the strong rising towards the surface for better resources, while the weak retreated to the lower levels for safety. Humanity could then venture into the Maze for resources and hunt the weaker creatures for food. In general, those with low-tier abilities could hunt on the first four levels, mid-tier on the next four, then high, superior, and finally omega, before reaching the surface.

However, as time passed, a problem began to arise. Humanity was becoming weak. Even superior-tier abilities were unheard of nowadays, let alone omega-tier. Almost half the Maze was completely unreachable by humanity. Even the high-tier levels were too dangerous to safely explore, the death rate skyrocketing as the high-tiers were forced to face the creatures of the Maze on even ground, without any superior-tiers to back them up. Finally, humanity decided to make a change, and the City started the Trial. Once a year, every eighteen year old would be sent into the lowest level of the Maze and left to struggle all alone, for an entire month. If they survived, they proved their genes were worth passing on, while if they didn't… It was a necessary sacrifice.

At first, the public outcry was fierce, entire sections of the City boycotting the Trial, refusing to send their children into the Maze. However, the protest fell flat when the Trial actually worked. More and more high-tiers began to be born, some even brushing the edge of superior-tier! With a heavy, but determined heart, the Trial was accepted City wide, everyone willingly sending their teenagers into the Maze to test their ability. In a week, Chris and Derek would be those teenagers, venturing into to struggle for an entire month, to prove that their ability was good enough to be passed down. There was only one problem. Chris didn't even have an ability.

Chris knew he was going to die. He'd accepted it. The amount of luck he'd need to survive an entire month in the Maze without an ability was insurmountable. He'd pretend otherwise for his friends, so they wouldn't worry about him, but he knew his fate. Over the next week, he'd spend all the time he reasonably could making sure his friends knew he cared about them, making sure their last memories of him were good ones, not ones of some crazed degenerate doing everything he could to wring every last drop of life out of his little remaining time. Not that he was particularly interested in doing something like that anyway. He'd never quite gotten the allure of 'partying'. Then, he'd enter the Maze. Then he'd die.

*

The week passed, Chris spending almost every waking moment with his friends, as if they were somehow trying to make up for lost time. They even managed to convince Chris to go to a party, which Chris immediately regretted the moment they arrived, more than happy to leave after only an hour. Who would actually enjoy something like that? Still, as it inevitably did, time passed, and it was finally time for Chris and Derek to enter the Maze. They bid goodbye to Penny and Thad, before traveling to the first level of the City and joining the rest of the eighteen year olds in a large lobby, waiting for their names to be called.

"Are you ready?" Derek asked, glancing at Chris with a concerned look.

"Would it really matter if I wasn't?" Chris replied, raising an eyebrow at him. "It's too late to change anything."

Derek nodded slightly, before turning to focus on Chris. "What's your plan for when you get in there?"

"Hide as much as possible, only fight if there's no other option, and hope I get really, really lucky." Chris shrugged. "What else can I do?"

"Just- stay safe, alright? I'll- I'll find you, and-" Derek replied, before Chris cut him off.

"Derek, we've been over this! Do not focus on trying to find me!" Chris demanded. "The Maze is too big and too dangerous to risk your life on the slim chance we end up near each other!"

Derek's expression hardened. "I'll be careful, but I'm not just going to abandon you! You-" Derek choked up. "You're my best friend, man… I can't- I won't just give up on you."

Chris gave Derek a complicated look, before sighing and shaking his head. "Fine. But! You find a beacon first! Then you can search for me, and you get out of there the moment it gets too dangerous!"

Derek hesitated for a moment, before sighing and nodding in agreement. "I- I can do that. Just- try not to die on me, alright?"

Chris just shook his head. "I'll do my best."

They didn't wait long until Derek's name was called and the two shared one last hug before parting. Chris watched him go, hoping he didn't waste too much time or do anything dangerous on the vague hope that he might somehow find Chris before he died. Derek had too much to live for to waste his life trying to save Chris.

A few minutes later, Chris's name was called as well. "Christopher Vincent?" The attendant asked as he stepped into the room, and Chris nodded. "Okay, good, let's see, ability… oh." The attendant's eyes widened, glancing up at him with pity in her eyes. "Are- are all your affairs in order?" Chris nodded again. He didn't have much to leave anyone anyways, so it was pretty simple. "Good. Please step inside, and the machine will confirm your identity before transferring you to the Maze."

Chris silently stepped into the machine as it whirred to life, scanning him in detail, confirming he wasn't someone with a shapeshifting ability pretending to be him, before there was a flash of light, and then darkness. Chris looked around at the cramped tunnel he'd appeared in, slowly adjusting his vision to the low level of illumination provided by the bioluminescent moss. Slowly, he let out a weary sigh. "Alright… let's do this." He muttered, before dropping into a crouch and creeping forward.

*

"Die! Die, die, die, die, die!" Chris yelled as he slammed the goblin's head into the ground until it released a soft squelch. Groaning as all the energy drained out of him, Chris collapsed against a nearby wall, clutching his side. So far, Chris had survived in these tunnels for four days and was not doing well. On the very first day, he'd run into a swarm of rats, a battle which left him covered in scratches and bite marks, at least one of which he was pretty sure was venomous. The next day, as he was assaulted by a fever and chills, he found himself a quiet corner to curl up in, only to wake up to find a spider slowly covering him in its web. Breaking free, he'd had another desperate battle, though thankfully this time he wasn't bit. He wanted to stay in his little hiding place, but he knew he needed water, so he dragged himself forward, searching for a water source. The next day, when he'd finally found a small stream, just as he was about to drink, he'd been ambushed by this goblin! The creature had dug its bone shiv into his side and they'd wrestled, Chris eventually coming out on top as he'd bashed the goblin's head into the ground.

Chris looked down at the ragged wound in his side, wincing in pain. "Fuuck! Damn it! Urgh! Ugh… yeah… that's definitely poisoned." He groaned as he stared at the bone shiv that was covered in some sort of dark, sticky substance. He kicked weakly at the dead goblin. "You prick." He stared bitterly at the corpse for a moment, before sighing and dragging himself over to the stream, shakily scooping handfuls of water to his mouth, before collapsing in exhaustion. "I wonder, will I die of all this crap, or will something else come by and get me?" Chris wondered aloud as he slowly slipped into unconsciousness. "Ah, who cares." He let out one final sigh, before everything went dark.

*

Chris opened his eyes to see… nothing. As in, absolutely nothing. The tunnel was gone, the stream was gone, everything was gone. All around Chris was a large, whitish… void. That was all Chris could think to call it. It was just emptiness. Besides an endless white floor, the same color as the sky, there wasn't anything.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Huh… so, this is death, huh?" Chris sat up, looking around. He examined himself a bit, noticing all his wounds were gone, as well as his clothes. "And I'm naked… I guess that makes sense? At least there's no one around." Chris paused. "Why is there no one around? Is this some sort of waiting area or something?" He kept looking around in confusion, before laying back down. "Ah well. Might as well wait then."

Time passed slowly, and Chris continued to wait, patiently at first, before slowly getting more and more agitated as time went on and on. Chris groaned as he flopped about, completely out of ways to entertain himself. "This is hell, isn't it? I'm being punished. My sins have caught up with me. I have done wrong and this is my holy punishment." Chris mumbled incoherently, before pausing. "Not that I rightly know what I did… I honestly thought I was pretty good at resisting my more heinous impulses. Or maybe it's because I have such impulses in the first place? Is that really my fault?" Chris let out another pained groan. "Fuck! This is worse than being stabbed! What did I even do?!? Just let. Me! OUT!" Chris yelled, and suddenly, a… portal? The space in front of him seemed to twist as a sphere quickly expanded, showing the image of a dark, familiar environment.

Chris sat up, looking at the portal as his eyes widened. "Eh?" He grunted in disbelief. "That… this… this is the Maze… isn't it?" He muttered, dumbfounded. Carefully, he climbed to his feet, creeping up to the portal, tentatively poking his head into the sphere. Outside, he found a very familiar environment. Patches of bioluminescent moss lit up the surroundings. Nearby, a tiny stream flowed by. This… this was where he died! Chris stepped fully into the sphere, looking around in wonder. "I-I'm back? How- how is this possible?" He muttered in wonder as the sphere winked out of existence behind him. He quickly found the decaying remains of the goblin he'd killed, along with a few tattered pieces of his clothing. "Did… did I get a second chance?" He wondered, before shaking his head. "Okay, hold, no, that's… that doesn't make any sense." Chris frowned, falling into thought. "Okay, so, I definitely died. Even if I wasn't dead, I was dying… then… I woke up in that place… and…" Chris's thought process stopped there. What was that place? Why could he leave? Why would he go there in the first place? "Fuck it. I'm back. That's that. Just… gotta deal with it." He shook his head, stumbling his way down the tunnel. "Let's see how long I can survive this time."

*

"Are you kidding me!" Chris yelled as he sat up in the white world again. It hadn't even been a day! He'd headed away from the stream, keeping quiet, sneaking around, when suddenly, a pack of four goblins jumped him! He couldn't even put up a fight! "Fuuuck!" Chris groaned, burying his face in his hands. He sat like that for a moment, before straightening, taking a deep, calming breath. "Okay, it's okay! I died once, yeah? Twice isn't a big deal. Still got sent to this place, so, not a problem. Let's see… uh, out!" He shouted and the potal appeared again.

Chris looked through the portal. The goblins looked through the portal. "Oh shit." Chris cursed, as the goblin's let out a vicious yell, jumping through the portal. "Shit, shit, no! Close, close!" Chris yelled, closing the portal. Unfortunately, the lead goblin had already gotten through, charging at him viciously, stabbing out with its bone shiv. "Fucker!" Chris yelled, kicking out, landing a blow on the goblin's chest, sending it flying. "Grah!" Chris yelled, jumping after it, landing on its chest before it could climb to its feet and grabbing its head. "Die, die, die!" He yelled, slamming its head against the ground, until it stopped moving.

Chris groaned in relief, climbing to his feet and walking away. "Fuck, that was clo-ahhh!" Chris screamed as the goblin jumped on his back, stabbing its dagger into his throat, his vision going black. He woke up moments later, to find the goblin standing over him, looking around in confusion. Chris suddenly lashed out, grabbing it by the ankle and pulling it to the ground, pulling its bone shiv out of its hand and stabbing it in the chest again and again. "Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you!"

The goblin screeched in shock and pain, before the life left its eyes. Chris breathed heavily, huffing in and out as he watched the goblin warily. Suddenly, the goblin's wounds began to close, and its eyes popped open. "Grah!" The goblin exclaimed, jumping at him.

"Fuck!" Chris cursed, kicking the goblin to the ground, before jumping on it and stabbing it in the head. He then rolled it face down, and sat on its back. "So… nothing in this place can die… neat." He muttered as the goblin began to struggle again, and he stabbed it in the head.

*

Chris waited for a while, continuing to subdue the goblin, waiting until his friends outside moved on, while he pondered this weird space he'd found himself in. Obviously it had something to do with why he wasn't dead yet, even though he should be… twice. It somehow took him from where he was and fixed him up like new. Why or how, he didn't know, but it wasn't exactly a bad thing, so it wasn't like he was going to complain. The weird part was that apparently he could bring other things in here, and they wouldn't die either! What kind of concept was that!?!

Admittedly, the current situation was a little annoying, since he couldn't do anything about this goblin, but wasn't this just the best life saving tool otherwise? As long as someone hadn't died yet, he could just bring them into this world, and they'd be fine! Of course, he wasn't sure if he could open the portal from the other side, but in that case, couldn't he just kill himself and open the portal from this side? "Not bad… even if I don't have an ability, this world can find me a solid place almost anywhere." Chris muttered to himself with a grin.

Finally, once he judged that enough time had passed that the goblins on the other side would have left, Chris carefully opened the portal, peeking through, before stabbing the goblin in the head one last time and jumping through to the other side. "Ha! Take that- uh… huh. Damn it, I should have dragged him through and stabbed him here! Stupid!" Chris cursed to himself, before shrugging and moving on. It wasn't like the goblin was going anywhere. Why not let him stew in that place for a bit?

Chris turned back to the tunnels, clutching his new weapon. "Okay… let's get out of here." He muttered to himself, feeling hope for the first time in a long, long time.

*

Chris kept moving through the tunnels, dying at least every few days, but he didn't let that get him down. So what if he died? He kept coming back, right? With his Immortal World, which is what he started calling the white space he went to when he died, helping him, what did he have to fear? Of course, there was still a goblin in there, but he'd run off somewhere in between Chris leaving and coming back. Chris would have thought he was in a different place, if not for the fact that he could actually sense the goblin walking away at a steady pace. Chris wasn't sure what the little guy was trying to accomplish, but he didn't care enough to stop him.

He also began to notice something else. He was slowly getting stronger. Not by much, but enough that it could be noticed. Of course, that could be due to the experience he was getting, but… well, Chris had been training his entire life, knowing that his only chance at survival was in his physical abilities, and the rate at which he was growing seemed to be faster than that.

Still, even if he was stronger, he wasn't strong. Any more than two goblins coming at him, and he was toast. The creatures with venomous abilities would still bite and scratch him, leaving him weak. It was a miserable experience. Thankfully, he'd learned he could open the portal from this side, so he at least had a safe place to sleep.

A few weeks later, as Chris trudged through the tunnels, cursing the dank chill that was ever present in the Maze, wondering why his Immortal World couldn't deign to take his clothes in with him, he heard a weak groan nearby, causing him to freeze. *That sounded human.* Chris panicked, rushing forward. A short distance ahead, he found a girl lying against the wall, panting feverishly. Surrounding her were the broken pieces of several, large centipedes, looking like they'd been torn apart. "Holy- uh, shit, are you okay?" Chris cursed, rushing up to the girl.

"Are you… blind! Of… course… I'm- Are you… naked?" The girl suddenly switched topics.

Chris flushed. "Is that really important right now?"

The girl shrugged, wincing in pain as she did. "I'd at least… like to hear… a funny… story… before I… die." She responded.

"Okay… yeah, come on. Let's get you up." Chris shook his head, going to pick her up.

The girl waved him off. "You can't… save me. The beacons… don't activate… for another… three days. I won't… last that long."

"Don't worry, I have another way to help you." Chris replied, lifting her in his arms.

The girls frowned. "You… healer?" She asked, confused. Anyone with something like a healing ability would be exempted from the Trial, since their value lied in something other than combat.

"Uh… something like that?" Chris replied, opening the portal to the Immortal World and carrying her in, before setting her down. The girl looked around in confusion, wondering what this place was, while Chris picked up one of the bone shivs he'd thrown in here. Whenever he died, he didn't bring anything back with him, so he'd built a habit of throwing anything extra in here, in case he needed it. He couldn't count the amount of times he'd died early on, and everything he had was gone once he got out… Well, he could, it was twice, but still, it was annoying. "Okay, this may sting a little."

"Huh?" The girl looked over at him in confusion, right as a bone shiv stabbed into her face.

"Ah, damn it!" Chris cursed. "The face is the most painful." He'd become quite the expert on this recently.

Moments later, the girl revived, jumping to her feet and sweeping a kick at him, sending him flying as Chris swore he felt ribs crack. "What is your problem!?!" The girl screamed angrily, huffing in rage, before pausing as she looked down at herself in confusion. She was… fine? She felt her face, where she'd felt the shiv stab in, and it was smooth as ever, no sign of any damage at all.

"Owww…" Chris groaned, sitting up as he winced in pain. "Sorry… that's just…" He winced in pain again. "Ugh, hold on." He muttered, before taking the shiv and stabbing himself in the head.

"No!" The girl exclaimed, rushing towards him, but she was too late to stop him. "Wh-why…" She muttered in disbelief, covering her mouth in horror, when she heard a clunk as the bone shiv popped out and Chris sat back up again.

"Ahh, much better." He sighed, climbing to his feet. "See? That's how this place works. You die, and you come back all healed and back in tip top shape. Neat, huh?"

The girl's eyes widened, before she frowned, reaching out to smack Chris upside the head. "You could have just told me that!" She complained, glaring at him fiercely.

"Gah! Yes, sure, I could have, but! Then I'd have had to waste time explaining, showing proof, blah, blah, blah… this seemed more efficient." Chris explained.

The girl froze, before sighing and shaking her head. "Okay, fine, sure, whatever. I am healed, so, no harm done." She paused. "I'm Beth, by the way."

"Chris." Chris introduced himself with a grin, stepping forward and putting his hand out.

Beth was about to shake his hand, before she paused and stepped back, flushing. "Uh, maybe we should cover that up first." She muttered, gesturing towards his nether regions.

Chris flushed, covering himself. "Right, sorry… it's been a while, so I kinda forgot."

Beth smirked, shaking her head as she took off her top, handing it over. She was still wearing a sports bra, so she wasn't too inconvenienced by the tops loss. "It's fine. What happened anyway?"

Chris took the top, frowning slightly as he tried to figure out how to wear the top for the best coverage, before deciding to use the sleeves as pant legs, tying the hem around his waist. "Well, you see, every time I die, I get sent to this place, but my stuff doesn't get sent with me. So, after waiting for whatever killed me to go away, usually, all my stuff is gone. Including my clothes."

Beth frowned. "Well, okay, but if that's the case, couldn't you keep a change of clothes in here?"

"Well, yeah, I could, except for the fact I didn't know I could do this until after the Trial started." Chris sighed.

Beth's eyes widened. "What!?! How?!?"

Chris shrugged. "How often do you die? It'd never come up before! Plus, I don't have an ability, so I wasn't really expecting something like this."

Beth frowned. "What do you mean you 'don't have an ability.'?"

"I mean I don't have an ability?" Chris replied, looking at her with a confused look. "It's a pretty simple statement."

Beth shook her head. "That isn't… you have this!" She exclaimed, waving her arms around. "If this isn't an ability, what is?!?"

Chris paused. "Uh… I don't know…" He muttered, before shaking his head. "But still, I've been through the Reader. I don't have an ability."

Beth rolled her eyes. "Readers aren't infallible, Chris. They can make mistakes, just like the rest of us. Maybe your ability just can't be read, huh? I mean, if it looks like a slime and rolls like a slime, it's probably a slime!"

"Or a strange form of sentient jello." Chris countered, before waving his hands as Beth shot him an angry glare. "Yeah, yeah, I get your point. Ability or not, it's what I can do."

Beth snorted. "Damn straight." She nodded, looking around. "So, what else can this place do?"

Chris frowned. "Else? You can't die in here. What else would you want?"

"Okay, sure, yeah, that's nice, but… do you see how big this place is?!? You're telling me it doesn't do anything else?" Beth asked incredulously.

"Well… it's a lot of storage space?" Chris offered. "Plus I'm weirdly aware that there's a goblin eleven thousand, four hundred and ninety-six meters that way… he'd be further, but he keeps going in circles. No landmarks around here, you know?"

Beth frowned. "Why is there- How do you- ugh, forget it. Can you do anything about the goblin?"

Chris raised an eyebrow at her. "Like what?"

Beth shrugged. "I don't know, kill it? Send it out of here? Something!"

"Uh… Huh. I'm not sure? I mean, I can open portals…" Chris drifted off, frowning slightly as an idea occurred to him. What if he opened a portal within the Immortal World? Chris focused on the location of the goblin, cocking his head. *Open.* He muttered internally, and suddenly a portal opened, revealing a weary looking goblin who froze, eyes widening as the portal appeared. Suddenly the goblin leapt forward through the portal, rushing forward and grabbing onto Chris's legs, tears pouring out of its eyes, ranting in gibberish.

Suddenly the gibberish cleared up. [-thing, please! Just let me out of here! I'll do anything!] The goblin screeched. As the goblin pleaded with him, suddenly, Chris felt some sort of… connection form, binding the goblin to him, or more accurately, the Immortal World.

"Uh… you, uh… huh." Chris fumbled, not sure what to say. "Uh, yeah, you can go." Chris finally replied, opening a portal to the outside.

[Thank you! Thank you!] The goblin thanked him profusely, before shooting out the portal, rushing off into the depths of the Maze.

Beth looked at him, eyes wide. "What was that all about?"

Chris shrugged helplessly. "I guess he's been lost in here for a while… went a little stir crazy."

"Sure, but why did it seem like you could understand him?" Beth elaborated.

"Oh, uh, because I could? Not sure why. Some sort of weird… bond that formed. No idea what that's about." Chris frowned, not entirely sure what to make of what just happened. He even still felt the connection to the goblin as it ran through the tunnels, but he had no idea what to actually do about it.

Beth gave him a weird look, before shaking her head. "Forget it, let's just go. We can figure this all out after we leave the Maze."