"The AL Guild gave us a last chance to be spared for our crimes and set free. If we can survive in this forest, they instructed us that if we get a button and push it, we will be teleported to the city, and that's when we will have successfully completed our task," one of them explained.

Kyren started to understand the situation of these prisoners. "So you got three buttons and are using this student as bait to get more buttons, so all five of you prisoners can teleport back, right?" Kyren concluded.

"Yes, that's right," one prisoner confirmed.

"But you also know that if you steal buttons from others, then the ones who have no button get stuck here," Kyren pointed out.

"Yes, but what's our choice? We have no choice but to do that," one of the prisoners said.

Kyren understood the prisoners' perspective, but he also knew he had no choice because that's the nature of the challenge. "We will leave you here. Wait for your teammates to save you, but we can't give you our buttons. Maybe find your way out here in the forest," Kyren said.

"There's no way out here... The only way out is by pushing that button," one prisoner said.

They were all shocked and in disbelief. "What did you say?" Hiro asked.

Kyren's mind started to overthink again. "How can you be sure about that?" Kyren asked.

"We are sure because the vice leader of AL said it to us. If we didn't know that there's no way out, we would surely do what you are thinking of. But really, there's no way out here. That's what we've been told, and we are just given a food for a night so we don't have time to mess around here." a prisoner explained.

"

"Hiro, don't believe these criminals. They might just want us to push these buttons," Hiro said, his eyes narrowing as he scrutinized the prisoners.

Kyren remained silent, his gaze fixed on the ground, contemplating Hiro's words.

"Do you think we should believe what you said?" Hiro asked the prisoners, crossing his arms in a show of defiance.

"Hiro, let's go. We'll leave them here. But before we do, as your punishment, we're taking all our food," Kyren said firmly, turning away from the prisoners and reaching into each of their pockets.

"What, Kyren? That's also a crime, isn't it?" Hiro said, his voice rising in disbelief.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"Just trust me, Hiro. I'll handle this," Kyren whispered, pulling out loaves of bread and other supplies from the criminals’ pockets with swift, practiced movements.

"And what about you guys? What's your plan?" Kyren asked the three students they had saved, his tone softening as he handed them a portion of the bread.

"You can join us if you want," Hiro offered with a warm smile, though Kyren’s expression remained cautious.

"You said you wanted to give up, right? You all have your buttons," Kyren said, his eyes scanning the students for their reactions.

"Kyren? What's up with you?" Hiro asked, confusion evident on his face as he looked between Kyren and the students.

"Yeah, we really don't want to continue this after hearing what the prisoners said," one of the girls admitted, her voice trembling slightly.

"But we're not sure if they're really telling...," Hiro began, but was cut off by Kyren's sharp interruption.

"Hiro, stop," Kyren said with a firm tone, his eyes fixed on the students who were now hesitating.

"Okay, then go press the buttons while we watch to make sure you guys are teleported back for sure," Kyren said, his gaze shifting back to the students as he crossed his arms.

"Okay, sir. Thank you for saving us," the student said, nodding gratefully. They moved quickly to press the buttons, each one triggering a mini portal that began to swirl and suck them in, one by one.

"Let's go, Hiro. We need to leave now. The two criminals who got away might still be around," Kyren said, his voice urgent as he began to walk away, eyes scanning their surroundings for any signs of danger.

"What are you really thinking, Kyren?" Hiro asked, catching up to him as they made their way towards safety.

"I'll tell you after we get away," Kyren said, his voice low and resolute as they disappeared into the distance.

...

They managed to flee from the tied-up criminals.

"So what's the reason, Kyren? We might really motivate the three to team up with us. They can help us, Kyren. Am I missing something?" Hiro asked, confusion evident in his voice.

"Hiro, don't get the wrong idea when I say this. I believe the prisoners' words," Kyren said, his expression serious.

"What? They're just tricking us again and buying some time for their backup. They're trying to prolong the story," Hiro argued, frustration creeping into his tone.

"I'm not sure about that, Hiro. Based on what we're experiencing now, this forest seems endless," Kyren said, glancing around at the dense trees and the seemingly unchanging landscape. "This might be a faraway and isolated area, and we really can't go back to the Academy just by walking out of it."

"Then you're saying that there's no way we can pass this exam and we should give up?" Hiro asked, his voice tinged with concern.

"No, I'm sure there's a way to pass this exam, but it's not just by escaping into this forest. I mean, they just made up our task and created a false mission, but I doubt that's the entirety of the qualification exam," Kyren explained, handing Hiro a piece of bread from their stash. "There might be something more to it, like a hidden mission. But I'm not really sure what it is. I feel like this is a survival challenge. Maybe there's a time limit, or maybe there's a target number they want to pass. If I remember correctly, from what Alaine and Patricia told us, around 9,000 students go through this qualification exam, and only 800 pass. Maybe that's their target, but I'm not really sure."

"So you're telling me that we need to wait until everyone presses their button to give up until only 800 students are left?" Hiro clarified, chewing thoughtfully on the bread.

"Or we need to force them to press those buttons," Kyren concluded.