Alonso saw Ayu's face, and it looked like she was about to release more hot air than he was. Was she mad? Well, he couldn’t help but admit that seeing her like this touched a soft spot, even if in a slightly silly way.

It made him smile, feeling oddly happy that in this desolate place, full of killing and survival, there was at least one person worried about him dying. And who had helped him selflessly all this time. He wouldn’t forget that.

But for some reason, the more he tried to reassure her that everything would be fine, the angrier she seemed to get. Did she want him to what—tremble in fear? Start crying? It was kind of amusing. Still, he sent her an image that he would train for a bit more and then rest.

She stared at him, wide-eyed, clearly asking if he didn’t at least want to know about his opponent.

“Ayu’s a good girl,” Houston chimed in suddenly.

“We’ve finally agreed on something, Houston. Would you look at that,” Alonso mentally replied.

He turned to Ayu and shook his head. His message was clear. He didn’t want to know about Siddharth.

Sure, it would be the smartest thing to do—more information would make it easier to survive—but he wanted to test himself. His current self felt too strong for any challenge this island had left. He wanted to face this so-called hyped-up Siddharth and hope for a fair match.

Ayu, however, nearly stomped her feet in frustration, sending him an image of him dying, with her shrugging and walking away. She stormed out, slamming the door behind her.

“Well, that didn’t go well,” Alonso muttered, scratching his head in embarrassment.

“Telling her anything now is pointless,” Houston said. “Let’s show her instead.”

“Wait a second... what time is the battle then?”

“...You idiot! How can you forget to ask?”

“Hey, you forgot too! Wait, didn’t we ask? And then... yeah, we never got an answer,” Alonso sighed.

“Without the time, how do you expect me to schedule a training session?”

“Think if I go out and ask, I can get an answer?”

“Considering how she stormed out, I’d say the odds are against you.”

Alonso stared at the ceiling and took another deep breath. “Well, I need to know, right?”

“Ask Chiara then.”

Alonso stayed silent for a moment, his stomach grumbling. “Okay, but let me eat first,” he said, eyeing the remaining 8 kilos of shark meat.

----------------------------------------

Alonso calmly knocked on Chiara’s door and waited patiently. Less than a minute passed before Chiara opened it, standing before him with a serious expression.

“Yes, Alonso?”

“Well, hi, Chiara. Sorry to disturb you, but when exactly is the match supposed to happen? Ayu seemed to have forgotten that small detail,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck, slightly embarrassed.

Chiara frowned before answering. “2 pm, exactly where the rocky path starts.”

He nodded. “Thank you. Sorry for the trouble.” He turned to walk away, but Chiara interrupted him.

“What has Ayu told you about the duel and Siddharth?”

Alonso stopped in his tracks, taken aback by the question. He turned around and looked at Chiara, slightly confused. “Nothing much. She just told me Siddharth is back, that he’s strong, and that he’ll probably trash me and I’ll end up dead.”

Chiara didn’t seem in the mood for casual talk. Her expression was cold. “That was pretty accurate. How do you reckon your chances of winning?”

“Very high.”

“Then apparently she hasn’t told you enough.”

“I told her not to. I don’t want to know about Siddharth. I might be called a masochist, but I’d prefer a fair fight.”

“A fair... fight? Siddharth has been over 3% in stage progress for weeks, while you’ve barely been there for a couple of days. Siddharth is monstrously talented, one in a million. His approach to EM is entirely different from ours, giving him an edge in combat I can barely understand. And what do you have, Alonso? The bliss of ignorance? Were you a prodigious special forces soldier back on Earth, carefully trained to face the challenges in The Tower?”

“The what? The Tower? What do you mean?”

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Chiara rolled her eyes. “Alonso, do you understand your situation?”

Alonso remained silent for a moment, studying her. Was she angry too? Why? Did she want him to live?

“Chiara, I appreciate the concern, but this… this is just another challenge.”

Alonso’s voice was calm, but beneath it was a weight—something far deeper. He looked past her, as if seeing something far beyond the island, beyond the battle. He drew in a long breath.

“One day, I woke up in an empty white room. Nothing made sense. I didn’t know where I was or why I was there. No one explained anything, and I was just… there. I speculated, I tried to make sense of it all, tried to find a reason. I questioned everything. But no matter what I thought, the reality was cold. I knew I had to get out. That’s all that mattered. I had to find a way, or at least give it my all before it swallowed me whole. I have people back on Earth who need me. People who depend on me, who have no one else. I can’t die here. I won’t die here.”

His words hung in the air for a moment, the intensity growing as he continued, his voice trembling ever so slightly with suppressed emotion.

“So I climbed. One step at a time. I was scared. I was more terrified than I’d ever been in my life. I suffered in ways I didn’t think possible. There were moments… moments where I almost let go. Where I felt myself falling into a despair so deep, it would have drowned me. But I kept going. Not because I was strong or brave, but because I had no other choice. I had to keep going for my dad, for my mom, knowing she’d be alone if I didn’t make it back. And yes… for myself. Because I’m selfish. I wanted to live.”

His voice cracked ever so slightly at that last word, and for a split second, his mask slipped, revealing a rawness that Chiara had never seen before. He clenched his fists, almost as if to steady himself, to push back against the flood of memories.

“And so I continued. I killed another human being for the first time. Not because I wanted to, not because it was something I was capable of living with. But because I had to. And it broke me, Chiara. It shattered something inside me. But even then, even broken… I kept going. I had no choice. And that brought me here, to this island.”

He let out a bitter laugh, looking around as if the world itself was mocking him.

“This island. A place where everything is trying to kill you—everything. Not just the creatures lurking in the dark. It’s all a threat. But I survived. Somehow, I persisted, through every challenge, through every fight. I reached the center, I did things I’m not proud of, things I wish I could forget. I didn’t want to kill. I never did. And I’d give anything to never have to do it again.”

Alonso’s eyes darkened.

“But life doesn’t work that way. You don’t get to choose. You don’t get to look back and judge yourself with the privilege of hindsight. You just survive. And so, I’m here, standing in front of you, sentenced to death. Forced into a situation where the only way out is to fight again, to kill again. The pressure of it… it’s changed me. I’m not the person I used to be. I can’t be.”

He paused, his breathing heavy. But there was a determination in his eyes, something fierce and unyielding.

“And yes, not everything here has been bad. Ayu has been there, always helping, always lending a hand. I owe her more than I can ever repay. And you… you’ve helped too. But in the end, I’m alone, Chiara. Alone, standing at the edge of what you say is certain death. But to me? It’s just another test. Another challenge.”

He took a step forward, his gaze locking onto hers. There was no fear in his eyes, no hesitation. Just resolve.

“For all I know, this could be some carefully crafted illusion, some simulation pushing me toward the real test. I don’t know what’s real anymore. But what I do know, Chiara, is that in 4-5 hours, if I face Siddharth in that ring…”

He paused, the air around him thick with tension, his next words a solemn promise.

“Siddharth will die.”

Alonso felt the weight of his words, realizing he had said more than he should. Oversharing had been a lifelong habit of his. Oh well, what’s said is said.

Chiara’s eyes stayed locked on him, her lips slightly parted, but no words came. She blinked once, slowly, as if trying to process what he had just said, but her expression shifted, tightening into something harder, colder. Her breath hitched for a moment, then steadied, but her posture grew more rigid, and her hands balled into tight fists at her sides.

Her mouth opened, and when she finally spoke, her voice was low, sharp. “You have lost it.”

“Your sense of reality,” she snapped, her hands still clenched at her sides. “You walk around here like you’re untouchable. Like nothing—no one—can bring you down. It’s delusion, Alonso.”

“I know myself, Chiara.”

“Really?” Chiara’s voice rose, her face flushing with frustration. “You do know everyone here went through the same white rooms, right? Everyone has killed at least one person—some, many more. Several of them reached the Oasis by themselves, just like you. And now, in two days, you think you’re the best? You think you’re different? Special?”

Alonso stayed silent, his jaw tightening slightly as he watched her.

“Alonso,” Chiara continued, her voice strained with a mix of anger and desperation, “I understand the pressure you’ve been through. I do. I know how hard it is. But hear me out—you are not in your right mind. And if you ever want to live to see the sun settle today, you will listen to me and—”

“And what, Chiara?” Alonso’s voice was calm, but his eyes were hard. “Submit? Beg for my life? Is that what you want to hear?”

“No! I want you to survive!” Chiara’s voice cracked, her fists trembling. “If you go into that fight thinking like this, you will die. There’s no question.”

Alonso shook his head, a small, almost sad smile tugging at his lips. “You think I’m afraid of Siddharth?”

“I think you should be!” Chiara shot back, stepping closer, her face inches from his. “You should be terrified! You’re walking into that ring blind, and if you keep acting like this, there won’t even be a fight. It’ll be a slaughter.”

“You don’t know what I’m capable of,” Alonso said, his tone low and firm.

“And you don’t know what Siddharth is capable of!” Chiara's breath hitched, her eyes blazing with frustration. “He’s a monster. You’re a fool if you think you can take him down like this.”

Alonso remained silent, staring at Chiara as her chest rose and fell quickly, her breathing ragged from her agitation. She tried to steady herself, taking a deep breath, her voice softening, almost pleading. “If you go into that ring like this, you’ll just be another corpse in the Oasis. Alonso, you’re talented. We need people like you. Why are you so stubborn? Pride? Is it really worth that much? Is pride more important than the people waiting for you back on Earth?”

Alonso’s expression darkened, his eyes cold. “If I beg, I’m putting my life in someone else’s hands. I’m putting my mom’s life in the hands of a stranger who probably hates me. I can’t afford that. I won’t let my survival depend on someone else’s mercy.”

“Alonso…” Chiara’s voice cracked, desperation creeping in. “It’s not about mercy. It’s about surviving. You don’t have to fight every battle like this is the last one. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone. Just—”

“I will not put my life in the hands of others,” Alonso interrupted, his voice firm, unshakable. “I’m sorry, Chiara. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, but this is my fight.”

With that, he turned and walked away.