Roi's breath came in short, ragged gasps as he opened his eyes.
Everything was white.
A vast, empty space stretched endlessly around him—no corners, no doors, no shadows. Just pure white nothingness.
His monitor was still there, hovering mid-air, flickering. But before he could react—
It was swallowed.
The whiteness consumed it whole, dissolving it like static fading into the void.
Now, it was just him.
Alone.
In the unknown.
A cold sweat broke over his skin as he turned in frantic circles, trying to grasp his reality.
"What the hell… where am I?!" His voice echoed, but it felt wrong. Like the space around him absorbed sound, making it hollow.
Then—
A message appeared in front of him.
Not on a screen, not on a monitor—but floating in midair.
It looked like a video game prompt.
A single line of text:
"THE GAME WILL COMMENCE."
Beneath it, a countdown began.
10
9
8
7
6—
A voice.
Behind him.
"Took you long enough."
A chill ran down his spine.
He spun around instantly.
And there he was.
Kyler.
The kid stood calmly, hands in his pockets, wearing the same eerie half-smile.
Like he had been waiting.
Roi's chest tightened. "You again?! What is this?!"
Kyler tilted his head. "Your trial."
The countdown continued.
5.
4.
Kyler took a slow step forward.
"Let's see if you survive."
3.
The whiteness around them began to crack.
2.
Roi felt something shift inside him.
Like a pressure building. A force waking up.
1.
The world shattered.
And the game began.
The moment the countdown hit zero, the numbers vanished.
Roi barely had time to react before the endless whiteness flickered.
Then—it began to pixelate.
The walls, the floor—everything fragmented into shifting pixels, breaking apart and reforming like a corrupted game loading in.
Colors bled into existence, glitching as they reshaped the world around him.
His breath hitched. He wasn't in a void anymore.
The white abyss had transformed.
Now, he stood in an expansive field.
A field of towering grass—taller than him. The blades swayed, glitching at the edges as if they couldn't fully stabilize. The sky above was dark green, speckled with strange floating symbols that flickered like digital code.
He turned in place, scanning the unfamiliar landscape.
This wasn't Earth.
"What the hell is this place…?" he muttered.
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Then, something else caught his eye.
His hands.
His fingers were now covered in specialized gloves, sleek and futuristic, with glowing lines running across them.
His outfit had changed, too.
Instead of his usual hoodie and sweats, he was now wearing a survival suit.
Dark tactical pants. A fitted long-sleeve top with reinforced padding. There were metallic strips on his arms, pulsing faintly as if waiting for something to activate.
His stomach twisted.
"What… is this?" he breathed.
Then—
A voice.
"You're in the game now."
Roi spun around.
Kyler was standing there.
Unlike before, Kyler's outfit had changed too. No longer the simple clothes of a child—he now wore a sleek, high-tech jacket lined with neon blue circuitry, glowing symbols embedded into the fabric.
He looked completely at home in this world.
Roi's voice came out hoarse. "What did you do to me?!"
Kyler smirked. "Not me. You did this to yourself."
Before Roi could even process his words—
The air around them shifted.
A distant roar echoed through the field.
The grass rustled violently, as if something huge was moving within it.
Then, a system prompt flashed before Roi's eyes, appearing out of nowhere like a heads-up display in a game.
[WELCOME TO THE TRIAL.]
[SURVIVE THE FIRST WAVE.]
Roi's body tensed.
Kyler chuckled. "Oh, right. You might want to run."
And then—
The ground trembled.
Something was coming.
The ground trembled.
A loud BEEP echoed in the air, and a new system prompt flashed before Roi's eyes.
[FIRST WAVE: DETONATION FIELD]
RULES:
|1. You must run within a 10 km radius.|
|2. Any ground you step on will explode after 3 seconds.|
|3. You have 20 minutes to escape the entire blast radius.|
|4. If you fail, you die.|
Then—
A countdown appeared.
20:00
19:59
Roi's chest tightened.
"What the actual f—"
BOOM!
The ground erupted behind him. Fire, debris, and pure energy shot into the air, the impact wave knocking him forward.
Kyler stood calmly at a distance, unfazed by the explosion.
"You might want to start running now."
Roi's body moved before his brain could process.
He sprinted.
The moment his foot left the ground—BOOM! The spot he just stepped on detonated, engulfed in flames.
Every step. Every movement. Explosions followed.
He gritted his teeth, heart slamming against his ribs.
"This is insane!" he yelled, dodging a sudden shockwave of fire.
The countdown continued.
19:45
The entire field trembled, the once-stable land now a warzone of collapsing earth and fiery craters.
A map interface appeared in the air, glowing faintly in front of him. It marked a safe zone at the very edge of the 10 km radius.
He had to make it there.
In under 20 minutes.
Or everything—including him—would be wiped out of existence.
He cursed under his breath.
No way in hell he was dying like this.
Then—
His gloves glowed.
A strange energy pulsed through his arms, lightweight, fast.
A second system prompt flashed.
"System Synchronization Detected."
"Activating Speed Boost: 5% Efficiency."
Roi's eyes widened.
"The hell is this?!"
But there was no time to think.
Another explosion erupted behind him.
And his body reacted.
His speed surged.
Faster. Lighter.
He felt himself moving quicker than ever before, dodging craters and fire like it was second nature.
Was this—his ability?
Kyler's voice rang in the distance, almost amused.
"Not bad, Chosen One."
But Roi wasn't listening.
All that mattered now—
Was surviving.
19:30
Roi sprinted through the chaos, his breath ragged, his muscles burning.
The ground erupted behind him—one explosion after another, each one getting closer, hotter, deadlier.
His speed boost was helping, but it wasn't enough.
The explosions were gaining on him.
Then—
BOOM!
A detonation went off too soon.
His foot had barely lifted when the explosion triggered beneath him.
His eyes widened.
Heat. Force. A shockwave slammed into his back.
Everything went white.
Then—
Pain.
Blistering, all-consuming pain as his body was thrown violently forward.
He crashed hard, rolling over burning grass and jagged ground, his breath knocked out of him.
His ears rang. His vision blurred.
He couldn't move.
For a split second, the realization hit him like a brick.
I'm going to die.
He was down. Vulnerable.
And the next explosion was coming.
The ground beneath him flickered—it was about to detonate.
"MOVE!" His mind screamed, but his limbs wouldn't listen.
He saw it. A faint glow beneath him. The next blast was seconds away.
The heat from the previous explosion licked at his back, his skin stinging, burning.
I can't die here.
But his body was too slow.
Then—
His gloves flared to life.
A surge of energy shot through his veins, his muscles igniting with a force he didn't understand.
And suddenly—
He moved.
Not by running—but by vanishing.
A split second before the ground erupted, Roi's body blinked out of existence—
Only to reappear several meters away, landing hard on the ground.
His body heaved. His lungs screamed for air.
His heart was beating so fast it felt unreal.
Did he just—teleport?!
A new system prompt blinked before his eyes.
"Emergency Evasion Protocol: Activated."
"Blink Ability Unlocked - Level 1."
Roi stared at the glowing words, his breath shaky.
He wasn't imagining it.
He had just dodged death by teleporting.
Another explosion shook the field.
But this time, Roi's fear was mixed with something else.
Power.
Kyler's voice echoed from the distance.
"Took you long enough."
Roi wiped the sweat and dirt from his face.
He wasn't sure what was happening to him.
But one thing was certain—
If this was just the beginning…
He was in deep, deep trouble.
15:00
Roi was running for his life.
The explosions never stopped. The ground kept vanishing behind him, detonating in a storm of fire and shockwaves.
His lungs burned. His legs screamed. Every step was a fight.
But with the new abilities pulsing through his body, it was easier.
He could feel it—the energy surging in his veins. The speed boost allowed him to dodge quicker, the Blink ability saving him from instant death more than once.
If it weren't for these powers, he would've already been dead.
The only problem?
He was running out of time.
10:00. Halfway mark.
A notification blinked into view.
REMAINING TIME: 10:00
DISTANCE COVERED: 4.6 KM
Not even half the 10 km radius.
Roi cursed. I'm too slow.
The countdown didn't care.
The explosions kept coming.
Then—
A new sound.
A high-pitched whine, building in intensity.
Roi's instincts screamed at him—RUN!
He launched forward—
BOOOOOOM!
The explosion behind him was ten times stronger.
A shockwave ripped through the field, the impact so strong that his entire body was thrown mid-air.
He couldn't control it.
Couldn't Blink.
Couldn't move.
Then—
CRASH!
He slammed into the ground hard, rolling painfully across the burning terrain.
His ears rang. His arms were shaking. His whole body ached.
The world spun.
For a few horrifying seconds, he couldn't breathe.
A notification blinked in the air.
WARNING: HP CRITICAL.
His vision blurred. His limbs felt like lead.
He forced himself onto his hands and knees, his breath ragged. The next blast was coming.
Move, dammit!
The ground beneath him glowed.
Another detonation was seconds away.
He pushed himself up, but his legs buckled. His speed boost was failing.
I can't die like this!
Then—
A new pulse surged through him.
Different from before.
It felt… raw. Untamed.
It responded to his desperation.
His hands lit up. The glowing lines on his arms flared bright.
A new notification appeared.
"System Override Detected."
"Emergency Skill Unlocked: Phantom Dash."
Roi had no idea what it meant.
But the moment he thought about moving—
His body vanished.
Not like Blink. This time, it felt like pure electricity ripped him forward.
He reappeared almost a hundred meters ahead in a flash of white light.
His body stumbled, his breath shallow.
But he was alive.
He looked back.
The place he had been was gone.
A massive crater had replaced it, a deep, smoking void.
If he had hesitated for even half a second—
He would've been erased.
Kyler's voice echoed in the distance, laced with amusement.
"Damn. You're actually surviving."
Roi wiped the sweat from his face, his hands still shaking.
He wasn't sure if he was winning.
Or just delaying the inevitable.
But one thing was certain—
This trial wasn't over.
Not even close.
08:00
Roi had covered 6 km.
The last skill—Phantom Dash—had saved him. Given him the boost he needed.
But it was getting harder. His legs felt like lead, his lungs burned, and every breath was a fight.
05:00
6.5 km.
He was getting faster.
His body was adapting. He was tired, scared— but he was fighting.
For the first time since the trial began, he thought—
I can win this.
01:00.
9 km.
Unbelievable.
But—was it enough?
A full kilometer in less than a minute?
59 seconds.
He felt it.
The energy fading.
The speed boost, the Phantom Dash, the Blink—all of it was wearing off.
His body was slowing down.
50 seconds.
Slower.
40 seconds.
Slower.
The detonations were near misses now. Fire licked at his heels, shockwaves slamming into his back.
30 seconds.
9.3 km.
No, no—he wouldn't make it at this pace.
The realization hit like a knife to the chest.
But—
He kept going.
He ran. Ran without thinking.
Ran for his life.
His legs gave out.
He collapsed.
The heat of an explosion seared his back.
He screamed, pushed off the ground, kept moving.
He was past his limits.
His body was done.
But his will wasn't.
10 seconds.
The finish line appeared.
The safe zone.
Less than 100 meters away.
He could do this.
3.
2.
He leaped.
A final desperate leap.
He soared through the explosions, the shockwave launching him forward.
His hand touched the line.
1.
0.
He made it.
He was safe.
For a split second—he thought it was over.
Then—
KABOOOOOOM!!!
The blast caught him.
Half his body was still in the danger zone.
The explosion ripped through him.
The force sent him flying, his world spinning.
He couldn't even scream.
He hit the ground. Hard.
Pain.
Raw, soul-crushing pain.
He gasped.
Looked down.
His arm. Gone.
His leg. Gone.
Blood pooled beneath him.
His vision blurred.
Kyler's voice echoed somewhere in the distance.
"Damn."