A/N: unfortunately, I can't post images on here, so the fanart I had in the original chapter won't be here:(
I was standing on top of the extremely tall tower known as 'Trick Tower.' Getting to the bottom of the tower was our goal- and we had 72 hours- exactly 3 days- to complete it.
Gon, Killua, Leorio, Kurapika, and I had been pacing around the top of the tower, trying to figure out how to get down, along with the remaining applicants.
A cold breeze blew past us, making my relatively long hair blow in the wind. Maybe I should cut it. But I'll save that thought for another time. "Are we supposed to... climb down?" I asked, sweatdropping. "That would be quite a challenge," Kurapika replied, looking down at the ground below. If only I could fly...
"Hey, aren't there less people up here than before?" Leorio pointed out. I backed away from the edge and glanced around. He was right. There were definitely less people than before.
"They must be getting down somehow without climbing down. But how?" Kurapika asked. I jogged over to a random spot on the top, then glanced back at the other four. An idea suddenly struck me. "Maybe they're-"
Before I could finish my sentence, I yelped- because my surroundings became pitch black, and my body tensed with the feeling of falling through nothingness.
I blinked. What just happened? I was falling, even though I'd been standing on the surface of Trick Tower just a second ago.
Then, I landed on something soft and squishy, and I stiffened. Suddenly, the lights came back on, and I realized that I was sprawled across a huge beanbag... or something. I didn't know what it was.
In the middle of an even bigger and empty room. It was creepy, in a way, because I was surrounded by tan brick walls and nothing else.
As I struggled to sit up, I realized that my idea was probably right. I was about to say that maybe there were trapdoors or something in the ground, and that's how everyone was getting down.
I slid down the squishy bean bag and landed softly. How am I supposed to get out? Is this some kind of test? I began to walk around and feel the walls. Maybe there was a secret passageway somewhere.
A few minutes later, as my hand reached another brick, it clicked and receded into the wall.
...Was that supposed to do something? Suddenly, I heard a shuffling noise behind me. I turned around and saw a podium in the middle of the room.
I sighed out of relief. Finally, something else in this room. I approached it and saw that there were two buttons on it- a blue one and a green one.
The green one said 'LEFT' on it, and the blue one said 'RIGHT.' I deadpanned.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"
I groaned. Why can't my test be easy to understand like everyone else's? All they had to do was fight other people, and here I am, having to choose between right and left.
Although... I can't really fight (I think), so I suppose I should be thankful that I'm getting a more simple test... Except... there were no doorways to my left or right. And would it open a passageway? Or let in an opponent? Which should I pick...?
"Argh, what the heck..." I grumbled and randomly slammed down my hand on the blue "RIGHT" button. Am I being stupid? Maybe. Do I care? No. As soon as I did, I heard a clicking noise and the podium sunk back into the ground, the sound of soft mechanical whirring following it. I narrowed my eyes and glanced around, waiting for something to happen.
I heard a sudden sliding noise, the sound of bricks scraping together, and I whipped around to my right. There was an opening appearing about three feet wide and 8 feet tall on the wall.
The wall stopped moving, and I stood there for a good few seconds, staring at it.
Should I... enter it? Is it a trap?
Suddenly, I felt an a ominous feeling coming from the opening. I flinched and took a step back. The sound of light footsteps echoed from the dark passageway.
I began to full out panic and back away from the opening. The feeling coming from the opening... it was so dark and menacing. I wanted to forget about everything and just run.
But I was trapped in this huge empty room with nothing but a giant beanbag chair, which I can't even use.
All I could do was stand there and wait, feeling the sinister presence get closer and closer. I clenched my fists as I saw a tall figure appear, completely concealed by the darkness, and the footsteps stopped.
"Oh my, what a surprise we have here. This will certainly be interesting..." a strangely familiar voice said. Who is it? I glared at the figure as it walked forwards and stopped in the light, revealing themself.
My eyes widened as it dawned on me who the person before me was. No way... it can't be...