Time held no meaning here.
In the oppressive room, only quiet breathing could be heard, interspersed by the dripping of water.
Antai leaned against the wall. He could feel his vitality trickling away strand by strand.
No one knew how much time had passed, but with no way to tell time, everyone tried their best to minimize food intake.
Everyone lay lifeless in the room, drained of energy.
After who knows how long, Antai felt the food in his hands dwindling.
A boy suddenly stood up and dashed swiftly toward where the cutlery was placed.
?!
Antai wanted to get up to stop him, but someone beat him to it. Bast, who had been resting near the knives intentionally, got up directly to shove the newcomer down.
"What, what are you trying to do?!" The knocked down boy panicked and shouted, still struggling to crawl toward the knives.
But Bast leaned down swiftly, pinning the boy firmly underneath him.
Bast seemed to want to look into the boy's eyes but turned away himself first.
"You're out of food, aren't you?" He pointed at the boy's empty hands.
The boy stared back fearfully.
"What were you trying to do?"
Bast shook his head, then nodded, before reaching out to break his ration in half.
"Here."
Without waiting for the boy's reaction, Bast stuffed the food straight into his hands.
"Come find me if it's not enough."
Bast glanced at the boy before getting up to leave again.
But this time, Bast squatted directly by the knives.
The boy was stunned. Clutching the food, he snuck a swift peek at Bast before scrambling away hastily like he was escaping.
Likewise, the rest in the room were also shocked by Bast's actions.
Seeing everyone was staring at him, Bast smiled awkwardly. He tilted his head toward the door.
"I think we can opt out if needed. It's no big deal to opt out, right?"
"Stop staring at me."
Dead silence descended, but the breathing in the room grew heavier.
And so, quiet blanketed the room once more.
Antai staggered up shakily.
He still had a small handful of rations left, already moistened with water.
The others probably no longer had the strength to stand up anymore.
Compared to them, Antai could endure more.
After Bast's actions, no more conflicts occurred.
Antai felt that after the first attempt failed, it would be very difficult for a second person to stand out.
To begin with, one would need some courage to step forward among the silent crowds.
Moreover, Antai did not want to know how many were moved by Bast's deeds. But Bast had made it clear to the others that they could not overcome him.
In other words, even if they tried to seize things by force, Bast and Antai would stop them.
And if they really managed to defeat Bast and Antai, the first instigator would have gained nothing worthwhile.
So everyone quietened down.
There were also some who could not endure it and directly proposed opting out, wanting to test if they could exit through the small door. But Eyo prevented them.
"I'm unsure if the number of people in the room is an assessment metric," he explained, before dividing up some of his and Lerna's food to give to that person.
Antai surveyed the entire room. He saw clearly that apart from himself, no one else had food left.
Now was the time.
Antai thought to himself, if it really was like their guesses, the screening should end very soon.
He looked to the indicator light on the wall. It remained dim and murky. Would it truly light up?
If their judgment was wrong, there was no way to change anything now.
Antai walked toward Bast's side. Bast was sleeping, or had fainted.
Despite being the first to suggest opting out, he still persisted without leaving.
Antai went over carefully to pat Bast.
No reaction.
Bast was clearly nearing his limit.
So Antai prepared to directly funnel the food into Bast's mouth.
He looked at the rations, swallowing.
No, Antai. Don't do this.
You can quit. You can quit. Death isn't certain. But if you don't, you might fail.
He lowered himself, getting ready to—
The indicator flashed on!
Antai nearly burst into tears.