It would be hard to tell how much time had passed on the first floor, where the sun shone for eternity. Luckily, the Tower displayed a countdown above the great door for the candidate to see.
It had been 19 hours since Sorath finished his trial, yet the second trial had still not started.
Why? It is, of course, because of the concept. The Awakening Phase takes a rather annoying approach for this trial, and that's the "Countdown."
The Tower uses a countdown to make the trial last long. It needs a day for the second trial to start after the start of the first trial. Then, a 2-day countdown will begin to tick after the second trial opens, and so on, until a maximum of a 7-day countdown for the last one.
To sum it up, the total day spent on a countdown will be 28 days.
Sorath knew exactly the purpose of this countdown. That was to make sure the candidates had a proper awakening and provide a reason to rest on the trial floors since they couldn't sleep on the first floor. Not unless they could take down the sun forcefully into the Earth.
Both Sorath and Julian had forgotten about this since they were too busy dealing with the time loop.
All the candidates were exhausted. Not only did they not have a proper rest, but the sun and the light also kept draining their energy. It was difficult for them to endure the heat anymore.
A few comments managed to leave from the candidate's mouths.
"Waahh... an hour that feels like a century..."
"Why is it that... if we're waiting for something to happen... time feels so slow...?"
"If I knew this would happen... I would have taken it slow in completing my trial..."
"We're lucky we have a pre-awakened that can manipulate elements. If not for her, I'm sure we all will fail."
"In the first place, why did the Awakened seniors not inform us about this situation?!
Sorath scoffed as the candidates fumed after one of them blamed the senior for keeping a secret from them.
'It's not because they are keeping information from us. They, in fact, have no idea for something like this to happen because the Awakening Phase has always been an unpredictable one.'
'There will always be something different from the previous one. That's why the seniors didn't share anything specific about the trials and focused on giving tips and explaining the rewards instead.'
He sighed. 'This year's participants are just unlucky to have a countdown variable.'
...
After what felt like an eternity of playing wait and see, the Tower broadcasted an announcement in the form of a window interface every candidate could see personally.
[The door to the second trial has opened!]
Then another one popped out. Its content was as if it was mocking the candidates' situation.
[Pro tips: Take your time in clearing the trial to avoid a failure in a ridiculous way!]
Almost every candidate swept the second window away from their sights aggressively. The looks on their faces were telling that if they found someone responsible for the Tower, they would not leave them alone.
Sweeping the window away gently, Sorath and the Aquila Twins stepped through the second door a few minutes later after Julian and his groups entered.
Before his body and consciousness dissipated and transported to the new floor, Sorath had found something was strange with Julian's behavior.
Earlier, when Sorath observed Julian from afar, their gazes accidentally met.
However, Julian acted like he didn't recognize Sorath.
On the other hand, Sorath could tell that Julian was not performing an act or feigning ignorance. In Sorath's eyes, it appeared as though Julian had genuinely lost his memories of him.
...
Finally, after suffering mental health from the everlasting daylight, Sorath found himself standing in a ruined construction. The first thing he did was to secure the place. He took a few moments of his life to survey his surroundings.
After confirming the place was quite a safe zone, Sorath stretched and slowly lowered his body, pressing himself against the cold floor.
"Fuck, it's too cold!"
He immediately rose to his feet and repositioned himself against the walls instead.
Using the thick roots that had managed to break through the bottom of the wall as a shield from the cold, Sorath drifted into a dreamless sleep.
Seven hours passed like a second, and Sorath had recovered his energy. Waking up to the sound of birds, Sorath yawned and stretched his body, but his eyes never ceased to work.
Sorath took the opportunity to thoroughly survey the place, which he didn't have the chance to do last night.
The ruined construction enveloped Sorath in its weathered embrace. The remnants of ancient stones, once proud and towering, now crumbled in silent surrender to the passage of time. Moss and vines held fast to the fractured surface as though nature was attempting to reclaim what was rightfully hers.
"So this is Velniz Temple?" He muttered to himself as he looked around. "I wonder if this floor only consists of the temple alone."
To answer that question, Sorath pulled a map of Velniz Temple from the interior pocket of his coat. Spreading it against the floor, he observed the drawing closely.
Then, after fully taking notes on the third-floor interior, which was not made up solely of the Velniz Temple, Sorath gazed at the roots before him. Following where they led, he found a large tree behind the towering walls behind him.
He peeked at the tree through the hole where the roots broke through to the other side, then at his map, back and forth.
"Seems like I'm lucky and unlucky at the same time."
On the map, a large tree that depicted the very same tree behind the wall was located slightly southeast of the center. Meanwhile, the "X" depicting the hidden treasure was at the northwest of the temple, the forest environment of this floor.
"I was lucky to be transported inside the temple where the trial objective has taken place. But at the same time, I'm unlucky to have quite a distance from the hidden treasure."
Sorath sighed. "I might lose this one to that trash too."
Shaking his head, he put aside that thought.
He rose to his feet and walked east, where the temple entrance was located. His eyes glinted with determination.
"There's no harm in trying. Who knows, maybe there won't be any rewind this time?"