Both Haruto and the Young boy continue to lock eyes when suddenly another man from the young boy's cage stepped out. This newcomer appeared to be in his early thirties, he casually walked forward and stood beside the younger boy.
He too meets Haruto and Esmau's gaze, all four of them silently gazing at one another.
"Wow you two must be our challengers" Esamu broke the silence with an excited tone.
"Yeaah Maybe" The man in his early thirties responded cheerfully, "My name is Shinji and this is Naoto." he gestures towards the younger one standing next to him.
"Nice to meet you both" Esamu responded, with a wide smile, "I am Esamu and that's my partner Haruto." His smile widened as he added, "And don't let his look's fool you, he is twenty four years olds."
"Really?" Shinji, a man in his early thirties, responded, raising his brow, "You look like a high school kid."
Haruto smiles softly, "I get that alot, but yeah, I'm not," he said shifting his focus back to the surroundings, as he observes the towering walls surrounding the area "What is this place?" And what are we supposed to do here?" he wondered aloud.
Naoto and others also began scanning the surroundings, when suddenly, the ground shook slightly, startling everyone, and with a loud noise the shaking intensified, growing everyone's concern.
"What the f*ck is going on?" Shinji exclaimed, his voice loud and alarmed, others seemed anxious, as the ground continued to shake.
When suddenly in front of them but at a distance, the ground began to split and a large stage-like structure began to emerge from beneath the ground. With a loud mechanical noise, the stage rose steadily, rising higher and higher, shocking Haruto and everyone else.
As the stage continued to ascend, It revealed the group of masked guys standing still at the top, and in the middle there was a containment cell.
As the stage fully emerged, It revealed a total of eight same masked male figures standing on the stage, with a containment cell and a few tables far behind the cell.
Haruto and the others stared intently at the masked figures on the stage, a mix of confusion and anxiety etched across their faces.
The containment cell opened, and another male figure stepped out, wearing a black hand embroidered black tuxedo, wearing a black smiley emoji mask different from others, big black round hat perched on top of his head, In one hand he held a stick.
With a theatrical flourish he walked ahead and struck a dramatic pose, triggering with a burst of fireworks that illuminated the sky behind him.
Haruto and others stared in disbelief, their eyes wide opened taking in the sight.
The masked guy pointed his stick at The participants, "Heyyyy yoooooo!" He yells out in excitement, his voice light and playful, due to a voice changer.
"My Name Is Void" The masked guy introduced himself, surpringly he was far away from them but his voice was echoing from every corner of the wall, he then gesturing towards other masked figures "And these are my team, The Phantoms, and we are here to welcome you in the qualifying rounds for the Smiley Face Games" he declared enthusiastically.
"Qualifying rounds?" Naoto muttered under his breath, clearly confused.
"Yes, Qualifying round." Void confirmed, his voice echoing around, startling Naoto and Haruto.
Naoto's eyes widened in disbelief, "He can hear me from this far?" he whispered again.
The Void lets out a chuckle in a low sound, "Yes I can" He confirmed in a sharp tone, "I can even hear your mumbles"
Haruto and others were stunned, their attention locked on Void.
"Moving onto the first game" The Void announced with a gleeful tone, "We call it The Way Forward, the winning team will move forward and qualifies for the Smiley Face Games, and as for the losers…." he paused let out a chuckles before saying "Bye, Bye!"
With flourish, Void pulled out a remote from his pocket and displayed it for all to see, he then pressed a button, causing the ground to shake beneath their feets, forcing Haruto and other's to take a few steps back, and right before them a structure began rising from the ground.
Haruto and others stared in disbelief as the structure fully emerged from the ground.
The structure began with stretch of an open space, after the space there were two small containment cells, side by side, After cells there was wide opened area and at the end of the path two thick rope hung from above, holding up a steel plate with a large button on it, The plate floated in the air, supported only by the ropes.
Everyone was staring at the floating tray, suspended in mid-air by ropes. There was no visible support for the tray, It was floating only relying on ropes for its balance.
"It's a simple game." The Void declared, his voice bright and enthusiastic, "One player from both team will be locked inside that cell, and other will search for the key. Once finding the key they will open their partners cell, once the cell is opened, the locked player will raced ahead climbs the rope which is seventy feets up, and slams the button, Boom!" he paused before adding, "He and his partner will win advancing for the Smiley Face Games"
"Void!" Haruto called out confidently, drawing everyone's attention on him.
"Yes Mr, Twenty Two?" Void asked, his voice calm and inviting.
"I don't think climbing that rope up to seventy feets is safe," Haruto said, his voice serious "It has no support, and I don't think It can handle the weights of two peoples"
Golden lets out a light chuckle, "I respect your concern mr. twenty two, but don't worry you will be wearing our special suits, designed to protect you from any harm caused by falling," he paused, and then added "And about the capability of that tray, I I'll prove it to you," He gestures his phantoms, signaling them for something.
Two Phantom nodded, and walked to a table behind them and pick up two track-like suits, once wearing the track-like suits, they descended the stage and stood with the ropes. Haruto and others watching them with anticipated gazes.
The two phantoms grasped the rope and began climbing up, to everyone's astonishment the tray remained completely stable and balanced.
Once the Phantoms reached up to seventy feets they released their grip from the ropes and started falling down, growing anxiety of everyone.
Eventually both brutually falls on ground, one fall on his back and one face first, However to everyone's surprise they stood back on their feets appearing perfectly fine.
Haruto seems surprised, "The technology they are using is just amazing" he thought to himself.
"Amazing" Esamu exclaimed eyes wide with admiration.
"And what about the key, how and where we're gonna find it?" Naoto asked with a serious tone.
The Void smiled and claps, causing the space that was left open at the beginning of the structure to slide open, everyone's anticipated gaze fixed on the opening.
Their eyes widened, as the earth split open, revealing dark water below.
"The key is inside this water" The Void said coldly, "And don't worry mr twenty two, we'll give you gadgets which will help you survive under the water." He smiles, and whispers which echoed in a low sound, it says
"Since your life is our first and only priority."
Void's voice took an slight evil turn, which went unnoticed by Haruto and others since their attention was fixed at the dark water, gazing at it with wide opened eyes.