Ena stood frozen, her heartbeat slowed as she watched the haunting memory of her father's death unfold vividly before her eyes. A tremor coursed through her body, each pulse amplifying the weight of the moment.
The cries of her younger self echoed throughout the test chamber, raw and unfiltered. She remained motionless, her expression vacant, as she continued to watch the painful scene play out.
She leaned in, straining to see, but something felt off. Despite reliving this memory countless times, her father's face remained a hazy blur—obscured and unreachable—and the air around her felt distorted.
He lay there, unmoving, while her past self desperately attempted to heal him, hands trembling as she struggled against the inevitable.
"I can't remember his face… it wasn't that long ago that I last saw him. Even if I'd forgotten, the test would've made it so I could see."
She pressed her hand to her face, desperately straining to recall every detail, but it was futile—all she could remember was the events of that day, not the defining features of his face. Tears began streaming down her cheeks, falling and splattering onto her blade.
She gritted her teeth, fingers tightening around the handle of her blade, and slashed through the memory, scattering it into dust. A thick fog enveloped her, swirling as the remnants of the vision faded away.
Yet, despite the dissipating fragments, the scene persisted—Haruo stood in the background, silently observing her past self's desperate attempts to heal her father.
Ena's gaze fixed on Haruo's figure within the memory. She took a step toward him, the sound of her footsteps echoing sharply through the empty chamber as she drew closer.
At last, she reached him and gently placed her hand on his cheek, feeling the warmth of his skin beneath her fingertips. She gazed into his eyes, her own shimmering with emotion, her hand trembling slightly as she made contact, looking up at him with a mix of longing and sorrow.
"Do you remember?"
Ena spoke just before his body vanished, her eyes shimmering with tears. It was difficult to let go, but she understood she had to. With a choked sob, she cried it all out, releasing the weight of her sorrow before finally letting go.
Finally, a door emerged from the ground in front of her, signaling that it was time for the fifth test to take place. She wiped her tears and grasped the knob firmly before turning it.
***
"Kilian, I have a question," Haruo said, his hands clasped together.
"Sure what is it?"
"Is it normal for the test to blur a face?"
Kilian looked at Haruo, his demeanor turning serious.
"Of course not, how the test work is a bit complicated. You already know that Ford controls over the entire test in his dimension."
Haruo raised a brow trying to connect what his saying.
"You see, the test delves into a person's most precious memories, and the dimension tries to pinpoint the specific time period when they occurred."
"It's like how the dimension managed to capture your expression, even though Ena didn't know what your face looked like at that time."
"But as you can see, the memory is glitching. It doesn't bother Ena because she thinks it's part of the test. The moment when her father died is distorting, and so is his image."
"Now, I don't know what's happening, but it's quite similar to what happened with Chiharu."
"In the past, I reprogrammed my brain to recognize anyone's face, even if I only saw them once. It's permanently stored in my memory. But for some reason, I can't remember Chiharu's."
"What do you think happened?" Haruo asked, curiosity evident in his tone.
"Someone is messing with time and erasing people's existence. However, this has consequences that can disrupt the flow of time."
"To fix this, the universe distorts the image of the person being erased while preserving their memory. Once everyone who knows that person dies, they will be completely forgotten, allowing the universe to take the next step. It will then gradually replace the distorted timeline with a new one."
"Poof! They no longer exist. This is practically impossible, even for those with time powers, because using those abilities would create a paradox instead of erasing them. It all depends on how skilled they are at controlling time."
"The person who did this could be anyone, including those like me and Su-nae—specifically, individuals who have reached the pinnacle of power."
"Anyway, that sums up everything I know. In the end, it's just a theory, and I can't say for certain what's really going on," Kilian concluded.
"But anyway, looks like she's about to start the fifth test," Kilian said.
Haruo shifted his gaze back to the screen, his focus returning to Ena.
***
'That test ended really quick, but a test is a test i guess'
Ena stepped into the next chamber, the door vanishing behind her. The room was spacious, though not as large as the one where she'd faced nine opponents. Stone walls surrounded her, adorned with intricate, mesmerizing patterns that seemed to pulse with a quiet energy.
She looked up, noticing there was no visible roof—or, if there was one, it was far too high to see. Squinting, she tried to sharpen her focus to gauge the distance, but her efforts were in vain; the ceiling remained lost in the shadows above.
A faint light streamed down from somewhere high above, casting an ethereal glow over the room. Realizing it was futile to keep looking up, Ena lowered her gaze, focusing instead on her surroundings.
In the distance, she spotted a door standing alone—not set into any wall, but instead placed almost awkwardly in the middle of the room, as if it didn't quite belong there.
A golden aura radiated from the door, faint but unmistakably powerful, with runes carved along its sides and across the back, pulsating like a heartbeat. The intricate symbols seemed out of place, clashing with the rough stone architecture of the chamber.
Ena approached cautiously, studying the details, and hesitantly reached out to touch the handle. But just before her fingers could graze it, the door swung open on its own. She staggered back, blades drawn in an instant, her senses on high alert as she waited to see what—or who—would emerge.
A figure stepped through the door—a boy, another participant. His messy brown hair was meticulously trimmed. styled in an undercut that revealed his sharp features.
Yet, as he turned, Ena noticed something unusual: his hair wasn't short. a long strand tied at the back cascaded down to his waist, reaching all the way to his waist, contrasting with the clean-cut style on top. He scanned the room, his gaze sharp and assessing, ready for anything.
He had a tattoo on his throat—a tiny star with a red dot in the center. Tattoos were quite common in this world, often linked to contracts, traditions, or abilities.
He wore a ring similar to Haruo's. His amber eyes matched his hair, which was tied at the back. He was dressed in a sleeveless polo shirt and pants, with a jacket draped loosely over one shoulder.
He appeared clumsy and lazy, which suited him well. After he fully stepped out of the door, it vanished just like the one she had come through. Finally, he noticed Ena standing there. all paranoid.
"Yo."
His tone was as if he had just rolled out of bed.
Ena kept her guard up, her blades raised as she cautiously watched him, which only made the boy tilt his head in confusion.
"Hey, participants! Welcome to the fifth test. You might be wondering why a council member isn't announcing this. Well, this isn't an announcement. I'm a branch leader, and I'll be supervising this test."
"You must be wondering what this test is, right? It's quite simple. One of you will win, and the other will lose. All you have to do is collect as many points as possible while reaching the top as quickly as you can."
"How do you get points? Once the test starts, birds will appear, and each bird is worth 50 points. You can also earn points by climbing higher—reaching 100 meters up, for example, will give you an additional 100 points. That's another way to score."
"And all you can do is go up. Why? Because something will be following you below, and if it catches you, you lose the test. Now i won't say what it is, it wouldn't be fun if i told you."
"You can also steal points, but to do so, you must wager how many points you want to take. If you lose the wager, you will lose the same amount of points. To steal points, simply touch your opponent's back and state your wager."
"A wheel will appear beside you, spinning to determine the outcome. If you're familiar with the test rules, please separate and go to opposite ends of the walls. When you're ready, say so out loud."
The boy walked to the opposite wall, stretching his limbs and adjusting his jacket. As he focused his gaze on Ena, his lazy demeanor shifted to a serious one, his eyes glowing with intent.
He opened his mana storage and retrieved a single tanto. It gleamed in the light, but aside from its shine, it appeared to be a rather ordinary weapon.
"I'm ready!" the boy exclaimed.
'His build doesn't look bad, but it certainly doesn't look impressive either. We're nearly the same height—I'm 174 cm, and he's probably around 176. But that doesn't matter; I just need to win.'
"I'm ready!" Ena exclaimed.
"The ten-minute timer starts now! Collect as many points as you can. The creature chasing you will appear in one minute seconds."
Suddenly, floating debris and birds began to materialize out of thin air. The boy sprang into action, swiftly collecting the first bird. Suddenly a loud ringing sound echoed.
"Ren has collected the first bird, earning himself an additional 300 points," the branch leader announced. A scoreboard materialized beside them, tracking their scores as they ascended.
'What!?' Ena thought, before following his lead.
Both began collecting points while climbing as high as possible, jumping from debris to debris. Ena quickly formed a rope from her blood and threw it at the birds.
[+50 has been added to your points]
[+100 has been added to your points]
[+60 has been added to your points]
'What? I thought he said a bird was only worth 50 points!' Ena thought.
"It seems both of you have caught on! I lied when I said each bird was worth 50 points. Those are just the basic ones. There are colored birds as well, each with its own point value. Try to figure out which colors are worth what!"
'That asshole!'
Ren ascended higher and higher, catching Ena off guard. Seizing the moment, she threw the rope at him, startling him. With all her strength, she yanked the rope, pulling him closer to her.
"300!!" Ena exclaimed
She then touched his back, before letting him to descend rapidly and crash into a rock. As he hit the ground, a wheel appeared beside the scoreboard, displaying three options: "Ena," "Ren," and "Draw."
'Draw?? what will happen if he get draw?'
Ena didn't hesitate and spun the wheel while continuing to collect points from the birds. Ren, on the other hand, got back up, watching the wheel with an anxious expression as it whirled.
The wheel then slowed down, finally coming to a stop at the draw section, leaving both participants in suspense.
[-300 has been deducted from your points.]
At the scoreboard, both participants lost 300 points, leaving them stunned. Ena looked down, surprised to see Ren right next to her, swinging his tanto with focus.
Ena managed to deflect the blow, causing both of them to temporarily halt, gripping the wall at opposite ends. They locked eyes, each assessing the other in that brief moment of stillness.
"The beast has been released. Try not to get caught!" The branch leader announced.