Kai's mind was racing. The cold, sterile air seemed to press in on him, his chest tightening with each passing second. His hands clenched into fists, every muscle in his body coiled like a spring, ready to explode. The sudden announcement of the trial had left him shaken, but the silence that followed was worse. No one spoke; there was only the dull hum of machinery, the distant clink of metal shifting, and the shallow breaths of his fellow contestants.
He glanced at the others in the room. The woman in black—her face still concealed by that unsettling mask—stood stoically, surveying the contestants like a predator waiting for its prey to make the first move. The tall man with the scar, the one who'd caught his eye earlier, was scanning the area too, his face tight with grim determination. Kai recognized the same hunger in his eyes that burned in his own chest.
Then there was the guy with glasses, standing near the back, shifting uneasily from foot to foot. He wasn't built like the others—thin, nervous—but there was a certain intensity to him, an unspoken will to survive. Next to him stood the woman in all black, the one who looked like she belonged here, like she had been through something similar before. Her eyes were sharp, calculating, and she gave off an air of confidence, as if the trials were just another part of her routine.
The rest were less defined, more like shadows in the periphery of Kai's mind. But they were all here for one reason. They all had debts, failures, things they needed to escape. And now, they were in this together.
"Five minutes," the woman in black said again, her voice like ice, slicing through the heavy silence. "Make sure you're prepared."
Kai took a deep breath, wiping his palm across his forehead, trying to steady his nerves. The trial had begun.
The platform beneath their feet shifted again with a low mechanical whir, and suddenly, the cage in the center of the room seemed to come alive. Metal bars rose from the ground, creaking and groaning as they locked into place. The floor split, revealing a pit that seemed to descend into darkness, an abyss that stretched deeper than the room itself.
A loud, mechanical noise filled the space as the large cage began to retract, revealing several towering walls. Each one was covered in shifting, twisting gears—like some nightmarish machine designed for one purpose only: to destroy.
"Your task is simple," the woman said, her mask glinting in the dim light. "Survive. Get to the other side of the room without being caught. The walls will move and shift, attempting to crush or trap you. If you're caught, you will fail."
Kai's heart skipped a beat. The rules were clear, but the execution? That was still a mystery. His mind scrambled for a plan, but his gut told him this wasn't about strategy—this was about reflex. This was about surviving on instinct.
The woman raised her hand. The countdown had begun.
"Thirty seconds," she said, her voice a cold whisper. "You are being watched. If you fail, you will not walk out of here."
Kai barely registered the warning. His heart was beating so fast he thought it might burst from his chest. His eyes flicked toward the entrance—he could still make a run for it. He could head straight for the door, tear through the walls, but what if the gate was locked? What if there was more than just these walls to contend with?
"No," he muttered under his breath. He couldn't be stupid. He had to think this through. Rushing in without knowing the rules could be his downfall.
The walls were closing in—slowly, methodically—giving the contestants a false sense of time. The room was filled with the grinding sound of gears shifting, and for a moment, Kai was hypnotized by the sound. It reminded him of the underground fighting pits he used to participate in—raw, brutal, and relentless. The only difference here was that the stakes were far higher than a few hundred bucks or bruised pride.
The first wall moved. With a loud screech, it lurched forward, its jagged edges scraping across the floor. The contestants took a collective step back, eyes wide with fear.
Kai felt the heat of his adrenaline building. He had to make his move. He was fast, but he wasn't sure if he was fast enough.
The scarred man lunged first. His movements were quick, precise—he darted between two walls just as they began to close, his body narrowly avoiding being crushed. He grunted with effort, his muscles straining as he fought the relentless machinery. He made it to the far side of the room in record time, ducking behind a pillar and pausing to catch his breath.
Kai's eyes followed the scarred man's every movement, mentally calculating his next move. He had to time this perfectly.
The walls were closing again, their motion steady and unyielding. Kai tensed. He had to act now. The woman in black was standing by the cage, her hands clasped in front of her, watching with cold detachment. She wasn't concerned with who made it or who didn't—she was simply an observer, a presence.
And that realization sent a shiver down his spine. She didn't care who survived. This was about the game. The competition. Only one could make it out, and the others?
They were expendable.
Kai's muscles screamed as he pushed himself forward, sprinting across the room, dodging the whirring, menacing walls that lurched toward him with mechanical precision. He barely avoided one wall, his shoulder grazing the cold steel as he twisted his body to the side. He stumbled, but he caught himself just in time, pushing forward.
He could see the exit now, just beyond the last wall, which was closing in fast.
His breath came in ragged gasps, his body aching from the effort, but he wasn't going to stop now. He wasn't going to fail. Not when he was this close.
The final wall lurched toward him, its sharp edges inches away from his face. Kai pushed harder, his legs screaming as they burned with the effort. And then—just as the wall came crashing down—he dove for the exit.
His fingers brushed the cold, metallic edge of the doorway, and he used the last of his strength to propel himself through, narrowly avoiding the crushing blow that would have flattened him.
He made it. He was through.
He collapsed to the ground, his body trembling from the exertion. His heart pounded in his chest, his breath coming in sharp, ragged gasps. But there was no time to rest.
The others were still in the game.
One by one, the contestants began to filter through the opening, their bodies battered and bruised. Some were slower, dragging their feet with exhaustion. One man, the thin one with glasses, had barely made it past the walls, his face pale with fear.
But one person didn't make it. The lanky man who had looked so nervous from the start didn't come through. The walls had taken him.
Kai's stomach churned as the sound of his scream echoed in the distance, cut short by the grinding, mechanical noises of the trial. The first death. The first casualty.
He swallowed hard, forcing the image out of his mind. This was the game. This was the trial. It was kill or be killed. Only the strongest would survive.
And Kai wasn't going to be the next victim.