[Hidden Trial Time Limit: 32 minutes]
After nearly thirty minutes had passed, Kalyira's patience wore thin. The grand hall, despite its dazzling beauty, offered no hint of progression in the trial. Nothing changed—no riddles presented themselves, and the Sphinx's absence added to her growing unease.
"Is this it? Am I just supposed to wait forever?" she muttered under her breath, her voice echoing faintly in the vast chamber.
Unable to sit idle any longer, Kalyira stood up and decided to examine the treasures more closely. Each artifact was meticulously arranged, gleaming under the soft golden light that filled the hall. Her eyes settled on a pair of intricate earrings, shimmering with an otherworldly glow.
She hesitated, her instincts warning her against acting too hastily. After a brief moment of deliberation, curiosity won over caution, and she reached out tentatively to pick them up—but her hand passed straight through as if they were mere illusions.
Kalyira jerked back, startled. "What?" she breathed, glancing at her hand as if it had betrayed her. Before she could react further, a cold, glowing message flickered into existence before her.
[Warning]
[You have failed to complete the Hidden Trial]
A trial without a judge, a test without its master. The air remained still, waiting for an absent presence.
[Absence of overseer detected]
[Proceeding with adjusted parameters]
[Trial Continuation Permitted]
Kalyira exhaled sharply, relief mingling with confusion. At least she hadn't triggered an immediate failure. Still, the message confirmed her suspicion—the Sphinx, who was supposed to judge her, was missing.
"So I can still continue… but how?" she wondered aloud.
Resolving to be more cautious, Kalyira decided not to touch anything recklessly. However, after a moment of contemplation, she cast another glance around the hall. The treasures remained untouched, waiting. Perhaps another would yield a different result. This time, she turned to a mystical crown resting atop a pedestal, its aura radiating wisdom and authority.
"Maybe this one," she thought, reaching out with deliberate care.
Just like before, her hand passed right through the crown. The same system message appeared again, taunting her.
Undeterred but growing increasingly curious, Kalyira moved on to inspect other treasures. She tried to grasp a gleaming purple gem, then an ornate hourglass, followed by a beautifully crafted mask. Each attempt yielded the same result—her hand slipping through as though the objects were mere illusions.
Her initial fascination quickly turned into boredom. "None of this is real," she grumbled, frustration evident in her tone.
Wandering aimlessly, Kalyira's gaze eventually fell on a tome resting casually on a pedestal near the edge of the hall. Unlike the other treasures, it lacked the same dazzling allure. There was something understated but intriguing about it.
Without much thought, she reached for the tome—and this time, her fingers made contact with its worn leather cover.
"It's real!" she exclaimed, heart racing with excitement. She lifted the tome, its surprising weight grounding her in the surreal atmosphere.
As she held it, a system message appeared once more, but this time it was different.
[You have obtained a key item.]
[Hidden Trial cleared without Sphinx Recognition.]
[System error detected: Sphinx presence absent.]
[Reward granted: Tome of Forgotten Riddles.]
Kalyira's eyes widened as she read the final line. "Tome of Forgotten Riddles?" she whispered, flipping the cover open. But instead of a filled manuscript, only the first page bore any markings. A single line of strange symbols and cryptic text stretched across it, its meaning elusive. Every other page beyond was completely blank.
Her anticipation faded into confusion. At that moment, a new system message appeared.
[Tome of Forgotten Riddles (Legend) (Currently Sealed)]
[Every time you solve a riddle, its seal will weaken.]
The air around her quivered, a faint hum growing louder with each passing second. Then, as if sensing the completion of the trial, the system made its presence known once more.
[System recalibrating...]
A pause, then another message followed.
[Anomaly detected. Adjusting rewards...]
A subtle shift in the hall's atmosphere sent a shiver down Kalyira's spine. The once-grand architecture, lined with golden embellishments and towering pillars, began to fracture. Small pieces of the ornate ceiling crumbled, cascading down like glimmering dust. The grand hall was collapsing.
In the heart of the space, a golden door materialized, its frame pulsing with radiant energy. Kalyira took a step back, watching the scene unfold with wary eyes.
"So that's my way out," she muttered, tightening her grip on the tome.
The hall quaked violently. Chunks of the once-majestic pillars cracked and fell, and the luminous glow of the trial's domain flickered like a dying flame. There was no time to waste.
With swift strides, she sprinted toward the golden door, dodging falling debris as the grand hall crumbled around her. Dust clouded her vision, but she pressed on. Just as she reached the door's threshold, a deafening crack split the air behind her. The grand hall was reaching its end.
Kalyira pushed the golden door open and stepped forward into the radiant white light beyond.
As she emerged from the white light, the first thing Kalyira saw was the shattered wall. Behind it, a path lay ahead. The strange and grand building they had initially seen had vanished, leaving no trace.
Moreover… Jiho… The sudden thought of him brought with it shadows of worry, rising in Kalyira's mind.
Hadn't they both split up when the great darkness surrounded them? At the time, she had believed it was part of the trial and hadn't thought much of it. Now, in the collapsed and ruined Hidden Trial Area, she still couldn't see Jiho. It was possible he had gotten trapped inside…
Kalyira couldn't accept it. The thought of Jiho being trapped somewhere in that collapsing maze gnawed at her heart. She shook her head, unwilling to leave without knowing for sure. Her legs moved almost automatically as she settled near the broken wall, sitting down and staring at the shifting maze.
Time passed slowly, the silence broken only by the occasional creak of the crumbling structure around her. She waited, hope flickering in her chest like a tiny flame fighting against the growing darkness. The maze, meanwhile, seemed to shift and change, the pathways bending and twisting as if mocking her futile attempts to wait.
[Time Remaining: 13:48:35]
[Time Remaining: 12:35:52]
[Time Remaining: 09:28:50]
As the minutes turned into hours, Kalyira finally glanced at the timer on her wrist. The 4th Trial Remaining Time blinked before her eyes, a cold reminder that time was running out. She exhaled a long, heavy breath. There was no more waiting. She pushed herself to her feet and made her way through the shattered wall, determination still burning in her chest, though tinged with doubt.
The moment she stepped forward into a new space, the familiar system message echoed through the air:
[You have reached the new sector...]
[Congratulations: You have cleared the 4th Trial...]
[Your performance has been evaluated…]
[Choose one of the following rewards…]
Kalyira paid no attention to the message. With a final glance, she turned around, still holding onto the hope that Jiho was out there, somewhere. As she looked back, expecting to see the shattered wall she had just passed through, she saw a wall standing in its place, completely blocking her path.
Kalyira's heart sank, but she quickly steadied herself. The trials were far from over, and she couldn't afford to linger in the past. With one last silent wish for Jiho's safety, she moved forward, leaving the broken path behind, ready to face whatever lay ahead.
Kalyira's heart sank, a quiet sorrow weighing on her chest. She hadn't even had the chance to ask if he remembered her before everything had changed. Though she had searched for him her entire life, it seemed Jiho had no clue about it.
With a heavy sigh, she slowly moved forward, leaving the broken path behind, each step measured and filled with uncertainty. The trials were far from over, and though her heart ached, she couldn't afford to linger in the past. She had no choice but to face whatever lay ahead.
…
Argh...
My head...
It's too... painful...
The sharp, unbearable pain in Jiho's skull felt like it could split his head open at any moment. With each pulse, it was as if his entire mind was being torn apart. His senses were dulled, and his body felt heavy and unresponsive.
With a struggle, Jiho forced his eyes open, but the world around him remained a blurry void. The sensation of his head threatening to explode was so real it consumed him entirely. His hands instinctively clutched at his temples, but the pain didn't relent.
The last thing he remembered before everything had gone black was a flood of memories—countless thoughts and emotions that were not his own, crashing into him all at once. A torrent that had overwhelmed his mind, making it impossible to hold onto his own identity.
He had passed out from it. That much he knew.
Now, as he lay there, the pain was all he could focus on, and the world remained just out of reach, slipping through his grasp.
Jiho's eyes fluttered open once more, though the pain still gnawed at his skull. As his blurred vision slowly adjusted, he realized there was nothing around him. The world was still, an eerie silence hanging in the air. The once oppressive, dark mist had lifted, leaving only faint traces of its malevolent presence. The wandering spirits, the ones who had once scurried around in frantic escape, were gone. Even the evil spirit that had loomed nearby had vanished without a trace.
The dense, swirling energy that had seemed to choke the very air had dissipated, leaving an unsettling calm in its wake. It felt like a different world altogether, one that had been purged of the chaos he had just experienced.
Jiho slowly pushed himself up, his body still weak, and the remnants of the pain lingered, but it was bearable now. His surroundings were barren, the shadows of what had been fading as if they had never existed.
He tried to make sense of it all...
However, his head was overwhelmed by pain, leaving no space for thoughts—not now, at least. Eventually, after gathering what little strength he had, he slowly began to move forward, heading east.
End - 26