Elin couldn't help but feel nostalgic as they walked through the dungeon. Even though it wasn't certain that she'd be able to return to her home world, somehow it felt like she was heading there right then. Making the whole experience almost surreal.
Almost like it was something she already knew that she didn't have a reason to actually know it just yet.
Still, even if she was able to head home, she couldn't help but look at Kim with longing. If she'd been able to get pregnant with Kim's child, she'd be happy to have a part of Kim still with her, but at the same time, she couldn't help but want Kim to see their child as well. No matter how much she wanted to return home, she didn't want to give up Kim.
However, she still hadn't been able to figure out how to get both. Even though that could also force Kim to never see her own world again.
The more Elin thought about it, the more miserable she got over the matter. She wasn't sure how they'd be able to be together again if they returned to their own worlds, but she couldn't help but wish there was a way. Though she really didn't hold out much hope about Kim's plan of travelling between worlds when this was over. Especially with how it was clear to her that Kim hadn't been able to figure out the whole process to do so.
While she knew that they couldn't practice the theory while those controlling this competition were watching, she felt like it'd be a false hope. Though, she didn't dare say that to Kim. Not when she knew that Kim was dedicated to that chance. That chance that Elin didn't expect to actually happen.
Still, Elin felt that there had to be some way that she'd be able to see Kim again. To know that this wouldn't be the last she'd see of Kim. That she'd be able to be with her again, even though they were going to be on different worlds if they succeeded in returning to their home worlds.
Elin barely noticed as they passed through the halls in the dungeon. Even as they passed piles of dead goblins, she hardly noticed with how preoccupied she was with her own thoughts. Thoughts that she couldn't shake.
It wasn't until they had reached where the secret room was that reality forced her out of her thoughts.
"Let's take a short break," Elmo said suddenly, startling Elin out of her thoughts. "If we really have to go to where we first started, then we still probably have a bit of a walk ahead of us still."
"It does seem like that's where we'll need to go," Owen mused, looking like he'd been mulling over the subject for a while already. "Otherwise I'd have expected the announcer to have indicated if we'd completed the challenge or not."
"Can't you just ask the book if it knows anything?" Elwin asked, sounding annoyed.
Elin wanted to retort that the book wasn't an 'it' but rather a 'he.' However, Kim spoke before Elin was able to say anything about it.
"It'd be nice if we could, but Blot seems to have been resting more and more. I think being outside the library has drained him of the magic that allowed him to move around on his own."
"Or maybe he just isn't able to replenish it as quickly as he was in the library," Patricia added in an offhanded manner, sounding like she didn't care one way or the other.
Which Elin would fully believe, if so.
The group pretty much agreed to take a break, though Elmo kept trying to get Jonas to accompany him into the secret room, which Elin suspected was his whole reason for proposing the break in the first place. Not that Elin would have minded doing that with Kim, only she knew she'd have part of her mind dwelling on the situation they were in, in the first place. Where she might not see Kim again.
While she'd like to have one last time with Kim, she'd want to dedicate her whole attention to Kim and with how her mind was at the moment, she knew she wouldn't be able to do that. She'd be too preoccupied with her own worries about returning to her own world and not seeing Kim again.
Then before Elin knew it, the break was over and they were on their way again. Elin wasn't sure how long they'd spent on the break, but she doubted it was very long, despite being unable to tell what the time was in this place.
They continued walking until Elin started to wonder if they'd need to spend the night here before they'd reach where they needed to take Blot to in order to find out if it was the correct book or if they'd been mistaken. She was starting to expect the unknown light source in this dungeon to start dissipating any moment, but it kept shining as brightly as when they'd first arrived in the dungeon. Which merely indicated that it was still daylight outside. Nothing more.
Then when they were walking through a random hallway, the announcer's voice spoke into their minds again.
"It would seem that we have over half of our starting competitors completing the final challenge together! Some of our viewers had bet there'd be more, others bet that there would be fewer, but it seems this is the results that will be recorded. So, in the end, we have four who reached the 10 challenge completion requirement to have successfully won the competition!"
Elin blinked. She hadn't been keeping track, but somehow it felt wrong. Like there should be more who had reached it, but it wasn't like she'd be able to argue the point, even if she thought the announcer would actually listen to her.
"As such, we will be sending all our surviving competitors to back to their worlds and each of the four will receive a wish. Uh, within reason, of course. After all, were not gods or anything. We do have limits on what we can do, though this is likely to blow our budget for the next competition. Still, it is in the contract that each of you had to sign before you were allowed to participate in the competition. As such, you'll receive that wish when you return back to your own worlds. Even if you don't realize that you wanted that particular wish."
Elin felt like she'd been hit with something huge and blunt. Something that has her feeling like she had to have misheard some of what had been said. Though, she didn't have time to ruminate on what had been said as the announcer continued.
"I understand that many of our competitors had been under the impression that they had to win the competition in order to return to their own world, but that's merely a fallacy they created for themselves that we didn't see a reason to dissuade them from. After all, it made it more interesting with how our competitors were more persistent in actually trying to participate. We just hadn't considered the possibility that we'd have some competitors who didn't have a desire to return to their own worlds."
Elin looked around, unsure how long this was going to go on and was surprised when she saw everyone around her starting to disappear. It was like she could see through them. As if they were merely an illusion around her. She glanced at herself and saw that she was in the same condition. She wasn't sure if that's how it worked or not, but it was clear that they were being sent back even as the announcer spoke to them.
"So, here we now have to say goodbye to our contestants. They were one of our most popular group, and the group that had the most survive out of all the groups since we started this competition. We'll see if there's anything we did that unfairly contributed to that result and fix it if so. We respect our viewers' desire to watch them die gruesomely. Not to mention that we did our best to try and increase the body count, but were rather unsuccessful. We'll have to see what we're able to accomplish with our next batch of contestants when we're ready for the next Challenge!"
Elin could barely make out anyone now and it looked like the others were starting to realize what was happening around them as well. Not that she could think of anything that any of them would be able to do to stop it. Not when they didn't really know what was going on in the first place.
All Elin could think of doing was trying to get Kim's attention so she could at least say 'goodbye' to her. Though, Kim was on the other side of their group, so she wasn't sure how successful she'd be, just that she needed to at least try. It'd be the last thing that she'd be able to do for her, but at the same time, she was confident that she wasn't going to be as successful as she'd like. At least with how quickly they were all 'fading away.'
Then all Elin could see was darkness. It only lasted a moment, but when she could see again, she was back in her old world, standing next to her old bed. A bed that looked well cared for, though the area around her was too quiet for her tastes.