Inside the car, Theo shattered the rear window.
"Done!" he shouted.
Ace glanced at him through the rear-view mirror. "Good. Now switch seats with Valt."
Theo and Valt quickly changed places. Once Valt was seated near the broken window, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
"I don't know if this will work..." Valt muttered, his expression filled with worry. "But I'll try my best."
Theo patted him on the back.
"Don't worry. Everything will be fine."
Valt opened his eyes and focused.
Suddenly, something began forming in the palms of his hands.
A grenade.
Theo stared at it in fascination.
Ace looked toward the back of the car and shouted, "Did it work?!"
Before anyone could answer—
BOOM!
A noticeable explosion erupted behind the car.
"W-WHAT WAS THAT?!" Ace screamed.
He turned his head to look behind him.
Theo and Valt were surrounded by grenades.
Valt slowly turned toward Theo with a disappointed expression.
"All those talks about your muscles and everything... and you can't even throw a grenade a few meters away?"
Theo looked away awkwardly.
Ace stared at the two of them in silence.
"Heh..." he muttered. "Looks like they're having fun."
He turned his attention back to the road.
"I'll ignore them for now."
A few moments later, Ace suddenly realized something.
They had arrived.
Without warning, a system window appeared in front of them.
You have entered the range of the selection Orb.
Another message appeared.
Selecting three humans...
Number of humans: 4
A moment of silence passed.
Then another message appeared.
Requirements achieved.
And then—
Synchronizing the Terrain with THE FAILED.
Theo stared at the system window.
"The Failed...?"
Before anyone could question it, Ace suddenly shouted.
"Look forward!"
Theo and Valt turned their heads.
Their expressions instantly changed.
The buildings ahead of them began disappearing.
Not slowly.
They vanished rapidly as the car raced forward.
Within seconds, everything around them had disappeared.
The buildings.
The roads.
The sky.
Everything.
Only darkness remained.
Ace's eyes widened.
"What the hell...?"
Then, something appeared beside Theo.
A tiny creature.
It was small enough to fit in the palm of a hand. It had a cute appearance, tiny wings, and a soft blue-white glow that illuminated the darkness around it.
Valt immediately moved closer to Theo.
"What is that?"
The tiny creature slowly floated toward them.
It extended one of its tiny hands toward Valt.
Ace, still driving at an insane speed, glanced toward the back.
"What are you guys looking at?"
Valt answered calmly.
"There's a tiny, blue, shining creature floating beside us."
Ace's eyes widened.
"What?!"
He quickly looked back toward the road.
"No way! I'm driving at 160 kilometers per hour! There's no way anything can just float beside us at this speed!"
No one answered him.
Ace frowned.
"Guys?"
Silence.
"...Guys?"
Still nothing.
"GUYS?! ARE YOU THERE?!"
Ignoring Ace completely, Theo slowly extended his hand.
The tiny creature drifted closer.
Slowly.
Gently.
Then—
It touched Theo's finger.
The moment it did, the darkness suddenly lit up.
Dozens of tiny creatures in all colours appeared around the car.
Then hundreds.
They surrounded the vehicle, staring at Theo in astonishment.
Theo and Valt immediately jolted backward.
Ace, however, completely lost his mind.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
He began screaming at the top of his lungs while still driving.
The tiny creature that had touched Theo slowly looked down at its own hand.
Its tiny mouth hung open in surprise.
Then—
Every single creature disappeared at once.
Like lights being switched off.
Darkness returned.
For a moment, none of them said anything.
Finally, Ace broke the silence.
"...What just happened?"
No one had an answer.
Still confused and slightly terrified, they decided to keep driving.
They continued through the darkness, constantly looking around.
Then suddenly—
A massive pillar appeared directly in front of them.
"LOOK OUT!" Valt shouted.
Ace immediately reacted.
He turned the steering wheel sharply.
The car narrowly avoided the pillar.
"Phew..." Ace sighed. "That was close."
But before they could relax—
Another pillar appeared.
Then another.
And another.
Soon, massive pillars began appearing everywhere.
Ace desperately turned the car left and right, barely avoiding them.
The faster they drove, the more difficult it became.
"This is getting ridiculous!" Ace shouted.
Suddenly, Theo saw something ahead.
"Look!"
A faint light appeared in the distance.
"There's a light! Hurry! Keep going!"
Ace stepped on the accelerator.
The car raced toward the light.
Slowly, the darkness began to fade.
They crossed through the light.
And suddenly—
They were somewhere completely different.
The three of them stared in astonishment.
A massive hallway stretched before them.
It was so enormous that they could barely see the ceiling.
The tiles beneath them were gigantic.
Each one was almost as large as a two-story building.
The entire place looked like a high-tech research facility.
But it was old.
Run-down.
Abandoned.
Ace slowly looked around.
"Just what kind of place is this?"
Before anyone could answer—
A wall suddenly appeared directly in front of them.
Ace's eyes widened.
"There's no time to dodge!"
He immediately shouted:
"JUMP OUT! NOW!"
Valt jumped out of the car.
Theo hesitated.
"Wait—"
Valt grabbed him by the collar.
"Just jump!"
He pulled Theo out of the car with him.
A second later—
CRASH!
The car slammed into the wall.
The impact sent pieces of metal flying in every direction.
Then—
BOOM!
The car exploded into pieces.
One small piece of metal flew through the air.
CLANG!
It struck Theo directly on the forehead.
Theo immediately collapsed.
Valt stared at him.
Then he stared at the wreckage.
Then back at Theo.
He sighed.
"...Seriously?"
Theo lay unconscious on the ground.
Valt looked at him with utter disappointment.
Then he turned around and began walking away.
Ace stared at him in disbelief.
"WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!"
Valt didn't even turn around.
"Anywhere but away from him."
Ace's expression twisted in anger.
"TAKE HIM WITH YOU, GODDAMMIT!"
Valt stopped.
He looked back at Theo.
Then he sighed again.
"Fine."
Eventually, the two of them continued walking through the enormous hallway.
Valt carried the unconscious Theo over his shoulder.
Ace walked beside him, still looking around cautiously.
"These tiles are as big as a two-story building..." Valt muttered.
Ace stared at the surroundings.
"Just what was this place made for?"
They continued walking.
After what felt like an eternity, they finally spotted a door.
Unlike the enormous hallway, the door appeared to be made for humans.
Ace walked toward it and slowly opened it.
Inside was another strange room.
It looked like a military checkpoint.
Various unique weapons were displayed around the room.
There were equipment racks, strange machines, and abandoned technology scattered everywhere.
But then—
They saw it.
A massive bed.
A king-sized bed.
Actually, it was far larger than a normal king-sized bed.
It was practically enormous.
Ace and Valt stared at it.
Then they looked at each other.
Without saying a word, they immediately carried Theo over and placed him on the bed.
Valt collapsed onto it beside him.
Ace followed.
After everything they had been through—
The explosions.
The strange creatures.
The darkness.
The pillars.
The car crash.
Theo getting knocked unconscious.
The bed felt like heaven.
Valt slowly sank into the soft mattress.
"Urgh..."
He closed his eyes.
"After all that nightmare..."
He sighed in relief.
"This place seems like heaven."
For the first time since entering the Orb's territory, the three of them were finally able to rest.
But none of them noticed the faint blue light slowly glowing from the hallway outside.
And somewhere deep within the facility—
Something had begun to awaken.