Chapter 99
ACADEMY TRIALS(5)
In the end, after a grueling and harrowing week of endless trials, with countless illusions, mental breakdowns, and fear-laced hallucinations, the final tallies were gathered and announced.
The results were both staggering and sobering.
The total number of people without aviens who managed to pass: 6,548.
The total number of people with aviens who endured and survived: 3,456.
Together, this added up to a total of 10,004 individuals who had successfully managed to pass the first trial.
On the surface, that might appear to be a large number—ten thousand and four people who had managed to endure and emerge victorious.
But anyone who truly understood what had happened would know better.
Because this number... this final figure... had come after millions had applied. Millions of aspiring students, dreamers and prodigies—every one of them seeking entrance into the most prestigious and most respected academy in the country: HOPE.
And from those overwhelming numbers, only a tiny, minuscule fraction had made it this far.
When viewed from that perspective, the number 10,004 no longer seemed large. In fact, it seemed insignificant. A testament to just how brutal and cutthroat the trial truly was.
A reminder that HOPE didn't just accept the best—it demanded the impossible.
The first trial had been simple in theory—survive.
Survive the onslaught of deadline creatures, survive their mind-breaking appearance, their impossible sneak attacks, their suffocating aura, and the never-ending sense of death crawling behind your back.
Survive an unknown period of time in an illusion so realistic that it crushed you mentally and emotionally. A trial so twisted that most didn't even realize they weren't in the real forest until it was already too late.
It wasn't just a test of strength or combat prowess. It was a trial of will, of focus, of endurance, of sheer mental stability.
You had to watch others die—again and again, violently, gruesomely, disturbingly.
You had to resist the urge to break.
Even if you somehow realised that everything was an illusion, that you weren't truly being hunted in reality… it didn't matter.
Because the minute you died in the illusion, you were eliminated.
And with such relentless, terrifying deadline creatures, it wasn't just their strength that made them dangerous—it was how they moved. These monsters had an unnatural ability to sneak up on applicants without warning, without sound, without even a shift in the air. One moment you were alone, the next... they were behind you.
And while it might sound absurd to some, their appearance played an even greater role than most expected.
Because these things weren't just monsters. They were hideous—unnaturally, stomach-turningly hideous. Their forms were twisted beyond logic, as if designed to exploit the deepest instincts of revulsion and dread. And for most applicants, who had never seen anything so grotesque in their lives, it was too much.
When they came face to face with these abominations, they froze. Their minds stalled. Their bodies refused to move.
At the most critical moment—the split second between survival and elimination,in repulse or fear.
And in that moment, the creatures struck.
But now... now that it was all over—at least for the first trial—there was no time to rest.
Because those who had made it, all 10,004 of them, would now be facing something new. Something potentially even worse.
Another trial.
A second challenge, one likely to be more harrowing, more brutal, and more demanding than the last.
Two days later, the group—now significantly smaller than the sea of faces that had once stood there—was gathered once again.
The survivors stood just outside the real forest, this time fully aware of its existence. No illusions or creatures.
And yet… many of them looked at it with unease.
Even though the previous forest had been fake, an illusion, the trauma had been real.
The blood-curdling memories, the feeling of being hunted, of watching heads squashed and necks snapped.
Now, standing here again in front of the actual forest this time—it stirred something uncomfortable in them. Like a wound being poked. Or an itch they did not want to scratch.
Among them stood one of the instructors. A woman—her face unreadable, her stance authoritative. She wore the standard instructor uniform, consisting of a plain white shirt and black trousers.
On the left breast pocket, there was the now-familiar symbol: a red "H", bold and striking, with a black and white background—white on the left, black on the right.
She took a single step forward, her boots silent against the forest floor.
She cleared her throat, eyes sweeping across the gathered crowd like a hawk.
Then, with not even a trace of hesitation or delay, she raised her arm and pointed behind her—towards the forest.
"You have three objectives," she announced coldly, her voice sharp and direct, not wasting even a second.
"Number one."
She held up a single finger.
"Hidden in the forest are five flags. Those who are able to bring one of them back to this point will automatically pass and receive extra privileges."
She paused briefly as the weight of her words settled.
"You are only allowed to have one flag at a time. We will not accept more than one from any single person."
The entire crowd instantly began processing that.
She hadn't said you couldn't steal a flag from someone else. In fact, she'd carefully avoided saying that.
It didn't matter who found the flag. What mattered was who brought it back.
That meant if someone found a flag… someone else could take it.
"Second," she continued, now holding up two fingers, "no killing. If you kill anyone, you are immediately disqualified. This trial will last six hours, so please—restrain yourselves."
The crowd remained mostly silent, but the underlying tension was thick.
Obviously. No one here was crazy. They weren't bloodthirsty beasts—they wouldn't just kill someone over a flag… right?
Right?
"And last of all..."
Her fingers dropped, and something in her eyes changed.
A strange, unsettling look flashed across her face. Her expression darkened, her lips curved slightly at the edges.
It was the kind of smile that warned of something sinister.
"Notice the little plaque you've all been required to wear on your chest," she said casually.
Every applicant glanced down. Sure enough, there it was—a small plaque, flat against their chest. A number glowed on it: zero.
"It currently says zero," she confirmed, "but that will change soon."
She paused.
A beat of silence passed.
"There will be instructors monitoring everything throughout the forest," she said. "To ensure things don't go... too far."
Another pause.
And then came the bombshell.
"In order to pass this trial, you must engage in at least four battles. Each victory will give you one point. If you lose… even one... you are eliminated."
And just like that, the mood plummeted.
Many felt their heart drop straight into their stomachs.
She didn't care.
"I know many of you will feel this is unfair," she said coolly. "That your abilities are more suited to support roles, strategy, or non-combat tasks."
"But don't forget—this is Hope Academy."
Her tone grew sharper.
"Anyone who wishes to attend this academy must excel in everything. We expect the more combat-focused ascenders to perform just as well in non-combat tasks. And you—you will be held to the same standard."
She narrowed her eyes.
"This is something that was made very clear before you applied."
"We are looking for the best."
Her voice hardened with finality.
"So if you feel some type of way—leave now. Or suffer the consequences."
Her words were like needles. Poking where it hurts.
But no one moved.
Not a single person stepped back.
No one left.
Because doing so was like accepting that they were not the best, not a genius... They would be admitting their incompetence.
"Good," she said.
Ten minutes later, after final preparations were completed, every single one of the 10,004 participants began walking toward the forest.
Whether they had formed an avien or not didn't matter now. Every single one of them would take part.
This was the final trial of the first round of admissions into HOPE Academy.
It was brutal.
It was unforgiving.
And now...
the bloodbath would begin.