Chapter 318
ELIMINATED (3)
Jeremy's eyes snapped open as he jolted upright, his breath coming out sharp and uneven. Instinct took over before his thoughts could catch up.
His hands moved frantically over his body—chest, arms, legs, before finally reaching his face. Only then did he pause, fingers pressing against solid, familiar skin.
The illusion path formation surrounding them was of an extreme quality, refined to an almost unsettling degree. It mimicked reality so closely that the difference was nearly impossible to notice.
The clothes the students wore manifested exactly as they would in the real world, down to the smallest crease and weight. Their path methods emerged with the same strength and limitations they possessed outside the formation, neither weakened nor exaggerated.
Even pain was faithfully reproduced—every sensation felt real enough to convince the body it truly was. At roughly ninety-seven percent accuracy, the illusion left little room for doubt.
The only thing that caused the three percent loss was that it was impossible to truly replicate death itself—the moment where consciousness should vanish completely, the severing of thought and self… instead, it would immediately transition to the students, or anyone else, waking up.
Because of this, Jeremy could still remember the moment that had occurred only seconds ago. The majesty and power… the fear and pain… all of it lingered vividly in his mind. It was overwhelming, incredible, and before he realized it, tears began to fall down his face.
He frowned slightly. He was… crying? Why? Why was he crying? He had never been the type to do so over something like this. Yet, inexplicably, he found himself moved to tears, his emotions refusing to settle.
He was pulled back to reality by a woman who spoke plainly, her voice calm and indifferent."You have been eliminated, number twenty-three. May I request that you step off the formation, please."
Jeremy froze as the words sank in, remembering where he was. He had been eliminated.
He quickly looked around and noticed that everyone else was still laid upon the formation, their bodies slightly floating an inch above the earth.
He had actually been the first to be eliminated.
How humiliating. How was he supposed to look at the others now, with such a stain on him?
Anger burned beneath his skin, threatening to surface, but he remembered why he had been eliminated in the first place. Slowly, he forced himself to calm down, reining his emotions back in.
He quickly obeyed and moved closer to the Student Council members around the table, his eyes drawn to the floating, mirror-like bodies of water suspended in the air. Each surface displayed a different student as they arrived within the illusionary forest, their individual situations unfolding in real time.
He felt like shit, to say the least, watching his peers continue on while he stood here instead.
The woman glanced at Ari and said with a smile, "That Reuel guy isn't too bad, right? He might act goofy, but he's a real weapon, don't you think?"
Ari seemed slightly annoyed as she replied through gritted teeth, "I guess being a pain in the ass isn't the only thing he's talented at…"
The woman let out a laugh. "Is it really okay for a member of the Student Council to show such obvious disdain toward her fellow students?"
"Like we established before, none of this ever happened," Ari said, taking an angry sip as she continued observing the mirrors.
"Sometimes you're unreadable, sometimes you're cunning, sometimes you're downright scary… but sometimes you can be pretty cute too!"
Ari ignored the comment, giving her a look that seemed to say 'of course I'm cute… can't you tell?'
Jeremy felt increasingly uncomfortable as he watched the two banter. Then the woman finally glanced at him, her eyes lighting up as if she had somehow forgotten he was there.
"Oh—sorry. I'm not used to someone being out so early that I nearly forgot you were here!"
Jeremy nearly spat out blood as the woman continued.
"So how is it in there for the second time? You had more time to really enjoy the effects of the illusion path formation, right? It's pretty good, isn't it?" she said, clearly warming up. "It's been passed down through generations, with many different established ascenders adding their own unique paths to it. All sorts are in there… even some dead paths are sneaked in! But we can't really get the death part down for the death path, can we? It's a dead path for a reason, I guess. If we could, we'd be able to use this formation to gain understanding of true death without actually dying, and perhaps even establish the death path properly—but alas…"
"I apologise for your ears," Ari cut in, taking another sip of tea. "You see, anything to do with path formations and she'll ramble and ramble on about it. I believe she sleeps with it too."
"What?" the woman shot back. "A woman's not allowed to have a hobby?"
Jeremy glanced at the two women, who clearly seemed to be good friends. Ari noticed his look and explained, "This was my former instructor for the past three years, before she decided to take over helping to maintain, control, and manage the path formation here."
Clarity appeared in Jeremy's eyes as he nodded, but his expression quickly darkened once more. He clenched his hands and asked quietly, "Am I… really eliminated?"
Ari glanced at him with a smile. "Of course. You won't be joining the council this year, I'm afraid."
"But this is bullshit!" he snapped. "You guys didn't even tell us how the fuck we were supposed to pass! What could I have done better? How am I supposed to pass if I don't even know the conditions?"
The words spilled out before he could stop them. He shut his mouth and turned away, jaw tight. He wasn't dumb—this was probably part of the trials, figuring out how to pass on their own. It was just him letting out his frustrations… nothing more.
Suddenly, he heard the woman's voice. "Oh, did you not figure it out? I guess you're not as smart as you think, then."
Jeremy held back his temper as he replied, "Okay, fine. I didn't figure it out! Then what is it? How do we pass?"
The woman wore a slightly evil smile as her demeanour returned to the same as at the academy trials. "You silly boy… isn't it obvious? The pass conditions…" she paused, letting the moment stretch, "…are nonexistent."
"What?" Shock and palpitations ran through Jeremy as the wind picked up around him.
"Did you not hear me?" she continued calmly. "The pass conditions… there are none."