The glowing screen rippled like liquid light before solidifying into the familiar figure of the stern Celestial who had first addressed them. His golden eyes swept across the countless gazes fixed on him, his mere presence radiating authority even through a projection.
"From now on," he began, his voice calm yet echoing with power, "you may address me as Aureon. It will make communication... simpler."
Murmurs rippled through the crowd ,some surprised, others merely tense. Aureon's expression didn't shift in the slightest.
"Before the Universal Tournament itself begins, each realm must choose its representatives. As you know, there are fourteen realms in total. Only those who prove their worth in the coming trials will earn the right to stand for their realm."
A few gasps broke through the silence, but Aureon continued, unbothered.
"This next phase will determine that. It will be a timed trial, nothing more, nothing less. Your task is simple" his tone darkened slightly, "survive until the timer ends."
The word survive lingered heavily in the air, far more chilling than it should've been.
Hyun-Jae felt a familiar tension coil in his chest. Another trial… he thought, eyes narrowing at the screen. If this is anything harder then the last one, 'survive' won't be as simple as it sounds.
He leaned back slightly, the noise of the cafeteria fading behind him. Just how hard will this one be compared to before…?
Aureon's voice continued, cutting through the uneasy murmurs spreading across the halls and cafeterias of the facility.
"You have thirty minutes to prepare yourselves," he declared, tone unyielding. "Make use of that time wisely. The trial will not wait for anyone."
The screen blinked out, leaving a hush in its wake.
Hyun-Jae immediately shoveled the last bits of his meal down, barely tasting it. His thoughts were already racing, if this trial was about survival, then anything could happen. Monsters, traps, environments designed to kill, he didn't know.
Kharvos looked up from his plate, confused. "Where are you going, human?"
Hyun-Jae stood, pushing the chair back with a scrape. "I just need to get ready," he replied shortly, his tone tense but focused.
Before Kharvos could press further, Hyun-Jae was already heading for the exit, moving fast through the crowded corridor. His mind was a storm of possibilities, each one more uncertain than the last. How do you prepare for something when you don't even know what you're up against?
He rounded the corner to his quarters, and froze.
Right in front of his door stood Soo-Min, her arms crossed, her expression sharp enough to cut through steel. Her foot tapped impatiently against the floor, and her glare met his the instant he appeared.
Hyun-Jae blinked, already knowing from her look alone that this wasn't going to be a casual chat.
"Soo-Min…?" he started carefully.
She didn't answer right away, but the irritation in her eyes said plenty.
Then her tone came sharp and fast, cutting through the tense air between them.
"So? Are you going to apologize or not?"
Hyun-Jae froze, caught off guard. His hands instinctively went up in surrender. "I'm sorry..."
Her shoulders relaxed a bit, but she still looked more exasperated than appeased. With a sigh, she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and tilted her head slightly. "Why did you leave like that yesterday?"
He hesitated, glancing aside. There wasn't really a point in lying, Soo-Min wasn't the type to let it slide anyway. "…There were too many people around you," he admitted finally. "I didn't want to intrude. And honestly… I'd just drag you down."
Soo-Min blinked, then let out a soft, tired sigh, the kind that carried equal parts amusement and disappointment. She stepped past him, into his room uninvited, and sat herself down on his bed as if she owned the place.
"I thought it was something like that," she said, her voice gentler now. "You really don't give yourself enough credit, you know that?"
Hyun-Jae leaned against the wall, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "I'm just being realistic."
Soo-Min crossed her arms, still sitting on his bed, and fixed him with a look that felt half like a glare and half like a plea.
"Didn't we make a promise to stick together?" she said softly, but there was weight behind her words. "Or does a difference in rank really make you want to throw that away?"
Hyun-Jae froze for a moment, her words landing heavier than he expected. He could hear the faint tremor in her tone, it wasn't anger, not really. It was disappointment.
For a second, he thought about all the times she had stood by him, teased him, looked out for him. Of course she wouldn't just leave him. She wasn't that kind of person. I really am an idiot, he thought to himself, his shoulders dropping in guilt.
He took a slow breath and met her eyes. "You're right," he said quietly. "I was stupid. I should've known you wouldn't just leave me alone like that." He straightened a little, his voice firmer now. "I'm sorry. Really. I won't do that again, I'll keep our promise stay by your side from now on."
For a moment, Soo-Min's eyes widened, and a faint blush crept onto her cheeks. She looked away quickly, trying and failing to hide it behind a scoff. "D-Don't make it sound like that, idiot. You're making it weird."
Hyun-Jae blinked, completely missing the fluster in her voice. "Huh? What's weird about that?" he said honestly, tilting his head. "Besides, it's not like ranks are permanent anyway. I can get stronger too."
That earned a tiny, reluctant smile from her. "Heh. Then you'd better," she muttered, glancing at him from the corner of her eye. "Because I'm not planning on waiting for you to catch up."
Before either of them could say another word, the world around them flashed white.
In an instant, the floor beneath their feet vanished, and the sensation of weightlessness hit Hyun-Jae like a punch to the gut. He barely had time to blink before he was standing in a completely different place, a massive, enclosed building packed with countless competitors from their realm. The echo of confused murmurs and shuffling feet filled the air.
Hyun-Jae's heart raced as he looked around. "I guess the thirty minutes are up already," he muttered, rubbing his eyes as if that might help him adjust faster.
Soo-Min, standing right beside him, scanned the towering walls that seemed to close in the longer one stared. "This place feels more claustrophobic by the second," she said, her voice tinged with unease. "If the trial's anything like the last one, I might just lose it."
Hyun-Jae shook his head slightly, eyes narrowing. "I doubt it'll be the same," he said quietly.
As if on cue, the air around them shimmered, and a massive screen materialized high above, bathing the chamber in a blinding light. The chatter instantly died down, replaced by a hush of anticipation.
Then, appearing on the screen, was the familiar, stern-faced Aureon. His golden eyes swept across the crowd like twin suns, and even through a projection, his presence carried the same suffocating authority as before.
His gaze sharpened as his voice reverberated through the vast chamber, deep, commanding, and absolute.
"Another part of ensuring that you can truly represent your realm," he began, "is adaptability."
His words carried weight, like a hammer against iron. "It matters little if one of you stands above the others in rank. What value does strength hold," he continued, his tone cutting through the silence, "if you cannot wield it when it matters most?"
The crowd stirred uneasily, some competitors lowered their heads, others clenched their fists. Hyun-Jae felt Soo-Min glance at him from the side, but he kept his eyes fixed on the towering figure on the screen.
Aureon went on, "This trial will test that very adaptability. You will face circumstances beyond your comfort and understanding. Through it, I hope you begin to grasp the reins of your Etherea, to control what now stirs within you."
Then, his tone softened only slightly, though his eyes still burned with celestial intensity. "Before the trial begins, I grant you five minutes. Use them wisely. Socialize. Form alliances. Build connections."
Aureon's image flickered for a brief moment, and then the screen dimmed, leaving behind an echo of his final words.
Hyun-Jae exhaled slowly, glancing around at the chaos that immediately followed, the room bursting into noise as competitors began rushing to talk, forming quick alliances, or simply sizing each other up. He could already feel the tension rising, the weight of what was coming pressing down on him once again.
Soo-Min crossed her arms and leaned a little closer to Hyun-Jae, her voice barely audible over the growing buzz of the chamber. "So," she teased, "meet anyone you'd like to make an alliance with?"
Hyun-Jae blinked. The question caught him off guard, but immediately, his thoughts went to Kharvos. The loud, boastful Veylari might have been insufferably full of himself, but there was no denying his raw strength. If anyone he knew could hold their own in whatever trial awaited them, it was him.
"Yeah," Hyun-Jae admitted after a second, rubbing the back of his neck. "I think I did. But there's no way I could find him in this mess." His eyes swept across the crowd, a sea of faces and alien shapes all shouting, laughing, or arguing over who to team with. The idea of tracking down one loud alien in this chaos felt hopeless.
Soo-Min smirked, elbowing him lightly. "Oh? Making friends without me already?"
Hyun-Jae stammered, his face flushing. "I-I wouldn't call it that! It's just he seemed capable, that's all."
She grinned wider. "Sure, sure. Keep telling yourself that, partner but you better not forget about me."
Hyun-Jae sighed, deciding to ignore her teasing. "Anyway," he said, forcing his tone back to something serious, "do you have any ideas? Maybe we should"
Before Soo-Min could reply, a shadow fell across them. Three humans stepped forward through the crowd, all wearing confident smiles and radiating the kind of energy that came from knowing you were above most of the room. The faint glow of their identification marks confirmed it, they were C-ranks, just like Soo-Min.
The one in front, a tall man with close-cropped black hair and sharp eyes, spoke first. "Looks like we're not the only ones from Earth with potential," he said, his tone measured but proud. "Name's Rylan. These are my teammates Mira and Daesung."
He extended a hand toward Soo-Min with a faint smirk. "We figured it'd be smart for the stronger humans to stick together."
Hyun-Jae glanced at Soo-Min, already feeling that familiar sense of being out of his depth creeping in again.