They continue walking cautiously, and the silence continues…
A long silence…
The silence lasts so long that Ryota begins to feel that something is strange, and starts thinking:
“A long time has passed, yet the silence continues. Silence… far too much… Calm… far too much… Under normal circumstances, we should have encountered at least four or five traps by now, but so far, all we’ve encountered is silence.”
His thoughts are interrupted when he notices the third massive pillar appearing on the distant horizon.
His pupils contract as he thinks:
“The cracks…
they’ve increased…
again…
“They’re already covering more than half the pillar!
“Add to that this suspicious silence.
We’ve already covered more than half the distance between the two pillars in an unusual silence!
“By the heavens and the earth, what are they trying to indicate?!”
“This doesn’t bode well at all…”
…
They draw closer, and the massive pillar becomes clearly visible to everyone.
Even a fool would notice the difference.
Outwardly, they try to maintain their composure.
Internally…
Between anxiety, terror, shock, pessimism, and despair…
they are already on the verge of collapse.
In the end, their faces reveal everything.
The sound of their heartbeats could practically be heard from several meters away.
Ryota is already aware of all this, and for a moment, he realizes that lying is not a solution…
On the other side, the distant pillars have already begun to collapse.
He tries to focus…
tries to search for any different pattern…
any irregularity…
but…
Just like last time…
there are no other differences…
As the falling pillars draw closer, the sound of their heartbeats rises until it nearly drowns out the sound of the collapsing pillars, and with terror filling their faces, Ryota has to make a decisive choice…
even if the situation is not clear.
Finally, he manages to interpret some of the words.
He looks toward the crowd and speaks firmly:
“I’ve tried this before.
“The cracks mean nothing.”
Then he gives a faint smile…
“Rest assured. We won’t die today.”
And for the first time, he desperately tries to believe his own lie…
He looks toward the massive pillar and shouts at them:
“Follow me! Move forward!”
They immediately follow him, running toward the massive pillar.
As soon as they approach it, with only a few meters remaining—
Suddenly!
The cracks spread across the massive pillar until they completely cover it, producing an extremely terrifying sound!
A deafening sound, louder than anything before… This story is hosted at g.com.
so loud that, had they not witnessed it with their own eyes, they would have sworn that the massive pillar had already collapsed!
Even Ryota’s words were not enough to steady their hearts.
Terror fills them…
Fills them to the point that, for a few moments, every single one of them can see that moment…
The moment when their vision would turn black…
In the end, one of them could not bear it…
He suddenly stops and looks upward…
His eyes widen until they nearly bulge from their sockets, and his body trembles violently.
In a hoarse voice, he utters his final words:
“It’s collapsing…
“There is no hope for us today…
“No… there was never any hope from the beginning…”
Hitoshi looks toward him, and before he can utter a word, his eyes are already filled with tears.
He realizes what is about to happen…
But he has to do something…
something to ease the pain tearing his heart apart piece by piece…
He calls out to him in a hoarse voice:
“Mizuki… please, move…”
Mizuki hears the call, turns his gaze away from above, and looks toward Hitoshi with an extremely pale face, as though not a single drop of blood remains in it, his eyes empty and a heavy silence hanging over him…
Hitoshi cannot bear to watch another brother die.
His steps slow for a moment, and he almost turns back!
Evander notices Hitoshi slowing down and immediately understands his intention.
He rushes toward him, grabs his arm, pulls him forward, and shouts at him:
“Hitoshi!
Hold yourself together!
“There is no way back! You cannot guarantee that this test won’t betray you! It could collapse at any moment!”
Hitoshi speaks, still unable to believe it:
“But Mizuki… he needs to…”
Evander cuts him off, shouting in his face:
“Wake up!
“Look at him! He’s already dead!”
Hitoshi looks toward Mizuki.
His eyes widen for a moment, then lower, tears falling from his eyes involuntarily.
He turns his gaze forward again and continues running in silence…
…
After several seconds of running with all their strength, they barely make it past the massive pillar and begin putting some distance between themselves and it.
Before their expressions can calm down even slightly, Ryota suddenly shouts at them:
“Don’t lower your guard! The trap is coming!”
Their nerves immediately tense to their absolute limit, and their expressions grow even more rigid.
After putting a considerable distance between themselves and the massive pillar, Ryota suddenly stops, and the others follow suit.
Ryota looks around, walking from side to side.
He notices nothing…
He cups his hands around his ears and tries to concentrate.
He hears nothing…
Frustrated, he lowers himself to the ground, kneeling, places the palm of his right hand against the ground, presses down hard, and tries to focus on sensing the slightest vibrations in the ground.
He hears nothing…
His expression tightens with anger.
He presses his hand down harder until all his veins become visible and tries to concentrate even more. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
One of them moves his foot a few centimeters.
Ryota immediately senses it and realizes that the movement is coming from someone within the crowd, so he shouts at him angrily:
“Stand still in silence, or cut it off!”
The person is startled for a moment, quickly apologizes, and returns to standing silently.
Ryota returns to concentrating.
After nearly a minute in this position, Ryota lifts his hand from the ground, stands, and thinks:
“No result…
“Just complete silence…
“Not even a single sign!
“Strange…
extremely strange…
“This pattern has repeated three times in a row, and the trap still hasn’t appeared! Are they mocking us?! Have we ruined their fun by not dying yet?!”
He clenches his fist tightly…
After a few moments, his fist relaxes, and a look of displeasure appears on his face as he thinks:
“Ever since we entered this arena, I’ve realized that the pattern must be connected to the trap…
“And therefore, the thing that frightens me most about this test is not the difficulty of the traps, but…
“The mysterious pattern…
“A pattern I see repeating, with countless interpretations before me…
“It must… it must be…”
Hitoshi interrupts him as he approaches and speaks in a hoarse voice:
“Commander, I know you forbade questions, but please excuse my insolence. I have an urgent question.”
Ryota:
“Speak.”
Hitoshi:
“I was wondering… can’t I simply turn back?”
Moments of silence…
Ryota speaks:
“You’re late…
far too late…
“We don’t even have the luxury of looking behind us, so what makes you think we have the luxury of surrendering…”
He falls silent for a moment, then continues:
“Life is precious…
“There is no shame in choosing to live it rather than risking it for an opportunity you may never obtain.
“Once we leave this arena, if we encounter another arena, you can turn back…”
Hitoshi’s eyes gleam with hope as he speaks:
“Commander…
you avenged the deaths of my elder brothers and saved my younger brothers time and time again, and I could even feel those emotions from you…
“You grieved deeply over the death of every one of them…
“This subordinate is immensely grateful.
Even if I lose my life today, I will not regret following you…
“No… even if I lived another hundred lives, I would continue following you every single time…”
Ryota is momentarily surprised by Hitoshi’s words.
Then he gives a faint smile, leaves him, moves toward the front of the crowd, and calls out to them:
“We have no time. Let’s hurry…”
They begin moving and continue onward.