Even after witnessing the competitors being crushed beneath the falling pillars with his own eyes, Mizushi still clenched his fist tightly and spoke:
“Even if the situation is this dangerous, there must be some way to get through this test. They simply failed to discover it!”
Ryota spoke coldly:
“No. The situation is still extremely dangerous.”
Mizushi shouted at him angrily:
“What’s wrong with risking our lives for the sake of success?!”
“Hasn’t it always been this way?!”
“If we don’t try to do something now, the competitors from the other paths will get ahead of us, and we’ll lose everything!”
Ryota spoke coldly:
“And what’s wrong with losing?…”
“Passing the test, qualifying for the Yurjan Tournament, obtaining the Yurjan Seal, joining the army, receiving special missions, and securing the resources necessary for advancement…”
“All of them are great opportunities, and they’re worth fighting for—even worth risking our lives for. But…”
“Life remains more valuable than all of these opportunities combined—several times over, even!”
“As long as you’re alive, you can make up for anything!”
Mizushi:
“No, you can’t!”
“It may be different for someone with talent like yours, but for us, these opportunities are even more valuable than our lives!”
Ryota looked at him with pity.
His heart softened toward a victim of the cruel system.
He spoke:
“Don’t let the temptation of safety offered by an unjust system deceive you, only to discover in the end that your life was nothing but one great lie, and that safety was merely an illusion—but only after it is already too late to turn back…”
Ryota’s words silenced him.
For a moment, Mizushi’s pupils contracted as he grasped some of the hidden meaning behind Ryota’s words.
Then he spoke with a doubtful tone:
Ryota:
“The temptation here lies in the danger of competing against the other paths. Because of that, a person rushes into the trap, thinking that the organizers must have placed some kind of safe way to pass the test.”
“The problem is that this belief gives him a certain sense of security while, at the same time, further strengthening his individualism and personal arrogance!”
“He has to trust in his own ability to notice the safe route and pass the test. And if he fails to do so, that means he was incompetent from the beginning, and therefore deserves to die.”
“The problem here is that, deep down, he believes the test is fair!”
“He believes that everyone, including himself, if they work hard and pay close attention, must be able to notice the safe route.”
“In other words, he believes that the opportunities have been distributed fairly among everyone, and whoever fails is entirely at fault personally, rather than there being a flaw in the test itself!”
“Or even going beyond that—to question the integrity of the system itself!”
“And that, precisely, is the ultimate temptation of safety!”
“As for the unjust system, it lies in the fact that the test was never designed from the beginning to give everyone an equal chance of success—and what’s worse, everyone’s chances of survival are limited!”
“This becomes especially clear in tests that require some people to die before the necessary signs or observations for passing the test can even emerge!”
“Not to mention that this is supposed to be a test designed primarily to measure and evaluate skills!”
“So why this level of brutality and death?!”
“Just to measure and evaluate individual skills?!”
“To what extent has the value of human life fallen?!”
“And you still tell me that their lives are not merely a lie, and that safety is nothing but an illusion?!”
Mizushi’s expression tightened.
He remained silent for a few moments before speaking:
“Then what do you think we should do?!”
Ryota:
“We’ll wait until I find a strategy that is relatively safe.”
A few minutes passed…
Mizushi’s eyes trembled intensely.
He looked toward the arena, then toward Ryota, then back toward the arena.
He began to sweat more heavily, his hand clenching tighter.
Eventually, he could take it no longer. Get faster updates on g.com.
He waved his hand and shouted at them:
“That’s enough! I’m going alone!”
Evander tried to stop him, but Mizushi pushed him aside and insisted on going down.
Then Ryota’s shout pierced his ears:
“Mizushi! Stop!”
Mizushi turned his head toward Ryota and said:
“If you care this much about other people’s lives, then why didn’t you stop them from the beginning?!”
“Aren’t you strong enough to kill all of us if you wanted to?!”
“Or are you just making excuses to hide your fear?!”
Ryota:
“Most people wouldn’t listen even if I explained it to them. They’d rather believe in the illusion of justice than face the truth of an unjust reality, even when dozens of pieces of evidence are right in front of them!”
“But you’re different. You’re my friend!”
“So if I see you trying to die pointlessly, I won’t hesitate to break one of your legs and an arm until you stop!”
Mizushi’s eyes widened to their limits, and he stammered:
“You… you…”
He fell silent and looked toward the arena…
At the mangled bodies…
At the severed limbs…
At the shattered pillars…
Then at his trembling hand…
He sat back down in silence and watched the arena, watching the failed attempts of the competitors as they were crushed beneath the falling pillars, their horrifying screams echoing through the air.
Then he spoke in a hoarse voice:
“If there is no justice… then why do we try?”
Ryota left him without an answer…
Only a heavy silence hung over the scene…