There was no light... and no darkness.
Only a strange sensation—like they'd been gently expelled from within themselves.
Slowly, consciousness returned. Not all at once, but like a faint pulse echoing through the void.
Kai was the first to move. She placed her hands on her face, then looked at her fingers, as if making sure she was still here… that she hadn't been erased.
Nayan gasped for air, as though she'd been drowning. Her voice was hoarse:
"Someone… please tell me we're out?"
Ira opened her eyes, but said nothing. She stared into the empty space before her, as if she no longer trusted reality.
Samer sat on the ground, one leg stretched out and trembling—unable to support him. He whispered to himself:
"I'm back… aren't I?"
Silo was far too still. His eyes were open, yet they saw nothing. A faint tremor persisted in his shoulder.
Jarm stood abruptly. His fists clenched. His eyes scanned their faces before he growled:
"What kind of test is this?! It feels like… like we never even left!"
He looked at Faro.
Faro was sitting, exactly as he had when he entered.
His body showed no signs of fatigue, but something in his eyes had changed—something that hadn't been there before.
A deadly calm. As if he'd witnessed something unforgettable.
Ira looked at him. Hesitated. Then asked:
"Faro…?"
He didn't respond.
But his finger moved ever so slightly, as if tracing a circle in the air.
Silence fell once more—not the kind that brings comfort, but the kind that precedes a storm.
Then…
Footsteps.
Calm. Steady. But they didn't belong to this world.
A strange man entered—tall, half his face covered by a metallic gray mask. His eyes didn't seem to look—they recorded.
He stopped in the center of the room, gazing at them one by one.
He spoke, with a voice devoid of emotion:
"You have completed five tests."
No one breathed.
"What you just experienced… was not a separate trial. It was the first phase of the fifth test."
He paused.
Then added:
"The final test… consists of three stages. Different. Harsher. Deeper."
"The first phase was a reflection… but not all of you truly saw yourselves."
"Some of you broke without screaming… others held on through lies."
"But some… are still unrevealed."
They exchanged glances—fear, confusion, caution.
Jarm stared at the floor, his jaw clenched. Kai whispered, almost unconsciously: "Three phases?"
Ira asked, voice laced with quiet defiance:
"And what proves we're not still inside the test?"
The man didn't smile. Didn't answer. He simply turned his back.
Then said:
"You have one hour…"
He paused again, then continued:
"One hour… to rest. To regret. To prepare."
"After that… the second phase begins."
And as if time itself obeyed his words—a spectral timer appeared in the center of the room, suspended in air, finer than smoke, displaying the countdown:
59:59
59:58
59:57
And so it went…
Ira stared at it silently.
Nayan sat quietly, eyes still wet.
Silo didn't move.
Kai looked toward Faro.
Jarm muttered, "An hour? That's not enough to forget what we saw."
Samer lay back on the ground, smirking: "At least… we won't be killed in the next sixty minutes, right?"
But Faro wasn't looking at anyone.
He was looking only at the timer.
As if the diminishing numbers… were speaking directly to him.
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