Everything around me froze. The air felt poisonous and too damp for me to breathe. I could not help but stare at the test sitting in one corner of the table like a death certificate.
So what I was trying to hide all this time... Was blood cancer?
I had finally started to get a fraction of my life back and this is what I get at the end of the day?
No, no, no... Things were always going to go worse regardless. I should have anticipated this—things have been going bad since the day I had come back from the passport office of course.
Until now, I was thinking of how I was going to fulfil something from my long list of stupid things. Like trying out multi-flavoured ice creams, testing my hands in craft... turning my life around for the better.
But I guess...
My mom was right all along.
A shudder ran along my spine as my breath caught at my throat. My lungs felt constricted to a point that inhaling was something to pay for with my sanity.
No wait! ...What am I even thinking? I am not ready to succumb to her words right now!
Sensing my shift, Avry moved a bit. Shoving my head away now that I was awake. I wasn't even hurt.
"So... How can we treat her?" She asked, folding her arms in front of her.
The physician paused, tapping his pen against his clipboard. "Well, she seems to have already digested her powers fast enough. So her blood can't be filtered out. But then, that would have to result in having to chop down her limps if she is alright with it...?"
*(Digesting your powers mean that the rock you had swallowed has already been fully absorbed into your blood. So there is no turning back to being element-less anymore.)*
Really? Chop my limbs?
No. I will not stay bedridden.
"What other options are there?" I asked, ignoring Avry. She was shocked that I had taken such a short time to recover from my own shock. Then she shook her head and looked away.
"We... could give you surpressants to keep down the pain. But you will have to sacrifice an eye then," he replied, his expression grim.
"Hm? Alright then. That is it, I choose the surpressants." Losing an eye was better then not being able to move again. Ask anyone in the world, they would answer the same.
Being half-blind seems like an investment here.
Although...
"Are you sure?" He curved an eyebrow up. "The surpressants can sometimes lead to addiction. And it can kill you too if you take a little too much of it. It will ruin you even more."
Ah! Then I know very well what the surpressants are. (Also... What a weirdo! Does he think I am uneducated? How would chopping off limbs or taking an eye solve Leukemia?!)
"Still. I will take it," I answered while hoping down from the bed. My head gave a single loop, before settling down.
Before he could say anything, I reached out towards the side table right next to the device. A small bottle of pills.
"Candidate Fifteen—!" Avry shouted.
"Relax... I know what he means by 'surpressants'," I popped the lid open. Without a thought, I took out two pills and tipped my head back—tossing them dry into my mouth.
"These... Are opioids."
Not being sarcastic or anything... But I have some history with them back on Earth. In fact, the medicine that I brought with me to this world, was the same pills I took five seconds ago.
The bitterness immediately filled my mouth, and I winced a bit. But as I walked out through the doors, the sky was starting to get more and more clear.
I didn't know why... When the breeze blew across my face, I felt like it has been ages since I had seen a sunny day this calm.
I stepped out of the infirmary, the surrounding immediately engulfed me.
Sounds of birds happily chirping filled my ears, and the clouds soared by so gently but elegantly. I might as well have thought this was a simple daydream.
Without a word, I tossed the container into my pocket and walked back towards the cafeteria.
While doing so... I was also thinking about a lot of things—embarrasingly...
Like how to change my life for the better.
Ain't no leukemia stopping me. I will beg at my feet if I have to, and I will turn my life around.
A bit cringe... I know. However...
The universe is big. Sitting cramped into a small corner of a dark room, rotting in bed isn't going to help with anything because life just moves on whether you want it or not.
I swear on my life... That is just how it goes...
Life is a pattern. It will constantly throw problems at you, but that is only to prepare you for the next step.
I believe that whatever I am about to do next, will be something that brings me a huge reward at the end.
So... I won't give up—just yet.
***
"Thirty-two... Hah! Thirty-three..."
It is not that I am not strong though. We all know that first times are always the painful time.
... And my bones hurt alright?!
I held my body weight off the ground with my hand tightly grabbing the edge of my cabinet, as I slowly lifted my torso up higher.
"Thirty-four..."
My hair was tied back in a bun, my white shirt soaked through at the shoulders and my hoodie tied at my waist. This should do as a proper work-out outfit for now...
At the twentieth, I let go and hoped down onto my toes. I won't be showing progress in one day. But that was enough for today.
Honestly, it felt quite good. Achieving a goal wasn't an easy task, but setting the first step was a massive victory.
And funnier fact... We don't have phones here for distraction...
Oh... Thinking about that...
"Am... I supposed to be writing letters now?" I once asked myself. (I am an addict...)
I walked into my bathroom to wash-up afterwards, then came back out to sit back at my table and start scratching onto paper with a pen. A ballpoint pen... That is.
I love how it is available here. And I will forever treasure it.
Though...
"Gel pens have a better design..." (Don't mind my weird hobby)
As I dumped all my thoughts into paper, I realized something.
After that fake dungoen case had ended—one week ago—the faculty hadn't made a single suspicious move.
That just means they are probably aware that I am already at their backs, waiting for their moves. Or maybe they thought it wasn't right to take the next step immediately, or it may lead to the candidates finding out something is really wrong here.
Because unlike how I was told, the others are completely clueless of what all of this is. Perhaps I got a hint—for I was obviously going to ask about it or find out soon enough.
Well that got me thinking to myself... Did I get a 'wildcard' by chance?
Just so you know, in this world, getting a wildcard means that the faculty is putting marks on the most precious candidates beforehand. This includes candidates who know certain informations, has a good score overall on whatever task they were assigned, and they are the ones who are actually known as 'part of the faculty'.
Not that I am trying to act all high and prideful about this... But it isn't something to be happy about.
Out of all the times they had recruited, only the ones who got 'wildcards' didn't make it out alive. The other candidates were tamed by simple spells.
'Wildcards' were too expensive to put under a leash...
Click.
Soon enough, I set down my pen and stood up. The paper was folded neatly and tucked safely into my pocket. With everything set, I walked out towards my balcony, sliding the door open quietly.
Curfew prevented us from going from door-to-door. So to get where I wanted, I needed to push past the railings.
As I stepped out, the skyline greeted me. Or maybe I greeted it... Either one counts.
I hoped onto the railing, looking over to the balcony seperating me and Sasha.
Squad Leader Helio's one.
Luckily his bedroom lights were off. That meant there were mo witness who would snitch to the professors just because our first meeting wasn't... Discreet.
Without looking back, I hoped off my porch, and landed directly onto his. The gap between railing-to-railing was at least seven feet. And due to my magic—and a few skills of mine—I was able to land safely without overexerting myself.
I walked across his balcony to reach the final ledge. Then landed right inside the dimly lit room of a certain blonde Russian. (Though we were actually like besties right now.)
If I hadn't said before... she had sky-blue eyes so calm and pretty, it looked almost like it belonged to a doll. Her platinum lashes framed them so beautifully... I wish I had eyes like her. Even Nada had pretty hazel eyes. But why did I end up with... Black?!
"You are late today," Sasha said, sitting at the edge of her half-made bed. She wore a soft cream sweater with baggy jeans, and a cap slung low over her face.
"Yeah... I know." I got off my knees on her carpet, standing to lock her balcony door before finding a place to sit at her desk. It was crowded.
Apparently, we had to do some studying here. So we often had to go through materials, which would suddenly dissapear sometimes. Though it is mostly whatever we needed to learn about this world—not everything is written in the novel by the way.
Like I know a bit about the origins and whatever is about to happen next, but Sasha only knew about the past, so she definitely needed to be focused into this.
Nada knew quite a lot by the way. Looking back—even if you made her digest two books in a day, she would do so without breaking a sweat. She was a star-student for a reason.
"Anyways... I got you my version of the timeline." I sighed while pulling out the folded paper, holding it between my index and middle finger. Then flung it lazily across the room in a sharp arc that landed it straight onto her lap.
She flicked it open with a turn of her wrist, holding it mid-air using her magic to read the contents. "You truly got the most interesting plots..."
"I won't say they are interesting if I don't get to use them to save Nada's neck. Even now, the faculty is eyeing her for some reasons," I answered while leaning my arms against the back of the chair, then leaning my chin on it. "Don't tell me you haven't seen how they were speaking to her."
"I did... They are treating her like she is the cousin of an over-thinker."
"Wha—Really now?" I let out a breath that was half sigh and half laugh. "For the last time... That isn't funny."
"It is funny if you see it that way."
"Well you are one racist."
"And you are one narcissist."
I smiled, turning my head away while leaning it back against the backrest. "Yeah... It is not like no human isn't a narcissist once in their lives. But regardless... It is frustruating to be called a narcissist too."
A long moment of silence flowed between us for a while. Until I broke it again.
"You know... The next dungoen starts in a few weeks. The first of the canonical three. It is becoming unnerving for me already." I muttered, staring up at the ceiling.
The reason it is canonical... Is because all three had a single, most similar symptoms that clearly linked them to being one whole dungoen together.
They are half-finished, which have their core and artifact unclaimed. So they were used as battlegrounds for the five Squads to become competitive and go against each other to raise in ranking.
This is the real 'Competition'.
What makes it more interesting... Is that blood-shed and injuries are not just allowed... They are recommended by the faculty themselves.
Because this is later used as a trap to send the candidates into the infirmary... Where...
Something is done to their bodies that drives them to the brink of death. And those same earned injuries were the ones used for this gruesome experiment.
"Haah... 'That will be a tough battle' is the only thing I can say." Sasha answered a while later. "I don't even know if I will have to go against you, or Nada, or your Squad Leader."
"..." I turned my head slightly over my shoulder. "Sasha?"
"What?"
"Do you love me?"
"Why?"
"Can you do me a favor?"
"What?"
"...Kill that Sunny Pest in that dungoen... Do it for me."
*********************
First draft: 03.11.2025
Rewritten: 02.09.2026