"Content Warning: This chapter includes detailed combat, blood, and violence. Not recommended for sensitive readers."
The exit opened into a wide, circular chamber.
Four corridors branched from it like the spokes of a wheel. Above, the sky had returned to a calm, cloudless blue. Yet just beyond the mouths of the corridors, the crimson sky still raged—violent and oppressive. An invisible boundary divided the two, a silent line where red bled into blue but never crossed.
Ali's group was already there.
So was the student council.
Everyone stood catching their breath—bloodied, exhausted, shaken—but alive.
Then—
From the left corridor, three figures staggered out.
Teachers.
A heartbeat later, a scream tore through the maze—raw, desperate, unmistakable.
Ali stiffened.
His chest tightened.
That scream…
It was familiar.
Too familiar.
His gaze snapped to the teachers.
"Where is Kisame?" Ali asked quietly.
One of them lowered his head, his voice heavy with false sorrow."Kisame is dead. He sacrificed himself fighting the monsters. Because of him, we survived."
Ali's fingers tightened around the hilt of his sword.
"…Is that so?" he said flatly. "Then what about the others?"
"They all died," the teacher replied. "After Kisame stayed behind, we moved on—but traps wiped out the rest."
Silence spread through the chamber.
Ali slowly raised his head.
"Hmm… is that so," he repeated.
His grip tightened until his knuckles whitened.
"I know Kisame better than anyone here," Ali said, his voice steady—cold. "And I know one thing for certain."
He stepped forward.
"Kisame would rather die fighting the world itself than die for people like you."
The teachers flinched.
Then—
From the same corridor, something emerged.
A presence.
A silhouette stepped out of the crimson shadows.
Two circular red auras burned where eyes should have been, piercing the darkness like twin suns. With every step it took, the red sky behind it seemed to recoil.
Closer.
Closer.
Then the light revealed him.
Kisame.
Hunter's Awareness was still active.
Blood streamed down his cheeks—not tears, but something darker—leaking from his eyes and staining his emotionless face. His gaze was terrifyingly calm, yet shattered, as if something inside him had broken and never healed.
Alive.
Ali's breath caught.
The teachers froze.
The air itself seemed to tighten.
The lie collapsed the moment Kisame stepped beneath the blue sky.
In an instant—
Kisame vanished.
A sharp flash.
He reappeared in front of the first teacher.
The man didn't even have time to scream.
Kisame's sword, once closed at his side, snapped open—already drenched in blood. A heartbeat later, the teacher's head separated from his body and struck the stone floor with a dull thud.
"First one down," Kisame whispered.
The second teacher turned to run.
Too late.
Kisame was already behind her.
The blade pierced straight through her heart.
She gasped once before collapsing.
"Second one down," he said calmly.
"What are you doing, Kisame?!" the student council shouted.
Kisame didn't answer.
He turned to the third.
Ali didn't intervene.
Ali didn't question him.
Ali knew better.
That Kisame won't kill at random and he has his own reasons.
Kisame walked toward the last teacher—slow, deliberate, every step radiating danger.
"Curse you!" the teacher screamed.
A blessing activated.
Wind shrieked as a tornado formed, roaring toward Kisame with devastating force.
Kisame flash-stepped.
In the same instant—
The tornado split apart.
So did the teacher.
The head fell.
The body followed.
Silence reclaimed the chamber.
Then—
The student council president rushed forward and grabbed Kisame by the collar.
"What is wrong with you?!" she demanded.
Kisame didn't resist.
"Nothing is wrong with me," he said calmly.
"Then why did you kill them?!" she shouted. "Aren't you supposed to be a hero?!"
Kisame met her gaze.
A faint, humorless smile crossed his face.
"Oh, please," he said quietly. "Don't mistake me for a hero."
Her grip faltered.
"I killed them because they obstructed my purpose," Kisame continued. "Saving you all before… that was my mistake."
The chamber went still.
"I wandered without direction," he said, voice low and controlled. "Believing I could move forward without blood—while still helping others."
He exhaled slowly.
"How naive."
His gaze hardened.
"But I remember now."
He leaned closer, his presence suffocating.
"And my purpose is worth far more than your lives."
Her hands trembled.
She released him and staggered back, speechless.
Kisame turned away and sat against the cold stone wall.
Ali followed, sitting beside him.
"…So," Ali said quietly, "what really happened?"
Kisame was silent for a moment.
"…Nothing," he said at last. "I should've killed them when they first pulled a knife on me."
Ali sighed.
"Oh, come on. Don't do that. Tell me."
Slowly, Kisame spoke.
The traps.
The betrayal.
The fire on the ropes.
The crushed bodies.
The severed head staring back at him.
Ali listened without interrupting.
When Kisame finished, neither of them spoke.
Then—
The timer hit zero.
The sky rippled, as if reality itself had been seized.
Heuk Ryeong appeared above them, hovering effortlessly.
"The Second Trial has ended," it said pleasantly. "The results were far more interesting than the First."
Some clenched their fists.
Others looked away.
"For those who have not yet chosen a god," Heuk Ryeong continued, "now is the time."
The system interface shifted.
[CHOOSE YOUR GIFT]• God of Fire• God of Water• God of Craft• God of Wisdom• God of Hammer• Skip
Kisame stared at the screen.
Now that he understood what gods truly were, the answer was simple.
"…Are there any more trials?" he asked.
"Yes," Heuk Ryeong replied, amusement clear in its voice. "One final trial."
Kisame pressed Skip.
Ali turned sharply. "You skipped again?"
Kisame nodded.
"What if the last trial requires a blessing?"
Kisame smiled faintly.
"Then I won't fail."
His eyes hardened.
"And if this system wants to kill me…"
He stood.
"I'll break it."
"I won't die before my purpose."
Ali frowned. "What purpose? Why is it so important?"
"I want to continue helping humanity," Kisame said.
Ali scoffed. "Yeah, right. Saving people?"
"I wanted to save them," Kisame replied."But saving the people here was foolish."
He looked away.
"I was carving my own death—wasting time and resources on them—while my true purpose was left behind. Countless lives outside this place were being lost for their sake."
Ali's expression darkened. "What do you mean… wasting lives?"
"My purpose is to kill the Anomaly," Kisame said. "If I don't, it will kill all of us. And no one else will take responsibility."
He opened his mouth to explain—
But the world twisted.
In an instant, they were back in the schoolyard.
"Your next trial shall begin tomorrow," Heuk Ryeong's voice echoed from the sky.
Then it vanished.