"Takeru Tanaka."
A ripple moved through the room at the sound of his name.
Everyone remembered him.
The boy who had been crushed in his sparring match. The one who hadn't stood a chance.
Takeru stepped forward slowly, his legs trembling with each step.
"I failed…" he whispered under his breath.
The memory of his defeat still burned in his mind.
"B-but… if I pass this… if I just pass this test, I can still get in. I know I can," he muttered, trying desperately to convince himself.
He climbed onto the pad.
Closed his eyes.
Waited.
The machine activated—
And the harsh, blaring tone filled the chamber.
The same sound that had echoed too many times already.
Takeru didn't need to open his eyes to know the outcome.
He had failed this test.
He collapsed onto the cold floor, shoulders shaking as tears streamed down his face.
"I failed… I failed… I failed…"
The words spilled from him over and over, as though saying them enough times would make them less real.
"I've failed you, Mother…"
An attendant stepped forward, hesitation in his movements. He placed a gentle hand on Takeru's shoulder.
"Kid—"
"Leave me alone!" Takeru shouted, slapping the hand away.
He scrambled to his feet and bolted toward the doors.
A few attendants instinctively moved to stop him—
"Leave him!"
The command rang through the chamber.
They froze.
"Let us continue the test."
Scarlet's voice was steady. Firm. Unshaken.
But as the doors slammed shut behind the fleeing boy, her gaze lingered there for just a second longer than it should have.
In the quiet of her thoughts, unheard by anyone—
'I hope you find peace.'
Then her expression hardened once more.
"Next."
......
Two men crossed the compound, heading away from the sparring grounds.
The afternoon sun bore down on them without mercy.
"Ugh," one of them groaned, wiping sweat from his brow. "It's scorching out here."
The man beside him let out a soft chuckle from beneath his hood.
"It's not that bad."
"Not that bad?" the attendant shot back. "You've had that hood on all day! I don't know how you're breathing in that thing."
The hooded man laughed again.
"See? I'm not even sweating."
Without warning, he pulled the hood down.
Short blonde hair caught the sunlight, framing a striking, almost unfairly handsome face.
"Put that back on, sir!" the attendant hissed, quickly yanking the hood over his head again. He glanced around nervously. "You can't let the candidates see you."
The hooded man sighed but didn't resist.
"Speaking of the candidates," he said casually, scratching his chin beneath the fabric, "it's about time we deliver our report to the Guild Master, don't you think?"
"Yes, sir… but I believe he should be taking his afternoon nap by now," the attendant replied carefully.
The hooded man stopped walking.
"…Huh?"
Then he scoffed.
"To hell with his afternoon naps. He's always sleeping while the rest of us are working ourselves to death."
He picked up his pace, irritation clear in his stride.
"B-But sir—" the attendant hurried after him.
"You're free to stay behind if you'd like," the hooded man added with a grin in his voice.
The attendant said nothing more.
He simply quickened his steps.
Together, they made their way toward the Guild Master's office.
........
"Jonas Tyrek."
Jonas stepped forward.
There was a slight limp in his stride—the lingering aftermath of his match with Boros—but it did little to diminish the confidence in his posture.
If anything, he walked like a man who had already decided the outcome.
He mounted the platform and placed his feet on the pads.
His expression remained blank as he stared at the screen.
The machine hummed.
A second later—
Green.
Without a word, Jonas stepped down.
A slow grin spread across his face as he turned toward Boros.
"Looks like I'm getting into the guild after all," he mouthed deliberately.
He returned to his spot and folded his arms, chin slightly raised.
Across the room, Boros caught the message instantly.
He scoffed.
Then answered with a faint grin of his own.
More candidates stepped forward after that.
Orange.
Red.
Orange.
Green became a rare sight—something people now waited for instead of expecting.
"And for the final candidate," Scarlet announced, her voice cutting through the room, "the one who will conclude this examination."
Boros didn't need his name called.
He was the only one left.
He rolled his shoulders slowly, working out the soreness from his fight with Jonas.
"Let's get this over with," he muttered.
Then he stepped forward.
Boros stepped onto the pads.
Both hands remained tucked casually in his pockets.
For a second—
Nothing happened.
Then the air shifted.
A weight pressed down over the chamber, subtle at first… then undeniable. The temperature seemed to dip. The atmosphere thickened.
Scarlet's eyes widened.
"NO!" she shouted. "You're not supposed to release your Nexus!"
Boros tilted his head back slightly.
"Oh?"
CHHK—
The machine sparked violently.
A sharp crack split the air.
"Oi, oi… is he about to break this one too?" "Isn't this getting a little cliché?"
On the far end of the hall, the examiner straightened.
"Hm?"
His gaze locked onto the boys' testing area.
The machine was spasming—sparks snapping from its frame, smoke curling from the vents—while Boros stood calmly atop the pad.
The examiner frowned.
"So the rumors were false… He really wasn't passing everything."
With a crooked grin, he raised both thumbs toward Scarlet in mock triumph.
Scarlet's head snapped toward him, shaking sharply.
'This isn't me, sir.'
Her attention returned to Boros.
The pressure in the room continued to climb. It wasn't explosive.
It was dense, controlled, overwhelming.
'This man standing before me is… unbelievable.'
Minutes passed.
The screen never displayed a color.
Instead, more sparks burst from the machine's frame. Smoke leaked from the seams. The hum distorted into a dying mechanical whine.
It was no longer malfunctioning.
It was ruined.
Scarlet stepped forward.
She was exhausted from maintaining composure. Now at the point she wanted to rip her hair out.
And now this.
Phase Three.
A classification that hadn't appeared since a certain man had risen to adventurer status thirteen years ago.
A level most believed unreachable.
And yet—
The person standing in front of her had touched it effortlessly.
She forced her thoughts back under control.
"I assume you watched the others take this test," she said evenly.
Boros stepped down from the pad.
Hands still in his pockets.
"Yes?"
"Then you are aware that no one released their Nexus."
He said nothing.
"If you somehow don't understand," she continued, her voice sharpening slightly, "let me explain how this machine functions."
She gestured toward the smoking wreck.
"As the Head Examiner stated, it measures and scales your Nexus output to determine whether it meets the required threshold."
"There is no need to actively release your Nexus. The machine is calibrated to detect it passively."
Her eyes locked onto his.
"If the reading exceeds its upper parameters…"
She pointed at the ruined device.
"This is what happens."
Scarlet kept her eyes on Boros, her thoughts racing.
If the machine had short-circuited from only a fraction of his released Nexus… then had he kept it completely dormant, it would have displayed green.
There was no doubt in her mind.
He had passed.
But the room was watching.
The candidates. The attendants.
And most importantly—
Her superior stood on the far side of the hall.
She could not simply declare the result based on assumption.
So she made a decision.
"The machine is broken," Scarlet announced, turning to face the crowd. "Without it, there is no measurable result."
Low murmurs rippled through the room. No one seemed confused about what that implied.
They had all felt the pressure. They had all seen what happened.
"Therefore," she continued evenly, "we will be using the second machine."
She gestured toward the girls' testing area.
"He will retake the Resonance Test there."
She waited for protests.
None came.
Only scattered whispers.
"He's just going to wreck that one too…" "Yeah, what's the point?"
Scarlet ignored them.
"You will all remain here," she said firmly. "Do not mistake this pause for dismissal."
Her gaze hardened as she swept it across the hall.
"Because when I return…"
A deliberate pause.
"We will decide who leaves this place as adventurers."
Silence fell again.
And somewhere within that silence, the future of the guild shifted.