Ram woke up screaming.
The jungle vanished. The blood vanished. The bodies vanished.
He was back in the dormitory, drenched in sweat, his heart pounding like it
was still being chased. Around him, other candidates gasped awake, some
crying, some frozen in shock.
A cold voice echoed through the room.
"Second Selection has begun."
No explanation followed.
Rahul sat up slowly on his bed, breathing hard, his hands shaking as if they
were still reaching for the doors. Arun stood near the wall, staring at his
palms, as though expecting to see blood that wasn't there.
None of them spoke.
They didn't need to.
Each of them had seen something different.
Each of them had lost something, even if it was only in a dream.
From the shadows at the far end of the room, Rocky watched them silently.
His eyes flickered green for a moment, then faded.
Whatever the Second Selection was testing, it had already started inside
their heads.The silence didn't last.
A sharp metallic chime rang through the dormitory, slicing through the
tension like a blade. The walls rippled, not melting this time, but locking
into place. Doors sealed. Windows darkened.
A screen descended from the ceiling.
"Second Selection: FRACTURE."
The word hung there, heavy.
Another line appeared.
"You will be divided."
Rahul's throat went dry. "Divided… how?"
As if answering him, the floor beneath them pulsed. Thin lines of light
raced across the room, splitting the candidates into glowing sections. The
moment the light touched their feet, the ground dropped.
Ram felt weightless.
The world flipped.
He landed hard on a cold stone, the air knocked out of his lungs. When he
pushed himself up, he realized he was alone. No Rahul. No Arun. Only a
narrow chamber with walls carved in strange symbols.
A new message burned itself into the wall in front of him.
"Fear makes you freeze.
Move, or remain."
Ram clenched his fists. His legs trembled, memories of the nightmare
clawing back, but he forced himself forward, one step at a time.
Rahul landed somewhere else entirely.
He stood in a circular room filled with mirrors. Every surface reflected him,
but each reflection showed something different. In one, he was smiling
confidently. In another, he was screaming. In a third, he stood alone while
everyone else lay dead.A voice whispered from everywhere and nowhere.
"You think too much."
Two paths appeared behind him, identical.
Rahul closed his eyes, took a shaky breath, and chose one without
calculating.
Arun hit the ground on one knee.
The room smelled of iron.
Weapons lay scattered around him, bent and broken, soaked in old blood. At
the far end stood a massive door, chained shut. Words were carved deep
into the metal:
"Strength without control destroys what it protects."
Arun stared at his glowing tattoo, now pulsing faintly, unevenly.
For the first time, he hesitated before moving.
Somewhere far above them, Rocky walked calmly through a corridor
untouched by traps. The lights flickered as he passed.
He smiled.
"This one's mental," he muttered. "Good."
The screen in the sky updated one final time, unseen by most.
"Only those who confront their fracture may proceed."
And the Second Selection closed its grip.