About an hour passed before Paige and I finally reached the beach on the eastern side of the island. The walk had been slow and painfully awkward, especially with Paige glaring at me the whole time. My body still ached from the crash, and every step reminded me just how close I'd come to dying.
But when we arrived, the sight waiting for us pushed that pain to the back of my mind.
The wreckage from the airplane explosion was scattered across the shoreline. Twisted metal, torn seats, and fragments of the fuselage lay half-buried in the sand. Some pieces still smoked faintly, the air around them carrying the sharp scent of burnt fuel.
It was hard to believe we had actually survived that.
Then I looked around at the other candidates.
There were only about fifteen of us left, including Paige and me.
Yes, I counted.
Compared to the massive crowd at the start of the exams, the difference was horrifying. More than half of the candidates were gone. Dead, injured, or eliminated somewhere along the way.
And, of course, among the survivors… was him.
The masked guy I'd fought on the plane.
It wasn't surprising. If anything, it would have been more shocking if he hadn't made it.
My eyes locked on him immediately. I couldn't help it. A mix of emotions rose inside me, rage from our unfinished fight, and something else.
Admiration.
I'd seen his abilities firsthand. He was fast, precise, and unbelievably strong. Fighting him right now would be suicide.
So I made a quick decision.
Avoid him.
Simple plan. Stay out of his line of sight, keep a low profile, and focus on surviving the next stage.
Unfortunately, the universe clearly didn't like that plan, so our eyes met.
"Finally found you…" his voice was low and cold. Even through the mask, I could see him gritting his teeth.
"That trick you did on the plane was a filthy one." He started walking toward me, veins bulging at his neck, his body tense.
Great. So much for Plan A.
There was no point in trying to avoid him now. He'd already locked onto me. Running would only make me look weak—and probably get me chased down.
So I had to think fast.
"Huh?… you really want to fight me?" a grin spread across my face, "… didn't it occur to you that you would lose?"
"I don't really care, if you want to so badly, then I'm down." I wasn't going to back off.
But before either of us could make a move, a familiar voice cut through the air.
"Already fired up, I see!!"
I looked up.
Edward descended from the sky, drifting down slowly under a parachute. As always, he struck a dramatic pose midair, his camera angled perfectly toward the masked guy and me.
"I expect nothing less from the young and energetic!!" He landed smoothly on the sand.
"Wait, did he really take that long to fall down?" Someone in the crowd muttered.
"BUT ANY AND ALL FIGHTING SHOULD CEASE FOR NOW!!" he shouted into his megaphone. The loudspeaker rang across the beach as he dusted himself off and adjusted his stance.
He wasn't alone.
Three women dressed in flight attendant uniforms landed nearby, each descending under her own parachute. They touched down gracefully, clearly trained for this kind of thing.
One of them caught my eye.
Suzuki.
She looked completely fine. No visible injuries, no sign of exhaustion. It seemed she was far more capable than she let on.
Hearing Edward's announcement, both the masked guy and I couldn't hide our disappointment. The fight we'd both been waiting for was put on hold.
But we both knew something.
It wasn't over.
He stepped back.
I stepped back.
We put distance between us, but neither of us broke eye contact. The tension hung in the air like a drawn blade.
"Alright, you all are the survivors of the B.I.T.E entrance exam preliminaries, aka part 1!!!" Edward announced proudly.
His words left me stunned.
Preliminaries? Part 1?
There were only fifteen of us left. Way less than half of the original candidates. The fights, the explosion, the fall from the plane… and all of that was just the preliminaries?
That realization made the earlier chaos feel even more brutal.
But something about his words bothered me.
Why did he keep calling those trials "preliminaries"?
Before I could think too deeply about it, the masked guy raised his hand.
"Huh? A question? Alright," Edward said, pointing at him.
"What do you mean by preliminaries?" the masked guy asked.
For a second, I felt something strange. That was the exact question I'd been about to ask. It was like we were thinking the same thing, and that irritated me more than it should have.
"The preliminaries?! Well, that was just to trim our numbers…" Edward replied. A sinister smile slowly crept across his face. "You know, separating the weak from the strong."
"Trim our numbers?" the masked guy repeated.
"Hehe… Yes. The preliminaries were done to reduce your numbers and better accommodate the superior cast!!" Edward said.
Now I was confused.
Superior cast?
Everyone around me looked just as puzzled.
Then we heard it.
The loud roar of an engine cut through the air. All of us turned toward the sound, scanning the ocean.
And there it was.
A green-and-white speedboat racing toward the shore.
"Look at that. They're already here!!" Edward said with a sinister smile.
The boat slowed as it approached the beach, eventually sliding onto the sand.
And then—
"Oh!! We're finally here!!"
A girl leaped off the boat, practically exploding with energy. She wore white shorts, along with a white sports bra-top and a pink jacket. The wide grin on her face made her look more like someone arriving at a festival than an assassin exam.
"Hey, Mr. Director, these are the survivors, right?" her tone was loud and cheerful.
"Really, Lan, I told you not to lose your bags. It's dangerous," a male voice cut in from behind her.
Another figure stepped off the boat.
He was rocking black leather trousers, a red shirt, and a black jacket with red tassels at the sleeves that flowed in the wind. The moment he appeared, the atmosphere shifted. It was subtle, but unmistakable.
Total gangster energy and it felt… heavy. The air itself grew tense around him.
"Sorry about that…" the girl said with an awkward smile before grabbing the pink bag from him.
Finally, a third guy stepped off the boat. He wore white shorts and a blue tank top, stretching his arms like he'd just finished a casual workout.
Now everyone on the beach looked confused.
Why are these three just arriving now?
And why did they look so relaxed compared to the rest of us?
Edward noticed our expressions.
"What is this? Confusion? But why?" his theatrical tone never wavering.
"Then I'll explain briefly. B.I.T.E accepts numerous candidates to participate in the entrance exams," he began. "And these exams are conducted in parts, with the number of parts chosen at random."
He paced slowly as he spoke.
"When selecting candidates, there are a special few who get recommended by influential figures in the underworld. Those who are recommended have a single advantage."
He paused for effect.
"They only participate in the final part of the exams."
My mind immediately started connecting the dots.
Recommended candidates.
Skipping all the earlier trials.
Arriving only at the final stage.
Then it hit me.
"Wait… does that mean this is—"
"YES!!" Edward shouted, spinning toward us. "WE'VE REACHED THE FINAL ACT OF THIS PLAY!!!"
The megaphone echoed across the beach.
So that was it. The final stage of the exams, and judging by everything that had happened so far, it was only going to get more intense from here.
My eyes drifted back to the three newcomers.
"So these three are recommended candidates, huh?" I muttered.
They looked confident. Relaxed. Like they hadn't just survived a plane explosion and a free fall from the sky.
Before I knew it, a grin spread across my face.
"They better be fun," I whispered to myself.
A sharp sense of determination surged through my chest.
If this was the final stage…
Then it was time to stop holding back.
From this point on, I was going all out.