They had been walking in circles for almost two hours.
Surrounded by dense trees and the ruins of broken buildings, the air was thick with silence and rising tension. Riyan stopped, hands on his knees, scanning the overgrown terrain.
"This is the place?" Kenji asked, breathing heavily. "You said there'd be a cave."
Riyan glanced around, his confidence fading. Behind them, the tall, muscular guy—Kyro—grunted. "Two damn hours, still nothing. You sure this is the same prototype zone?"
"I thought it would be," Riyan muttered. I was a fool… Of course they'd change it.
Alya crossed her arms. "So we wasted all this time and energy for nothing?"
Kenji stepped in calmly. "She's right. We can't waste more energy. We've only got 18 hours, subtracting rest and sleep. Running around like this won't help."
Riyan nodded slowly, frustration gnawing at his gut. I should've done better. I disappointed them.
Kyro shrugged. "Told you. We should've gone straight."
Riyan looked down, ashamed.
Kenji put a hand on his shoulder. "There's still time. We can catch up."
They began walking again, this time with more urgency. As the group moved ahead, Riyan trailed behind, lost in thought.
I failed them. I should've prepared more. Believed less in what I remembered…
Then an idea sparked.
"Wait!" Riyan called. "Let's go somewhere high. A hill, a tower—anything."
Alya frowned. "Why?"
"To see where the gate is. Everyone going straight might miss it. What if the gate isn't aligned with the one we entered?"
Kenji's eyes lit up. "That… makes sense."
They scanned the horizon. To the right, a sloping, rocky hill towered above the trees.
"There," Riyan pointed.
The climb was rough. By the time they reached the top, everyone was gasping for breath—except Riyan.
Kenji, sweating, stared at him. How is he not tired? Even Kyro looks drained, and I've trained in military units.
At the summit, they weren't alone.
A lean boy with glasses and a smug smile stood at the edge, flanked by his team.
"You're late," the spectacle-wearing boy smirked. "Let's go, team. No time to waste."
As he passed Riyan, he leaned in and whispered, "Don't be shocked by what you see. There's always a way."
Riyan blinked. What the hell does that mean?
Then he saw it.
The gate—glowing, pulsating—was moving. Shifting position every few minutes in a circular pattern.
Kyro's mouth hung open. "What…? How is that even fair? Without powers, how are we supposed to reach it?"
Everyone fell silent. Kenji sat down, defeated. "Only the lucky ones will pass this…"
But Riyan kept thinking. What did that guy mean… there's always a way…?
Then it hit him.
He looked at the giant timer projected in the sky. Four hours had already passed since the trial began.
"How long do you think we've been in here?" he asked.
"Twenty minutes?" Kyro guessed.
Riyan's eyes darted from the gate to the time. "The gate's moving every five minutes. Like clockwork."
Kenji stood and matched the movement. "He's right. Every 5 minutes, it shifts one kilometer."
"So we can calculate its future position!" Alya exclaimed.
"No," Riyan said, "That would waste more time. What if we just see where it is now—and predict the next spot from that?"
Kyro crouched down, drawing a quick map in the dirt. "If it's moving like this, and it was here five minutes ago… then it'll reach this point next, in maybe ten minutes."
Kenji nodded. "We head there fast. No delays."
Alya chuckled. "Didn't expect that from a musclehead like you, Kyro."
Kyro smirked. "Don't judge a book by its cover. I'm an engineer."
Everyone laughed lightly, easing the tension.
Then Riyan turned to check the gate once more, walking toward the cliff edge for a better view.
Suddenly—
Alya bumped into him.
"Ah—sorry!" she said sweetly. "I slipped."
But Riyan looked at her eyes—and froze.
Her expression had changed.
Her smirk wasn't innocent. Her eyes weren't sorry. They were sharp. Dangerous. Cold.
In that brief moment, Riyan saw everything.
The hidden truth.
The link to the enemy.
The one Kenji fought before.
The one inside their team.
He was falling.
Wind rushed past his face.
As he looked up at her shrinking figure, one thought echoed through his mind:
"Yeah… really should never judge a book by its
cover."
Then—
"Riyan!!"
Kenji's scream echoed across the cliffside.
And Riyan disappeared into the mist below.
---