The countdown hovered in the air like a silent judge.
[Safe Zone Opens In: 00:28:41]
No one spoke.
The five Candidates stood scattered across the plain, each keeping a careful distance from the others. Not hostile — but not trusting either.
Eokimo leaned slightly toward Rye.
"Feels weird," he murmured.
Rye didn't take his eyes off the others.
"First time seeing people after days of nothing?"
"…Yeah."
Nine days of empty land, ruined structures, and distant noises in the dark.
Now suddenly there were four strangers standing within twenty meters.
The girl with the coin flicked it into the air again.
Clink.
Catch.
Clink.
Catch.
It was probably meant to be casual, but it grated against Eokimo's nerves.
The spear-user eventually spoke again.
"You two came from the west?"
Rye nodded once.
"Mostly ruins there," he added. "Some creatures. Nothing organized."
The man grunted. "Same in the north."
The hooded figure remained quiet.
The coin-girl tilted her head slightly.
"You guys meet early?"
"Second day," Rye answered.
That made her eyebrows lift a little.
"Lucky."
Eokimo didn't say anything.
Meeting early hadn't exactly felt lucky at the time.
But it had kept them alive.
A gust of wind rolled across the plain.
The Safe Zone shimmered again — the silver barrier rippling like disturbed water.
For a moment, faint shapes inside the barrier became clearer.
Buildings.
Broken towers.
An old plaza.
But untouched.
As if time had paused inside.
The spear-user noticed too.
"Looks like a town."
"Or a trap," Rye replied calmly.
The coin-girl smirked.
"Everything here is a trap."
Hard to argue with that.
[Safe Zone Opens In: 00:16:09]
The tension shifted slightly.
Not toward fighting.
Toward anticipation.
Everyone could feel it.
Whatever came next would be different from the first ten days.
The spear-user planted his weapon into the ground and stretched his shoulders.
"Might as well introduce ourselves before we walk into the next nightmare."
No one objected.
He gestured toward himself.
"Dagan."
The coin-girl gave a lazy wave.
"Lira."
The hooded figure paused… then quietly said,
"Sen."
Three names.
Then their eyes shifted to Rye and Eokimo.
Rye spoke first.
"Rye."
Eokimo followed.
"Eokimo."
Simple.
No titles.
No bragging.
Just names.
Dagan nodded once.
"Five survivors after ten days."
Lira flipped the coin again.
"Honestly? That's better odds than I expected."
The system suddenly pulsed.
Not a warning.
A reminder.
[Safe Zone Opens In: 00:05:00]
Everyone straightened a little.
Even Sen lifted their head.
The silver barrier began glowing brighter.
Thin lines of light started forming across its surface — like cracks spreading through glass.
Eokimo felt something strange in his chest.
Not fear.
Not excitement.
Expectation.
Whatever the System wanted…
The first ten days had only been the beginning.
The wind died.
Silence covered the plain.
Then—
[00:00:10]
The barrier hummed.
[00:00:05]
The silver light intensified.
[00:00:03]
Rye quietly gripped his blade.
[00:00:02]
Lira stopped spinning the coin.
[00:00:01]
The barrier shattered.
Not violently.
It simply dissolved — fragments of light drifting upward like sparks.
The Safe Zone was open.
And for the first time since the trials began…
The Candidates stepped into something that wasn't trying to kill them.
Or at least—
It looked that way.