( ≧∀≦)ノ
Maki slowly walked toward the portal, but before he could enter, his eyes were still mesmerized by the sight. He even forgot what had just happened. He stretched out his hand, trying to feel it, and it felt like some sort of slime. Then he slowly stepped forward, entering the portal.
What Maki didn't know was that Mei was still there, hiding in the corner, watching his curious, kid-like attitude. Even as he entered, Mei didn't leave, her eyes still fixed on his back. When Maki finally entered the Chamber, Mei finally breathed.
She then exited the tunnel and headed toward the monitoring room located at the top of the tunnel. She didn't take the stairs. Instead, she jumped and used her rock element control to create a platform to step on. She repeated the process until she finally reached the top of the tunnel.
At the top were facilities made of quartz walls. Mei stepped toward the glass door, which automatically opened as she approached. Once inside, Mei saw the operating team, some instructors, and several people who had come to watch the survival exam. All of them were ready in case anything unexpected happened.
However, Mei didn't talk to any of them. Her eyes landed on a woman wearing a grey suit.
It was Nemuri.
Mei stepped closer. Nemuri noticed Mei approaching and raised an eyebrow.
"What's wrong, Mei?" she asked. "Did something happen?"
"Oh, Nemuri… or should I call you Nemu~ too?" said Mei.
In the next instant, Nemuri moved faster than light. Using her right hand, she sealed Mei's mouth and dragged her out of the facility.
Many instructors looked on in confusion at the bizarre reaction. They knew both of them were a flirty duo, but when it came to relationships, they had very different tastes. Still, it was none of their business. They were more inclined to watch the new youngsters who had great potential.
Outside the facility, Nemuri continued dragging Terumi. When they were far enough away and safe from anyone peeking, Nemuri stopped and looked at Terumi.
With a flirtatious voice, she said, "Tell me, Mei… you didn't do anything to my boy, right?"
(ノ_＜.)Terumi steadied herself, then replied in her own flirtatious tone.
"Oh, Nemu~ you have no idea what he did to me. He proposed marriage and even sealed it with a kiss. Ahhh~ I can't take it anymore, Nemu~ I-I want him."
Nemuri stared at her erotic reaction. She could tell something had happened for Mei to react like this. She knew Mei well—they were both alumni of UA, and Mei was always looking for a man to get engaged to. But not just anyone could make her feel like this, so intoxicated.
"Tell me what happened," Nemuri said.
Of course, Mei wouldn't back down. Her own narrative about meeting him, falling in love, and marriage scenarios playing endlessly in her head came spilling out as she told Nemuri what had happened.
Nemuri listened, twitching in annoyance, then chopped Mei on the head.
"Hey now, Mei, enough with your delusions. Tell me what really happened."
Mei continued holding her cheeks with her hands, wiggling her body and blushing as she talked. Then she remembered Maki calling her Nemu, mistaking her for Nemuri. Jealousy surged. She clenched her right fist and pointed her index finger at Nemuri.
"Y-you, Nemuri… don't tell me all this time the man you're always bragging about… was him."
"Tell me," she demanded.
Nemuri straightened her posture and replied with a teasing tone, "Ara~ looks like someone is jealous
( ｀Д´)/ "Y-you bitch! That's unfair!" Mei shouted. "How is it possible for someone that young to fall for an old woman?"
The word old triggered something within Nemuri.
Her eyes turned fully red, showing how pissed she was. She reached behind her back and pulled out her whip, bringing it down toward Mei. Mei quickly stepped aside, dodging the whip.
Only then did Mei realize she had said her thoughts out loud. Without waiting, she ran, and Nemuri, of course, followed. The two flirtatious ladies began a full-on chase.
And while they were busy outside, inside the Chamber, things were already chaotic and tumultuous.
[ Location: Inside the Chamber ]
Inside the Chamber was like an emerald canopy so dense it felt less like a forest and more like a cathedral of living wood, where the gods of nature had long ago forgotten the world of men.
It looked like some kind of Amazon setting. Overhead, the sky was a fractured mosaic of blue, visible only through shifting gaps of broad, waxy leaves. This was a realm of perpetual twilight, where the air didn't just sit—it pressed against the skin, heavy with the scent of damp earth, decaying orchids, and the electric charge of an approaching storm.
It was a frenetic ecosystem, a place where every inch of space was a battlefield for sunlight.
Massive ceiba trees, their trunks as wide as a ship's galley, anchored the world with buttress roots that snaked across the forest floor like sleeping leviathans. Coiling vines, thick as a man's thigh, choked the life from lesser branches, draping the landscape in a haphazard web of green.
The sound was a crazy symphony—the rhythmic, mechanical drone of cicadas rising to a deafening roar, punctuated by the sudden, piercing cry of a macaw that streaked through the shadows like a stray bolt of primary colors. Beneath the noise lay the low, constant gurgle of a blackwater creek, its surface as dark as obsidian, hiding secrets in its slow, turbulent depths.
It gave off the feeling of an ancient forest—perfect for hunting and truly a survival place.
[ Maki's POV ]
The moment I entered the chamber, something stirred inside me.
Familiar.
The air brushed against my clothes, cool and steady, slipping beneath the fabric and pushing my hood back from my eye. When it fell away, my vision cleared completely—
And I saw it.
A deep green forest stretched endlessly before me.
Above it, an open sky.
For a second, I stood frozen.
Did I just step into another dimension?
Or was I teleported somewhere real?
The breeze caught my long hair, making it sway gently behind me. I inhaled slowly.
The air felt different.
Heavier.
Richer.
It filled my lungs with a density that made my chest rise deeper than usual. Maybe it was the environment. Maybe my body hadn't adjusted yet.
Or maybe…
Maybe it recognized this place.
The scenery was unreal.
Towering trees with thick trunks rooted firmly into dark soil. Leaves layered in countless shades of green. Sunlight filtered through the canopy in fractured beams, painting the forest floor in shifting gold.
It didn't feel artificial.
It felt alive.
Like stepping into a masterpiece that had just been painted by a god of nature.
I closed my eyes.
If my sight could be deceived, my other senses wouldn't.
I focused on my hearing.
Leaves rustled softly in the wind.
Water flowed somewhere in the distance—steady, rhythmic.
Birds called to one another from high branches.
Insects hummed faintly beneath the undergrowth.
Every sound layered perfectly over the next.
A natural symphony.
For a moment, I forgot where I came from.
Forgot the exam.
Forgot the crowd.
Forgot everything.
This place…
It felt like home.
I opened my eyes again and slowly took a step forward.
The earth beneath my feet felt firm. Real.
And as I moved deeper into the forest, I didn't rush.
I let myself absorb it.
Every breath.
Every sound.
Every shift of wind against my skin.
Whatever this chamber was—
It wasn't just a testing ground.
It was something more.
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!!ヽ(ﾟдﾟヽ)(ﾉﾟдﾟ)ﾉ!!
AM N. NOT.