CHAPTER 47: AM I DEAD TOO?
John's chest heaved.
His body was strewn with countless injuries—cuts, burns, bruises, gashes that still wept blood. His clothes were torn, soaked red in places. His left arm hung at an odd angle. His vision blurred with every heartbeat.
But he was still standing.
Around him, the arena had become barren of life. If the bodies of participants hadn't turned to dust upon death, the ground would have been littered with corpses.
By all rights, John shouldn't have been able to stand, let alone continue fighting. But against all odds, here he was.
After he had killed the team that attacked them, he turned his sights to the other participants. He hadn't pulled his punches. He went all out, trying to kill everyone in his path.
At first, it seemed like nothing could stop him. The others—who had been fighting each other—stopped and turned on him, sensing he was the greatest threat. Even that seemed futile.
But then John started slowing down.
He accumulated more and more injuries. His ether reserves were running dry.
He was close to his wit's end. He started by analyzing every problem plaguing him. One: his body was getting sluggish. Two: his ether reserves were almost depleted.
But even then, he felt like he was on drugs—hyper-aware, sharp, almost euphoric. He could see things more clearly now. Understand things he couldn't understand before.
Then something popped right in front of him.
[Enlightenment State Detected]
[User has entered a state of flow. All cognitive functions elevated. Neural pathways unlocked.]
John blinked.
Enlightenment?
He couldn't think on it for long. A sword slashed toward his throat.
John ducked—but then a second blade whistled past his nose, close enough to draw a thin line of blood across it.
He rolled backward, came up swinging—but his blade met only air.
Then another strike came from his left. Another from his right. One from above, one from behind, one from the front. Two more stood guard.
Seven in total.
All identical. All moving in perfect sync with the same grin plastered on their faces.
Mirror clones.
The guy he was fighting was called Ren—a battle junkie whose only goal in life was to fight. He had a collection of absurd and annoying abilities, courtesy of his mirror affinity.
John looked at all the incoming attacks and dashed toward the one in front. Just as it was about to hit him, he ducked and slashed the clone, quickly weaving away from the rest.
The clone shattered into shards.
But the shards reformed into two more. Raising the number to eight. At the start, there had been only one clone—and one real.
"Come on," Ren's voice echoed from every clone. "Is that all you've got?"
John's eyes darted. He couldn't tell which one was real.
He dashed toward the closest Ren using Flash Step—then slashed forward.
Silver Flicker.
But Ren quickly erected a shining barrier made of mirrors and used a skill.
Reflective Wall.
John's own attack came back at him, almost taking his arm off. He hissed through his teeth.
Mirror Stride.
Ren vanished into a reflection. Everywhere, he had strewn a bunch of mirrors to appear from.
He reappeared behind John, sword already swinging.
John barely deflected it and tried to counterattack—but Ren was already gone.
Mirror Stride.
Damn it. Stay still, will you? John thought in frustration as he missed him again.
Mirror Stride.
This time, Ren came from above—throwing a mirror there, stepping through it. John threw himself forward, felt the blade graze his shoulder.
Ren was everywhere. Impossible to pin down. Every reflective surface was a door he could step through.
John gritted his teeth.
He's toying with me.
Rage started to build. But he quickly calmed himself down.
Think.
He needs reflections to move. Reflections need light. So—
He smiled.
I take away the light.
But first, he had to recover his low ether reserves. For that, he tried something he hadn't done before. He called upon the abyss affinity deep within his domain and tried to use it to absorb the ether present in the air.
[New Technique Created]
[Name: Abyssal Absorption]
[Effect: Forcibly absorbs ambient ether to replenish reserves.]
Abyssal Absorption.
Raw energy flooded into him. It was unfiltered and full of impurities, but it would suffice for now.
Storm Wall.
A dome of crackling lightning erupted around the arena—encompassing Ren and his clones.
But John wasn't done.
He called upon the abyss and manifested it physically.
Darkness flooded the dome. Swallowing every glint of light, every shimmering surface, every reflection.
Everything inside the storm wall went pitch black.
Ren's clones flickered. Their forms wavered like candles in the wind.
"What—" Ren's voice came out, no longer amused.
John closed his eyes.
Spark Sense.
Vibrations painted the space around him. The clones were scattered. But it didn't matter.
John opened his eyes. And started moving to kill all the clones one by one.
Flash Step.
One clone down, seven more to go.
Flash Step.
Another shattered.
Spark Sense guided his blade to each flickering form. They fell without resistance. And unlike before, the broken shards didn't reform into other clones.
Ren was alone now.
"Not laughing now, are you?" John said.
He stepped forward through the darkness.
"Let's end this."
He dashed forward, ready to end it.
When Ren's form disintegrated.
Everything collapsed. The ground beneath John's feet and then John himself.
All of it.
***
John groggily opened his eyes.
Staring at him upside down was Nico.
So, I died too? John thought, his mind still foggy. But how did that guy kill me? I was sure I had the upper hand... Hmm. Maybe he had a special skill. Well, it doesn't matter now.
He let out a breath.
All that, just to end up dead.
[You're not dead, minion.]
John blinked.
"What are you talking about? Of course, I am. How else am I seeing Nico?"
[Because he's alive too. The trial was a simulation. None of you actually died.]
John's eyes widened.
Nico's upside-down face broke into a grin. "Took you long enough to wake up."
"You're alive?" John croaked.
"Obviously. You think I'd let a little spear kill me?" Nico scoffed. "I'm too stubborn for that."
John stared at him for a long moment. Then he let out a shaky breath. He quickly got up and pulled Nico into a strong hug.
"Simulation," he muttered. "Of course."
[You know that guy is good,] Echo said dryly. [Even I didn't know it wasn't real till the last minute.]
All that matters is it wasn't real. Thank the heavens.
[Hmm. Those bastards shouldn't get any gratitude. Fucking cowards.]
John sat up slowly, rubbing his head. He was still processing.
Everything was a simulation. A lie.
But then he remembered the screams. The blood. The way the bodies turned to ash.
It felt real. It was real.
Just not permanent.
Nico forced a smirk. "Okay, buddy. I think that's enough."
John quickly let him go with a laugh. "Oh, right. No diddy."
"What?" Nico asked in confusion.
"Forget it." John looked around. "Where are the others?"
Nico jerked his head toward the far end of the hall. "They're over there. Some of them still haven't finished, so we were waiting."
John followed him through the crowd. The hall was still filled with participants—some sitting in stunned silence, others laughing with relief, a few crying quietly.
Then he saw them.
All of them huddled together near a cluster of pillars.
John let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. Even though Nico confirmed they were okay, he had to see them to be sure.
"I'm glad all of you are okay."
The others turned their heads toward him. Right now, there were only Sylas, Amara, Thalia, Liora, Nyara, and Nico.
John let out a breath. "I was scared, you know. Thought some of you might actually—" He stopped, shook his head. Then he grabbed Nico by the neck and pulled him into a rough headlock. "Especially this idiot."
Nico squirmed. "Hey—get off—"
"Ran into a group of nine by yourself," John said, tightening his grip. "What was that?"
"Self-defense!"
"That's not self-defense, that's stupidity."
Nico finally pried himself free, smoothing down his hair. "I go and sacrifice my life, and this is what I get."
John's smirk faded. He looked Nico in the eye.
"Never do that again."
The humor in Nico's expression flickered.
"John—"
"Never. Again."
Nico opened his mouth, wanting to continue arguing.
Amara stepped in before the moment got too heavy.
"Okay, that's enough. No ruining the mood." She shoved John's shoulder. "We survived. You got your dramatic moment. Now drop it."
John let out a breath, forcing a small smile. "Fine."
He turned to the others. "How was it for you guys?"
Sylas shrugged. "It was light work. I passed"
John shook his head," of course you did."
Amara dropped her head, dejected. "I met real monsters in there. Just my luck."
John raised an eyebrow. "What happened?"
She sighed. "I don't know. The guy I was fighting had a weird ability. I mean, I tried my best, but I died in the end."
John clenched his fist. If this trial wasn't a simulation, then...
As John was thinking, Nyara's voice echoed. "People tried to hurt us."
John turned his head toward her. "What?"
"People tried to hurt us," Nyara repeated, her voice flat. "So, I burned some. Froze some. Cut some. And drowned a few."
John blinked. "...Right."
Nyara stared at him, expressionless. "So, since they tried to hurt us first, don't feel bad if you hurt them... okay?"
John stared at her for a long moment.
"...Okay."
Nyara nodded once, satisfied, and went back to her Rubik's Cube.
Thalia snorted. "She's been saying that to everyone who looks guilty."
"She's not wrong," Sylas muttered.
John rubbed the back of his neck. "Actually... now that I think about it, I don't feel anything because I killed."
The group turned to him.
"I mean…," he continued. "I should feel guilty. I should feel something. But I don't." He paused. "And that is what's bugging me really, but it doesn't matter; all that matters is you guys are all okay."
Liora stared at him. Her ink-black eyes were unreadable.
John caught her gaze. "What?"
She looked away first. "Nothing. Just..." She paused, fiddling with the edge of her sleeve. "I'm glad you're okay too."
"Us too, buddy," Nico said, clapping him on the shoulder.
John smiled. "Thanks."
He looked around at the group—Nico, Sylas, Amara, Thalia, Liora, Nyara. All alive. All here.
He let out a slow breath.
"Let's wait for the others."