Pablo stood frozen.

Oscar's screams tore through the clearing, raw, agonized.

Blood gushed from the deep gash in his stomach, spilling onto the dirt in thick, pulsing waves.

His body convulsed, hands clutching desperately at the wound, fingers pressing into the torn flesh in a futile attempt to hold himself together. But it was useless. Blood, bile, and stomach fluids poured through his grasp, pooling beneath him.

The panther lay dead beside him, its dark fur slick with blood—Oscar's blood. Eric and Ethan stood over the carcass, panting, their weapons stained, their eyes darting to Oscar but unwilling to meet his gaze.

No one moved.

The air was thick with the scent of iron and the acrid stench of exposed entrails. The only sound was the wet, sickening splatter of fluids against the ground, the ragged gasps as Oscar fought against the pain, against the reality sinking into his failing body.

He staggered, legs buckling beneath him.

"Help—" His voice cracked, breath shuddering. His lips were pale, skin drained of color, his eyes darting wildly between them. Desperate. Pleading.

No one answered.

No one moved.

Pablo swallowed, his throat dry, his stomach twisted into knots. His body screamed at him to do something, anything—but what? There was no way to stop it in time.

Oscar collapsed onto his knees, a choked sob breaking past his lips as his body gave in. More blood pooled beneath him, dark and glistening in the faint moonlight. His shoulders trembled. His fingers twitched. His breaths turned shallow, uneven.

Then, the final scream.

Short. Cut off.

His body sagged.

His eyes, once filled with fear and desperation, emptied.

The last breath left him.

And then—he was gone.

No body. No trace.

Only an orb remained, resting in the blood-stained dirt where Oscar had fallen.

The silence stretched. The weight of it crushed down on them all. No one moved. No one spoke.

Then—

Lina stepped forward.

Before anyone could react, she reached down and took the orb, absorbing it as she straightened, her expression unreadable.

Pablo's breath caught.

The others stiffened, eyes widening in shock.

No one stopped her.

No one knew what to say.

"What?" Lina scoffed. "He's going back home, isn't he? Five thousand bucks a month for sitting on his ass. Least we can do is make his death useful."

Eric stepped forward, hesitation in his eyes. "Lina… we're not a hundred percent sure we'll be returned. The manuals state that what happened with Gen-1 doesn't necessarily have to happen to us. Living under the idea that nothing's gonna happen—"

"Eric, you're the altruistic leader type. I never liked people like you," she cut him off, voice sharp. "Always trying to play the cool, selfless hero when deep down, you're just thinking about yourself like everyone else. Why not just call me out for taking the orb? Why not just say you wanted it too?"

"Lina!" Ethan snapped.

She chuckled, tilting her head. "What are you gonna do? Challenge me to a duel? Call upon honor inside The Tower? Don't make me laugh." Her grin widened, but her eyes were cold. "I know all the rules here. I know what matters. You think anyone outside gives a shit about the dead? About the returnees? No. Only the ones at the top matter. And us?" She scoffed. "We're not the type who'll ever get there. None of you have the talent. None of you have the will. Most of you got here the same way I did—your families had connections, you got your hands on a helmet, and boom, just follow the steps. What a joke.

"Compare us to Gen-1 and we wouldn't even be worth looking at them in the eyes," she continued. "Those people went through hell with nothing. No guides. No manuals. They killed without knowing if they'd come back. They fought abominations with nothing but a sword and guts. And you—" she looked around, gaze slicing through them, "—are just a bunch of spoiled brats. Same as me. You just want to pretend you're heroes."

Silence.

Then she smiled. A tired, bitter smile. "My goal? Reach the next stage, double my prize money to ten grand a month, then retire back on Earth. That's it. I know I won't pass that point, and I don't want to. Because I don't know what comes after that… and I don't want to know either."

Her eyes swept over the group, waiting. No one spoke.

"So," she said lightly. "Let's wrap this up and keep moving. At this pace, we'll reach the Oasis in two weeks. There, I'll find someone to carry a lovely lady like myself to the next stage. You lot can do whatever the fuck you want."

Pablo watched Lina as she turned and started walking back toward the beach. Her words hit harder than he expected. Not because he disagreed, but because they made him think—about himself, but also about his friend.

Where was Alonso?

How much had he suffered?

Had he found good, reliable teammates?

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

How much suffering were they going through right now?

"Birthdays?"

"Cool!"

"But… how do we even know what day it is? We've been having a time reference since the island, but before that…"

"Well, according to my estimates, we should be somewhere around October 31… but I could be wrong. In any case, let's use that as a reference," Chiara said, glancing at the others gathered in the arena.

"What?! Mine was just three days ago," Ayu suddenly said, catching everyone off guard.

They all turned to stare at her.

"Eh… seriously?"

Ayu frowned. "What do you mean, seriously? Yes. My birthday is October 28."

Lukas suddenly laughed. "Well, how about we celebrate your belated birthday then?"

"I haven't really had birthday parties in a long time, but…" She smiled. "Sure. It'll be fun."

Lukas stepped forward, his grin widening. "We have wine, live music, and people from all over the world. Let's make it grand. And speaking of that, where's your sweetheart, by the way? I tried contacting him, but I couldn't reach him."

"He said something about wanting to check if the stage was round or flat."

"What!?" Chiara's eyes widened.

Lukas and the others were equally surprised. "If the stage is flat or… round? So he just flew off to the horizon, not knowing what he'd find? Since the boss fight?"

"Yep," Ayu nodded. "He went right after we practiced flying for a bit. He said he might be back late today."

Lukas rubbed his temple, exhaling.

"Well, it's been eight and a half hours since the boss fight," Chiara pointed out. "Considering Alonso should be able to maintain a comfortable aerial speed of around 200 km/h—possibly more now with the new helmet—if he hasn't stopped, that means he's already covered over 1,700 kilometers."

Lukas sighed. "Well… he'll be fine. He knows what he's doing. But if Alonso's not here, we should postpone the—"

"Hey Lukas, do you have a moment?"

A voice suddenly echoed in Lukas' head, catching him off guard.

"Alonso?"

"You're back?"

"So… is it round?"

"Huh? How can you all hear me—oh, right. The new helmets operate on the same transmission frequency… well, whatever. I've got news."

"News?"

"Good or bad?"

"Let's talk in person. I'm heading to your location."

Lukas and the others exchanged glances, curiosity and anticipation flickering in their eyes.

"Well, that sounded intriguing."

"Maybe he found the stairs to the next stage."

"That would be hilarious."

"Or maybe a secret landmass with some hidden boss."

"Now that… that would actually be interesting."

Wang shifted his gaze back to Lukas. "By the way, you mentioned earlier that you were going to talk about your awakening."

Lukas chuckled. "Oh yeah, I did. I guess I've got some news to share too." He stretched his arms before leaning back slightly. "But let's wait for Alonso now that he's on his way. And"—his eyes drifted toward Ayu with a teasing smile—"maybe we can have that party today after all."

Ayu shook her head, a faint smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

Minutes passed as they chatted, the atmosphere lightening, until finally—

Alonso arrived.

His body was slightly damp, the lingering scent of saltwater clinging to him despite the air having dried most of it.

His helmet retracted into a band around his neck, revealing a tired expression—faint bruises, dried streaks of blood, and the slight unevenness of his breathing.

"Alonso!"

Ayu ran over, cupping his face, eyes scanning him with sharp intensity.

Alonso smiled faintly, resting his hands over hers. "It's okay, I'm fine. I just got caught off guard by an old acquaintance of ours."

Ayu's frown deepened, a flicker of worry crossing her face before she stepped back slightly.

"What did you encounter?" Chiara asked from behind.

Alonso exhaled. "Well, first things first. The stage is round—I mean, maybe not exactly round, but you get the point. I did a Magellan around it… well, without the dying-before-the-end part. Anyway, I went west from the Swamp and ended up looping back from the Molten Crest. About 1,554 kilometers in total. And—oh, neat. You're healing me already! Thanks."

"Well, don't let it interrupt your story." Lukas smirked.

"Right. So, that was the exploration part. As for the unexpected encounter…"

Alonso rubbed the back of his head. "I may have decided to explore what was in the ocean west of the Isles. See if there was anything interesting in deep water? Maybe even find a good spot for some deep-water pressure training. But…"

Alonso exhaled, his expression shifting. "Turns out, the ocean wasn't as empty as I expected."

"A fight that put you in that state… and an 'old acquaintance'..." Chiara's gaze sharpened. "Let me guess—you fought the boss of the Isles, the Abyss Maw?"

"Abyss Maw? Who gave it that name? Anyway, yeah, one of those ugly bastards was still lurking down there. And not just one of them. I had to take a hit from one of its tentacles to get enough momentum to resurface before getting trapped underwater. After that, it resurfaced and started launching spikes, but it was the same old pattern."

Alonso glanced at Ayu with a soft smile. "I figured it was wise to retreat then. I wasn't even sure how many there were, but… for it to appear just as I dove into a random spot in the middle of the ocean… either there are thousands of them out there, or I'm just that unlucky."

The rest remained silent, the atmosphere slightly heavy before Lukas spoke. "I must say, that was somewhat unexpected. But… what's the purpose of that? Why would copies of the boss of the Isles appear as random creatures in the ocean? Perhaps… the bosses don't spawn out of nowhere but actually come from somewhere. Maybe they've existed since the start of the stage. That, or The Tower is simply filling the empty waters with such creatures to keep us from venturing out or going too deep. Or maybe just because—why not? Now the question is—should we press into this? Will that creature also give seven red orbs?"

"Well, we can always take one out to find out," Wang suggested.

Lukas nodded. "I suppose. Wang, Chiara, Arjun, can you go tomorrow with Alonso? If the boss is the same, with your current Stage of Progress, it shouldn't be hard to take one down, even if others get in the way. Also… I might come along if you can hitch me a ride."

"Isn't the four of us more than enough?" Chiara said.

"If I can make the fight easier, why not? And any of you should be able to easily carry me by now if I help counter more than half my weight."

"But do you think we'll need healing? The creatures' attack patterns are well known, and we're much stronger than back then. Plus, we can fly easier and faster. It shouldn't be able to hit us," Alonso noted, surprised by Lukas' desire to go.

"Well, it's not exactly healing that I'll be doing," Lukas said with a grin.

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