Kill The Old Ones!

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The 5th Hall: Hall of Combat—it looked more like an arena than a hall, really.

It is spacious, open-roofed, and well-illuminated. It also seemed to be located in the middle of a coliseum. There was no audience, not even system-generated NPCs that would cheer to uplift the mood of this place.

The only people, or entities, in here were the contestants themselves and the enemy they had to face.

That enemy was already in the arena, sitting in front of a crackling bonfire with its eyes closed, one leg propped up with its elbow resting on its knee. It looked human, at the very least, but still a bit strange.

It wore dirtied white armor that’s also flayed in some areas. The creature almost looked peaceful or inanimate. But the rising and falling of its chest made it clear that it was alive.

The moment the contestant steps into the arena, though, this entity opens its eyes to look at the intruder.

Its eyes were red, just red. Its stare felt eerie and penetrating, as if it could see through a person’s soul in just a single glance.

Then, it will slowly—almost laboriously—stand up. The clunky dirty white armor it wore was making creaking sounds as it moved.

The creature was seven foot tall, but the way it stood made it look much bigger than that. Then, without wincing or grunting in pain, it reaches for the bonfire, which flares up so suddenly as if it were provoked.

The creature then pulls out a smoldering greatsword out of that bonfire. The weapon looked as if it were made out of flame itself.

With its weapon on hand, the creature stood tall, firmly blocking the exit to this hall. Its meaning was clear. If someone wants to leave this place, they must first fight it.

No words were needed after this; the creature wasn’t inclined to speak, probably not one for small talk, either. It might not even be able to speak at all.

It doesn’t attack first. In an almost chivalristic manner, it gives the first move to the contestant.

As such, combat begins.

And once it began, the contestant remembered something that they’d learned before this started.

Every contestant listened to Terry when he introduced the halls, and they remember his words. In this hall—the Hall of Combat—there is but one enemy. This enemy watched, learned, and would adapt. The longer the combat continues, the more difficult this enemy becomes.

And that much was clear when they fought it.

At first, the creature was manageable. It started weaker than them, but not so weak that they could kill it in one strike. It’s skilled but a little bit clumsy, still.

But after a minute or so, the adaptation began, and that’s when the true horror of this creature was displayed.

In just a minute, all the clumsiness disappears. Its movements become sharper, it hits harder, and it recovers faster. It makes the contestants think that it already shook off the rust it had after a long period of no combat or movement at all.

By the second minute, it becomes terrifying. It starts pushing back. By the third minute, it becomes even stronger, tougher, and faster.

At the fourth minute and beyond, it’s a nightmare. By this point, it’s already twice as strong as the contestants themselves. Each minute past this point felt like days fighting this thing.

Rarely any contestant lasted beyond five minutes fighting this creature. Even more so, those who went beyond six minutes, or the full seven.

Yes, this creature will only fight them for a total of seven minutes. If anybody could last even a single second beyond seven minutes, the creature stops fighting and just dissipates into dust. The contestant then gets 700 points for this hall as a reward.

If the contestant fails before that, then the amount of points they get depends on how long they lasted. Each minute was a hundred points.

**

6th Hall: Hall of Harmony - probably the most peaceful hall in this series of trials.

The venue was a ruined hall that’s been reclaimed by nature. Life was in full bloom in this place, and just being here makes one feel at ease and at peace.

There was a pristine and untouched meditation mat not far from the center of the ruined hall. It’s where the contestants will sit in their attempts to harmonize with the nature of this place.

This trial could either be easy or difficult depending on the nature of the contestant.

Meditation is something that every martial artist knows, but long periods of seated meditation are actually a little bit outdated.

Martial arts was motion—a movement. Martial artists of the modern era rarely use seated meditation to calm their minds or to harmonize with nature. They move. They practice martial arts; that’s what they do.

Which is the hidden trap of this trial.

Contestants would see a meditation mat and feel compelled to sit down. The trial wants them to harmonize with nature, yes, but it never said that they must sit down and meditate to do it.

Hell, they don’t really need to be anywhere near that meditation mat. They could harmonize with nature in any way or anywhere they want. There were no rules telling them how to do it.

It’s a subtle but really effective way to limit the contestants. Even more so because of the apparent peace of this place. It’s almost telling them to not make too much noise so as to not disturb the peace of this place.

The atmosphere of this place was disarming that way. And thus, some contestants fell for it. But not all of them, though. There were some smart ones who realized something and tried things out.

How many points they’d get away with depends on the verdict of the world system. But the main criterion was how deeply they harmonized with this place.

The deeper their harmony with it went, the better.

Besides, this hall was the perfect precursor for the contestants. Because in the next hall, their world was about to be shaken again.

**

7th Hall: Hall of Resolve—it’s a small hall with a simple arena in the middle.

There was nothing special here. Nothing that stands out caught the attention of the contestants. The area didn’t look too classy or crude either. It’s simple and plain.

But the moment they stepped on it is where the change begins.

The contestants will suddenly see their lives flashing past their eyes. They will recall everything that happened since they became aware of the world. It’s as if their lives were being replayed on film.

That’s not the end of it, though. Because once the replay is over, it goes back to the beginning and starts again. However, this time, some things changed.

It starts simple and with little things—like them saying things that they originally held back from saying, them making small changes to their actions, or choosing a different option.

With these simple changes, the trajectory of their life changed in inexplicable ways.

Not perfect, not ideal, just...better. Certainly much better than the ones they have right now.

And they see a better version of themselves. Again, not perfect, not ideal, either. Just better. It’s a version of themselves that they could’ve realistically become if they had made the same changes.

This version of themselves jumped out of the visions and stood before them with weapons drawn.

The original version vs. the better version.

This was more than a physical fight. It’s a psychological one.

The existence of a much better version of themselves made them feel inferior and redundant.

It made them, the original, feel like the fake one instead.

And that’s the part that sucks the most.

The version of themselves that they’re fighting wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t the unrealistic version of themselves that lived in an idealistic world.

No, this was a version of themselves that’s just as imperfect as they are but much better than they’ve become, thanks to the difference they made during key moments of their lives.

This version of themselves was someone that they, realistically, could’ve been. And it stoked the fires of envy and jealousy within them so strongly.

Because of that, the fight becomes personal. The original versions will feel compelled to fight strongly to get rid of the uncomfortable feeling they’re having.

It’s the sense of inferiority that cuts the deepest for most of them.

The special rule of the 7th hall was all or nothing. If they could eliminate their clone, they would get the full 700 points. If they were defeated, they would get nothing.

And amongst the 60 participants who fought their clone, fewer than 10 managed to defeat theirs.

When the last participant completed the 7th hall trial, the second round had concluded.

Out of 60 participants, only the top 20 will advance to the next round.

But just as the others despaired and felt unwilling to stop here, Terry revealed something that brought back hope in their eyes.

A second chance.

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