Chương 54: Start of the exam

Lloyd's face twisted into a grimace tinged with surprise.

"Seriously? He's here too? Looks like my problems are just getting started." Suddenly, the man of fire turned sharply toward Lloyd and looked him straight in the eyes. A chill ran down Lloyd's spine — cold and prickling, as if someone had dragged an icy finger from the back of his neck down to the base of his spine. The flame around the stranger gave off no warmth — it seemed to swallow the light around it instead, leaving a searing, unsettling afterimage on the retina.

But a moment later the figure turned away, losing all interest in Lloyd, as if he were nothing more than a random shadow on the wall.

"Well, I hope he doesn't cause me any trouble." Lloyd leaned back against the smooth white wall and settled in to wait for the exam to begin. The surface was cool and perfectly flat even through the thin fabric of his black hoodie, and the sensation was oddly calming — at least the wall was real, tangible, unlike everything else about this madness.

Lloyd's black pants and bright red sneakers stood out against the sterile whiteness of the hall in a faint splash of color — the only living touch amid all that near-clinical cleanliness. The hall itself turned out to be surprisingly ordinary — a plain white room, unremarkable except for its sheer size. No grand vaults, no ornamentation — just smooth white walls, an equally white floor, and a ceiling that vanished somewhere far above, seeming to dissolve into the light.

Benches and chairs were scattered haphazardly throughout — mismatched, as if gathered in a hurry from wherever was convenient: here a worn wooden stool, there a plush office chair, somewhere else a plain backless bench. This chaotic, almost random assortment of furniture clashed strangely with the sterile cleanliness of the room, making the whole place feel even more unnatural — like a set hastily assembled for some important production.

The light here was even and featureless, seeming to pour from everywhere and nowhere at once, casting no shadows, which quickly made Lloyd's eyes ache. People — or things resembling people — kept arriving one after another, but there turned out to be fewer of them than Lloyd had expected. No more than twenty, probably.

The hall, vast and echoing, felt far too spacious for such a small handful of people — their footsteps rang out with unexpectedly sharp echoes across the smooth floor, and any voices that dared to speak dissolved somewhere beneath the high white ceiling. Lloyd studied the crowd. Some shifted nervously from foot to foot; others had already sunk into one of the scattered chairs, staring blankly into space. A few wore smiles — but those smiles looked forced, stretched thin over poorly hidden fear.

The air in the hall felt unnaturally fresh, almost sterile, as if it had been specially purified — no dust, no smell, nothing to suggest the place had ever been lived in. And somehow that very sterility was more unsettling than any gloomy old dungeon could have been. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Then the speakers crackled to life with a faint hiss, and a woman's voice — one Lloyd already recognized — came through them. — Ahem, ahem. One-two, one-two.

The woman cleared her throat, and the sound, amplified by the speakers, rang out unexpectedly loud across the hall, making a few people flinch. — Dear Players, welcome to the Player's Examination. Here you'll have the chance to test your strength. To test yourselves, and to prove yourselves before the strongest guilds in the world!

The voice washed over the hall like an invisible wave of encouragement — warm, uplifting, and yet somehow detached, mechanical, as if she'd said these very words a thousand times before to a thousand different candidates. — The exam is about to begin, but before that, I'd like to give you a warning. Lloyd raised an eyebrow and listened closely. Something in the woman's tone had shifted — subtly, but enough to put him on edge. — You may leave the exam right now.

You'll receive your card and officially become a Player. The speakers suddenly hissed for a moment, letting out a harsh, ear-grating screech — as if the interference had torn through the clean signal. Then the voice continued at once, as though nothing had happened. — But you'll lose your chance to prove yourself. Think about it — when else will the strongest guilds in the world be watching you? I believe an opportunity like this comes along only once. Well, the choice is yours. You have exactly one minute.

A massive monitor silently descended from the ceiling, and the light in the hall dimmed noticeably, plunging everyone into half-darkness. The screen flared to life with an ominous red glow, and a countdown began: 60... 59... 58... Lloyd had no intention of leaving, even though he had precious little time left to think it over.

"I already knew that even if you fail the first trial, you still become an official Player. But becoming one without even taking the Exam at all... that's something new." The information, surprising as it was, changed nothing for Lloyd in the end. He remained standing exactly where he was, leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, as the seconds counting down to zero slipped away one by one.

Somewhere to his right came a stifled gasp — someone in the crowd had clearly wavered, but still hadn't moved, as if the fear of the unknown outweighed the fear of the exam itself. 30... 15... 5... Then came a strange, drawn-out buzzing sound, and the numbers on the screen froze at 00: 00. The monitor rose back up toward the ceiling with a faint mechanical groan, and bright light flooded the hall once more, briefly blinding those who'd grown used to the dimness.

Lloyd looked around — and didn't notice anyone missing from the hall. He'd known some might leave, but for absolutely no one to...

"Looks like this exam is going to be far more interesting than I thought." A quiet murmur of surprised whispers rippled through the hall, but it died down quickly as the speakers crackled back to life with that same familiar screech. The same voice came through again — this time with an unmistakable note of satisfaction. — Not a single one of you left the room. You've pleasantly surprised me. It seems our world is in good hands. Well then...

The woman on the other end fell silent — deliberately, as if drawing out the tension on purpose, stretching the suspense to its limit. The seconds of silence felt longer than the countdown itself. Lloyd held his breath. Beside him, the man of fire shifted again, and that same chill of anticipation crawled across his skin once more. — I hereby announce the start of the exam!