Hell and Back (EXO x Reader)

Devision (Trial 1)

Chapter warnings: none

Word count: 1325

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Just as she pressed the start button, everyone's Current Trial tabs were updated. Rather than the blank, boring buttons from before, there was a new configuration. There was a box for the trial's title and details, along with a timer that was set at 0:00. Next to the timer, there was a box that read 'Restricted: Kyungsoo'.

"So does that mean he can't use his powers?" Chanyeol asked, confusedly looking over at the man who had been mentioned. Shrugging, he held his hand out over the ground, attempting to move anything. As the look on his face fell from nonchalant curiosity to awe, he said,

"Oh- I actually can't."

"How would they even do that?" Kris asked skeptically. "You're messing with us."

"I'm serious!"

"Guys, knock it off-" Suho reprimanded them. "Look at the trial." The large script at the top of the page were neat white letters reading 'Trial 1: Gather your items'. Underneath, the description provided a bit more detail. Everyone will be required to carry one item into future trials with them. It may be used at any time, and does not have any restrictions other than your ability to carry it. It has no requirements regarding the law; see the rules and gameplay section for more information on disqualification by arrest. The trial will be completed when everyone is holding their item within their right hand.

"That seems simple enough." Chen commented. "Do we want to all go together, or just go separately and come back?"

"Are there any rules on splitting up?" Luhan asked, clicking into the corresponding tab to check. After the silence of a few people reading, they finally concluded that it was okay to split up.

"Alright then, we meet back here in an hour?" Suho offered.

"Wait, shouldn't we kinda discuss what sort of items we want?" Baekhyun cut in.

"What does it matter?" Lay argued. "We should all just bring whatever. Plus, if we're just doing these in the real world, we'll have access to whatever we want."

"In that case, we should focus on things that may be useful, but also easy to carry around. It said we had to keep it with us until we use it during the trials." Kyungsoo agreed. "We don't want to screw ourselves up on trial 1."

"This doesn't even seem that hard." Tao said nonchalantly. "We shouldn't overthink these. If the rest of the trials go like this, we'll have our band in no time." Strolling towards the door, he finished by saying, "Meet back in an hour, yeah?" And exited. Sighing, Y/N watched as the rest of the boys muttered with each other and began leaving as well. Surprisingly, Kai was the last one left, approaching her as the area emptied out.

"Hey. So what are you thinking?"

"About the item?" She asked, confused.

"I mean, yeah, but... just in general." She shrugged, not really knowing what to say.

"It seems... too easy, you know? I'm not sure how many people are participating in the trials, but the ability to gain any wish? That has to come at a cost."

"I agree, but let's not look a gift horse in the mouth." He consoled her. "This is just the first 1%, right? So we may as well enjoy it while it's easy. Plus, the faster we get through these, the sooner we get the wish, right?" She agreed as he continued, "Do you want to go get our items together? I still kinda need help picking..." Laughing, she gladly accepted, walking through the door as he held it open.

They went to Kai's dorm room, passing Sehun on the way. He offered to come with them, but Kai waved him off, saying that he should get back and let the others know where they were. Walking in, they started digging through items that could be helpful, yet not bulky. Opening a kitchen drawer, Y/N pulled out a Swiss army knife, showing it to him.

"This seems like it could work." She offered. Glancing up, he nodded in agreement. "Definitely. That means we just need to find another useful thing that we may want to have on hand." They both offered a few other items, before Kai had an idea.

"Oh, what if we grabbed, like... a bottle of Tylenol or something?"

"Hmm?" She seemed confused. "That's a bit strange-"

"Yeah, but if someone gets hurt or something it could make things a lot easier for us. Plus, we don't know if we'll be able to get to medication all the time." So... they were already planning for people to get hurt. She didn't like the direction it was going in, but she couldn't argue that it was a reasonable idea. Finally settled on their items, they headed back to the group.

Once everyone was back together, they surveyed the items before they completed the trial. Kai had the Tylenol and Y/N had the pocket knife, but the rest of the group was a pretty wide spread. Suho had a calculator, of all things. Sehun had one of those cliché survival cables, Kyungsoo dietary supplements (along the lines of Kai's thinking), and Xiumin brought another pocket-knife-like implement.

"Baekhyun, what are you holding?" Suho asked suspiciously as he held it by his side. Looking over sheepishly, he held up a fuzzy, gray mass. Looking closer, she realized that it was the form of a tiny dog.

"Seriously? A stuffed animal?" Kris asked.

"I like it!" He objected. "And it's easy to carry around, so what do you care? What did you bring that's so great?" Smiling with a weird glint in his eye, he head up a strange looking set of red bars with strings coming off the ends.

"Are those fireworks?" Suho asked incredulously.

"Yep." The room broke out into chatter, mostly just confused and reprimanding interjections. He blew them off, stating, "Hey, it could come in handy."

"Yeah, if you want to blow our faces off." Kyungsoo muttered under his breath, earning an annoyed glare. "Lay, what do you have?" Grinning almost as evilly as Kai, he pulled a plastic bag full of some white powder out of his pocket. Staring in horror, Y/N asked,

"Is that cocaine?"

"What?" He asked, laughing. "They said it could be anything we wanted, even if it was illegal!"

"Lay!" A few voices shouted at once.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" He said, putting his hands up defensively. "It's salt." Breathing in relief, Suho looked closely at it just to be sure. It begged the question- why had he brought salt? Did he really do it just to mess with them? Regardless, they didn't want to bother with trying to work through Lay's reasoning.

Finishing up, Chen brought a flashlight, Sehun brought a battery pack for a phone charger, Chanyeol brought a pack of pens, Luhan brought a gun of all things. (They weren't sure where he had gotten it, or why he felt like he needed it, but he nonetheless possessed it). Finally, Tao had a watch. He didn't explain at all why he felt like he needed it, but he was adamant about having it.

Realizing that, regardless of what the others thought, everyone had picked their items, Suho gave the okay for everyone to pick them up, looking at the screens with the other hand. As they waited, nothing happened. Confused, Y/N looked at the challenge.

"Shouldn't it be complete? All we need to do is hold our items in our right hands, right?"

"Oh, my bad." Baekhyun said, moving his item from his left hand to his right. It must not have been his dominant hand. As soon as he did this, the trial bar turned green, reading, Trial 1: Complete.

"That seemed easy enough." Y/N commented as the lettering disappeared, changing back to the initial start screen for the next challenge. "Let's hope it stays that way."