Bing Shi shut her eyes tightly, feeling the warmth of blood trickling from her nose. Hastily using her sleeve to wipe it away, she called out to Kuro with a mix of anxiety and urgency.
["Kuro, I need your help."]
["Kuro, you hear me?"]
Receiving no response, she opened her eyes with a sense of dread, only to find her body enveloped in a peculiar bluish, crystalline layer. Her face registered shock and horror at the sight. The blue membrane flickered intermittently, appearing and vanishing in a fleeting dance, beyond her control.
'I have to get out. Nobody can see me like this!'
She pinched her nose and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, her movements unsteady, causing her to fall back on her buttocks, "...Ugh..."
'It doesn't hurt.'
'It doesn't hurt.'
Bing Shi murmured under her breath, brainwashing herself in the hope it would subdue the static noise in her head. The blue shield remained stubbornly beyond her command, and the pain persisted—the trial was still going on.
Recalling who she was fighting for, she summoned her last reserves of strength and reached for her gas mask. With her vision blurred, she plugged her nose with tissues and then donned the gas mask.
Stepping out of her tent into the open air, she encountered the breaking dawn, the rain had subsided and left the ground muddy.
["Kuro, I need to get out."]
Her chin quivered, a hiccup escaping her as she surveyed her surroundings. Her mind raced at an accelerated pace, a consequence of the ceaseless fear and unrelenting stress that had become her companions.
With Kuro, she felt akin to a player who had somehow cheated during a game to secure victory. In Kuro's absence, Bing Shi found herself more exposed and vulnerable than ever before.
Quickly jotting down a message on her whiteboard, she hurriedly exited the confines of the base. Along the way, she leaned against the piped wall for support, her legs succumbing to an uncontrollable trembling.
'I can't fail.'
'I hate failing.'
Raising the lid, she climbed out and sprinted toward her truck. Once inside, she shut the door and sought refuge beneath the seats. She was unable to operate the vehicle in her current state.
'I should have done it differently.'
Initially, she suppressed the sobs brought on by the pain, masking her distress. However, this facade eventually crumbled under the onslaught of emotions, causing her to break down with little resistance.
The blue membrane drained all the scarce energy she had left. Everything was a blur that swirled out of existence. With her eyes shut, she surrendered herself to the infinite black space.
· · ───────── · ⊱❈⊰· ───────── · ·
Everyone was fed up with the weather; they immediately rejoiced once it stopped raining. As footsteps resounded outside the tents, there was a unanimous thought: who else could it be but Bing Shi? Anticipation hung in the air as they anticipated her entrance, but she never appeared.
Although their bodies were no longer wracked with the intense pain from before, most remained sprawled on their beds due to the fatigue, except for a few individuals.
Ziek was playing games on his phone when his stomach growled in protest. The trial didn't hurt him, but it used a lot of his energy. Retrieving beef jerky from a small pocket on his vest, he chewed on the meat while continuing his virtual battle against zombies.
It wasn't until he had devoured all the snacks stashed in his pockets that he stood up in irritation. His body was burning the food like crazy.
On the way to the kitchen, he saw Bing Shi who was stumbling on her way to the entrance. Despite the darkness, her silhouette remained unmistakable, prompting him to murmur, "...Hmm..."
Food or Bing Shi?
Ziek's stomach took the reins and directed him to the kitchen in search of food first. He discovered leftover rice with meatballs in tomato sauce, which he devoured in gusto.
Then he decided to see how Bing Shi was doing. Exiting the base, he noticed her car was present, causing him to furrow his brows. Approaching the front of the truck, he found it unoccupied; attempting to open the door, he found it locked. 'Where did she go?'
The parking lot was a vehicle jungle, but a quick memory scan assured him that not a single car was missing. Could Bing Shi have just stepped out momentarily and then returned? Why had he jumped to the conclusion that she was attempting an escape?
He began to walk back. The black shade of Bing Shi's attire happened to mimic the truck floor perfectly, so Ziek remained oblivious to the passed-out figure within the vehicle.
· · ───────── · ⊱❈⊰· ───────── · ·
In the previous world, Bing Shi clung to an unwavering certainty that fate would orchestrate a union between her and Xuan Mu. They were fated to be together, right? Right?! But reality proved to be a harsh contrast. He never showed up.
A question had always lingered in her mind: Why did the HQ select her to be a host? Someone, who wasn't exactly the most remarkable person on the planet? She held an unwavering conviction that all of this was intricately tied to her boyfriend, who was far, faaar, faaaaaar more brilliant.
The fear of losing her sanity compelled her to take extraordinary steps to track him down. She consoled herself with the thought that she had exerted every ounce of her strength to look for him.
If Bing Shi hadn't pushed so hard; if she hadn't become the planet's most well-known figure; if she hadn't relentlessly sought her boyfriend, would she ever stumble upon Ziek Leoners?
· · ───────── · ⊱❈⊰· ───────── · ·
Walking past Bing Shi's tent, Ziek's eyes landed on the message on her whiteboard, 'Outside, looking for Kuro? But her car is still here...'
A sense of doubt crept over him, prompting him to venture outside once more.
Standing before her truck, he inspected its interior, finding everything seemingly in order—until his vision fell upon the huddled black form on the floor, "..."
What was happening? He knocked on the glass window loudly, but there was no response. 'Should I break the glass?'
Feeling a rush of unfamiliar energy within his body, Ziek grasped the situation immediately. Visualizing himself harnessing that energy to shatter the glass, he envisioned the shards with precision.
He analyzed if it would hurt the person below in any way. It seemed unlikely, given the transparent film layered within the glass as a precaution against car accidents. As he mulled over these thoughts...
Crack
The truck's side window shattered like a cobweb, just as he had envisioned...
His eyes widened in astonishment. Contemplating the door, he pictured a force nudging the handle. To his amazement, the door obediently swung open of its own accord.
'The fūck?' Ziek saw the unmoving body and tried to lift her with his mind, to no avail. Undeterred, he imagined raising her garments, yet still, nothing occurred. 'Nonliving object manipulation? Telekinesis?'
Then, another surge of energy surged from within him. Redirecting his attention to the car window on the opposite side, he concentrated on shattering it with this newfound power.
But, alas, nothing transpired.