Urgh.
Akaseki spent another full day savoring "Stillness."
Now Akaseki truly felt despair...
For an entire day, he repeatedly experienced one slice of "Stillness" after another!
The despair was genuine, but Akaseki only felt like he was "dying," not that he wanted to die. After all...
Dying of embarrassment, dying of anger, dying of misery... those were entirely different from actually developing a death wish.
Of course, the day had not been without its rewards.
After enduring a full twenty-four hours, Akaseki had made enormous progress in "Anger," "Urgency," and especially "Stillness"!
Although the effects were weaker than the first time, and he had not even put his "hypothalamus" on autopilot, experiencing it all again still left Akaseki anxious and furious.
His progress in "Stillness" was almost catching up to "Urgency"...
Meanwhile, Akaseki also spotted the exit from the Silence Gate.
He hurried out, then turned to look back—he could no longer see anything, but he had his own internal scales for judging things... Sin Gate good, Silence Gate bad!
After scanning the distance, Akaseki spotted the final earthen-yellow Rashomon gate.
"The last one... let's see whether you're a good gate or a bad gate!" Akaseki said as he headed toward the final Rashomon gate.
When he reached it, the yellow Rashomon gate stared at him and spoke. "Trial taker, this is the Gate of Balance, which administers the final trial of mastering the unbroken state... art thou prepared?"
"Balance?" This time, Akaseki could not figure anything out from the name.
"I'm ready!" Akaseki had nothing to prepare, so he was about to walk straight in...
A day and a half had already passed since the trial began, yet Akaseki still did not feel hungry. That told him he was probably here only in consciousness.
Still, leaving his body hungry