Fun in Despair

Only the footsteps of the group broke the silence as they trudged through the cold stone passage.

The oppressive atmosphere made it hard to breathe.

Leorio kept his head lowered, looking as though his soul had been drained away. Every step felt unbearably heavy.

The fifty-hour penalty weighed on him like a mountain, crushing him beneath it.

He did not dare meet his companions' eyes.

Kurapika walked beside him, his brow furrowed as he rapidly calculated their remaining time against the unknown distance ahead. His expression grew grimmer by the moment.

Killua led the way with his hands in his pockets, as though his instant victory earlier had left no mark on him at all.

But his silence was a pressure all its own.

Gon looked from one person to another. Several times, he wanted to break the deathly silence, but he had no idea what to say.

He walked over to Leorio and gently patted his shoulder.

"Leorio, don't be like this."

"It's my fault..."

Leorio's voice was hoarse, filled with regret.

"If it weren't for me... none of you would..."

"What good does saying that do now?"

Kurapika cut him off coldly.

"We have less than twenty-two hours left. And we haven't even made it through a third of this tower."

Those words plunged like a knife into everyone's hearts once again.

Despair.

Pure despair.

"Tsk, with the mood already like this, why not spice things up with a little infighting?"

Only Luo Ye still looked as though none of this concerned him.

Little Black, perched on his shoulder, sensed the heavy atmosphere and was too frightened to move, burying its head deep in Luo Ye's collar.

"Look at that. The genius handles screwing up, the spiky-haired kid handles cheering everyone on, the blond kid throws cold water on things, and the silver-haired one plays it cool."

Luo Ye's inner monologue was brimming with cheer.

"Our team really does have every role covered. Now all we need is a final boss, or an obstacle we can't get past, and everyone can start fighting over an unfair split of the loot... no, wait, over blaming each other. That'll be much more entertaining than that fight to the death."

As his thoughts wandered, the passage ahead finally came to an end.

A spacious stone chamber.

At the far end stood a tightly shut stone door.

A wooden sign hung on it.

A single line was written there.

[This door will open automatically in ten hours]

Ten hours.

At the sight of that number, everyone's heart sank.

"T-ten hours?"

One examinee spoke in a trembling voice.

"We have less than twenty-two hours left in total! If we wait here for ten hours, we won't make it out before the deadline even if the rest of the way is completely clear!"

"It's over... it's all over..."

"It's all because of that guy!"

Furious gazes once again converged on Leorio.

Leorio shuddered all over. His lips trembled, but he could not get a single word out.

"Oh-ho, a mandatory waiting stage. A classic among classics."

Luo Ye surveyed the room with interest.

"The examiner must think we aren't desperate enough yet. They just have to fan the flames, making us blame each other while we wait until we finally break down."

"But games like this usually have a hidden shortcut."

His gaze swept over every corner of the room like a scanner.

The walls, the ceiling, the floor.

Finally, his eyes settled on an unremarkable-looking floor tile in the middle of the room.

The tile was just a shade lighter than those around it.

"Found it."

A barely perceptible smile tugged at Luo Ye's lips.

He said nothing.

Instead, he strolled into the middle of the room, stretched, then "accidentally" stepped on that tile as though he had lost his footing.

Click.

A soft sound rang out.

Under everyone's astonished gazes, the tile and several surrounding it flipped downward, revealing a pitch-black opening.

Beside the opening were two descending stairways.

An "O" was marked beside one stairway.

The other was marked with an "X."

A cold, mechanical voice came from the opening.

[Congratulations. You have discovered a hidden passage.]

[One route is long, but safe.]

[The other is a shortcut, but offers only a slim chance of survival.]

[Make your choice. The minority must follow the majority.]

Everyone's eyes fixed on the opening that had suddenly appeared.

A new choice.

A new dilemma.

Should they choose the long, safe route that would doom them to failure, or the shortcut filled with unknown dangers and little chance of survival?

"This..."

Leorio looked at the opening, a flicker of hope rekindling in his eyes.

Kurapika and Killua also furrowed their brows, deep in thought.

Luo Ye dusted off his hands, feeling delighted.

"Now that's more like it."

"Drive people into a dead end, then offer them a choice that looks like a chance but will most likely just get them killed sooner."

"Now things have gotten interesting."