At the end of the crevice lay a stretch of white light.
The five of them squeezed out.
Before them was a fifty-square-meter stone chamber.
It was plain.
The walls were smooth and even, without any unnecessary decoration-not even a metal sign with a hint.
The only exit was a huge stone door.
It was shut.
Unintelligible patterns were carved into its surface.
In the middle of the room.
A red circle was drawn on the floor.
Beside it, a line of small text was clearly visible.
[Congratulations. You are only one step away from the finish.]
"That's it?"
Leorio looked around in disbelief.
He braced himself against the wall, gasping for breath.
He was covered in wounds and dust.
He looked a complete mess.
"No monsters? No traps?"
"We just passed, just like that?"
After everything they had suffered, the sudden quiet left him feeling a little dazed.
Kurapika did not relax.
His body remained tense as he carefully inspected every corner of the room, from the seams in the walls to the stone door's hinges, searching for hidden mechanisms.
"Don't waste your energy."
Killua's lazy voice rang out.
He plopped down on the floor, propped himself up on his hands, and tilted his head back to look at the ceiling.
"There's nothing here. My guess is this is a rest room before the finish."
Gon sat down too, beaming.
"Great! We made it, and everyone's okay!"
Only Luo Ye had been staring at the red circle on the floor ever since they entered.
An amused smile tugged at his lips.
"Tsk. The examiner really has a nasty streak."
He was inwardly delighted.
A string of intense, deadly trials.
Pushing people's minds and bodies to their limits.
Then, just before the finish, giving them an empty safe room.
It was like running ten thousand meters, only for the referee to make you do fifty push-ups right before you crossed the line.
This was not a chance to relax.
It was another form of torture.
Going from extreme activity to absolute stillness could easily shatter someone's mental defenses.
And what was more.
Luo Ye's gaze swept over a corner of the room.
A well-concealed timer sat there.
[Time remaining: 00:09:58]
Less than ten minutes.
There was no hint anywhere in this room about how to open the final door.
Were they supposed to wait until time ran out, or fulfill some hidden condition?
Waiting in uncertainty like this was the most grueling part.
Sure enough, Leorio was the first to lose patience.
"So what are we supposed to do now? Sit here and wait to die?"
He stood up irritably and paced around the room.
"How the hell do we open this door?"
He rushed over to the stone door, pushing and pounding on it.
The stone door did not budge.
"Calm down, Leorio."
Kurapika spoke in a low voice.
"Getting worked up won't help. There must be a mechanism to open it."
His gaze also settled on the red circle on the floor.
"Perhaps it has something to do with this circle."
"The circle? What good is some stupid circle?"
Just as Leorio was about to lose his temper, something changed.
Rumble.
The entire Trick Tower began shaking violently.
Stone chips rained from the ceiling, as though it might collapse at any moment.
"What's happening? An earthquake?"
Gon scrambled to his feet.
Kurapika and Killua instantly assumed combat stances as well, watching their surroundings warily.
"It's not an earthquake."
Luo Ye smiled. This was exactly what he had been waiting for.
"The fun's here."
He tilted his head to listen.
He could clearly hear screams and explosions coming from the direction of the "easy path" they had taken.
The sounds drew closer.
Growing clearer and clearer.
The majority took the easy path, while the minority went through the narrow gate.
Luo Ye was laughing himself senseless inside.
That easy path had never been a path at all.
It was one enormous chain of traps.
Each step triggered the next.
Now, it was probably time for the final fireworks show.
The examiner was throwing a group farewell party for those "lucky souls" who had chosen the easy path.
Sure enough.
A deafening explosion rang out.
Their stone chamber shook violently.
Then.
Everything went quiet.
The timer in the corner ticked down to [00:00:00] at that exact moment.
Click-
The huge stone door slowly rose.
Beyond it lay the base of Trick Tower.
Bright sunlight and fresh air poured in.
The exit was right before their eyes.
"We made it!"
Leorio was the first to rush out, cheering.
Gon and Killua followed excitedly.
Kurapika let out a long breath, his taut nerves finally relaxing.
Luo Ye stretched and strolled leisurely through the stone doorway.
He glanced back at the red circle.
So they had not needed to do anything.
That was the right answer all along.
The thought crossed his mind.
This trap tested neither strength nor brains.
It tested whether they still had the patience to hold steady after experiencing despair.
"What sophisticated entertainment."
He thought this cheerfully, taking a moment to feel the changes in his body.
After all the "beatings" and extreme exertion along the way, his muscle density, neural reaction speed, and total Nen had all increased considerably.
The gains were not dramatic.
But the feeling of steadily growing stronger left him very satisfied.
"Experience secured, plenty of fun had. This third phase was a massive win."
At the base of the tower.
The examiner, Lippo, was leaning against a rock and checking his watch.
When he saw Luo Ye's group of five emerge from the exit, undisguised surprise appeared on his face.
"Oh? Someone actually made it out of that 'shortcut' alive?"
"And all five together, at that."
His gaze swept back and forth over the five of them before finally settling on Luo Ye.
"What interesting kids."
"Congratulations. You've passed the third phase."
"Total time: seventy-one hours and fifty-nine minutes."
Lippo announced their result.
"You're the only ones who cleared this shortcut."
At those words, Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio froze.
"What about the others?" Gon could not help asking.
Lippo smiled at the question, a hint of amusement in his voice.
"The others? Your team had already split at that very first O-or-X choice."
"You in the 'majority' chose the X route, full of direct confrontations, and eventually ended up on this 'shortcut' with the highest death rate. The 'minority' who chose O entered another route full of tricks and puzzles."
He pointed toward an open patch of ground nearby, where Hisoka, Illumi, and a dozen or so others were already standing.
"Some of the lucky ones among them arrived before you. But you... to think every one of you would make it through this 'shortcut.' That truly exceeded my expectations."
Before you continue