“All right, next one!” A loud voice reverberated, sparking an immediate spike in caution as everyone scrambled into different regions, with Ren and Nolan efficiently sorting them out.

  “Two more after this, and we’re finished!” Nolan called out, boosting the group’s morale. Faces began to relax, the end of the trial finally in sight. After successfully completing this jump, most of them would have less than ten minutes left on their individual timers—a guaranteed win if they succeeded.

  However, as they grew increasingly at ease, their eyes inevitably drifted toward a certain individual, and their spirits dampened each time they caught sight of him. Unlike the rest, he didn’t share their relief. Instead, he seemed displeased, as though wary of what might happen next.

  Is this really it?

  Contrary to their assumptions, Lin wasn’t displeased but rather disappointed.

  Sitting with a hand pressed to his stomach, he let various scenarios play out in his mind, trying to distract himself from the dull reality before him. By now, he had envisioned several strategies the beast could use to bypass Ren’s plan. But as more time passed, many of those possibilities became unfeasible, leaving only a few that might work with so little time remaining.

  “Yo.” A voice broke through his thoughts, snapping him out of his daze. Lin looked up to see an enigmatic blue-haired man accompanied by a dark-haired woman.

  “Take off your shirt,” the man suddenly demanded, prompting a frown from Lin. He glanced between the two of them before replying,

  “Sorry, I’m not interested.”

  His response provoked confusion from the man, who furrowed his brow.

  “The heck are you talking about?” Kian shot back, stepping closer and forcefully grabbing Lin’s hand. He pulled it away from Lin’s body, revealing blood seeping from his stomach. The woman immediately stepped forward, pressing a white cloth against the wound.

  “This is…” she murmured, her eyes widening as she stared at Lin’s body. A similar expression of shock appeared on Kian’s face.

  Their reaction, however, wasn’t due to the bullet wound but to the scars that marred Lin’s body—marks that seemed to arise from very brutal fights or even torture, like those of a seasoned war veteran. Yet, even as they reacted with visible discomfort, Lin’s expression remained neutral.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked calmly, his tone steady, causing the dark-haired woman to flinch. She looked up, met his gaze briefly, then quickly looked away, muttering,

  “S-sorry, it’s nothing. I can, um... seal the wound,” she stammered, her focus shifting back to Lin’s stomach.

  Lin showed no strong reaction, replying simply,

  “Do whatever you want.”

  He then shifted his gaze to Kian, who, surprisingly, no longer looked at him with the same unease as before. It wasn’t anger or fear reflected in Kian’s eyes anymore but something closer to pity. Meeting Lin’s gaze, Kian straightened and spoke quickly.

  “She said she can do some first aid, so I thought, why not,” he said casually. Lin’s eyes sparked with faint curiosity as he turned back to the woman, who had begun unpacking a small cloth bundle containing various utensils, including surgical scissors and some oddly shaped tools.

  “Oh, did you work in a hospital?” Lin asked. This time, the woman wasn’t as startled as she shook her head.

  “No, it was just a small first aid training program,” she replied calmly. Lin nodded, not pressing further, watching as she delicately wiped away the blood around his wound.

  “Can you hold this?” she asked naturally. Lin pressed the cotton to his stomach, complying without much thought.

  Seeing that Lin wasn’t going to cause trouble, Kian began to move away, silently distancing himself and leaving the two alone. The moment Kian was out of earshot, Lin spoke up.

  “You know, I was also taught a bit of first aid,” he said, his tone curious as he watched her work. She paused for a second, then resumed her task as though she hadn’t heard him, choosing not to respond.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Lin scoffed as he continued,

  “From what I was taught, removing a bullet isn’t part of first aid,” he remarked.

  At the same time, the woman inserted a silver surgical instrument resembling a larger version of surgical scissors—though its edges were blunt—cleanly into the bullet hole.

  She applied pressure, her fingers halting midway as if gripping something lodged inside. Then, with careful precision, she slowly extracted the object—a small bullet that had pierced Lin’s flesh—and dropped it onto a nearby cloth.

  Curious, Lin glanced at the bullet and activated Echo Sight, noticing a reddish aura emanating from it. He pondered briefly why the goddess had provided them with all the weapons they desired instead of having them create their own.

  Since he hadn’t chosen firearms, this was his first encounter with a Soulex-made bullet. A cascade of potential uses crossed his mind. If Sera had created the bullets using her own Soulex, she might even use them as a tracking mechanism, pinpointing the exact location of anyone she shot.

  It could’ve been a game-changing tactic when they’d shot the Minotaur.

  However, the fact that such a trick hadn’t been utilized suggested it wasn’t as reliable as it seemed. Even when [Veil] was applied to conceal the bullet’s Echo string, a simple Echo Sight would reveal the threads, prompting someone to remove the bullet as soon as possible.

  “Done.”

  The woman’s voice broke through his thoughts. Lin glanced at his stomach, where neatly placed stitches now closed the wound.

  “Thank you,” Lin said, his tone calm. She nodded, packed up her utensils, and walked away without saying another word. As Lin watched her retreating figure, he decided not to press the matter further, deliberately ignoring her peculiar behavior.

  Why is she pretending she can’t use Soulex?

  He wondered briefly before pushing the thought to the back of his mind.

  “G-guys, I think there’s a problem,” a voice called out loudly, coming from someone standing in the Swamp region. The announcement made everyone grimace, especially those currently in the Rocky region, who were still rendered blind by the regional restriction. There were only two minutes left before the [Majority Rule] would take effect.

  The remaining individuals quickly turned to their screens, confusion and alarm washing over their faces as they tried to make sense of what they were seeing.

  “I-it can’t be, right?” a panicked voice stammered.

  “This… it’s in the Snowy region?” another mumbled, his tone laced with disbelief.

  All eyes immediately turned to Ren, waiting for an explanation.

  Their Echo displays revealed a Soulex signal at the border between the Snowy and Swamp regions—the exact spot they had predicted the beast would reach if it had taken the shortest path in the first rotation.

  However, the presence of the Soulex signal was unnatural. Given their recent movement from the Swamp region, the Minotaur should still have been there. Yet, the signal suggested it had already crossed the border and entered the Snowy region in under three minutes.

  That’s impossible… Lin thought, his eyes darting to his status window. His expression darkened, a nagging sense of having overlooked something creeping into his mind.

  “It probably tossed a Soulex object from its current position in the Swamp region—or maybe it dropped one the last time it was in the Snowy region,” Ren said, drawing everyone’s attention.

  The group seemed to consider the theory. If the Minotaur had indeed left an item behind during its previous visit to the Snowy region, it would explain the Soulex signal.

  There didn’t seem to be any other plausible explanation.

  However, there was a glaring issue with this idea, one that Lin couldn’t ignore. He spoke up, intending to confirm his suspicions.

  “There’s a bit of a problem with both possibilities,” Lin said, drawing everyone’s attention before continuing.

  “For one, I already used a similar tactic last time, so there wouldn’t be any point in the Minotaur trying to bait us with a Soulex object. It also hasn’t used Echo this entire time, so it wouldn’t know exactly where we are,” he explained. The group mulled over his reasoning.

  “I guess that makes sense, but what if it dropped the object the first time it was there?” someone suggested, attempting to find a logical explanation. However, Lin’s words carried implications he was deliberately avoiding. Sensing this, Isadore spoke up.

  “Wouldn’t that mean it already knew it wouldn’t reach the Swamp region?” he asked simply, and Ren’s eyes widened in realization.

  If the Minotaur had dropped an object in the Snowy region while its apparent goal was to reach the Swamp region, it implied it had anticipated its failure. The reasoning behind this was straightforward.

  “It would suggest the Minotaur created the object, cast [Veil] onto it immediately afterward, and kept it hidden this entire time,” Lin continued, leading everyone to the same unsettling conclusion. But this line of thought also pointed to a more alarming outcome—one Lin had been suspecting all along.

  “Mmh!?”

  A loud splatter echoed through the air, droplets of red liquid splashing onto some of the group as they froze in place. A fast-moving object zipped past them, striking a rock in the Rocky region.

  All eyes slowly turned toward the Rocky region before darting back to the source—the Swamp region.

  A low thud followed.

  A headless body collapsed to the ground, blood splattering the two individuals who had been standing nearby.

  “Uhhh!!!?” A screeching scream pierced the air, sending everyone into chaos—especially those in the sightless region, who were left in utter confusion as panic spread among the group.

  “W-what’s happening!?” one of them cried, frantically waving her arms as she stumbled, trying to grab hold of anything nearby.

  “What?!” another voice stammered, panic evident.

  Dammit! Lin jolted upright, his worst fears coming true as a flurry of scenarios raced through his mind. Forcing himself to focus, he quickly surveyed the surroundings before barking an order.

  “Stay low and roll toward the Swamp region, now!” he shouted.