Chapter 26: How to deal with a yandere [1][GTG]
The sun was setting, casting long shadows over the enormous trees that loomed around me, their branches stretching out like dark, skeletal fingers in the fading light. Perched high on one of those branches, I couldn’t help but grin, swinging my legs back and forth. My body began to flicker, slowly dissolving as the end of the examination drew near. After three grueling days, the testing period was finally over.
Three days had passed since the incident with Lyra and Maria. A lot had happened in that short time. After Lyra collapsed from my... well, sneak-attack, her allies had retreated, most likely because they considered me a threat after I managed to defeat her.
That had given me the perfect opportunity to slip away, though not before I had made sure to incapacitate Laren, who’d been showing signs of waking up. I knew the amount of points I’d gathered made me a prime target, so I opted to lay low, moving quickly and finding a safe place to avoid any further confrontations.
I glanced at the shimmering number displayed in my watch...
**[Number 473: 223340 points]**
I chuckled under my breath. "I really did a number on her."
It wouldn’t surprise me if Maria wanted me dead for this. When she woke up, she’d probably come after me with a vengeance. The exam wasn’t just about survival or strategy; it was a psychological war, too. She and her allies had thrown everything they had at me, and I’d still come out on top. Now, as the last moments of the trial passed, I felt the relief of the blessed darkness that enveloped me.
A loud, sudden hum filled the air as my consciousness returned to the present. The transparent cover of the VR pod slid up with a soft hiss, revealing the sterile, brightly lit interior of the testing chamber. I blinked, adjusting to the light, and gasped, taking a few steadying breaths as my muscles ached from days of intense simulated combat.
"Haah!" I exhaled, pushing myself up out of the pod.
"WELL DONE FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO PASSED! THE REST? HAHAHAHAHA! PREPARE FOR TORTURE WHEN NEXT YOU RESUME!" echoed the maniacal voice of the proctor over the whole room. Those around me who were also regaining consciousness grimaced, sharing uneasy glances. I smirked internally.
I instinctively scanned the room for a particular face, and sure enough, in a corner, Lyra was staring at me. Her gaze was unsettling, like the calm before a storm. Though she was perfectly still, I could feel her anger rolling off her in waves, and the promise of retribution was clear in her eyes. It wasn’t hard to imagine the schemes she was plotting now that we were free of the constraints of the exam. I quickly hopped out of the pod and made my way to the exit. No one stopped me; for now, I was in the clear.