W… What's the worst that could happen…?'**
Kalm tried to motivate himself with a few positive thoughts,
pushing his fear and dread to the corner of his mind,
and stood just one step away from the beautiful and terrifying Rift.
His pull toward it grew stronger.
He felt a calling from within, drawing him to cross through it…
Kalm swallowed nervously, clenched his fingers into a tight fist, and stepped forward.
The moment he entered the Rift, the swirling beautiful colors twisted and moved rapidly,
almost alive—
giving him a strange feeling of numbness and dizziness.
And in the very next second, everything vanished.
Kalm found himself in a kind of black void.
No sound. No light.
No sensation of any kind.
It was as if he'd been cut off from the world and had stepped into *nothingness*.
Before panic could take hold, a strange voice echoed:
**\[Challenger Kalm, you will now be transferred to your test.]**
Kalm raised his trembling hand and held his head,
caught between fear and anticipation.
The strange voice hadn't come from the surrounding void—
**it came from inside his own head.**
**'Is this… the Voice of the World?'**
he wondered in awe, before the voice returned with an odd question:
**\[Here is your question, Kalm. What is your dream?]**
Kalm blinked twice—then twice again—completely stunned.
**'A dream? Wait… isn't this too fast…?'**
He took a moment to calm himself,
and thought deeply about the strange question...
Wasn't there some way for the World's Voice to already know everything about him?
Or… was it waiting for the challenger to confess it himself?
Or maybe…
this was *how* the test would be shaped?
In any case, he had no way of knowing the answers.
What mattered now was that he answer honestly.
There was a chance that lying could put him in a dangerous situation with whatever strange force was behind this...
Kalm scratched the back of his head with a shy smile on his face,
and said in a sincere, slightly embarrassed tone:
**"A family. My dream… is to have a family around me."**
His heart pounded uncontrollably—
as he declared his unreachable dream aloud.
But before those feelings had a chance to fully surface,
the World's Voice returned once more with a result:
**\[The test has been prepared.]**
The moment Kalm heard those words,
a blinding light enveloped the strange void.
He raised his hands to shield his eyes.
Then the light swallowed everything—
and Kalm stood at the center—
before all of it disappeared...
------
A loud explosion echoed, making the world itself tremble,
as thick black smoke rose into the sky.
Screams followed—voices of soldiers caught in the blast.
**"Brother! Brother, hold on, please!"**
A panicked voice shouted, as a man pulled the body of a soldier from beneath the black rubble.
Moments later, the metallic clash of weapons rang out again,
followed by the burst of red sparks and the snarls of monsters
locked in battle against human soldiers.
The scent of blood hung heavy in the air,
as corpses of beasts and men alike littered the ground.
Their blood spilled freely, forming a crimson pool across the red stone earth.
The screams of soldiers being eaten alive
—or torn and crushed under waves of monstrous claws—
ripped through the battlefield.
Elsewhere, the guttural growls of beasts were silenced by ringing blades.
A warrior knelt beside his wounded brother, eyes filled with fear and worry, scanning both him and the battlefield.
The injured soldier slowly opened his eyes and coughed violently,
spitting blood from his mouth.
His brother dropped to his knees to support him.
**"You're alive... Thank the gods. Can you stand?"**
he asked in a low, shaky voice.
The wounded man gave a faint nod,
then slowly pushed himself up using his sword.
His body screamed in pain,
covered in dozens of wounds like a map of suffering carved into flesh.
He glanced at himself, then at the chaos around him—
and forced his mind to focus.
He spoke with surprising strength, despite his condition.
**"G…Gather the remaining troops in one point, and order a retreat to the second wall.
Like this, we'll die in vain."**
His brother stared at him with sharp, resolute eyes,
then nodded and vanished into the battlefield to carry out the command.
The surviving warrior raised his long sword and looked at himself.
**"How… How am I still alive?"**
He murmured, confused, trying to understand how he survived the earlier explosion.
But from the corner of his vision, **Kalm** stood—
stunned,
no, terrified—
frozen in place.
Just moments ago, he was inside the strange black void…
And now, he was stuck with a warrior in the middle of a war—
against monsters whose roars alone made his knees buckle beneath him.
**How is this even possible?**
Was his soul placed inside the body of a warrior?
Or…
did something go wrong, and now he was trapped instead of receiving his own body?
Whatever was happening, it was terrifying.
**'Is… is this my trial?'**
He wondered silently.
Earlier, the World's Voice had asked him about his dream.
Of course, Kalm had answered truthfully—he longed for a family,
dreamed of it,
feared ending up alone.
He avoided lying, fearing the consequences.
But still—what did a dream of family have to do with being trapped in the body of a warrior,
in a war this brutal,
surrounded by monsters?
As Kalm struggled to make sense of the trial,
the brave warrior advanced,
his gaze cold and focused.
In a flash, his twin-edged blade swept cleanly across the neck of a monstrous creature,
beheading it as if it were nothing.
The head fell, and blood burst from its stump like a fountain.
But behind the first beast,
another one leapt—larger,
with long claws and a grotesque mouth full of black, spike-like fangs.
Its eyes burned with madness and bloodlust.
The warrior clenched his teeth, cursed in his heart,
shifted his weight onto one leg,
and twisted his body to narrowly dodge the attack with masterful precision.
Then with all his might, he swung the edge of his sword toward the beast's head.
The blade pierced the monster's skull and drove deep into its brain.
The beast staggered, shrieked horrifically, and fell dead.
The warrior pulled his sword free,
twirling it gracefully to flick off the blood,
then stepped back, visibly fatigued.
Kalm's eyes widened in awe,
a chill creeping up his spine.
The warrior's skill was breathtaking.
His movements were calculated and flawless.
Even wounded and exhausted, he remained a deadly force.
And now, having seen this gruesome scene—
**Kalm began to wonder.**
What was he supposed to do?
Being bound to the warrior—did it mean he would die if the man died?
Or was his trial to *kill the warrior* and find a way out?
That thought alone made him tremble…
But on the other hand,
this warrior clearly had a better chance of surviving this horrifying war—
thanks to his immense strength and refined skill.
Either way, Kalm had no choice but to watch for now—
and hope something happened to help him understand this situation…
The warrior turned at the sound of approaching footsteps.
It was the same soldier from earlier, panting heavily,
sweat soaking through his black armor.
**"Brother, I've gathered all surviving troops. They're in retreat position—
we must go, now."**
The brave warrior looked to his younger brother,
his body under the black armor soaked in dry blood and covered in wounds.
**"Let's go.
We must reach the Queen for the next orders."**
At that moment,
the retreating soldiers—barely a hundred left—made their way back.
Most were horribly injured.
Some had lost limbs.
Only a few were still whole, spared from serious wounds.
It was a gruesome, painful sight—hard on both eyes and heart.
Kalm placed a hand over his chest,
his heartbeat skipping from the shock.
**War… was truly horrifying.**
No matter its cause.
The soldiers helped each other as they ran down the path.
And after nearly half an hour,
they finally crossed through a massive stone gate,
rising over two hundred meters tall,
forged from strange black stone—
harder than metal.
That stone gate…
was the last barrier protecting the human city.
And the black wall was all that stood between its people and death.
Kalm swallowed hard,
forgetting even to breathe.
And up there—atop the wall—
he saw something that froze his blood.
**Black figures…
Not smoke—**
but **shadows.**
Some shaped like humans,
others like beasts of every form—
standing side by side *with humans.*
Kalm's lips trembled.
'W… What do you want from me, damn world…?
Isn't this… way too much for just a teenager…?'