Extra's Ascent

Once Aldrich made it safely to the ground, the first thing he did was battle the dizziness threatening to overwhelm him.

His hand fell on the rough bark of a tree as he staggered, and a violent retch escaped his throat.

He vomited onto the unfortunate tree, the sour contents of his stomach spilling out.

It took a moment for him to regain control of his senses, but once he did, he glanced down at the familiar egg secured in its carrier.

That brought him a semblance of relief, though it wasn't quite enough to fully settle his nerves.

"Damn... that was not fun at all."

He muttered to himself, still shaken.

The experience had not gone anything like he had imagined.

Throwing students down from such a dizzying height was not exactly what one would call proper training material for those who had just started at the institute.

"So it changed... again," Aldrich thought to himself, a weariness creeping into his voice. He was growing numb to the constant unexpected shifts.

Though he occasionally entertained the idea of no longer living in a world governed by the events of a particular novel he had once read, there was something deeply unsettling about how these changes were veering his reality further from what he knew.

"Dante's absence at the party has me concerned. I do hope this change doesn't involve the complete absence of a crucial character... the one who's at the heart of the plot!"

That was a real cause for concern.

Dante's absence in this situation didn't make sense.

How could the story possibly unfold without him?

"Yeah, yeah... I'm probably just being paranoid," Aldrich muttered, shaking his head as if to dismiss his worries. "I'm sure Dante is somewhere around here in this forest... I just need to find him, just like I need to find Trevor."

As for Trevor's presence, Aldrich doubted he would be seeing him anytime soon.

Even he, being conscious and relatively rational, had barely managed to survive the fall.

He had used Mana Skin's effect to cushion the impact and relied on his brainpower to avoid critical damage.

What chance did Trevor, who was so drunk he couldn't even stay conscious, have in a situation like this?

Because of that, Aldrich quickly dismissed any thoughts of finding Trevor.

"And to think, the only reason that had me participating in this event got eliminated in the first round," Aldrich muttered bitterly to himself.

There was no point in lamenting the past.

Frustration would only waste time and energy.

"Let's see... where should I go from here?" Aldrich asked himself, scanning his surroundings.

He was deep within a forest, surrounded by towering trees and the incessant sounds of distant wildlife echoing through the dense foliage.

[Welcome, Fleshbags! First-year Students of Eldora Institute.]

A loud, gravelly voice echoed, its source seemingly coming from every direction.

It had no clear origin, just an unsettlingly omnipresent tone that delivered the announcement to the surviving students.

[You Must All Be Wondering—But I Was Just In The Club, How Did I End Up Here? The Answer Is Simple.]

The voice grew more forceful, sending a chill down Aldrich's spine.

[We Brought You Here. The Second-Year Students of Eldora Institute Brought You Here To Ascertain Your Credibility As Official Students Of Eldora!]

"Ascertain?" Aldrich scoffed inwardly. "More like hunting for the perfect pushover victim."

[And If You Are Questioning Why There Is A Need To Test Your Credibility, Then We Say To You: You Have No Right Being Here.]

The message carried a threatening weight.

Even if students questioned or rebelled, there would be no escape.

The die had already been cast, and they had no choice but to comply with the second-year students' instructions if they wanted to survive.

[The Objective of This Test Is Simple: You Are Stranded In A Forest. There Is Only One Way Out. Find The Escape Passage, And You Are Assured A Pass.]

"Sounds too easy…" Aldrich mused, already suspicious.

Eldora was known for its twisted challenges, and this didn't fit the usual standard.

As though to confirm his doubts, the voice returned.

[Be Warned. The Passage Can Only Be Maintained For A Week. If You Haven't Found The Door By Then, It's An Automatic Fail!]

While the challenge sounded difficult, Aldrich still felt it wasn't nearly complicated enough for Eldora's usual standards.

Something wasn't right.

[Oh, and Another Thing! The Wilderness Is A Dangerous Place. So Don't Stray From The Path!]

That final warning only served to affirm Aldrich's suspicion.

This test was far from simple, and there was far more to it than what had been revealed.

"They sure are having their fun messing with the freshmen," Aldrich thought bitterly.

He imagined the second-year students sitting in the comfort of their homes, sipping coffee while they watched the first-years struggle and fight for survival.

It wasn't fair, but it had always been like this.

It was a tradition, one that had existed as long as the Institute itself.

Even the professors turned a blind eye to it, acknowledging its effectiveness, so anything the second-year students did, short of intentionally killing someone, was considered fair play.

"Now that the goal has been set, my next course of action is clearer," Aldrich muttered to himself, standing still amid the forest.

He turned in all four directions—west, south, east, and north, looking for any sign of a path.

"On the other hand... maybe it doesn't make things easier after all."

He was starting fresh here, a blank slate with no clue of what might come next.

This was the first time Aldrich would have to face a major plotline without any knowledge of how it would unfold.

The realization sent a shiver down his spine, and the uncertainty began to settle in.

"No. Future knowledge or not, nothing's changed," Aldrich resolved, clenching his fists.

"I don't need future knowledge. I can work with what I know. And right now, what I know is that I need to think of the second-year students behind this trial."

Even though the trial had already drifted far from the version he knew from the novel, Aldrich still believed the characters would remain consistent.

According to the book, Dante retained his character to the smallest detail.

So had Fiona, Selina, Edward, and all the other characters he had encountered.

That meant the second-year students who had orchestrated this test would still be following the same patterns as they did in the story.

Aldrich decided he was going to analyze the situation, make some observations, read the characters behind this trial, and compare them to how it was described in the original novel.

"But what if the ones who set this trial aren't the same as the ones in the novel?" The thought crept into his mind, unbidden and unwelcome.

Aldrich pushed it aside, refusing to entertain such thoughts.

If the characters were different, that would make any comparisons useless.

Still, if the trial had changed, it was only logical that the people responsible for setting it had changed too.

The shift in the trial itself was evidence enough that things weren't the same as they had been in the novel.

Aldrich had no choice but to adapt to this new, unpredictable reality.