The Room of Examination
The morning after we made the exam candies, Shine, Rain, and I set off to find Victor, cradling the bags of sweets in our arms. Since it was just after breakfast, we figured we could give Victor his present and then head straight to the training grounds.
Knock, knock. I reached out and tapped on the door to Victor's quarters.
"Is he not in?" Shine asked, leaning her head close to the door to listen.
I followed her lead, pressing my ear against the wood. A faint rustling sound. Then, the heavy thud-thud of footsteps echoing from inside.
Shine and I exchanged a quick glance and took a step back.
Click. With a soft metallic rattle, the door swung open to reveal a thoroughly exhausted-looking Victor. His gaze swept through the empty air before dropping downward.
Blink, blink. Victor's large eyes blinked slowly. Shine, Rain, and I blinked back at him in perfect, silent unison.
"Good morning," I offered.
"..." Victor merely rubbed his eyes in silence.
"Where is... Amy?"
"She said she was busy today," I replied.
Victor looked around as if searching for the pink-haired woman who was usually glued to our sides. But there was no way Amy would be here. Early this morning, she had received a sudden phone call and hurriedly vanished to parts unknown.
"Please take this." I held out the bag of candies I was cradling.
A beautifully patterned wrapper enveloped the sweets, sparkling like captured starlight. And the ribbon tying it together? The fine, vibrant red ribbon added an extra touch of charm to the package.
"What is... this?"
"An apology gift."
While Victor stood there looking utterly bewildered, the three of us shoved our respective bags of candy into his arms.
"We are incredibly sorry about what happened yesterday..." I bowed deeply to Victor once more. Rain and Shine, watching me from either side, followed suit and bowed their heads.
"I'm sorry," Shine murmured.
"My bad!" Rain chimed in.
Even after receiving our apologies, Victor remained silent for a long while. Just as the silence was beginning to make me anxious, he let out a soft sigh.
"Just... be careful next time."
"We will!" I replied energetically.
Having delivered my energetic response, I grabbed Rain and Shine's hands and turned toward the training grounds. Now that Victor had accepted our apology, our business here was officially concluded.
"Wait... Where do you think you're going?"
"To the training grounds."
Still cradling the bags of candy, Victor rubbed his weary face at my reply. He glanced around, stepped back inside his room to set the sweets down, and emerged a moment later.
"Let's go."
"Are you coming with us, Victor?"
"Seems like I have to."
As he spoke, Victor pulled his phone from his pocket and began tapping away at the screen, likely exchanging messages with someone.
Victor fell into step beside us. Rain stared up at his towering figure for a moment before trotting over and tugging on his trouser leg.
"Victor. Victor."
"Yeah." Victor replied without even sparing her a glance, thoroughly accustomed to her antics.
"What did you decide on for our team name?"
"Harmonize."
I pricked up my ears at his answer.
"Harmonize?"
"Yeah."
"Did you choose it?"
"Yeah."
"Why are you being so cold?"
"Because it's a hassle."
Rain scowled, clearly displeased with his dismissive tone. Her puffed-out cheeks made her annoyance painfully obvious.
"I hate you, Victor."
"I hate myself too."
At his deadpan reply, Rain kicked him in the shin. But Victor didn't even blink. He just kept walking as if he hadn't felt a thing.
When we arrived at the training grounds with Victor, the place was as packed as ever. I pulled a folded slip of paper from my pocket—the training schedule Amy had handed me before she left.
"First..."
The contents of the note were highly unusual. There was far more written on it than yesterday. I scanned the lines with a growing sense of confusion.
"Let me see that."
Before I could finish reading, Victor snatched the note right out of my hand. Startled, I gasped and reached up to grab it back.
"Ah!"
But my hand couldn't reach. I hopped up and down on the spot, but he held it far out of my grasp.
"You kids are already taking the exam?" Victor looked down at us with a grim, skeptical expression as he read the note.
"Exam?"
"I guess she really intends to run a proper team after all." Victor sighed, pulling over a nearby chair and sitting down. "Come here."
He gestured to Shine and me. I exchanged a quick glance with my sister before stepping closer.
"Are you guys serious about this?"
"About what?"
"Amy wouldn't have written this down for no reason." Victor handed the note back to me.
I took it, folded it neatly back into my pocket, and replied, "I heard we have to pass all the training phases if we want to go on active duty with Amy."
"And you told her you'd pass them?"
"Yes."
At my confident reply, Victor glanced around the bustling training grounds before letting out a heavy sigh.
"You really don't know anything, do you?"
"What do you mean?"
"How many days has it been since you started training?" Victor answered my question with another of his own.
I began counting the days on my fingers. Since my memory of the past couple of weeks was still a bit hazy, it was my only option.
"Um..."
"It's been just over two weeks," Shine answered for me. When I looked at her blankly, she simply offered a gentle smile.
"Only the second week?"
"Yeah."
"I assume you've used all the training devices in this facility?" Victor gestured with open arms, indicating the vast room around us.
I hesitated to answer, my memory still failing me.
"Yeah. Jeff and I have used every single one of them," Shine answered confidently.
At her confirmation, Victor pressed a hand to his forehead, clearly deep in thought. He pulled a small metal rod from his pocket and began twirling it between his fingers—a habit of his whenever he was contemplating something serious.
"Rain. You watched them too, right?"
"Yeah."
"How were they?"
"Absolutely perfect."
A faint blue spark crackled along the spinning metal rod.
Clack. Victor caught the rod in his palm and stood up.
"Fine. If Amy ordered it, she must have her reasons." He pulled out his phone again. Catching a glimpse of the screen, I saw a message from Amy waiting there. "Let's go."
Tapping a quick reply, Victor turned and began to walk. Where were we going? Regardless, we decided to follow him.
The place Victor led us to was a large chamber. It was a pristine white room, separated from the corridor by a thick, transparent glass wall that allowed anyone outside to peer within.
As I stared blankly at it, a hazy, distorted memory suddenly flashed before my eyes. A sterile room filled with people clad in white lab coats. Panicking, I reached out blindly, only for Shine to firmly grasp my hand.
"Jeff."
"Huh...?"
"It's nothing."
Shine's voice sounded muffled, echoing in my ears like a low hum. I nodded slowly, and the blurry afterimage vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
"Sir Victor?"
A man in a crisp blue uniform was standing in front of the white room. He had the distinct air of a security guard. Recognizing Victor, he immediately called out.
"It has been a while, hasn't it?"
"Yes... but... wait, surely not?" His gaze shifted toward Shine and me. Feeling uncomfortable under his stare, I quickly hid behind Victor's massive leg.
"Am I invisible to you?"
"Ah... Lady Rain! I didn't see you there."
Rain marched over to the guard who had failed to notice her and delivered a swift kick to his shin, just as she had done to Victor. The man, however, didn't even flinch.
"My apologies, Lady Rain."
"Is an apology supposed to fix this?"
"Well, that is..."
"Is that how I trained you?"
"No, but..."
"Do you want me to tell Amy on you?"
Why on earth was Amy's name being brought up here? Watching the grown man sweat and stammer under Rain's tiny tyranny, I couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for him.
"Rain," Victor grunted.
"Yeah?"
"Stop bullying Raymon."
"I'm not bullying him."
So the guard's name was Raymon. I peeked out from behind Victor's leg and offered a polite greeting.
"Hello."
"Oh, hello..." Raymon, still thoroughly flustered by Rain, managed a small, awkward smile in my direction.
"Ignore Rain for now. These kids need to take the exam."
At Victor's words, Raymon's eyes widened in shock. "These... young... children?"
"Yeah."
"Are they like Lady Rain? Just... physically regressed?"
"No. They're actual twelve-year-old kids."
Raymon let out a strained, awkward laugh. "Twelve-year-olds taking the exam...?"
"Amy authorized it."
The moment Amy's name was uttered, Raymon immediately nodded in understanding. "Well, if she authorized it... But still, isn't it far too dangerous?"
Victor didn't bother answering, simply crossing his arms over his chest. Sensing the silent pressure, Raymon flinched and quickly stepped aside.
"Forgive me, I spoke out of turn..."
Victor walked past him, approaching the entrance of the white room. Shine and I followed closely at his heels. Halting at the door, Victor turned to face us.
"The time limit is five minutes. If you can survive and exit this room after that time, you pass the first phase of the exam."
"Five minutes...?" I looked up at him, silently begging for more of an explanation, but Victor turned his head away, making it clear he had nothing more to say.
"Who's going in first?"
Shine and I looked at each other. In our shared gaze, the reflections of two identical white-haired girls met. Sensing my anxiety, Shine offered a bright, reassuring smile.
"I'll go first, Jeff."
I bit my lip hesitantly before finally nodding.
"Rain, what kind of room is this?"
"This place?"
"Yeah."
"I fought sharks with an umbrella in there."
"Sharks...?"
"Yeah."
Wait, is this room filled with sharks?
As my imagination began to run wild, Raymon stepped in to explain. "It is the Room of Examination. The test adapts to whoever enters, so it is difficult to describe."
"Does it show hallucinations?"
"It is a slightly different concept from mere hallucinations."
Raymon's cryptic explanation only left me more confused.
But Shine, looking completely unconcerned, pushed the door open and stepped inside. She offered me one last gentle smile in response to my worried gaze. The door clicked shut, cutting off the sight of her retreating white figure.
"It's... not dangerous, right?"
Victor didn't answer. I clutched my sleeves tightly as a cold dread welled up inside me.
Through the transparent glass wall, I watched Shine's figure. She stood right in the center of the pristine white room, looking around.
And then, at that exact moment—the room beyond the glass wall was stained pitch black.