The silence in the dining hall deepened as the man in the military uniform stepped forward. His voice was calm, but carried the weight of command. "All candidates are to report outside the hall at exactly 3:15 AM," he announced. "Anyone who arrives late will face a significantly harder version of the test. Consider this your first lesson discipline begins with punctuality." A ripple of unease passed through the room. "Further details have been uploaded to your residence devices. A short message has also been sent to your watches. Read it. Prepare. And don't be late." With that, he turned sharply and exited the hall, leaving behind a room full of candidates suddenly aware that their real journey was about to begin.
As the officer exited the hall, the room stirred back to life. Candidates instinctively checked their watches, where a short message had arrived detailing the upcoming test. It was a physical endurance trial, set to last two full days. The message also noted that the difficulty would scale with age older candidates would face longer and more demanding challenges.
Michael leaned forward, scanning the group. "How old is everyone here?" he asked.
One by one, they answered. Each of them Kalen, Leo, Yu, Xia, and Michael himself is fifteen.
Michael nodded. "Good. That means we're all on the same age. If there's any team-based portion, we should stick together. Help each other. Motivate each other. We all know the truth about the world now… and we're not walking into this blindly."
Tang Yu was the first to speak up. "I agree. It's better to face this together than alone."
The others nodded in quiet agreement. The weight of what they'd learned earlier still lingered, but now it was tempered by a shared resolve.
Before parting ways for the night, Michael stood and looked at each of them. "If we all pass… let's train together. Explore the wild. Not for glory. Not for fantasy. But to survive and to grow stronger."
Kalen felt something stir in his chest. Not fear. Not uncertainty. But the beginning of something new.
Resolve.
As everyone dispersed to their residences, Kalen walked slowly through the quiet hall, his mind circling around the upcoming test, the new friends he'd made, and the challenges that lay ahead.
Inside his quarters, he immediately activated his residence device, and a pale-blue projection appeared before him. The test briefing scrolled across the display,
Endurance Trial:
Duration - Two Days.
Passing Requirement - 700 Points (Minimum).
The structure was demanding: each day began with a 16-kilometer run in the morning, worth 100 points, followed by a strength circuit 50 push-ups, 50 sit-ups, and 50 squats, each granting 50 points. For every two extra repetitions in any category, candidates would earn one bonus point. The same routine would repeat in the evening with another 16-kilometer run, also worth 100 points.
Kalen sat on the edge of his bed, calculating. Completing all base activities would give him 350 points per day. But if he pushed himself adding twenty extra reps to each exercise he'd gain 10 bonus points per category, totaling 30 extra points. Over two days, that would bring his total to 760 points, safely above the threshold.
Despite the intensity, Kalen didn't feel overwhelmed. Since childhood, he had trained under Grandpa Max, who taught him old-world disciplines yoga, breathing control, endurance drills, and horse stance training. Over the years, those simple routines had forged a quiet resilience in him. This test was demanding, yes but not unfamiliar. It was simply another step along the same path he had always walked.
He leaned back, exhaled slowly, and whispered to himself,
"I can do this."
Then he set his alarm for 2:45 AM, dimmed the lights, and began preparing for the long day ahead.
Kalen tried to sleep, knowing he needed rest before the grueling test ahead. But from 9 to 11 PM, sleep refused to come. The adrenaline of anticipation surged through him, keeping his mind alert and restless. Eventually, exhaustion took over, and he drifted off only to awaken at 2:30 AM, sharp and clear-headed. Strangely, he didn't feel tired at all. His body felt light, focused, almost as if he were in peak condition.
The sensation puzzled him, but he quickly brushed the thought aside. He got up and moved through his morning routine with quiet efficiency brushing his teeth, showering, dressing, and drinking a cup of water to hydrate. By 2:50 AM, he was ready and decided to head to the hall early.
The air outside was crisp, colder than expected. Though winter had officially passed, the chill lingered unnaturally. As he walked, Kalen's thoughts drifted to Grandpa Max's teachings. If this were the old world, Max had once said, the weather would be warming by now. But things had changed. The world had changed.
Soon, he arrived at the hall. It was nearly empty, save for a few soldiers stationed near the entrance. The silence was so deep that a pin drop would echo. One of the soldiers noticed Kalen approaching and gestured for him to come closer.
Kalen approached the soldier, who looked up from his datapad with a grin far too energetic for 3 AM. "Well, look who's early! You trying to win bonus points for punctuality, or just couldn't sleep like the rest of us mortals?" he said, chuckling as he tucked the pad under his arm. "Name?"
"Kalen," he replied, a little surprised by the man's upbeat tone.
The soldier nodded, tapping something into his device. "Kalen, Sector 4… got it. You're the first one here. Either you're serious about surviving, or you just really hate your bed."
Kalen gave a small smile. "Bit of both, maybe."
"Respect," the soldier said, giving a mock salute. "I'm Sergeant Drake, by the way. I'll be your friendly neighborhood sadist for the next two days. Don't worry I only yell when I'm happy. Which is… always."
Kalen blinked. "That's… comforting."
"Isn't it?" Drake grinned. "Now go stretch or meditate or whatever it is you serious types do. Just don't fall asleep standing up I've seen it happens. It's hilarious."
Kalen couldn't help but chuckle as he stepped aside. The tension in his chest eased just a little. Maybe this test wouldn't be all doom and gloom after all.
Kalen had barely finished speaking with Sergeant Drake when Michael and Leo arrived, both looking surprisingly alert for the hour. Michael gave Kalen a nod, while Leo muttered something about regretting not sleeping earlier. Sergeant Drake spotted them and grinned. "Ah, the early birds are multiplying. What's this Team No-Snooze?"
A few minutes later, the Tang twins Yu and Xia joined them, right on time at 3:00 AM. Xia gave a polite wave, while Yu yawned dramatically. "If I collapse mid-run, just roll me to the finish line," he joked.
Drake chuckled. "You five are officially my favorite headache. First ones here, huh? That means you get front-row seats to the chaos."
As more candidates trickled in, the atmosphere shifted. The quiet chill of early morning gave way to murmurs and footsteps. Drake's cheerful tone faded, replaced by the clipped voice of command.
"Alright, listen up!" he barked, stepping forward. "You five Kalen's group front row. Horizontal line. Everyone else, form vertical lines behind them. No talking. No fumbling. You're not in kindergarten."
The candidates scrambled into position. The test hadn't started yet, but the pressure can be feel in the air.
Kalen glanced at his friends as they stood beside him in the front row. The cold air nipped at their skin, but the tension was warmer than any sunrise. He leaned slightly toward Michael and asked quietly, "You ready for this?"
Michael smirked. "As ready as I'll ever be. I've been through worse training drills back in home. This'll be tough, but not impossible."
Leo stretched his arms and cracked his neck. "I'm not worried about the test. I'm worried about Sergeant Drake's jokes. If he starts singing, I'm running the other way."
Kalen glanced sideways. "Do you know him?"
Leo's expression shifted slightly just for a moment. "Kind of," he said, voice low. "Not here. I'll tell you later."
Kalen didn't press. The way Leo said it calm but guarded made it clear the topic wasn't meant for public ears. He nodded and turned his attention back to the group.
Yu chuckled. "I'm confident. Not because I'm strong but because Xia promised to drag me across the finish line if I collapse."
Xia rolled her eyes. "I said I'd help you, not haul you like a sack of rice."
Kalen smiled. "Good. We're all in this together. Let's just survive the first day and then we'll talk about other things."
Just then, Sergeant Drake paced in front of them, his cheerful tone replaced by crisp authority. "Eyes forward. No more chatting. You're not here to bond over breakfast, you're here so I can figure out which one of you is going to leave me cleaning up your mess for the next two days."
The group straightened, silent now. Each of them stared ahead, trying to look serious but after Sergeant Drake's last comment, it was hard to tell whether they were holding back tears of dread… or laughter.