[EVOLUTION COMPLETE!]
This was what Ryuk opened his gaze to as he looked blankly up.
The sight of a magnificent serpent brought his focus back, its embrace around his neck finally waking him up.
"Isha..." Ryuk called to the python but soon noticed something abnormal.
Right now, Isha looked absolutely bloated and heavy on his neck. Ryuk's memories finally returned as he remembered where he was.
He was still in the pool, which strangely had lost the majority of its colour.
It seemed Isha had absorbed a vast amount of energy from the pool, causing the bloated appearance.
"Return back to the Pet World to rest," Ryuk whispered to it. Isha gave a hiss of acknowledgment before disappearing.
Raising his head, Ryuk found feet dangling above in the water.
"Guess I wasn't the only one who somehow made their way to the stream," Ryuk muttered as he noticed the other geniuses still present.
Before he could move up, a voice rang throughout the entire area.
{EVERYONE STILL PRESENT IN THE TRIAL WILL NOW BE TRANSPORTED OUT...}
The voice loudly echoed through the area, and immediately, Ryuk felt the space around him shattering apart as a suctioning force overwhelmed him.
'It's finally ending, huh?' he mused silently to himself before being instantly pulled into the black void, the same occurrence for every other genius in the pool as they all began disappearing one by one.
When Ryuk opened his eyes once more, he barely landed on the ground with both legs as he looked around and found other geniuses already present.
Somehow, he seemed to be the last one to exit, and strangely, every other student was staring dumbly at him.
"How...how?" they all said in shock. Ryuk couldn't help but turn his gaze upward and found all the instructors narrowing their eyes at him.
Turning back to himself, Ryuk quickly found the reason.
He had grown taller and... maybe more handsome.
But his mood right now was so bad he paid it no attention and simply walked back to the end of the seating area, where Quinn was already sitting, his jaw on the ground as he looked at Ryuk like he was looking at a monster.
"The test has come to an end, and a total of forty of you have passed. Just as previously mentioned, a total of 20 of you failed. Only 15 of you managed to reach the end of the labyrinth and access the Fallen Pool.
"For those of you who failed, I believe you already know yourselves. Please move out of the hall and go straight to the Eviction Hall."
"You all will be leaving the Arisen Genius Hall today," the man said, his eyes holding no emotion of pity or sadness at all.
Slowly, some of the geniuses began standing up, a bit of disappointment on their faces as they moved out of the hall.
What was a bit more relaxing to Ryuk was that Quinn was still sitting beside him.
"For those of you that passed, which are you still remaining in your seat now, congratulations. You have passed the Preliminary Test and now qualify to progress to the Semi-final stage," the man said as some of the geniuses heaved a huge sigh of relief.
Even though some of them knew they would eventually drop out, somehow, there was still some hope left in them.
"My greatest congratulations still go to those who were able to find the Fallen Pool and bathe in it."
"The majority of you only passed because 20 people were dumb enough to quickly get eliminated, making you therefore pass automatically."
"The only ones who truly passed this test are those who reached the end and bathed in the pool—a number of just 15 people.
"But still, we will see how it all turns out in the next round of the test.
"You all have expended a total of three days in the Fallen Realm, and now you'll be given two days of rest before getting once more gathered in the hall."
"There will be no classes for the next two days, and you all will be free to do whatever you want," the man continued the announcement as the various students perked up their heads.
But the world seemed distant to Ryuk.
Even when there were murmurings around and all the instructors disappeared, and the students slowly began pouring out the doors, exhaustion written all over their faces, Ryuk's eyes still blankly looked into the distance.
Until eventually, the world around him grew a silence that he felt in his head.
Then a touch brought him back to life.
"Hey, Ryuk?" Quinn called out as Ryuk slowly turned his gaze to Quinn, who somehow felt a tingle down his spine.
Somehow, it was as if a beast was staring at him and not a human.
The eyes before him were completely emotionless, almost lifeless, like the eyes of a dead person.
"Surprised I passed the test? Hehe..." Quinn said, trying to lighten the atmosphere and get rid of his fear as Ryuk's eyes slowly gained some color.
"Yes," Ryuk replied curtly.
"Hey, you okay? What's with the mood? You must have gone all out in the test. Need some rest?" Quinn asked. Ryuk stared for a while before replying.
"I'm not the one holding the bags under my eyes," he said.
Right now, Quinn's eyes were holding large bags, revealing his exhaustion.
"Go home, Quinn. I'll catch up with you. Just need a few seconds to calm the energy and my thoughts." Ryuk said with a smile as Quinn nodded before also moving out of the large doors, shutting it close and leaving only Ryuk alone in the hall.
"I'm lost..." Ryuk mused as his head slowly dropped down.
Now he didn't understand at all.
What was he even fighting for now?
Why does that sound so mundane compared to the reality of what he is facing now?