Endless

Gen then stepped into the challenge, and before the door finished closing on his back, he could still hear Dehji saying, "Gen! What -"

He then said, "It was the only way, Dehji. If I keep thinking about surviving, I'll never get through this challenge. It has to be all or nothing. Make it, or die trying."

He then started to look for the black dot and, after a few hours, found it.

Gen then took Light and Scar off his back, got into position to throw, and closed his eyes.

After a while of thinking, he got out of position, kept them on his back, and then thought, 'That's not it. I already confirmed this the other day. It's not enough to run to get to the black spot. There is another way to approach it. I have the feeling that the more I run towards it, the more impossible it becomes to get to it. I'd better take it slow, little by little, and think of a solution.'

Gen then looked towards the black dot again and was startled by what he saw.

He then thought, 'What happened? I didn't even move, and it seems to be getting closer.'

Gen then began to walk towards the black dot while trying to think of a solution, and after a few hours of doing this without any progress, he thought, 'It really seems like walking is of no use to me.'

He then sat down on the sand and began to think, 'What is it that makes me approach the dot? There's no point in going towards it, because no matter how far I walk, I'll never reach it. Does it have something to do with the speed at which I walk? Or maybe there's something special about the sand that I'm not noticing.'

Gen then began to look at the sand around him. He watched it for a while until he looked towards the horizon and then thought, 'Come to think of it, I never got to see the end of the desert, which was my initial strategy. Well, I guess even if I tried, I wouldn't get there. The way things are in this challenge, this desert probably has no end.'

Gen then continued looking around until, at one point, he got scared again and jumped up from the ground, saying, "What happened?! Why did the black dot get so close!"

The black dot was so close to Gen that he could tell it was nothing more than a black dot in mid-air. He then tried to walk towards it a little and saw that nothing changed, so he stopped and watched it.

As he looked at it, Gen began to feel a strange sensation and then thought, 'How strange. Why do I have the feeling I've seen this black dot somewhere before?'

He then continued watching it for a while until, at one point, something clicked in his mind, and then he thought, 'I remembered! It looks like Dehji's eyes. Looking at them, I have the same feeling as when I first looked into his eyes. It's like if I stare too long, I'll fall into an abyss ... without end.'

Gen then went into a trance and began to remember his experiences in and out of the challenge. Dehji's eyes, the completely dark room in which he was evaluated for the challenge, the time he spent walking towards the point without ever reaching it.

He then said, "I get it. The goal was never to reach the point, but to understand that it was not possible to reach it."

Gen then came out of his trance and, looking around, took another fright and said, "So all this time, I was inside this room!"

Looking around, Gen saw that he was in a room about four meters square. The floor of the room was covered with sand, and on its wall was painted the horizon. He then looked at the sun and saw that it was nothing more than a circular object a little larger than his hand, which was illuminating the room.

He then looked toward the black dot and saw that it was still there, but it had increased in size. It was large enough for Gen to pass through.

Gen then said, "Hahahaha, I can't believe that all that desert was nothing more than a room. Well, it looks like I only have one thing to do now.", and then he started toward the black dot.

When he got in front of it, Gen stopped to look at it for a while and again thought that it looked like an endless abyss. He then looked at it for a few more seconds and then walked across.

Entering it, Gen saw that he was in a completely dark space, to the point where he couldn't even see the ground he was standing on. He then saw a white door in the distance, and upon seeing it, for some reason, he knew what he had to say, and so he said, "Endless."

The door then moved closer to him, up to the point where it let him through.

As Gen walked out the door, he found himself in the living room that gave access to all the rooms of the challenge. He then looked around but didn't see Dehji and, without even thinking twice, started toward the kitchen.

As he entered, there was Dehji, eating as usual. As he got closer, Dehji saw him and said, "Look who's back from the dead, haha."

"I told you I wasn't going to die."

"I know. Now sit down. We need to talk."

Gen then grabbed something to eat and sat down.

Dehji then said, "Well, just to make sure that you really passed the test and didn't use any cheating to survive, tell me what the essence of this challenge is."

"Endless. That is the essence."

"Yes, exactly. Each person understands an essence one way, and although 'Endless' is not the most common name I have heard for this essence, it is not wrong either.

Anyway, congratulations. In all the years that I have been here, no one has ever been able to understand the meaning. This is to be expected because not everyone can understand a conceptual essence. After all, there are many necessary factors, and I dare to say that the main one is luck."

Gen then said, "That's right, I don't even know how I could understand it."

"Well, that doesn't matter now. Here, take my hand."

Gen then stretched out his hand and held Dehji's hand, and as he held it, Dehji said, "Conceptual essences are peculiar at certain points. They are the most difficult to understand, but they are not always strong. I would say that it takes a lot of creativity to use a conceptual essence to its full potential, and because of this, most people end up using it simply, wasting their potential."

Dehji then continued, "When someone understands a conceptual essence, the world allows it to use all its power, regardless of the person's level, to fulfill a wish of its owner. Gen, tell me, with the essence of the Endless, what is your wish?"

"I want to get my lost essence back."

"Gen, unfortunately, there is no way this essence can help you with that, and besides, that's not your real wish."

Gen then said, "But you had said it was possible, and what do you mean my true-", Gen then stopped talking, and after a few seconds, his eyes changed to gold.

He then asked, "Is it possible to save my brother with this essence?"

"No, but I will explain to you how you can achieve it later. Now, I need you to make your wish."

"Hmm, unfortunately, I can't think of anything at the moment, Dehji. Can I leave it for later?"

"Unfortunately, no, Gen."

"Hmm, then I'll leave it up to you which wish to fulfill. You seem to understand the essence more than I do, and you'll know how to use it better."

"Okay then, I already have something in mind."

"Great, what's the wish?"

"You'll know when we're done. Are you ready?"

"All right then. I'm ready."

"Let's start then."

The kitchen around them then disappeared, and in its place appeared a completely dark room. Gen began to feel a power circulating inside him, not entirely understanding what was happening.

After a few moments, they returned to the kitchen, and Gen began to look at his body.

After a few seconds of watching himself, he said, "What was the wish? I'm not seeing anything different."

"Well, it was really going to be hard to notice, but what I took as a wish was for you to never get tired in bed, if you know what I mean, hahaha.", said Dehji, giving Gen a wink.

Gen then said, "What! You wasted my wish on this?"

"Why? Did you think it was bad? You didn't even know what to ask for. At least this way, there's no risk of embarrassment."

"Hey! Just so you know, I've never embarrassed myself."

"Hahahahahaha."

"What? Why are you laughing? I'm serious."

"Ahh, I'm sorry, Gen. It's a lie. That's not what I asked for."

"It's not? That's ... good. What did you ask for?"

"You'll understand in a minute. Now come with me, we don't have time to waste."

"What do you mean by 'in a minute', Dehji? I'm already running out of time. I'll have to ... hold on. Why am I not getting back to 'normal'? Wait, is that what you wished for?"

"You're welcome, Gen. Now, like I said, come with me, we don't have time to waste."

Dehji and Gen then left the kitchen together and headed toward the training ground.

Upon entering, Gen asked, "What are we doing here? Are we going to fight?"

"No. I'm going to teach you how to use your new essence."

"Is that it? Why did you make it sound like an emergency? I'll be stuck here for a year. We'll have plenty of time to train."

"Ah, Gen, I thought that by keeping you in this form, you might turn into a different person, but it seems I worried too much. You're still the same dumb guy you always were."