Chapter 2 Trial countdown!!

The sky above Kai Morgan was now a jagged wound — a silent scream across the heavens. Blood-red cracks flickered through clouds that weren't clouds anymore, but vaporized pieces of a crumbling dimension.

Kai stood in a field that didn't exist hours ago — a floating terrain of broken earth, split trees, and shattered buildings suspended in midair. Time didn't flow here. The sun hung motionless behind fragments of reality, as though afraid to rise or set. The only thing moving was the countdown timer now glowing in midair before every survivor.

[TRIAL 1: INITIATION]

Time Remaining: 23:57:13

"What the hell is going on…?" someone whimpered nearby.

There were dozens, maybe hundreds, of others standing around Kai — all teenagers and young adults, torn from cities, villages, schools, lives — now trapped in this surreal prison. Some were crying. Others screamed for parents or gods or answers. One boy had already jumped off the edge of the floating island in panic. He never hit the ground — he simply vanished, like a candle flame snuffed out.

Kai didn't scream. He just stared at the countdown. He could feel it — this wasn't a dream. This wasn't even Earth anymore. Something ancient had pulled them in.

"Listen up!" a loud voice shouted.

From the far side of the broken platform, a girl stepped forward. She couldn't have been older than nineteen, but her posture was military. Her right arm was wrapped in gauze. Her left hand held a blood-stained metal rod.

"My name's Rei Voss," she barked. "I've been stuck in this place for two days. You think this is hell? You're not wrong."

Murmurs rippled through the crowd.

"Each day, a new trial starts. Every trial is harder than the last. And if that timer hits zero and you're not ready—" she gestured behind her. "You don't die. You're erased."

A guy near Kai laughed nervously. "You expect us to believe this anime bulls—"

Before he could finish, the space around him warped. A sickening sound — like a zipper being ripped through flesh — echoed. The boy froze, his mouth open in horror. His skin turned grey. His body collapsed into glowing ash and blew away on a wind that didn't exist.

Panic exploded.

Kai didn't flinch. He was already watching something else.

A ripple in the air.

A system panel flickered to life before his eyes — like a digital HUD in a video game.

> CHRONO TRAIT DETECTED

Synchronization: 3%

Unlocking… [ERROR: Core Fragment Not Stabilized]

Begin Temporal Fusion Trial?

Y/N

Kai's heart slammed against his ribs. He didn't understand it, but every instinct in his body screamed yes.

He tapped it.

And the world broke again.

---

Kai was no longer on the floating island.

He stood inside a rotating clock tower the size of a mountain. The gears moved backward. The air buzzed with static, and translucent figures flickered like ghosts, all versions of himself — different ages, different choices, different regrets.

> Welcome to the Chrono Core

Trial Objective: Overcome Yourself

Time Limit: 15 Minutes

From the shadows, a figure stepped out.

It was Kai.

But this version had glowing orange eyes, ragged breath, and fists stained red.

"I'm what you become," the clone hissed. "If you fail."

Without warning, it lunged.

Kai barely dodged, sliding across the obsidian floor. Pain tore through his shoulder. The clone moved like a demon — faster, stronger, merciless.

"No way I'm beating this," Kai growled, ducking a punch that cracked a clock gear in half.

He wasn't a fighter. He wasn't a genius. He was just… Kai. But then he remembered something his real mom used to say, back before she died:

"You don't win by being strong. You win by not giving up when everything tells you to."

He stood.

Bleeding, shaking, but standing.

The gears above accelerated. Something inside his chest pulsed. His breath synced with the tower's ticking.

Suddenly, he understood.

> Chrono Trait: Time Echo

Status: 17% Synced

Ability: Replay last 5 seconds of real-time

Limit: Once per minute (upgradable)

The clone charged again, swinging a blade that came from nowhere.

Kai died.

The blade went clean through his chest.

But the world rewound.

Kai was standing again — heart pounding, eyes wide. The blade was still swinging. This time, he ducked before it reached.

He countered.

A punch connected. The clone stumbled.

He pressed in, using instinct, rage, and something deeper — a will to survive. To protect.

Five minutes later, the clone fell.

Kai stood, breathless, victorious.

> Trial Passed

Chrono Trait: UNLOCKED

Time Echo — Level 1

Synchronization: 24%

Core Fragment Stabilized

Returning…

---

Back in the real world — or whatever passed for it now — Kai collapsed to his knees.

The crowd was thinning. The timer ticked down to 22:46:01.

Around him, others were screaming, fainting, or vaporizing. Few made it back.

Rei Voss was still standing. Her eyes narrowed when she saw him return.

"You're awake," she said. "You passed?"

Kai nodded slowly.

She tossed him a black patch — an armband with strange glowing glyphs.

"Then welcome to Level One," she muttered. "We need fighters. Fast."

He slipped the armband on. It tightened automatically, syncing to his energy.

"What now?" he asked.

Rei didn't smile.

"Now we find a way out of this cursed timeline before it eats us alive."

High above, the fractured sky trembled.

And deep beneath the floating abyss, something stirred — ancient, enormous… and awake.