Outside the red tube, only two months had passed. Everyone who entered the green tubes had already come out. Out of thirty-one participants, twenty-six had survived. From the orange tubes, everyone except Aspen had emerged. Just like Vayu, every participant had been transported to another world the moment they entered the tube. Each group faced a different planet—each with its own dangers, beasts and final portal leading back home.
All the Green Tube Survivors were transported to the same planet. Their numbers were large, and by luck, many of them met early on, from there on they formed a team and fought their way to the final portal together, killing beasts and absorbing their genes along the way.
All the Orange Tube Survivors also ended up on a same planet, a different one than Vayu's and different from the people from green-tube. But only five of them had been sent there and because they fell in different locations, they were separated and none met each other except Jai and Vijay, who appeared side by side. The moment Jai and Vijay opened their eyes, they found themselves in a rocky, hilly terrain, it was very similar to the hunting grounds of the hunter squad giving them a sense of familiarity. The beasts here were weaker than the ones Vayu had faced, but each carried a low-level elemental spirit within their bodies. The spirits were weak, but still extremely valuable.
Jai and Vijay were attacked by a pack of wolves, but they lured them one by one as one become bait while the other ambushed them. They fought together, killing the whole pack and gained an Earth Spirit each.
Mei was teleported to the peak of a tall mountain, alone and there she found a dying giant eagle with its wings torn, it was the time when the eagle breaks its wings and beak and stays hidden, if Mei had came after he was fully recovered, then she would have died, but due to her being extremely lucky this time, she found the eagle in a very weak state. She waited and hid in the shadows and delivered a perfect sneak attack. The eagle resisted but died, she gained a Wind Spirit.
Ryan did not fight, as soon as he entered he quickly climbed a tree and hid himself the entire time. But luck favored him too. A mole beast surfaced from the ground. Startled, Ryan fired an arrow. The mole vanished underground again—but the arrow was still stuck in its body, the deeper the mole went the more the arrow went inside its body. That was enough to count as a kill. Although he didn't receive a spirit, but he absorbed the beast's genes, giving him a small boost.
Aspen was the only one still inside. He was facing an Inferno Bull-the highest-grade beast on that planet, massive and unbelievably strong. Flames burned from its horns and nostrils, scorching the ground. But Aspen used a guerilla tactic, he will attack, retreat, attack again. Each time the bull recovered and backed away to rest— Aspen struck again. Now, after countless exchanges, the mighty Inferno Bull was exhausted. Its flames dimmed and even its breathing turned heavy. Aspen circled it carefully, waiting for the perfect moment to land the final blow.
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The red-eye phenomenon never happened to anyone except Vayu. It couldn't happen, because the red tube was designed for a single purpose. To create an extremely powerful hybrid shapeshifter. Anyone who survived all the trials from the red tube would be reborn as a creature with the instincts of every beast they killed, the genes of every creature they faced and its instincts so strong that they would never obey anyone weaker than them. This made them very dangerous to control.
So the scientists and elders created a biome which mixed with the DNA to make them obey the elders. Red glow was used to force the shapeshifter's body to attack every creature it encountered, ensuring it fought endlessly, killing and absorbing gene after gene. Blue glow was made to hypnotize the shapeshifter later, allowing them to control the shapeshifters once it returned. But somehow Vayu broke the system. Because he turned into an egg and his consciousness remained awake and strong.
The blue light, meant to control him, instead came under his control. That was sole reason why, even the strongest beasts bowed to him ,even though he was weaker, every creature in that world became his follower. He reversed the purpose of the entire red-tube experiment. When all life forms vanished from the planet into Vayu, the red liquid inside the tube released a bright signal. The vulture-like scientist outside the tubes saw that light and became ecstatic. To him, it meant the perfect shapeshifter had finally been formed.
But then something unexpected happened. When Vayu flew and accidentally fell into the valley, the system detected a sudden drop in life force and the machine mistook him for dead and coincidently the instant Vayu touched the final portal, his body was yanked out of the tube. Because of this soul couldn't return to his body. His body lay outside the tube, his muscles looked red and bloody, all his muscles were exposed. Because his skin had melted away, no one could see the countless animal rings covering his body. His body entered a deep coma.
At that same moment, a blinding light burst from the final orange tube and after sometime Aspen was pulled out. He looked taller, bulkier, his muscles rippling with new strength. Two short razor-sharp horns came from his forehead and his skin radiated heat, and his wounds healed almost instantly. Aspen had killed the Inferno Bull, the strongest creature on his planet and gained its Powerful Fire Spirit.
Although Vayu had died, the vulture-like man felt no sadness as he knew Vayu could die and as he watched Aspen emerge, his skin almost glowing as it healed at an incredible speed, proof that he had successfully killed the Inferno Bull and absorbed a powerful fire spirit. Meanwhile, Vayu's burned, unrecognizable body was treated as nothing but discarded waste and thrown onto a pile of bones. Once the experiments were declared complete, the remaining bones and Vayu's body—were dumped into an underground chamber. This chamber was filled with the accumulated waste of every tube, a mixture far stronger and more toxic than the red, orange or green liquids combined. Over years, it had become thick, potent and deadly enough to melt flesh instantly, but Vayu's body had already changed, as the new genes within him were fighting for dominance, all the old spirits inside his body were forced out and began clashing violently with the new ones. Countless bones cracked and his organs tore and every part of him was being destroyed and rebuilt at the same time. Yet instead of decaying, his body did the opposite—using the very poison meant to erase him as fuel to heal, strengthen, and reshape itself. The liquid that should have dissolved him instead became the catalyst and his body became more stronger this process dragged on for many days until his body finally stabilized and at that exact moment a faint blue screen appeared in the air—not before Vayu's body, but before his wandering soul, floating.
The soul stared at the strange glowing screen for a long time, with confusion on his face, as he saw the letters "DO YOU WANT TO BECOME A PLAYER" not understanding its meaning, he reached out to touch it, his fingers accidentally brushing against the option YES, instantly a voice echoed in his mind, ancient and mechanical, "you have become a player," and before his soul could even react it was violently sucked back into his ruined body. Vayu's chest rose sharply, drawing in a long, shuddering breath as his head slowly emerged from the thick, toxic liquid.
HE was alive once again.