Control Room - Trial Dungeon Facility
The silence in the control room was deafening. More menacing than any arena crowd's roar. Elder Jin and Lian hunched over their consoles, faces pale under flickering screen light.
The primary monitor displayed those damning words in stark red: **TRIAL PARTICIPANT: LI WEI. DIFFICULTY: HARD.**
Elder Jin's fingers clenched his chair's armrest, knuckles white. He broke the silence first.
"It's a mistake," he rasped, forcing the words out.
"He knew," Elder Lian muttered, eyes wide with dawning horror. "That boy knew exactly what we planned."
"No." Jin's voice dropped to a dangerous rumble. 'He has to be wrong. If Vorn saw through our scheme, if he had the cunning to turn it against us, then he's not just a threat - he's a monster.'
Jin's mind raced, grasping for simpler explanations. "He couldn't have known. It was Li Wei's arrogance, his pride. The fool thought he was claiming some advantage and sent himself to his grave."
'It was Li Wei's stupidity, not Vorn's intelligence. It has to be.'
But even as he spoke, Jin felt the lie crumble in his mouth.
---
Trial Dungeon - Standard Level
The dungeon was a maze of gray stone and pulsating red fungi casting sickly light. Low-level, meant for beginners.
For Vorn, it was a testing ground.
He moved through twisting passages like a machine. No flair, no dramatic flourishes. Just efficient, brutal execution.
A hulking stone golem lunged at him, massive arm raised for a crushing blow. Vorn didn't dodge or block. He took one precise step forward.
CRACK.
His fist - compact, concrete-hard - slammed into the golem's knee joint. The beast toppled with a deafening crash. A single thrust finished it.
[GOLEM ELIMINATED]
[EXP: +25]
[EFFICIENCY RATING: OPTIMAL]
His internal monologue was stark analysis: 'Efficiency is survival. Style is weakness. My body adapted to this dungeon's threat level the moment I entered. Muscle mass, sensory input, pain tolerance - all perfectly calibrated.'
'I'm getting used to this.'
He deliberately avoided flashy moves, letting the monitoring systems record him as "average" - just another competent Awakener clearing a basic trial.
'Keeping the facade of a weak one is truly fun.'
---
Trial Dungeon - Hard Level
Li Wei stumbled through blood-soaked passages, face pale with terror he'd never known. This dungeon was supposed to be easy, yet monsters were faster, stronger, more numerous than anything in his training.
His "protector" - a grim-faced assassin - moved ahead, taking the brunt of attacks. But even he was struggling against the enhanced difficulty.
'How is this happening?' Li Wei's thoughts spiraled in panic. 'This was meant to be routine! What kind of sick joke—'
A razor-clawed beast lunged from shadows. The protector's blade met it halfway, but three more emerged behind it.
'We're going to die in here.'
Li Wei, stripped of his enchanted weapons and misplaced confidence, was now dead weight. Loud, stumbling, entirely dependent on his bodyguard.
And slowly realizing he'd been played.
---
Final Chamber - Standard Level
Vorn reached the completion chamber. A single glowing orb pulsed in the center, signifying trial's end. Victory was one touch away.
The timer showed three minutes remaining.
He didn't move.
He stood perfectly still, eyes locked on the orb as seconds ticked by, One minute, Thirty seconds, Ten.
'A triumphant finish draws attention. Gives the elders reason to scrutinize me. The optimal outcome is controlled failure.'
The timer expired. The orb's light dimmed.
TRIAL NOT COMPLETED
"Trial incomplete," the system announced.
A flicker of disappointment was immediately replaced by cold satisfaction. 'Correct choice. Makes me look unambitious, maybe even scared. Creates the narrative I need.'
---
Dungeon Exit - Later
Vorn emerged from the gates with a light sheen of sweat, face showing calculated exhaustion. Master Li waited anxiously, expression mixing worry and relief.
"Vorn! Are you alright? The system said you failed?"
Vorn met his gaze with weary sincerity, his emotional detachment making the lie effortless. He chose each word with surgical precision.
"I'm fine, Master Li. I didn't finish because halfway through, I realized the difficulty wasn't normal. Much harder than it should have been. I thought maybe the dungeon glitched, so I backed out rather than risk penalties for a system error."
'Perfect. Implies innocence - I didn't know about the switch. Suggests caution, not cowardice. And plants doubt about whether Li Wei's difficulty was the real mistake.'
Master Li's relief shifted to subtle confusion. "A glitch?"
"I'll try again later," Vorn added, sealing the narrative.
---
Private Chamber - Later
Vorn approached Master Li in his study, voice quiet and conspiratorial.
"Master, I think there was a mix-up. The elders might have made a mistake - they assigned Li Wei to my trial slot. I didn't say anything because I wasn't sure and didn't want to cause trouble."
He looked Master Li directly in the eye. "But I didn't want to win unfairly. It wouldn't be right to benefit from their error."
'I have to say this works for me, Makes me look honorable, frames me as victim of bureaucratic failure rather than mastermind. Puts Master Li on the defensive, forcing him to manage his own family's plotting as incompetence.'
Master Li's face cycled through emotions - confusion, concern, growing anger at his fellow elders.
"You're saying they mixed up the assignments?"
"It's possible. I just wanted you to know in case... well, in case something happened to Li Wei."
---
Control Room - Evening
The elders reviewed footage of Vorn's trial. They watched him effortlessly eliminate monsters, then deliberately let the timer expire. They heard his calm explanation about a "dungeon glitch."
"He backed out," Jin muttered to himself. "Thinks our system malfunctioned. The fool."
Relief flickered through him. 'Simple explanation. Vorn got lucky, didn't know anything.'
But then the doubt crept back in. 'But he went to Li Wei. Chose his exact words. Reframed everything perfectly.'
Jin's eyes narrowed, jaw muscle ticking. He saw what the situation really was - a web of lies so perfectly crafted they were invisible.
'If he planned this... he's a monster.'
'If he didn't... we're surrounded by incompetents.'
[SYSTEM UPDATE]
[POLITICAL MANEUVERING: MASTERFUL SUCCESS]
[SUSPICION LEVEL: DECREASED]
[REPUTATION: HONORABLE BUT CAUTIOUS]
[ELDER JIN'S PARANOIA: INCREASING]
[EMOTIONAL CAPACITY: 91% (DECLINING)]
On the monitors, Li Wei's biometrics showed critical stress levels in the hard dungeon. But that was someone else's problem now.
No one could prove anything. Vorn was untouchable.
And getting more dangerous by the hour.
[CURRENT LEVEL: 5]
[EXP: 178/500]
[PATH: BODY EVOLUTION - ADAPTING]
[NEXT OBJECTIVE: MAINTAIN FACADE WHILE GROWING STRONGER]
The perfect crime had just been committed.
And the only evidence was the growing emptiness where his emotions used to be.