Inside the hazy world, Aren opened his eyes atop a stone platform.
A gust of hot wind drilled through his nose, making it hard for him to breathe.
Aren covered his nose and pushed himself into a sitting position.
It was at that moment that Ray noticed the world around them had turned red.
The platform Aren was on was floating above a sea of lava. As far as Ray could see, there was nothing but lava.
Just then, someone coughed beside him.
Coughed!
Only now did Ray notice there were around twenty other teens, about Aren's age, all waking up from their slumber.
He was about to look around when Aren urgently said in a muffled tone, "Don't look at the sky."
Ray froze halfway and forced himself to look down. He screamed internally in realization.
[This really is that cursed trial!!!]
Everything from before the trial started flashing through his mind, and Ray screamed again.
[No, stop it!]
He suppressed his wild thoughts and focused on the cursed world before him.
From the novel, he knew just how lethal these trials were.
The good thing was that Aren did not seem completely unaware of this world.
That calmed Ray a little. After all, no matter what, everything depended on Aren right now.
Still, he scanned the platform, trying to identify which of the ten cursed trial grounds Aren was part of.
He only had one clue so far: the sky was forbidden. That narrowed the list down to the more dangerous possibilities.
Gears in his head started spinning at full speed.
There was so much lava here that he even saw air bubbles popping on the lava surface. 'Could this be the Cursed Land of Explosive Volcanoes? No.' He instantly shook his head.
In the novel, the Duisberg family had high compatibility with the volcanic cursed lands.
If Aren had that mark, he wouldn't be in this position.
That left two more possibilities.
Just then, the platform started to shake. The lava level around it began to drop.
In front of the stone platform, a gigantic, half-broken purple structure rose from the lava.
Along with it, a black bridge emerged, connecting the platform to the partially ruined temple.
The moment Ray saw the massive temple, jolts of shock passed through his soul, and he muttered internally. [Shit. It's the ancient, cursed land with the lowest survival rate. The Cursed Land of Chaos.]
At that very moment, a gust of black air enveloped the platform. Aren collapsed unsteadily onto the ground, clutching his chest.
Ray felt as if hundreds of needles were stabbing into his lungs, but then he saw Aren shaking his head rapidly. He realized the Curse of Madness had already begun.
…
Aren grabbed his ears as incoherent murmuring echoed inside his head. It felt as if hundreds of ants were crawling inside his ears. He even heard distant footsteps, as if someone was closing in on him.
Enduring the madness, he pushed himself up. Without wasting time, he started running toward the bridge.
The lava around the platform had already receded for miles, while the stone platform remained suspended in the air, supported only by the narrow bridge.
He didn't dare imagine what would happen if that stone bridge broke.
He wasn't the only one running. Almost everyone rushed toward the bridge at the same time.
As they moved closer, Aren noticed everyone's faces had become blurry. This should be the effect of the second curse.
Without wasting a moment, the closest guy took the lead and stepped onto the black bridge.
He was halfway across when the second person stepped on the bridge.
The very next moment, the entire platform shook violently.
The tremor sent Aren falling backward. Instinctively, he shut his eyes and raised his hands to cover them as the back of his head slammed into the hard floor.
Bam!
The world around him trembled as multiple screams snapped him back.
"AAAAAAAH!"
"No!!!"
"Helpppppp!"
Aren rolled onto his back. Only then did he dare to open his eyes and look to the side.
Just a few meters away, a girl was kneeling on the ground, screaming her heart out.
When Aren tilted his head slightly, his eyes widened, and he shrieked.
The girl's head was twisted upward toward the sky.
He didn't dare look past her neck, but he could see thick blood dripping down her body.
A pool of blood formed beneath her, and Aren shifted backward to avoid touching it.
A glance told him the two people on the bridge were in the same state.
The world seemed to freeze as the three of them continued screaming.
Finally, something dropped onto the ground as the voices faded.
Tak!
Aren shifted his gaze and gulped. In the pool of blood lay a charred head.
He stared at it, then at the headless body while thinking. 'So this is the first taboo. The taboo of the black sky.'
Aren rubbed his forehead and took a deep breath, but the pain in his chest worsened, and the murmuring in his head intensified.
Shit, even the effect of the taboo is increasing.
Knowing he couldn't waste any more time, he pushed himself up and walked toward the bridge.
The man standing near the bridge shouted, "I'm crossing first. Please wait until I give a thumbs-up."
He raised his thumb, and no one protested.
Aren continued moving forward, keeping his eyes fixed on the man crossing the bridge.
This time, nothing happened, and the man successfully reached the temple.
Only when Aren saw him raise his thumb again did he let out a sigh.
The second person rushed forward, and a line began to form beside the bridge.
Finally, it was Aren's turn.
The moment he stepped onto the bridge, he froze.
Wait. What if that mysterious Ray guy takes control of my body right now?
Someone shouted from behind, "Hey, move forward!"
Startled, Aren began moving again.
At the same time, he started quietly mumbling everything he knew about the three taboos for Ray to hear.