Zeno’s ears rang.
He wasn’t even sure if it was the sound of her voice or just the silence afterward that thundered in his head. But either way, the words were too clear to mishear.
"Only one Rennis can bypass the system and stay here. No more. No less."
He stood frozen for a mont, long after Ari had finished speaking. His gaze dropped to the floor as the implications wrapped themselves around his chest.
Only one. Just one.
That ant—it was already decided.
He slowly lifted his head to look at her again. She looked so human now. Zeno guessed it was because she was ant to belong here rather than in Avalis.
She was the chosen one.
Then what was all this for? Those words echoed in his mind.
The new system. The transcendence.
He had spent weeks trying to understand it—thinking, maybe, he could live past his 25th mission.
That there was a loophole.
There was, but it wasn’t ant for him.
He was just the setup. The fool.
He shook his head and let out a deep breath.
The Ascendants gave him hope just so they could watch it die. Were they lacking in
entertainnt in any way?
He really was going to die at twenty-five on his twenty-fifth mission.
Because he sure as hell couldn’t go back to a diocre life—not after everything he had done.
"Zeno?"
Ari’s soft voice broke through. "Are you alright?"
He raised his head again and nodded. "Yeah. I got it."
Ari’s brows furrowed. "You don’t have any more questions?"
Zeno looked at her.
She looked like Ari. But underneath it all, she was still 28.
The sa one who used to follow him around, even when he told her to go away.
And now, she was the one who got to stay.
Their eyes t, and for the first ti, Ari stopped speaking. Her breath caught in her throat.
That look.
That was the sa look Zeno had as 25. That quiet sadness was one he had never talked about. The one no one ever dared ask about.
It was still there.
He turned without another word.
As the door creaked shut behind him, he pulled the hood back over his head.
His shadow stretched under the hallway lights, swallowed up by silence.
Except, he wasn’t alone.
From the far end of the hallway, a man stepped out of the shadows, a smirk playing on his lips.
Mr. Kim. He had taken a huge dump in the bathroom when he heard a familiar voice inside Ari’s room. Of course, he had to stop and see what was happening.
When Zeno left the door, he couldn’t help but chuckle.
"I thought you were perfect," Mr. Kim muttered under his breath, shaking his head.
"Turns out, you’re just a normal guy after all."
He glanced toward the room Zeno had just exited, his gaze narrowing.
"Ari Bae, huh?"
***
The day of their first official mission had arrived.
Excitent buzzed in the air, and the surviving contestants were excited yet nervous at the sa ti.
However, among them was Zeno. He was seated at the very end seat, not bothering to dress up like the rest of them. He was wearing a hoodie and so comfortable sweatpants.
Hero nudged Ian. "What’s wrong with him?"
"I don’t know," Ian whispered back. "I think he’s doing that thing again."
"What thing?"
"That thing where he goes into the zone to amazes us with his talent afterward."
The others stole glances at Zeno, who hadn’t moved in the past fifteen minutes.
Suho leaned over and said reverently, "He’s probably ntally rehearsing every possible outco of today’s mission. That’s the kind of genius we’re dealing with."
"I think," Hero noted, "he’s just sad."
Everyone turned to him.
"Why would he be sad?" Risa asked.
He shrugged. "He had the sa look when I found out Santa wasn’t real."
"You rember that from when you were young?" Misha asked.
"Yeah, in eighth grade."
They all turned silent.
"He probably just didn’t get enough sleep," Oska deadpanned, joining their circle.
Despite their wild theories, no one approached him.
The contestants were ushered onto the main stage, bright lights flooding their eyes as dramatic music played in the background. A cara drone zipped above them.
Standing center stage was Bacon PD and Ari Bae.
"Welco," Bacon PD said, his voice echoing across the stage. "To your very first official mission."
The contestants straightened up.
"During the preliminary round, you’ve done improv. You’ve followed scripts. You’ve transford into different people. You’ve taken the words of writers and brought them to life."
Everyone nodded, proud and prepared. What could possibly co next?
"Now," Ari said, stepping forward with a dramatic pause, "you will... make the script."
The silence that followed was thunderous.
"WHAT?"
Daniel’s voice cracked like a broken violin string.
"I’m sorry—co again?" Hero gasped.
"You want us to write?" Ian asked, eyes wide.
"A script?" Shelly exclaid.
Hero began hyperventilating. "I didn’t sign up to be a writer! I barely passed English class!"
Phoenix, to his credit, didn’t flinch. But he did feel a bit of a squeeze in his chest. Writing wasn’t his strongest suit.
Bacon PD raised a hand. "It’s not in the way you think."
Everyone quieted down and focused their gazes on them once more.
"This isn’t a full script. We’re not expecting a 120-page screenplay," Ari clarified. "Of course, we know that as actors, you have limited experience with that. Still, in this mission, you are going to be required to write a single scene with your partner."
The contestants turned to each other. So, this wasn’t going to be an individual mission?
"You’re going to be writing it from scratch with this pair of yours," Bacon PD said. "You will write together. You will perform together. And you will learn how it feels to create."
A slow, dawning horror crept over their faces.
"And in doing so," Ari continued, "you will begin to understand what it ans to be a writer."
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