Immortal In A Death Game-Chapter 195: It’s Fine, Tell Them

Several hours later, Adam stood in the familiar testing hall of the Hero evaluation center. It was familiar, but at the same time, it was completely different.

The polished floors reflected nothing—every light was off, and no one else was there. His footsteps echoed in the empty space as he walked past the dormant testing equipment.

But soon, a door hissed open behind him. A shadow approached.

"Mr. Adam, you’re already here." It was a deep voice, carried across the darkness. "Chase said you wanted to meet me here? You could’ve just asked me directly—you have no idea the mundane and ridiculous reasons the other members of your team call me for."

It was Gordon, who chuckled as he approached Adam, his hand caressing his growing beard as he stepped into view.

"I... wanted it closed-off. Off record for now," Adam said.

"What exactly?"

"I want a reevaluation of my Strength."

"You’re... Strength?" Gordon’s eyebrows rose. "It’s been a few weeks. Most Heroes rarely improve their tier, no matter how many years they—"

He stopped. His expression grew serious as he remembered Adam’s confrontation with the Administrator at the Dome, as well as the battle report against the Silent Brawler.

Gordon nodded slowly. "Wear the suit. I’ll ready the monitors."

***

"Are you comfortable, Mr. Adam?"

<Yes. Should I go start?>

"Wait for a moment."

Half an hour later, Gordon sat in the observation room, checking Adam’s vitals through the reinforced glass. Everything looked normal on the screens—heart rate steady, blood pressure within acceptable ranges.

"Okay. You can start when you’re ready," Gordon said through the speakers.

Gordon stared at the monitors with a serious expression. The ECS Frame hummed to life, beginning its calibration sequence.

Everything seemed completely fine at first, but then... the monitors started going wild.

Numbers climbed rapidly. Warning lights flashed. The machine’s counterforce readings spiked beyond anything Gordon had seen.

"This is..." Gordon’s mouth fell open. His eyes darted between displays, watching impossible readings cascade across every screen.

"How... is this even possible?"

***

Several more hours later, Adam had his eyes closed. Wind blasted through his ears at tremendous speed. He stayed like this for minutes, letting his hair dance wildly in the rushing air.

<Endless.> After a few more seconds, someone whispered in his ear—the Forger. <You’re directly on top of it now.>

Adam opened his eyes. And everything around him was white and blue.

Clouds. His view was wrapped in clouds. He squinted—the afternoon sun almost blinded him before he looked down at the desert landscape far below.

Behind him, Beatrice wore goggles, her red hair whipping in twin tails as she manipulated the wind currents keeping them aloft.

She looked around for a moment, but nodded at Adam when she noticed him looking. "Are we really not being detected?"

<Completely invisible... for now.> the Forger answered through their earpieces.

Beatrice nodded again, and Adam noticed a shift in her usually stoic expression. Almost... excited?

"Are you okay?" Adam asked.

"I always wanted to be a spy when I was a child," Beatrice said with a straight face.

Adam stared at her in surprise.

"You...?" he muttered. "I... didn’t expect that—"

<Endless.> Before their conversation could become more casual, the Forger’s voice crackled through their comms. <You should drop now. Right where you are.>

Adam nodded, then glanced at Beatrice again.

"Are you truly sure about this?" Beatrice asked.

"Yes," Adam said. "After all, if we back out now, the others would... probably make it difficult for us."

"You did promise to buy Ryan an entire cow for Buster." Beatrice nodded. "Then... Godspeed."

And with those words, the wind carrying Adam withered away.

Beatrice watched Adam’s silhouette disappear into the desert below. And the Forger’s voice whispered through her earpiece once again.

<This should be fun,> he said. <I can’t wait to spread to the world what secrets they’re hiding there.>

"Yes..." A rare smile crawled across Beatrice’s face. "I’m tired of only fighting monsters."

<Oh...> The Forger giggled coquettishly. <I wouldn’t be so sure. You might just see who the real monsters are down there.>

***

Several moments later, Private Mosby walked his usual perimeter route, boots crunching against the gravel. Same path, same time, same endless desert stretching in every direction, only broken by the vehicles and the canopies.

"Everything’s good here." He adjusted his rifle strap and checked his watch—fourteen hundred hours, right on schedule.

"I wonder what Curry cooked this time," he whispered, sighing to himself. "Ugh. Please, no more chicken. It—"

But then... a shadow on the ground caught his eye. Large at first, then rapidly growing smaller.

Mosby looked up, squinting against the afternoon sun. A dark silhouette plummeted from the sky, dropping like a missile toward the nearby military truck.

"What the fuck?!"

The impact was loud. The military truck’s cab crumpled like paper, metal screaming as the shadow punched straight through the roof. The entire vehicle bounced, suspension groaning under the sudden force.

Mosby stared, mouth agape.

"What the hell just—" He fumbled for his radio, finger hovering over the emergency channel. "Base, this is—"

But before he could finish his words, the truck’s mangled door groaned. Metal shrieked as it was pried open from the inside. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"This is..." A figure stepped out casually, brushing dust from his clothes. Young face, dark hair, completely... unharmed. The man looked directly at Mosby, then at the radio pressed against his lips.

And right then and there, Mosby realized who—what this person was. A Hero.

The Hero tilted his head, continuing to stare at him in silence. Mosby wanted to speak, but the only thing he could do was stare back... and slowly lower his device.

He did promise to fight for his country—but a Hero? Doing anything else here would just be useless suicide. Besides, he was only nineteen.

He continued to slowly lower his device, but then flinched as soon as the Hero sighed.

"It’s fine," Adam said, gesturing toward the radio.

"You can tell them you’re under attack."

And with those words, the sirens began wailing across the entire base.