Reaching the End

Deep in the tunnel, the group was still running. "Now that that is over, I will now tell all of you of an opportunity you have earned. From now until the end of this tunnel, the first three who reach the end will win a reward. So I will allow you to rest for five minutes." As Lieutenant Dan said this, he pulled out an old-fashioned stopwatch and started a timer.

"Use this time to catch your breath and ready yourselves for the final stretch. I will be continuing on and will meet you at the end. I suggest you put in your full effort because the rewards will be beneficial for the final test tomorrow." Lieutenant Dan said as he looked around at the people who were resting.

Some sat down while others stood. Aston motioned for Kayla to sit down and copy his posture. "My brother taught me this technique. Sit down with your legs crossed, lay your hands on your knees, and take deep breaths in and out while closing your eyes and focusing on your breathing." Aston said as he sat down and began taking deep breaths.

He was fatigued now, and this chance to rest would be used well. Kayla followed suit, she had hidden it well, but Aston could tell she was exhausted by the way she trembled with every deep breath. Five minutes later, Lieutenant Dan snapped his watch shut, looked at everyone, and said, "Good luck, may the best win." In the next moment, Lieutenant Dan took a runner's stance and then, with a whoosh, sped off with such a speed that a wind gust blew behind him.

At that moment, everyone got up and began sprinting with all their might. Aston and Kayla followed suit. While running, Aston breathed in his nose and out his mouth steadily and uniformly, making sure not to breathe too fast so he didn't get an air bubble trapped in his lungs.

By now, no one cared how they looked. They all ran as fast as they could, not caring how they looked. Everyone ran at breakneck speed toward the finish line.

An hour later, the group had dwindled to just 4 people. Kayla, Aston, the monk, and some nobleman. As Aston was looking forward, he heard someone fall down. He turned to look back and noticed Kayla had tripped and fallen.

"Kayla!" Aston yelled as he began to stop. Kayla lifted her head and yelled, "Go, Aston….Finish without me…If you don't win, I won't forgive you for giving up a good chance to make a profit!" Kayla said as she paused between every couple of words to catch her breath. Aston looked back one more time before he sped up with all his might.

He is unsure when, but he and Kayla had become friends despite her sly and playful behavior. She was a pleasant person to be around and made things more fun. "Don't worry, Kayla, I will make sure I win first place," Aston swore as he clenched his fist and pushed forward.

Not long after, in the far distance ahead. Aston and the others finally saw the end of the tunnel. The three that were left all started madly sprinting ahead. Sometimes they were shoulder to shoulder; the next moment, someone would get ahead.

The noble pushed ahead and said, "That first-place prize will be mine, don't worry. I will allow you guys to have the other prizes."

Then the monk got ahead and said, "Amitabha, I must ask that you accept that my winning first place is inevitable."

"I don't think so. first place will belong to me." Aston said as he pulled ahead.

The back-and-forth banter continued for 10 miles until they were only 100 meters from the finish line. There at the end of the tunnel, stood Lieutenant Dan.

The noble had pushed himself as best he could, but it seemed his stamina was going out, and he had fallen behind the other two. Now it was just the monk and Aston competing for first place.

At the last moment, the monk sped up. It seems he had been reserving his strength. As Aston saw that he was about to lose, he thought, "Dammit, I am about to lose. After all that talk, I am gonna let down Kayla. All that training with my brother just to lose at the one thing I am supposed to be good at?"

As disappointment and sadness entered his mind, Aston recalled all those training days with his brother.

Back at home, Aston and Charles ran along a dirt path. Aston was gasping and trying to catch his breath, but he was coming to a stop. In front, his brother had slowed down to look back. "Aston, come on, keep going! You're not going to give up now, are you?" Charles said. "I can't go on, Charles; this is too much. I need to rest for a moment." Aston said as he was about to stop.

"Do you think when you're about to die from some monster in another world, they will care that you're tired? What if your friends are about to die? Do you think you can rest before you can save them?" Charles said as he looked back as jogged forward.

Aston, who was about to stop, thought about what his brother had said. He imagined being chased by a monster and, running out of breath, being eaten alive. Then he imagined his sister Layla was about to fall off a ledge, and he stopped for a moment, and she fell when she was just in front of him.

So he kept running, and suddenly an overwhelming sense of euphoria and a flood of energy burst out. He sped up and surpassed his brother and ran like the wind for a few more miles before his energy crashed, and he lay down and fell asleep.

Later, when he awoke, his brother had propped him against a tree and sat beside him. "Charles, what was that? I got a burst of energy out of nowhere, which felt terrific." Aston asked as he looked at his brother.

"That is called a runner's high. Sometimes when people who run for long distances push themselves past their limit, they get a burst of endorphins that allow them to run for a bit longer." Charles said as he rubbed Aston's hair. Aston punched his brother in the shoulder, and then they laughed.

Back to the exam, just as Aston was about to lose, a familiar rush of energy filled him as he kept running. At that exact moment, he burst forward with great speed. Aston knew that the endorphins would only last a short while. So the moment he felt himself break his limit. He rushed forward to use this chance.

The monk, who thought he had won, suddenly heard someone rushing behind him. He turned to see Aston sprinting toward him. By the time he thought to speed up. Aston passed him and arrived at the red finish line painted on the tunnel floor.

"Congratulations, Aston; you may rest now." Lieutenant Dan said just as Aston plopped to the floor and fell asleep. Not long after, the monk arrived. "Amitabha, it seems that my heart and mind are not calm and steady. I must go back to training after the exam," he said as he sat down and began to rest.

A while later, the nobleman arrived and sat down, mad and disappointed at his loss. "Congratulations to you two on passing the competition. Your rewards will be given later." Lieutenant Dan said to them as he finally put his clipboard away.

Then he typed a few things on his holowatch, and all the participants received their results. Those who failed were told to walk back and report to a soldier waiting to escort them back to the teleportation pad.

Those who passed were told to wait where they were, and a vehicle would come and pick them up and take them to the end. "While we wait for the rest of the participants who passed, take this chance to rest." Lieutenant Dan then went into a door to the side of the tunnel.

After everyone had arrived, General Garrick and Lieutenant Dan came out from a room on the side of the tunnel. "Congratulations to everyone who passed. You should now understand your limit when it comes to your endurance. Should you ever find yourself in a situation where you must run away. You should now know how long you can last. In that time, you must escape or find a place to hide and rest." Garrick said as he walked over.

"Now Aston Hersch, Fang Han, and Jeremy Henderson step forward," Garrick said as he motioned for them to stand at the front of the group. Now the group of participants had dwindled down to about 500 people. "To Aston goes the first place prize, a custom set of armor of your choice will be given to you and a custom weapon of your choice. To Fang Han, you will receive a standard issue suit of armor and a standard weapon of your choice. These are not the best, but they will protect your life and be better than nothing. To Jeremy Henderson, you will get a standard issue weapon of your choice will be given to you." Garrick said as he nodded at them.

"Now you should have received a notification on your holowatches about your scores on the last 2 tests. A teleportation pad is in this room to the side of the tunnel. We will use it to return to the base, where you will be given food and a resting place. Tomorrow morning you guys will have breakfast, and you will take the third test and begin the final test in the afternoon. With that, everyone got up and disappeared from the teleportation pad.