12 Final Phase, Start!

"What are you doing standing there? Come here and take a seat already..."

Ria chuckled upon seeing Calvin's strange antics.

Calvin absentmindedly stared at her. This was supposed to be his first time in Las Felipinas. As an average young man of Earth, he must act appropriately according to what everyone expects of him as an Earthling.

"What?"

"How did I come here?"

"Shouldn't I be at the top floor of Rhea Apartments?"

"Ah!"

Ria covered her mouth and said, "You must be confused. All right, let me explain."

"You are now in Las Felipinas. A world connected to Earth for some reason."

"For some reason?" Calvin frowned at such a vague explanation.

Ria shrugged, "If I knew the reason, I would've told you already. The reasons behind why Las Felipinas is attached to Earth is still being researched. It has been a decade since we found out about the existence of Las Felipinas, yet we still haven't explored the entirety of it..."

"All we know is that there are humans in Las Felipinas, as well as members of other races such as Elves, Half-elves, Dragonkin..."

"Wait, does that mean that this place is like a game?"

Before Ria could finish her sentence, Calvin exclaimed in shock.

Ria was obviously unclear about video games, but when she saw that Calvin seemed to be confident with what he was talking about. She nodded her head and said, "Yeah, it may be similar to games."

"What do you mean maybe? You're not very clear about it too?" Calvin furrowed his eyebrows. He knew a lot about Las Felipinas, probably even more than Ria. But when he remembered his previous relationship with Ria, he couldn't help but tease her.

However...

"What do you mean I'm not very clear? Are you trying to insult me? Hmmph, don't get too excited yet! I'm just trying to explain some things to you beforehand since you're the very first person to arrive at Las Felipinas. But since it looks like you don't need my explanation, then forget it! Let's just talk once you've survived through the final phase."

Ria coldly harrumphed.

She then turned around and didn't bother with Calvin any more.

When Ria was gone, Calvin finally had the time to properly observe his surroundings.

From what he could see, he seemed to be inside a school gym.

There were markers on the floor indicative of a basketball court.

There were seats surrounding the wide space in the center.

Calvin lightly smiled, 'I'm finally here... The final phase... I can see that nothing has changed...'

He was a bit excited upon seeing that there were no discrepancies of what he was seeing right now compared to his memory of this place from the past. The only difference perhaps was his placement. Back then, he was the second to the last person who arrived at Las Felipinas, but now...

He was the first.

'I expect this event to continue until daylight... Dang, why did I come here so fast? Now I have to kill time!' Calvin found a random seat and he immediately felt bored. 'If only I had a pen and paper here, I could've revised some of my plans before we enter the final phase.'

'Sadly, beggars can't be choosers. It seems that I just have to do all of these plans in my mind while I wait...'

'Well, it's also a good mind exercise though.'

Calvin sighed.

He closed his eyes, but he didn't know whether it was the effects of the adrenaline coursing through his veins wearing off or he was just tired, but as soon as he closed his eyes. He fell asleep in a blink of an eye.

When he woke up, he was stunned to see the gym filled with dozens of people.

'Damn, I fell asleep.' Calvin bitterly smiled.

He wanted to revise some of his plans, but it was unfortunate that he fell asleep.

Now, seeing that most of the newbies had already gathered.

Calvin could only shake his head.

'There's no time left...'

'I'll just revise and review those plans as I go...'

Calvin stood up and walked towards where most of the newbies were gathered.

Ria found him and she approached him with a frown, "Did you seriously just fall asleep?"

Calvin paid her a glance, "Yeah... I was just thinking of something, but I accidentally fell asleep. Damn, if I only had some pen and paper, then this would be easier."

"Pen and paper?" Ria frowned, "The rules say that custodians like us cannot give any tangible benefits to the contracted participants... Unfortunately, but I cannot honor that request."

Calvin smiled at her, "Come on, really? Do you think that a simple pen and paper is enough to be considered as tangible benefits? For it to become a benefit, it must give me an unfair advantage in the upcoming final phase. But I don't think that a pen and paper that I will use to jot down my thoughts would give me something like that..."

Ria pondered, "That makes sense... All right, I'll give it to you... If you manage to pass the final phase, then you won't need to worry about getting more paper and pen." Although puzzled as to why Calvin needed a pen and paper to organize his thoughts...

Ria recognized that people were different from one another, one's method of organizing their own thoughts may not work for the others.

She handed over the items to Calvin and Calvin happily received it.

He then found a seat and started revising some of his plans.

Another batch of newbies came in droves and some of them sat beside Calvin for the other seats were occupied.

Calvin raised his head and found a young woman sitting beside him.

Their eyes met.

Her flawless skin an indicative of her young age as Calvin predicted that she should be at about the same age as him.

However, there was a look of indifference on her face.

Similar to Ria's face when he first met her back at Waga Lake Park.

Calvin was never a person who judged a book by its cover. Although he could see that the young lady had this air of uncaring disinterest on her face. He would never think that she was an ice-block. After all, no matter what. As long as the person was still human then it was impossible for them to abandon the seven emotions and six desires.

Calvin predicted that it would still take about an hour before Fivecent could prepare the final phase.

Since he was done revising some of his plans and confirming the route that he would take upon arriving at the site where the final phase would be held, he didn't mind spending some time talking with his fellow newbies.

"He-"

"Hello there... Since it looks like we are going to be together for quite a long time. How about we introduce ourselves?"

Before he could even say a sentence, a voice already interrupted him.

His loud and manly voice attracted the attention of everyone in front of him. A light smile spread on his lips as he parted his blonde-hair that hid his sapphire-like eyes. Satisfaction was painted on his face, he seemed to enjoy being at the center of attention.

However...

"Huh? What is this guy doing?"

"Introduce ourselves, he said!"

"Hah, what a dumbass... Does he really think that we have the time to be chummy and friendly?"

Instead of a lukewarm reception, he was shut down by his peers instead.

The blonde-haired man froze right there.

Calvin didn't pay him any attention for the start of the final phase was getting close.

Half an hour later, Ria and the other custodians called for the attention of the newbies and made them stand in front of a white door.

"The final phase is about to start..."

"I won't say anything much, but I will give everyone a mandatory crucial hint."

"You must never fight!"

"Remember that all of you in here aren't fighters yet!"

"Remember that all of you are still average people. No matter what you find beyond the white door. Never, ever fight!"

"Your primary mission for this final phase is to escape!"

"You can do whatever you want as long as you can escape and do not ever try to fight against anything beyond that white door. Believe me but you are not a match for them!"

"Escape and survive! This final phase will test your survivability skills! Now, go forth! Test your limits and become successful! I await you all at the end of this challenge!"

The custodian who was obviously a verbose man made a dramatic pose as if he was sending over heroes into a battlefield. If he had a handkerchief in his hands, he would've probably faked some crying.

The newbies were quite annoyed by that particular custodian, but Calvin didn't pay him any heed.

He made a sidelong glance at Ria before he walked forwards, moving along with the other newbies as all of them entered the world beyond the white doors!

As soon as Calvin stepped beyond the white doors, he found himself standing in front of the huge gates of a mansion.

"Wha... What is that...?"

The air was thick with danger and the night made everything scarier.

One could even hear the murmurs of the unknown.

The breeze was cold, and its vapors filled with moisture.

Some of the girls shivered in fear and cried out when they saw the massive mansion standing beyond the huge gates.

The eye-catching plaque hanging next to the huge gates of the mansion said...

'Mount Spirit Sword Asylum!'

'As I expected, nothing has really changed! I'm back again in this terrible place... I'm back in this godforsaken asylum!'

Calvin inwardly screamed in excitement.