There were no clocks or tirs, yet at a certain mont, the Rubik’s Cubes on every player’s shackles began to spin.
As the cubes rotated, the rooms themselves shifted and tilted. Deceitful Bloom and Lightchaser, who had been in front of Rita, rotated counterclockwise to the left. Rita and the Quiet Mountain Rita above her rotated clockwise to the right.
With the rotation, the nearly transparent barriers between rooms transford into black tal. Lamps lit up each of the four corners.
This was the rooms’ true form—it looked more and more like a prison.
Ding~
As the clear, bell-like sound chid like the strike of a clock, all ambient noise outside vanished. A chanical prompt sounded in Rita’s mind.
[Detected Prisoner8017-BS-319365910, Violet-Gold Talent: Alchemy]
[Prisoner8017-BS-319365910 triggered Four-Star Creation Ga]
A scroll descended in a flash.
Rita turned her gaze from the vine-shaped lamp and looked at the scroll.
[Creation Ga]★★★★: The ti flow in this cube room will now be altered. One hour outside equates to one year inside the prison. Prisoner must, before the next cube rotation, invent a new alchemical item using materials in the room or improve an existing formula. Failure will result in erasure.
No sooner had Rita read the scroll than it rolled itself up and vanished.
The small room she had glanced around monts ago instantly expanded in all directions. Dozens of massive, dozens-of-ters-high material cabinets appeared out of nowhere.
Herbs, minerals, gemstones—everything was provided. Crucibles, carving knives, all at hand.
Rita’s gaze swept further. Several bookshelves had appeared as well.
A line of glowing numbers appeared in the center of the room. It was counting ti for her.
Opening the chat channel, she sensed it was still functional, though the accelerated ti flow ant no ssages had arrived yet.
As she was about to close it, a ssage popped up.
[Foolishness]: Five-star Creation Ga triggered. Detected my crafting talent. Task: create an item or toy of no less than SS rank. Ti flow has been altered.
[Rita]: Sa here. My alchemy talent is Violet-Gold. Task: invent or improve an existing alchemy formula.
[Drumr]: Sa. Task: invent a treasure and write down the formula.
As players began chatting, a few more who had triggered learning tasks posted in the group.
Alchemy, gemstone crafting, engineering, magic inscriptions—all fields were covered.
Most players already knew each other’s achievents and reputations in these domains.
Yet exceptions existed. So players weren’t aware of their talents, yet their ti flow had been adjusted. Their task: reach a certain skill level within the ti limit and pass an assessnt.
[Mistblade (Starsea)]: Three-star learning ga. My cooking talent is Violet-Gold. Task: master master-level cooking before ti expires.
Gradually, the chat fell silent.
Every learning task implied other tasks were happening too. Everyone rembered the ssage BS Shadow.Q had shared:
"You must have incredible potential. Your soul fire must be special. You can comprehend unique skills and qualify as fuel for the ga."
Players were now being forced, under the threat of death, to create and invent.
Were there other gas layered within this one?
Alchemy formulas, gemstone crafting, item design—were there also magical or combat skills to be learned under extre duress?
If the skills and creations were all "fuel" for the ga, then who were they nourishing? Players outside the prison? Or so higher-dinsional ga?
With such terrifying possibilities in mind, the players began completing their tasks.
Rita let Nivalis act freely, while she herself grabbed a few alchemy books to gauge the progress of this era’s alchemy.
The cube rotated every six hours. At the room’s accelerated ti flow, she effectively had six years.
Nivalis followed her around, curious. Finally, she spoke, as if suddenly recalling sothing.
"My goodness, your ID starts with 8017, doesn’t it?"
Rita calmly flipped a page of the book she held and said lightly, "I thought you’d hate it."
After all, when B80 had erupted, it had several tis dragged Nivalis down without regard for the years they had spent playing together.
The lights from the bookshelves cast shadows across Rita’s long lashes, veiling the colors in her eyes.
Nivalis stared at her side profile without blinking for a long mont.
"You don’t hate it. How could I?"
She and B80 had argued countless tis. Every ti they tead up for a ga, a fight was inevitable. B80 would switch through thousands of languages just to curse her, trying to overwhelm her with words.
But that argunt was nothing. Nivalis had rely feared B80’s unstable ntal state.
Rita twisted slightly, leaning against the bookshelf with her back fully to Nivalis.
"...Don’t bother . Go play on your own."
Though this was a ga ant to save the Tenth Era, Rita wouldn’t pass up the rare opportunity to study.
The number of alchemy books was staggering. She hadn’t yet checked the content or quality, but in sheer quantity, it dwarfed the Moonlake City Library.
Rita wasn’t concerned about the ga’s tasks.
A Violet-Gold alchemy talent was no joke.
Anything she brewed would produce ideas and innovations.
Even when busy or when alchemy no longer offered tangible benefit, she had pursued it for pleasure.
As Rita started studying, Nivalis stayed busy too, monitoring the battlefield chat while searching through tens of thousands of books. She looked for alchemist moirs and travelogues, hoping to glean information about the outside world.
One day... two days... three days...
Gradually, other players’ task updates began to appear in the group chat.
[Maple Syrup (Starsea)]: Four-star war ga. Must lead troops against a virtual opposing army.
[Cinders]: Four-star inspector drop. Must defeat the opponent within the ti limit.
[Deceitful Bloom (Starsea)]: Five-star inspector drop. Duel, sa conditions.
[Lightchaser]: Five-star Prisoner drop. Must defeat designated targets within the ti limit.
[Captain]: Three-star political ga. Quell internal unrest.
[Deceitful Bloom (Quiet Mountain)]: Four-star puzzle ga. Hard to describe, interesting.
Creation, learning, combat, slaughter, military strategy, politics, puzzles...
Every imaginable aspect of a player’s talent and potential was being fully tested and exploited.
It felt like a divine curriculum, yet everyone knew this was a prison.
And they were prisoners.
So what should they do with the formulas they created and the skills they learned... submit them, or keep them?
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