The deadly race begins

The instant the buzzer blared, the ground beneath the competitors trembled as four thousand participants surged forward into the gaping tunnel. The initial rush was a chaotic stampede—people shoved, tripped, and scrambled over each other in a desperate attempt to get ahead. Dust kicked up, blurring the air, and the sound of countless footsteps pounded through the underground passage.

Kai, Ro, My, and Renji bolted forward, sticking close together amidst the chaos.

"Stay sharp!" Kai called over the noise. "They wouldn't call it a Death Run if all we had to do was sprint!"

Just as he finished speaking, a loud WHOOSH filled the tunnel as massive spinning saw blades shot out from the walls, slicing through the air with deadly precision.

"OH, COME ON!" Ro shouted, barely dodging as a blade tore through a group of runners, sending a few unlucky ones flying back, eliminated instantly.

Screams rang out as participants who failed to react in time were either sent crashing into walls or brutally knocked aside by the deadly traps. The sheer force of the competition was thinning the herd already.

Renji smirked. "Man, this is fun!" He flipped effortlessly over a collapsing section of the floor, landing gracefully on the other side.

My yelped as a massive spike pit opened in front of her. "AHHH!" She skidded to a stop just inches from falling in, her eyes wide.

"Move it, My!" Ro barked, grabbing her arm and yanking her into a desperate leap over the pit. She landed clumsily, tumbling onto the ground but quickly scrambling up.

"T-Thanks, bro!" she panted.

"Keep up!" Ro shouted.

The tunnel was alive with dangers—sections of the floor gave way, revealing bottomless drops. The walls shot out stone pillars, threatening to crush the competitors. Flame jets burst from hidden nozzles, forcing everyone to weave and dodge mid-sprint.

Kai, eyes gleaming with excitement, easily navigated the chaos, dashing and weaving through the deadly course. He seemed almost effortless, leaping through the air and twisting his body at just the right angles to avoid danger.

"You guys are too tense!" he laughed. "You gotta relax—feel the rhythm of the course!"

"Shut up and RUN!" Ro barked, ducking just as a giant hammer swung down from above, smashing into the floor with an earth-shaking BOOM!

Behind them, several competitors were crushed instantly.

Renji, still grinning, sprinted ahead and suddenly vaulted off another runner's back, using them as a springboard to flip over a section of falling debris.

"Sorry, buddy!" he chuckled mid-air.

The competitor he used for support cursed at him as he tumbled into the pit below.

Ro growled. "You little—!"

BOOM!

The ground quaked as a section of the ceiling caved in, sending huge slabs of rock plummeting down.

"INCOMING!" My screamed.

Kai's eyes flickered. "This way!"

Without hesitation, he grabbed My's wrist and swung her under a narrow gap in the wall, dodging the falling boulders just in time.

Ro and Renji took different routes—Ro barrel-rolled to avoid the falling debris, while Renji literally ran up the wall, kicking off a crumbling ledge to keep moving forward.

More and more competitors were being eliminated. The number had already dropped by the thousands within minutes.

"LOOK OUT!"

The tunnel ahead split into multiple paths. Competitors blindly rushed into different corridors, hoping to avoid the immediate danger.

"Which way?!" My asked, frantically looking back and forth.

"Doesn't matter! Just pick and go!" Ro yelled.

Kai pointed to the narrowest tunnel. "That one! The fewer people take it, the fewer bodies we have to fight through!"

They darted into the small corridor, leaving behind the bulk of the runners. It was immediately clear why fewer people had taken this path—the walls were constantly shifting, threatening to crush anything inside.

"Lovely," Renji muttered. "Gotta time this just right!"

One by one, they slipped through the narrow openings, barely avoiding being flattened into paste as the stone walls slammed shut behind them.

Emerging on the other side, they found themselves in a massive open chamber, where the real nightmare awaited.

And at the far end, blocking the exit…

Kai grinned. "Now this is getting interesting."

Ro cracked his knuckles. "Alright, let's see what this thing's made of."

The underground tunnel stretched on like a never-ending nightmare, filled with nothing but screams, collapsing structures, and the constant sound of flesh meeting brutal, unforgiving traps. The further they ran, the more the air reeked of blood, sweat, and desperation.

They weren't just racing anymore. They were surviving.

Renji glanced at My-My as she panted, still keeping up despite the brutal obstacles. He smirked. "My-My, your legs must be hurting right?"

My wiped sweat from her brow. "Well, actually—"

Before she could finish, Renji cut her off smoothly, flashing a cocky grin. "You can ride on my back, cutie."

My's face turned beet red. "O-O-Okay…" she stammered, her voice barely above a whisper.

Ro jerked his head toward them so fast his neck almost snapped. "HEY!!!!"

But it was too late. My had already hopped onto Renji's back, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

Renji immediately took off like a rocket, his speed far exceeding what he had shown before. His movements were effortless, graceful, and precise, dodging every single trap as if he knew their placements before they even activated.

Ro gritted his teeth, veins popping on his forehead. "THAT DAMN PUNK—"

Kai grabbed his arm. "Focus, Ro! Unless you wanna be crushed!"

Ro barely ducked in time as a massive guillotine blade came swinging from the ceiling, slicing the air where his head had been seconds ago.

Meanwhile, chaos erupted around them.

A group of runners in front tried to leap over a gap filled with spikes, but as soon as the first person landed on the other side, the entire platform crumbled, sending at least thirty people plummeting to their deaths.

Screams.

The sound of bodies impaling onto jagged metal echoed through the tunnel.

"Holy shit," Ro muttered.

Another section of the tunnel was flooding rapidly, swallowing up competitors who couldn't swim fast enough. Some tried to climb the walls, only for hidden spears to shoot out and skewer them like fish.

Kai and Ro pushed forward, dodging past another wave of contestants who were suddenly blasted away by a powerful gust of wind.

"The hell was that?!" Ro shouted.

Kai's eyes flickered. "The tunnel's rigged to throw out people who are too slow!"

Ro turned just in time to see hundreds of runners getting launched backward by invisible forces, their screams fading into the distance.

"Damn! No mercy, huh?"

Suddenly, a shadow loomed over them.

From above, a massive stone boulder, covered in glowing red runes, detached from the ceiling and rolled straight down the tunnel, crushing everything in its path.

Renji, still carrying My, glanced back and smirked. "Better move faster, boys."

My, on the other hand, was holding on for dear life. "AHHHHHH WHY IS IT GETTING WORSE!?"

Ro gritted his teeth. "Oh, I'll show you fast!"

With a roar, Ro pushed his Ti-Bu into his legs, blasting off like a bullet.

Kai followed suit, weaving between crumbling debris as the boulder of death gained on them.

Ahead, an enormous steel door stood at the end of the tunnel, slightly open—the exit.

Competitors scrambled and shoved each other, trying to be the first through, but the narrow opening meant only a few could get out at a time.

"MOVE, DAMN IT!" Someone screamed.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Another runner punched someone else in the face, sending them flying into a set of spikes.

The stampede grew violent, fists flying, bodies trampling over the weaker competitors.

Then, the worst happened.

The boulder hit the horde.

A sickening CRUNCH.

The sound of bones shattering and bodies being flattened filled the tunnel. The massive stone boulder, glowing with eerie red runes, plowed through the stampede like a god crushing insects, leaving behind a path of pure carnage. Blood smeared the walls. Some screamed. Some didn’t even get the chance.

Ro gritted his teeth, forcing himself to ignore the massacre behind him. If he hesitated for even a second, he’d be next.

Ahead, Renji and My-My were already at the exit, Renji nimbly dodging the panicked bodies as he made his way through the opening with ease.

Kai was right behind them, his focused expression unwavering as he slid past a guy who tripped at the last second.

Ro, however, wasn’t so lucky.

Just as he was a few feet from the door, a huge brute of a man with gray skin and tusks grabbed him by the shoulder, his bloodshot eyes wide with desperation.

“HELP ME—” the man barely got the words out before Ro elbowed him in the face, sending him flying back—straight into the oncoming boulder.

CRUSH.

Ro didn’t even flinch.

With one final burst of strength, he launched himself through the opening, feeling the air whoosh behind him as the boulder slammed into the door, sealing it shut.

Silence.

Ro hit the ground hard, panting, his hands digging into the dirt as he processed what just happened.

They had made it.

But thousands hadn’t.

He looked up and saw Kai, My-My, and Renji standing ahead, staring into the distance. He followed their gaze.

They were outside.

A dense, moonlit forest stretched before them, the night sky vast and endless. But just beyond the trees, a massive iron gate loomed, blocking their path forward.

Renji let out a low whistle. “Damn. Guess that was just the warm-up.”

My-My, still clinging to his back, trembled slightly. “So… many people just…”

Kai placed a hand on her shoulder. “We survived. That’s all that matters right now.”

Ro stood up, wiping his mouth, before turning to Renji. “Alright, lover boy, put my sister down before I break your legs.”

Renji grinned, shifting My playfully on his back. “But she’s comfy.”

Ro cracked his knuckles. “I’m about to make you uncomfy.”

Renji laughed and finally let My down, who still looked a little shaken but quickly bounced back, stretching her arms. “Phew! That was insane!”

Kai crossed his arms. “No time to relax yet. That gate isn’t just there for decoration.”

As if on cue, a deep, mechanical rumbling filled the air, and the iron gate slowly began to creak open, revealing nothing but pitch-black darkness beyond it.

A single torch flickered to life on the other side, casting eerie shadows against the trees.

Then, a voice echoed from within.

“Welcome… to Phase Two.”