Diablo Resmira changed the location from the hard ground to the Magma of Nifelheim.
Everyone was on the top of the volcano. It was some kind of lava land. Red flames, magma, unbearable heat spewing out from the ground.
’Nifelheim? It was in Norse mythology. And it’s supposed to be a cold place. Not this fucking inferno.’ Even Pablo was struggling.
’I never danced in my life.’ Pablo hopped continuously on different legs. He wasn’t immune to heat after all.
But more than Pablo, someone else was fighting for his life.
"Boss, this is bad. I will die. I can’t stand this heat. It’s worse than the slums. I will die. I will die." It was Flashy. He was constantly jumping in the air.
He was jumping very high. His feet were only touching the hot ground for a second but he was still screaming like a bitch. He couldn’t stand the hot ground even for a second.
’This guy will make me suffer one day.’ Pablo ignored Flashy for now and just focused on himself.
Everyone else was also struggling and they couldn’t wait any longer for the test to start.
"Just start the next test!" One person shouted.
Diablo looked there. "Oh. A woman. Nice."
It was a woman who shouted. And there were some other women as well.
Diablo walked towards the woman, leisurely. He wasn’t feeling any heat. He was barefoot. Well, everyone was barefoot there. Their footwear burned the moment they touched the hot ground.
Diablo reached in front of the woman and smiled.
"Lady, why are you so eager to start the test? That old man is not here as well. It’s only me and you all."
’What?’ Pablo looked around and indeed, Graham wasn’t there.
’Was he not supposed to be here? Or is this really a volcano or just an illusion?’ Pablo questioned various things and he decided to check them as well.
He turned his head to the closest person to him and it was a man.
He was standing in front of Pablo but diagonally.
There was a hole behind the man and it was filled with lava.
Pablo then looked at Diablo, he was busy with the woman, so Pablo moved from his spot.
’I know I am being seen from somewhere but I don’t think they will mind it.’ Pablo tiptoed towards the man and sneaked beside him.
The man gave a glance at Pablo and ignored him.
Pablo remained calm and brought his hand behind the man’s head.
He held the collar of the man’s shirt and pulled.
"Wha-"
Pablo covered the man’s mouth with his hand. Now the man couldn’t speak.
Pablo peered on the man’s face.
"You need to die for my curiosity. If you die then it’s real lava, if you stay alive then it’s an illusion. No hard feelings."
Pablo shared some last words and pushed the man inside the hole.
"Aaaa.."
The man screamed but his scream was short lived. He fell inside the hole and all his traces disappeared.
This chapt𝒆r is updated by frёewebηovel.cѳm.
’Well, this is real.’ Pablo found out the answer to his question.
However, that scream of the man made everyone roam their heads. Everyone including Diablo as well.
"Did you hear that?"
"Someone screamed."
"The heat must have got them."
Everyone speculated the cause of the scream.
Diablo moved away from the woman and clapped his hands.
"That scream belonged to a man and now he is no more. He died because of someone’s curiosity. That’s all." Diablo said and not once did he look at Pablo.
’He knows.’ But Pablo figured Diablo knew what happened. That ’someone’s curiosity’ belonged to Pablo.
"Well, let’s start the test now. Are you ready?"
"Just do it already!" Everyone screamed.
"Haha. Alright. Alright. So your second test is that you all have to keep standing with both of your feet on this hot ground straight for five hours. You are not allowed to move, walk. Choose one spot to stand and keep standing there for five hours.
And if any of you, before five hours, did try to be smart and sneakily stood on just one leg, then know that you are being watched and this time, even felt. Penalty of cheating is death. Got that?"
"Yes!" Everyone answered. Although they were confused about the ’felt’ part, they didn’t ask about it.
"Good. And now about the winners of the previous test. Let’s hear the reward of Adolf." Diablo looked at Hustler.
"Unlike these people, you only have to stand on both of your feet for one hour. Stand for one hour and you passed the test. Good, right?"
Hustler nodded.
"Not much of a talker, huh. It’s fine. Now, we’ll discuss the advantages of Pablo later. First, we’ll talk about Draxus."
Pablo didn’t mind and he also wanted to hear about Draxus.
"Draxus, your reward was time wasn’t it?" Diablo asked.
"Yes." Draxus answered.
"Well, in this test you will get one hour extra time."
"Huh? So I have to stand for six hours here to pass the test?"
"No. You have to stand just for four hours and one hour will be added to that time making it five hours and like that, you will pass the test. Clear?"
"Yes. It’s good." Draxus liked it. He only had to stand for four hours and one hour would be added for free. He could endure that.
’Nice. I hope Draxus clears this.’ Pablo also liked Draxus’ reward and now it was his turn.
Diablo turned his head towards Pablo.
"You, Pablo, are an interesting case. Your reward was a comrade. And the person you choose as your comrade is someone who has to do a punishment here. Let me explain in more detail what will happen with you and that constantly jumping man."
Flashy was still jumping high in the air and Pablo just listened to Diablo. It was crucial.
"So, your comrade, Flashy, has to do a thousand push ups here. What will happen now is that when the test starts, a timer of five hours will run for everyone. And only then Flashy will start doing his push ups. He won’t get extra time.
But there is a good part, as long as Flashy will be doing one thousand push ups, the rules of this test won’t apply to him. He can move, he can walk and his both feet don’t need to be on the ground all the time. That’s all."
"Alright. But what if Flashy couldn’t complete the one thousand push ups in five hours? What then?" Pablo asked.
"That’s where you come in. He is your comrade and only you can help him by using your advantage."
"Just cut to the chase." Pablo wasn’t a fan of small talks.
"Sure. You chose him as your comrade so it’s only natural you will help each other. For us, in this test, you two have become one person. Anyway, this test says you have to stand on both of your feet on this hot ground for five hours. And since you have a comrade, you can distribute that time among each other. For example, you can stand on this ground for 2.5 hours and Flashy can do the same. 2.5 two times is 5 and like that, you passed the test. Got it?"
"So I can stand here for three hours and Flashy can stand for two hours. And like that, we can clear the test?"
"Yes. You can distribute the time however you like. It just has to be equal to five hours."
"And if Flashy took one hour to do one thousand push ups on this ground, will that time get counted for this test?"
"No. The push ups and this test are different things. If Flashy took one hour to do those push ups then he would only get four hours to stand on the ground and since this test says that we have to stand on it for five hours, Flashy won’t be able to do that. Because out of five hours, he wasted one hour on the push ups. This punishment was meant to kill him but you choosing him as your comrade is the only thing that saved his life."
"That’s so confusing. Did you even get all that?" Cupid spoke. She tried her best to follow the conversation but too much information exploded her mind.
"I understand. And let me make it clear. Listen carefully." Pablo arrived closer to Diablo.
"Oh. I like the confidence. You were the one who gave that old man a suggestion, right? You are a fun guy." Diablo somewhat praised Pablo.
"Just listen." Pablo was serious.
"Alright. Shoot." Diablo focused as well.
Pablo nodded and explained.
"Me and my comrade for this test are being counted as one unit, right? I mean, he and I are only one person for you guys in this test. Is that right?"
"Well, yes."
"So when this test will start, Flashy will start doing his one thousand push ups. And only I will stand for five hours for both of us. We won’t distribute time. I can stand for both of us, right?"
"Yes, you can."
"So if only I stay standing on this ground for five hours, me and Flashy will both pass this test, right?"
"Yes."
Pablo sighed. "That’s all then. You can continue with your test now."
"Alright. But you know, if you are standing on the ground for five hours anyway, then doesn’t it mean your advantage was meaningless? You are still doing the same thing as others even after coming second in the previous test. What’s the point of having an advantage then?"
"Oh. You didn’t get it then." Pablo replied.
"What?" Diablo asked.
"The advantage. It was never mine. Me choosing Flashy wasn’t my advantage…" Pablo stood back on his previous position and Flashy arrived with a jump beside him.
"It was his."