NOVEL WEB Chapter 8: The Test
The white void trembled.
Then—everything shifted.
The endless nothingness around Roi morphed, shapes and textures glitching into existence.
Within seconds, he was somewhere else.
A classroom.
Roi blinked.
Desks. Chairs. A blackboard. A long row of fluorescent lights flickered above him, casting a cold, eerie glow.
The air smelled of chalk dust and something metallic.
He felt his stomach churn.
Something was off.
His eyes darted around—empty desks filled the room. But it didn't feel empty. It felt wrong.
Then, a prompt appeared in front of him.
"WELCOME TO THE TEST."
"THIS TRIAL WILL ASSESS YOUR MENTAL CAPABILITIES."
"FAILURE RESULTS IN PUNISHMENT."
Roi swallowed hard.
"What the hell is this? A damn school?"
He hated school.
Not because he was stupid—he was a genius in his own way. A tech wizard, a hacker, a strategist. But academics?
He sucked at that.
Kyler's laugh echoed behind him.
Roi whirled around—Kyler was leaning casually against a desk, watching him with an all-too-amused smirk.
"Not a fan of school, huh?" Kyler chuckled.
"You're joking, right?" Roi scowled. "I survived a freaking landmine explosion trial, and now I have to take a goddamn test?!"
Kyler only grinned.
"Oh, this isn't just a test." His eyes glinted. "This one's special. You fail? You don't just get an 'F'."
Roi's pulse quickened.
Then—a loud creak.
His desk moved on its own, dragging across the floor.
A single exam paper appeared in front of him.
A clock materialized on the board, counting down from 30:00.
"BEGIN THE TEST."
A pen dropped onto his desk.
The room was silent.
Roi hesitated. Then—he looked down at the paper.
His blood ran cold.
The questions weren't normal.
The first one read:
"If a person's skin is peeled off at a rate of 2 inches per second, how long will it take to remove all of their flesh?"
Roi's breath hitched.
The second question:
"How many bones in the human body must be broken before death is inevitable?"
His hands shook.
This was not just a test.
This was hell.
And the worst part?
The clock was ticking.
29:45
The clock ticked down with a slow, mocking rhythm.
Roi's hands felt clammy as he stared at the grotesque questions in front of him.
"If a person's skin is peeled off at a rate of 2 inches per second, how long will it take to remove all of their flesh?"
"How many bones in the human body must be broken before death is inevitable?"
His stomach twisted.
His first instinct? Skip to the next page. Maybe it was just a messed-up joke.
He flipped it over.
It was worse.
"A knife penetrates the stomach at a depth of 5 inches per second. How much time does it take before the intestines are completely severed?"
"A human heart is forced to beat at 300 BPM. Calculate the time before cardiac arrest occurs."
"What the actual f***?" Roi muttered under his breath.
His head snapped up, looking around for an escape—but the door was gone.
The windows? Sealed.
The air felt thick, suffocating, as if the walls were closing in on him.
Then—
A low mechanical whirring.
Roi's pulse spiked.
From the ceiling, something descended.
A metallic contraption, long and spindly, with rusted surgical tools attached at the ends. Blades, drills, syringes.
A voice—cold, robotic—echoed through the room.
"FAILURE TO COMPLETE QUESTIONS IN TIME WILL RESULT IN PUNISHMENT."
Roi's breath hitched.
He looked over at Kyler, who was still casually sitting on a desk, watching.
"Are you just gonna sit there?!" Roi snapped.
Kyler smirked. "Not my test, dude."
Roi's hands shook. He needed to think.
Alright. Alright. It's just math. I can do this. I can—
29:00.
The machine lowered further.
Roi's heartbeat pounded.
He had no choice.
He grabbed the pen.
And he started writing.
His brain raced, forcing itself to make calculations about things he never wanted to think about.
But—
His answers didn't make sense. His head felt heavy, sluggish.
Was this room… messing with his mind?
28:30.
The machine let out a sharp, ear-piercing beep.
Roi froze.
"INCORRECT ANSWER."
The mechanical arms moved fast.
Roi barely had time to react before something pierced through his hand.
"AGHHHHHH!"
A rusted needle had gone straight through his palm, nailing it to the desk.
Pain. Blinding, unbearable pain.
He screamed. Blood dripped onto the paper.
Kyler just watched.
Roi's vision blurred.
The robotic voice echoed again.
"FAILURE RESULTS IN INCREASED PAIN RESPONSE."
His hand throbbed, his breath coming in shaky gasps.
Then—the next question lit up.
He had to keep going.
Or he wouldn't leave this room alive.
28:15
Blood dripped onto the paper, soaking the page in red.
Roi gritted his teeth, trembling. His left hand was still pinned to the desk, pain throbbing with every heartbeat.
The robotic voice echoed again—calm, cold, merciless.
"CONTINUE THE TEST."
His hand spasmed. His mind screamed for him to stop—but stopping meant death.
With his right hand, he forced himself to keep writing.
His breathing was ragged. He tried to focus.
Think. Just think. It's just numbers. Forget what they mean.
"If a person's skin is peeled off at a rate of 2 inches per second, how long will it take to remove all of their flesh?"
He scribbled furiously.
The human body has around 20 square feet of skin… 2 inches per second…
"ANSWER: 120 seconds."
The machine whirred.
Then—
A soft ding.
"ANSWER ACCEPTED."
Roi gasped in relief.
Good. Good. Just keep going.
He flipped to the next page, hand shaking.
"A knife penetrates the stomach at a depth of 5 inches per second. How much time does it take before the intestines are completely severed?"
Roi fought the nausea.
He wasn't thinking about real people. Just numbers.
He wrote again.
"ANSWER: 3.6 seconds."
Another ding.
"ANSWER ACCEPTED."
His vision blurred. He was lightheaded—from pain, from fear, from blood loss.
27:00.
The machine lurched forward suddenly.
His heart stopped.
"QUESTION RESPONSE TIME EXCEEDING LIMIT. INCREASING DIFFICULTY."
"W-Wait, what?!" Roi gasped.
Another page appeared.
This time, the questions had no numbers.
"Would you rather lose your sight or your hearing?"
"Would you rather bleed out slowly or have your throat slit instantly?"
"Would you rather be skinned alive or burned to death?"
Roi froze.
His breath caught in his throat.
What the hell kind of test was this?!
The machine ticked ominously.
Kyler chuckled from his seat.
"Man… this part sucks."
Roi's vision blurred.
He wasn't sure if it was from fear or blood loss.
But one thing was clear.
This wasn't just a test of intelligence.
This was a test of mental endurance.
And he was running out of time.
26:45
Roi's breath was ragged, his mind spinning.
His left hand was still nailed to the desk, the throbbing pain growing worse with every second.
The machine hovered ominously, its rusted tools gleaming. It was waiting.
Waiting for his answer.
He looked down at the next set of questions—
"Would you rather lose your sight or your hearing?"
"Would you rather bleed out slowly or have your throat slit instantly?"
"Would you rather be skinned alive or burned to death?"
Roi's stomach churned.
He gritted his teeth. "What kind of sick test is this?!"
Kyler, still lounging at the back of the room, smirked. "Oh, it gets worse."
Roi clenched his right hand into a fist. He had no time to hesitate.
He scribbled down an answer.
"Sight."
"Throat slit."
"Burned."
A pause.
The machine whirred.
Then—
A soft ding.
"ANSWERS ACCEPTED."
Roi exhaled sharply.
That was too close.
But before he could even catch his breath, another question flashed onto the paper.
His blood ran cold.
"Would you rather sacrifice yourself or someone you love?"
His hand stopped.
His heartbeat pounded in his ears.
A voice, hollow and robotic, echoed from the machine.
"15 SECONDS TO ANSWER."
Roi's chest tightened.
His mind screamed at him. No. No. NO.
His fingers hovered over the paper.
The room felt colder.
"10 SECONDS."
His breathing shook. His vision blurred.
Memories flashed—
His parents. His old life. His friends.
"5 SECONDS."
The machine's tools clicked, adjusting.
A scalpel extended, its edge gleaming.
"2 SECONDS."
Roi's pulse spiked. His body froze.
The machine whirred.
"TIME EXCEEDED."
"PUNISHMENT INITIATED."
"F*—**"
A sudden sharp pain tore through his left hand.
He screamed.
The needle twisted, tearing through flesh—ripping it open further. Blood splattered across the paper.
Pain exploded through his arm.
Roi's vision darkened.
Kyler's voice echoed distantly.
"Told you it'd get worse."
The robotic voice spoke again.
"QUESTION REPEATED. ANSWER REQUIRED."
Roi gasped for air, shaking.
He had no choice.
He had to answer.
With his blood-soaked right hand, he forced himself to write—
"Myself."
The machine stopped.
A pause.
Then—
A soft ding.
"ANSWER ACCEPTED."
Roi's body slumped. His hand trembled uncontrollably.
He had never felt so small. So broken.
Then, Kyler spoke—calm, curious.
"Did you really mean that?"
Roi didn't answer.
He couldn't.
Because deep down, he wasn't sure.
And the test wasn't over yet.
24:30
Roi's hand trembled, smeared with his own blood.
His body ached, his breath ragged.
His left hand was still pinned to the desk, torn open from the punishment.
His vision was swimming, but the test wasn't stopping.
The machine remained motionless, as if analyzing him.
Then—
"NEXT SECTION: MEMORY TEST."
Roi's chest tightened. "Memory?"
Another question blinked onto the page.
"Rewrite the answers to all previous questions. Word for word."
Roi's stomach dropped.
"Wait—what?!" His eyes darted over the pages, flipping back—but the past questions were gone.
The paper was blank.
He let out a shaky breath.
Think. Think!
His brain felt slow, foggy. Was it the blood loss? The pressure?
Kyler spoke from behind him, mocking.
"Uh-oh. Forgot already? That's bad."
The machine whirred.
"TIMER STARTED."
A new countdown appeared.
60… 59… 58…
Roi clutched his head. His mind was blank.
His memory was fuzzy.
The pain, the stress—everything was a blur.
"No, no, no, I need time—"
The timer kept ticking.
Kyler sighed dramatically. "Man… this is kinda sad to watch."
Roi gritted his teeth.
He squeezed his eyes shut, forcing his brain to retrace everything.
The first question. The skin. 2 inches per second.
"ANSWER: 120 seconds."
The knife. The heart. The impossible choices.
He scrawled the answers, hands shaking violently.
But was it word for word?
He wasn't sure.
His heart pounded.
10… 9… 8…
He pushed through the pain, writing everything he could remember.
3… 2… 1…
The machine clicked.
Roi's pulse stopped.
"PROCESSING ANSWERS."
A tense silence.
Then—
"5 ANSWERS ACCEPTED. 2 ANSWERS INCORRECT."
Roi's body went rigid.
His breath caught in his throat.
Then—
The machine descended fast.
"NO—"
A blade sliced through his thigh.
Deep.
Pain exploded through his body.
He screamed.
Blood gushed, pooling beneath his desk.
His vision blackened.
His hands twitched violently.
The robotic voice was calm, merciless.
"PUNISHMENT COMPLETE."
Roi's body convulsed. He could barely breathe.
His mind was slipping.
He was dying.
Then—
Kyler sighed.
"Well. That's enough, I guess."
A loud beep.
The machine froze.
The air shuddered.
Then—
The test stopped.
The room glitched.
And everything went black.
Roi's eyes shot open.
The pain, the blood, the sheer agony—gone.
His breathing was sharp, but his body… was whole.
His hand—unpierced. His leg—intact. The wounds, the blood—vanished.
He was back.
The white void stretched endlessly around him, empty and silent.
But the rage inside him? Burning.
His fists clenched.
Then, a voice—casual, amused.
"Damn."
Roi's head snapped up.
Kyler stood a few feet away, grinning.
"That was crazy." He crossed his arms. "I never took that test myself. Looked way too brutal for my taste."
Roi trembled. His anger boiled over.
"What the hell was that?!" he exploded. His voice echoed in the void.
Kyler only shrugged.
"A test."
Roi gritted his teeth.
"That wasn't a damn test! That was torture!"
Kyler chuckled. "And yet, you lasted."
He tilted his head, intrigued.
"Few minutes in and you were already falling apart, but you still answered some of the questions."
Roi's jaw tightened. His body was still shaking.
That was hell. And for what?
Then Kyler's smirk faded slightly.
"But…"
A pause.
Then—his grin returned, sharper.
"You didn't finish it."
Roi's stomach sank.
Kyler shook his head. "So…"
A system prompt appeared before Roi's eyes.
"TRIAL FAILED."
"NO REWARDS GRANTED."
Roi's breath hitched.
His chest tightened.
"You're joking." His voice shook with disbelief.
Kyler's grin widened. "Nope. You lasted, sure. But surviving isn't enough."
Roi's hands trembled.
All of that.
The pain. The suffering. The hell he endured.
And he got… nothing?
His vision darkened with frustration.
His breathing grew ragged.
He wanted to punch something.
Kyler, sensing his anger, only laughed.
"Oh, don't look so pissed. You actually did better than I expected."
He leaned in slightly.
"But next time? You either finish it or die trying."
Roi's fists clenched.
And deep inside him—a fire ignited.
Next time?
Next time… he'd make sure he wouldn't lose.
No matter what it took.