Chapter 126: It Is Not A Island

Words : 1067 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

Chapter 126: It Is Not A Island Meanwhile, back in the simulation, in an unknown part of the world. Lucas swatted another thick fern out of his way, irritation all over his face. His uniform was already soaked with sweat, the collar stuck to his neck, and small red welts were forming on his arms from unseen insect bites. Behind him, three other students followed—grumbling, scratching, stumbling. They looked just as miserable, if not worse. "This is ridiculous," one of them muttered, ducking under a moss-covered branch. "Why drop us in a place like this?" Lucas didn’t answer. He was too busy listening. No birds. No breeze. Just that heavy, wet silence. And it wasn’t the kind that meant peace—it was the kind that made your spine itch. The jungle around them was thick. Trees stretched tall with wide, flat leaves that dripped constantly with moisture. The ground squished with every step. Bright red mushrooms clung to roots. Faint hissing sounds came from somewhere behind them. Lucas clenched his jaw. They’d been dumped here with no warning. The moment the simulation started, the ground under them had changed, and they found themselves in this massive, suffocating jungle. There was no map, no direction, no objective. Just... survive. One of the students behind him let out a sharp curse. "Something bit me!" he hissed, slapping at his calf. "I swear it had fangs!" Lucas stopped walking and turned. "Show me." The student pulled up his pant leg to reveal a swollen, purple bite mark. The skin was already turning a sickly color. Lucas frowned. "Don’t move. We need to slow the poison." He knelt quickly, cut a strip from his sleeve, and tied it tightly above the wound. Another of the students—this one taller—glanced around with growing anxiety. "There’s no way off this island, is there?" Lucas stood slowly. "Not unless we finish the test." "Or quit." Lucas’s eyes narrowed. "No one’s quitting." "But this isn’t fair. Everyone else got forests and beasts. We got venom and heatstroke." "We got what we got," Lucas snapped. "Adapt. Or die. But if you quit now, no one will ever respect you again, as this shows that you are willing to give up when things get hard." The taller student fell silent, swallowing his words. Lucas turned away and pushed through another curtain of vines. They kept walking for what felt like an hour. And yet... everything looked the same. The trees curved in odd directions, sometimes growing sideways before twisting up. The sun above barely filtered through the thick canopy. Twice, they saw giant snakes slithering through the underbrush—so massive they barely made a sound. Once, a swarm of glowing insects chased them into a shallow ravine. Another time, a black panther with six legs stared at them from the branches, unmoving, before silently vanishing. Nothing here felt natural. Eventually, they stopped to catch their breath in a small clearing. "We’ve walked in circles," someone said, frustrated. "I marked that tree earlier." Lucas didn’t reply. He’d noticed too. They weren’t just lost. The island itself was wrong. The trees moved when they weren’t looking. The sounds changed direction without warning. And even the moss underfoot sometimes shifted, just slightly, like something breathing beneath it. He looked around the clearing, eyes narrowing. Then he turned and began climbing the nearest tall tree. "Cover me," he ordered. "I need a better view." He moved fast, ignoring the bugs crawling across the bark. The higher he went, the more the air changed—less humid, but colder. By the time he reached the top, he pulled apart the leaves and looked out. And froze. What he saw wasn’t an island. The trees curved downward at the edges of the horizon. A slow, steady ripple passed across the ’ground.’ It wasn’t ground. It was a shell. A massive one. The "island" was a creature. A sea turtle the size of a mountain. Its shell was covered in layers of dirt, trees, and thick jungle. The entire simulation placed them not on land but on the back of a living, moving beast. He stared, not sure what to say. Then he climbed down quickly, heart pounding. When he reached the others, they looked up. "Well?" one of them asked. Lucas took a breath. "We’re not on an island." They blinked. "What?" He nodded toward the trees. "It’s alive. The ground we’re walking on—it’s a turtle—a giant one. That’s why the terrain keeps changing. That’s why we can’t find the edges. The damn thing is moving." The others didn’t believe him at first. But then the ground shook slightly beneath their feet. A low, distant groan echoed from deep underground. And somewhere far off, the jungle seemed to tilt, ever so slightly. They said nothing after that. Because what could they say? They were trapped on a walking fortress of nature, filled with venomous creatures, and no map. And the only way off... It was to survive. — Meanwhile, back in the mountain forest... Ethan opened his eyes. They hadn’t been resting long, but the air had already started to change. It wasn’t the heat or the wind, but something in the atmosphere felt different now. Mei stood a few feet away, crouched near a tree, eyes locked on the distance. "They’re coming," she said softly. Sera stood up, wiping her hands after packing up their supplies. "More lions?" "No," Mei said. "Something else. Smaller. But there are a lot of them." Ethan got to his feet. He didn’t ask how she knew. He can just tell that what she was saying is right, which is something he has not realised yet. The clearing they’d used as a temporary resting spot now felt exposed. The trees around them weren’t silent anymore. Small birds had stopped chirping, and something rustled in the distance. Too many somethings. "Scavengers," Ethan muttered. "They smelled the fight." "They think we’re just leftovers," Mei added, pulling her hair back into a quick tie. "They’re going to be disappointed," Sera said, but her voice was tight. Not afraid—but focused. Ethan slung his small pack over his shoulder and glanced toward the eastern ridge. "We’ll move east," he said. "Same plan. Loop around the forest, check the ridgeline." "Got it," Mei replied. Sera nodded and followed. They didn’t run, but their pace was fast and quiet. As they walked, Ethan kept checking behind them.

Chapter 126: It Is Not A Island

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