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"Park Jisung!", her painful scream was followed by an excruciating silence. It seemed as if the professors and the committee had given her an extra moment to regain her composure.
Dragging her body up was hard; Nari felt drained and upset, but she tried not to show too much of it, not wanting to appear even weaker as she already did after her slip.
She entered the next area, which looked just as realistic as the last one, except that there seemed to be actual buildings and canopies covering garbage cans, followed by wooden boxes and random empty bottles that littered the ground.
"Please prepare for combat in 3, 2, 1."
Nari grabbed her knife, eyes hectically scanning her surroundings, but there was no sign of any opponent. She blinked confusedly until there was a sudden flash of light, the projection of a demon building up in front of her instead of the manikins she had become used to.
Her heart dropped at how similar the portrayed demon suddenly looked to Jisung.
Shaking her head in disbelief, she threw the knife precisely, feeling sure of her victory, yet the projection did not move as slowly as the manikins, and so she missed it by inches.
Nari hissed in frustration and dashed forward as fast as her legs could carry her. She whipped around her head only to see the projection following closely. As she neared the dead end of the displayed alley, she began to climb a canopy placed in the corner, jumped onto the roof of a flat building and ran as fast as she could, continuing her way through the setting.
The projection caught up quickly and followed behind, simply floating to her level and continuing its hunt.
All of a sudden, she felt taken back to the time she ran away from Jisung when she first saw him, struck by fear and terror. Her feet continuously pattered against the soft ground, trying to escape not only this test's projection, but also her memories.
She remembered the malice he had radiated, how her fear had seemed to satisfy his soul.
Again and again, her head turned in paranoia to check if the projection had come any closer, each time pushing herself further to get away.
Nari didn't notice that she had already rushed through an open gate, its metal doors shielding her from the glowing demon close on her heels.
By the sound of them slamming shut, she fell to her knees. Soft sobs escaped her parched throat, a few hot tears mixing with the film of sweat that covered her face.
She didn't hear the speakers announce the end of her test, either.
"Test completed. Please proceed to the recovery room."
There was silence, apart from Nari's choked weeping. It took her another moment to realize where she was and that she had finished. That no one had actually chased her, and most importantly, that she was alive.
