Several hours earlier.

A total of 60 people followed Rokoro to the first section that no one knew what it looked like in the first place. The inside of the elevator contained a wide length of 50 meters. As for height, it would only have the half of its length; 25 meters. Regarding the luminosity: it's fairly bright but not to the point of blinding whoever clashes their eyesight with the core of the light from the ceiling towering them.

However, it was slightly cold inside and without a doubt, the elevator was going in a south direction which only managed to earn the undivided attention of Rokoro as he was puzzled about the direction of where the elevator was going.

"Madness, what could this be?! Is this elevator really taking us down?!"

Unlike the majority of his group which is feeling pressured to due to the complexity of the task at hand, Rokoro was completely mind-blown by this phenomenal factor. Over the course of just a few days, Rokoro had gained a completely new passion for this island as it turned out to not be what it initially seemed to be in the first place to him. Instead of being a private-resorted island, it turned out to be something in Rokoro's fantasy: a secret place in the world where even the vastest of technological pieces remain to be discovered.

This eccentric attitude about him as he wanted to discover the greatest depths of this island was something that managed to attract the numbers from within his group. Nonetheless still a bit scared, they admired the fact that Rokoro could purge the fear out of his soul simply by devoting himself to discovery.

Ursula, one of Rokoro's classmates, a girl with brown braids and huge glasses, almost as identical as Rokoro's, approached him as she commented something in regard of what was currently happening.

"There's no doubt about it, Rokoro! This is south direction and it's only taking us further down! This means that your theory was correct!"

What theory exactly? One might ask---but such theory was one that Rokoro had shared a few days ago while coming across with the sight of the other sections and what they hold within.

"There is really an artificial world beneath the surface, like you said, Rokoro!"

Another one of Rokoro's classmates also approached him; Vonu. Just like Rokoro and Ursula, Vonu has a small height and glasses. Furthermore, he has a heavy dark ponytail on the back of his head supporting his enormous hair density.

As for Rokoro himself, he was happy that many were already agreeing with him and so, he didn't hesitate on expressing his inner happiness.

"This is magnificent, Ursula, Vonu! Whoever made this island has the vision that can save the world and we are perhaps one of the very first people who were secretly selected into partaking this discovery!"

"You really think so? That maybe we were put in this island because we were selected by the creator of this island, Rokoro?"

Ursula looked skeptical but deep down, she knew that Rokoro was right the majority of the times and so, instead of doubting him, she asked him that in order for his to give his proper thoughts on his take, to which he was more than exultant to.

"I am under the impression that there is someone behind Percy-Phoenix-dono's whole endeavor! I believe that he was not aware of what this island contained! As a matter of fact, I am convinced that this island is not even Percy Phoenix-dono's island! The fact that he knew nothing about it just proves it! There's no reason to doubt it anymore! We are the chosen ones!"

His entire group was absorbed into his conspiracy-theory-type of attitude all of the sudden. Many already had accepted that Percy Phoenix in fact didn't know anything about this island but they still had yet to come to a reasonable conclusion as to why Percy Phoenix had put them there in the first place.

This question ran through their heads countless times and yet, no answer would come.

"We are bound to also find something within this section!"

Rokoro encouraged his teammates to be more on the hunt for what they could find instead of prioritizing the task. Despite the fact that's essentially counter-productive. However, within the elevator, from the ceiling, a robot voice emerged within. A voice that none of them had any recognition of. That voice spread throughout the elevator like an unstoppable miasma.

"Mars channel 1; beginning trial----regulations; complete----initiating timer: set to; one hour."

Upon hearing that transient robotic voice that only stayed for about seven seconds; separating each word stamp through a slow interval, Rokoro felt a great shock, alongside his teammates.

"Mars channel!? As in the channel discovered in the midst of the late 19th and 20th centuries?! Alien life; could it be?!"

Out of all the people in this elevator, Rokoro already knew what this was referring to.

An extensive network of channels was first witnessed or at least speculated by Giovanni Schiaparelli in the equatorial regions from 60° north to 60° south latitude on Mars. It's been wildly speculated that the channels on that network from Mars is actually the work of aliens---an extraterrestrial form of existence from outer space.

As someone who is undoubtedly interested in the unknown, aliens are a topic of a big interest to Rokoro. Nonetheless, this caused a huge doubt within the group suddenly, as Gino, one of Rokoro's male classmates, yet another person with glasses, of short height and, his contrasting feature, dark skin, spoke. However, he too, like the majority here is what one might classify as a geek.

"But Rokoro, if---really hypothetically speaking, we enter on Mars, which I know sounds stupid, won't we just die?!"

All eyes were on Rokoro as the elevator had yet to stop its tracks, but Rokoro swiftly dispelled their doubts utilizing a factual evidence.

"Gino, back in the floor where we were on Titan's lake, do you remember that we could breathe just fine and do anything remotely physical without being punished by the information we know about the atmosphere of Titan?! I believe this is it as well!"

"Goodness gracious, this is absurd in an overwhelming sense! If what you said is true, then does that mean that although we are soon to be on an atmosphere that is apparently Mars, we are not on Mars, but on an atmosphere that has the conditions of Earth?! How amazing is that?!"

"It appears you have caught my reasoning, Gino! Yes, indeed! It's absurd to believe that we were on the real Titan, but the one behind this island remodeled the structure of the place to make it seem like we are on Titan! We can experience what the atmosphere has to offer but without being engulfed in the toxicity of it! Of course! This is without a doubt a method of testing to analyze the structure of outer space! But still, isn't this utterly classified information?!"

Rokoro knew that the structure of Titan as a whole was something was either entirely classified by NASA or simply not yet discovered. Only through space shuttles is such information possible to uncover and without it; it's simply not possible. Which begged the question: is NASA at work here therefore?

However, there wasn't any time for further arguments as the elevator soon made its stop. And while so, the front door of the elevator door opened; completely unraveling the atmosphere of the first section.

At first sight, as they all walked in the atmosphere, it looked like a storm desert yet without a storm occurring. The atmosphere itself consists of scattered rocks underneath a deep orange surface. Sky-wise; although clear it has the appearance of a dusty storm with the planet Earth on the east sight. Translucent and clouded, the planet where they thought they were just a while ago has managed to be on their eyesight.

Something to take note of is that they didn't land on an exactly plain area; they walked out of the elevator straight into an open concrete area that is circulated by a rocky circle, blocking the majority of the atmosphere for Rokoro and the others to take note of. Nevertheless, they also were quick to notice something.

"There!"

"On the north side, there's a small hole leading the way! Everyone, let's go that way! But first, is everyone doing alright?!"

Worried, Rokoro was quick to dismiss his inner interests as he valued the well-being of everyone firstly and the reason as to why he asked such a question was because, they are in fact, on a surface that resembles Mars. Therefore, their condition would be in danger, if this was the real Mars. In a matter of seconds, they would die.

By contrast, they were doing extremely fine.

"We are fine! We can breathe just fine!"

To further demonstrate that, one of Rokoro's companions, inhaled air deeply and exhaled multiple times to prove that the atmosphere was in fact not affecting him. Some even began to touch the small rocks on the surface as they noticed something, that Rokoro took immediate note of.

"The rocks are in state of gravity but we are not! This must means that the regulations further adjusted to how we humans behave on Earth! Our sense of gravity is equal to that of the one we have on Earth and not the one we have on Mars!"

There are a lot of differences that escaped Rokoro's mind as he was fascinated by the fact that human life was something that was taken into consideration in this section. Rokoro had always thought to himself that humans would have no other choice but to continue to invest themselves onto creating even stronger, powerful, resourceful technological components in order to go on Mars. And yet, even then, even if humans could go on Mars, they could never truly live there without space suits and other multiple helping factors. Although Rokoro knew that deep down that counted as "living" on another planet, it still would strip away how we would behave, since adjusting to another atmosphere would mean that.

But, Rokoro never imaged that instead of that, that there would be a place like this, where the reverse is possible. Human life on an atmosphere that resembles Mars. Furthermore, life as we know where we don't have to change how we behave----Rokoro deeply admired such a discovery.

Yet, it would be exactly this that made one of Rokoro's teammates, call out to Rokoro, as he knew that Rokoro would lose track of himself.

This individual, although not a friend of Rokoro, recognized the necessity of the task at hand and reinforced the need for all of them to focus on the task instead of the atmosphere that they were witnessing.

Diego grasped the right shoulder of Rokoro on his back and pinpointed the center of his glasses with his index and middle fingers while speaking.

"We don't have the time for this. Ryousuke Kawahara said that we need to put the component in its place. Instead of wasting time, we have to get to the main point of this section and through that passage on the north side, we will gather a clue."

Just like Rokoro, he has short blonde hair, but his hair is slicked back. Furthermore, his height is far higher than Rokoro's.

"You're right! I almost lost myself, Diego! Speaking of which, we are running out of time! We must get going everyone!"

In a rush, Rokoro started to get ready to run, although Rokoro is in fact a terrible runner, but a female companion of Rokoro's group spoke something that was alerting her.

"Wait a second. Something's wrong here..."

Marina, a girl of medium height, with long curly blue hair, who has glasses as well, spoke in all of their direction. Noticeably, she was on the more farback of the line but she nonetheless managed to capture the attention of everyone; Rokoro included just by checking the hours on her cellphone.

To be more specific, she was in the time application of her cellphone and what she showed made everyone awe in disbelief, as they all stopped distancing themselves from Marina.

"What is this?!"

Diego was the first one to express his surprise and then Rokoro.

"Marina, is something wrong with your cellphone?! There's no way that time can suddenly just... not go on, right?!"

"Everyone, check your cellphones to see if this is happening to you too!"

At Vonu's command, they all checked their cellphones which were still working and they all noticed something simultaneously.

"This---This cannot be! Time is not working here?!"

"What is happening, Rokoro?!"

Although this can certainly be qualified as overreacting, this would be the first time that they witnessed this---their cellphones were not working when it comes to time, but to do every single other thing, it was working. Some of them tried texting each other as the signal was actually working here, but everything would be under the same time which is 10:15 am. Time would not move from that point on, whatsoever.

As such, Rokoro could only conclude something.

"Calm down, everyone! I believe that what's happening is the following: Time is undeniably slower! Because there is no way that time could just stop! This also means that since time here is slower that perhaps the time on the outside is just like normal!"

In agreement to Rokoro, Diego said something as well, with his right hand covering his mouth as he suspected something.

"Time on Mars is actually slower than on Earth since it's further from the Sun, so if this "Mars" is incorporating everything that Mars has to offer, then what we are witnessing is nothing more than time on Mars."

"I see. If what Diego has said is true, then time didn't stop. It's just slower. Did I get that right?"

To Marina, Diego nodded his head and Rokoro then spoke his mind about this.

"Fascinating, Diego! But, this also means that if the time that Kawahara-dono is exposed to is the same, that we also have additional time?!"

Ursula didn't hesitate to speak rapidly after Rokoro was done as she had noticed something as well.

"Wait, do you remember how in the elevator that voice said that the timer was set for one hour...? Was it referring to one hour here or one hour on the outside?"

"I think it's one hour here, no? The elevator left us in this area and the elevator erupted from the ground, so it must've recognized that we were about to enter the area."

"You could be right, Vonu. Then, does this mean that we are not entire affected by the time limit of the exam?"

Ursula was in doubt. She knew not whether the time from before was affecting the path of action here, but Diego intervened as he saw this whole discussion a bit pointless.

"Can we not lose time? We are not greek philosophers discussing the very meaning of existence. We are tasked with putting the component in its place."

"Once again, Diego's right! This is my fault, as I tend to drag conversations on for a little longer!"

Certaintly, one could say this was Rokoro's fault, but they all knew that they enjoyed having little conversations like those. As a matter of fact, everyone in this group suffered from one particular problem: they were never well-received in their school despite the school's standards. They can't fit in because they are far more absorbed into topics that tend to bore out others and when they attempt to fit it, they come out as awkward people.

In other words, this is a group full of introverts yet their leader, Rokoro knows this and attempts every now and then to connect with them.

At last, they exited the area by going in north direction. Wind in this atmosphere could barely be captured and something to keep in mind is that they are not freezing to death as a human being would, if they were on Mars. The temperatures here are fairly balanced---not too cold nor hot.

On the end of the area, they could ultimately glance upon the entire atmosphere of Mars. Unlike on Earth, there are only ruins here alongside concretes. Furthermore, the sight of extinct volcanoes and disfigured canyons went to show that evidence of activity is there. That is a topic that many human beings indulge in with grand consistency.

With all this in mind, in such a seemingly infinite place such as this, where exactly was Rokoro and his crew going to place the component in? As far as they were concerned, they were travelling on a very rough ground and the scenery resembled that of a deserted atmosphere.

Except for one single place. The place where even the sun reached---a spark of light engulfed within the very top of that inactive 100-meter height volcano.

"I see a tower there!"

Having already walked close to 200 meters in the spawn of such said minutes, Diego alerted everyone as he pointed in the northeast direction; towards an inactive volcano---in the very top of it. There, on the top, lies a black tower within; earning the appeal of an industrial skyscraper. The reason as to why the tower shined so particularly bright was no other than due to the fact that it's black and as such, the contrast of the sunlight will undoubtedly affect the surface of the tower the most; as the red surface of Mars barely contrasts from the sunlight.

"Is that a skyscraper?! All alone, on top of that volcano!"

"No losing time in admiration, Rokoro. That skyscraper is our destination, or do you see any other particular location here that strictly isn't related to Mars?"

"True enough, Diego! A skyscraper in Mars, what madness!"

It wasn't far away, however. The inactive volcano had an entrance on the south side of it, so all they did was to walk for around ten minutes and they were there. So far, they hadn't witnessed anything too out of the ordinary---except that was not true. This entire scenery was beyond the usual scenery. However, they had one goal and that goal would be accomplished by first going through the dark metallic tunel that would lead to the inside of the volcano.

A contrast in light was therefore created as the tunnel was unfamiliar with light; but Mars was oddly silent. Furthermore, as they crossed that tunnel to the end of it, no one spoke. They were entirely captured by the essence of Mars; a planet where human life was not within.

However, before they all crossed the tunnel, Marina called out to their attention.

"Now it's 10:16 am..."

They stopped for a while but then ultimately continued forward as Rokoro would explain it to everyone present.

"It's been around fifteen minutes, I believe..."

In deep thought, Rokoro came to the swift conclusion that a full minute here is the equivalent of fifteen minutes on Earth and that to Ryousuke Kawahara, a minute had passed, officially. In other words, the task at hand was completely partial to the time countdown---or at least, almost partial.

"Everyone, if fifteen minutes on Earth is the equivalent of a single minute here, then we have 435 minutes remaining!"

"And that's the equivalent of 7 hours and twenty five minutes in Earth's time."

"It's as Diego says! So, ease up, everyone!"

The moment Rokoro said that, not a single person in his group continued to be stressed out because they were initially stressed out at the fact that they had to finish this task fast, but now that they knew that they had at least seven hours to accomplish their task, they suddenly felt all that pressure gone.

On the other hand, Diego murmured something to himself as he was the only one who capitilized on something bizarre.

"....Why don't the times match then..."

He was confused. Diego knows for sure that the time indicated back there, on the area with the ten elevators indicated a countdown of 30 minutes but he couldn't help notice that slight contradiction.

Why would the time here be different while the outside time works like normal? He thought to himself that it would only make the exam easier. He frankly thought that maybe it was something to do with this section and nothing else; that's why he didn't give it much though as the entire group moved into the vicinity of the volcano.

Since the volcano is extinct---therefore inactive---the inside of it was actually a rough rocky circle where a skyscraper lies within. The height of it is the same as the volcano although a few meters taller. Henceforth how it was noticeable in the first place.

It would be the same as walking into a building. However, something to notice is that unless a person has extremely good vision, they cannot capture the very top of the volcano---its circular edges that permit a gap to exist in which anyone can therefore see the singed sky above.

As such, should a person sit on the very edge of the gap, nobody could catch a glance of that person since the difference in height is enormous.

Against any expectations, on that top, he would stand watching Rokoro and his group as they all walked in the dark tall skyscraper.

Speaking of expectations, Rokoro did not expect the inside of the first floor to be exactly like a skyscraper as well. Although there was a reception desk in the middle of the white floor, nobody was receiving any of them. The first floor containing two appealing factors to it.

Located in the furthest northeast corner, a stairway would be at sight, so they knew that they could all climb their way to the next floor through that stairway. However, in west direction, to their left, they also could see an elevator.

With that in mind, they were puzzled as they knew not whether or not what they should take. Suddenly, all eyes were on Rokoro.

"Hm, I believe the elevator is perhaps not working because it will most likely take us to the top!"

"But we won't know it until we check it, will we?"

The one who made that suggestion was a boy from Rokoro's group. Furthermore, Diego agreed with him on this.

"Sorry, can you check if it's working? If it rides to the top then come down and tell us so we can go up."

With nothing to fear, the boy started to walk in the opposite direction and faced the elevator. Afterwards, on the right side of the elevator, he pressed the button to go up.

Nobody expected an answer since they were all under the assumption that the component had to be put in its place first for the elevator to be functional. They were all quite well-versed in the mechanic of "equivalence"; ergo the act of doing something first to get the latter.

"Yeah, no problem."

The boy clicked the button of the elevator and in less than five seconds, the inside of the elevator was exposed rather quickly. Calmly, he then walked into it and saw that there were multiple buttons to press.

"There are other 99 buttons to press. Do I just press the 100th one?"

They knew that at the top of the tower lied their destination, most likely, so in order to speed things up, Rokoro spoke to him.

"Yes! If you see that there is something to place this component within, ride down the elevator and inform us! We are counting on you!"

"Alright, leave it to me!"

The boy, who had not given his name, rode the elevator subsequently. It would be at the time that the elevator's door would close that Rokoro would say something else to everyone present.

"Shall we wait a bit? It shouldn't take him more than five minutes!"

"I agree with Rokoro here. We should just wait."

"If you say so, Diego."

Vonu agreed with Diego's agreement with Rokoro and just like that, in the first floor, they awaited for the good news, while staring at that dark metallic elevator.

They waited.

Another minute passed by. Their expressions didn't stiffen because this skyscraper is abnormally tall---no, that's wrong. That's just how a skyscraper is.

Naturally, it would take more than a minute for the boy to go up and go down.

Therefore, they waited for another minute.

Some of their expressions stiffened and skepticism rose on the surface after five minutes. Ursula then broke the silence and told Rokoro the truth.

She was a bit nervous.

"It's been more than five minutes, Rokoro..."

This was something Rokoro couldn't deny. Because, as it stood, it had been more than five minutes, he, however, adjusted his glasses and insisted with everyone.

"....Just two more minutes."

"...Alright."

There was nothing to be afraid of, but the moment they noticed in their cellphones that signal was missing this area, they all quietly absorbed that information to themselves without communicating with each other. They felt as if it would put the atmosphere more nervous than it already was.

Two minutes later, he still didn't come and Diego had to call out to Rokoro.

"Rokoro... It's been more than two minutes..."

Diego wasn't exactly composed either. However, Rokoro offered a suggestion as to what it could've happened.

"I believe that he is climbing down the stairs instead! Maybe the elevator at the top doesn't go down unless the component is inserted!"

Vonu approached Rokoro in the middle of the area and agreed with him.

"That's the only explanation. Which means we should climb up."

"Yeah."

"Indeed!"

Without a member in their group, the group was now moving as a 60 people group instead of a 61 people group.

By going to the east direction, they climbed the stairs firstly to the north top side, then took the left top side, subsequently as well, the north top side again while as well taking the left top side again thus completing a full circle.

It would be identical to how the first floor is shaped except there isn't an entrance and there is a way down now. Furthermore, there is also an elevator exactly on the same side as the previous floor's. There isn't a reception, however, this time.

Light-wise; although barely illuminated, it was enough for the students to see each other.

"Everyone, can you hear footsteps?"

Rokoro asked that because there was barely any communication going on and so, by asking all of them to focus their hearings to the maximum, he could gather some intel on this.

"No."

"Nope."

"None."

"I don't think so..."

"Not even ours."

Not a single positive response came forward and as such, they all concluded that the boy who had been sent by the elevator to the top was perhaps still up there.

They were left with two choices, realistically, but they only acknowledged one, which was to go up and they did so, moving towards the third floor.

It was then in the third floor that Vonu noticed something. He stopped while looking at the elevator in the third floor.

"Hold on. This---shouldn't be working, right?"

Vonu approached the elevator as he pressed the button on its right side, which made Rokoro express his thoughts transiently.

"There's no w--"

However, it opened.

"...It opened."

Diego began to wildy speculated something as he murmured that and then spoke to Rokoro and Vonu.

"Isn't this a different elevator?"

Ursula counter-argued rather quickly.

"No? Elevators take space in the structure. You can't just have 100 different elevators. It has to be the same one."

"I know but it's weird---Let me try something."

What Vonu did was to press the switch on the first floor and like that, the elevator closed.

Not even a minute later, but only about twenty seconds later, Vonu climbed down from the stairs and met up with Rokoro.

"Alright, so there's nothing malfuctioning; that's good to know. I'll be taking the elevator to the fourth floor to see the result."

"Godspeed!"

Rokoro wished his a safe return in an old-fashioned way, because, after all, it wouldn't take long for Vonu to return. If it took him twenty seconds to return after riding down to the first floor---two floors below this one---then it would take him less time than that to return.

However, after thirty seconds had passed, Vonu was nowhere at sight.

"What?"

"Well, isn't he just upstairs?"

"Maybe he's tricking us? I didn't take Vonu for that type of guy..."

They were certainly confused as they assumed that Vonu was upstairs and so, all they had to do was to climb to the fourth floor. After doing so, what they witnessed as the exact same structure: a way up via upstairs and an elevator at the north-central area.

"Vonu?"

Rokoro whispered that and Ursula followed him up with a louder inquisition.

"Vonu?! Are you there?!"

"Say something!"

But despite Diego telling Vonu to say something, no words from Vonu came forth and they were left wondering what was actually happening.

Seeing that they were reduced to 59 people, Rokoro, along with Diego arrived at the conclusion that riding the elevator was only amounting to unnecessary stress and so, they told everyone their thoughts.

"Let's just not ride the elevators... We can climb to the top via stairway."

As Diego just said, they had no obligation to take the elevators. It was unnecessary for them to risk going through what the other boy and Vonu went through.

"I admire technology, but physical exercise is necessary at times!"

More relieved, agreements came from within Rokoro's group as they looked at each other while confirming their relieved opinions.

"Oh thank God..."

"The elevator's kinda creepy..."

"Why haven't they come back yet...?"

"Do you think that the elevator is taking them somewhere not from the top?"

"Maybe..."

With their path of action decided, they continued to the next floor in hope for a change within the scenery. Along the way, they had hoped to find the two of them, but the fifth floor remained the same with the two missing members gone from action.

Rokoro was getting far too skeptical about this but nonetheless, he, along with his remaining members moved to the sixth floor. Aside from the fact that they were getting higher and higher, nothing changed again.

A strange malicious silence began to consume the atmosphere and each footstep started to sound terrifying to them, for some reason. On the seventh floor with no changes whatsoever, Rokoro couldn't help but gain a sensation of fear along with his members. It was bothering him, far too much, how more than possibly ten minutes had passed and the two missing members had not returned.

The eight floor remained the same and the very fact that there was a reception at the beginning made one question something.

"Why would a huge skyscraper be in the middle of Mars....?!"

Ursula was the one who couldn't hold back her thoughts and she quickly put her two hands on her mouth once she realized she had accidently blurted that out.

With their wits lost, no one could form a plausible response and so, they moved on to the ninth floor, which remained once again, the same.

"...What floor are we in again?"

"Seventh...?"

Some members were already feeling lost, so Diego didn't hesitate to inform them of the truth.

"We are on the ninth floor."

"....Thanks."

Thus, they form their silence again, as Rokoro remained in the front line, guiding them to the top.

Alas, as nobody expected a change, it happened, in the tenth floor.

"Everyone, look! The passage to the eleventh floor is blocked!"

Everything about the floor was exactly the same as the other previous floors, except that the passage to the upcoming floor was blocked by a wall of steel; thus Rokoro had to firmly notice everyone about this.

"What... do we do now?"

Ursula, a bit afraid asked that to Rokoro as she looked to the elevator, against her will. Deep down, she already knew that the elevator would play a crucial part here.

Rokoro had to answer however, despite being nervous.

"We---We need to see what can be done to bring down that wall..."

Diego capitalized quickly on the factor that the elevator had something to do with it and the fact that the wall was halting their progress, so he retained a bit of nervosity and went straight to the elevator.

"D-Diego?!"

Unable to contain his fear inside, Rokoro didn't have a choice but to be surprised in a negative way once he saw Diego pressing the elevator button on the outside.

"We need to do something and it's crystal clear that the elevator has something to do with it."

The elevator opened itself up and without doing anything except walking inside of it, Diego remained there, at the very center of the elevator.

He took a deep breath and now from afar, he spoke to all of them.

"I could be wrong here but I am already sensing a pattern. Hear me out here---this is the tenth floor and most likely, in every ten to ten floor, there will be a wall like this and the only other partial factor is the elevator. Here is my plan: I am going to ride this elevator to the next floor to see what happens. Of course... There is a chance that I won't return like the others but, we are most likely at the top of the tower and what's actually happening is that their way down is locked and they are trapped, so we have to unfreeze every door. Did I make myself clear here?"

Diego's theory is simple but a bit complicated at the same time. He reckons that he or more than a person has to ride the elevator in order to make the wall unfreeze itself. That perhaps that the wall is nothing more than a defensive mechanism.

As such, they would have to start committing to this task. Furthermore, Rokoro recalled something that Ryousuke Kawahara had told them previous and he didn't hesitate on sharing his knowledge.

"Everyone, I just remembered something! Kawahara-dono told me that each section has defensive mechanisms should steps be skipped! This has to be it!"

"Hold on, then does that mean that in order to freeze this wall that a specific number of people have to ride the elevator?"

"What do you mean, Ursula? It's not like this skyscraper has a way to know how many of us are in here..."

As soon as Rokoro heard what Gino said to Ursula, he began to think and his mind winded up to the very entrance where there is a reception. He recalled that in that reception desk, there was a thin horizontal red crystal on the top of the white desk but he didn't feel like mentioning it because he thought it was irrelevant.

However, what Rokoro realized would prove that the crystal is actually an extremely relevant factor.

"But it has! The red crystal in the desk is a scanner! Of course, how could I not have noticed this?! It's an indirect reference to the fact that the component is also a scanner! Everyone, the skyscraper is aware of how many of us are here and so, each ten floor requires a variety of people to go through the elevator in order to balance our numbers!"

Realizing Rokoro's theory, from within the still-open elevator, Diego's eyes opened wide as he spoke eager in agreement.

"I think Rokoro is on to something here! If the crystal recognized 61 of us and if there are ten floors, then the numbers have to be divided..."

Marina, from the back of the students spoke as she had calculated the exact division for this specific floor.

"If we have to divide our number in each floor then that means... Since Kamuel and Vonu already took the elevator, there has to be three more who are willing to do so, if we count Diego. To be more specific, a number of 6,1 people have to go through the elevator but it's impossible to make that division, so we will just have to assume that only six people are required!"

Under the assumption that there are ten floors, in each floor, since 61 people divided by 10 floors equals 6,1; according to Marina, a grand total of six people would have to go inside the elevators for the wall to unfreeze.

Offering herself for the cause, Marina walked into the elevator where Diego is in right now.

"I believe in my theory and I will be putting my faith on you to carry out the mission, Rokoro!"

Two more offered themselves to go, as it was one boy and one girl, who also said their words to Rokoro, as Diego pressed the switch to go to the next floor.

"We'll be back in no time!"

"Have some confidence. Can't have the leader nervous all the time, hah!"

Rokoro wished them luck exactly as the door began to close itself.

"Everyone, I'll see you in a while!"

The four of them flashed their smiles as the elevator's door closed. But, the remaining 55 students smiled wider and wider as they saw the metallic door completely go up; thus unlocking the passage to go up.

Without a doubt, this was a moment to celebrate for Rokoro and the others as they witnessed the power of their intellect coming together.

"Yes! Eureka! Marina's theory is correct!"

"So that's what was happening!"

"I was starting to think that they were just randomly disappearing but now it makes all sense!"

Some students were hugging each other and sharing high-fives; this included Rokoro and Gino to as well high-five each other. Nothing at that moment made them more happy because they were proud of their teamwork.

"It was as Sagasuga-dono said! It's been proven throughout history that collective minds work better than one and that organization will always win!"

Hiroyoshi Sagasuga's words made them even more confident about their success as they began to climb as a unit; floor by floor, not witnessing a single difference until they hit the twentieth floor.

Of course, the twentieth floor had a difference and it was the very same element previously present in the tenth floor. However, this time around, they knew how to solve this problem and as such, six people went in this time around.

Something to keep in mind is that Rokoro could not be the one who drove the elevator from within as he had to be the last person, since he is the one who would place the component. Therefore, if Rokoro was counted out, Marina's previous mathematic dilemma was irrelevant since six people will go in each ten to ten floors. Until, the last floor where of course Rokoro would have to go along.

"Later, Rokoro!"

"Good luck up there!"

"Don't fail us now, yeah?"

"If you encounter the rest, give them the good news!"

"Make it count, we are all in this together."

"Don't be late!"

49 people remained and the twentieth floor's wall officially elevated itself and as such, the path was clear once again.

On the 27th floor, Gino would ask a question to Rokoro, who is on the more front side leading his comrades while keeping his inner eccentric attitude to the minimum in order for everyone around him to focus. He realized that his comments could make them nervous and so, he was holding his attitude back for after this was done. This was hard for him.

Gino looked Rokoro in the eyeball and although slightly nervous, asked regardless.

"....Are they really at the top? It's kinda creepy how some of them have said that they would click on the floor that is right up ahead but didn't appear..."

"...We already talked about that! Supposedly, they are stuck on the top because we haven't unfrozen every wall there is!"

"R-Right! I gotta keep it together, man!"

But at the end of the day, Rokoro knew that was just a positive theory. In reality, he had no conclusive evidence to that theory whatsoever, but he could, however, have faith in the theory and that's what always kept Rokoro going.

By abiding faith in his theories, he always kept going and going. Throughout the years of his childhood, Rokoro suffered a trauma that he never spoke to anyone about. When he was five years old, he discovered his passion for discovery and would always explore new subjects that were far too advanced for him at that time. Rokoro didn't care about the difficulty, he never did; all Rokoro ever wanted was to explore.

Therefore, he thought to himself that it was only natural that everyone in his class would think that way as well---however, that was not the case. Nobody in the kindergarten was as eccentric as he was and as a matter of fact, he kept getting isolated by his peers in the kindergarten thus leading him with a childhood of no friends. Nobody ever showed his inner passion for discovery, but he kept his faith up. He knew that once he got to high-school that everything would change.

He wouldn't hesitate to tell others in his new class what he wanted to be when he grew up. Rokoro always wanted to be a power influencer in this world and would tell others how he was going to change the world with his mind---but this didn't cause him to just get isolated by his peers again. He was bullied every day in a different way to the extreme from not being normal. Nobody would just go out of their way to express their dreams and Rokoro didn't understand why the people around him or people in general are so afraid of expressing their dreams.

Every day without fail he would get dragged down to halleys in his high-school and was beaten to a pulp day by day. He received so many kicks once that he had to go under surgery due to his damaged stomach. He was hit on the face so much that his glasses would get broken every time he would get physically bullied. With consistency, he was forced to drink water from the urinols and at times, even eat feces. Teachers did not show him support as the usual-cliched issues would occur where Rokoro was not able to defend himself.

His house was assaulted several times by his bullies that would chase him after school. In every morning, he would get gum stuck to his hair and while entering the class, the bullies would often force him to walk into class naked or they would stab him in the gut. His mother, unable to deal with what was happening to him and how her money would always get stolen, blamed Rokoro and said that everything was his fault. In the next morning, Rokoro found her body in the bathtub full of blood, with her wrists sliced.

Many times, he thought of killing himself. His father beat him up with high consistency since he was a road-worker who would drink alcohol carelessly. At one time, Rokoro was a victim of an attempted sexual act by his father, but, Rokoro at that time successfully called the cops. Something that Rokoro would never reveal to himself was that he had to kill his father in order to not get raped. The cop who came to his rescue, at the time, understood what had happened and didn't say a word about it as well.

The cop's words, remain with him still to this day.

"Bad people will always go out of their way to make your day worse, kid. That's why it's necessary to be a good person---so you can have better days. That's my theory about how to have a good day; your day is a reflection of what's around you. Why don't you take this? You don't have a family and could use something like this? It will change your life, most likely."

Rokoro learned that what manages one to be successful in their life and why the cop helped him out was due to one essential factor: his faith in the theory and that as long as you have that faith; that's all you need.

For many years to come afterwards, Rokoro still firmly believes that devoting one's soul for the sake of a theory is worth everything as that ideology changed how he perceived life completely. What the cop offered to the kid was a promotion card; promoting the prestigious high-school that Rokoro would discover, where his intelligence is valued and highly appreciated. His faith kept him going and he was rewarded for it.

That's why, as he recalls all this, with a glister in his eyes full of faith, Rokoro couldn't help but be grateful.

"See you soon!"

"Later now!"

"Man, I can't wait to leave this island!"

"Keep everyone together, Rokoro."

"Kawahara's an awesome leader, but you got potential!"

"Still a few ways to go though!"

43 people remained as six would ride the elevator like the previous ones on the thirtieth floor.

Having recalled all of those thoughts, Rokoro was feeling weirdly emotional and as such, he decided to not hold back his attitude anymore.

"Please wait for us, everyone! We will reach you soon!"

"I hope so!"

"You betcha!"

The elevator's door closed and Rokoro along with 42 others rushed to the fortieth floor as they faced yet another wall, but as per usual, they would know what to do.

Likewise, as the number dropped down to 37, on the fiftieth floor, six more would be dispatched for the greater cause as Rokoro's faith burned higher and higher.

Now down to 31 members, it would be once again up to six members to do their part as the sixtieth floor required the exact same number of students.

Climbing higher and higher, the number decreased once again to 25.

Rokoro and the remaining others were now blessed with more solar light as before as they continued their way to the top, in that bizarre hollow skyscraper.

At the arrival on the seventieth floor, the numbers went down to 19 and just like that, only three other floors remained.

Undoubtely, they were getting closer and closer. The remaining members' faith in their plan only grew stronger the more sacrifices they made.

They knew they were going to get out of there safe and deliver their good news to the leader of the cause; Ryousuke Kawahara.

13 people had to ride the elevator on the eightieth floor while on the ninthieth floor, 6 more, thus leaving only 7 people remaining.

At long last, the peak was visible. From the glass sheltering the skyscraper in dark, they saw the outside of the volcano as it contained the ever-red atmosphere of Mars alongside its phenomenal disfigured rocky attractions like canyons and endless craters that resembled the moon we all know.

Since six people had to go inside the elevator for the last door to be unlocked, Gino, Ursula and four others had to go.

"I'll see you in a minute, yeah?"

"I mean, we are all just up there, so let's get going!"

"Hurry up to the top, Rokoro!"

"We need you to insert the component!"

"I'm pretty sure the other groups already beat us to the pulp, even with this time thing..."

"R-Really?!"

Rokoro, midst that didn't feel the need to say anything as he would surely meet everyone in the upcoming floor, now that the door has unfrosted itself the moment the previously remaining six members clicked the button to go up.

They were already up there, in the final destination.

Confident and bright, Rokoro flashed a rebellious smirk as he felt omnipotent, capable of doing anything. A tremendous euphoria; a feeling that he was unfamiliar with but was eager to explore.

Step by step, he climbed the stairway until he met a gigantic door full of iron, covered with unknown symbols. Near it, on the southeast direction, lied a password entry device, though smaller than a computer.

In order for the door to open itself, Rokoro had to do once simple thing.

"Ten! Abra-cadabra! Open, Sesame!"

By inserting the correct password, Rokoro was at last in the last floor, a room that contained an extremely large almost empty room covered and sheltered with glasses that are absorbing the sunlight on the central, left, and right side of this room. By almost, it's referring to how there is a general elevator on the left side of the room as there always was.

However, something immediately bothered Rokoro.

"...Where is everyone...?"

Suddenly, he felt his previous charisma and attitude stripped away from him just due to the fact that not a single person was present besides himself. Furthermore, as he walked to the center of the hollow room basking under a cryptic illumination, the door from behind him began to close.

"W-What?! Why did it close, hey!"

Tried as he might, Rokoro was not successful in moving the door but on the other hand, he saw a device erupt from the middle area of the room. A matching object that had the entrance of the component that Rokoro is carrying in his pocket.

"Wait, that has to be it... If I insert it, then everyone will appear, right?!"

Rokoro had not noticed at this point that his faith, although there, was turning blind. He no longer had any logical foundation to back his faith up. As a matter of fact, he knew that he had lost such foundation the moment he entered this unknown black skyscraper.

As Rokoro approached the object in the middle area, he noticed that the elevator's door had opened itself yet, for a while nobody was emerging from it.

"........? Everyone...?"

Though Rokoro had not gotten closer to the elevator, the scenery remained the same as nobody was coming out of the elevator.

But, midst this, Rokoro would hear a loud gunshot from within the elevator.

Bang!

And another one came after another.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"E-E-E-Everyone...?! What's going----on....?!?!"

Stumbling, Rokoro could barely keep his balance and his balance would immediately break down once he saw who really came out of the elevator.

"Daniel.... Lead-dono...?! B-But you were dead!"

Daniel, covered in blood, put the two guns on his hands right into his belt, underneath the back of it. He didn't respond to Rokoro right away as he brushed his hair for a bit. In addition to that, he took a deep breath with his eyes closed and only then, did he started to walk to Rokoro, who is currently stunned on the ground wetting himself from the wild speculations that came rushing through his head once he witnessed the grand quantity of fresh red blood in Daniel's clothing.

"I-It can't be....!!! No way, no way, no way-----NOOOOO!!!!"

Rokoro's entire body was shaking beyond his control as his tears alongside his snot ran rampart out of control as well.

Daniel found this strange, however, as he approached Rokoro. There was something that Daniel didn't understand about Rokoro---or rather, what exactly he was waiting for.

"What are you doing? Aren't you going to put it back? Didn't Kawahara tell you that you need to put the component back in its place? It's right there. Look."

Not a trace of emotion could be found as Daniel pointed at the middle of the object. However, Rokoro was grieving beyond his control as he already knew that somehow, his group members were all killed.

This caused Daniel to kneel down with one knee as he grabbed the left side of Rokoro's head and forced him to meet his eyesight up close.

"Put it there; in its place. That's what you came here for, right?"

Rokoro nonetheless remained far too emotionally unstable as he continued to cry in front of Daniel.

Unable to show remorse, Daniel gave an alternative to Rokoro.

"It's---alright. I won't kill you. You're spared. I'll let you live."

These particular words were the only ones who could halt Rokoro's emotional meltdown as he thought of what it could happen should he be able to escape this place.

For sure he knows that his comrades are dead, but Rokoro knows that Daniel Lead is alive and managed to fake his own death. Furthermore, he also knows that Daniel has infiltrated the sections and that this information has to be passed down to their leader; Ryousuke Kawahara.

As such, Rokoro attempted to calm himself many times as he was decisive on what had to be done. Daniel congratulated him for being successful in maintaining his emotions in check with a soft head path alongside a cheery smile.

"That's it... That's the way... Don't let it dominate you; after all, you wouldn't want to become their slave, would you now?"

"...Ah.... Hahahaaaaaaa...."

Still having trouble controlling himself, Rokoro could not help but cry further, however, he would now speak to Daniel, who is smiling to him still.

"P-Please let me liveeeee!! I haven't done anything to youuuu!!! Hahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Further patting his head but this time putting his right hand on Rokoro's mouth, Daniel issued his final call.

"Take the elevator as it will lead you to the entrance. I think you deserve a reward for coming this far. I am not Satan. But leave the component here. On the ground---that's it---drop it slowly."

Daniel's cold eyes followed the trail of Rokoro's shaky fingers letting go of the component thoroughly and only then, after only that was done, did Daniel let go of Rokoro's mouth.

"Run."

Rokoro didn't take chances and went straight to the elevator as he clicked on the button that said 1st floor. Never before did he click something that fast and neither did he wish for a door to close the fastest and he prayed to God that Daniel Lead wouldn't come after him, with his eyes closed.

At the end of it all, Daniel didn't come after Rokoro as Rokoro was able to be with himself on the elevator that was now descending to the very bottom of the skyscraper.

Laying on the back of the elevator, Rokoro never felt as relieved as before. Although he was feeling immense grief for the death of his comrades, he had escaped and that meant that he could live to tell the tale.

"...Huh? What is...?"

Something was continuously splashing on Rokoro's glasses but his vision was blurry and the elevator was fairly illuminated as well. At first, he had no idea what it was, but he soon recognized the color of it, which was red.

Afterwards, he slowly, afraid, started to crook his head posture in the direction of the elevator's ceiling as he saw a fountain of red falling down to the ground of the elevator like an incarnated waterfall. He also noticed how the ceiling was different from a usual elevator, as Rokoro had not in fact been inside one of the elevators from this skyscraper. On the top side of it, there is a rooftop opening which leads to the exterior north side of the elevator.

Essentially, what is above the structure of the elevator. Rokoro additionally thought to himself how it was odd that he had not seen his comrades even after reaching the top and he knows for a fact that he heard four gunshots.

However, for the top of the elevator to be slightly disfigured, it would mean something: there is something incredibly heavy on the very top of the elevator; otherwise, it couldn't possibly affect the overall structure of the elevator. Possibly, at least more than 500 kilograms in terms of weight would have to be combined successfully.

Such scenario was highly unexpected, but as the elevator reached its destination, not only did a robotic voice from the elevator alert Rokoro that he had arrived the fist floor, but something in addition happened.

"You have reached the first floor. Did you enjoy the ride, customer?"

The impact of the elevator's landing made the entire weight accumulated from the north exterior structure of the elevator collpase onto Rokoro, as he quickly became engulfed with over sixty dead bodies onto him.

"AHHHHH! AHHH! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?! AHHHH!!!"

Panicking with how many bodies were falling over his direction, he couldn't get up as the number of bodies continued to overwhelm him over and over, to the point where Rokoro began to drown in the pool of death.

Horrified and beyond mortified, Rokoro had finally known what had happened to his group members as he was at last together with all of them, like they all thought they would be. A reunion therefore occurred, however nothing but Rokoro's terror existed in that elevator with an open door.

"E-EVERYONE, NOOOOO--OOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO!!!! AGHHH!!!!! Whyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!! Hmahaha...!!! Mother! Mother, I'm scared----!!! Father, I'm drowning! I'm running out of breath! HELP ME! SOMEONE HELP ME! DAMIAN-DONO! SHIORI-DONO! YOUJO!!!"

And then, with a deep breath, despite being buried in so many dead bodies, he called out to the one person he wanted help the most. The one person Rokoro wanted to come to his aid.

"KAWAHARA-DONOOOOOOO!!! HELP ME! WE ARE BROTHERS, AREN'T WE?! DON'T BROTHERS HELP EACH OTHER OUT WHEN ANOTHER BROTHER GETS HURT!? HELP ME THEEENNNN!! I'M HURT AND I NEED HELP!! KAWAHARA, MY BROTHER!!!!"

Several minutes passed and Rokoro deep down wanted for someone to help him out yet he also acknowledged deep down, through his great emotional grief that he was the last hope remaining.

That in order for the others to be aware of Daniel Lead that Rokoro needed to survive this and tell Ryousuke Kawahara what was actually going on.

As such, with all the strength he had, through multiple physical struggles and only for countless minutes to be dispatched as a way of showing how physically frail Rokoro really is, Rokoro managed to dive through all the bodies while maintaining a certain distance from the ground with his mouth in order to breathe.

Countless times during that whole endeavor did Rokoro's life flash before his eyes. The terror of thinking about Daniel Lead would make his mind blank as he thought he was a fool for looking down on a criminal simply because he never encountered any real threats in the island.

For a second, he thought that there were no real criminals besides Daniel Lead; henceforth why Rokoro maintained the strong necessity of moving through the dead bodies and ultimately, his endeavor was successful yet his body was too numb to completely get up at the moment.

"...............I....will.....get....this.... information across no matter what......!!!!!"

In order to get out of the first floor, Rokoro had to continuously support his right forearm onto the ground just for his lower and upper parts of the body to move. His vision, massively blurry didn't allow him to get a good eyesight but he knew that as long as he got to the elevator and went back to Ryousuke Kawahara that their deaths would have not been in vain.

Amidst this, Rokoro had no way to notice something. In his mind, in the earlier discussion of whether or not the trial timer was related to the fact that time here in this section is slower, Rokoro and his now-dead companions had arrived at the conclusion that the trial timer was related to the time that they were perceiving.

However, they never gained evidence about such a conclusion. In addition to that, they never knew what this trial was referring to and by now, as Rokoro crawled like an injured dog to the exit of the volcano---leaving endless trails of blood down the road----he never suspected that the trial would get in his way.

What is the trial, exactly?

For starters, it's more important to acknowledge the existence of this particular skyscraper and what exactly it's there for. What sustains the ability for humans to stay in this atmosphere without being affected by what the atmosphere has to actually offer was the fact that the trial was underway. Furthermore, it was regulated and as such, it was designed to sustain human life within.

Yet, once the trial was over, this would mean something---however what? To that something; the inside of the skyscraper and its surrondings---in this case the volcano, the inside of it, would be sheltered from the lack of regulations. Therefore, should one stay inside the skyscraper or within the parameter of the volcano, they would be protected by the barrier that has the power to sustain human life within. Plus, the fact that the component was put in its place is the actual factor as to why the skyscraper is unaffected alongside the vicinity below.

To be more precise, without the component, the skyscraper and the area below in the volcano would become intoxicated; exactly the same as the atmosphere on Mars. With that said, the component plays a huge role.

Not only that, but this information certainly comes in handy as no one with this information would walk into this section to begin with, or if they had this information they would instead remain within the skyscraper or at least in the bottom of the volcano.

"...I... willllllll--- WH--- Gua---Agh-----Gaaah---!"

All of that information is severely important as no human being can live on the atmosphere on Mars for a couple of reasons. First of all, any human being, regardless of who it is would instantly die, or at least nearly due to the fact that Mars' atmosphere is far thinner compared to Earth's atmosphere. Furthermore, there's a tremendous lack of oxygen which would make anyone suffocate. Not only that; the temperatures are glacial cold from the distance to the sun.

With these factors recognized, the sight of Rokoro's eyeballs dropping an unstoppable wave of blood as his blood boiled alongside his entire body freezing on the very entrance of the extinct volcano was not surprising.

In that land of nothingness, no one would witness Rokoro's body disfigure into the exact same essence as the dead planet of Mars.