Infinite Regeneration In The Apocalypse-Chapter 118: Back To The Real World!

The massive white shop space suddenly began collapsing like a row of dominos falling in sequence. The holographic displays flickered and vanished. The white walls dissolved into particles of light that scattered into nothingness. Reality itself seemed to fold inward and compress.

When Vogue’s eyes opened again after the disorienting transition, he found himself back in an extremely familiar location that made his heart skip a beat.

He was sitting inside the large stadium where the trial had begun, specifically inside one of the metal cages where he and several other students had been locked up before being transported to the trial dimension. The same rusty bars, the same concrete floor, the same oppressive atmosphere of fear and anticipation.

But something was different now. The cage wasn’t full anymore.

A few other students had already awakened at this point and were sitting or standing in various states of confusion and relief. Vogue counted quickly and realized there were only about seven students in this particular cage, when there had been at least twenty before the trial began.

These survivors had apparently died relatively early in their respective trials but had managed to pass at least one hidden quest requirement before dying. That accomplishment had been enough to satisfy the Omnibus System and allow them to return alive rather than transforming into radiants.

Of course, Vogue didn’t recognize any of these particular students as familiar faces. That made sense when he thought about it logically. Each cage had been transported to a different trial dimension, meaning these students had experienced completely different challenges and environments than what Vogue had faced in New York.

They were strangers who happened to share a cage assignment, nothing more.

The very moment Vogue fully awakened and his eyes opened completely, a soldier wearing full combat gear suddenly flashed forward with incredible speed. The man appeared in front of Vogue’s cage in less than a blink, moving with the enhanced abilities of someone who had already become a Stellar Knight years ago.

The soldier’s spear was raised in a threatening position, the sharp metal tip pointed directly at Vogue’s throat through the bars. His eyes were hard and suspicious as he stared intensely at Vogue’s face, searching for any sign of radiant transformation.

"What is your name?" the soldier demanded in a harsh, authoritative voice that expected immediate compliance.

Vogue frowned slightly at the aggressive approach but understood the necessity. The soldiers needed to quickly identify who had successfully maintained their humanity and who had been corrupted. He answered clearly and without hesitation.

"My name is Vogue Morningster."

The soldier studied Vogue’s eyes carefully for several more seconds, looking for the telltale golden glow that would indicate radiant infection. When he saw only normal human eyes staring back at him with clear awareness and intelligence, the soldier finally nodded his head in satisfaction.

He lowered his spear and stepped back from the cage, moving to his previous guard position about ten meters away. His posture remained alert and ready to strike at a moment’s notice if needed.

At that exact moment, a student sitting close to Vogue’s position inside the cage suddenly began roaring like a wild animal. The sound was inhuman and filled with mindless aggression rather than any recognizable emotion.

The student threw himself violently against the metal bars of the cage, colliding with them so hard that the entire structure shook and rattled. Spit and foam rolled down from his lips as his eyes rapidly changed color, shifting from normal brown to glowing golden yellow.

His arms began elongating grotesquely, the bones stretching and the muscles bulging as they transformed into something resembling the limbs of a chimpanzee or gorilla. His fingernails darkened and extended into sharp claws. His jaw structure changed, becoming more pronounced and animal-like.

"He became a radiant," Vogue muttered quietly, his eyes narrowing as he watched the transformation complete. "This student actually failed the trial and lost his humanity."

The transformation had probably been delayed by the return process, only manifesting once the student fully materialized back in the real world. It was a mercy in some ways—at least he hadn’t transformed while still in the trial dimension where he would have been completely alone.

The same soldier who had questioned Vogue moved like a ghost, his body blurring with enhanced speed as he appeared directly in front of the transforming student’s position. Without any hesitation or mercy, without even a moment’s pause to consider alternatives, the soldier thrust his spear forward.

The weapon pierced straight through the cage bars and stabbed directly into the student’s chest with perfect accuracy, punching through the ribcage and destroying the corrupted heart in a single efficient strike.

Life immediately left the transformed youth’s golden eyes as his body collapsed and died, slumping against the cage bars before sliding down to lie motionless on the concrete floor. Blood pooled slowly beneath him.

Vogue’s eyes sharpened and he sighed deeply, feeling a complex mixture of emotions. Without his system and the advantages it provided—his regeneration, his cloning ability, his time manipulation, his dragon physique—he would have also ended up in exactly this situation. Dead or transformed, just another statistic in the Osympic Trial’s brutal mortality rate.

He had been extraordinarily lucky or perhaps blessed by fate in ways he still didn’t fully understand.

Up in the spectator seats surrounding the stadium, those who were familiar with Vogue’s previous reputation as the school’s weakest student spotted him among the survivors. Their reactions were immediate and loud.

"Wait, is that really Vogue? The same Vogue who could barely run a lap around the track without collapsing?" one student exclaimed with genuine disbelief in his voice.

"Vogue actually managed to survive the Osympic Trial? This is incredibly surprising!" another person added, shaking their head in amazement.

A third student chimed in with a dismissive tone. "Well, the fact that he got ejected before the trial officially ended means he probably died pretty early in the process. But he didn’t transform into a radiant, which at least means he accomplished some kind of hidden quest objective before dying. That’s better than nothing, I suppose."

"What a lucky bastard," someone muttered with clear envy coloring their words. "He probably just hid somewhere safe the entire time and got credit for some random quest completion. Meanwhile, those of us who actually fought and survived the whole trial had to work ten times harder."