Theo stood up, stretching his body.

His bones popped one after another as a warmth spread through his muscles.

"That’s better," he mumbled under his breath. "So much sitting really makes me stiff."

That’s when his gaze fell on the two metallic cases on the ground.

Both were carrying resources he’d need for the breakthrough... yet, he hadn’t even once checked them out.

Theo smiled slightly.

’Imagine if they’re empty now,’ he thought, shaking his head. ’That’d make spending my time here a bit of a waste.’

But he highly doubted that would be the case.

Not with Alia in charge at least.

Theo slowly walked over to them and crouched down.

’Let’s see what they actually are,’ he thought, flicking open both of the locks. ’Need to know that much before the breakthrough at least.’

The thin mana inscriptions lit up, deactivating the protective mechanisms.

Finally, the boxes flipped open.

An overwhelming fresh, almost electric smell spread through the room, followed by one of pure seawater from the beach.

"Pfew," Theo let out, taking a step back.

One of the boxes contained a deep blue flower, completely submerged in water.

In the other was a piece of completely scorched bark, seemingly having come from a special kind of tree.

’Nice,’ he thought, smiling.

He picked up the small cards, checking their names and ways to digest them.

Both were A-rank resources — one was called an Oceanmist Flower, while the other was simply Thunderous Bark.

’This might even be over the actual prize money,’ he thought, raising an eyebrow. ’But they both suit me perfectly.’

With nothing more to look at, he closed both boxes and let out a deep sigh.

A translucent screen popped up in front of him once more.

[WYR Cooldown: 00:00:56:20]

"What do I do now... what do I do now," he muttered, cracking his neck.

His heart had already started pounding faster out of anticipation for the breakthrough. Even his palms had grown a little sweaty.

Just sitting and waiting around now would only make it worse.

At that moment, Theo instinctively reached for his phone, hoping to pass the time.

Yet... the screen remained completely black.

"Shit," he cursed. "Forgot about that."

After staring at it for a second longer, he put it back in his pocket.

’I’ll have to ask David to charge it after my breakthrough,’ he thought. ’Or I’ll just do it at home, could work too.’

With nothing else left to do, Theo slowly walked back toward the center of the room and sat down again.

The two metallic cases rested quietly beside him while the translucent screen floated in front of his face.

[WYR Cooldown: 00:00:54:47]

The numbers slowly continued ticking down second by second.

Theo let out a slow breath, trying to keep himself as calm as possible.

But it barely helped.

’What element do I get?’

’Will it be advanced or normal?’

His heartbeat thumped loudly in his chest as time continued to tick by slowly.

Eventually—

Theo opened his eyes again.

His gaze fell on the system window again.

[WYR Cooldown: 00:00:08:13]

"...It’s time."

If he started now, he could perfectly time his Would You Rather at the exact moment he gained his next affinity.

Theo let out a slow breath, forcing himself to calm down.

Finally, his eyes sharpened before closing.

’Let’s start.’

Theo looked deep inside his core, focusing on both his affinities.

He gritted his teeth and began forcing out mana threads from both simultaneously.

Instead of guiding them to his core’s walls, a combination of yellow and blue swam around within his core.

Hundreds of threads gathered up, turning into thousands within mere minutes.

That’s when Theo began feeling a sharp tingling sensation.

It felt just like the first time... except it was far worse now.

’I still need to stimulate my core more!’

The tingling sensation only grew worse and worse.

Suddenly, it felt like a dam had been broken.

Thousands of threads spilled into his core simultaneously.

A deep burning pain went through his chest as the lightning and water threads collided against each other.

’What is this?!’

His skin lit up in yellow, followed by a blue color, then followed by yellow, over and over again.

Despite the pain, Theo kept forcing out threads, filling his core to the brim.

Finally, he felt a sense of fulfillment from his core.

’Now!’ he thought, eyes opening. ’The resources!’

He pushed himself through the pain and picked up both A-rank resources at the same time.

A sharp numbing feeling shot through one arm, while the other felt an almost paralyzing pressure.

But Theo didn’t pay it any mind.

He moved quickly, stuffing both items into his mouth.

’Next step!’

He forced the mana threads inside his core to push against the core walls, forcing it to expand.

His core cracked slightly, sending violent pain down his body.

’I was prepared for that one this time,’ he thought, clenching his teeth.

As the core expanded, mana threads rushed into the gaps, mending each one shut instantly.

At the same time, the mana from the resources surged toward the cracks from the outside.

Bit by bit, the mana disappeared as his core expanded.

’Go! Go! Go!’ he thought, his nails digging into his palms.

He pushed his core’s growth to its absolute limits, growing to a size no one had ever seen before.

That’s when he felt the familiar sense of fulfillment running through him.

’Done!’

A small sea of mana still floated outside his core, which he quickly forced into the remaining cracks.

Only after every crack was completely mended and his core’s walls were strengthened to the very limit did he stop.

Finally, his core glowed for a moment.

Then, it changed from light bronze to a deep silver color.

A violent wave of mana rushed through his body, radiating an overwhelming pressure far beyond before.

Theo’s eyes widened slightly.

He felt his body become lighter, while everything around him suddenly became much clearer.

Finally, the mana outburst came to a stop.

"I did it," he muttered, feeling exhausted.

But he knew this was no time to relax.

His eyes snapped open, falling on a system window flashing in front of his eyes.

[Would You Rather—]

Theo stared at the window with wide, expectant eyes.

Option 1: Awaken the Calamity Wraith’s SSS-rank Curse Affinity

Option 2: Awaken the Chaos Beast’s SSS-rank Chaos Affinity