[Welcome To The Last Mini-game!]

The white light faded.

Fifteen figures materialized across a vast circular coliseum.

The air around them felt cooler and drier. For a moment, none of them moved. The sudden shift left most of them unsteady, and breathing hard from the teleportation.

The coliseum loomed enormous around them.

Perfectly circular walls of smooth black marble rose high, their surfaces absorbing what little light reached them.

Row after row of empty stone seats circled the entire arena. The floor beneath their feet was the same dark stone, reflecting faint outlines of their figures.

Dominating the exact center was a single, tall obsidian throne, with a surface that absorbed all light.

The space felt too large. And too eerily quiet.

The air pressed against their skin with a subtle, constant weight.

Jaren stood rigid, his sword still in his grip.

Misfortune appeared a few steps to his left.

The three other Hawk officers; Seven, Five and Two, materialized close behind him, faces pale as they took in the scale of the arena.

A few steps away from them was Fei Ming, hands loose at his sides, staring at the tall throne.

Nearby, Olive remained coiled while Xia scanned the surroundings with narrowed eyes.

A short distance off, Keres played with his hair, twisting the strands with a finger. "This place’s huge," he said, glancing all around.

The remaining survivors filled in the gaps, some breathing harder than others, eyes darting across the empty seats and the lone throne.

Then the Runic Board materialized high above the center of the arena. Its cold blue light cut through the dim space, casting long shadows across the black marble floor.

[The last mini-game has begun.]

[Welcome to the mini game: The Fool’s Coronation!]

[Here are the rules:]

[Kill the boss tier beast, Euphoria Sovereign.]

[Whoever is sitting on the throne when the beast dies wins the game.]

[This arena will gradually fill with ’Euphoria Mist’. The longer you remain inside, the stronger its effects become. ]

[While seated on the throne, your skills will be greatly amplified.]

[However, the throne releases the highest concentration of Euphoria Mist directly into the person sitting on it.]

[The Euphoria Sovereign will awaken once the mist reaches sufficient density.]

[It grows stronger every time a player fully surrenders to the mist.]

[Heavy is the head that wears the crown!]

The Runic board folded shut and disappeard.

Right after, a hissing sound started quietly.

It caught Fei Ming’s attention right away. Listening more attentively, the sound was almost inaudible. But it was there, threading through the air from no single point.

In no time, people around him caught on.

Someone near the back had gone still mid-sentence.

Others turned slow circles, scanning the walls. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Then a faint mist came up.

Pink in color, rising from the ground in thin curling threads that thickened as they climbed.

The mist tasted faintly sweet on the tongue. It settled at the back of the throat, and only then did they smell it.

It crept around ankles and boots, spreading across the floor with no urgency.

"Everyone, don’t inhale it!" Olive’s arm was already up over his mouth and nose.

However, Jaren didn’t lift a hand. He stood with his arms at his sides and watched the mist rise past his boots, reading it. "There’s no point," he announced. "It’ll reach all of us regardless. It won’t cause significant harm, don’t worry."

Nobody looked fully convinced. But one by one, forearms came down.

Someone tested a breath through their nose.

Seconds passed.

Nothing happened. No one has dropped to the floor or fainted, neither did any of them coughed.

Still, the pink mist kept climbing, and the players’ shoulders eased down by degrees as nothing continued to happen.

Then Keres dropped onto his back. "Haaah— I’m beat."

He went down with complete commitment, legs sprawling wide, one arm flopping across his own stomach, and stared up at the ceiling with the expression of a man who had just received very good news.

"Hehe. I don’t know about you all," he said, "but I am feeling very, very horny right now, and my girlfriends’ aren’t even here."

Raising one hand, he pointed it at Jaren without bothering to look at him. "You sure this won’t cause any harm? It’s called Euphoria’s Mist for a reason."

Olive looked at him in disgust. His tongue clicked once against the back of his teeth and he looked away.

"Okay, everyone relax!" The blonde lady—Seven— clapped her hands, sharp enough to pull heads around.

Smiling, she continued, "All we’re doing is fighting a boss monster. That’s literally it. Nothing to panic about."

She swung an arm over Jaren’s shoulder, tipping her head toward him. "We’ve got our danger detector right here. And before anyone gets weird about him — he is actually very sweet. Right, Five?"

Five’s brows twitched. Both of them. That was all.

Seven bounced on her heels. "See! Exactly what I said!"

"When is the boss even going to show up?!" Leone—the man who had pushed hard to vote Fei Ming out earlier— lashed out.

He wasn’t directing it at anyone in particular.

Pointing toward the throne at the far end of the chamber, he yelled. "It’s taking too damn long! Is anyone going to sit on that throne?! What are we even doing — just standing around mopping the floor?!"

From the ground, Keres answered without moving a muscle. His voice had gone even looser than before, now having a few slurs between them. "Well. No one’s stopping you!Go right ahead yourself."

"Tch..." Leone’s mouth opened, got as far as forming the start of a response, and then closed his mouth.

He had no comeback for that and clearly knew it.

Now, the euphoria mist had reached waist height. The sweetness had deepened slightly, coating the back of the throat now on every inhale.

Noticing something, Xia stepped close to Olive and her fingers found his sleeve, grabbing him.

Keeping her voice down, she whispered to him, "This is a honey trap setup." Her grip on his arm adjusted. "Any game I’m in, my head stays clear — that’s just baseline for me. But right now something’s gone soft in there. I start a thought and it doesn’t finish the way it’s supposed to," she paused, now studying his face. "Are you feeling it too?"

"Huh." Olive pressed a hand against his own forehead.

Xia wasn’t wrong. There was a fuzziness sitting behind his eyes.

And whenever he tried to form a thought, it quickly dissipated. He couldn’t think straight.

Blinking many times, Olive faced Xia. "You’re... You’re right, I— I... We should tell them."

THUMP!

A sound hit from beneath the floor.

THUMP!

Somewhere in the middle, a woman’s voice cut through,thin with strain. "Did you hear that?!"

"Hear what?" A man nearby laughed.

THUMP!

"That!" she yelled.

"The only thing I’m hearing is your mouth fucking blabbering—!"

THUMP! THUMP!

"There! Again!" she shrieked. "It’s the boss tier beast — it’s coming, it’s coming—!"

"Hahahaha!" Keres laughed from the floor, the sound drifting up toward the ceiling. "You’re tripping, miss. This place is completely silent. I’m on cloud nine right now. Hehe."

"But — but—"

"Oh, for the love of— KEEP QUIET!" The man’s arm snapped back, dagger in hand, wrist cocked and blade aimed at the woman.

"Ahhhhh!"

A hand clamped around his wrist from the side.

Jaren’s fingers dug into the joint. The man’s arm jerked to a halt.

Officer Jaren stood beside him, holding it in place. "That’s enough."

He held the man’s hand for two full seconds, then released.

His gaze swept the group, examining the mist climbing past everyone’s hest height.

At the far end, the chamber had turned pink, dense enough to smear the shapes standing there . "The mist is harmless. But we aren’t. It clouds our judgement — that is what it does. Please stay aware of that. Don’t hurt each other."

"Yeah, no shit." Xia muttered under her breath.

Jaren looked back at his teammates. "How are you three holding?"

Seven forced a grin. "Honestly? Something keeps nudging me to act on every bad thought I’ve had in the last five minutes." She didn’t seem particularly troubled by this.

Two only nodded in agreement.

Soon, everyone else agreed to Seven’s claim.

But something else bothered Jaren. So he turned to the one person he hated the most.

Fei Ming had been standing apart from the nearest cluster the entire time.

He had not contributed a single word to any conversations.

The warmth faded from Jaren’s face, leaving behind a hard, uncompromising expression that seemed to freeze the air between them

"What about you," he asked.

Fateless turned to him. "Hmm?"

"Do you still have your reasoning intact." Jaren’s gaze hardened. "Or have you lost it."

Fei Ming assessed Jaren’s posture for a moment. The officer stood tense, shoulders squared, jaw tight. Of course his own reasoning was still intact. It was like the Euphoria’s mist had barely touched him. His head felt a little light, his body slightly heavy, but nothing more.

However, he replied, "My head feels light. My body is running heavy. Clearing my head enough to hold a proper conversation is costing more than it normally would."

His eyes came back up to Jaren’s face. "Just like you, I’m having the same symptoms," he paused, then added,

"Have I answered your question correctly, officer?"