NOVEL NEXT Chapter 113: A Nightmare's Gentle Touch...
Meanwhile, Jean lifted her eyes to Bruce's screen. She stared for a long, long moment, her gaze unreadable.
Then, softly enough that only those closest heard her, she whispered, "...Do you think he'll fight her too?"
The room stiffened. Recruits exchanged glances filled with dread. "...Maybe," someone managed, voice thin. "It's Bruce. He fought everyone else."
"Yeah, but..." another murmured, rubbing his arms as if cold, "those two were... pretty close. Back then in the lobby here."
"Maybe Sophie was waiting for the last person standing," someone else said, voice wavering. "Now that it's Bruce, things could turn out different. Maybe they'll just let the timer run out."
"That would be the smart thing," another added quickly, eager, desperate. "Even if she's strong, Bruce is... Bruce."
Lucen dragged a hand down his face, rubbing his temples as if trying to massage reason into the situation. "Or maybe," he said, voice heavy, "Sophie came into this trial for only one reason. Him."
A thick silence fell. All eyes shifted to Sophie's screen.
"She didn't hunt," he continued. "Didn't compete. Didn't chase points. She only... watched." His voice dropped lower. "And now... she's moving."
A hush swept the room, a cold ripple crawling down every spine.
"Maybe they'll talk instead of fight..." a hopeful voice offered, but it shook with fear more than belief.
"Or maybe she'll try to kill him."
"Kill him?" someone whispered, almost choking on the words. "After everything? She's obsessed with him."
"That doesn't matter," Jean cut in sharply, her eyes hardening. "A Reign fights with pride. She won't sit quietly and lose." She said it with certainty born of bloodline knowledge, of the pride ingrained into every Great Ancient family. She didn't believe Sophie was an exception, not when the Reign name was attached. Her words cut the room into silence again, and everyone nodded faintly.
No matter how close Sophie was with Bruce, she would attack. Pride would demand it. That thought settled in every mind like a heavy weight they couldn't shake off.
Then Bruce smiled on the screen.
A small smile. A calm smile. A terrifying smile.
Every recruit in the lobby froze as if the temperature had dropped to freezing. A collective shudder rippled through the room like a shared nightmare resurfacing.
"That smile…" one whisper escaped, cracking under pressure, "it's like PTSD all over again."
"I don't want to see him again. Ever," another said, hugging their arms tightly as goosebumps speckled skin.
"He's not human," someone muttered, voice hollow. "That guy is… a nightmare."
Jean's jaw tightened. Lucen exhaled harshly. No one disagreed.
Because the truth sat heavy in all their chests, Bruce Ackerman had become their shared trauma. The monster of this trial. The shadow that would follow them long after the VR pods opened and the real world returned.
And now, the only person left standing between him and the end of the trial… was Sophie Reign.
The lobby's dim lights flickered against tense faces as every recruit watched the screens. Bruce, calm, collected, terrifying in his quiet certainty. Sophie, rising, serene, expression unreadable, yet every motion deliberate, purposeful.
The two moved toward each other, step by step, the distance closing like the jaws of fate itself.
Curiosity, dread, awe, and fear twisted in every heart as the room collectively held its breath.
Whatever would happen next... none of them were ready for it.
....
Meanwhile, Sophie and Bruce moved toward each other, and with Bruce's speed, covering the distance between them was effortless, almost too effortless. The world bent around his acceleration, trees blurring, frost scattering, air parting smoothly in his wake. Sophie sensed him long before he reached her, the subtle pressure of his presence brushing against her senses like a familiar touch. She stopped walking, her eyes softening as that unique warmth he carried washed over her.
In the next breath, Bruce was already standing before her.
She didn't hesitate. Sophie stepped into him without fear, without doubt, without a second thought, her arms looping gently around his body.
Her voice slipped out warm and soft, brushing the edge of a whisper. "You're fast..."
Bruce's hand slid around her waist, slow, deliberate, possessive in a way only she ever saw. "Anything for you, love..."
Sophie's fingers traced his shoulder, curling along the line of his neck before her gaze lifted to meet his. That serene expression she wore for the world melted away instantly. What remained was something tender, intimate, a softness that existed only for him.
"You really are the best..." she murmured softly, as if confessing something she'd known all along.
Bruce smiled, a real smile, the quiet, gentle one he never allowed anyone else to see. "Thank you, Sophie."
She tilted her head slightly, playing innocent, though the flicker in her eyes betrayed her. "For what?"
"There's no need to explain," he said softly, brushing a hand along her waist. "You know why."
A tiny smile curved her lips, her fingers drifting up to trace the line of his jaw. The touch was slow, lingering, affectionate in the way lovers touched without thinking.
"Such a cutie you are, Bruce..." she teased gently, her voice holding that subtle warmth, pure, sincere, and drenched in affection.
Bruce didn't respond with words. He simply smiled back at her, unable to hide the quiet joy flickering in his eyes.
In the real-world lobby, silence slammed over the room like a stone dropped into deep water.
Every recruit stared at the screens, their expressions frozen, their bodies rigid. They had expected a confrontation, something explosive, violent, legendary. But what they witnessed instead was so far outside anything they imagined that their minds simply... stopped.
Bruce, the unstoppable nightmare, the monster who had torn through nearly everyone, and Sophie Reign, the ethereal beauty who carried herself like royalty, were standing together in the VR world acting tender and intimate, as though the chaos of the trial didn't exist around them. As if the world truly revolved around just the two of them.
No one dared speak.
Shock clung to the walls like fog!