Ten789 〈2025-2026〉

Leo looked down and saw not his reflection, but a younger version of himself—age ten, the year the选拔 trials had taken his brother. The boy stared up with hollow eyes and whispered, "You left him."

Ten years of drills. Seven kilometers of pure dark. Nine minutes of oxygen buffer once he hit the bottom. ten789

The chamber was called the Descension, and for ten years, Leo had trained for it. Leo looked down and saw not his reflection,

"Nine minutes on the mark."

Not nine minutes. Seven seconds.