Apocalypse Baby-Chapter 244: Not Happening

Alex Knight's knee nearly slammed into the ground.

The pressure hit him like a truck—no, like a mountain suddenly dropped on his back.

His entire body screamed in protest.

His legs buckled.

His vision wavered.

But he didn't fall.

He refused to fall.

Gritting his teeth, he dug his feet into the ground. Muscles quivered. His back arched. Every fiber in his body strained under the invisible weight, but somehow—he held.

The Proctor hadn't just turned things up a notch.

He'd tripled it.

Not a gradual rise. Not a smooth ramp-up.

Just—BOOM—three times the pressure.

And the effect was brutal.

THUD!

THUD!

Two tutorial players dropped like puppets with their strings cut.

One collapsed face-first with a sickening thump.

The other let out a shaky whimper before fainting entirely, their body unraveling into shimmering particles of light.

Gone.

And just like that, only ten remained.

Eight new realm players.

Two tutorial survivors.

Not a single new realm player had dropped yet.

But the once-unshakable calm of the new realm elites… was starting to break.

Even Mikel—the quiet, cold one who always stood like he was above the rest—had shifted his stance. Just a bit. One foot sliding back, trying to adjust under the weight.

His fingers twitched at his side.

His brow tightened with focus.

That flawless aura of confidence? Flickering.

But not Adam.

He stood dead center, arms folded, face unreadable.

Not a flinch. Not a bead of sweat.

Not even a blink.

Like the pressure didn't exist at all.

Alex narrowed his eyes.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fгeewebnovёl.co𝙢.

What a monster.

That strange energy—the same one he'd seen before—was wrapped around Adam like an invisible shield, pushing back against the crushing aura with ease.

It wasn't just protecting him. It was resisting the pressure altogether.

Alex stared harder, narrowing his focus.

The longer he watched, the more he began to notice.

Patterns.

Movement.

The way the energy shifted, flowed, responded—it wasn't just raw power. It was alive.

And then... something inside him shifted.

A flicker.

Like a spark catching in the dark.

His chest tightened.

It felt like a locked door deep inside was beginning to rattle—faint, but real.

Like something hidden was responding to the pressure.

Whatever this strange power was—the one that flowed through the new realm players like it was second nature...

It was in him too.

Buried.

Dormant.

But it wasn't going to come out on its own.

He'd have to drag it out.

The Proctor's silent gaze swept across the remaining ten. His aura still surged through the air like a living storm, crushing, unrelenting.

Only eight would move on.

And he wasn't stopping until the rest were broken.

Yet even he seemed... intrigued.

This wasn't how he thought it would go.

By now the selection should have ended.

With all the tutorial players eliminated— outclassed, done.

But two still stood.

Still resisting.

That alone was impressive.

They were holding firm under the weight of the aura without any help from nature's energy—the energy that most of the new realm players had already mastered.

But there was something else.

A faint flicker was building inside one of the tutorial players.

The Proctor's faceless void of a head tilted ever so slightly.

One of the tutorial players was on the verge of something far rarer.

Alex Knight was it.

He was starting to tap into nature's energy—without external help.

Something that is usually only triggered once a player reaches S-Rank.

But the man in front of him was trying to do it at B-Rank.

Absurd.

Unheard of.

No one stepped into that level of energy control this early. Not without help. Not without a system-triggered evolution.

Now the question hung heavy in the air:

Would Alex break through… or would he break apart?

Odds said the latter.

But the Proctor wasn't one to bet against miracles.

He raised his hand—calmly, almost lazily—and let the pressure rise once more.

A deep, rumbling groan echoing across the Coliseum as the aura thickened.

It crawled in—slow and relentless—like gravity itself was tightening its grip on every bone, every muscle, every nerve.

It felt like the world had turned to lead.

Like invisible hands were squeezing the life out of every player still standing.

And in the center of it all…

Alex stood, body trembling, mind screaming, something inside him straining to break free.

All ten remaining players were struggling now.

All nine, really—because if Adam felt anything… he didn't show it.

He stood perfectly still. Arms crossed. Calm. Unbothered.

Like the pressure didn't even exist.

Beside him, Mikel was visibly straining—his body now glowing faintly.

A thin sheen of red energy rippled across his skin like heat waves, reacting to the crushing force.

He could've used a skill to ease the burden. He should've.

But watching Adam hold out—no aura, no flashy ability, just raw, stable presence—lit something in him.

A challenge.

So Mikel clenched his jaw and matched him, pushing back against the weight using nothing but his own blood-red aura, pulsing from his core like fire licking the air.

A silent battle of pride.

But not everyone had the privilege to be proud.

As the pressure rose to unbearable levels, several players flared with power.

Skills ignited like mini-explosions—barriers, shields, glowing limbs, elemental pulses—wrapping around their bodies like armor.

Their energy lit up the Coliseum in bursts of color.

Some were surrounded by glowing circles etched with runes.

One had spikes of stone rise from the ground, anchoring her in place.

One player activated a frost skill—a swirl of icy mist coiling around his arms and legs. The cold numbed the weight, dulling the strain as frost crackled across the floor beneath him.

Another player slammed his palms together, and a bright rune flared to life between them. It pulsed like a heartbeat, wrapping him in a protective shield of soft golden light.

Whatever worked.

Because at this point?

It was survive or vanish.

They were adapting.

Quickly.

Smartly.

Using their skills to survive the crushing pressure.

And Alex watching, felt the temptation clawing at him.

His hand twitched, fingers curling instinctively.

He had the skills.

He could easily breeze past this selection.

But…

He refused.

His hand dropped to his side.

Jaw tight.

Chest rising and falling under the weight.

Because if he took the easy road, he wouldn't awaken it.

The power Adam wielded.

And that wasn't happening.