Apocalypse Transmigration - The Card Captor System

The next morning, a freezing wave crashed over Leo, dragging him from his deep sleep. He gasped for air as the ice-cold liquid soaked into his skin.

”Ah!”

The shock locked his lungs. All around the room, other children thrashed in their beds, crying out in panic as buckets of ice water rained down and soaked the entire dormitory.

A broad-shouldered instructor blocked the doorway. A deep scar cut across his face, yet his expression remained empty of any emotion.

”Do you think you’ve come here for a vacation?”

His deep voice bounced off the stone walls.

”This is the only warning you’ll receive.” He let the words hang in the air. ”From tomorrow onward...” He stepped closer to the shivering group. ”If any of you wake up even a second after five in the morning...” He paused. ”...you’ll be greeted with boiling water instead.”

The color drained from the faces of several children. The instructor raised a hand and pointed outside into the harsh air.

”Line up.”

”No talking.”

”No wasting time.”

The children scrambled out of their beds. Their wet clothes stuck flat against their skin, offering no protection from the freezing mountain wind that blew through the room. Leo took his place in the line without making a sound. He shifted his gaze, scanning the shivering faces around him.

Lia...

Selena...

Neither of them was there. He clenched his hands into tight fists until his knuckles turned white. The guards had separated them into different dormitories just yesterday. He had no way to know if they were safe.

The instructor’s harsh voice cut through his worries.

”Since all of you failed to wake up on time...”

”There will be no breakfast today.”

The man let his gaze sweep over the group.

”As punishment...”

”You’ll remain in those wet clothes until nightfall.”

Looks of pure despair washed over the young faces. A few children shook so hard their teeth chattered, unable to control their shivering. The instructor gave them not a single glance of pity.

”Move.”

Guards marched the group out onto a massive training field. Dozens of other groups already filled the space. Older youths practiced swinging swords, their movements as perfect and steady as machines. Farther away, others hauled massive logs across their tired shoulders. Another group crawled flat on their stomachs through the deep snow, taking hard hits from the instructors’ wooden rods every time they tried to slow down.

Leo watched it all in total silence. Not one person complained. Not one person fought back. It felt as if everyone trapped here had simply accepted this brutal life as their new normal.

The instructor stopped walking when they reached the base of an enormous mountain trail. The dirt path stretched so far up that it seemed to have no end.

”The first test.”

”Run.”

The children tilted their heads back, following the path. It climbed so high that the very top vanished into a thick layer of clouds. Tears streamed down the cheeks of several children.

”We...” A small voice shook. ”We can’t...”

The sentence never finished.

Crack!

A heavy leather whip lashed hard against the child’s back, tearing through his clothes. The little boy screamed in pain and fell hard to the ground. The instructor stared down at the rest of them, his face a blank wall.

”You have two choices.”

”Run.”

”Or die.”

The silence grew heavy. No one dared to speak another word.

The children pushed their tired legs and began to run. Barely a few minutes passed before many dropped to the back of the pack, struggling to breathe. The mountain air grew thin and sharp. With nothing in their stomachs, lifting their feet felt like dragging iron weights. Fire clawed at Leo’s lungs with every breath. His soaked clothes plastered to his skin, stealing whatever body heat he had left.

Still... He forced his legs to move, climbing higher and higher.

Hours passed. The first child finally gave out, falling face-first into a cold patch of snow.

”I’m tired...” The boy panted. ”I can’t...”

The instructor marched over to the fallen boy. He did not say a single word. He simply raised his heavy boot and kicked the child hard, sending him rolling down the steep mountain path. The boy tumbled over rocks and dirt for several meters before coming to a painful stop. His sharp cries bounced across the empty valley.

”Continue.”

The command cracked like another whip. No one dared to stop moving.

When the sun reached its peak at noon, barely half of the children remained on their feet. The surviving group got no chance to catch their breath. Instead, guards dropped heavy backpacks filled with raw stones in front of them.

”Second test.”

”Carry these.”

”Five more kilometers.”

Several children stared at the heavy bags with blank, broken eyes. One young girl lowered her head and whispered quietly, ”I can’t...”

Another whip cracked through the air. Fresh blood splattered, staining the white snow red.

Leo kept his head down, his eyes fixed on the dirt. He finally understood the truth. This place was not built for training. It was a brutal selection. Anyone too weak to survive would simply disappear into the snow.

As the sun dipped behind the mountain peaks, every child’s legs shook with wild, violent tremors. Many had fallen to the dirt long before the finish line even came into view. Only a tiny fraction of the group still stood upright. Leo remained among them, fighting to stay on his feet. Black spots danced in his vision from pure exhaustion. The deep hunger in his empty stomach felt like a burning fire.

A wave of relief washed over the survivors, believing the awful day had finally come to an end. Then, the instructor raised his arm and pointed toward the edge of a frozen lake.

”Strip.”

Heavy silence fell over the group. The children stared at the man, completely unable to believe what he was asking.

”You heard me.”

”Remove your clothes.”

”No one sleeps until you’ve remained inside the water for ten minutes.”

A few children broke down in fresh tears, their spirits shattering completely.

”It’s too cold!”

”We’ll die!”

The instructor’s stone-cold expression did not shift even a fraction.

”If you die...”

”You simply weren’t qualified to stay here.”

Late that night, Leo dragged his feet back to the dormitory. His steps were uneven, his body barely able to support his own weight. Dark bruises covered his skin from head to toe. The freezing lake water had turned his lips a pale, icy blue. As he finally let himself fall onto the hard wooden bed, every single muscle in his body screamed in deep, throbbing agony.

Yet... None of it mattered to him. His mind clung to a single, worried thought: had Lia and Selena survived this exact same nightmare?

Heavy exhaustion pulled at him, and he let his eyelids slowly drift shut. Tomorrow, the sun would rise, and the nightmare would start all over again.