"You remember why I was sent here, right?"

"...No."

​​

"I told you I was sent here for killing a fellow guild member!"

"Right, right." Van nodded his head a couple of times, but his eyes were still stuck on the Portal, "I remember now."

"No, you don't!" Nisha stomped her foot, "I am telling you my story again!"

Hearing Nisha's words, Van could only let out a long and mellow sigh. He couldn't really be bothered by anything right now, a new fish might arrive at any time.

"Why are you so bummed out!? I remember every detail of why you were sent here, you're listening to mine!"

Once again, Van let out a sigh. Gil, on the other hand, seemed excited as he pulled his log closer to Nisha. With nothing to do in the Pit, stories were the only things that one could use as entertainment. Well, there were fights, and not to mention Boss' house… but he wasn't about to indulge in both just yet, he wasn't that desperate.

"...I was sent here by killing a member who has been extorting Crystals from normal women… if they don't, he will rape them."

"!!!"

Gil's breaths stopped as he looked to the ground. Once again, the justice he fought for did not even bother taking into accounts the circumstances of the crime committed. "You… didn't go to trial?" He asked.

Nisha shook her head, "No, they just threw me here. But since I killed someone, I just thought that I deserved it."

"N...no, that's not…" Gil could not continue with breathy words. His parents and family had always believed in the Circle. That's why most of them trained hard to serve them, joining the City Guards, or the Circle itself if they are capable-- so that Justice will always prevail in the world.

But now that he was amongst the fellows that he threw in the Pit, his heart grew restless as the doubt inside of it wanted to burst.

Just how many people were sent here who didn't really deserve it? There's always been a stigma that System Holders are… dangerous.

Well, they could be… But they are human as well.

The longer Gil stays in the Pit, the more flawed the Circle becomes.

"...Are the two of you even listening to me?"

"Ah, yes. Of course!"

"..." Nisha squinted her eyes before continuing her story, "As soon as I was thrown here, I saw the state of the women. None of them could even look up and walk proudly. It doesn't matter what they did outside, whether they are murderers or scum, it doesn't matter…

...I am doing this for me."

"..."

"I was too late to save the victims of my previous guildmates. The signs were too obvious, but I was still too late. I just don't want to feel like that again, like I did nothing…

...So don't mistake me for a good person, Gil. This is just me being selfish."

"..."

With the sudden silence brewing in the air, Van could not help but let out another sigh, "Nothing will change with them, Miss Nisha," he muttered, "Most of them will go back to indulge in Boss' house soon enough. People with eyes like that have already become addicted to it, it's always been like that in the Relic Graveyard as well."

Van suddenly thought of what he was going to do outside… and if he really deserves to even escape this place. All he had waiting for him outside were his friends, and he might not even be able to see them as he would once again be hunted down like an animal.

Does… he really deserve to go back outside?

No… There's no point in thinking about it. Similar to Nisha, he too was doing this for himself.

And if the world deemed him not deserving. If the world tells him that he doesn't belong...

...then perhaps it was time that the world changed.

***

In an enclosed but vast darkness, thunders echoed endlessly. And with every thump, the lamp, and candles that dimly lit up the dark flickered.

Andrea was currently holding a metal rod and pointing it towards a dummy target. It was the metal rod that she first saw when she woke up in this dark and vast cavern. She had not once stepped outside as they weren't allowed to leave… and so, she found something to do.

She flicked her finger, and as she did so, the metal rod she was holding roared, causing the dummy target to slightly dancing, with its skin bursting into pieces.

"E...gh!"

"Andrea!"

"!!!"

As soon as Andrea felt a hand on her shoulder, she quickly turned her body, pointing the metal rod towards the one who suddenly touched her. Her target quickly raised her hands in defeat before letting out a wry smile.

"Ah, Sarah!"

"You really should be watching where you point that thing," Sarah could not help but sigh as she slowly pushed the metal rod down, "Have you even eaten yet? I cooked us something."

"...Rabbit?"

"Yes."

"Did you drain all the blood and juice again?"

"N… not this time."

"Good. The last one was so dry and bland it wanted to live again so that it could drown."

"..." Andrea pouted, but after a few seconds, let out a chuckle as she leaned in closer to Sarah, "Let's eat then!" She said before kissing Sarah on the lips. Sarah, on the other hand, took this opening as a chance to grab the metal rod away from Andrea's hands.

"No, my rifle!"

"You can play with it again later. I am just going to put it here, separate from the others." Sarah let out a loud sigh as she placed this so-called rifle on a nearby table. The table also had numerous metal rods on it-- guns.

"Still… I can't believe something like this existed. Where did they even come from?"

Andrea already saw these things on her first day here, in the so-called Resistance. She still had no idea what the group was for, what she did know was that it was composed of all sorts of people.

There were System Holders, and there were also normal humans, who were all carrying their own guns. Previously, she has only seen them in the Relic Graveyard. She was sure they even had one at home, using it as a part of their door.

To think that something they have been using as a door ornament was capable of something like this… It was unbelievable.

"I don't know all the details myself," Sarah shook her head as she heard Andrea's question, "But Angelo Elton told me that it's always been here and the Circle has been hiding it from the masses all this time. Using it to oppress and make them rely on us System Holders, making them think that the only ones that can protect them are us."

"But… isn't that the case? These are ineffective against the monsters from the Portal?"

"Th--"

"They are, but it would begin to have trouble in the creatures belonging to a C-rank Portal."

Before Sarah could answer Andrea, a voice echoed from behind them, answering Andrea's query instead.

"You are?"

Andrea slightly squinted her eyes as she tried to remember if she had seen this approaching bald man before.

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you again, Miss Andrea," The bald man slightly bowed his head as he greeted both Andrea and Sarah, "You have grown the last we met."

They've met before? Andrea squinted her eyes even further. No matter how much she scours her memories, she couldn't dig up anyone similar to the man.

"Ah, of course," the bald man let out a slight chuckle as he shook his head, "You will not remember me. We have only met once and that was when I erased your memories…

...My name is Hans, the Headmaster of Newer York System Academy. Well… was."

"!!!"

As soon as Andrea heard Hans' words, a frown was quickly summoned from her face, "You let Van get thrown into prison!"

Andrea stomped her way towards Hans, only stopping when Sarah held her back.

"I apologize, Miss Andrea. But it was his mother's wish that he remain there for now."

"...Mother?" Andrea's eyebrows furrowed even further as she heard the word, "What do you mean mother!? His mother wasn't even in the picture for so many years and now she suddenly gets a say in things!?"

"..."

"And she just left him to rot with that monster of a father! What kind of mother will do that!? Where is she even right now!?"

"...Van's mother has always been there," Hans let out a loud sigh so as to stop Andrea from shouting.

"...What?"

"In a way, you've met her quite a few times already. Not entirely, but you've met her."

"...What?"

"In fact, she's here right now," Hans then said as he pointed in a certain direction behind Andrea.

"!!!"

Andrea quickly turned around, only to see a bunch of people crowding in a single place. But even then, she could see clearly who they were circling about.

"T… that's--"

Long and luscious silver hair and a height that towered almost everyone. Even with the darkness blanketing them, her hair still glowed.

She knew her.

And as Hans said, she had seen her a lot of times already, more than she could count.

It was one of the vendors that always greeted her in the market. The one that was always asking her some weird questions and blocking her path whenever she was on her way home-- Chloe.