“Where did you meet those people? I know the last trial was not the first time you saw them.”

Hal kicked a pebble as he walked, watching as his sister walked a few meters ahead of us. “They were already here when Hil and I arrived, after the Trolley. They didn’t interact with anyone, not even during the last Trial.”

Well, I didn’t find it strange for them to keep their distance from others. With the system, and how the trials were arranged…it was not the worst strategy. But that wasn’t the reason why I was suspecting them.

“How do you know they already participated in other trials before?”

It took a few seconds for Hal to reply, both hands in his pockets. “They lied.”

I raised my eyebrow. “About?”

“When others asked them about their very first trial, they lied.”

“You know this doesn’t prove much, right?”

“They lied about the time they arrived too. We were all in the same team trying to pass the trial, and the trench coat-guy's group was just asking some people in which group they were.”

Groups? Is he talking about the pre-trials?

“What groups are you talking about?”

If Hal was bothered by my questions, he didn’t show. He was actually answering quite earnestly.

“From what I heard from people, and that guy's group, there were a total of four groups playing at the same time before we all gathered here. Our challenge was the train’s. Trench coat-guy and his friends did one in a church. There was also one in a maze, and the last one was a big house in the woods.”

For the first time, Hal’s gaze met mine, eyes that should not belong to a child.

The boy continued, “You will probably think the same as me; there was no reason for them to lie about their group. And if they were lying about when they got here, doesn’t this make them even more suspicious?”

I didn’t need to ask why the boy was so certain those people were lying, it was likely one of his skills. A pretty good one, at that, if it worked like a lie detector. It almost made me jealous.

“There is something else, right? Otherwise, you wouldn’t be so certain.”

Hal smiled, shifting his eyes once again. “You can be quite smart sometimes. I heard them talking among themselves, some were complaining about the trial, and one of them said something about ‘only having to put up with this a couple more times, so they just needed to endure it’.”

I almost stopped in my tracks, the smile reaching my lips, as well. More and more, I couldn’t believe my luck in having found those twins.

“You would also conclude the same as me, wouldn’t you?”

“…it would be hard not to,” I replied, my mind racing with the new information.

Unless Hal was tricking me, which I highly doubted, this group could be one of the keys to some of the answers I wanted.

Because either they had somehow acquired secret information from the system and the Benefactors, or they had been participating in these trials for a while.

"Where did you say they were again?”

“I didn’t. They have been meeting in the same spot for the past few days, we are almost there.”

We had been walking for some time, getting farther and farther from the plaza and the cabins, going deeper into the woods.

As I walked, I saw the fiery leaves falling around me, the sky made of warm, reddish tones. Walking around such a place, even if it were hours…yeah, I was fine with that.

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Everyone in this place had to participate in the Trials with our lives on the line every time, being treated as nothing but spendable pawns in the eyes of the system and whatever beings were watching and controlling things. I had almost died several times at that point, and many hadn’t been as lucky.

Yet even then…

At that moment, I felt at peace.

Grateful.

For I would rather risk my life as Park Eun-Woo a thousand times a day than live one second more in my previous world. And within my head, a voice whispered words as ugly and dark as this selfish nature of mine.

I don’t care if others have to die.

I don’t care if my old world ends.

As Park Eun-Woo, I simply wish to live freely.

“Hal, look! Isn’t it pretty?!”

Hildr’s words brought me back to reality, the girl’s smile almost as bright as the glowing leaves that fell around her. Beside Hil, butterflies flew displaying all their bright colors, their wings beautiful and majestic.

She spun around, her blue dress fluttering as if she was dancing alongside the butterflies, and her laughter was a sound so joyful and pure it made my heart melt.

Her brother said nothing at first, a smile slowly touching his lips as he walked closer to her. The boy plucked a red flower from the ground, placing it on his sister’s hair not two seconds later.

“Very pretty.”

To me, the smile Hil gave her brother was the prettiest thing in the entire scene.

As I watched the twins, I looked up to the sky—trying to see above the giant trees. And I thought, even if I would do everything in my capabilities to keep this new life, I would also try to preserve and protect its unique beauty. Be it its chocolate crepes, the falling and fiery leaves—

Or the joyful glow in these kids’ eyes.

----------------------------------------

“Who are you again?”

Funny he asked, when I had never introduced myself.

The group was bigger than I thought, with five people. There were two women and three men, and the first thing that caught my attention was their clothes.

Most people hadn’t used the gacha yet, especially considering not everyone had a lot of points to invest. But those guys…

Their clothes were nice.

Belts, boots, gloves, jackets. If we were one week into the apocalypse, those guys had months. Were they seriously trying to be inconspicuous?

Before I could speak, someone cut in. She was tall—taller than me—with long brown hair and dark skin. Yet what caught my gaze was the scar near her left eye.

A recent scar.

“He is Park Eun-Woo. He was one of the candidates for the Leader position. Also got us through the final wave.”

The woman did not smile with her eyes, her gaze calculating and cold as she shook my hand. “Did not expect to run into you here.”

“You probably didn’t expect to run into anyone here, right?”

With my words, the air around us got thicker, heavier. The woman in front of me was not the only one who squinted her eyes, a silent warning crossing her gaze. Hil grabbed my leg, her fingers a bit shaken.

“You’re right. We came here to be alone for a while. How did you find us?”

“I saw you guys coming here some days ago, and then again today. If you wanted to have a secret meeting, you should have changed locations.”

“And why are you so interested in our meeting places, sir Park Eun-Woo? We are less than strangers.”

Her voice was soft and calm, yet there was this edge. This darkness lurking between her words, provoking and daring.

I gave her my best smile as I pat Hil on the head.

“We may be strangers, but you are strangers who know what is going on. Or at least, know a lot more than most people here.” The air surrounding us got colder, her eyes getting darker while the people behind her got closer to us. To me. “Am I wrong?”

One of the men beside her opened his mouth to speak, yet she silenced him with one finger.

“What makes you say that?”

My smile grew wider. “Please, if you wanted to hide you wouldn’t be wearing these. If only one person had been lucky with the store, I could’ve believed you. But when all of you are wearing the same type of clothes…”

“We can just have a lot of points, like you.”

“Without entering the top ranks? I was in the maze group, and I never saw any of you guys with the top rankers. I know, because I was one of them.”

Before, I had asked Hal which group they said they were part of, in the pre-trials. Yet if Hal was right, they wouldn’t be able to know I was lying.

And by their reaction, the cute demon beside had been right.

It took a few moments for the woman to speak again, her eyes glowing for the briefest second. “Why don’t we talk for a bit? Just the two of us.”

“Hal, I don’t like this…” Hil whispered, her eyes not daring to meet the people in front of us.

“Don’t worry, Hil. I’m here, so nothing will happen.” Hal took her hand, his gaze sharp enough to carve a hole in the woman’s head.

There was so much confidence in his voice, it only made me wonder exactly what was Hal’s skills.

And if he still had that knife in his pocket.

“Kids, why don’t you wait for me at the food court? I’m getting a bit hungry.”

Hal looked at me with a worried gaze, his lips pressed tightly together. Hil’s hold on my leg got stronger.

“No need to worry, you two. Me and this lady here are just going to talk. Isn’t that right?” I asked with a smile.

She smiled back. “Of course.”

When neither of them moved, I called Hal one more time. When the boy met my gaze my eyes softened, a warmth spreading in my voice.

“Go back to the food court with Hil and wait for me there. I won’t take long.”

Something changed in Hal’s eyes, though I was not sure what. He took Hil by the hand, walking away from us.

[You have received a message.]

I opened it.

“Then, if you will excuse us for awhile,” the woman said to her group, turning back to face me. “Shall we?”

[I don’t trust her.

So you better not make Hil cry, and you better be on time.]

I tried not to smile.

“Lead the way.”