He ran about 100 meters to the edge and had to climb down a set of long steps to the lower layer of the structure. He did this four times until he finally reached the bottom part where the town resided. If he looked back after taking a distance, it felt like he was standing on a super majestic soccer field like Santiago Bernabéu.

It was amazing. He hadn't even expected a town structure that looked like a sports stadium, or maybe the whole thing was inspired by the terracing? He didn't know, if only the internet was here, he might have gotten the answer.

He picked up his pace, exploring the unfamiliar town he met on the new floor. Without a guide, he simply made his way towards the tall pillar he saw earlier. Walking straight and occasionally glancing right and left.

Yellow granite streets stretched as far as his eyes could see. Half-stone buildings lined it as he strode forward, as if welcoming as well as shielding him from the direct expanse of sunlight. The windows of the buildings were open, but no sound could be heard, the clatter of kitchen utensils or even the sound of children playing around. It was so quiet, like a sleepy cozy town.

Rei arrived at a crossroads, stretching before him another straight road, and two equally long paths to his left and right. His eyes couldn't find a single human being on any side.

On a whim, he took the left path, hoping to find someone to talk to. There was a straight shadow wearing some kind of hat behind the wall. A man, he thought. When he got there, it was just a lighted lamp post with a wooden board on top.

He sighed, disappointed. However, his expectations weren't that high to begin with.

Back to the previous crossroads, he now chose to go straight. His eyes kept watching, at every step, at every new intersection he passed.

The buildings on either side were getting shorter as he moved closer to the center, what had been half stone and half plank structures, were now slowly becoming full concrete buildings. However, they still looked old. The paint was peeling off and the corners had cobwebs. He wondered if he kept going; he actually met something better than houses and streets.

His steps stopped when two unfamiliar eyes caught him.

"Oh... new here?" The man said, still stroking his beard.

Rei hesitated to respond. "Yes."

The bearded man was not alone, he was sitting with two other men–one bald and the other quite well-groomed. They were much older than him, but not old enough to be called grandpa.

Rei approached after the man gestured to him. Apparently, they weren’t like the drunken duo he had met earlier.

Thank goodness, he thought.

"Madam, please bring one more chair. We have more people," the bald man said.

"Okay." A shout came from inside. Instantly a chubby woman wearing an apron came and placed a chair behind Rei. She smiled. Pretty.

"Welcome to the quiet town of Cradle. I doubt if this is the right way to welcome a new person here … but order a drink you like. Oh, call me Robert. Without a last name."

Robert handed over the menu list. From top to bottom, there weren't many types of dishes provided. Still, a little coffee might not be bad.

"I'm Johnny,” Rei hadn't even said his order yet, the bald man introduced himself. “Don't have a last name either. Also, pay no attention to my arid head. It had a long history."

Rei was a little surprised that the man was quite observant. "Sorry, I didn't mean to."

"I was joking,” and he shot a laugh.

"Your habit, Jhonny," The last man gave his friend a sharp look. "Oh, well, my name is William. Nice to meet you. Also, feel free to order a drink. It's Robert's treat."

“I'll treat everyone this morning.” The bearded man boasted.

Aside from the free drink, to be honest, Rei was relieved to see their friendly interaction and treatment. If he met other annoying people, he would probably lose faith in the humans in this building.

He actually wanted to directly ask them about how to get out of here, but decided not to, it wouldn't be good to ignore their hospitality.

“Coffee.” He finally spoke out his order.

“You heard that, madam," Robert said. "One coffee for our new friend, and the usual order for us.”

“Coming right up!”

The woman from earlier came back and brought many cups in her left hand, and a pile of food in the other. It was an incredible feat. Usually a waitress would bring a tray for large orders like this.

Her eyes glanced at him as she gave a warm smile. “Can you give some help to a lady like me, umm, sir…”

“Rei,” he said, standing to help her put the dishes on the table.

He followed her instructions to put what was in front of whom. Until he saw a cup filled with a black liquid, it must be for himself.

“Thank you, Rei. Enjoy.”

She waved her hand and went back inside the cafe.

Rei wasn't sure if the whole building could be called a cafe, as it looked too run down for modern standards. Even the chairs squeaked if he moved a little. Still safe, though uncomfortable for his butt. The tables were the same. However, it was still much better than the all-white room he had before.

There was a brief silence while everyone prepared themselves to take their breakfast. It was a chance for him to introduce himself properly.

"My name is Rei. Rei Dixon. Please meet you all. Also, thanks so much for your treat, Mr. Robert."

“Drop your formalities. It's okay to call my name right away. We're not old enough and our level is still stuck at 3.” He sliced the bread and dipped it into the sauce. “Madam, your sauce is the best I've ever had this week!”

No response from the lady, perhaps she was cooking in the kitchen.

Stolen story; please report.

Also, Rei didn’t forget what Robert said before he praised the lady: Level.

“You said about level … Are you, perhaps, a duelist?” Rei asked, he wasn't sure if it was polite to ask such a question in this small town.

“I was,” Robert answered without a beat.

Was?

“What do you mean by was?”

Because if you lose the duel, you will get rekted by the robot, right? Morgan was kidnapped by robots, and he got rekted by AO2.

“Yeah, just like I said, I was a duelist. A former one if you want to call it. It was already three years ago I decided to give up my class to live here.” He ate the last piece of bread and was ready to devour his omelet.

“Not only him,” William joined the talk after cleaning his plate. “We were duelists back then. So many things happened–joy, sadness, stupid decisions here and there. Getting hurt so badly. And after we had enough, we retired.”

Hearing that, Johnny laughed. “I remember when on floor 3 we decided to join the Frontier just to have a good time with that lady, y’know.”

“And you got rejected ten times,” Robert ended his friend's tale with a bold laugh.

“Urgh. C’mon! You also got rejected by her! Three times!”

“Twice! The drunk part didn’t count!”

“Trying to wash your hands, huh!”

They seemed happy. Being able to relive those memories on their faces, made Rei a little envious. He had lost his memories, probably half of them, the people who were by his side were gone, only names and faces remained.

“Sorry. They do like to get worked up when it comes to this stuff,” William said.

“It's okay … William,” He wasn’t sure to immediately call him without a mister in front of his name, but he didn’t seem angry about it. “You shouldn’t hold yourself because of me. You guys must have had a really great time.”

William smiled. He took his cup and enjoyed his drink. “If you decided to come down here … You must be tired from your journey on the higher floor, aren't you?”

Rei was taken aback, confused. “No, I actually came from the lower floor.”

Hearing that, the two guys–no, all of them stopped whatever they were doing. They looked at each other and seemed to be wondering.

“Are you sure you come from the lower floor?” Robert asked, his eyes even glanced down twice.

“Yeah. Is that an unusual thing to happen?” He was conscious of their astonished gazes. However, he still didn’t understand the fundamental reason for their reaction. Shouldn't it be normal for a building to have a ground floor?

Rei could see sweat pouring down William's forehead. "It's not unusual... but it's never the case. That's why we're a little surprised."

"You sure there's nothing wrong with your head, Rei?"

He was quite hesitant to be honest with them. One free drink and a warm welcome might not be enough proof that they were not part of an evil organization.

However, he tried to believe. Being alone in reaching the truth was difficult.

"Actually... I lost half of my memory. Not exactly a half, but more like a bunch of important things that I suddenly can't remember."

“That's … must be hard.”

“Yeah.”

They fell silent. Willian took a sip of his cup, Robert stroked his beard, and Johnny seemed to be thinking about something. "Maybe if you meet the mayor you can get an answer or two," he said. “He’s the wisest guy you can find around here. I mean, he was around for over 100 years.”

100 years? That’s too old. Rei wondered if the elder would be able to help him when he perhaps couldn’t even remember his own memories.

I mean, that elder is a living ancient relic.

Yet, it wasn’t harmful to try.

“I think I will meet him,” He smiled. " Where can I see the mayor?”

“After you reach the center,” Robert gestured his finger towards the pillar. “Just go to the north, you will find a big building with a lot of pillars on its front–nah, I think most parts of the building are pillars anyway. Then, just go inside and you will get the mayor.”

Oh, like an ancient Roman building?

Robert drew the building on the table with his fingers, anyone should have a strong imagination to understand what he actually drew. And Rei’s assumption was true, it's similar to Pantheon.

“I am glad you are quite smart even if this is your first time here. Not all people who live here were born on this floor. Some of them live their lives on higher floors and have miserable lives.”

“It was the reason why people lock themselves in their house?”

Willian waved his hand rapidly, “No. It was different. Today is the town's big holiday. Everyone rest themselves in the morning and they will go out at noon–ah, that must freak you out quite a bit.”

“A bit.” His answer triggered their laughter.

“Understandable in any way. Also, if you have time, you should join us today. We will do a lot of fun stuff.”

“Thanks for your kind offer, William. But, I don’t think I have time to waste. I need as fast as I can to get out of this building.”

Willian and his friends fell silent. Looking at each other once again. Then put their focus on Rei. “It's okay, Take your time. You can always meet us here after all. Or ask Madam if you don’t find us here–she knows everything about us.”

All of them finally finished their breakfast, except for Rei. He didn’t touch his coffee at all. When he touched his cup before, it was too hot. It was cold now. He regretted it. Cold coffee wasn't his thing, but it would be rude if he didn't enjoy a sip or two.

Rei decided to take a few gulps and nearly finished the cup, hoping to get some caffeine rush, instead he puked it out. His body suddenly convulsed. His eyes reddened, cold sweat broke out. His vision was blurred, his ears ringing.

He fell to the ground. His muscles were spasming.

He could still see the three of them. Barely. They looked panicked and screaming. Swarmed him. William, who was nearby, called out his name. It seemed like a question, but it was hard to hear it.

"Sub-class! Your Subclass!" One of the shouts from whoever managed to get into his ear.

My sub-class? Neutral?

But for what?

The disgusting feeling that kept spreading made it difficult for him to move his lips. His tongue was numb. And yet, they kept shouting the same stuff. It seemed that this subclass was something important.

"Ne... Ne ...." Rei couldn't complete the phrase. He attempted to, but his tongue was frozen.

"Bring some milk, Madam!"

Before long, he felt his head on someone’s lap, and his jaw was forced wide open.

"Drink it! You hear me!" William poured the white liquid into Rei's mouth.

He was still convulsing, his body reacting to the milk. Resisting.

Not knowing how many gulps, the milk had clearly reached his stomach. Reducing the disgusting taste that overwhelmed his body. The pain he felt uncontrollably also slowly subsided. His body finally relaxed.

“I am glad we can help you in time,” Robert said, “We thought you weren't Neutral, Rei.”

“Is … that matter?” Rei asked, his voice sounded lifeless.

“Of course, Neutral can’t drink coffee at all. It’s a forbidden drink for them.”

Huh?

“What … do you mean?”

His question left the trio confused.

"Apparently," Johnny interrupted. "Your amnesia is too severe, Rei."

His face contorted even more. He didn't understand what the hell was happening to him.

Or was that really the case?

Perhaps, it was their trick to hide the crime?

When he tried to think about it, his head suddenly became dizzy and not long after, he lost consciousness.