Jason, hearing what Gabby had said to Sam, turned his head sharply towards Sam, his brow furrowed and his mouth slightly open in confusion.

"What the what?" he asked, his full of confusion.

Sam, unfazed and still munching on his beef jerky, barely glanced at Jason.

"Just check your objective window, man," he replied nonchalantly, crumbs falling from his mouth as he spoke.

Jason's face remained a portrait of bewilderment. He glanced around the objective window, searching for a clue, his eyebrows knitted together.

"I don't get it," he muttered to himself, shaking his head.

Gabby, noticing Jason's continued confusion, chimed in with a casual shrug.

"Just ignore it for now, Jason. He’ll explain it to us later. At least, that's what he said."

Jason's expression didn't change.

"Why doesn't he just explain it now?" he asked, his voice tinged with frustration.

Gabby shrugged again, this time with a hint of resignation.

"Beats me," she said, shaking her head.

Meanwhile, Sam continued munching his jerky, seemingly uninterested in the conversation.

Jason sighed deeply, realizing he wasn't going to get any immediate answers. Deciding to change the subject, he turned to Sam.

"By the way, Sam, what's the deal with that mask?"

Sam immediately perked up, turning his head towards Jason.

"Oh, this mask? It's-" he began, but before he could finish, Gabby cut in.

"He didn't want to expose his identity, apparently. And for some reason, he thinks it's cool," Gabby added with a hint of teasing in her voice.

Sam's posture stiffened slightly.

"Hey, it's a cool mask, okay?" he retorted defensively, then turned back to Jason.

"It's cool, right?"

Jason scratched his chin, didn't know what to say.

"I, uh, I guess? I mean, it gets the job done hiding your face. Yeah, sure, it's pretty nice," he said, his voice lacking conviction.

Gabby couldn't resist.

"Lying is a bad thing to do, Jason," she said playfully.

Jason's eyes widened, and he looked a bit panicked. He opened his mouth to clarify, but Sam interrupted.

"Alright, alright," Sam said with a dismissive wave.

"You guys really don't have a good taste in style, huh? Anyway, my mask aside, where's the rest, Jason? You know, Rebecca, Robert, and Jessica. Did you escape separately or what?"

Jason's face darkened, the question hitting a sensitive spot.

"I don't know, Sam," he said quietly.

"I got taken out, and everything just went black. But looking at our current condition..."

He took a deep breath, his voice tinged with pain.

"It's very likely they're not in this world anymore."

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Sam froze mid chew, his expression nonchalant demeanor immediately gone.

"Honestly, I couldn't care less what happened to Jessica and Robert, but Rebecca... sigh, that poor girl, truly an unfortunate end."

Gabby, catching onto the tone, asked,

"You also know about that spineless traitor Robert?"

Sam turned his head towards her, curiosity piqued.

"Yeah, he was my manager. What kind of mess did he get into this time?" he asked.

Gabby's face twisted in disgust.

"Oh, nothing much. He just surrendered to the enemy like a dog because the blank eyed man offered him power if he surrendered."

Sam's lips curled into a small smile.

"Let me take a wild guess, he still died in the end?"

Gabby nodded.

"Yeah."

Sam burst into laughter, his body shaking as he held his stomach.

"What an idiot!" he exclaimed between fits of laughter.

"I never thought he could get any more stupid, but damn, he exceeded my expectations!"

Gabby smiled, a bit bemused.

"Seems like you hate that guy, huh?"

Sam's laughter began to die down, and he shook his head.

"Hate? No, not really. Hate is a strong word. I just didn't like him because... well, many things he did in the past."

Curious, Gabby pressed further.

"What did he do?"

Sam's face darkened slightly.

"A lot of unsavory things. Don't even bother trying to know about it. It's just a waste of your time, right, Jason?"

Jason closed his eyes and nodded.

"Yeah, knowing about what he did is just going to waste your brain memory."

Gabby chuckled and let the topic drop. The three of them continued talking, mostly about their experiences and lives before the tutorial. After a while, Kaya began to stir. She grunted, trying to wake up, clutching her head with her left hand.

Everyone turned their heads towards Kaya, and Gabby immediately got up, quickly heading to her.

"Take it easy, Kaya," she said, trying to support her.

"Do you feel any discomfort? Any pain anywhere? Do you remember me? Do yo-"

Kaya tiredly clamped her hand over Gabby's mouth.

"Please stop barraging me with questions, Sis. I'm about to get a headache if you keep throwing questions like that!"

Gabby nodded, her eyes still showing concern.

"I'm okay," Kaya reassured her.

"Just feel tired, that's all. Don't worry about it. I'm strong, remember?"

Gabby's eyes twitched with anger. "Strong my ass! You almost got killed! If it wasn't for me taking you away, you would've been dead now!" Her voice was filled with frustration.

Kaya's head drooped.

"I'm just trying to make you not worry, Sis. I'm sorry."

Gabby suddenly hugged Kaya tightly.

"Don't be stupid now, you silly sister! Of course, I would worry. You're my only family left in this world!" Her voice trembled on the verge of crying.

Kaya's voice was small.

"I'm sorry.."

Gabby looked Kaya in the eyes, her own eyes filled with pain.

"Please, don't be reckless from now on, okay? Your recklessness by charging at the blank eyed man almost killed you. I don't want it to happen ever again, understand?"

Kaya nodded slowly.

"Yes, Sis. I'm sorry.."

They hugged again, and suddenly a voice broke the atmosphere.

"What a beautiful relationship, don't you agree?" Sam asked Jason.

Jason simply nodded, afraid to say anything wrong. Kaya turned her head towards the masked man, about to ask Gabby something, but Gabby preempted her.

"That man is Sam. He's Jason's friend from before the tutorial."

Kaya looked confused.

"What's his business with us?"

Gabby replied,

"Long story short, he's looking for his friends and accidentally stumbled upon this place. Oh, and he also said we're basically screwed because G'rath will wake up."

Kaya froze, her face filled with confusion. "What? Who will wake up now? What do you even mean-"

Before Kaya could complete her sentence, a loud clap interrupted her.

"Alright, as promised, I will explain everything I know about this world and what G'rath is," Sam said.

Sam continued,

"Oh, before that..."

He took out two documents and a small, square device resembling a walkie talkie but without an antenna from his satchel. Walking towards Kaya, he said,

"I heard you're the leader of Stormbringers. Nice to meet you. Here, you can read these two documents first, and we'll play the recording after everyone reads them." He handed over the documents.

Kaya switched into leader mode, her demeanor calm and focused. She took the documents and read them carefully. Her expression went from calm to frowning.

"Is this true?" she asked Sam.

"Of course," Sam replied with a shrug.

"There's no benefit for me lying to you."

She rubbed her forehead, looking stressed. Curious, Gabby took the documents and read them, displaying the same expression as Kaya. Not saying a word, she walked over to Jason and handed them over. Jason read through the documents, and his face turned pale.

"Sam, do you mean that G'rath is the-" Jason started, but Sam immediately cut him off.

"Yeah, it's the monster that turned this planet into a ruined wasteland, sort of." Sam confirmed.

"Alright, now it's time for the recording. Enjoy," Sam said, turning on the device.

The voice of a man, Dr. Rahman, filled the air. Excluding Sam, the three of them listened intently to the recording.

After it finished, their faces were blank, trying to process the deluge of information. After a moment, Sam continued, recounting his journey from finding a strange house to uncovering a secret facility, and everything that led him to this point.

"So, how is it?" Sam asked nonchalantly after his story.

"I wasn't lying when I said it would take a long time to explain, right? Oh, and how do you feel knowing the truth?"

Looking at his nonchalant demeanor, the three of them shared the same thought: 'He definitely has a few screws loose.'