"Well, how about we ponder it together. Oh, I know. Let's go onto a rooftop." Eddie said and looked for my confirmation.

"Okay, let's go," I said with a nod.

After hearing my answer, Eddie wordlessly turned and started heading into an alley, with me following behind him.

Eddie coordinated around the dark alley like it was his home, and shortly after heading into the alley, we arrived in front of a ladder which led to a flat stone roof.

Eddie then started climbing the ladder slowly and quietly, and I followed suit shortly after.

"How can you coordinate in these alleys so well?" I asked, once we had climbed onto the rooftop.

"I used to live close to this place, so I know these alleys like my back pockets," Eddie answered.

"It looks like you've moved up in the world then."

"Hard work pays off sometimes," Eddie quipped.

Amused by Eddies comment, I gave a small laugh before turning my gaze up to the sky.

The sky was void of clouds and stars, which made looking at it feel like staring at a black hole.

I turned my gaze back to Eddie as he gestured to follow him and started walking in a direction opposite of the president's house, which was easily visible from where we were standing.

After a while of walking, Eddie turned and sat on the edge of one roof and with his legs hanging in an alley and the president's house diagonally to his left.

I sat next to him in the same way and looked down.

"You scared of heights?" Eddie asked.

I raised my brows. "No, and this is only a bit above a 3-meter fall."

"Three meters is enough to break a couple of bones, you know."

"Maybe if you fall head first."

"Hah," Eddie chuckled.

"By the way, you mind telling me why we walked over here?" I asked, moving the conversatiom to something more serious.

"Oh right, it's because the agents care less about things that don't take place close to the main streets."

"Are the roofs monitored?"

"Everything here is monitored," Eddie answered like it was the most obvious thing ever.

"Then why did you want to come here if it's illegal, and we can get caught," I asked, having expected more of Eddie.

"I just thought it would be exciting," Eddie answered simply.

"You think excitement is worth risking imprisonment?" I asked with a frown and clear disappointment in my eyes.

"You seem to think satisfying your curiosity is worth risking your life, so what are you criticizing me for?" Eddie said.

'Is this about me going outside at night?'

"You have a point," I said disingenuously, and both of us fell silent. After a while, though, I opened my mouth again. "Eddie, have you come to a conclusion yet?"

"Conclusion?" Eddie asked.

"Yeah, you said you needed time to think about if you are happy or not. Have you come to a conclusion yet?"

"Oh, that. I forgot about that," Eddie said with an awkward smile.

"Haaah," I sighed heavily.

"What did you expect? It's been like 10 minutes, and we have talked the whole time. When do you think I would have had time to think about something like that," Eddie asked, trying to justify his lack of an answer.

"I thought the whole point of us coming here was to discuss that, but then we just drifted off to pointless topics."

"Well, let's discuss it now."

"Discuss what? You haven't come up with an answer yet, so what are we going to discuss?"

"I haven't, but since you seem like you have, then let's just discuss your thoughts."

"My thoughts?"

"Yeah. Are you happy, Akir?"

When I heard Eddies question, I froze for a second.

When I finally started to answer the question, I struggled with getting the words out of my mouth.

"Am I... happy? No, I'm not happy. How could I be. My life is just a spiral full of challenges and misfortune." I said, as if insulted by Eddie even asking the question.

"What kind of misfortune?" Eddie asked.

"Being born. More specifically, being born to horrible parents."

"Haha, I can relate to that." Eddie said with a laugh.

"What do you mean? I thought you were on good terms with your parents, since you spoke of your father with a wide smile on your face." I said.

"Well, my father was a good man most of the time, but at times he would turn a blind eye when I needed him." Eddie said in an unexpectedly serious manner. "I don't know why he did it. Maybe he thought it would make me strong, but even if I am stronger than I would have been, I still wish that he would have stopped my mother from acting so violently. Not just for my sake, but for her sake too. You see, damaging others damages the damager too," Eddie said, with his gaze on the pitch black sky.

"In my case, it was my mother who turned a blind eye. She actually left me in my father's care when I was young. I don't know why she did it, but I can never be sure, so I try not to think about it. Anyway, my father is a wealthy man, so I had everything I wanted but freedom. I was forced to study all the time and not getting good enough results always lead to suffering, so all I could ever think of was studying. In a sense, for the first decade I was conscious, I wasn't alive for a second." I opened up casually, letting off of my chest what had been there for my whole life. Then I proceeded to speak, not quite aware of what I was even saying. It all just came naturally—straight from my heart. "That's why I hate him. Believe it or not, I used to admire my father—the cause of all my suffeirng. I wanted to be just like him, so I made myself look like him, speak, and even walk like him. I thought he would finally understand that I was his son that way. I wished he would have seen me as his own, and wanted to take care of me. I wanted him to recognize... to recognize that... I... was human, too. After that, I chnaged everything. That man is not my father."

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Surpridingly, it felt easy. And if something that had been trying to escape my mouth finally just effortlessly slipped out.

"Ah, I get it. You've suffered a lot. You should trh seeing the positive things in your life now, though, instead of just dwelling on the negativities of the past. You're alive now, aren't you? Don't you think it would be best to forget the darkness in the past and focus on the brightness of the future? I mean, you are free right now, so just enjoy it," Eddie advised, an uplifting tone in his voice.

"I don't think that's possible. I have yet to find true freedom. Even in this place, there are all sorts of restrictions. I want to be free of all of that. I can't just stop here," I rejected Eddie's advice.

"Then where will you stop, and what will you do? Where is the finish line exactly? It seems like you're desperate to reach a goal you can't even identify. If you continue like this, you will never stop moving." Eddie berated me with questions.

"The finish line is not something I can just point out, but when I reach it, I'll know it," I answered.

"No, you won't. Stop this. Just settle down. You don't need absolute freedom. Just exist for a while and try to be happy in the circumstances you have gotten yourself to," Eddie encouraged me.

"But what if it doesn't work?" I asked skeptically.

"Then you'll find another place, but until then just stay here for a while. You haven't even been in this place for a week. Just try to see if it's the place for you."

"What will I do here? You won't need me anymore in a couple of days."

"Don't worry about that. We'll figure something out. But what you should worry about is fixing your Attitude towards life. If you do that, I'm sure you'll be happy. You are a good person after all and good things are bound to happen to good people."

"I'll be happy?" I pondered out loud.

"Yeah, I guarantee it," Eddie said firmly and held out his hand as he looked me in the eye.

"Fine, I'll be in your hands then," I said, coming to a conclusion, and shook Eddie's hand.

"Haha, I'll be sure to take care of you as my employee," Eddie said with a smile.

"Yeah, how? By making me break more laws?" I asked humorously.

"Exactly. Next time we'll climb onto the roof of the president's house," Eddie said with a laugh and I felt the ends of my mouth curve up slightly.

***

There were now only a few dozen survivors, but the fighting down below continued as I sipped alcohol on the roof of the president's house.

At one point, the amount of messages informing me of new deaths had overwhelmed my mind, so forming simple thoughts seemed impossible. I didn't hate the feeling, though. Not being able to think was a privilege I had yearned for in the past, after all.

Now the frequency of the message had slowed down enough that I could think clearly again, so I contemplated what I should do next as I drank.

The town had by now been burned down completely, so the people who had stayed at home instead of coming to watch the execution had died too by now.

In conclusion, the only ones alive now were the people still fighting like animals in front of the president's house.

I stood up and walked to the edge of the building and looked down at the bloody pile of corpses and the people fighting in the sea of blood and guts.

After a while, everyone was dead but two people.

I watched as the filthy pair watched stared each other down with bloody blades in their hands and cuts in their clothes and flesh.

Then the last fight began.

The pair struggled to hurt each other for no clear reason. By now they had both killed dozens and had no hesitations in their movements, which had the goal of killing their opponent.

Their movements were sluggish at best, but every single one of them aimed to kill the other. After a while of stabbing, kicking, punching and grappling, the other one finally died, and the battle was over.

The winner rose to his feet from the bloody ground and looked up at the sky while holding his left side with his right hand.

By then, I had gotten down from the roof and started approaching the man.

The man notice my footsteps and turned around with a look of confusion. Once he saw my apathetic expression, he rushed at me without a second thought and no weapon.

He ran as fast as he could and aimed a punch at me which I easily dodged by stepping onto the side a little. And as the man flew by me, I drew a line with the tip of my dagger.

The man then fell face first into a puddle of blood and died. It was as simple as that. And afterward, I finally heard the long awaited message.

[Last target eliminated]

[Targets left: 0/3942]

[Time left: 0 days 4 hours 13 minutes]

[You will now be transported]

After I heard that, everything in my vision was erased into nothingness and I found myself in yet another preparation room.

Suddenly, something akin to drowsiness overwhelmed me and I collapsed onto the floor. I had my cheek leaned on the pristine white floor of the preparation room for a long while before I raised my head to see that there was only one seat on in front of the table with food on it.

With the certainty that I was safe, I leaned my cheek back on the floor and closed my eyes.

For a while I laid there listening to my own breathing with closed eyes, but then I started having flashbacks to my conversation with Eddie on the rooftop.

'...I'm sure you'll be happy. You are a good person after all and good things are bound to happen to good people.'

I rolled over onto my back, spread my arms, and opened my eyes to gaze at the clear whiteness of the preparation room's roof.

I breathed in through my nose as I mulled over Eddie's words, and slowly breathed out through my mouth as my thoughts came to a conclusion.

'Maybe I'll never be happy.'