Some time after the game ended, we were brought back to our layers by helicopter. The guards took me to my cell. The door opened, and I entered.
Lie was sitting at the foot of the bed. The moment she saw me, a smile spread across her face. She leaped up, rushed toward me, and hugged me tightly.
"Rei!"
"You're late, idiot."
I was slightly caught off guard, but I returned it, gently hugging her back. "Sorry about that."
"What happened? You clearly won. How was the game?"
"It took place on an island. Random rules kept being added. I'm tired. I'll tell you later."
"Okay. How were your days?"
Lie avoided eye contact for just a moment. I caught the micro-movement.
"Did something happen?"
"Well... some strange things happened."
"What kind of things?"
She told me briefly. About Atsuoma. About the duel. About the Five Beasts game.
"I see. Running into him here was an interesting coincidence. I understand what it means to you. You did well." I paused and looked into her eyes. "But still, be careful. What would I do if you had died?"
"You're right, Rei. But the same goes for you. What would I do if you died?"
"True. Anyway, we're both alive. Everything's fine. No need to worry."
"Yeah."
I was tired. I moved to the bed and fell asleep immediately.
When I woke up in the morning, I went straight to Keibo's office to carry out my plan regarding Itsuki.
"Welcome, Rei-kun. Is there a problem?"
"I want to report that Itsuki has been regularly sending me money. I can provide the store records as proof."
Keibo examined the records. "I understand. We'll take action on this matter. But looking at the dates... you haven't mentioned this before, Rei-kun?"
"You're right."
"Normally, I would have to send you to the seventh layer as punishment. But this time, since there's a new project, I'm confiscating the rewards you would have earned from the island game."
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
"A new project?"
"Yes. It will begin shortly. We'll be gathering the potential prisoners from this layer—for example, you and Lie—along with the potential prisoners from the other layers and everyone from the seventh layer."
"Then?"
"All of you will be sent to Rakuen."
"Rakuen? What kind of place is that?"
"I can't give you details. The guards will be rounding up the selected individuals shortly. You'd better be prepared."
"Why are you doing this?"
Keibo didn't answer. His expression said enough. I nodded and left the room.
I hurried toward the dining hall. I spotted Lie and went straight to her.
"Did you hear what's happening?"
"Yes. What's going on? What are they going to do there?"
I put my hands in my pockets and looked up at the ceiling. "Most likely, their goal is to develop potential prisoners or create individuals with superior intelligence."
"Maybe. But why?"
"I don't know. They'll probably use us as pawns for whatever serves their interests."
"I see."
When it was our layer's turn, the guards flooded the area. They took the selected individuals into a room one by one and sedated us with injections.
When I woke up, I was no longer in the dungeon. I looked around. I was in the middle of a deserted forest. Trees surrounded me on all sides, and I could hear birds chirping. I lifted my head and saw it: this enormous area was enclosed in a glass capsule, shaped like a sphere. We were inside a gigantic cage.
Is this even possible? How are we breathing?
A robotic voice echoed. Please proceed along the path ahead of you.
I began walking. I examined my surroundings. This place resembled an old Japanese village.
After a while, I came across a quiet village. I moved toward the center and saw Lie ahead of me.
"Lie!"
"Rei! You're here too!"
She came up beside me. "Where exactly is this?"
"I don't know. It seems like a new area."
I scratched my head and looked around. To our left and right was a marketplace. People were looking at us but continuing with their business—browsing food, walking, talking.
"How big is this place, Rei? Even the walls of the glass capsule are so far away."
I looked up at the ceiling and thought for a moment. "Maybe a thousand."
"How do you estimate that?"
"I imagined myself at the far end of the ceiling, looking down from a bird's-eye view. Given the width of the area, I'd say around a thousand kilometers."
The robotic voice echoed again. Please check your pockets.
We checked our pockets. There were small phones inside.
"When did these get here?"
"I don't know. I didn't notice either."
We turned on the phones. A virtual map appeared, showing the name of the area.
"It's called Zigao Village. Rei, you got it right!"
"What?"
"Look. The distance is written on the map. One thousand kilometers."
I looked at the screen. I saw the number. "Huh. I really did get it right."
"How did you do that in just a few seconds?"
"I don't know. Anyway."
I scanned the other regions on the map. There were visual markers, but no names written on them.
"Look, Rei. There's a volcano mountain."
"Yeah. This place is much more beautiful than the dungeon."
"Don't be fooled by beauty."
"Why?"
"Usually, the things that look the most beautiful are the ones that need to hide their darkness the most."
"So you're saying we should stay alert."
I nodded.
"Where are the others? Akari and the rest?"
"Two possibilities. Either they arrived here before us and have already settled somewhere, or they were sent to a different region."
"How do you figure?"
"Since I ran into you in the center, it suggests they sent the potential individuals from this layer here."
"That makes sense. So what do we do?"
"We'll see."