Two days ago.
The broom closet stank of dust.
Rin hugged her knees, teeth digging into her lip until the copper taste hit her tongue. Elian… if you're out there bleeding again, what am I doing here? Hiding?
Her nails carved crescents into her palms.
"No. Enough. I can't keep waiting. I'm a D-rank. So what? M-maybe if I throw myself into danger, the system will finally spit out my damn class. I know there's a year left till I get a class update, but… I can also be the few that gets an early class update?"
She shoved the door open and stepped out into the corridor, only to run straight into a chest hard as brick and reeking of liquor.
"Oho. Look at this." A man's voice rasped above her as his lips tugged upward.
Rin gazed up at him, the man's face was scarred, his clothes were rough, tattered in some sense to tell they're hooligans.
Another chuckled behind him. "Well, well. The brat's alive. I could've sworn those fuckers chewed the whole nest clean."
"Ain't that cute."
Rin stiffened. Her stomach dropped.
"Wh-what are you talking about—"
A rough palm slapped over her mouth, the stench of tobacco flooding her nose. Her words choked as her back hit the wall.
"Shut it, you little piece of shit," the scarred one said, grinning wide, flashing a set of yellow teeth.
He grabbed her jaw, tilting her chin up. "Your cunt of a mother thought she could buy herself a class. Fend for you? Pay her way out? Ha! What a fool." His spit flecked her cheek. "So we tipped the doppelgängers grays straight to your door. Was wondering why they paid half. Guess you slipped, huh?"
They laughed, heavy hands pawing at her arms, and her waist.
Rin thrashed at them. She jerked her left knee up, an attempt to kick the men away, but she missed.
She clawed at the hand on her jaw, her nails raking skin, but another fist clamped on her wrist, twisting it until the bone popped.
Rin let out a painful scream.
"Fuck. Stop fighting, you little shit." A meaty knuckle drove into her ribs. The breath burst out of her lungs. She gasped, body folding, only to be yanked upright by her hair.
"Your mother and that baby brother—Milo, right?"
"The one with the stutter?"
"— yeah. Worth every damn coin. You fuckers refused to pay your damn debt. So you led us to no choice." The man leaned close, the stink of rot on his breath.
"And your precious 'big' brother, Elian? That fucker got what he deserved. Hah. Got himself butchered by picking a fight with the Black Guild's training squad. Died like the useless bitchy mutt he always was, choking on his own fucking failure."
Rin's scream tore through his palm. She bit him down, hard. Blood filled her mouth. The man roared, slamming her head into the wall. White sparks popped in her vision, ears ringing.
"You fucking bitc—" He slapped her again, blood coating her mouth.
"Listen carefully. You're fucked. You have no one, and your brother… he went out like a fucked-up stray he was— tail between his legs, piss on the floor, begging for scraps 'til someone finally put him down like the trash he fucking was. Guess what? He died. And so will you."
Her knees buckled and her chest heaved ragged as hot tears blurred her sight, dripping down her cheeks.
Milo, Mom, Elian—
Something inside her cracked.
Her body shook. Heat climbed her throat, clawing up her veins as her scream split open into something rawer. The men dropped her, their hands flew to cover up their ears, wincing.
Then in an instant, a wild wave of heat flashed through the room.
BOOM!
Sudden rapid release of heat energy burst through the room as a powerful boom echoed, tearing and frying the flesh of everyone around.
—
Elian reluctantly agreed to follow Aven back to the Black Guild.
First, that he hasn't eaten for three days, and Aven offered him food. Who could turn down food? Second, that Aven got a message from the guild that they saved a few citizens minutes after the Game started.
It was a fair chance that Rin might have been saved by them too.
And third, the twins were eager to drag him away from Aven. Even if they reminded him a lot of Milo, it was crazy tagging along with white pieces.
Now, that all four of them are at the very gate of the Black Guild head-quarters, Elian was starting to have second thoughts.
Why are Sun and Moon still with them if they're white pieces???
The Black Guild only gave access to fellow black pieces. It's literally in their official name.
He and Aven had a peace truce after he mentioned about his family massacre.
Aven wouldn't turn him in for experiments, and in return, Elian will do exactly what he says.
And also to stick to Aven since he knew something Elian didn't.
The Black Guild's headquarters had bsidian walls, veins of glowing red etched into the stones as a dome of black light arched above it all, shimmering faintly. It reminded Elian of his previously claimed territory.
His dome color was light blue.
This was black.
He squinted his eyes as he noted the differences. A lower class that claims a territory does affect it's protection quality.
Without it, the wasteland's monsters would've chewed through the guild days ago.
Elian slowed his pace.
Sun and Moon still padded beside him
He stopped dead, turning to face them.
"Why are you still here?" His voice came out low, almost a growl.
The twins just shrugged, eyes too innocent. "Why wouldn't we be?" Moon tilted her head.
Sun's grin was sharper. "It is fun watching you squirm. And our king piece must stay near my sight."
"I am not your king piec—"
But before Elian could snarl back, Aven shoved both twins hard in the chest. They stumbled back, their feet skidding on the stone.
"That's far enough," Aven deadpanned. "Step inside, and the dome itself will judge you. Opponent pieces in enemy territory? That's death. Even if you might be special pieces to your world, the Law doesn't bend here. Not for you."
The twins pouted like children denied sweets.
"Such impudence." Sun muttered.
"Guess we'll wait here," Moon added with a sly wink at Elian.
Elian's jaw tightened. He turned away from them.
The gate creaked as Aven pressed his palm to the seal. Black glyphs lit up, crawling across the surface. The dome rippled, then split open, letting only the two of them pass.
Inside, the air was heavier. Heat clung to his skin.
The noisy hall beyond swarmed with bodies of normal citizens, mercenaries, recruits and survivors.
And in that mess of faces, Elian spotted the people from his previous dome, before the twins destroyed it.
Crix was still dressed in his fake relics and boots too heavy for a normal man to pull off as he waved his ringed fingers as though nothing had changed.
Charles, the A-rank Knight was standing rigid in armor, eyes cold as a drawn blade.
And Tina... her eyes locking with Elian's for a fraction, wide and startled, before she flinched and dropped her gaze like she'd been caught stealing.
The system's ding cuts in.
[Oh look. She remembers. Poor thing. Did you traumatize her that much?]
[What if she knows you killed her trusty rat faced man? That's not good.]
Elian's teeth ground together. No one knows, just keep it down.
[Keep what down? I'm in your head.]
And then Crix barreled forward, arms flailing, his perfume choking the air.
"My walking gem!" he cried, jumping up to grab Elian's shoulders, planting kisses on both cheeks with wet smacks. "Oh, thank the Constellations—you're alive!"