It was morning, after the ant attack finished, there were no other attempts on the wall. One other wall still fought, but they ultimately held strong with only the Dragon and Demon monster that still assaulted the wall until dawn.

  Rue couldn’t even imagine fighting all the way through dawn. After the ant left, all he was ordered to do was guard the wall, which had become a mere sightseeing on the grand, cracked mountain.

  He and Romero even played word games, the one where you continue each other's words from the last letter. Jessica joined in, and got too competitive, even Lars did too. After five hours in, the ants' act still held horror in him; maybe that is why he wanted to take his mind off.

  He just finished a five-hour sleep, and he did not need any more. Maybe it was because his body was much stronger, but he just felt completely refreshed.

  “Huh, that might be why I can’t fall asleep before,” Rue muttered.

  Now, a meeting has been called--a meeting for the strike group. The meeting location shall be this library where Rue lounges in a grandpa chair, comfortably swaying back and forth with a book covering his head, a beam of light warmed over him through the slight arrow slit.

  The library contained about a dozen bookshelves, they're each with two shelves tall, and the library ceiling was high to accommodate them.

  This room could easily hold a thousand. Perfect place to hold a meeting as the dining hall is used by others…normal? Maybe it's rude to call them normal. But, he couldn’t help but slightly envy them; he was about to put himself in danger because he was much stronger than most.

  The sight of the scout being thrown against the wall replayed in his mind.

  The sound when their bone and heads splattered against the wall…

  And the declaration of an ant king on how it would exact revenge.

  Rue shuddered, yet the fear was one he had felt before. Against Salar, Joya, and now the Ant King. He chuckled and let out a huge breath, pushing the book pages off him. Was it strange to say he looked forward to this? Or maybe he is just plain suicidal.

  Maybe he shouldn’t be alone; his mind always wandered to a place he least expected. But after tonight, he did not want to see other people. It's just comfortable to be alone—

  His head thumped against a hard cover.

  Rue had noticed someone had entered about a minute ago, his perception had told him.

  He lifted his book to see a pearlescent eye staring down at him, and a lustrous white hair accompanied her beautiful, yet very abnormal face.

  “Oh,” Rue muttered.

  “Oh, to you, too.” Mey Skyveth blinked.

  “I mean hello,” Rue coughed, closing the book with one hand, and laying it on a circular table that looked like a café table.

  (Human. Lvl 45)

  She has levelled up into the forties. Looked like the rumor that her wall had the fiercest fighting was true. Although it's hard to imagine that it was more difficult than the ant assault that managed to actually breach the wall.

  “I heard your wall fought until dawn,” Rue started.

  She just stared at him, opening her book. She read it and settled on the other grandpa chair near Rue; they were separated only by the coffee table.

  Sunlight colored her white hair into a golden hue; they sparkled, a contrast to her red tunic that was marred by blackness as if it had been thrown inside a burning house.

  “You heard right,” She replied.

  “Right…” Rue grunted. What else was he supposed to say? Conversation is hard when the other person is not exactly talkative.

  “So… Was there anything funny?”

  “Funny how?”

  “You were laughing,” She stated.

  “I was?” Right, he did. “Please forget about that.”

  “If you said so,” She mumbled and began to read, flipping a page in mere five seconds. “Mmm, boring,” Mey complained, and she set the book on the table.

  She folded her arms and tipped her head up, enjoying the sunlight lancing at her.

  “I see why you're early, being alone in a place like this sure feels great,” She said, almost blissfully groaning as she stretched her shoulder. “How should I say it? The Lonesome… is warm… like a blanket”

  “Is it a coincidence that we’re alone?” Rue asked.

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  Mey opened her eyes and stared at Rue with a deadpanned expression. “And why would I get you alone?”

  To shake me off my point!

  But, Rue shall not mention it, in case she forgot.

  “Your point will be used for the strike team potions.”

  Of course, she remembered.

  “Good, I can live with that,” Rue said, satisfied.

  “I’m here to practice my speech,” Mey answered.

  “Practice? You need practice?”

  “Of course, I’m not some public speaker in the old world.”

  Old world…

  Looking at Mey was a reminder that he was truly in a different world.

  “The old folks on my first stage do not need practice to lead,” Rue said, wondering what Paxwell and Alquin are doing right now. If Rue had to pick three people from the first stage that he was absolutely sure would survive, it would be Pax, Alquin, and Benedict. The last one was because of his pure strength, but the other two were because they’re like an old oak, so sturdy, and it's hard to imagine they would go down.

  “You have a good first stage, Rue?”

  “N-” Rue was about to say no.. If he just considered the first three days, then the answer is no. But, honestly, if he had been frank… “Yes, I think I got lucky.”

  “Oh?”

  “Every person I met helped me one way or another. Even the way I obtained my class too”

  Mey stared at him, her eyes intent on him. And Rue met her gaze. He can’t read her, not what this blank expression means. Has she seen him as pathetic?

  “You’re blessed then. My first stage is not like that at all.”

  That sparked his curiosity; until now, he hasn’t heard of anyone else at the first stage. He had been curious about Soma’s and Lars’s, but neither of them intended to tell him when he asked. And Junior… It was clear he was lying by the kill count he claimed to have.

  “I’m curious,” Rue stated, and he shut his mouth. That came out wrong.

  “Sure, let me dump it all on you,” Mey spoke softly. “Y’know, I haven’t even told Ephey or Rufus. For the fear they would cast me away,” She paused, looking at him, and her lips curved thinly. “Do you still want to hear?”

  Rue actually considered saying no. She was his leader, whether he liked it or not, and in a way that made him want to blissfully go on, unaware of whether there was some dark secret of hers.

  “Yes,” Rue answered.

  “We were teleported to a beach… A beach that surrounds a volcano. The stage objective was to slay imp.”

  That already sounded harder than Rue’s own first stage. A beach? At least in the forest, there are plenty of food sources.

  “I recognize most don’t know how to fight. I picked Scout because I thought it was the best class to gather information. On the first day, I went off by myself.”

  “By yourself?” Maybe it was not too crazy, Paxwell and some others did the same. But, Paxwell was a hunter in the old world, so it did make sense.. What was Mey?

  “Yes, I had some experience.”

  “Experience?” Their world was a peaceful one, except for one location. “Mey, are you from Badland?”

  Mey smiled thinly, and her face grew solemn. “The war capital of the world. Yes, the very place”

  “Ah,” Rue muttered. Everything he knew was from the news only, and it was just a background throughout his life. The sisters often used it as a reminder of how lucky they were, the children of the orphanage, not to be born there.

  “So, going back to the first stage… I'm able to spot these imp… all level three. But I recognize I probably couldn’t take it out alone, and there were about perhaps thirty of them hiding around like they were trying for an ambush.”

  You can spot the ambush? Rue's eyes widen, and cold realisation washes over him. So it was possible to survive the second day's ambush! But that would take someone to spot the monster ambush like Mey does.

  “I intended to report back, but by the time I was back, however. The camp hierarchy has been established. A man named Morco, he was actually one of the warlords of Badland. I recognized him ages ago, when I was recruited as a child soldier.” Mey stopped, chewing her lips. “Do you know what I thought, Rue? The first thing that came to my mind?”

  “I don’t”

  “That this… This new world was a present given to me by the gods. That gods finally given me my wish, to make me forget everything, all the lives I take, and a chance for a new start. Not just a fresh start, mind you. A new start… Like hitting a new game, and by so eradicating old save files,” Her hand trailed the green cover of the book absentmindedly, over the letter, and her eyes glazed over it. “How was it for you?”

  “It’s the same.” He said, and it's strange to say that. Rue was someone who felt his life had passed by, not one who was born and spit by it. “Actually, maybe not. I just want to live it differently.” He admitted.

  Mey shook her head and chuckled. “I’m sorry for that tangent, now let me continue. Seeing Morco was like the god spitting all over me. So I ran; nobody realised it, but I ran from the group. Not because of fear, but because I refuse to see any reminder of my old life. So I began hunting, using all the knowledge I had, and I managed to stalk a smaller group of imp to their sleep nest. That took a whole day.”

  Rue breathed out, and he understood what happened next. Still, Mey says it.

  “By the time I returned, the camp was obliterated. I managed to save a group of five who managed to escape. But I could tell they didn't know anything about fighting. So I told them I didn't want to go with them. They begged and begged, but I refused. This time, it's because I preferred to be alone and not ruin the imagination I had built inside my mind—that this world granted me.”

  “One by one, I kill the imps, ambush after ambush, using the sands. But one fight goes wrong, and I have to jump off a cliff. I am caught by the tide, but in a pure miracle… Actually, not. It's not a miracle; I awoke in a cave. The cave was interconnected deep inside the volcano; you see, a strange power held it all together. I kept going until I found a demon chained in a red molten chamber. It offered me a class, only if I freed it and released the seal within the volcano, which is responsible for holding the lava back.”

  “And you did?” Rue asked, cutting in. This was reminiscent of how he found Cel, of course, without dooming the entire area.

  “No, why would I destroy this new world? That is my first thought. I left the cave, and finally the kill threshold has been reached. A new hidden objective was revealed: to slay a Lava Eel. A ten-foot-tall creature that lives right inside the Lava. At this point, it was obvious that I couldn’t do this alone any longer. So I tried to find survivors. Then I saw them, under Morco. I saw how each of their faces—young ones, old ones—all held a determined glaze. It was a fake promise. Everyone will be turned into a sacrificial pawn—that’s how the warlord of the desert always is. But I reasoned to myself, perhaps in this new world, such things are necessary. We’re facing monsters after all. So I stepped out, like the five-year-old I was, and joined the ranks once again.

  “The lives I tried to wish away, once again gripped me. And I walk straight into it. Rue. Can you imagine such foolishness?”