There’s no divider or wall between the two zones. The booths are replaced by arenas of different sizes. The demons are dressed as gladiators, holding all sorts of melee weapons. The layout is just as messy as the gambling zone. The transportation modes are the same but with some minor differences – the cannon is replaced by the wooden catapult, the cat balloon is now shield-shaped, and the rickshaw carriage, pulled by an imposter tiger, is gladiator-themed embellished with possibly fake gold accents.

“Let’s fight. You’re Tide, you should have an advantage!” Yu challenges.

“I’ve never punched a single soul in my entire life.”

One of the arenas they manage to find hosts a boxing ring. As they’re about to enter, Wyn catches a glimpse of two male individuals wearing unfamiliar transparent clear bands. Wyn points Yu to the two individuals before approaching them.

“Why are your bands different?” Wyn asks.

“Hmph. Because we’re special,” the shorter individual around the same height as Wyn answers.

“Are you by chance the nerds?”

“By ‘chance’? We ARE members of the nerd army” the shorter nerd answers.

The nerds, both wearing glasses, have an aura exuding egos detectable from afar. The shorter nerd Keith is freckled, thin, pale-skinned, and has orange hair and a nerdy voice. The taller one Marcus is borderline anorexic, dark-skinned, black hair, nerdy voice, and has a long neck that reminds Wyn of a baby giraffe.

“You live here? How does it work for you all?” Wyn continues to ask.

“We have a special place in Hell,” Marcus answers.

“No doubt,” Yu speaks, attracting nasty stares from both nerds.

“When we are on a level, we have to follow its rules like you lot, except that our bands allow us to create portals anywhere we wish,” Marcus explains.

“That is so unfair!” Yu protests.

The nerds then show off their incredible balances of over nine hundred thousand credits without either Wyn or Yu asking for it.

“Why is it that some levels make use of the bands but this one doesn’t?” Wyn asks, trying his best not to mention his ‘Feed and Yeet’ exploitation technique.

“The cards have been in effect for decades before the bands were developed. Greed didn’t want to adapt,” Keith explains.

“Why do you even wear glasses? I haven’t seen anyone with a physical disability. Glasses included,” Wyn asks.

“How dare you associate glasses with a disability? And FYI, it’s just to keep the nerdy look relevant,” Marcus explains.

“Where do you even get glasses in Hell?” Yu asks.

“You know, we had our eyes on you earlier. With your analytical thinking, you’d be a great addition to the army. Too bad you’re just a geek,” Keith speaks, completely ignoring Yu. At this point, Wyn realizes they know about the ‘Feed and Yeet’.

During their conversation, two souls holding hands walk by. Then the female soul exclaims, “What? It’s time already? I hope to see you out there somehow, honey!” The accompanying male soul gives her one last hug before she disintegrates.

“What’s that about?” Wyn asks.

“First time seeing this? Well, I’ll tell you for free since a geek is an inferior cousin of us nerds,” says the baby giraffe.

When a soul has served up its time in Hell, it appears to disintegrate and disappear. But in reality, it transforms into a miniscule orb, which only a sharp eye of a cat can detect. An equally tiny portal transports the orb to a special place, where a supercomputer determines the rebirth destination based on the sins the soul committed in the past life – species of living being, location, family status, for example. When an opportunity arises, the orb gets sent into a racing sperm that’s guaranteed to win. No two souls are sent to the same location at the same time.

The nerds carry on with their task, leaving Wyn and Yu to themselves.

“That’s insane! Don’t you think so?” says Wyn.

“It’s confirmed,” Yu says, looking ever so serious and impervious to what Wyn just said. “Gingers do have souls.”

Wyn and Yu finally enter a boxing arena. To enter the level, both need to step on a black circular spot found on each side of the arena’s floor. They then get teleported inside. The rule is simple – make a wager, points given to clean hits to the face, chest, and abdomen areas, the winner takes all.

Wyn is in blue and Yu is in red. With a total of twenty credits on the line, the two waste no time to go at it after the bell rings.

“This is for calling me a noob earlier,” Yu says before jabbing Wyn in the face.

“Yeah? Well, this is for all the good luck you had earlier,” Wyn says before punching directly into Yu’s stomach.

Yu takes a couple of steps back before swiftly charges right back at Wyn, landing a critical hit to the face. With the impact, Wyn staggers back a few steps, reeling from the blow. Yu comes again, this time, aiming for the stomach. Just as Yu is about to attack his side stomach with a right hook, Wyn successfully blocks it with his arm. This gives him an opening to strike back at Yu’s face. However, his left punch, though a clean hit, is weak. Yu tries punching him with his left fist in Wyn’s face continuously, but Wyn blocks all. Being so close to each other right now makes Yu’s attacks ineffective. Wyn pushes Yu off with both fists to give himself distance and time to form his own attack. Yu doesn’t let up. He moves backward to create momentum for a powerful dash attack. Wyn sees the attack coming, dodges to the left, and trips Yu face down with his foot. As Yu gets up and turns around to face Wyn, Wyn kicks him on the side of his hip at full force, sending Yu back down, struggling in pain. Wyn’s foot also sustains damage from the kick to a pointy part of Yu’s body. While Yu is still down, Wyn walks up to Yu, squats down, and lightly punches him in the face four times with both fists for points.

“You should just yield or I’ll kick you harder next time,” Wyn bluffs.

In reality, that was the hardest he could kick. If he were to face a more formidable opponent, his kick would have been too light.

“Fine!” Yu admits defeat, tapping out.

The fight ends within two minutes, prior to the five-minute timer. The match is over, with Wyn winning by six to two. They both get out of the arena unscathed, thanks to the special green dome covering the arena that heals the combatants as they get teleported out.

“You hate me or something?” Wyn questions.

“Nah. I had always wanted to beat someone up. I thought you were weak. Man, was I wrong.”

They have a laugh after the match. They go on to fight each other with swords, guns, and even magic on various terrains. They also team up from time to time to battle against other souls. The second level overall isn’t too bad for either of them. They switch around the zones often – only going to the gaming zone to pump the credits, then returning to other zones for fun. They sometimes revisit the first level for a change of scenery, but the majority of their time is spent in the gaming zone. The grind has finally got to them.

While playing games, – ‘Donkey Donkey Literature Club’ for Yu and ‘The Blinding of Isaiah’ for Wyn – Yu asks Wyn an unusual question.

“What do you miss most from your previous life?”

“Hmm? Why ask now?”

“I don’t know. Just wanted to ask, I guess”

“I don’t miss anything in particular, really. What about you?”

“Me? I miss playing the guitar and singing.”

“Ah. Your idol life.”

“Actually, I was going to quit. I already told the producers, but hadn’t told my bandmates yet. I died in a car crash just one day before I could break the news.”

Yu, a firm nonbeliever of a divine power, joined an idol training project at the age of seventeen. Even at that time, he knew the path wasn't his to take for the long haul. Nonetheless, he took the opportunity to pave way for his ultimate dream – to sing and release his own singles. With a clean calming voice, it wasn’t a tough decision for the producers to recruit him at an audition. For over a year, he trained with nine other trainees. During this time, his group was sent to events for exposure and to amass fanbases. The whole time, Yu felt he didn’t fit in with the rest, let alone the idol life. He enjoyed the singing, but loathed the dancing. Then came the day the producers announced the debut date. Yu expressed to the producers his desire to resign later on the same day. Sad to see him go, the producers asked him to remain within their record label and promised to find something more suitable for Yu in the future. Nobody knew at the time that the day would never come. The van, carrying him and his nine bandmates back to the studio from an event at night, was rammed by an oncoming SUV that was on the wrong lane. His van was pushed off the road and flipped over.

“I hope everyone else made it out okay,” Yu says, as he looks up into nothingness, voice shaken. “How did you end up here?” He clears his throat.

Wyn is looking uncomfortable. He’s thinking if he should share part or all of it. He trusts Yu, but he doesn’t want Yu to judge him for the decision he made that day.

But in honor of their friendship, Wyn replies, “I ended my own life.”

Yu’s face changes from curious to one that carries guilt, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”

“It’s alright. It’s something I have to live with.”

“Do you regret it?”

“Not one bit.”

“I miss music. Maybe we check the sixth level?” Yu suggests, out of the blue, looking upward again.

Wyn doesn’t mind leaving. He knows this day will eventually come.

“Alright. Let's go then.”

And with that, Wyn and Yu let go of the gaming mice. They make their way to the final destination, the sixth floor.