Chapter 9: THE PUNISHMENT EVENT

I listened to what he was saying. This was a serious talk that I must put my mind on.

He said that the Punishment Event was a good place for us to level up. The Rejuvenating Room would help us to get stronger faster than any normal person.

He added that every month, a monster Boss would appear, but he didn't say what kind of monster it is.

He told us that we couldn't take a step 700 meters radius outside the Castle. A transparent barrier was covering the land. Which meant we couldn't escape and we were stuck here like prisoners. 

" How about the food? Where can we get it? "

Food was the main problem that I'm thinking about right now.  Kyle chuckled when he heard me, did I say something funny?

" Pfft- what are you talking about. Can't you see that there are many edible things inside the Castle?"

Inside the Castle... oh God, please no. I hope I'm wrong. Kyle, don't continue what you're going to say, I shook my head hoping that I'm wrong.

" Monster meat is edible. In fact, they are delicious. They make our bodies stronger. If you are reading Fantasy Novels, you'll know that they eat monster meat as food. It's a common theme, just think of it like that."

As expected of our all-knowing friend. He didn't hesitate to state that. Though monster?  Food?... Nope. I will not eat that sh*t.

While walking back to our room, Miriam said the thing I wanted to ask.

" Why are you hiding this information? Why not share it with others instead of keeping it a secret?"

She narrowed her eyes while staring at Kyle. She was still undecided about him.

" Kuku, because I don't want to. Rejuvenating Room is mine, I don't want any competitors. As for the Healing Pond and weaponry, they can find it if they travel around. And last but not the least, I don't give a f*ck if they died. They can rot in hell for all I care."

... As expected of our all-knowing psychopath friend, straight to the point.

" Since we  have already washed ourselves, we can now search for food."

He started to choose what kind of monster he would like to eat. No matter how I looked at it, this was disgusting. I couldn't push that thing inside my mouth... Yuck! I stick my tongue out in disgust.

"C- can we just look for other food? Perhaps there are fruits around the Castle. "

Nice Miriam! Yes, let's do that! Fruits were far better than these bloody flesh.

" I believe there's already none. We are around 76,00+ yesterday. Well, I'm not sure how many died right now, but those numbers will eat a ton of food. The plants and trees are already dried up, finding fruits is not a good solution just because you don't want to eat monsters. You'll just wait for nothing."

Damn right, ah f*ck it all!!! Since Kyle chose what we would eat, I guess I'll start to clean this butchered room. There were many blood and intestines inside this meat house (Rejuvenating Room)!

" What are you doing?"

Kyle had a questioning look staring at me taking out the dead bodies.

" I'm cleaning this room. You can't expect us to eat in this dirty place."

I answered.

" The castle has a cleaning and restoring system. These trashes will disappear on their own. You don't need to clean this. "

"... Yeah, right."

I am now immune to these phenomenons.  I've already seen many unbelievable things. Seeing a Castle cleaning its own is not a shock for me.

"After time you'll see that I'm serious, the Castle will fix itself"

Miriam just listened to our conversation. She just stopped thinking and stared out of nowhere when she heard that she would eat monster meat.

Good luck Miriam. I hope we can overcome this...

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" ... Taste good. This meat is delicious!!! How did this happen!? This is juicy and the flavor is really...... TELL ME HOW DID YOU DO THIS!? "

Miriam faced Kyle seriously. She was curious how an Orc meat could be good as this. Even I didn't expect that this will be delicious. If you think about the face of an Orc, you would say that it was disgusting. I'm shocked to find it good, well Orcs are pigs too, right?

" I did nothing. I just roast it in the fire. Monsters contained mana, this mana makes their meat delicious as f*ck. Whenever we eat this, our strength will increase in a small portion."

I see. The explanation is well pointed, Kyle do have information even about the monsters.

" Then... gulp what is mana?"

Miriam curiously asked about mana while chomping down the food.

" Mana? Sigh, don't ask me a stupid question like this. You can understand it by yourself... have you ever played a game?"

Well, I do have an idea what mana is, but for Miriam... the woman scratched her head trying to think what mana is.

"Mana... what is that?"

Miriam... Nevermind. Obviously, you are older than me, but I never thought you didn't play any games. MOBA, RPG? You didn't touch any games like that? 

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*gulp*

Lane, a nine years old girl was looking at Mikael and the others who were eating. She stumbled into this room when she smelled the roasting meat. She didn't eat the whole night because she kept hiding away. She only realized that her body needed intake when she started to weaken.

 She couldn't stop salivating when she smelled the roasted meat. She wanted to take a step, but she was afraid that the other would try to hurt her. She witnessed the horror of humanity and monsters.

"Who's there!?"

"Hick!!"

Lane was frightened when she heard the voice, she jolted and covered her mouth. She jumped out of her wits and tried to run, but she stopped herself. She needed to eat. If they started to do something funny, she would run. She appeared in the three, her knees were shivering in fear and her eyes blurred in tears.

"... a child."

Kyle lost his ferocity when he found out that it was a little girl.

Kyle pity the child. The Awakening Event was not biased when it came to age. They even chose some infants when they do the summoning. Most of the kids that were summoned would die early. It was a miracle that Lane was still alive inside the Punishment Event.

"Don't worry, we are not bad people. What's your name?"

Miriam assured her, she didn't want the kid to run. She knew what kind of fear the girl was facing right now. To be part of a monster-killing event was not a joke when it came to an innocent child like her.

" La- Lane. M-my name is Lane"

The girl stuttered, her eyes were on the ground afraid of looking at them.

" Lane, are you hungry? We have food here, you can eat it. Don't worry, we are not bad guys, okay."

"... Thanks, ma'am."

She hesitated for a moment, but her hesitation was defeated by her hunger. Lane took a step and reached the meat that Miriam gave her.

She has no hesitation, she swallowed it. She knew that it was not poisonous because the other three already ate. When the girl bit the meat, more tears came flowing out of her eyes.

"Sob sob delicious sob sob ....  Thank you very much. This is delicious...."

Lane kept crying while she ate the food. Even Miriam couldn't stop her eyes from shedding tears too.

" It's okay. There's more, you can take your time in eating. If you want more I can give it to you."

She said with loving words.

" Yes, sob sob thank you very much. Sister can... can I ask your name."

" My name is Miriam. That man who's holding a slice of meat is Mikael. The man that roasting our food is named Kyle."

She pointed her fingers onto them.

" Brother Mikael, brother Kyle. Thank you... sob thank you so much."

Lane sniffed.

" You're welcome..." 

Mikael looked at her and he recalled about his family. Mikael's parents and brother were surely worried about him right now. He was sure that they were searching for him. He could even imagine how her mother crying because of his disappearance. 

"Lane can I ask you? How did you come here?"

" I'm not sure sister Miriam. I'm s-sleeping, when I wake up I'm now in this place. T-then a large ugly dog wanted to e-eat me.... sob sob. I'm scared... Mother... Father... Lane is scared."

Lane kept her small voice and cry.

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<Mikael PoV>

"She's a poor child."

Lane was sleeping on Miriam's lap. She entrusted herself to Miriam.

I clenched my fists because of anger. Whoever made this, she was a heartless motherf*cking bastard. Especially that voice in the sky. I believe she was the mastermind. 

To treat our life as a toy is a f*ck*ng......

"Kyle, can we keep her?"

Miriam pity the child. I saw in her eyes that she wanted to protect her.

" ... It's your decision. But she's your responsibility."

" Thank you, don't worry, I'll protect her"

She smiled and thank him.

"Hoh!? So you have a soft spot for the children huh. I never thought about that Kyle."

I tried to tease him. Having an opportunity to tease him like this was once in a lifetime. 

" What do you think of me huh? I have feelings too, in fact... I had a son."

"Ah is that so! How old is he-"

"He's dead, someone killed him... "

W-what? Did I just bring a sad memory!? I need to find some leeway to change this sad atmosphere. First, apologize.

"So- sorry. I didn't know"

"It's okay, let's... let's not talk about this.  For now, let's just rest and sleep. We will take turns in guarding. Be prepared for any possible outcome that may happen. Understand?"

"O- okay"