"Well, how was it?" The gentle female voice asked.

Before I knew it, my dream had come to an end, and I was back in the dark.

"It was... boring." I answered simply, after pondering for a second.

"I guess your mind is too twisted to view memories as painful." The voice commented on my answer.

"Then I guess there's no point in keeping me here, is there?" I said, a little annoyed by the voice's know it all attitude.

"Very well, I will allow you to leave. But first you have to answer a question." The voice said.

"What is it?" I asked, slightly annoyed by the voice delaying the inevitable.

"How long do you think that you can keep this up?"

"What do you mean?" I asked unknowingly.

"Oh, you know. The thing with him and you. It's a lie. Nothing more than buffoonery that is the cause of your fragile little mind not being able to come to terms with you having been fragile and weak."

"Bla bla bla. Do you think you can make me change by shoving a bunch of meaningless words in my face."

"You talk so much, yet you still deem words meaningless. Why is that?"

"I only talk when I get something out of it."

"Then why did you feel the need to torment Atlas. Was it just because your ego couldn't take him outsmarting you, and then you had to torture him to get even. Admit it, you aren't only interested in your end goal of freedom. You're not a good person who's been wronged. You're a bad person who wrongs others for a feeling of superiority and lies by saying it's necessary."

"Didn't your parents teach you to not draw conclusions and present them as the truth."

"You're forgetting that I know you better than you know yourself."

"But why should I believe you. You could just lie to try to get me to go insane, since it seems that's your purpose."

"I didn't lie about the things you say, and you know it."

"..." I kept quiet with a cold expression.

"Admit it, you tormented Atlas not for your ultimate goal, but because you wanted to."

"Yes, I wanted to!!" I yelled in a sudden burst of emotion. "He treated me like I was some unintelligent weakling! You think I would let that go?!" I yelled with clear animosity in my voice.

"There it is. Do you feel better now." The voice laughed.

She got me. She managed to get on my nerves, to manipulate me.

As I realized this, my expression turned into a solemn frown.

All I could do now was to relax and move on.

At least that was what I told myself, but my mind didn't seem to be fully listening to me anymore.

"Haaah, I'm sorry. It's not like me to yell like that." I apologized, but even though my expression was calm, I felt rage deep within my heart waiting for a suitable moment to lash out.

"I know, it was more like him. It seems the memories did have an effect." The voice concluded.

***

Not long afterwards, I walked into the third preparation room. As soon as I entered, I noticed that there were over twenty seats at the dining table.

It seemed that I was going to have to be on guard.

Firstly, I walked over to the clothing rack and took off the pieces of clothing I had used as bandages to stop the bleeding on my left shoulder and changed my clothes.

I didn't know how much time had passed, but my shoulder already felt fine. There was still some pain that came with movement, but I was sure I'd be able to fight properly.

After having undone the bandages on my right shoulder and having changed my clothes, I immediately headed towards the dining table.

I also had to use the bathroom and shower, but I couldn't do that, if other people were going to arrive soon. Also, I was starving.

With this thought in mind, I sat down in front of the dining table and started a stuffing myself.

It was one of the best meals I had ever had. Unfortunately, it was interrupted by a man's footsteps, after about 10 minutes of eating.

I turned my head, as soon as I heard the footsteps, and saw a man with brown hair and hazel eyes. The man had a troubled expression, as he looked around. The man wasn't wearing any armor, much like myself, so I assumed that he had a weapon that wearing armor would have made significantly worse or even completely unusable.

The man noticed me before long, and his expression changed into one of surprise. "Uh, you're the guy I met in the dome, aren't you?" the man asked with furrowed brows as he pointed at me.

"Yeah." I answered simply and turned my body to face the man who was walking towards the dining table.

"You look different. What's your name again?" He said.

"Akir."

"Oh, how did I forget such a unique name?"

"You didn't. I just never introduced myself."

"Oh, heh, is that so?" Adam said, scratching his head.

"You look different, too. Adam, was it?" I looked for confirmation, even though I knew I was right. 

"Yeah." Adam said, and shortly after arrived in front of the dining table and sat down. "Did you injure your shoulder?" Adam asked after he noticed the bandage on my right shoulder.

"Yeah." I answered simply.

At that moment, a chair disappeared into thin air and the table shrank slightly.

'Interesting.' I thought.

It seemed like the ruins really didn't function according to any kind of laws or logic.

"Huh? Did you see that?" Adam asked with an expression of disbelief.

"Yeah, it seems that one of your teammates lost their lives just now." I said casually and continued eating.

"Huh, died. How?" Adam asked with a confused expression and some seriousness in his voice.

"From what I know, the ruins on each level are similar, so I assume that the ruin you were in was one where your squad was separated, and your minds were messed with." I answered, as I ate.

"That's right. But how could someone die?." Adam asked.

"You had a conflict in the first ruin and were forced to kill your group members, correct?"

"Umm, yeah." Adam said with a troubled expression.

"Well, some people can't bear killing other humans. Maybe they can do it in a difficult situation without thinking about it too much, but when confronted, those people crumble and try to escape. You know by-" I said and took my thump and dragged it against my throat. Adam's face turned into one of disgust, as he looked at me, but I just continued talking. "I actually thought you were that kind of person, but I guess you have some evil in you." I said, as I started feeling something strange.

Even to me, my actions seemed strange. This person hadn't harmed me in any way. No, he had even helped me. But still, it felt good as I made him feel awful. It felt just right, satisfying even. It felt like something that I was supposed to do.

"So you're saying that they... killed themselves?" Adam asked with a mix of sadness and disbelief in his voice.

"Obviously. But how about we talk about you. You seem to be just fine, even though you killed people not too long ago. Why is that?" I pressured Adam.

"It's not like I wanted to, I just had to. If I didn't kill them, my group members and I would've died." Adam defended his actions.

"No, you didn't. You killed them because it was convenient. Are you seriously saying that there was no other way." I said and stood up. "There was, there had to be. You just weren't willing to look." I said aggressively and started walking at him.

My anger was starting to flow through my mouth and I did nothing to stop it. It felt too right. I couldn't not do it.

"Hey, why are you angry? Was someone you knew in my group?" Adam said as he stood up and started walking backwards away from me.

"You justify your actions by saying there was no other way, when there was. You're a pathetic coward hiding behind excuses because he can't confront his actions. If you're really a good person, then why don't you feel any remorse? You can't seriously believe that you're a good person, even after taking the life of another human, can you?" I said, as I continued to walk towards him.

At this point, I didn't know who my words were for. My mind, so clouded with emotions, I was too incompetent to handle properly.

Words flowed. Words with deep meaning, but none of those words were meant for Adam. Why would they have been? I barely knew him.

But even though I did not know the person these words were meant to hurt, motivate or better, I kept opening and closing my mouth in an effort to share my burden.

"What, I know what I did, but I couldn't have saved the others, if I didn't kill them." Adam answered, walking backwards in a panic, trying to avoid contact.

"Bullshit, this was never about them, it was you who killed them, and you did it to save yourself, not to save your group. Tell me, if you had known that you'd die in the act of saving your group members, would you have still done it?"

"Uh, of co-"

"No!" I interrupted Adam with a yell. "You wouldn't have. And that's because the one you killed for was yourself, you never cared about others. All you thought about when you took those live was yourself."

After I finished yelling, Adam suddenly stopped backing away and stood up to me.

Our height difference was rather obvious, as we stood face to face, with him being about 6 centimeters taller than me.

"How do you know?! Why are you even doing this?! Are you some sicko that gets enjoyment out of tormenting others?!" Adam yelled in my face and I even felt a couple of droplets of saliva hit my face.

'Disgusting.' I thought spitefully, and then my body started moving.

I lowered myself a little and twisted my waist. Then my right arm extended and a loud punching sound resounded in the preparation room and Adam fell onto the ground.

"Don't think that you can yell idiotic assumptions in my face and survive unscathed." I said, as I pridefully looked down at Adam.

"Don't you remember that I saved you? You would be dead, if I hadn't saved you from that arrogant brat in the cave." Adam said like he was entitled to my gratitude.

Suddenly, my expression turned neutral.

"Oh, how altruistic of you to use your good deeds to try to get something out of me. Oh, and by the way, that "arrogant brat" is dead. I met him in the last preparation room and picked him apart." I said nonchalantly.

"Wha-" Adam let out a noise of confusion.

"Oh, all this was just an act. I'm not mad at you. How could I be? We're the same. You're just a little behind the curve." I said, as if talking about something trivial.

"Hey!!!" A sound came from my right.

I turned my head and saw a broad shouldered man running at me full speed.

"Wait!" Adam yelled at the man, but it was too late.

The man came at me with his weapon, but I disarmed him in under a second and took him into a choke hold. His weapon fell onto the ground, and he tried to loosen the choke hold with both of his hands, but even though my right shoulder ached, I didn't stop choking him and my strength was far beyond his.

At that moment, another person appeared in the preparation room.

"Akir, please don't kill him. I promise he won't try harming you again." Adam begged me as I held the man.

"Fine." I said and grabbed the back of the man's neck and threw him onto the ground. "Killing someone, as weak as him, would be a waste of time in any case."

The person who had arrived in the preparation room came to help the broad shouldered man who was grabbing his throat and coughing on the ground.

"The light in your eyes is fading. I'm sure it'll be long gone by the time we meet again." I said as I looked Adam in his hazel eyes.

Then I simply turned and started heading towards the tunnel.

Adam just wordlessly sat there and watched as I walked away.

I had eaten already, and if I stayed any longer I could be in danger, so it was crucial that I got through the next ruin, before they caught up to me.

"Should I go after him?" Asked the person who was helping the man I had pushed.

"No. It's better just to let him die by himself." Adam answered.

***

I walked into the tunnel, and soon after I arrived in front of a large door. This time the door had a ring on it.

I waited for the door to open, but it didn't. No matter how long I stood there, the door didn't open. After a while, I raised my left hand and tried to touch the door but when I was supposed to make contact with the door, my hand just went through it like it had been a mirage. I took my hand out of the door and the spot where my hand had gone through no longer resembled a door, but there was just utter darkness in the shape of my arm.

Shortly after, the darkness started to spread. In seconds the door was now replaced with a void and a few moments after, all I could see was utter blackness.

Then, my own voice resounded in my head

[The difficulty has been recognized as too low for you.]

[You will now be redirected into another ruin of a higher difficulty.]

'Oh, so it's like the rich having to pay more taxes.' I thought with a hint of anger.

Then, in the blink of an eye, I was surrounded by noise.

"Huh?" I let out a sound of confusion with my brows furrowed as I looked around and saw that I was on a street in a town that looked like it was from the 1800s, full of people doing business and casually walking around.