In front of them, a drawing appeared in the System.
—Great, I have a yellow circle! It won't be that difficult! —exclaimed Ava, relieved
—I have a 54... It will be quite difficult for me... —said Cain, scratching the back of his neck— And you, 197? — Noah was fearfully staring at his screen.
—I-I have... A snake surrounding a triquetra wrapped in roses... —he exclaimed, trembling.
"Impossible... Where can I find someone like that...?" he thought.
—Damn... —exclaimed Cain, while Ava looked at him with tears. She hugged him, holding onto his clothes. Noah tried to calm her down, laughing a little while stroking her head.
—Calm down... They won't kill me so easily. —he said. Although, deep down, he was very terrified. —The best thing is that we separate and look for our partner. We can't stand still for an hour and a half. Right, Ca...? — Cain had already left, as Noah couldn't see him anywhere. He just laughed weakly.
—S-so then... — In Ava's mind, the two who died before were still on her mind. But Noah gave her a small kiss on the forehead.
—Go find your partner. Good luck. —Ava gathered her courage and set out in search of someone with a yellow circle. Noah stood watching her as she walked away. He didn't want Ava to depend on him all the time. He wanted her to become an independent woman. He knew she could. So, he also went out to look.
—Hey, you. — Azrail, still seated, heard a female voice behind him. He turned to look. She was a young blonde woman, with long hair and very intense blue eyes. She was wearing an orange jumpsuit, indicating that she had been in prison. He wore the tag with the number 1788. She was already behind him before. —You have the elephant, don't you?
—Yes. You were the one with bravery 4. It's noticeable, seeing the way you dare to speak to me.
—Don't talk nonsense. Besides, were you going to sit there waiting for your pathetic death?
—No. You have already come to me, so I don't need to get up anymore. —the girl kept looking at him, with a bored expression. —Azrail. —he introduced himself, raising his hand. The girl sat down next to him, rejecting the greeting.
—You didn't need to tell me your name. The Kofi or whatever it's called already said it. —she said, looking at the clock—Ruby. 17.
—17 years old and you're going to prison? What have you done?
—Don't talk, you have 927 sins, idiot.
—I could kill you here and now before you even realized it, you know that, right.
—If I die, you die. See? You are an idiot. Idiot. — Azrail didn't get angry at that comment; in fact, he found it amusing. That Ruby was starting to earn his respect. Although Ruby never smiled at any moment.
—We need to touch each other to win the game, right? —He extended his hand to her again. —It's a pleasure, Ruby.
—Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. —this time she did respond to the greeting, but instead of shaking hands, she just bumped fists. A message appeared in front of both of them.
"Couple formed! Level 1 cleared!" that, along with an adorable drawing of Kílin smiling, giving a thumbs up.
—Come on... A 54... — Cain walked away before Noah and Ava. He didn't need to waste time watching how they treated each other like a couple. It gave him... A strange feeling of envy. Even if they were his best friends.
"When I get out of here, I'll start looking for a girlfriend..." he said to himself
"Players! Now, we will give you an advantage!" Everyone heard the rabbit say, "Now, shapes, numbers, or animals will appear above your heads, visible to everyone!" Above Cain's head and the rest of the people's heads, what the rabbit had said indeed appeared. Some people saw a glimmer of hope but then screams were heard. Cain ran to see what was happening.
It was the Spanish politician, who was trying to kill Claire, the lady from before, by strangling her. Claire was lying on the floor, and the politician was on top of her, squeezing her throat.
Cain looked around. No one intervened to help. Everyone knew it wasn't worth it, especially because of what was said about Claire. But still...
—Stop it already! —He heard Claire. He approached the politician from behind and grabbed him under the shoulders, trying to make him release his grip. The politician noticed and momentarily left Claire to go after Cain. He moved his arm back aggressively, slightly unbalancing him.
—What are you doing, kid?! This is an adult matter that doesn't concern you! —he stood up, forgetting about the woman he had been trying to kill earlier, and stood in front of Cain. She was going to slap him in the face, but Cain blocked it with his hand.
—What are you doing, kid?! This is an adult matter that doesn't concern you! —a memory from the past crossed his mind—Don't try to defend yourself! Crybaby, be a man! —the man who had been yelling at him before slapped him, throwing him to the ground. The boy writhed in pain on the ground. He looked up. There was a wooden ceiling, with a lamp above.
—Y-you...
—Are you trying to hit me? Ha, what an idiot. —a devilish smile, with a thirst for blood, formed on Cain's face. This scared the politician a little. —Come on, go ahead. Hit me. Kill me. Weren't you trying to do the same with her?
—Leave me alone, brat. —He walked away from him, trying to leave, but Cain wouldn't let him go, grabbing him by the shirt from behind, making him look him in the eyes.
—You know? Before I die in this dump, I'm going to have some fun first. I hate cowardly people like you. —he punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground. He quickly got on top of him and started punching him again. And another one. More. More. MORE. MORE. ANOTHER ONE. KILL HIM. KILL...
—Enough —he heard someone say behind him. Cain regained consciousness again and looked back. He was a boy almost the same age as him, a little older. He had short red hair and orange eyes. He was a bit muscular in the arms, as he wore a white tank top and long, ripped denim long shorts.
—Oh, I... —he looked at his hands. He had blood on his hands. And the politician's face was almost deformed. The boy raised his arm, approaching him to hit him. But Claire stepped in, stopping him.
—Wait! Don't hurt him! That boy... He saved my life! That bastard was going to kill me! —the boy lowered his arm and looked at him
—Are you serious? How do I know you don't collaborate with him?
—Look at her neck —Cain said to him. —She has bruises. —The boy saw it and confirmed what he said. —Besides... I don't know her at all. I only saved her because, even though she did that to her daughter, she is still a person like any other. —he stood up, finally allowing the politician to breathe, and positioned himself in front of him, without Claire moving aside first— What would you do, hero of the day?
—...—the boy was right, he thought. But suddenly... Cain saw how the stranger was about to burst into tears —That... That was very manly!
—Ehm... What?
—You didn't know her at all, you only knew her dark background, and for no reason, you went to help her. Manly! Very manly! That's being a man! —Cain was about to walk away, but he saw his System above, displaying a number.
—It can't be... —Cain's face lit up. The stranger had the number 54. The boy, looking up because his new friend was doing so, also saw the number.
—Y-YOU HAVE 54! YES! I'M NOT DEAD! HA! —he went to hug him very tightly, causing a message to appear on the System, saying he had passed Floor 1. Cain was suffocating. How much strength did this guy have? He looked at Claire, who was behind him. She smiled and walked away to find her partner. —What's your name, friend?! —she said, finally letting him go.
—C-Cain... —he said, catching his breath
—Cain...! My name is Aike!
—Aike... Didn't that mean sword?
—Of course! — Aike gave him a few "pats" on the shoulder. Cain could see his number. 7945. Wait, wasn't that the strong one? he thought. Now he knew the source of the strength of that hug.
—I'm tired... — Ava had been walking for an eternity. She looked up at the hourglass. It was already halfway through. She asked a lot of people, but none of them had a yellow circle. And ever since that advantage the rabbit gave them came out, she couldn't find anything.
Ava thought about Noah. She didn't want to be a burden to him. She wanted to be a support, someone to rely on, and to be able to relax.
"I'm a failure..." she thought. She couldn't do anything right. Because of her, she dragged Noah and Cain there. If she hadn't been so foolish in that exam, maybe...
Ava shook her head. No, she shouldn't think like that. If not, it would discourage her more, and her performance would be worse. Although she looked at the ground.
—What would Noah do...? —she whispered. Then an idea occurred to her. She looked up again, specifically at the figures. She looked for some yellow color. No figures, just color. She found someone with yellow color on top of him and ran through the crowd towards him.
When she arrived, she was a bit disappointed to see that it was a square. But that didn't discourage her. She started searching among the people again. Another yellow color! This time it was closer. She ran, and ran, but it turned out to be a giraffe.
Again. A triangle. Again. A butterfly. Another. Lion. Another. Sun. Pentagon. Flower. Duck. Pineapple. Lemon. She was starting to lose her nerves. She was running in all directions. She wasn't getting anywhere. She didn't find her partner. There were 9998 people, counting the two dead. The image came back to her mind again. She had never seen anyone dead.
Ava, exhausted and sweating, crouched to the ground, looking at it again. She wanted to be home. With her adoptive family. With her friends. With her best friend. With her boyfriend. She wanted to savor another ice cream from Molly's. With tears on her face, she looked at the clock again. He had very little time left. Just under a quarter. I didn't even know how to calculate how much time that took.
She looked down again. That's it. It's over. She couldn't even say goodbye.
—Circle. —she heard a female voice above her. She was going to look up, but the girl crouched down first and touched her nose with her finger. —Boop. Gotcha.
"Pair found! Floor 1 cleared!" appeared in System above, with the image of the rabbit
The girl's appearance was very strange. She was her age, and her hair was tied in two pigtails, a slightly strong but at the same time soft pink, with bangs that almost covered her pink eyes. Under her eyes, she had black hearts painted, one under each eye. She was wearing a very exaggerated pink dress, with black bows on the back and all, and black stockings that covered her feet up to her knees. On its label was the number 407.
—Huh...? Am I not dying anymore...? —said Ava, still unable to believe it
—Mmmm, let me think... —the girl puffed up one cheek a bit and put a finger on it. —Nope, I don't think so. My name is Enma. Nice to meet you.
—¿...Emma?
—No, Enma. With an N. I know, it's a bit weird, but it exists. —she said, giving her a big smile —And yours, pretty? — Ava gave her a big hug.
—Finally... Finally... — Ava burst into tears, happy. Enma just smiled.
—Nothing is going to happen... It's over, it's over... —she patted her on the back.
—Ava... My name is Ava —she said, pulling away from the hug and regaining her composure.
—Oh! And I thought I was the only one with a weird name! It turns out there are people like me in the world!
—Well, wait until you meet my best friend... I think he's the only one in history named Cain.
—Is he here?! —she said, excited.
—Yes, him and my boyfriend, Noah. —Enma's face lit up even more
—Do you have a boyfriend?! And is he here? —she started shaking Ava by the shoulders—YES! I ALREADY HAVE MATERIAL TO DRAW COMICS!
—Wait... What?
—Ermmmm... No, nothing! You haven't heard anything at all! —she said, whistling, and turning her head, stopping the shaking of Ava. —Anyway... Where are they?
—I don't know... And I wonder...
...If they have already found their partner.
I hope so.