To say I was baffled would be an understatement. Me? An adventurer?

  Before, I did want to be one... but after I saw them in action—them being Jim, Lu'jol, and... Jer-kal-thul... Her full name was hard to remember. Anyway, I wasn't exactly fond of the occupation.

  Who could blame me?

  I didn't have much of an ego, I think. However, I absolutely hated the idea of people treating me like shit, trying to command me around like some... some damn cattle.

  "Do this, adventurer!

  "You're paid with our money, our tax dollars!"

  All that kind of nonsense... I didn't need it. Not now, at least.

  When my vlandos features became obvious and I didn't have a choice, I would accept such a fate. If I was normal, that is!

  My seal and black energy were an issue. I found ways to hide them, but fighting around other people all the time would have spelled disaster for me.

  Unless there was a way to turn my seal energy ejection another color. There probably was...

  After all, Terrafall was very capitalistic. And one thing that beautiful concept knew how to do was find anything to turn into money.

  If people dyed their hair all kinds of colors for no good reason and tattooed their skin, then surely there had to be ways to change the color of my seal ejection for cosmetic reasons.

  But that would be something I would need to save money for... after I started earning money.

  Anyway, I had to give an answer. And so I did.

  I shook my head, looking into the eyes of Abella Starlight. "Sorry, but I have no interest in that."

  Another reason was that I could fight effectively only when I used my healing powers. I wouldn't be allowed to do that in a team.

  I had to fight by myself.

  My eyes fell on the green spheres on my plate, and I frowned before asking Ferzan, "Is this actually breakfast? Seems like dessert."

  He pulled his head back and looked at me with half a smirk. "It is dessert—after lunch."

  I was shocked, but shouldn't have been. With how late I came back to the house to sleep, it wouldn't have made sense for me to feel so energized if it were truly early.

  Abella cut in, rubbing her finger under her chin, appearing confused. "Explain yourself. Please?"

  I turned my attention back to her. "It just seems like a... lot of work. Dealing with people. Being sent on missions, like soldiers. I don't want to be a soldier."

  I wasn't being completely dishonest with her. Just holding back the most important reasons.

  She slowly nodded, her hand drawing to the table’s runner before she began drumming on it, slowly and rhythmically. "Opposite of my boy, huh?"

  I raised an eyebrow, looking at Ferzan. "Really?"

  Ferzan half-rolled his eyes. "I don't fully mind it... If they're normal with me and stuff. I would be able to help a ton of people, you know? Sounds cool."

  What was with this guy and wanting to be a good person? I mean, I appreciated it and liked that factor about him, but it seemed so... odd. Not in a bad way, but in the way that made you raise an eyebrow.

  Abella then said, directing her next statement to me, "But unlike you, he was born with the right to do as he pleases. Almost as he pleases, anyway." She took a deep inhale and smacked her lips before saying in a somewhat gentle way, "Why is being commanded an issue for you? I had to be commanded by Balash itself when I was a mere teen. I did so with pride and joy."

  "It just isn't something I want."

  There was a murmuring voice, and then, from the door opposite the one I entered through, Katie walked in with a single big plate in her hand.

  I noticed that her long blue sleeve shirt had a small red spot on its color. The red spot, which looked like dye, was on the right eye of the singing, walking cat design.

  She spotted me and half-smiled. "I thought you were going to sleep till night."

  Then she took a seat near Abella.

  Abella eyed the plate in front of Katie, probably judging the amount of red rice swelled with the gravy of the massive drumlegs flanking the rice, all while saying to me, "What do you want? What are your goals?"

  That was a hard question to answer. Probably easy for other people. Never for me—not in this world or on Earth. I always gave a bullshit answer, saying an accountant, an economist.

  But in Terrafall... what did I want to be? I knew I wanted to survive because... I wanted to live.

  I didn't even really want to know about the mysterious brown-haired lady, like a more noble person would have.

  What did I want...

  As my nose flared from the strong and amazing stewed and baked smells of chicken mixed with pork coming from Katie's plate, I told her, "I don't know yet. I mean, I want to live and all that. Get a job, make a living... But I can't be an adventurer."

  "I don't get it. You have potential, Vernisha." She seemed genuinely confused, far more than before. "You're level 20 already. At your little age... And you don't want to be an adventurer."

  She slightly shook her head, her curly yellow hair moving along with her.

  Referring to my level, she said, "It's something you expect from a high noble, from a corporator's family. From the elite class of society... You could make a massive name for yourself."

  Corporators were owners, board members(Governing Trustees), or major shareholders of influential corporations. It was almost as good as high nobility (which could only be inherited), from what I recalled—just with benefits skewed for business.

  If you ever wondered why slavery and child marriage were legal in Terrafall, there was a good chance corporators were behind it—because they thought money should buy anything they wanted, and there was money to be made from it. Or nobles, because they believed they should have access to anything. Or perhaps both. It could have also been because some poor families viewed their children as resources.

  To climb the social ladder. To survive this year's winter.

  And who was to say they weren't socially conditioned to think so?

  Katie pulled apart a huge chunk of dark brown meat with her perfect white teeth, careful not to let the gravy get on her shirt, then she said, chuckling, "Be a mighty knight."

  Abella's face contorted in disgust, "Don't make such jokes. Not now. This is serious."

  Even they didn't like knights? That made me curious, but I felt it was a bad time to ask why.

  Katie nodded. "Sorry."

  Ferzan chimed in, "Why not make her a Freebird? If she’s living here... maybe she should get some privileges like us?"

  Abella’s eyebrow furrowed at the suggestion. "Vernisha, what do you like so much about killing monsters?"

  Ferzan hmph under his breath, clearly feeling ignored.

  "The getting stronger part, I guess?" I thought about it for a moment—the level-ups. And then I wondered... did I actually like that part? "No. It’s the new powers. Adding more monsters to my collection... though that’s kind of hard without a monster farm. But the coolest thing? Life buffs. I love that part of leveling—getting closer to new abilities. And of course, the modification points. They’re amazing, and I haven’t even used them in the exciting way I plan to."

  Obtaining new skills from monsters was cool too, but nothing compared to life buffs and modification points.

  To my surprise, I was smiling. That seemed to catch everyone's attention at the table.

  Abella withdrew the slender food needle from her plate. Only four green spheres remained, spaced far apart.

  She casually pointed the needle at me like it was her finger. "No."

  I blinked. "No?"

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  "No to the Freebird idea. You love it—the System. You love it too much. The thrill of power... That kind of love?" She waved the food needle, still pointed at me. But there was no hostility in her voice. "That’s dangerous—even for a God."

  She dropped the needle back onto her plate. "When I notice a real change in you—when you want something more than cheap dopamine rushes—I’ll reconsider. But until then, you're not going into any zones."

  I was stunned. Beyond stunned. How could she just say that? Who did she think she—?

  She was the one housing me.

  Bloody hell, I was under her rules.

  I said, "That’s not the main reason. I need to be strong. To protect myself. Fighting... leveling... it distracts my mind, too. I need it."

  "Strong for what?" she asked.

  "To be safe."

  "From?" She leaned in, eyes boring into mine, like she could see past my skull.

  My hands tensed in frustration. "Any person."

  "Uh-huh..." she muttered before saying, "I respect your decision not to be an adventurer, even if I think it's a waste of your potential. I’ll assign you a trainer. But that’s it. No zones."

  I clenched my jaw, suppressing how irritated I was. Still, I had to admit—getting a trainer had its perks. I could learn a lot. But... training was work. And judging by how beat-up Ferzan looked last night, I didn’t want to go through that just for training.

  And it surely wasn't going to stop the thoughts that would hunt me at night—thoughts I hadn't encountered yet, but knew would come.

  If I fought far past the time I should be awake, the moment I touch a bed, sleep would embrace me in an instant and refuse to let go until the Silo was shining on this side of the planet.

  But what could I do? Nothing. So I swallowed my frustrations and slowly bowed my head.

  Then I said, "Thank you..."

  Unfortunately, I couldn’t fake the gratitude the way I usually could.

  Abella pushed her chair back and stood, dressed in her completely white sleepwear: a long shirt that flared at the waist, and slightly baggy pants covered in swirling cloud designs. "Call a food servant to bring you something to eat. The green balls probably aren’t great for your first meal."

  Green balls? Who was the wise guy that came up with that name?

  Then she made way to exit the room. Despite her massive stature, she barely made a sound as she walked. And I doubted her white, fluffy slip-on sandals aided with that.

  As I looked at it, I couldn't help but be reminded of rabbit fur.

  I turned to Katie and asked, "So... you got more meat back there?"

  She nodded enthusiastically, dabbing her mouth with a handkerchief. "Yeah. There's no servant in the kitchen at the moment and I ain't going to call one. Want me to grab some for you?"

  I responded, "I’ll come with you, if that’s okay."

  "Let’s go." She got up and strolled toward the kitchen door.

  I followed, glancing at her mostly empty plate—just a big bones sitting in dark brown gravy. They were as wide as half a man's palm, and as long as a palm.

  I paused and turned to Ferzan. "You’re just staying here?"

  He was lazily twirling a food needle, looking bored. "I’ve got warfare classes in half an hour."

  "Yeah..." I was confused. Did he just plan to sit here until it was time?

  I said, "That’s a lot of time. Unless... It's some sort of ritual or something."

  Katie slipped into the kitchen, leaving the door open for me.

  Ferzan barely chuckled, placing down the food needle. "Nah. Sometimes I just like to sit and think. This is one of those times."

  My father used to do the same after dinner. After eating, he would go in the porch, put his foot up on the red painted railings(only the railings inside was wooden) and look at the stars twinkling in the sky.

  He would be visibly annoyed if disturbed. I never really got it, but I think he saw it as his peace time. Where he was separated from the world and his worries.

  I gave Ferzan a nod. "Gotcha. Enjoy then."

  He jokingly saluted me with two fingers.

  Then I stepped into the kitchen. The first thing I noticed was how white everything was—white walls, white tiled floors with specks of gray on the edges, and lots of stone counters made of smooth white stone.

  On either side of the room were a couple of white wooden tables surrounded by chairs. If you had slightly blurry eyes, you could mistake the white table runners as part of the table.

  I assumed they were for the chefs to take breaks.

  Behind the counters stood a row of what I assumed were stoves, mostly because of the heat radiating from rows of vertical iron cylinders mounted on four sturdy legs like tables.

  Stuck to the front of the "stoves" was a clean black square, about two palms wide.

  "You’re finally up?" I recognized the voice and turned.

  My eyes landed on a black-haired girl, seated in front of a massive blue metal cabinet with four doors and a thick handle on each one.

  I smiled at her. "I didn’t even think about you until now."

  Tarnisha slowly nodded, scooping green ice cream from a soft, cardboard-like bowl resting on her lap. The forearm long bowl was half full.

  The surface was soft and melting—my favorite part of ice cream.

  And even if I had never tasted this flavor before, the smell reminded of of raisin alcohol mixed with a very green, grass aroma.

  Katie stood in front of a similar cabinet, though hers had a red tint to it.

  How she wasn’t running away from the steam pouring out of that thing was beyond me. "Come choose!"

  I walked over and was immediately overwhelmed by the sight: food packed in glass containers—meats of all shapes, colors, even purple and blue. Some were oily, some dry.

  There were pastas, rice-like dishes, and many other kinds of meals. One of them was a yellow soft food, similar to mashed potatoes, except it was very greasy and had a thick red sauce draped over it.

  I didn’t want to be greedy... but I was really hungry. You’d think that kids living in such an estate, belonging to such a notorious family, would be more... mannerly.

  But it seemed they just did as they pleased, at least in private.

  So, with Katie’s help, I ended up with a plate piled high with different kinds of meat.

  Some were flat, round pieces with a bit of grease, yellow in color, with a darker shade growing toward the center. They smelled like fried meat mixed with stewed rabbit.

  Then there were fried drumsticks from ‘king fowls.’ Katie told me they were chickens genetically modified to be as big as toddlers, all for food.

  And there was pasta, flat, brown circles that tasted like a mix of cheese and bread.

  Anyway, after I finished eating, my stomach was completely full.

  I sat on the tile near Katie, then noticed Tarnisha had almost eaten the entire bowl of ice cream.

  It seemed like she was forcing herself to continue. It was hard not to think that, considering she would belch as if trying to make space for more, all while swaying slightly like a sleepy child. Then, she would bring another spoonful of ice cream to her mouth, looking miserable.

  I said, "You don't seem to like it."

  She glanced at me. "Yeah, well. I'm not sharing."

  "Damn. Not even a little?"

  Tarnisha did not respond.

  Katie explained, "She's like this with anything she traded with her."

  I raised an eyebrow at Katie and smiled in amusement, "She's afraid someone will eat it?"

  Tarnisha's arms wrapped around the bowl protectively—it was her precious baby.

  Katie smiled deeply. "Yeah, like me."

  "What did you get for it? Food? Oh, I heard you like science. Some science stuff?"

  "Nah. I traded it for her Singing Cya puzzle. So she got some of my ice cream stash."

  I assumed that was an entertainer.

  I asked, "Are ice creams rare or something?"

  Ice cream was something only those in towns and cities got to enjoy, so I wasn’t familiar with it in this world.

  Tarnisha responded, "No. My stash was imported from Kmew-hul. Green Spire flavor." She raised her hands in wonder. "Tastes ridiculously good."

  I later learned that Green Spire was a type of purple grass that curled in on itself. It was often used to stop migraines caused by dehydration, and it only naturally grew in Kmew-hul due to the specific minerals and high pH level in the soil there. And because of the meddling of Kmew-hul's plant geneticists so that they could sell it and products made with it for even more in international trade!

  Tarnisha then pulled a pocket watch with Roman numerals from her skirt pocket and stood up to leave, bowl still in hand. "Bye, guys."

  She stretched her feet to the floor, slowly and then... nearly fell to her face.

  She dusted off her black skirt, pushing the thick second layer of fabric on the sides back, only for it to swing forward again. She marched toward the door, looking like she might vomit at any moment.

  Katie added, "She's going to meet my mom."

  I asked, "She’s close with her? What do they do?"

  "Just boring stuff. Philosophy, politics, and so on," Katie replied, sounding uninterested.

  I nodded slowly. "I heard her mother was killed. Your mother found her, or was it Ferzan?"

  "My mom found her in a small monster zone near Shinetown five months ago." Katie exhaled before continuing, "It was a pain to talk to her, hell, even to get close. She just had that crazed look."

  Ah.

  She had been in a monster zone. That made sense why she hated monsters. If she wasn’t interested in collecting them, I assumed she was either forced into the zone or accidentally stumbled into it and got lost.

  She must have gone through hell surviving. I had healing powers, and even I found monsters scary.

  I rested my hands on my knees, feeling the pants shift a little. I thought of what Tarnisha had told me back in the bedroom. She wanted revenge on those who killed her mother. Her situation made me wonder if those people also forced her into that zone.

  That was scary to think of. But people were evil, so it wasn't possible. If that was the case...

  I mean, I wasn't close with Tarnisha. She was cool, a nice person, and helpful—very helpful. But if she ever wanted help getting payback, I was more than willing to help.

  Katie stood up, dusting off her yellow skirt, which had two thick black belts crisscrossing each other with buttons spaced between. "Have you ever been to a horror-themed park?"

  I raised an eyebrow, confused by the sudden change in topic. "Uh... Nope?"

  At least not in this world. When I was 15, during the summer, my mother had forced me to study constantly, and I hated it. So my father took me to a horror-themed park.

  Katie pulled me to my feet. "Let’s go then. I always go to the city, so I know all the cool spots and whatnot."

  I guess that sounded fun, and I found it odd how that made me think of my father and how cool he used to seem to me.

  My father thought my mother's obsession with me studying was lame, and often took me out for fun, which, of course, upset my mother.

  She would complain that he was making me a failure, and that Tasha, May, and Mark, Jack, Grent, Bary, (her friends' and coworkers' children) would do better than me in school.