"Riiiiiing..."
The alarm echoed shrilly through the room. Dark red eyes snapped open, without a trace of drowsiness or exhaustion.
The pink room, the wall covered in certificates, even the wardrobe full of identical school uniforms-all of it told him he was back at the beginning.
Yesterday, he had thought the certificates were proof of academic achievement. Now, the wall full of them looked rather offensive, though perhaps they were evidence that he had successfully accepted the correct worldview.
As though suddenly realizing something, the young man sprang out of bed. A strand of black hair floated through the air like a vine. His palm touched the wall, his fingers curled, and he tore down a certificate.
Best loyalty award.
Loyalty...
A child was raised here before reaching the age of three, entered school after turning five to receive an education in the correct values, then left school upon reaching adulthood and became one of the people passing through the streets every day.
He finally understood where that sense of disconnect came from.
Only those absolutely loyal to this world were qualified to leave school.
The players' beliefs were incompatible with this filthy place, so what inevitably awaited them was being auctioned off like objects, just as they had been earlier.
Resistance meant taking on an overwhelming opponent; obedience meant being tortured to death.
While he was still thinking, he suddenly heard footsteps approaching outside the door. Their hurried rhythm made his heart tighten involuntarily.
Shen Ru abruptly raised his head. So the "Mom" in this household was also someone who revered this world's rules. That meant she would never accept what he had done at school yesterday.
Sure enough, before the footsteps even reached the doorway, a shrill, furious shout came from outside.
"Shen Ru! Get out here!"
As