Play For Me

6

Ray looked at the ceiling of his room. Nighttime on Pandora was not much different from on earth. He glanced at the scenery outside his room window. The sky was dark, people's activities had stopped, and the atmosphere was quiet.

Ray remembered his mother's old cell phone which was probably still lying on the floor of his room.

"If Riea can't return to her world even though she has that cell phone, that means only me and my mother can enter this world through that cell phone."

Ray tried to close his eyes and drowsiness took over him quickly.

The sun rose in the east. The blackish blue sky was now implied by the light turning light blue. Sellers began to carry their wares to be displayed in their stalls and shops. The streets began to be crowded with people doing activities.

Riea knocked on Ray's door. The occupant of the room was not used to waking up just because he heard a knock on the door and was still sleeping soundly.

After getting tired of knocking, Riea finally gave up.

Ray woke up when he dreamed that his mother was shouting at him to wake up. When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Riea holding a ladle filled with water and was already in a position to throw it.

"How did you get in?!" Ray sighed.

Riea lowered her ladle. "I climbed up and got in through the window without being seen."

Ray turned to the window on his left. "Gosh, I forgot to close it."

"Looks like you're right. You're going to die easily." Riea walked back to return the ladle.

Ray swallowed hard.

They both went down from the third floor where their room was. On the ground floor, they ordered the exact same breakfast as yesterday.

Ray's order came first. Two slices of bread and butter. The waitress smiled before leaving. Ray smiled back while saying thank you. After that, Riea's order came. The waitress immediately turned around after she finished putting down the soup.

Ray started the conversation. "I fought two people in a deathbattle yesterday."

Riea glanced at Ray from her eating position. "And then?"

"The story is a bit sad." Ray rubbed his nose before telling his story. "So, there were two guys who were best friends, one bald and one long-haired. They worked together to kill me. However, I tricked them and they ended up killing each other. When the long-haired guy was about to die from being stabbed with a poisoned needle by his friend whose head he smashed with a morning star, he cried to me. He said his feelings were hurt. He asked me to kill him and I said yes."

Ray expected to get an admiring look from Riea. However, what he got was the opposite. An expression of disgust.

"First, you looked sad before telling me how cruel you were to win the deathbattle. Second, either it was your fighting style, or you were a coward." Riea put down her soup spoon. She stopped eating and leaned back in her chair.

"Damn." Ray glanced away. "It's not me who's cruel, it's them who are stupid."

Riea still looked at him in disgust while shaking her head slowly.

Ray chuckled as he took a bite of his buttered toast. "You don't like my style, huh?"

"No." Riea pulled herself up from the back of her chair. "I was just surprised. It turns out you are indeed the incarnation of a god."

Ray raised an eyebrow at Riea's words.

"You're very similar to her. She also uses her brain and mouth to win everything. Including defeating me." Riea took her soup spoon back.

"What do you mean I'm similar to her? If she's also an incarnation of a god, then our father is the same, right?" Ray snapped.

Riea shrugged lightly. "Who knows?"

Ray put in the last bite of his bread while shaking his head.

"How strong are you actually?"

"You'll see for yourself when the time comes." Riea focused on finishing the rest of her soup.

Immediately after finishing breakfast, Ray and Riea walked out of the Tertiary gate. Ray stared closely at the two gatekeepers at the side of the door, trying to make sure they were human or just statues. Riea who saw Ray's behavior explained,

"They're puppets."

Ray let out a long "oh". He already understood who the puppets were controlled by. "What's her position actually in Pandora? Is she the Queen?"

"Not really. She's a dictator that everyone fears." Riea continued walking away from the gate.

"Has no one ever wanted to take over his position?" Ray asked.

Riea thought for a moment. "She's used to eliminating even the slightest threat before they have the intention to usurp her position."

"Including you," Ray concluded.

Riea stopped walking. They had walked five hundred meters away from the gate. "Yes. You're right."

"Wait, Ria. I wasn't just talking nonsense when I said that my opponent in yesterday's deathbattle was stupid. They both worked together even after hearing the system's rule that there can only be one winner. Actually, how are the residents of each gate you mentioned yesterday different?" Ray folded his arms.

Without any prefixes, Riea immediately explained, "I'll explain briefly and only what you need to know. This world is indeed divided into three gates. The first gate, Tertiary, which we can enter is a place where power is everything. This is indeed a place for stupid and lawless creatures. Then, the transition gate, Secondary. A place that prioritizes intelligence. So, there is no way a stupid person can enter that gate."

"It can be said that the deeper you go, the higher the qualifications and quality of life of the people, right?" Ray massaged his chin, thinking hard.

"Exactly." Riea nodded before continuing, "Finally, the core gate, Primary. The center of this world, the cog that controls all the gates in Pandora. It is like the center of the wheel, the support and the foundation. According to belief, everyone who lives inside the Primary gate must have good luck. That rumor also did not appear without reason. That's because everyone has power and is smart, sometimes that makes them cunning and greedy so that they elbow each other. That's where luck comes in."

Ray frowned. "Luck, hn."

Riea nodded and stared at the grass at the mention of "luck." "I don't think I have that one."

"It's just a matter of belief, right?" Ray said lightly. "Besides, I'm more worried about the fact that in the future we might end up killing each other since the requirement for the winner is one person. That could happen."

"I've been through all the deathbattles. No one demands only one winner."

Ray's eyebrows dipped at Riea's words. "Then, what was my fight yesterday called?" Ray retorted.

"It was a deathbattle before you entered the gate. After entering the gate, the number of players will definitely be in the thousands."

A blue hologram appeared in front of Riea's face. She put her hand in and pulled out a sword.

"Besides, if that happens..."

With graceful steps she stepped to the side and turned around. In an instant her body disappeared and reappeared while pressing Ray's neck with her sword.

"...I'm sorry, I'll be the one to kill you."

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Whoa.... I can imagine Riea in the webtoon/anime version *cling cling

Thanks for stopping by!

See you on the next eps!

Regards,

A chan