"They hunted me down and chained me like an animal, but their mistake was caging me in the very environment that I was born in." - Evans, Holder of the Hermes System, the Year 1315 APC.

  More than a thousand years ago, portals opened up in the world.

  It took the whole world by surprise. Raining down monsters that swallowed the cities of the world whole, turning it asunder. Gryphons, Hydras, Cerberus pups—— creatures that one could only see in the mythos that were lost in time.

  People lost hope, but then came The Circle.

  A government that one might consider theocratic. They held most of the world’s countries in the palm of their hand. Their presence has been present even in the earliest histories after the Portal Calamity.

  They were represented by a symbol, their name itself—— A circle.

  The Circle appeared out of nowhere. Most people have already forgotten exactly when, but as far as they were concerned, they were always there.

  They were the ones that discovered and nurtured the first System Holder. A small group of the population even believes that the Circle created System Holders themselves. With this, their influence and network grew exponentially…… they governed the whole world.

  The people looked for hope, and they came. The people needed something to cling onto, and they came.

  The Circle was responsible for a lot of things.

  The Academy.

  The Explorer Association……

  And the Pit.

  Made by the Circle at the earliest stages of the Age of the System Holders. Like the System Academy, there is always one in each country.

  If the Academy was made to nurture and teach the System Holders, the Pit was made to suppress them.

  Most System Holders can not be held in a normal prison. And so, they came up with a plan—— the Pit. A place where those deemed as sinners and criminals by the Circle were kept imprisoned.

  A place filled with nothing but dread, where all who enter abandon hope. A place where the laws of the Circle no longer apply, where death was certain and does not discriminate. Where people could kill each other without any repercussions.

  But…… in that lawlessness, a society was made.

  And in that society of death, life was brought forth.

  Maybe it was predicted by the Circle, maybe it was not, but some of the prisoners built families of their own. As a matter of fact, most of the inhabitants of the Pit were no longer prisoners or criminals.

  The Pit was split into two factions, separated by a huge wall.

  The Prisoners, the criminals who lived near to the Portal.

  And the Locals, people who were born inside the Pit.

  Even in death, life thrived, but barely. Some generations are destroyed before they even bloom. Killed or massacred by the vilest of criminals that the outside world keeps throwing inside.

  And so, the Locals built a wall…… and for them, the outsiders became the monsters.

  How the Portal remains standing even after a thousand years was a mystery. Some say that the Portal Boss is protected by the Circle, locked up somewhere no one could find it. But even after a thousand years, it remains to be seen.

  It also did not help that the Locals completely have no interest in getting out…… no. Most do not even know that they live in a thread. For them, this is their world.

  Every Pit in every country each had its own history, each had its own wars, each had its own secrets, each had its own society.

  And in one of those societies, a young boy stood covered in blood.

  Looking up at the bright sky, with the blood trailing from his face reflected the rays of the sun even more than his eyes. And the only sound the flickered in the air was the breaths of those that surrounded him, and also the blood that continued to drip from his body.

  The boy just arrived in the Pit, and yet he was now covered in blood, circled by dozens of speechless people.

  The boy was arrested for murder and numerous other crimes. He is, by all means, what the Circle considered as a sinner. He was chased continuously without pause for almost a whole day, hunted down like an animal before he got caught.

  And that is why he, Van, was inside the Pit.

  "W…… what the……"

  The prisoners surrounding him could only stare at him. Their breaths heavy from what they just witnessed.

  5 minutes. No, maybe even more. The boy spent more than 5 minutes tirelessly smashing and stabbing a corpse in a frenzy. No, the boy was not crazed, in fact, in that 5 minutes, his expression did not change one bit.

  The sound of the boy’s whispers that called for death still lingered in their ears.

  Die. Die. Die. The boy whispered continuously without pause, and he did not stop until the corpse was mangled beyond recognition.

  And after that, he let out a roar, or perhaps it was a cry. But one thing that was for sure was that it almost deafened them.

  One of the prisoners then started to back away as the dismembered head of the corpse started to roll on his feet. Still, everyone remained silent, not knowing what to do.

  Even Gil, the guard that the boy was with, did not make a sound. And even with the helmet he was wearing, one could make out his stunned face.

  "……"

  The silence continued…… until finally, a clap resounded in the air, followed by a chuckle.

  "Well, well. That’s one way to make an entrance."

  The people that were in a circle quickly frowned as they looked at the person that just stepped forward. Some even spit on the ground as they started to disperse one by one.

  Van let out a huge breath as his head slowly turned towards the long-haired man that was approaching him…… or perhaps it was a woman?

  "Welcome to the pit, fish."

  No, with his voice, he was definitely a man. The long-haired man slowly walked towards him, his hands in front.

  Van, however, only glanced at him for a couple of seconds before turning towards the guard, who was still on the ground lying on his butt.

  "W…… what do you want!?" Gil quickly crawled away as Van approached him with his sword still in his hand.

  "Mister…… Your sword, can I have this?"

  "Eek!"

  Gil was about to cast a fire wall as Van raised his sword, but when he heard his words, the only thing that he could do was blink a couple of times.

  "W…… what?"

  "You saved my life, I saved yours. But your group did put me here, so you owe me at least this."

  "But that’s mine!" Gil quickly pointed towards the sword that was in Van’s hand. "I bought that when I graduated from the Academy!"

  "I see. So it’s old then. Even better, you can just get a new one." Van said as he reached his hand towards Gil.

  Gil could only sigh as he grabbed Van’s hand, lifting himself up. But as soon as he did so, Van looked at him with a weird expression.

  "……I was asking for the sheathe."

  "Uh…… oh." Gil quickly gave it to Van without even saying a word. But when he realized what he just did, his eyes could not help but widen.

  "Wait! No! That’s my sword!"

  "……You really want it?"

  "O…… of course! It is mine in the first place!"

  "Fine."

  "E…… eh?"

  Gil could not help but be stunned due to Van giving him the sword back without even a slight hesitation.

  "Now you owe me a favor for the sword."

  "……What? But this is my——"

  Van ignored Gil as he slowly approached the White Portal that was near the two of them.

  "If I go out there, what will be waiting for me?"

  "……"

  "I am afraid you can’t. You will be stabbed to death as soon as your nose is seen. And even if you do manage to avoid them, you will be trapped inside the Dome…… and then stabbed to death by the reinforcements."

  "I…… see."

  "No one has managed to escape the Pit, ever. Also, why are you so calm after smashing a guy’s head in. What are you in here for, anyway?"

  "You…… don’t know?"

  "No. I’m just guarding the pla——"

  Before Gil could continue his words, a loud cough entered their ears. The two turned to see who it was, only to see the long-haired beautiful man still standing near them.

  "You two are new here," the man said, "My name is Reed. Please allow me to explain the certain rules that we have here."

  "……Rules?" Van furrowed his eyebrow as he heard the man’s words. Wasn’t this supposed to be a prison?

  "Ah! Yes. Some groups have formed in the Pit!" The one who answered Van, however, was not the beautiful man, but Gil.

  "Throughout the years, the people inside the Pit have formed their own factions. It’s quite an interesting——"

  Once again, before he could finish his words, a loud cough interrupted him.

  "Please, let me be the one to explain."

  ***

  "What!? Why do we have to wait!?"

  In the outside world, Harvey and the group once again found themselves inside the Gates Mansion, except Van was not with them this time.

  Beatrice has been keeping quiet the whole time, not uttering even a single word as she listened in on the conversation. She was unconscious throughout the end, so she had no idea that Charlotte came to rescue Van but ultimately failed.

  She was the reason why Van was caught. By all means, she betrayed him. She could say all the excuses she wanted, but it wouldn’t change the fact that they caught him because of her.

  And now, knowing that Charlotte came…… her regrets became even deeper.

  What if…… What if she didn’t lead the people from the Association to the arena? What if she helped Van and delayed his capture even for a minute? Just in time for Charlotte to come and……

  No. What’s done is done. The Association promised her that they would promote and sponsor her parents’ guild. She doesn’t know what they will do if they knew that she was now planning to help him break free.

  She made a mistake, a huge one. And she must make amends.

  "Grandmother, Van is in danger," Victoria added to Harvey’s concerns.

  "Calm down, children." Charlotte shook her head as she gestured for the two to sit down. "There is nothing we can do right now."

  "We…… can’t we just barge inside the Pit like what you did with the Academy, ma’am Charlotte?" Harvey’s voice became lower as he sat down.

  "No. With what I did earlier, those government freaks would surely be taking action. They are probably bringing in another Platinum Rank Explorer as we speak."

  "But——"

  "But still, I owe the boy a huge debt……

  and I intend to repay it."