Autophagy

As Song Lei and Kang Mirae sat around the table, an awkward silence had taken over the room. Mirae's brain was churning with all kinds of thoughts. Song Lei, to her eyes, seemed genuine. Unfortunately, she was never good at interpersonal relationships.

Everything was good if Song Lei was a normal person. However, he could as well be a murderer that enjoyed toying with their prey before killing them.

Although she kept contemplating, she couldn't come to a solution.

'Does it really matter though?' She thought. 'If he is a crazy murderer of sorts, I don't have any way to escape.'

As she readied her resolve, she sighed deeply and lifted her head to directly look at Song Lei.

"Please tell me more..."

"Mm," Song Lei nodded as he folded his arms in front of his chest. "First of all, let's clear all your doubts," he said. "You've most definitely, died."

As Song Lei's words caused another wave of dread to wash over her, she sucked in air through her mouth, causing a hissing noise to resound throughout the room.

Once Song Lei felt that the reality of the situation settled on her mind, he continued.

"You're currently in a place called the New World. The City, City of Horrors, and Hell could be its other names," he said. "We're currently in a completely different dimension from our previous world. Well... At least that's what we know currently."

"Why is it called 'The City'?" Kang Mirae asked.

"It's simple. This whole world is a city, expanding in every direction endlessly, gray concrete covering everywhere you can see," Song Lei explained as the scenery he had seen on the roof of the apartment came to his mind. "There are only streets and apartments here."

"Wait... Then how do you guys... Eat? Farming? Are there animals here?" Kang Mirae asked as she raised one of her brows. She put her arms on the table and slightly leaned forward.

"Neither," Song Lei said. "Food is spawned here randomly. Nobody knows how it happens. It's just like that."

"Then what if it doesn't?" Mirae asked. "What if, for a long time, you are unlucky and no food spawns here?"

"That's possible and from what I've heard, has happened before. But I've stockpiled quite a huge amount of food so don't worry. I can help you out occasionally," he said.

"Thanks..."

"Anyways," Song Lei changed the topic. "What's important is that you can't go out of the apartment. Like, not for a very long time. I'm pretty strong and even I can't leave the apartment on my own yet," Song Lei said. "It's not exactly my job to tell you what to do but I advise you to not come in contact with the outside. Never."

His ominous words caused Kang Mirae to gulp loudly. As a drop of sweat rolled off of her forehead, she parted her lips to speak.

"Why me?" She asked. "Why you? Why were we summoned here?"

"Hmm..." Song Lei thought as he looked at Mirae. Her general actions reminded him of his past self. His first time in the New World, out of all the possible people, Xiang Yimu had to be the first person he met. "From time to time, souls of people who are down deep in sin are sucked into rifts and thrown here."

"So I am a sinner?" She asked.

"Not necessarily," Song Lei answered as he shook his head. "Being deep down in sin doesn't mean you are the sinner. I guess if you live in a generally sinful place, you might get sucked in."

"S- So I was just unlucky? Was it because I lived in the slums?" She asked.

"Yeah," Song Lei confirmed. With this, a deep sigh escaped Mirae's mouth. "By the way," Song Lei continued. Mirae refocused her attention on Song Lei. "You being an exception doesn't mean that there are a lot of people like that. Even though the rifts pick particular targets, they still pull in dangerous and weird people."

"Don't go trusting everybody as you did with me. Don't easily give out your name. You can get cursed. And after all, this place is filled with ghosts, monsters, and crazy murderers. So be careful," Song Lei warned. As Mirae heard his words, a frown appeared on her face.

"Wait... So you are saying that I shouldn't trust people that I just met in the... New World. Right?" She asked. Song Lei's mouth twitched awkwardly.

"Yeah?"

"Doesn't that include you..?" Mirae asked, cautiously getting up from her chair and taking a few steps back. Song Lei's mouth twitched even harder before he started laughing.

As he finally calmed down, Mirae was looking at him with one of her brows arched.

"Well, yeah. That brings back memories," Song Lei said. "That's the spirit. Be wary of others, even if it's me. Even if it's somebody else, you should be careful. When to trust a person in the New World is something you have to decide on your own. But not trusting anyone from the start is the rule."

"You can leave right away if you want. But I can assure you that it will be very hard to live on your own. So at least stay here until I'm finished," Song Lei said. Hearing his words, Mirae's shoulders slightly dropped. She walked to the table and sat down once more.

"Our next topic is abilities," Song Lei said. As soon as Mirae heard the word 'ability', her eyes lit up with excitement. "As you may have guessed. Humans don't really have a talent for fighting against other beings. Our strengths lie in communication and intelligence."

"Even though the reason is unknown, every Lost One, which is the name given to the people that are transferred here, has abilities as soon as they arrive," he continued. "These abilities vary a lot from person to person. And it's innate. Meaning that you should be able to use it without guidance as long as you think about it hard enough."

"Yeah! I noticed that recently. I can feel something weird. Like a new limb that wasn't there before!" Mirae said as she nodded excitedly and closed her eyes. However, before she could use her ability, Song Lei stopped her.

"I think you shouldn't," Song Lei said. "It's not a good idea to expose your abilities to others."

"Oh, right..." Mirae muttered dejectedly. She was so excited about the fact that she had a supernatural ability that she forgot Song Lei's words. "Is it rude to ask other people's abilities?" She asked. Song Lei didn't answer and silently smiled at her. Mirae immediately understood and went silent.

"Anyways... One more important thing for you to know," Song Lei said. "You're currently inside the Heaven and Hell apartment. With twenty-nine floors, it's split into three parts."

"The first part is heaven, which is the first fourteen floors of the apartment. These floors are pretty calm and you won't meet with dangerous beings unless you actively seek them out," Song Lei said as he held his index finger towards her.

"The second part is made up of solely the 15th floor. It's a bit of a puzzle even for me and destroys your soul if you linger there too much. 'Too much', being probably about less than ten seconds for you," Song Lei explained as he raised his middle finger.

"The third part is the last fourteen floors of the apartment. I advise you to not go there as it can get pretty dangerous. There are also terrifying ghosts that can pull you into mental prisons and trap you there for an eternity. And also... The 'landscape' is very harsh there," Song Lei finished explaining as he raised his ring finger. He then pulled back his hand and waited for Mirae's reaction.

"Landscape?" She repeated as she tilted her head slightly sideways.

"Yeah. Landscape. It's hard to explain without showing," Song Lei shook his head.

"Anything more to take note of?" Kang Mirae asked.

"Not really. Well, there is actually one more thing that I can tell," Song Lei said. "Do you want to join my faction?"

"Huh?" Kang Mirae furrowed her brows. "Didn't you say you were alone here?"

"Can't comment on that unless you accept," Song Lei said. He didn't want to expose the existence of his ghost friends to her just yet.

"I mean... It sounds pretty shady but do I have any other choice?" Mirae asked. "I don't really know how to survive, what dangers I might get in, how to live on my own... I don't even know how to find food for myself..."

"Well..." Song Lei muttered. He didn't know how to comment. For that reason, he decided to keep his silence. As an answer, Mirae sighed deeply.

"I accept then," she said. A wide smile blossomed on Song Lei's face. He wanted to recruit at least a few human members into The Limbo. And inviting somebody that was unaware of the existence of the Heaven Alliance was easy.

'Once she gets in, I'll protect her properly. This time, I won't let those that rely on me down,' Song Lei thought. 'Although the Heaven Alliance people aren't evil, they can't protect her well enough. This is for her own good...'

"Very well," Song Lei said. Being an official faction leader, he innately knew how to invite someone to his faction. Closing his eyes and ejecting a small amount of gray soul energy, he probed Mirae's soul.

"I feel... Weird," Mirae said as she felt the pressure put on her soul by Song Lei.

"Don't worry, just accept it," Song Lei said. As his soul energy connected with her, her soul changed its color slightly, becoming light-gray from pure white.

[Human Kang Mirae has joined your faction!]

[You have to get one more member for your faction to rank up! With the next rank, you may pick a faction bonus of your choice!]

"Welcome to The Limbo...."