He raised his hand to the air, in surrender. Then, a voice cut through the tension.
"You will do well to let go of him."
It was sharp, cold, certain.
There was pause.
Then:
"Or I will kill you myself."
Everyone turned. Stella stood there. Her hair was messy. Her face was calm. Too calm, as if violence was her usual way of life.
In her hand was the broken leg of a chair. Jagged, and dangerous.
Brian swallowed. His grip weakened. Their eyes met. There was no hesitation in hers.
No anger. Just a ruthless decision. And that frightened him more.
He released Newton's wrist: slowly, and carefully.
He stepped back carefully. Then walked away. He didn't say anything, not a word. Not a threat. Only wounded pride.
Newton exhaled. His arm trembled. Before he could recover, Stella grabbed him. She slammed him lightly against the wall. Not enough to injure. But enough to make him listen.
"It is time you start standing for yourself." Her voice was low, and controlled.
Newton swallowed. "I don't want violence."
Her eyes searched his. "This is not the world you know." She gestured around them. "Here, violence will happen."
She stepped closer.
"It is either you do it."
She paused.
"Or it is done to you."
She released him. Newton stood there. Her words stayed with him.
Heavy, and dangerous. A part of him whispered. "Maybe she is right. But here, survival is greater than belief."
But another part resisted. "Maybe this is a test. God is putting us to a test." He held onto that thought.
That evening, they returned to the restaurant. Students gathered in groups. Some bought food. Some shared. Others hid theirs. Brian sat alone.
Eating fast, and aggressively.
Kael approached him slowly. "Hey man! I have no Ninja coin, could you please buy me food?"
Brian frowned. "I cannot." He took another bite. " I do not have enough for myself either. I need to survive."
Kael begged.
Brian shoved him. "Get out, else I break your bones."
Kael left, heart broken, and disappointed. He had thought maybe his friends would help him but even them, have shoved him away.
Newton pushed part of his food toward Samuel. Samuel hesitated. Newton nodded. Then Samuel accepted.
That night, Newton paid for both of them to sleep. Samuel stared at him. "You didn't have to."
Newton said nothing.
Morning came..No task. No system. They had thought, maybe a new day would come with an opportunity to earn coins. But they were wrong.
No task came.
Days passed. Coins vanished. Hunger grew. And bodies weakened.
On the fourth day, Kael snapped. He approached Edmond. "Give me your food or I will kill you."
Edmond observed him. "You got some nerve. You want me to willingly hand over my last meal to you?"
Kael's teeth dug into his lips. "I am not joking," he breathed weakly. "Do not make me hurt you."
Edmond nodded, and gently dropped his food. "If violence is what you truly desire, then bring it on."
Kael attacked. The sound of the punch echoed. Blood spilled. Edmond fought back.
Newton stepped forward to stop the fight, but Rebecca grabbed him.
"Don't. Else you might be the one to get hurt."
They fought like animals: Desperate, and dying.
Edmondt's final punch landed on Kael's face. Kael collapsed, but Edmond didn't stop.
He kept hitting. Again, and gain. Until he finally stopped.
Kael lay still, and broken.
Everyone stared. Rebecca stepped forward. She checked his pulses. Then spoke quietly.
"He is dead."
Silence filled the room.
Heavy, and permanent. Something had changed. Not just Kael. All of them. They had crossed a line. And there was no going back.
Panic surged through their minds, cold and unrelenting. Andy's sobs cut through the silence, ragged and desperate. "We are dying gradually," he whispered, voice trembling as though speaking aloud would make it real. Newton's chest tightened, breaths shallow, stomach coiling. The air itself seemed heavier, thick with the scent of fear and blood lingering from the previous fight.
Edmond's gaze fell on the pale, still body of Kael. Regret flashed across his face, sharp and fleeting, drowned immediately by something harder; survival, the ruthless necessity that ruled this place. "He begged for it," Edmond growled, teeth clenched, jaw tight as the blood drained from his face, leaving it gray and rigid.
Then his eyes darted toward his food, stomach growling in tandem with his rising panic. They were gone. His hands shook as he scanned the room, fists clenching, knuckles whitening. Students shifted uneasily under his glare, their eyes darting to one another, mouths tight with guilt or fear. And then Edmond saw them; Brian and Theo, shameless, tearing into what remained.
Edmond froze, time stretching in his mind. His body vibrated with rage, every muscle coiled, trembling. "You are both dead," he roared, voice tearing through the room like a whip. His legs lunged forward before his brain could catch up. The first swing tore through the air.
Brian and Theo met him head-on, each movement stiff, precise, adrenaline hammering through them. Edmond's fists collided with theirs, desperation in every strike.
The impact thudded against bone and muscle, echoes bouncing in the cold hall. Each blow he landed seemed weaker than the last; the fight had sapped him, his strength dimmed from the relentless pressure of survival, from the last encounter.
Newton surged forward, fear and urgency knotting his chest. "Stop it!" he shouted, but Stella's grip yanked him back, unyielding. Her hands pressed against his shoulders, arm strong as iron, body solid. "Do not interfere. You will get hurt," she warned, voice low, sharp as a blade. Newton's body jerked under her control, the tension in his muscles coiling, then snapping in frustration.
"Why?" he shouted, eyes wide. "Are we going to just watch ourselves die?" His voice cracked, raw, shaking with desperation.
Stella yanked him violently, slamming him against the wall. Pain shot through his shoulder, chest pressing hard against the cold concrete. Her eyes burned with a cold, lethal intensity. "When will you understand?" she hissed.
"This is not the world you were born into. This is not the world where Jesus exists. The only god here is the system. You either accept it, or you die, quick, like them."