Chapter 005: Debt System: Enter
Marissa smiled slightly in response to Terry's question. The girl stood up, then opened the lollipop she took from her pants pocket and popped it into her mouth.
"You'll find out later, Terry," she uttered the same sentence in response to the question. After that, Marissa walked away from Terry, leaving a million questions in the brown-eyed man's mind.
"Wait!"
Terry shouted quite loudly, but Marissa ignored him. She kept walking until she disappeared in the crowd of passersby.
Terry ruffled his hair in frustration. He couldn't shake off the curiosity that ensnared him. Moreover, Marissa gave a warning that his life would not be the same as before.
What did she mean? Would making a deal with that girl put him and his family in danger?
Terry shook his head, pushing the negative thoughts away. He chose to go back to his apartment.
Terry had to rest his body as well as prepare himself. Honestly, Terry didn't have any idea about the survival game.
As he was about to leave, his cell phone rang loudly, indicating an incoming call. Terry reached into his pocket and saw who was calling him. It turned out to be William.
Out of curiosity, he picked up the call. "Hello?"
"I didn't expect that you could pay off your wife's debt this quickly, Terry. I saw that you got help from someone. Who is it?" William's low voice somehow made Terry expressionless.
"You don't need to know because it's none of your business," Terry said in a cold tone. "The important thing is that Alice's debt is paid off. So you have to keep your promise to free Daisy."
"Sure. Bring her here."
"Alright. Thank you, sir."
Terry switched off the call before he heard William's reply. It was actually a rude thing to do. But he didn't care. Terry walked to William's house to pick up his daughter.
***
"Ah, finally, i can go home from that house," Daisy said as she stroked her chest. Now, the two were walking in the direction of the girl's apartment.
"So what, weren't you spoiled by Mr. William there?" Terry teased in an ignorant tone.
Daisy pouted. The girl turned her face the other way with puffy cheeks. "I was spoiled, but somehow it doesn't feel good."
"Haha, I see," Terry pinched Daisy's cheeks quite firmly, then let go when he heard the whining from his daughter.
"You shouldn't sulk like that. It makes you look ugly, Daisy," Terry teased again.
"Daddy!" Daisy smacked her father lightly on the arm. Terry pretended to be in pain.
"Hey, that hurts."
"Feel it; you deserve it, Dad," Daisy said with a chuckle. "By the way, about Mommy-"
"Don't talk about her." The tone of voice was colder than before. Daisy blinked her eyes, then nodded stiffly in response.
"Okay."
There was silence for a few moments. Terry glanced at Daisy out of the corner of his eye. He had something to tell his daughter.
"I'm going to stay at your apartment, Daisy." Terry asked for permission, although his tone of voice was not very pleasant to hear. "You don't mind, do you?"
"Of course not."
Terry smiled slightly at Daisy's answer. Inwardly, he felt guilty for saying such a rude thing to his daughter. Terry would apologize to her later.
After arriving at the girl's apartment, Terry chose to sleep on the sofa, ignoring Daisy, who was shouting loudly at him, telling him to eat dinner.
At 6 am, Terry was already in front of the bus station close to his daughter apartment. Earlier in the morning, Marissa had asked him to come there so he could be picked up by her staff. Marissa warned him that he should take the light brown bus.
As soon as the bus arrived, Terry entered with a black backpack on his back. He saw a lot of people inside. They were looking at him with curious gazes. Terry chose to be ignorant and walked towards the seats at the back.
Terry kept his backpack in front of his feet and started to close his eyes. He felt sleepy from the thought of what his Debt System would be like.
"Hey," the person next to him called out in a low voice, disturbing his sleep. Terry opened his eyes with a small groan.
"Yes? What's wrong?"
The person who woke him up was a man. He had long wolfcut-style hair with white highlights. He had heterochromia eyes, with blue and green colors.
"Did you join the Debt System too?"
"Hm, of course. That's why I'm here."
"Oh, if I may know, why did you join the survival game?"
Terry frowned at the privacy question. He was a little disturbed to hear it. Moreover, the two didn't even know each other.
"Sorry, I can't tell," Terry said with a faint smile. "Because it's private."
The man next to him made a disappointed face. But soon he returned his smile. "Ah, sorry if that bothers you."
"It's okay,"
"As for me, the reason I went there was because of my mom," the man said in an honest tone.
"My mom has brain cancer and needs a lot of money for chemotherapy. Therefore, I'm looking for a fortune to join this game."
"You...why tell me that?" Terry asked. "Doesn't that count as a personal reason?"
The man smiled, revealing his well-groomed teeth. "Because I believe that you're a good guy."
"What?"
"Forget about it. My name is Ben. You?"
"I'm Terry."
Ben smiled broadly. "Nice to meet you, Terry. From now on, you are my friend, okay!"
"What? Why are you-"
TO PASSENGERS EXPECTED TO GET OFF THE BUS. WATCH YOUR STEP AND YOUR LUG. THANK YOU.
Terry grunted rudely as he heard the announcement from the speakers on the bus. Before he knew it, he had arrived at the place where the survival game was held. He picked up his bag and got off the bus, with Ben clinging to him.
Her steps were so heavy when he saw the many large guards guarding the road.
"They're scary, aren't they?" Asked Ben, linking his hand with Terry's.
"Hm."
They continued walking towards a place. Terry felt that his legs were hurting a little. The reason was that the road they were traveling on was through a fairly dense forest with rocky roads.
"Where exactly are we going?" Ben asked. He grumbled as he was forced to keep walking without stopping. "My feet hurt, Terry."
"Don't whine because I don't know either," Terry replied.
After walking for more than an hour, the journey came to an end. The Debt System participants entered a vast area. It was twice the size of a football field. Along the sides, there were rocky mountains surrounding the place.
"Welcome to the Debt System participants. Please enter and stand in the center," said someone at the front. The hundred participants lined up neatly in the center of the field.
"Welcome to Zone N109. Here, you will carry out the Debt System mission to become a winner. Are you ready?"
"Ready!"
Terry glanced at Ben, who had a scared look on his face. His face looked as pale as paper. This certainly made Terry confused.
"What's wrong with you?"
"We need to get out of here."
"Why?"
"This place is very dangerous."
"What do you mean?"
Bab 006: The Rules"Don't you know what I mean?" Ben asked. He bit the tips of his nails, looking both scared and worried.Terry shook his head quickly in response. A rough sigh escaped his mouth. His eyebrows rose until they almost merged with his deeply furrowed brow. His expression looked confused."No." He said it briefly. "What's wrong with zone N109?"Ben brought his body closer to Terry's. He stepped slightly out of line to whisper to his new friend.Actually, he should not do this. But fortunately they were at the back of the line, so no one noticed them."This zone is a forbidden zone," Ben whispered as quietly as possible. Afraid that someone might overhear the sensitive conversation between the two."Forbidden zone?""Yes!" Ben whispered softly, emphasizing the question Terry had asked. "This zone is a zone that shouldn't be visited by people like us.""How can you say that?" Terry folded his arms in front of his chest. His gaze looked intensely at Ben, who was frozen in pl
Chapter 007: RoommateTerry was surprised by the rules in the Debt System. This is crazy. This game was crazy. The prize offered was very high, but the risk was also very high. The stakes were life. Honestly, this was the first time he had heard of a game like this.Terry stayed in place, unable to move his body at all. It was as if he was fixated on what he heard. His mind suddenly went nowhere.Terry didn't even notice that there was an officer in an eagle mask who put a special watch on his wrist."For now, you can rest in one of the "rooms" we have provided. One "room" consists of 4 people. And we have already determined the groups. I request that you do not make any noise. Have a good rest everyone."Marissa came down from the stage, along with Zayne and the other black-hooded man who had been silent during the opening ceremony.Seeing Terry, who was silent like a body that had lost its soul, Ben patted Terry's back. Terry gasped in surprise and turned his head to the left."Ben?
Chapter 008: First Mission[Mission 1: Create an interesting show in front of all Debt System participants. Judgment will be given by the organizers and the audience's reaction.]"They're seriously going to make this our first mission?" Kai muttered softly with a small hiss coming out of his mouth."They're a lot crazier than I thought," Daniel continued."Hah, the first mission was this crazy, let alone the next mission," Ben complained."Well, show, huh?" Terry said quietly, which made Daniel turn to him."Do you have any good ideas?""I don't know if it'll be good or not, but I think it could get us through the elimination round."Ben who had been listening came closer to Terry. His face showed such enthusiasm that his eyes lit up, like a child who got a new toy."Oh yeah? What is it?"Terry let out a deep breath. A reddish blush just appeared on his cheeks. It even spread to her ears. This naturally raised a big question mark in the minds of the three."Terry?"Terry gasped in sho
Chapter 009: AssumptionTerry, Daniel, Ben, and Kai rounded their eyes at the words that came out from the man with the black hood.Their bodies stiffened, as if they had been stung by electricity. The previously boisterous atmosphere turned into silence in just a few seconds."Huh? Failed?" Marissa, who was beside them, asked, half shouting. She took over the conversation as well as representing what was in the heads of the four of them. "How so?""Their dance was terrible. I wasn't entertained at all."The man in the black hood replied in a low voice. A small growl escaped his mouth. He even tore up Terry's team scoring paper and threw it on the floor."But the audience reaction was great, X," Zayne spoke up after seeing Marissa, who was about to restate her argument. "What are you judging by?"X was silent. He bowed his head even deeper, reluctant to meet Zayne or Marissa's gaze. The man squeezed the pen in his hand so hard that it broke in half."I don't know what your problem is,
Chapter 010: The Hallway["Dad, we'll talk later."]X hung up the phone when he felt someone behind the door. He peeked through the keyhole and found Terry's figure being held down by someone.Out of curiosity, X opened the door, which surprised the two people in front of him."X?"X glanced at Terry, whose face looked pale, while Marissa smiled a little while blinking her eyes."What are you two doing?" X asked in a cold tone. His expression looked unfriendly."Oh, I-""He’s lost," Marissa cut off Terry's unfinished speech with a calm tone. "He's looking for his friends.""Where did they go to get separated from him?" X asked again. His forehead was deeply furrowed, with his eyebrows visibly dipping down."That's none of our business, X," Marissa replied in a calm voice. X let out a rough sigh, then closed the door. After that, he pulled Marissa's hand away from the place."Whatever. Come on, let's go back to the stage to finish our work as organizers.""Aw, X. Don't pull me roughly,
Chapter 11: OddAt 8pm, all Debt System participants were ordered to gather in the field. They were accompanied by 2 guards wearing black crow masks. Terry also walked along with his three roommates."Why did they ask us to gather at the field?" Kai asked, chewing the gum he found from his pocket.Ben thought for a while before answering. "Maybe they want to give us a second mission.""I don't think so," Daniel argued. "As the woman named Mariska said, the challenges in the Debt System will be based on the watch on our wrists," Daniel paused his words to take a breath. "And now, we don't get any notification from this watch. That means we weren't gathered to the field for the second mission.""Her name is Marissa, not Mariska," Terry corrected.Daniel rolled his eyes lazily but chose not to argue. "Yeah, whatever."Seeing the dispute between his two friends made Ben feel awkward. He didn't know what to say to break the uncomfortable atmosphere. "Guys...""I didn't start the argument,
Chapter 12: The Midnight ScreamDinner was over. Now, all the participants were led back by the guards to the cell used as a room. Once the participants had entered, the guards would lock the cell from the outside."Uh, why is it locked?" Asked Ben in panic when he saw the guard who locked their cell pull out the key."This is a rule made by Mr. X so that you don't wander off anywhere," said the guard in a flat voice. Since his face was covered by a crow-shaped mask, Ben couldn't see what his expression was."But what if I want to go to the bathroom?" Ben asked again. He bit his nails.The guard let out a long breath. He massaged his throbbing head. After that, he reached into his pants pocket for his cell phone. He put the phone in his ear to call someone."Sir, one of the participants asked me, What if they want to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night?"Ben couldn't hear the conversation. He held the iron bars of the cell that separated him and the guard firmly.The guard g
Chapter 013: Reason"That...where did that blood come from?"The guard glared at Kai, who was asking him. His eyes showed a sharp look behind the mask he wore."Why are you asking questions that are none of your business?""Because-" Kai hung up his sentence, not knowing what to say. Earlier, the question had reflexively come out of his mouth. Ah, what should he answer now?"Hey, blonde hair guy, I asked you a question. Why are you asking things that are none of your business?" The guard again urged Kai to answer his question. The blood dripping from the katana he was holding continued downward, forming a puddle around him. Kai gulped his saliva forcefully. The look in his eyes showed fear.Kai glanced at Terry, who was at the end of the cell, asking for help. Terry sighed, then got up from his bed and approached the iron trellis, which separated him and the guard."He's just asking," Terry said in a flat voice. He glanced the guard up and down, scanning him without exception. "Becau