Debt System

Chapter 011: Odd

Chapter 11: Odd

At 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," Terry argued when he knew Ben would reprimand him. "I just corrected the woman's name because Daniel mispronounced it. Is that wrong?"

Ben shook his head. "No, it wasn't. It's just..."

"Please remain calm and refrain from chatting during the journey," admonished one of the guards who followed the four from behind. "Obey all the rules here if you don't want to be eliminated."

Hearing the reprimand, Terry, who was the closest person to him snorted softly. He said nothing and put his hands in his pants pockets. 

Once at the field where the performance and the first mission were held, Terry saw that many people had gathered there. They gathered according to their respective groups. Terry stopped his steps, frowning as he felt something odd.

Kai, who was behind Terry, bumped into his back. He rubbed his nose with an annoyed grunt.

"Why did you suddenly stop?" Kai asked in an annoyed tone. "You made my nose hit your back." He continued.

Terry didn't answer. His focus was now on counting the people on the field. Ben approached Terry and tapped his shoulder.

"What's wrong?"

"I sense something odd," Terry replied. "Don't you get the feeling that the Debt System participants are missing a few people?"

Ben tilted his head, then focused his attention on the people in the field. He also counted the number of people gathered, just like Terry did. 

"You're right," Ben said in a low voice. "Debt System participants are dwindling. At least two teams. The ones not here are the team with the dark gray wristband color and the mint color team," he continued in a serious voice.

"Where do you think they went?" Asked Kai, who joined the conversation.

"I don't know. But it's impossible for them to just disappear all of a sudden. Unless...."

"Unless what?" Kai and Ben asked simultaneously, showing both enthusiasm and curiosity.

"Unless-"

"Why are you guys staying here?" Daniel, who had just arrived, asked his three roommate, who had stopped walking. "Did something happen?"

The three glanced at each other before finally shaking their heads.

"Ah, nothing," Kai said with a smile curving his lips, a forced smile that looked strange to look at. "But Ben's shoes were loose. That's why we stopped here," Kai alibi. Ben glared as he heard himself being used as a shield.

"Oh," Daniel said briefly. "Then let's go to the field now. Your shoelaces are properly fastened, right, Ben?"

"Of course,"

"All right. Let's get on our way before those two annoying guards start blabbering again," Daniel said. The three of them nodded their heads, then resumed their stalled journey.

Daniel, Ben, Terry, and Kai gathered together with the rest of the group. The position of the four of them was on the side, close to the long table filled with food boxes that had been there since who knows when. 

Not long after, the three Debt System organizers, namely Zayne, Marissa, and also X, climbed the stage. Zayne stepped forward to grab the mic, while X and Marissa chose to stay behind.

"Good evening, everyone. Sorry to disturb your rest time," Zayne said in a flat tone, which was met with silence. Because none of the participants said anything back.

"Alright. To make a long story short, you have been called here for dinner," Zayne continued, pointing to the table beside Terry's group.

All the participants who were there immediately cheered loudly after hearing the word dinner, after a day of enduring hunger and thirst.

Terry had to cover his ears to hear the commotion. The shouts of the other participants made his ears ring with a disturbing dizziness.

"Everyone, please be quiet and keep the noise down," Zayne said again. However, none of them shut up, except Terry's group. In fact, their voices were getting louder by the moment.

An imaginary intersection appeared in Zayne's head. He walked to the side and picked up an object like a baseball bat, then hit the gong that was on the stage. In an instant, the boisterous and crowded sound disappeared, replaced by a strong gust of wind.

"Please calm down and let me continue my speech!" Zayne spoke again in a booming voice. All the participants nodded fearfully.

Zayne let out a small sigh, then continued his speech. "To get the food on the table, you have to do something first."

All the participants gasped in shock; Terry was no exception. Another challenge? Just for dinner? 

Many questions arose in his mind. Not yet answered one question about the missing team; now there was another challenge that he had to accept to fill his stomach. Oh, the debt system is getting crazy, he thought.

"Well, what you have to do is..."

Before Zayne could continue, Marissa, who had been standing behind him, suddenly hit him quite hard on the back of the head, which made Zayne grimace. 

"Ah!" Zayne grimaced.

"Don't make it difficult for them to get their rights, Zayne," warned Marissa with a sharp look.

"But isn't the paradise of a disaster plan to be executed right now? If not-"

"Marissa is right," X spoke up. He rubbed his left eye, then made a flat face at his coworker. "If you do another challenge now, they won't be able to face the second challenge tomorrow."

"Whatever," Zayne replied in an annoyed voice, then walked off the stage, leaving many questions in everyone's heads. 

This strange silence made the atmosphere uncomfortable. Marissa looked at the participants awkwardly, one by one.

"Ah, forget what Zayne said. Please eat and take what's on the table."

After Marissa said that, all the participants immediately lined up to get the food. Since Terry's group was closest to the table, they were the first to partake.

"Don't you feel strange about the attitude of the guy named Zayne?" asked Ben. He sat down on a rock and started to open the food box he had taken.

"Let alone that guy; this survival game is just weird," Daniel said.

"That's true, but I have a feeling there's going to be something tonight." 

"You want to be a fortune teller?" Kai asked.

"It's not like that. It's just-"

"We'll talk about this later," Terry cut in with his heavy voice. "We'd better eat now."

The three nodded and started eating their food. On the other hand, Terry was thinking hard about what happened today.

"Paradise of disaster? What does that mean?"