3 Number 17

Upon entering the household, Karma was greeted by 2 maids.

"Take him to his room," Mother said. "And Karma… make sure that once you get there, you remain seated. I'll soon send someone to get you. We can show you around then. Right now we have to tend to some business."

The maids then took hold of Karma's hand and lead him up the stairs. Once they reached the third floor, there were two long hallways in opposite directions. As the three walked toward the right hallway, Karma looked past the windows for a moment. On one end, there was a beautiful array of flowers in the garden, but in a certain corner, the land seemed tainted. As if there was a large number of activities occurring around the area. At the time, Karma didn't think much of it. It was simply a strange sight.

After walking for a little longer, the maids stopped in front of a door.

[ Door # 17 ]

Once again… it was simply… Strange… why would the doors be labeled? Could the number 17 mean anything? Karma quickly looked around at the other doors. They also had numbers on them. However, when he was walking upstairs earlier, there seemed to be no numbers on floor 2.

Before Karma could dwell on the matter any further, the maids interrupted his train of thought.

"Well? Get going kid. This is your room. You've been standing there just staring at the door for a while now."

"...Right. Yea I'll do that…"

The maids left afterward.

Karma was now alone, completely free to explore this room of his. First impressions were relatively high. Everything looked pristine and well made. The room had been refined to perfection. A room just for him.

Honestly, Karma was dumbfounded. His expectations were at an absolute low. Throughout his life. He was the scapegoat. Just someone to be used by others. And he had come to accept this fact. Being at a disadvantage all his life was an understatement. Living itself was hell. Back at the orphanage, simply speaking back could get him brutally injured. He would often experience sleepless nights followed by intense labor. But all of this was simply how the world worked. Those who are crippled aren't treated as those with powers. And of course, those who were high tiers ruled over mid tiers. This top to down societal hatred is what governed the world. The world that he came to know of.

The strong feeding on the weak.

And the weak feeding on the weaker.

So, could it really be possible for the strong to aid the weak, or was this room just a facade for high tiers to play pretend?