Chapter 42: No. 6

"He avoided the knife, twice! Nobody has avoided the knife twice!"

Ominous. Even though the girl's voice was cute and all bubbly, the fact that she was wearing a white faceless mask, and then running across the dimly lit room and circling the other people that were wearing the same mask was quite… ominous.

But after a few seconds of thinking how weird they were, Rhys stood up straight and once again introduced himself.

"Rhys Wilder, reporting for duty."

"Ah! He even saluted too!" The little girl shrieked as she pointed at Rhys, "What the freak!?"

"No. 2, stop it. You are making our new member uncomfortable."

And as someone calm finally approached him, Rhys finally realized that their masks were not as empty as he thought, no. It had a number etched on the lower left chin, with the one approaching him carrying the number 1.

"My name is No. 1," the man had blue hair, almost the color of the morning sky and his eyes were dark, but carried a certain electricity on them… literally. No. 1 was going to shake Rhys's hand, but No. 2 suddenly leaped between them.

"Wait, new member!?" No. 2 excitedly said with her voice even more high-pitched than before, "You mean he passed!?"

No. 1 did not really answer her, and instead, the only bald member approached her from behind, No. 4. No. 4 also did not say anything, and instead just gestured with his hand which Rhys could really only interpret as sign language…

…because he could actually understand what he was signing.

"That.. makes sense," No. 2 started nodding her head, causing her bobcut hair to sway, "Even No. 5 was barely able to avoid your knife."

"I believe I was able to avoid it quite adequately," No. 5 immediately came to his own defense as he also approached.

"Yeah, adequately with your large ass! You buffoon!" No. 2 raised both her middle fingers at No. 5, not even bothered by the fact that No. 5 was almost as tall as Rhys, but much bigger… much bigger.

Despite his size, however, No. 5 was wearing a tuxedo that finely fitted his incredibly weighty stature and he did not seem to have trouble even moving around. Most of the people of this size, Rhys has usually only seen sitting on wheelchairs.

"I am No. 5 amongst us lot," No. 5 stretched his hand toward Rhys, the tone of his voice carrying almost a somewhat posh accent, "But now that you are here, I suppose I no longer need to carry that burden. Welcome to the club…

…No. 6."

"...Thank you," Rhys shook No. 5's hand… which was almost double the size of his own hand. Despite the ominous atmosphere and the creepy masks they were wearing, the members of the Faceless Crew were not what Rhys expected them to be at all.

They were quite friendly as they all shook his hand. And even though he couldn't see their faces, the tone of their voices was enough for Rhys to know they were truly welcoming… except for No. 3, who still had not moved from his spot. His back rested on the wall and his arms crossed.

"Oh," No. 2 immediately noticed Rhys glancing at No. 3, "Don't mind him, he's always sleeping because of his god blood, Hypnus or something. Some minor shithead."

"...I see," Rhys nodded as he looked at all the members one by one, "I… was told there would be training?"

"Why is your voice like that?" No. 2 tiptoed as she leaned her face as close to Rhys as she could. And with her not casting any shadows even on her own silhouette, she looked like she was almost popping out.

"My… voice?"

"Yeah, smooth… almost sultry," No. 2 squinted her eyes.

"I was born with it," Rhys could really only take a step back as No. 2 got awfully close to him. He also wanted to ask why a little girl like No. 2 had such... interesting vocabulary. But seeing as a little girl like her was in the Underworld Corps, perhaps it would be best for him not to hear the answer.

"No. 2, stop asking No. 6 personal questions. He just got here," No. 1 grabbed No. 2's shoulder and pulled her away, causing a slight trickle of electricity to snap as soon as he did so.

"Ow! Did you just sting me!?" 

"Must have been your imagination," No. 1 just waved his hand as he approached Rhys, "Anyway, which platoon did you belong to for you to end up here? The Commander must have noticed something in you."

"I'm a new recruit, Sir," Rhys stood up straight.

"Oh, you don't need the formalities," No. 1 let out a small chuckle and stopped Rhys from saluting again, "We strictly address each other by our numbers here. And did I hear that right? You said… you're a new recruit?"

"Yes, No. 1," Rhys nodded.

"And you were sent here?" No. 1's breaths slightly stuttered, "So, you're fucked in the head."

"As… much as anyone here," a small smile crawled on Rhys's face as he heard No. 1's words.

"..."

"Now, ain't that fucking true! Haha!" No. 2 burst out in a fit of laughter, slapping No. 5's large and plump butt several times and causing his whole body to jiggle.

"Welcome to the Faceless Crew, No. 6," No. 1 also chuckled as he gestured to No. 4. And as he did so, No. 4 waved his hand before swiftly stretching it toward Rhys… and suddenly on it was a mask carrying the number 6.

"Although your face is currently covered with all that hair, you still need to wear a mask," No. 1 gestured to Rhys to wear his mask, "You wear it when all of us are together, when we are in this room, and when we are on a mission. That is the only rule you need to follow."

"Yes, No. 1," Riley nodded before wearing the mask, which just finely and smoothly latched onto his face even without a strap.

"Right then," No. 1 clapped his hands as he looked at Rhys and the others, "Now that we're all pretty much buddies, time for the mission."

"Finally, I was getting bored as shit," No. 2 started patting her dress as she just immediately ran out the room, "Meet you guys in the 4x4, I'll drive!"

"...Mission?" Rhys could not help but look back and forth as his new crew started leaving one by one, with No. 5 carrying the unconscious No. 3 and barely fitting the door.

"Yes, we were just waiting for you before we headed out," No. 1 nodded as he gestured to Rhys to go first.

"What… about training?"

"Oh, right. You're a new recruit," No. 1 placed his hand on his chin, "Well…

…consider this training, then."