02 – February 1st, 2087

I woke up after the disturbance in the vehicle. In front of my eyes, I saw Albert watching over me. His face, with small brown eyes, showed maturity, complemented by his dark brown hair and sharp jawline. I couldn't help but think he was handsome. 'But too bad, I'm a man. If I was a woman, I could have hit on you.' A chuckle escaped from my mouth at my own joke.

Coming out of my crazy imagination, I realized I'm in a fucked-up situation. Before I was knocked out by him, I accepted the request to become a player. But nothing happened. 'Nothing' And now I was transported to the Law-House of Neo-Gen, a type of court and a police station combined. Anyone who breaks the rules of Architects or commits a crime is brought here. And now it's my turn.

Well, now I may not see the sun again in this life, nor even Earth. The vehicle I was in now should be an anti-gravity type of truck that can withstand stand any major impacts. After all, it's made to transport criminals. But I woke by the disturbance. There is really something off today. The heavy handcuffs I was wearing were getting me irritated. It also consumes mana bit by bit until on a level where I could barely able to live. I can't tell how much time has passed on outside. Maybe it's around 2-3 pm. I still haven't had my lunch yet.

I waited for a while and finally, the door of the vehicle opened. I was in front of the major building located on Neo-Gen. Its architecture was built on the bases of ancient Rome. Giant entrance, with long pillars surrounding the whole structure, the lawn in front of it was also well-maintained and had trees near the edge of the walls.

"The Architects LAW-House".

I said the words written on one of the walls with an amused expression. I visited one on Earth a long time ago for not so serious crime and got freed the next morning. But now, this is my first time visiting the law house here with a serious crime on my shoulders. Two security guards escorted me through the front gate, but I still can't figure out why Albert was coming with me. Maybe he was asked to be a witness? I saw ugly bastard was already talking with some officers.

'tsch! What a pain.' I thought.

After some walking, I was blindfolded, and again, made to walk. I think I was led to one of the interrogative rooms. I was probably accused of murder and cheating on crystal rights so a judge of C Rank will come and interrogate me.

They made me sit and wait and after a while, they removed the cover on my eyes. I can see a judge sitting in front of me. The room was white. Pure white. With a white table in front of me. If I don't cooperate with them, they'll leave me here as a type of my punishment. After some time, sooner or later if I lose my mind, they can use my body as a test subject or whatever. The judge in front of me wore a mask covering only his half face revealing his eyes and wore a black suit.

He asked me, "The report says that you, Rodreiger Beta, age 27, are accused of murder and cheating of crystal rights on February 2nd, 2102. You allegedly killed a person named 'Flak' with your pickaxe, who was holding an undeveloped blue crystal. Did you seriously think that an undeveloped crystal was worth killing for?"

'Damn' I bet he's thinking that I'm stupid enough to kill for an undeveloped crystal. Though it was shining with a blue light when I first saw it but he's saying the exact opposite. Good for me. However, I had to be careful since judges above D rank have high-level lie detection skills. Before I could respond, the judge interrupted me.

"Hello? I'm asking a question here. You have to answer. Did also forget that? "Did your teacher not teach you anything?" I don't have all day here?"

"He killed himself," I muttered in a high and angry tone. But the judge didn't take me seriously. His eyes were another story, long and sleek. It was scary and intimidating. It made me feel inferior and unconsciously, I bowed my head down to him. I want to poke out those eyes, crush them, and feed those to some low-level insects on Earth.

"Why did he kill himself? The witness stated that you were panicking and moving away from the body"

"After he found that crystal, he looked like he lost something. Maybe he lost his marbles, I don't know. When I slowly approached to cool him down, he killed himself with the pickaxe I left on the floor" – I told him straight forward. Slightly shifting my gaze to him. Leaving some minor details.

"Hmm. So, you're telling me that you're innocent?"

"Yes"

"I can't let some random death get out of my hand that easily. I have to use this situation to my full advantage. I'm nearing BB Rank"- he talked to himself, even though I'm here and listening to everything well with a bitter heart.

"Ok, you're not telling me any lies. You are innocent." – oh that's unexpected. I thought he will do something to me. Guess even though he's a jerk, there's still some hope left in him.

"But, you'll spend 3 hours here as your punishment, I can't let go death of an innocent. Every life deserves a value" – I was wrong. He is still a jerk. I'm the innocent one here.

But I didn't argue there. I didn't have the guts to tell him anything. I don't have the power to go foot-to-foot with him. He got up from his chair and went towards the door. Suddenly he stopped and gave me a garish look. Again, I unconsciously bowed my head down, but now, with fear.

Three hours. If I don't do or think anything, three hours will feel like an eternity. I can't open my system. There are eyes and ears even to walls. I simply closed my eyes and started to drift back to my peaceful days on Earth.

----------------------------

"10, 9, 8"

I heard these noises coming from all directions. Even in my home, I was watching the same news where the reporter was continuing those counts.

"5,4,3"

I saw my mom, who is also looking at the tv excitedly. My father was supposed to appear on the tv. Today was February 1st, 2087, my 12th Birthday and also the day where MUTE will conduct the Black Hole Transmigration Experiment on a very large scale. My both parents were researchers who once worked for MUTE. But now only my father was working.

I had heard a rumor at school that Earth was becoming a planet where life cannot sustain, and if this continued, we would have to leave Earth. Scientists were doing research day and night to make Earth habitable again. My parents were also part of this effort, and my dad hardly came home, but we knew he was doing something so that we could continue living on Earth.

When I was in the kitchen, drinking water, my home started to shake. I got worried, but soon my mom hugged me from behind and took me to the basement. I felt safe when my mom hugged me. There was a big lab in our basement that I didn't know about until today. When we were inside the lab, the shaking got even worse - the ground shook like it was going to explode. Then my mom hugged me even tighter, and I could see that she was frightened. Tears rolled down from her eyes. I heard people screaming from outside, and then Mom saw something on the computer. She wiped her tears and told me to stay here and be brave, and then she left me all alone in that lab.

I wanted to see what my mother had seen, so I went near the computer. I took my first step, and a second later, the earth shook so terribly that I had to cover my ears tightly. I ran towards the table and hid under it, just like our teacher had taught us to do in case of an earthquake. When I felt strong enough, I crawled out and stood up. I pressed my hand on the keyboard, as my mom had taught me, and saw her opening a software or something, and I did the same.

As the software opened, I saw videos of the area around our home. The whole area started to be covered in some black mist. In one of the videos, I saw Mom standing there, holding some kind of sword covered with red liquid. In front of her, there was a blue-colored window. My mom was not the only one I could see - when I looked closely, I saw other people near her, lying without their heads.