Chapter 17

You can't love and understand everyone, for you can't love what you can't understand.

---

Under any circumstances, Mary wants to triumph over and win her battles. Her greatest challenge is turning Neil over a new leaf, making him leave his bad ways of dealing with things and his bad habits.

[Beginning evaluation of Baron Gangster. Such a befitting name for a quarrelsome single parent, fighting with thugs every day and betting what little money you have. Oh, you've been on a sober spree and haven't drunk for a whole month, too! Let's celebrate!]

[Kidding aside, Baron's bravery and resilience proved to be what this team was lacking. A person who isn't afraid to put his life on the line just for the sake of completing the task. You would not find that many people nowadays, considering the amount of cowardice most of the second chancers show.]

[Name: Baron Gangster]

[Level: 2]

[Rank: F]

[ATech: Kineshield]

[Description: Able to deflect and absorb kinetic energy from physical projectiles, melee attacks, and brute force by creating a localized distortion field that the force bounces upon the impact. As the user progresses and upgrades the technology, it could evolve to defend against more formidable physical threats and even enhance the wearer's agility and resilience.]

[Upgrade: increased usage from 3 to 4, but the time limit stays the same from 5 minutes. Shield's resiliency also was improved to withstand relentless attack.]

[Added feature: Culling Blade]

[Feature description: For better choices and increased survival rate, create a blade instead of a shield that you can use to fight your enemies.]

[Skills: None]

[Maybe next time, Baron! Work harder, and you'll eventually receive your first skill! There were instances when a second chancer climbed up to the ranks in one go, both receiving multiple skills and another ATech! So, all of you, don't be disheartened!]

"Not bad, mister! That was quite an improvement."

Mary congratulated Baron while Wil and Berret stayed silent. Baron looked at Wil and the man noticed the change in Wil's demeanor. Earlier, the gloominess and aloof personality of Wil was not there. Baron saw how easy it was to approach the kid, disregarding the burst of surprises Wil showed to Baron when fighting the remaining brothers. Outlandish and merciless were the two words that Baron first thought of upon witnessing Wil's reckless actions.

[That concludes tonight's evaluation and results! All of you did an amazing job, and I'm delighted by it, thus getting to ask me any question! And I will only answer Mary's question!]

"Huh? Aren't you just trying to be on Mary's good side? You're favoring her too much."

Of course, the men were complaining about it. Consider it as Mary's pretty privilege, and whoever was behind that voice must be a guy although it does sound raspily robotic.

[Note that the chosen inquirer was randomly selected via randomizer. No bias or unfairness had been done behind.]

"Oh, please spare us your bullshit!"

"Uh, you can both tell me what you want to ask and we will think of a way to have our questions answered."

From the sidelines, silent since the start of the evaluation, Berret butted in the conversation and proposed a question of his own.

"This is the question that you should be asking about..."

Baron, Wil, and Mary listened closely to what Berret had to ask so that they could argue if it was the most logical question to inquire about the system.

"Well, I wanna know about that, too."

"Hmm... I guess we can ask that since that benefits us all."

"I don't see any problem with the question, though..."

Wil's words trailed off meaningfully. He wanted to add more, but he knew how unnecessary it would be, so he just let his sentence end there.

"Here is our question," Mary began with a fire burning within her eyes. Her passion and curiosity to know the answer. "We know that all of us here weren't just randomly called here! What is our real purpose here? Surely, none of you who's operating this did to all of us just for amusement!"

[Real purpose, huh? Without leaving any crucial information behind, I'll answer that question. This Room is designed to cultivate and select skilled individuals who will climb to the ranks and triumph over multiple challenging scenarios. Basically, we are harnessing second chancers to become skilled fighters who would protect this world when the time comes.]

"Cultivating? Training us for what exactly? We want a concrete answer! Not a vague one!"

[Vague? What springs from a question isn't an answer but another question. A simple question can lead to another question, which will then make things more complex. Worry not, for all of your questions will be answered one at a time.]

"Bullshit! All that hard work and this is what you tell us? What if we die without even knowing the truth behind everything?!"

[That is on you, Berret. Remember, we are honing your skills and knowledge related to fighting. If you ever die in battle, we can't be held accountable for your failure because it is you who failed to survive. Therefore, survive in order to know the truth. Win against all odds. It's that simple.]

Something clicked, and it came from the door. The exit to the Room. Suddenly, the power to the wide screen went off, and then all of them were free to go.

Silently, Berret went ahead first upon disintegrating into thin air. He did not actually disintegrate but just disappeared out of everyone's sight right after.

"Hmm... Berret looked like the guy who couldn't be content with what he had. Like he was always looking for something."

All three of them simultaneously went out of the Room.

Greeted by the chilly breeze of the night light in the most densely populated city, it didn't smell so good, for the air had long been polluted around Manila.

"The heart of Manila, huh? I guess we still have time to go home ourselves," Baron looked around at the city lights and heavy traffic going on on the highway. "Well, I'll be going this way. See you two!"

"Take care, mister!"

The dense crowd where Baron went quickly enshrouded him, immediately making him disappear in the eyes of both Mary and Wil.

"We're from the same university, but I'm assuming we're not from the same city, right?"

"Hmm... I'm renting an apartment near our school. What about you? Will you be fine going home alone?"

"Actually..."

***

"Thank you so much for taking me this far, Wil."