"Van slept with Boss!"

"!!!"

​​

Gil's almost echoed throughout the whole Village, his voice almost cracking with how loud it was. Nisha, who was the closest to Gil, could not help but completely spat out the food that was in her mouth, causing it to shoot straight towards Gil's face.

"..."

Gerald, who was listening in on the side, thumped his chest repeatedly as he almost died from choking. Cynthia, on the other hand, let out an amused expression as she continued eating her bread.

"W… what?" Nisha quickly took off her bandana and gave it to Gil to wipe the mess on his face.

"...I saw Boss coming out of his house earlier."

A light gasp could be heard coming from Gerald, who was still recovering from his near-death experience.

"I can't really blame you," it was then that Cynthia spoke, the tone of her voice slowly returning to her usual seductive tone, "...Boss is good in bed."

"..."

"Wait… did you really!?" Nisha once again looked back and forth between Gil and Van.

"..."

Van was now the owner of the stares from all the people near him, even those he didn't even know. He could only stare at the food in his hand as the group continued to ask him these senseless questions.

"...But don't you have a girlfriend?" Suddenly, Gerald, who was just listening in on the side once again spoke.

"W… wait, Van has a girlfriend?" This time, it was Gil that almost choked to death, "S… somehow that's even more surprising."

"Hm." Gerald only closed his eyes as he nodded, "What do I expect from a beggar, can't be contented with what they have, tch."

"..."

"Wait, that's not important right now," Nisha quickly shook her head as she leaned in closer to Van, "Did… you really sleep with Boss?"

Hearing the question once again echoing in his mind, Van could only let out a long and deep sigh. Why were they so interested whether he did it or not with Boss? It was too early for something like this, he thought.

And so, finally, left with no choice; he answered, "...Maybe," before starting to eat the bread in his hand.

"W...what's with that answer!? Tell us!"

The group's curious pleas continued for almost half an hour before dying down. Come to think of it, there was something that Van wanted to ask Cynthia; since she seemed a bit fine now, this was probably the best time to ask, he thought.

"...Miss Cynthia, I have a question."

"Oho… my husband just died and you're already advancing to me next?"

"..."

"Just kidding… ask away, little boss," Cynthia let out a light giggle, but even through her smiles, one could see a hint of sorrow reflecting in her eyes-- maybe she wasn't alright after all, Van thought. But still, they were already here, so Van decided to ask his question anyway.

"...Are you truly not a System Holder?"

"..."

As soon as the group heard Van's question, they completely went silent as they turned their focus on Cynthia. They would be lying if they said that they weren't curious, even Gerald was curious, and he wasn't even part of the group.

Cynthia only blinked a couple of times as the curious eyes suddenly shifted to her, but after a few seconds, she quickly shook her head.

"...My husband isn't as well."

"!!!"

"W… what!? How is that even possible?" Gil could not help but stutter.

"...But I saw you fight a couple of System Holders on your own," Nisha squinted her eyes.

"Well, we all have our secrets," Cynthia shrugged her shoulders as she took a bite of her breakfast. She did, however, stop as soon as she heard Van's next words.

"Does Solomon have this secret as well?"

"!!!" Cynthia widened her eyes from Van's words, staring at him straight in the eyes as if she had seen a ghost, "H… how did you know?

"What!? Solomon is also a normal human!?"

"How… is something like that even possible?"

"Who says we were normal?" Cynthia let out a wry smile, a sliver of sigh coming out of her nose.

"Then who… what are you?" Van furrowed his eyebrows. In truth, he was still a bit disappointed with not getting any EXP from Solomon. But now that Cynthia confirmed his speculations, his curiosity was now overpowering his disappointment; what if he killed Cynthia, will she also be a Lv. 0?

Van quickly shook his head off of the dangerous thought. She could also be lying, but Van could not really see any point in it… or is there? He lies in instinct as well, maybe Cynthia is doing it as well.

Van's racing thoughts were then disrupted by Cynthia's loud sigh. She looked around to see if anyone else was listening before leaning in closer to Van and the rest of the group; Gerald, who was on the side, also could not help but slightly move closer.

If he was right, his father mentioned something like this before… he just couldn't remember it clearly.

"I…" Cynthia's words were breathy, "I… we…

...are a failed product."

"..."

"...What does that even mean?", Gil furrowed his eyebrows.

"If we're lucky… you won't need to find out," Cynthia slightly bit her lip as her eyes slightly trembled, as if her eyes were reliving a past of sorrow, "All I can say now is that the people you used to serve, Gil…"

"Hm?"

"...They are the ones who gave birth to us."

"...The City Guards?"

"No, the Circle, what the heck."

"..."

"...Oh."

***

"Ho… so this is what these people spend their time in…

...Disgusting."

In a vast and spacious but dimly lit room somewhere, the 5 people that were wearing colorful robes could be seen standing by.

"How many times do I have to tell you to mind your words, Feng?" The man who seemed to be their leader, once again reprimanded Feng, "We are visitors here."

"Oh come on, Qiye. Stop being so uptight, why would I watch my words for a country that's lower than us?"

"Feng!" The smallest one in the group pinched Feng's leg, "Mr. Qiye is here as our main representative, listen to what he says!"

"Tch, even this little runt is telling me what to do," Feng spat on the floor, "You guys are no fun, isn't that right, Xinyan?"

"...Just listen to him for now," the only woman in the group could not help but sigh as she was dragged into the conversation.

"But… I do agree with you…" She muttered before her eyes scanned the room they were in. Their group was currently surrounded by countless naked people, all lying and sprawled on top of tables; they weren't dead, as they could hear all of them breathing.

"...This is truly disgusting."