‘You have failed to accomplish the mission...’

‘Calculating your rewards…’

‘Monsters killed:

325 Level-one: 325 Points

5 Level-two: 50 Points

Achievements:

Two survivors rescued: 20 Points (Points corresponding to level two)

Side mission: 30 Points

Game results:

Defeat: 0 Points

Total Score: 425 Points

Reward: 425 UDP Coins

Your battlefield score has fallen from 7.7 to 7.1’

‘Please wait a moment…’

Aleen woke up in the dark place where the results of the games are announced.

He heard the AI in his mind informing him about his performance. When he finished processing the information, the AI spoke again.

‘We have detected injuries in your body. Do you wish to use your coins to heal them?’

Yes.

‘A moment please…’

‘The cost of healing your injuries is 21 UDP coins. Do you wish to continue?’

Yes.

‘Understood. We also detected signs of a foreign organism inside your body, do you wish to use your coins to eliminate them?’

Aleen chose yes while wondering if the foreign organism was the zombie virus.

‘The cost of eliminating the foreign organism is 35 UDP coins. Do you wish to continue?’

Yes

‘Understood, we are going to begin the procedure…’

Once he heard those words, he blanked again.

‘Procedure complete. Please wait…’

‘You will be sent to your representative's office.’

‘Initiating transference in three, two, one…’

Aleen woke up again not long later.

Different from last time, this time he didn’t wake up in the game lobby, instead, he was transferred directly to Leona’s office.

Aleen examined his surroundings curiously and realized that he was not alone. Inside the office, there were another two women.

One was Leona, his representative; and the other was unexpectedly Aya.

Furthermore, Lily was with her.

Just like him, Aya was looking to the surroundings of the office; when she noticed Aleen, she walked close to him.

Aleen gave her a nod of reassurance and looked towards Leona.

Leona was reading something in a screen coming from her bracelet, but when she noticed that Aleen and Aya were awake, she closed the screen and stared at them.

“Congratulations on surviving again, Mr. Aleen, and welcome to Dimensional Paradise, Miss Aya.”

Aleen was already used to this place, so he walked directly towards Leona and sat in a chair in front of her. Aya followed his example and sat beside him.

“I know that you said that this game was going to be hard, but did it have to be so hard?” Aleen asked in a sarcastic tone.

“The games are designed according to the score of the participants; though this time, the difficulty was increased due to Miss Aya's presence. Besides…”

“Besides?” Aleen asked when Leona stopped her words.

“No, Nothing.” She said while shaking her head. “Anyway, though this game was hard, it was not impossible. After all, you were close to finishing once, right? Unfortunately, though, you were unlucky.”

Aleen could not refute Leona's words.

Leona, however, did not continue speaking about that topic. Instead, she looked to Aya. “I must say that you were pretty lucky, miss Aya. Very few people survive when they lose their first game. Fortunately, though, you acquired extra points due to killing many zombies, completing the sub-mission, and being a level two; otherwise, you would have died.”

Aya’s expressionless look hardened briefly before returning to normal. Aleen, however, furrowed his brows.

“Speaking about the sub-mission, how did we complete it? Only the bodyguard, George, and the girl he was protecting, Christine, took the patient zero's tissue through the portal.”

Leona smiled softly. “Well, this mission could be completed with just one piece of tissue; so, though only the two of them brought the tissue of the patient zero out, all of you were considered having completed the mission.”

Aleen nodded in understating. Before he could ask another question, though, Leona extended her hand and stopped him. Then, she looked towards Aya.

“Now, Miss Aya; before answering Mr. Aleen's questions, I want to ask you if you are going to continue participating in the games or not. I’m sure that Mr. Aleen already explained to you the basics of the games, but if you have questions, you can ask me and I’ll do my best to answer you.”

Aya remained silent after hearing Leona’s question. She patted the fur of Lily softly while thinking, and after a few seconds, she looked up towards Leona.

“Can you explain to me again about it?”

Leona smiled and gave Aya a quick explanation about Dimensional Paradise and how it works. Aya heard silently and did not interrupt her, then, when Leona finished, she looked down and stared at Lily with a serious expression.

Then, she looked briefly towards Aleen before moving her gaze towards Leona again.

“… Then, I can become powerful here, right?”

“You can, if you survive long enough. So, do you agree?” Leona asked again in a calm tone.

Aya tightened her hands and hugged Lily firmly. She thought about all the things she had lived through her life, about the days on the orphanage, about the times when the pain and the hunger accompanied her in the streets, and about the times when others tried to take advantage of her.

She wanted to be powerful, she wanted to be strong, she wanted to live her life with pride.

So, for her, there was only an option.

“I agree.”

Her determined voice resounded in the office.

For the first time from when he met her, Aleen thought that Aya was truly beautiful.