2 hours had passed since the end of the first test. Over that period of time many things happened.

For one, the voice kept speaking in Joy's head every couple minutes telling her new details about the tests and more. She assumed the other surviving contestants heard a similar voice seeing how as far as she knew, she wasn't getting special treatment.

It explained that the official name for the test she and the other contestants took was named God Tag, and like she expected, further detail about the reason for its name wasn't divulged. She assumed it was because Aku was a deity or "god" so to speak but it wasn't confirmed by the voice.

Apparently the next test would be held in 10 hours, so everyone would be given more than enough time to rest. The next test was named King of the Hill and the voice told how the rules would become clearer the morning of the test.

That was the general summary of all the information that was told. Besides that the hallways were cleaned of the bodies and blood completely. There wasn't even a trace, how it was cleaned so perfectly was anyone's guess.

Due to the mansion hallways being cleaned now, many contestants were free to roam the mansion inside the Void as much as they wanted.

Joy had left for a brief moment to scope the layout of the mansion better.

She passed a couple contestants and she noticed that many were paired. Out of the many people she saw throughout the area, there were only a handful who were by themselves. As she made her way around, she noticed a few peculiar things. For the most part everything was spacious but there were a couple areas that were blocked off, including many individual rooms. The most interesting thing she noticed though, were the many paintings and tapestries on the walls and some furniture.

One painting in particular had an extremely muscular man, he was so buff that his muscles seemed to have muscles. He was shirtless but had a white robe-like clothing covering his lower half. The belt around the robe had a lightning symbol and on the bottom of the painting it had written, [Zeus: God of Lightning].

She ended up shrugging off the painting, not believing that to be the actual depiction of Zeus. She hadn't ruled out other God's like Zeus existing but she felt that a picture being sprawled there so casually was too odd. She didn't believe it would be so casually and unconcernedly out in the open how it was.

However after seeing many other strange things throughout the mansion, she eventually reached her destination. It wouldn't have looked like a special spot to anyone except Joy.

It was the place she had last seen Arthur, or his corpse rather.

She had time to think everything over and she reached a conclusion.

Her conclusion was that whatever happened to Arthur would, or very much could happen to anyone else.

Joy wouldn't call herself the most compassionate person but she didn't like unnecessary death and pain, which she knew all too well now was unavoidable here.

The most she could do at this point was to focus on the tests over all else, or so she thought.

Now, laying down on the bed back in her room she stared at the ceiling.

She grumbled to herself, 'Ugh. I have no clue what to do right now! Not only am I just sitting around but I'm also on edge! Hm…I might as well turn on the TV, could help take my mind off things and ease my nerves.'

She reached for the nearby remote and after grabbing it, pressed the power button.

Static buzzed as the screen started to boot up. The screen was black at first so Joy assumed it was still turning on but the closer she looked the more she realized something; the TV was on. The lighting was simply dimmer.

'I wonder what it's about…'

She was closer to the TV now, sitting on the front edge of her bed looking on intently. The images on the screen were moving and sooner rather than later, she realized what the footage was showing.

It was showing footage of the mansion; The TV showed a scene of the God Tag test she had just passed through.

She gasped in surprise as candles lit up throughout the surrounding area, illuminating not only the hallway but the footage, which was easier to look at now.

The screen showed Ben and a person she didn't recognize, a girl. She recognized them to be a contestant but that was all she knew. She never got acquainted with her.

The girl, seeing the blood and bodies scattered everywhere, dashed away from Ben frantically.

Ben simply stood there, looking in the girl's direction.

Something was strange about the situation. She knew Ben waited for her as well but for some reason, it seemed longer. She watched as the girl continued running and she was a considerable distance far away.

Ben had to be standing still for at least 2 minutes and as Joy watched intently trying to analyze why Ben was standing completely still for so long, she finally realized what it was.

The girl had been running with a limp the whole time. If it was from a recent injury or something more long-term she couldn't know. The only thing she did know was that something like a leg injury, in a test like this, would mean certain death.

And unfortunately she was right. She watched as Ben ran, chasing after her fiercely. He rounded all the correct corners with blinding speed, leaving Joy confused.

Not only was his speed blinding, probably putting world level olympians to shame, he also seemed to know where the girl had been running, even after she had escaped his vision. He rounded the exact same corners she went through, despite them being far outside his seeing range.

'But how? If he knew where this contestant ran to, shouldn't he have known where I was? This doesn't make sense. Is it possible... did he take it easy on me for some reason?'

Ben was running faster now, he had been moving so fast that he seemed to be gliding. He passed through one hallway then turned, then another turn and hallway, then another, and another, and another until finally, after rounding one last corner with blinding speed- there she was.

The girl who had been doing her best to run, her best to survive, was trapped.

If it was a moment of bad luck from not paying attention to where she was running, being too afraid to focus... well it didn't really in the end. No matter what the cause was, the fact was the girl had hit a dead end.

Once she realized this she tried turning back to run the opposite direction but Ben was standing there. Right in the path she would've needed to pass through.

Ben, who had been running full speed like a madman in her direction, was completely fine. From what Joy could see there wasn't a drop of sweat or exhaustion on him.

The girl raised her hands, pleading to him. She was speaking and from the way her lips moved Joy could tell she was yelling and panicked, however one thing this footage didn't have was audio and so, she watched as Ben calmly walked up to her and slit her throat.

He didn't just stop there though, Joy watched as he proceeded to mutilate her body, slicing it with just his hands and flinging her body around violently. Blood splattering over the walls, painting the carpet a crimson red.

Joy felt sick to her stomach. The main thought flowing through her mind being that what she was watching, could very well have happened to her.

She grabbed the remote, attempting to change the channel or turn it off when she saw the footage change.

It was showing another contestant but this time, there was text at the bottom of the screen.

[YOU MAY WANT TO WATCH AHEAD MS.JOY,] it said in all caps. The color of the text was red, which made the message all the more ominous than the vagueness of the statement.

Despite wanting to do the opposite, the message stuck out to her.

A personalized message like that wouldn't have been strange seeing everything she had gone through recently, but it was the wording, "Ms. Joy."

That's what Aku and Ben referred to her as and if they took the time to have this special message for her, she would choose to take its advice.

1 hour later

During that time, Joy had seen countless scenes play. Many ending the same, with contestants dying and Joy didn't notice this herself, but after every death she saw, the less affected she was.

Of course people dying wasn't something she could simply shrug off so quickly, but the feeling of dread and terror slowly changed to simple sorrow.

Sorrow for the loss of life but she didn't see death the same anymore. At first when she saw a dead body, it was like seeing a ghost. Something completely foreign to her. But now, she looked at it the same as a deer that was dead on the side of the road from a car accident.

Whether this was Aku's goal or not, to make her less reactive to death, it was proving effective.

Besides that though, she also saw several contestants pass. Some of the most notable being Lorial and a blonde haired girl. One thing those two shared in common were they were one of the only contestants who started running before Ben showed the dead bodies.

Joy presumed they must've smelled the blood before, recognizing it. Besides those two, another contestant, a huge man with a trench-coat had a similar reaction.

He had bolted off as well but to her surprise she didn't recall seeing the huge man earlier but knew he had to be there from the beginning, seeing how all the previous footage showed familiar contestants.

During all the tests Joy had seen, the text saying for her needing to watch stayed. All until one specific test.

The screen transitioned from the previous contestant to the next- It was Arthur along with his signature love tank top.

At this point Joy, who had been watching with a blank expression, perked up. She kept her same expressionless face but she was more focused now. The first thing she noticed was that the text at the bottom of the screen, which had been there for all previous tests, was gone now.

'What does this mean? Does this mean I shouldn't watch this footage? Or maybe it's saying I don't need it for the next test, seeing how Arthur died and won't be a part of anything else.'

She started to turn off the TV, but then realized. What was about to unfold would be Arthur's last moments and so, she chose to watch or rather, forced herself to. To gain stronger resolve for the tests to come.

She watched as Arthur was led through the hallways before ultimately arriving at the same door Joy, and the countless contestants had seen.

After Ben opened the door, she watched, surprised at Arthur's reaction. He didn't instantly freak out and panic or run away in desperation. He simply stood there, and slowly turned to face Ben,

Arthur was wearing an intense expression, before suddenly rushing at Ben. He swung at him aggressively all the while shouting something out.And unlike all of the previous tests she had watched, with this footage in particular she could hear words now.

Arthur shouted out, "How dare you kill all these people!" He was launching punch after punch with all his might at Ben.

As she watched the confrontation she couldn't say she was surprised as she watched Ben easily dodge all of his punches. One thing she had found out after all the footage she watched was that Ben wasn't someone to play around with.

From his superhuman speed and ease catching up with contestants who were seemingly miles ahead, to his ease at dispatching said contestants, he was truly a beast.

Ben, appearing to be fed up with dodging Arthur's basic attacks, went for his own. Going for a backhanded slap, which connected into Arthur's jaw. This sent him stumbling back somewhat and he started to fall down but right as he did so, he stopped mid-way.

This looked slightly awkward seeing as his upper body was bent facing towards the ceiling while his legs stayed stationary.

Ben looked on in confusion as Arthur stood still.

He slowly walked towards him, his guard completely down, "Was all it took to finish you a backhand?"

Ben didn't sound appalled but his voice carried surprise, along with a hint of disappointment. It's clear he had been expecting more from Arthur.

He stepped closer and closer, guard completely down and right when he was about 2 feet away from him, Arthur suddenly sprung towards him with a burst of energy and unlike Joy's expectations, Ben seemed unprepared for the sudden attack.

Arthur raised his fist prepared to swing, his mouth bloody from Ben's slap. However, that didn't seem to impair Arthur's fighting spirit.

Wham

Arthur connected with Ben's nose and the sound it made was... odd. Joy had seen many fights before, she was very familiar with the sounds of someone getting hit but this... wasn't a normal sound. Unlike the pop-like sound that could be heard after a powerful punch to the body or face- Joy heard nothing.

But Ben simply stood, unbothered by the punch, "That all Mr. Arthur?"

Right as he started to back up, Ben went for a swift gut punch sending Arthur flying back.

Arthur hit the ground hard, a large thudding sound resounding throughout the hallway.

Arthur coughing up blood, starting to crawl back with pure pain in his eyes. He started to crawly away from Ben as he tried his best to regain his breathe or some semblance of balance.

His stomach was deeply punctured, a few vital organs were definitely crushed in his attack.

Arthur who was slowly rising continued backing up, however his eyes never moved away from Ben. While he was watching him warily, Ben was looking at him in disgust.

Arthur started backing up some, slowly while clutching his stomach. Making his way down the hallway before turning however he never turned away from Ben, who was ever so close following.

Ben scoffed, "Honestly people like you disgust me. Those who try to be a "hero" and save the day. You should've known it was pointless..."

Arthur growled back, "Shut up. You're an inhuman monster who takes lives like it's nothing! This was the least I could do to try and avenge everyone who died!"

"Avenge? Hmm... Just like how you "avenged" Lucille?"

Arthur who refused to lower his bravado all of a sudden froze. He started shaking.

Ben smirked wryly, "Exactly. Your innocent little sister who was murdered in cold blood. You remembered the last person she hung out with, her boyfriend. The day she died, they were gone too long and you were super worried-"

"Stop..." Arthur clenched his fists, a serious expression on his face. His expression was even more serious than when he saw the room filled with dead bodies. Showing how deep Ben's words got to him.

Despite his warning, Ben continued on, completely ignoring his anger that was slowly rising. "You never approved of him so it's no wonder you blamed him. You had your many many theories. That he was actually the one who killed her, especially since her killer hadn't been identified yet-"

"Stop..." Arthur was starting to choke back tears as he gritted his teeth together.

"You decided to take things into your own hands," Ben had a demented smile now, not too foreign from Aku's devilish expression. "You kidnapped him and tortured him for days, wanting him to confess. But he never did... and so, you killed him! What made it worse is you had the nerve to call it "avenging" her."

"I SAID ENOUGH!!!!!" Arthur, with the most furious and agonizing scream charged at Ben, tears flowing down his face.

He reached back, going for a finishing blow and in that moment Ben muttered, "At the end of the day, your nothing short of a weakling."

And with that, slipped his punch and jabbed his arm deep in his stomach.

Arthur coughed up blood.

"You see Arthur. A man like you isn't worth anything. A man who tries to act all self righteous."

He pulled his arm out of his stomach, blood gushing all over the floor. Arthur stumbled back slightly, before leaning on a nearby wall as he slid to the floor.

"Was it fun? In your last moments to try and go out like kind of hero? Was that delusion satisfying enough? Your nothing but a coward and a fool who failed to protect his family and killed an innocent kid."

Tears flowed down his face as Arthur lay, bleeding out. After the verbal lashing there was silence, a deafening silence. Ben was standing, seemingly waiting for a response and eventually that's what he got.

"I... regretted what I did to that kid. After getting arrested and sentence to prison for life, I realized something. I didn't truly believe the kid killed Lucille. I was just frustrated. She was all I had left after we lost our parents. I just wanted to make sure she could grow up healthy and into a strong young woman." He paused, gasping for air. "You were right Ben. I was a hypocrite and coward. But at the very least, I atoned. After I die I'll probably be going to hell. But I know that it wasn't all bad." He gave a warm smile, "At least I met a kind soul like her before going. She reminded me of my sister, kinda looked like her too ha. Anyways I'm sure she'll beat this test and anything else you throw at her easily!"

Ben sighed, "And why is that?"

"You'll see. She'd be able to go further than a fool like me that's for sure. I said I believed in her and I meant it. Because if you believe in someone, they'll more times than naught try their best to become worthy of your expectations."

"Huh, is that so?" Ben had a puzzled look, as if he couldn't comprehend the concept Arthur spoke of. "Well, If that's so at the very least, I'll take it a little easier on her. To honor your resolve and belief. But after, she will face challenges more difficult than she could possibly imagine."

"That's fine, because you know what they say....."

Ben turned away from Arthur's body, "Ah. I see. Seems your dead."

And with that the screen faded to black. The TV then turned off and Joy was left in her room, sitting in silence. The reflection on the TV showing her expression. Arthur's final moments... his odd belief that didn't seem to be rooted in any showings of her skills and achievements, along with the cold hard truth. The brutality of this place, the fact that besides her, no one would know or remember him. His life must've been full of pains and struggles but that was the sad part, no one would know of it. He had no-one to miss him or grieve. He had lost everything and because of that, felt he had nothing to lose.

Joy wondered, did he find peace? He seemed to in his last moments, but was it peace or a forced peace seeing the reality that his life was over?

She couldn't fully or truly ever know.