Lukas had barely closed the door behind him when the ceiling moved.
Two bodies dropped from above simultaneously, landing on either side of him.
He stumbled back a step, already trying to activate a skill when he recognized them.
It was Akira and lody.
He exhaled, the tension leaving his body. "You startled ."
Akira grinned at him. "We decided to hide there as a precaution. What if it was soone who wasn’t you but knew the knocks?"
He exhaled slowly. "Good call."
He crossed to the table and dropped into a chair, feeling unexpectedly weary. The gas hadn’t lasted that long or expended more effort than usual but he felt more tired compared to what he’d done.
Akira and lody took the chairs on either side of him, leaning in close.
"Well?" lody asked. "What did you see?"
And so he told them everything.
He started with the conductor, then moved on to the gas, ntioning the flashing tiles, the countdown, and the people swallowed by darkness.
He recounted everything, including how only thirty-two people had survived the night. And when he finished, he ntioned the prize.
"A Fate Key," he said. "Either of you know what that is?"
Akira and lody exchanged a look.
"No," Akira said.
"Never heard of it," lody confird.
Lukas exhaled. An unknown prize in a ga where people died. He looked at the table.
"Should I even go tomorrow night?"
Neither of them answered imdiately. He could see them working through it in their heads, weighing the risk he’d face against the unknown value of what was being offered.
"I think you should," lody finally said. "We don’t know what the prize actually does but the na alone already tells us it has to be sothing impressive. Not to ntion the fact that people are willing to die over it. What if it grants so kind of advantage on the Second Floor?"
"It could be worth the risk," Akira nodded in agreent. "And you survived tonight without really any strain, so the remaining rounds should be easy."
"Yeah," lody added. "I doubt there’s anyone stronger than you there, but this Trent you ntioned was able to survive a previous ga. This ans it’s dangerous, but it’s survivable."
"If I don’t win, I don’t die," Lukas said. "That much is guaranteed."
"Then go," lody said simply.
He nodded. "Alright."
But Akira had one more question.
"Did you find anyone suspicious?" She asked. "Did you find the person your quest told you shouldn’t be on the train?"
He hadn’t. The Death Ga had consud his full attention from the mont he entered carriage 122, and he had nothing concrete to bring back.
He said so.
"Tomorrow night might give you a better opportunity," Akira said. "There’ll be fewer people, and this is based on the assumption that the person isn’t already dead."
That was reasonable.
With that settled, they moved to their bunks without much further conversation.
Lukas lay on his back in the dark, listening to the train move beneath him, wondering what the next two rounds might look like.
Sleep found him before he had any answers.
***
Lukas woke to the sound of the train and his own yawn, loud enough that he was mildly surprised it hadn’t woken anyone.
He sat up to see that Akira and lody were dressed, talking among themselves at the table.
It was clear that they’d been awake for a while, and had been waiting for him.
"Morning, sunshine," Akira said, her voice uncharacteristically sweet. "Did you dream of ?"
He looked down to see he had morning wood, his cock rock hard and pitching a tent in his pants.
"We didn’t want to wake you," lody chuckled. "Given that you spent ti in a death ga, I figured you needed the rest."
He sat up, running a hand through his hair. "Thanks."
He yawned again, standing and heading for the bathroom.
After his bath and a change of clothes, the three of them made their way to the cafeteria and found a table.
The sll of food filled the air, and Lukas found his stomach rumbling.
"You finally have a high tabolism like ." Akira joked.
"I doubt it," lody chuckled. "Yours is more like a bottomless pit."
Lukas called for the waiter, and they placed their orders. Before long, the food was arranged in front of them.
They were partway through eating when the cafeteria door opened.
Boaz Connifer entered with his two guards, dressed flamboyantly as always with a gold chain around his neck, and his spatial ring holding a large diamond on it.
The mont his eyes found Lukas across the room, his face transford into a wide smile and he crossed the cafeteria at a pace that was almost a jog.
"Good morning!" He addressed all three of them before he focused his attention on Lukas.
"I have to tell you, Mr. Lukas, I followed your advice last night." He grinned, his eyes shining. "I approached a lady, and just like you advised, I kept it simple."
"When she didn’t pay much attention, I ended the conversation and left without making anything of it. It was hard, but I did it. And this morning, I saw her again."
He paused for effect. "And she smiled at in the corridor! Can you believe it?! She smiled! Most won run the other way when they see coming!"
He looked at Lukas as if he had handed him sothing invaluable.
"You know what? Your breakfast is on ," he announced, already gesturing to one of his guards before Lukas could respond. "Please. I insist."
The guard walked to the service desk before Lukas could intercept him, taking care of their bills.
lody and Akira turned to Boaz with identical warm smiles.
"Thank you," they said in sync, and the man’s eyes widened before a warm smile appeared on his face.
"It was my pleasure." Boaz bead.
Then he bid them an excellent morning and left.
Akira turned to Lukas slowly, the smile shifting into amusent.
"Don’t," Lukas said.
"A smile," lody said. "Just from walking away."
"Revolutionary advice," Akira agreed.
"Both of you, stop."
They didn’t stop for quite so ti.
They stayed at their table for another thirty minutes after the plates were cleared, watching the cafeteria door as they conversed.
Since this was the place the card ga had materialized yesterday, Lukas was wondering if there’d be another ga setup today.
However, nobody started any gas. There was no sign of the dealer, and everyone there was either eating, discussing among themselves, or watching the view outside.
"So the selection period is over, huh?" He muttered under his breath.
Now that the conductor had enough people for his twisted gas, there was no need to set up gas to recruit people. Not until this current ga was over.
Lukas had no idea when the next ga would start, so this was the only ga that’ll probably be played before they got to Salaria.
Now that they’d confird this, they stood and headed for the door.
Their next stop was the lounge. This was a place designed to sit in and watch the passing landscape.
They couldn’t just sit around in their room all day, so this was a place to stay before night arrived.
They’d barely left the cafeteria when the train officers appeared, surrounding them.
"You’re all under arrest."
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