"Hmm?"

A man woke up. From a deep slumber, he assumes. He's half asleep and his eyes couldn't tell what what was who or who was that. The fan in his room is blowing hard, it's quite chilling to be honest.

The first thing that came to his mind is:

(How much did I drank last night?)

There was no sign of headache, nor there was any sign of light in his room.

He reached out to grab something, but there wasn't anything for him to hold on to.

Empty Space. Nothingness. Oxygen Gas and other particles that should be in the air.

These are the only thing he is able to grab hold on to.

The man opened his eyes. Yet, he did not see anything. There was no fan nor anything. Just darkness that extends to an infinite length.

(Hmm?!)

He was falling down, it might be too late for him to realize but he still realized it.

Approximately 10 minutes he was falling down ever since the man woke up. He wasn't sure the right amount of time he was actually falling down this pitch black hole.

He did panicked in the first two minutes, screaming at the top of his lungs, but he did calmed down eventually.

During the eight minutes that he believes since he calmed down, he tried to remember some memories of himself. Part of the reason was to stay calm.

Yet, all attempt failed. Excluding the fact that he remembers that he is a male, nothing holds on to his recollection. His name, age, religion, or where he lived, none of them were clear.

(A limbo, perhaps?)

(in some Christian beliefs) the supposed abode of the souls of unbaptized infants, and of the just who died before Christ's coming.

(If this truly is a limbo, then where is my escape?)

Some time passed. Possibly a few hours or days.

(What the fuck is going on in this god forsaken place?)

There isn't a sign that when will end, nor where will end.

The man started to feel……bored. The same symbols engraved to the walls, the same velocity while free falling in this seemingly endless hellhole.

The man started to think if this is just a repeating scenario. But there's no way he could tell.

Even more so, the man could not put himself out of his misery.

He couldn't open his mouth, and there is no sign of him getting hungry or dehydrating.

The Man closed his eyes, going to sleep. He hoped that the next time he opens his eyes, there wouldn't be more falling. Maybe… he didn't need to open his eyes anymore.

His wish…came true. In a manner of speaking.

(Why?)

The moment he opened his eyes, he did not felt the wind pressure from falling down. There was only three things that could tell from his current situation.

1) He is lying on water. This can be proven because his back was a bit chilly and the familiar sensation of water surrounding him.

2) The scent of dead rotten meat. There's no need to prove this, looking around, the man can see multiple piles of dead bodies just laying there waiting to rot. And he lying in the middle of them.

3) There might be no escape. If he can survive this fall, then there's no way that the others couldn't. Then all he needs to know is……what killed them?

The man stood up. The line of sight around the place isn't very large. Most probably due to the massive piles of dead body. Though the walls still seem to be the same.

And forget the third thing that the man though. There is an exit. A tunnel, to be precise.

(Am I just lucky that I didn't die from the fall?)

Thinking logically, the probability of that happening is quite high.

In the end, hypothesis is just hypothesis.

The man walked down the tunnel. It wasn't a long trip there's torches on the way so there isn't much problems while walking down the path. At the end of the tunnel, was a circle shaped room.

Around the room, was 22 levers, above the levers are statues. Statutes with a number in their hands. Ranging from 0 to 21.

(Is this supposed to be a test?)

Frankly speaking, who the fuck knows if this is a test or not? If so, what is the question? Count the numbers of bodies in the pit?

The man sits in the middle of the room. looking around a deciding which one to pull. He checked outside the corpse and found nothing.

And all the levers felt the same. Except for one. Particular. One.

Number 13.

There was a feeling of……mysterious tied to its nature. A skeleton knight riding a white horse with a bizarre looking flag. A flag with the number 13 on it.

No…it doesn't feel mysterious. Accurately, the man knew what that statue symbolizes.

It symbolise ego death, change, rebirth and transformation. And for some reason, it also relates to power, control, the unconscious, psychology, sexuality and fear.

It was Death.

Despite knowing this, the man pulled that lever. Not out of curiosity, but determination.

He is determined to pull that lever even at the cost at his own life. Most of all, the only thing that he will wager, is his own life.

The world goes white. The man was knocked out cold. Giving away to the impact, the man fell unconscious.

"Noah, Noah Baraja! Wake up from your bed this instant!"

"……Mmm."

The boy named Noah, who is lying on his bed started to wriggle his body. It wasn't a form of stretching, it was more like an act to trick people.

Noah is a complete mature 7 year old in the public eye. In reality, he is just born with a bit of communication disorder.

But due to the fact that he look kinda handsome makes everyone thinks he is just a mature kid.

The second reason of that being, he completely out powers the 9 year olds in terms of swordsmanship.

Even on a 1 v 3.

People can tell that he possess some talent for swordsmanship.

Noah Baraja, is going to be a Paladin in the future. That's what the people expected from him.

But to him, there's a lot more things he need to take care of. No just his swordsmanship.