Chapter 5: CHAPTER 4

The person on the screen was unusual, even without looking at him (or her?) for too long. The person's voice had been distorted so it was impossible to tell the gender.

"Why don't you guys call me Warden? And please, refer to me as she, I don't want anyone thinking I'm a male."

"Getting down to business, as some of you might have already guessed, your parents sold you to us. Well, officially, they signed you up for Freestone Academy's  'special' three-year training program. It's a program for those who still  want to enter the Academy even though they weren't able to succeed either through their own efforts or through personal connections. That's the official explanation for this facility, but among us who work here, we like to call the program, 'The Test Zone'."

"All in all, you could say they sold you to us because you're useless. Of course, this doesn't apply to everyone. I'm sure there are some whose parents didn't have any choice because of debts, illnesses and all the rest. In return for giving you to us, they get paid a hefty sum."

"However, there are some people who even I have to say take the grand prize when it comes to being scummy. Yes, they are those who make a living selling their children to us. Very scummy, right?"

"Now that I think about it, none of you guys have actually been listening to me, have you?"

The words the masked woman spoke were indeed correct. None of the children had been listening to her. It was only now they had started to actually pay attention. They were all each stuck in their own personal abyss of despair and depression. Well, all except for one. The mysterious girl.

From when the videos started playing to when they stopped, she had never sunk into the same pit of despair the other children had. If you looked at her closely, it would seem she was pretending to be in the same state as the others. And Warden had noticed this.

Warden stroked her chin.

"Interesting....."

"Anyway, you will be undergoing tests in this facility. We will still teach you the bare minimum of the curriculum, but only the most essential things. I won't lie to you, the tests will not be fun. Most of you will even die. But, if you manage to survive the entire three years, you will be officially admitted as a Freestone Academy student, with free tuition for the rest of your school years."

"Good deal, right? Those of you privileged, whoops, I mean formerly privileged people, you should know that the tuition is exorbitant, even for those with lots of money."

Warden looked the side and said something to someone off screen. When she looked back to the them, her voice had changed to a serious tone.

"It seems we're out of time, you kids need to get to your rooms. When you're released from the chairs, a door will open. Follow the left hallway outside the door to your dormitory. Do not follow the right hallway."

"Dormitory, dormitory, dormitory. Such a nice word. It makes it seem like you're actually in school, instead of some child fight club, right?"

"Oops, spoiler alert! You're not supposed to know that yet. Well, when the door is open, if you feel like it, please go down the right hallway. Please try to escape. Please resist. It only makes things more interesting.

Warden's voice took a dangerous edge to it.

"However, be warned. Try to escape, and you'll be killed. No questions asked. No one will care. You've been abandoned by your parents, haven't you?"

"Let me give you some important information. There's a chip installed in your neck. If you look closely, you'll see a tiny scar on the left side of each of your necks. It will give you a nice, soothing, electric shock whenever you do something against the rules or disobey orders. Feel free to try it out for yourself."

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"In light of that information, let me give you a freebie. You are all allowed to assault or injure any person you want, at least within reason. You'll know the limit when you feel the nice, soothing, electric shock I mentioned earlier. So go wild. If there's anyone that offended you, get revenge. Break the person's bones. Take out your depression and anger on someone you despise.

"Some of you might be thinking,' It's shame I can't kill', but don't worry, we have something for you psychopaths as well."

"Once every school year, during the final examination, we remove all restrictions. Run wild. Kill your enemies. Assault that person who disrespected you. We like to call that time, 'Freedom Night'."

"That's all I have for you now. Go to your dorms and you'll be notified when the tests start."   

The screen then reverted back to a normal whiteboard. The bounds on the group's arms and legs loosened and door opened up at the front of the room.

The group got up and moved towards the door. There was an indescribable mood that hung over them like a cloak. Just as they walked out of the door someone started to speak.

"Why don't we try to escape?"

A boy who still had hope in his eyes said.

"Dude, are you crazy? Didn't you hear what Warden said? If we try to escape, they'll kill us. And anyway, what's the point? It's not as if we have anywhere to escape to."

"Don't you see? I bet that was fake. I don't know about you people, but my parents would never say things like that about me. This is probably a test the Academy is giving us to test our willpower. I definitely won't be deceived by things like that."

"She told us not to go down the right hallway. That means the right hallway is probably the exit."

With those words , the boy turned towards the right and ran down it. After he had made it quite a long way down, he looked back and said,

"See, nothing 's happened. It IS a-"

At those words, his body exploded and chunks of his flesh flew around.

While the students stood petrified at the scene, they heard Warden's voice.

"It seems the first one's dead. Let this serve as a warning to the rest of you. I never lie."

After she finished her words, only then did the group all start to hysterically shriek. 

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