While recovering from his wounds, Bright has immersed himself in the mobile game world. He swept through areas nearby his outpost and killed all the monsters, yet he still felt it wasnât enough.
The vengefulness, fury and cruelty in his body is still eating him from the inside. He even swore that the next time he sees the Shithead, he will break his bonds without caring for the consequences, and beat anyone that obstructs him, and then enact every single terrifying torture methods he know on the Shithead! Even if his real strength were to be exposed, or even if his hope of freedom would be crushed, or even if he were caught at last and made into a flesh light, he wouldnât care! Heâll kill himself after venting out as much as possible! Heâll make the Shithead know Hell before he descends into it himself!
But he also knows that this kind of thought is irrational, immoral, reckless, myopic.
He is possessed by the devil named vengeance. His hatred has interfered with his mental processing, making him restless and easy to anger, anxious and worried, losing his ability to think calmly.
He has to tell himself again and again that he must be resolute, he must endure, he must stay collected, and he must⊠let the Shithead be for now.
Even if the fine wine of revenge is excessively enticing, maddening, even, the spring of freedom is much sweeter. It can nurture his soul, soothe his emotions, heal his trauma, let him sleep well at night, so that he does not end up failing to even recognise himself in the mirror in the end of the day.
So, Bright has left the simple wooden house that gave him his sense of security.
The Shitheadâs provocation has forced him to leave his comfort zone. He decided to leave his outpost and roam the world interacting with special zombies. Both for venting his anger and for raising his power more quickly, so that he can put his plan of escape into action.
There was no ceremony nor choosing a special date. As soon as the idea to leave popped up in his mind he has started to act. He packed his necessities, took his backpack, bringing along his trusty companion Latiao who has always been by his side, and started exploring grounds further afield.
He does not plan to be back for a while, so he took as many tools as he can in order to utilise on the spot what materials he finds. The biggest problem is to find a safe place to rest and for logging out. Luckily for him, camping out in the wilds is no longer a problem.
Bright no longer restricts his speed and he traverses the forests like an agile leopard, quick as the wind. He occasionally passes by rabbits or deer, and the herbivores would stagger when they hear the voice, but they would think it was just the wind as they do not see any creatures they need to be alert at, then they would continue munching on grass.
He has met stronger zombies, some of which as tall as two-storey buildings, some of which are shaped strangely as if fused with other creatures, some of which appear ordinary but are quite deadly indeed. Bright rushes forth to fight them, almost without regard for his life. He has been wounded, and has had to run away because he underestimated the enemy, but he did win most battles. Before he noticed, his experience and level have gone up rapidly.
Even when facing the transformed Wolves he would have a chance at winning now.
The ambience about Bright right now is almost unmitigable, a sense of danger and murder lurking within. It made Wolfieâs hairs stand on end even just standing nearby, and he has complained several times.
âWhat did your patron do? Did he remake you several times?â
To that, Bright informs him heâs apologetic. Then through some introductions, he takes up yoga with Beauty, which improves the situation a bit.
Beauty thought this was the man indirectly expressing his lovey-dovey thoughts at first, and he was singing happily in his mind. When he understood he really meant what he said, he became speechless.
He did learn yoga, true, but his focus was on all the positionsââYou know, flexibility training, unlocking difficult body positions, developing ultimate techniques like using his own mouth to bite himself and things like that. He had to scour his memories before he finds the breathing method and meditation for shaping his body and mind, and barely satisfies Brightâs request.
â â
The teaching itself is almost torture to him. While he admires and touches the amazing body of the man, he not only must not taste it, but he has to keep his mind clear and maintain a calm breath.
He asks himself constantly, about what kind of life he is having.
When he hears the Beautyâs complaints in private, the ex-roommate of Bright rolls his eyes at him, âthen should I introduce someone else to him?â
âNo! I will do, I can do it, I will continue teaching!â Beauty grits his teeth and stands firm.
Bright does not know he has brought such a conundrum to others. He is meeting with Ococo again who is looking much better than she was previously. Though her makeup is still thick, her fingernails are no longer chipped. Their edges smooth and looking much healthier.
This time Ococo brings him two good news.
First, he has secured a reward from the show as the champion of the Points RaceââA unit in an apartment with three rooms and one living room. Furniture included with no rent and free water and electricity. A high-speed internet connection is also included. It is close to public transport and is already ready for him to move in immediately.
âCan I live with other contestants?â Bright asks. He made a promise to Alpha that he would look after Wolfie, so naturally, it would be best if Wolfie could live with him. They can also look after each other when they are executing plans later.
âYes, as long as the other person agrees,â Ococo answers, âcontestants who passed the first six episodes can find their own houses or can stay together and live in a complex the show has arranged for. Since everyone has acquired freedom at long last they almost all are willing to spend a little bit of money living outside, where life is easier.â This also displays the showâs confidence indirectly that they are not afraid of contestants escaping at all.
âIf itâs fine with you, Iâll bring you there at noon.â
Bright nods, agreeing. The clouds that have been bogging his mind has started to disperse a bit â he has finally managed to grasp a bit of freedom.
The other news is that Ococo has managed to contact the animal protection group in secret. They agreed to meet with Bright and suggested they meet face-to-face on a date that would make for a very short notice.
The agent says as her voice betrays a bit of worry, âwhile the sixth episode has not aired yet, they have a good source of information. Iâm afraid someone has already leaked the contents to them. And with how eager and even hurrying they are trying to meet you, I feel unsafe. If they are pretending to be friendly to trick you into a meeting when they have something else in mind⊠Why donât we wait a little? At least until after the episode with you and the sharks aired and see their reactions then.â
Bright is also a bit hesitant, but not for the same reason as Ococo. It is mainly his emotional state has collapsed recently and so he is unstable. He is afraid he might do or agree to something irrational while he is reckless like this, so he wants to avoid contact with extremist terrorist groups for now.
Even if the animal protection group say it exists for âprotections,â the violence in their actions and how they treat human life and the extremist method with which they do things are all signs of its terrifying, malicious core. It is deterring him and making him stay on alert.
As Bright decides to postpone his plans at last, Ococo clearly breathes a sigh of relief.
This turned out to be a smart decision in retrospect, when Bright discovers later that he was then under strict supervision, and even his house was offered courtesy of Detective. He didnât expect to manage to get away this time through sheer coincidence. And it is because of that, that when he discovers the real identity of the Shithead, he starts developing a mixed feeling besides his hatred towards him.
Ococo has already reported to the show, and so she takes Bright and Wolfie outside of the heavily guarded show, towards their new home.
This is the first time Wolfie has entered the City, and his excitement is written all over his face, which is almost plastered onto the window. He is looking at the urban jungle and the strange flying vehicles traversing in them with admiration.
The show has arranged for them to live in a unit in a well-off community with good security, good transport options, a quiet environment and good greenery.
When they enter the community, Brightâs good mood is dampened when he sees that not just outside the building, but the halls, the lifts, the corridors, and even almost every room has CCTV installed like it is a set in The Truman Show. This is probably also an important feature the show uses to control their contestants besides the bracelet.
Ococo is guiding them while explaining, âthe security is pretty tight here. If you bring a stranger in you need to vet for them in person at the entrance and they will be recorded. The number of strangers also cannot exceed the limit. The show has transferred funds to your accounts for daily necessities, and you can use them just by swiping your bracelet when you need. You should buy some educational needles and training lessons and resources. Iâve sent the list to this smart chip inside the house, look over it later.â
âIâll stop intruding you while youâre enjoying your deserved fruits of labour,â before she leaves, she gives a few more advice, âoh, I almost forgot, if youâre heading out, remember to put on a good guise! It is written in the list of things to be careful about but Iâm still going to be annoying and remind you once again. Youâre no longer some unknown contestant and you have high popularity. Itâs still alright in the community but if you head out and are recognised by the fans, they may surround you directly and cause unnecessary trouble.â
Bright and Wolfie agrees obediently.
Wolfie is like any other teenager, his eyes glued to the screen once he has become used to the smart chip. He is currently playing an immersive online game set in the Middle Ages featuring characters like vampires, witches, werewolves, knights and monks.
Bright glances at him at random and sees that when he is customising the face for the werewolf heâs 100% copying the appearance of Alpha, but then he only discovers that 5 out of 10 werewolves in the game look exactly the same when he joins the game. Then he angrily buys tools in the game by throwing money at it so that he can remake the appearance of the character.
Pay2win is certainly a common concept transcending space and time, and Bright finds this hilarious. He tells Wolfie heâs going out before he does so. Heâs planning to scout his surroundings and look for potential routes for escape.
He only noticed how many cameras there are when he just came in, but when he finishes his rounds he has to admit that not only are they great in amount, but their positioning is mathematically precise as well, leaving zero blind spots. Even in the air and underground are cameras positioned on the rooftop and in the entrance of the sewers.
With a sense of curiosity, Bright pushes the door open and goes in.
âWelcome.â
Sensing the door opening, a young man with deep-coloured curly hair and black eyes lifts his head and says to Bright smiling. He is sitting behind the counter with a book on it, meaning he was reading it just now. Now he stands up to welcome this customer. His fingers are placed together and his palm lightly slanted upwards. His manner is impeccable as he invites Bright to look over the drinks menu.
Bright was just passing by, but seeing the enthusiastic waiter and how good the coffee and desserts in the pictures look, he decides to order and sits nearby the door.
While the curly-haired young man prepares his coffee, he is adding to his analysis of the man in his mind quickly.
To immediately look about and analyse a new surroundings as he arrives; full of wariness, a desire for control and territorial instincts.
While he didnât want to stay for long he would react positively to plain goodwill from others who he deems unthreatening. Appealing to others is part of his personality.
He chose an unmodified Italian espresso. The taste is strong and shows he looks for a stable, unremarkable life. He does not wish for luxury or entertainment.
These are not personalities befitting a spy. If we add the unique characteristics number 199 has displayed in the showâŠ
The Detective has basically ruled out the possibility that the man is sent here on purpose.
After the curly-haired young man gives the coffee to number 199, he hears the person say suddenly, âcan I ask why the shop is named âSeventh Dayâ?â
The Detective is going because Gentleman only gave me seven days and today is the last day, but I only had the shop set up properly today.
âAccording to legend, God has created everything in the world in five days, and created humans on the sixth. God saw that all that was created has interacted orderly and sustainably, and the men he created are proud and strong, and He is happy. Therefore, He decided to ordain the seventh day as a Day of Rest.â
Bright masks his surprise at that by lifting his coffee for a sip. Thereâs someone in this dark technocratic world that can quote the Bible?
The Detective sees number 199 take a sip from the coffee, then continues, âI wish that every customer here can feel comfortable and relax their minds, enjoying a brief respite from life.â He is intentionally crafting a friendly, pleasant atmosphere. The words ârelax,â ârespiteâ are all carrying certain connotations.
In fact, the moment the man saw the sign for the shop he has stepped into the net of the spider. Everything here is placed by the Detective himself. Every detail here, including the arrangements, the decorations, the scent in the air, the brightness of the lights are all carefully calibrated for him specifically.
These few days, Hopkin has paid attention to what Detective has been doing. Through the camera in the community, he watches silently as the man steps into the trap of the other person unknowingly.