As Liam finished his nighttime routine, he thought about resting for a while. But soon, Joon Ho approached him.
"Hey, Lee," Joon Ho said in a low voice. "The guards are serving food. You should get in line if you don't want to sleep hungry."
Liam nodded. "Thanks, Joon Ho. I'll head over now."
He made his way to the food line and joined in, hoping for something good to eat. However, as he joined the queue, he saw the same old bun and soup in everyone's hands.
His heart sank.
'Great. There was one thing I liked about the dream world, and that was delicious food compared to what I used to eat in the real world. But these fuckers stole even that from me!'
He cursed the damn Shadow Clan.
However, his stomach rumbled despite his disappointment. 'More of the same crappy food.'
He sighed, knowing he had no choice but to eat. He needed the sustenance to keep going, to survive. He couldn't live on pills.
'I am so tempted to use the XP store and buy something to eat, but I have to save XP. This quest will take at least a few days to complete so I am out of options.'
As he reached the front of the line, a guard slopped a bun and a bowl of soup onto his tray. Liam took it without a word, his expression neutral.
He found a spot to sit and began to eat, each bite as unappetizing as the last.
'This tastes like cardboard,' he muttered under his breath, forcing himself to swallow. 'But it's better than nothing.'
He glanced around, noticing the others eating with the same lack of enthusiasm. Everyone was here for the same reason—to survive. And survival meant eating whatever was put in front of them, no matter how bad it tasted.
'Looks like I have to go hunting soldiers to farm some XP. And I don't have to worry about getting caught either. Looks like the crimson shadow favors me for some reason. So much so that he fought a fellow commander for me.'
'Still though, I wonder why he chose me to be in his squad.'
"Hey system," he whispered. "Can a strong person sense you inside me?" He asked curiously.
[A strong person can sense internal energy. But there are formidable cultivators who can hide it and make themselves look like a normal and weak person.
As for your query, no. I don't exist.]
"Hmm…" Liam hummed in amusement. "Then why do you think Crimson Shadow chose me to be in his squad?"
[Maybe because you're a stupid ass child with a punchable face and eccentric behavior?]
"Hey, hey. I didn't ask about you. I was asking about myself. Aren't you a bit narcissistic to praise yourself with such holy words?" Liam scoffed.
As he finished his meal, he saw Rin and the others sitting together. He walked over to them, curious what they were talking about.
'A little company might be good for me or I will go insane if I try to cure my boredom and loneliness with this system.'
"Hey, what's up?" he asked, trying to sound casual.
Rin looked up and smiled. "Just talking about the day. How are you feeling after all that training?"
Liam shrugged. "Sore, but I'll live. How about you guys?"
"It sure was a tough day, but we have to get stronger if we want to escape this place!" Joon Ho said, his voice filled with determination.
Liam frowned. "You guys are still on about that?"
Joon Seok nodded. "Yeah, we can't stay here forever. We need to find a way out."
Liam sighed. "Look, I get it. But we're not strong enough to escape. To escape, we'd need to be able to fight the guards. And let me tell you, they're not pushovers."
Joon Ho leaned in and whispered. "But you killed three of them. If you become our leader and make an escape plan, we could do it."
Liam shook his head. "I got lucky with those guards. If I tried to fight them again, I'd be killed. I'm not strong enough, and neither are you guys."
He then stood up and looked at each of them. "I can't be the leader of your team. I'm a terrible leader. I'd just get us all killed."
With that, he turned and walked away, leaving them in silence. He made his way back to his chamber, where he lay down on the rough ground.
'I can't lead them,' he thought. 'I can barely take care of myself.'
He closed his eyes, trying to push away the thoughts of responsibility and failure. Eventually, exhaustion took over, and he drifted off to sleep.
The next day arrived with a chaotic atmosphere. Liam woke up to the sound of noise and commotion filling the air. He wondered what was going on and quickly left his chamber, which was essentially a cage.
He followed the direction where he saw most people gathering, his confusion and curiosity growing with each step. As he pushed through the crowd, he spotted one of the Joon brothers and hurried over to him.
"Joon Ho, what's going on?" Liam asked in an urgent tone.
Joon Ho turned to him with a grim face. "The Shadow Clan reduced the amount of food served to us. Earlier, everyone could have their fill, but now, almost 20% of us have to starve."
Liam's brows furrowed in disbelief. "What? Why would they do that?"
Joon Ho sighed. "Iron Fang came earlier and announced the food cut. They told everyone that they can kill those who they think are useless or weak. It's a way to thin out the herd and create chaos."
Liam's jaw clenched. "Those bastards. They're trying to turn us against each other."
Joon Ho nodded. "Exactly. All the hostages had something in common—we were forcefully brought here and subjected to this brutality. We were united, caring for each other with sympathy and empathy. But now, Iron Fang has destroyed that unity and given us an incentive to kill each other."
Liam looked around and saw the fear and desperation in the eyes of the other hostages. He knew this situation was about to get much worse because now they had to fight for survival in a whole new way.
"Fucking great!" he muttered under his breath. "Now I can't even sleep in peace."
Liam returned to his chamber with Joon Ho and informed Hye Rin and the others about the situation.
Soo-Min's voice trembled with fear as she asked, "What should we do now?" but no one had an immediate answer. They were all shocked and trying to process the grim news.
After a moment of silence, Rin spoke up. "I have an idea. We should watch each other's backs when we're defenseless."
Liam shook his head in disagreement. "We can't watch each other's backs all the time. We need to learn to protect ourselves in all situations." He turned to Rin and advised, "You should stay with Soo-Min. And Joon Ho, Joon Seok, you two take turns training."
Rin suddenly chuckled and commented, "Even though you refuse to be our leader, you're ordering us around like one to help us."
Liam didn't respond to her remark but instead said, "I'm going to train. You all should do the same."