Chapter 10: What? Are you going to make your move?

Alice, after her mother died right in front of her eyes, swallowed by a flying monster, she had no one to take care of her. No one to hold her or give her a roof over her head, with warm sheets and a hot meal.

Nothing.

Naturally, she should've been taken to an orphanage, but the world was disorganized, and the order of the day was, 'every man for himself'.

The monsters ravaged everything and it was difficult to stay safe.

Thus, people sought protection from Awakeneds.

No one knew when a gate would suddenly spawn out and the monsters would raid. If you weren't an awakened, you could never keep yourself safe.

It didn't take long before illegal activities amongst the awakened sprung up.

The agency did all they could to keep people safe but they could not keep every single person safe. They could not properly account for the lives that roamed around the streets and mostly focused on those with names.

Those affluent people who had money to support them.

Yes, the agency was corrupt from the start, but it just did it in moderation.

They still took care of the majority of people but there was still that minority that they didn't give two fucks about.

Ordinary people who had no backup, no name, and no means of acquiring that protection could only live with bathed breath, hoping they could get to see another day.

Thus, illegal protection sprung up.

In order to give the protection an awakened had to offer, ordinary people had to devote themselves to these corrupt awakeneds. And in the process, some were made into slaves; some were made into sex tools, and others...who were young like Alice were made into 'dogs.'

Not necessarily hunting dogs but they were no different from dogs who waited on scraps from their master, doing everything he ordered and living a thread life.

It was so easy to draw and so easy to round. But once it got tangled, it was even more easy to snap and that was the end.

That was how Alice found herself becoming one of Big Stach's dogs. Even after growing up, after becoming someone who could fend for herself, she couldn't break out of his hold easily because he could find her easily, and it was all thanks to that hellish skill of his

As long as he knew she was alive, he could locate her anywhere and then snap her for trying to break free from his hold.

She had seen several attempts and watched them all snap before her eyes. It was gruesome.

And she wasn't ready to die yet so she would continue to follow orders, no matter how dangerous they were.

Better to die trying than give up and end up dying.

Her life... Had always been a hellish mess.

Alice's face contorted as the sweet scent of a hot and decent meal slapped her on the face.

She woke up with a start, sitting up right away and exclaimed,

"Food!"

She followed the scent and found a tray of food just waiting for her to devour. She didn't waste a single second, she didn't even look around either and stuffed her face with it.

It was fried rice with a lot of chicken acting as decorative material around the plate.

'Am I dreaming right now?' She asked in her thoughts with her eyes closed as she danced in the sweetness of the meal in front of her. 'I probably got too hungry and started dreaming of food. Ah, I don't want to wake up.'

She tore the chicken's flesh off with her teeth till there was nothing but bones.

She repeated that, eating every single piece of chicken provided and the rice included. Once she was done, she drank the glass of orange juice and let out a satisfactory and loud burp. She wasn't full but this was better than nothing.

"Since it's my dream, I can make up more food, right?" She asked and then, her eyes caught on to Mark. She grew alert like a ferocious cat.

"Boss, what are you doing in my dream?" She asked. "You didn't come to steal my food, did you? I won't let you."

Mark, who was standing frozen at the entrance of the cell, looked at Alice in bewilderment. He never thought he would see a girl eat like a savage.

'They said all S-class awakeneds are bizarre and weird. I guess that explains everything.' he thought and cleared his throat.

"What? Are you going to make your move? I won't let you, I tell you." She looked so much like a fierce cat, protecting the empty plate.

"First, Miss Alice, this is not a dream." He explained. "And secondly, I was the one who brought that food so I have no reason to steal it from you."

"Huh?" Alice relaxed a bit and looked at the empty plate. "Is that so?"

"You must've been very hungry," he cleared his throat, averting his eyes and Alice shot him a glare. He was clearly mocking her after seeing her eat like a wild boar but whose fault was it?

She made sure to ask those questions with her eyes.

"I understand that you were angry at being served late," he said and Alice relaxed back. How did he know?

Well, she did yell and cuss out at not getting food but she was sure there was no one since no one responded to her and she couldn't feel any presence either.

Then, her eyebrows furrowed.

Were they really people around? Did they just choose to ignore her? How awful of them.

"It was my responsibility to bring in your meal but there was an emergency and I lost track of time. I apologize." He lightly bowed his head, showing his remorse.

Hearing him apologize, Alice felt they had suddenly switched places and she was the boss not him.

'So, he knew how to apologize, huh? I was sure he was the stuck-up type who would never admit to a fault.' She grinned. 'How simple.'

"From now on, I will bring your meal timely." He said and raised his head to find Alice grinning at him. "Is something wrong?" He asked.

"No, nothing at all." She said. "But... You're awfully chatty today." She pointed out. "Did something happen?"

"Do you read minds as well?" He asked and she gave out a loud laugh.

"Ha! I wish I could." She said and shrugged. "I'm just very perceptive."

Mark stared at her for a while, wondering if she was lying to cover up her skills since she wouldn't admit her skills.

He closed his eyes and sighed.

"There was a report of multiple orange gates spawning in three different locations, at the far ends of the city." He said. "It's a new occurrence and so, all S-class hunters as well as A class hunters who were available have gone into the dungeons. As of now, you might be the only one powerful enough to lead a party to raid an orange gate and above."

"Pft!" Alice suddenly stifled a laugh after hearing of such a serious matter but the news of the multiple gates wasn't what cracked her up. "Ah, I'm sorry." She apologized but could not hold it in and ended up laughing hard.

Mark stared at her weirdly, wondering what she found funny and after she stopped laughing, she finally revealed what she found funny.

"Haha! Ah, sorry," She swiped the tears from the corner of her eyelids. "I seem to have misheard but I think you made a mistake when you said I was the only one who could lead a party to raid an orange gate and above. I misheard big time and it sounded funny so I laughed."

"But that was exactly what I said." Mark said and she paused.

"What?"

"It's exactly what you heard. You, Miss Alice, are the only one powerful enough to lead a raid team into an orange gate and above." He said and her face contorted, staring at him like he ate something bad.

"Fuck, this is serious. I've still been in my dream all along."