Chapter - 7

As soon as Lucifer entered the warp gate, he arrived inside a small room. Other people who entered before him were waiting there.

The blonde maid was pushing Lucifer forward while panting quite heavily. Once they were in, she let out a big sigh of relief and walked past everyone. She opened the exit door and pointed towards the passage beyond it, before walking first in light, airy steps.

The passageway was made up of marble. It was long and dark like a tunnel. The group simply followed the maid while remaining completely clueless as to where they were headed off to. But, when they spotted light from a distance, a certain sense of excitement began filling them up.

The maid arrived at the exit of the passage first and her steps came to a halt. She then softly opened her mouth.

—Korea, Area 1, cleared.

An unexpectedly clean and beautiful voice came out of her mouth.

'She could actually speak?'

As everyone stood there stewing in mental shock, several other clean and nice voices rang out from somewhere and entered his ears.

—Europe, Area 2, cleared.

—Germany, Area 3, cleared.

—North America, Area 4, cleared.

—Asia, Area 5, cleared.

—Africa, Area 6, failed.

—China, Area 7, cleared.

—South America, Area 8, failed.

—Oceania, Area 9, failed.

"Ah, she's moving again. Are we supposed to enter first?"

Beyond the exit of the passage was a large and empty area, shaped like a high-end theatre. While walking on the red carpet, Lucifer took a look around him.

Towards the darkened front, he could sort of see a stage. Although the lights were off, there were some strange things on the walls that glistened and managed to illuminate the darkness a little bit. The ceiling was so high, he couldn't even see it properly.

The maid leading in front took the group towards a row of chairs located just before the stage. The number of chairs was exactly eight. After confirming that everyone had taken a seat, the blonde maid climbed up to the stage and disappeared behind the curtains.

That was the signal; they could hear many more footsteps coming from behind him.

"I guess they are from the Area 2. Was it Europe?"

The place this maid led them to was a location a bit behind Lucifer's group. There was a total of 32 chairs. The unfamiliar maid also disappeared behind the curtains as soon as she was done leading them to their seats.

'So, that many people survived the European Tutorial.'

As Lucifer wordlessly checked them out, one of them also began looking at Lucifer. It was a woman sitting in the middle of the front row. No, perhaps it would be more correct to call her a girl, instead.

She possessed curly light brown hair and a pair of eyes bright enough to softly shimmer within this darkness. The rest of her face revealed with the aid of a white hairband holding her hair back was very memorable as well.

Lucifer saw her waving her hand slightly in greeting. So, he ended up greeting back with a slight nod as well.

Meanwhile, people continued to stream inside.

The queue of people steadily entering this large area briefly broke up. A short while afterwards, five men, all wearing the same type of black suits, appeared from the passage. And there were three people following behind them as well – all women, and for some reason, their heads lowered.

"Huh. A group of five decked out in identical suits…. Oh, there are three more. So, a total of eight people from China, I guess?"

That was the end of the queue and no one else entered afterwards, no matter how long they waited.

"Does that mean there are no survivors from South America and Oceania?"

"Don't forget Africa, too. When transitioning from Area 5 to Area 7, there was a short gap there."

The surroundings became quiet. Sitting inside this lengthy silence, Lucifer began recalling

Han's words from earlier on.

"You possess the notes from the Guide with you as well as letter from the maid, yes? How about reading them and see what's written on them? Ah, I suggest that you read them while you're alone, if possible."

The curtains hiding the stage were silently pulled to the side.

Paat!!!

Suddenly, blinding lights bathed the stage.

Not just Lucifer, but every survivor from the six continents dazedly stared at the brightly-lit stage.

Lucifer saw the blonde maid who guided him in Area 1. But she wasn't the only maid. A total of nine maids all wearing the same outfit stood there, their hands neatly folded and resting in front of their stomachs. A lone woman sat in the middle of them all. This woman wasn't wearing a French maid outfit like the rest, which naturally drew everyone's attention towards her. It was unknown whether the lighting was to blame, but her silky hair reaching the arms of her chair had a bit of a sanguine hue.

A thick coat hung loosely from her shoulders; her eyes were closed and her arms crossed in front of her chest as if she was in a state of deep contemplation.

A short while later, all nine maids began clapping their hands in unison.

—Congratulations~ and celebrations~.

—When I tell everyone that you're in love with me~.

…They even started singing Cliff Richard's famous song.

"What are they doing now?"

Someone from the back asked, sounding somewhat flabbergasted. Other people's reactions weren't all that different, either. They were all dumbfounded at this unexpected 'celebration' featuring a singing routine.

Eventually, the song came to an end. The eyes of the woman sitting in the middle half-opened. She slightly jutted her chin out, and as if she was appraising high-end luxury goods in a store, her eyes slowly swept across those sitting in the audience seats.

The inside of the theatre remained deathly silent. The reactions of those meeting her gaze were similar to one another – either they got nervous and lowered their heads, or sneakily averted their gazes. The sounds of saliva being swallowed could be heard here and there as well.

Her heated gaze that reminded one of a predator surveying its potential prey, caused subtle fear to rise up in the hearts of those meeting it.

Her crossed legs slowly unfurled. And when she elegantly stood up from her chair and walked leisurely towards the front.

The woman suddenly halted her steps and directed her gaze towards Lucifer's general direction. Or, to be more specific, towards where the survivors from Area 2 were seated. There, the girl who shared wordless greetings with Lucifer was raising her hand up in the air.

"Are you also a Tutorial guide?"

Even he was feeling a certain unexplainable sense of danger from this woman. If he were to put it in words, she reminded him of a wild, untamed beast. The tall woman didn't reply, simply standing there in utter silence and staring back. While her gaze never wavered, she reached inside the thick coat and fished out a cigarette. The light from flame catching on to the end of her smoke illuminated the darkness just enough for the scar extending from her eye down to her cheek to be highlighted in all of its glory.

If the girl was sensible enough to pick up on the awkward atmosphere, she would have lowered her hand already. But maybe she was either exceedingly brave or simply daring as she threw another question out instead.

"Or…. What should I call you? Who are you?"

The tall woman's head tilted slightly towards her back. A maid standing two spots to the left of Lucifer's blonde maid stepped forward.

"Area 2, Odelette Delphine."

Upon hearing that name, the half-closed eyes of the tall woman opened up fully, and she shifted her gaze back to the girl, Odelette Delphine. Her red lips slowly parted and the thin blue smoke eased out.

"….Just call me Cinzia."

The girl lowered her hand then.

[The synchronization will now commence.]

Suddenly, a sharp and grating pain assaulted the brains of everyone sitting in the audience section without warning. A heavy frown formed on his face as the pain attacked him relentlessly. Whimpers and moans came from pretty much everywhere as people began grasping their own heads.

Thankfully, the assault didn't last for long.

[The synchronization has been completed.]