Chapter 8

[The synchronization has been completed.]

As soon as that announcement was made, the pain washed away as if it was all a lie. Now suddenly freed from the brain-melting pain, the crowd fell into a state of chaotic confusion.

"I guess the synchronization was delayed somewhat. Oh well, I'm sure you can all understand me now." The tall woman who introduced herself as Cinzia was looking on as if she found this whole affair quite entertaining. She spoke so fluently that even native speakers would have been impressed. At a bare minimum, it sounded like english to Lucifer's ears.

Perhaps finding the stunned silence to her liking, the corners of Cinzia's mouth rose up.

"It sure is much more preferable to filter them out at least once, right? If they started yapping on and on like a bunch of goddamn parrots, I'd have been really pissed off by now."

Her steps rang around loudly as she started walking again.

"As a show of respect for you all not raising a fuss regarding the synchronization, let me inform you of something important before we start. I don't like beating around the bush. Also, you should have a general idea what this place is by now. So, I'll get straight to the point."

Cinzia took a couple more steps forward and spoke up in a low but powerful voice.

"This place is the sanctuary created through the combined powers of the seven deities, called the Neutral Zone."

"And in this place, all of you shall be given the chance to prove that you are capable of surviving in the Paradise. You've all received your Survival Points, right?"

Lucifer's points tally was 21000. Han confidently declared that it was the highest in history.

"Long story short, you must increase your points to over 1000. That is the only way to leave this Neutral Zone. Although we've prepared various methods to increase your points tally, we are not going to mind other ways you cook up yourselves. However, you only have one month to do so."

A small commotion began rising up. After all, most of them present here heard that, as soon as they cleared the Tutorial, they would be allowed to enter Paradise. So, this was contrary to what they were promised.

Of course, there were few here that displayed a relaxed demeanor as well. These were the people who got to hear a more in-depth explanation beforehand, so they knew what was going on already.

"If you fail to gather the points in a month's time…."

"What is the meaning of this?"

The loud voice of dissent came from Area 4. A man with an imposing physique and a beard stood up from his seat. However, Cinzia only spared him a cursory glance.

"Hmph…. If you don't want to regurgitate that burrito you shoved down your throat before you got here, you'd better sit your ass back down. I really hate being asked a question in the middle of my sentence."

The bearded man blinked his eyes in surprise for a few seconds before his expression crumpled in anger.

"The hell did you say? Watch your mouth, you spaghetti bitch!"

Cinzia threw her head back in a loud fit of laughter.

"Certainly a barbaric Mexican, ain't ya? You from the Sinaloa, right?"

"How do you know…."

"It's obvious. Out of those with the authority to recruit, the only one who can mass mobilize the Bronze Marks is found there."

Cinzia's laughter abruptly came to halt and she beckoned with her index finger. The fourth maid from the left stepped forward and handed over a piece of paper to her.

"Let's see. I'm getting curious here if your results match that mouth of yours."

Cinzia took a look at the paper, and a mocking smile formed on her lips.

"0 points? What? Is this real?"

"You're not even a Red Mark. Getting a 0 as a Bronze…."

Cinzia threw away the paper and coldly looked at the burly Mexican.

"I can't bother to talk to you again. Sit back down, burrito."

"You…!"

"Sit. Otherwise, I'm going to make the ones who invited you regret it."

The abrupt change in the tone of her voice was so eerie and terrifying that it roused goosebumps on all who heard it.

The Mexican man shrunk back in an instant and collapsed back down to his seats unsteadily.

"…I think you're all misunderstanding something here."

Cinzia continued to smoke without saying anything for while before sweeping her gaze across the audience seats with eyes belonging to a wild beast.

"The official title of this land is Lost Paradise. Got that?"

She emphasized the last part of her words. Specifically, the name.

"Did you all think that because it's called 'Paradise' that you'd get to ride in roller coasters and have a jolly good time? You all better wake up. If I were to compare this place to Earth, then the land you're about to step into is a battlefield full of gunshots and explosions happening every single day. This is a warzone, where you will be permitted to survive only after your enemies are all dead."

She flicked the butt of the cigarette away and crossed her arms again.

"Just because you managed to somehow escape from a weakling monster, you think you got the right to bark at me? Don't you get the meaning behind the Tutorial? Don't get cocky. You better not fool yourselves into thinking that things you'll encounter in Lost Paradise are around the same level as what you experienced in the Tutorial."

The reality of the situation must have sunk in as the small commotion died down almost immediately.

"That's right. If you understood, then keep your mouths shut, you useless bunch of woodpeckers."

It was at this moment that a giggle escaped out from Lucifer's lips. He was seriously concentrating on Cinzia's words but couldn't help himself when she blared out the not equal part. He realized he made a mistake right away and become the center of attention.

"You're…"

A strange glimmer flickered in Cinzia's eyes.

"Oh, I see. Indeed, you may find all of this rather… adorable."

"Well of course I find it quite adorable and would also like to fight someone strong as I was unable to fully use my powers and I seriously hope that a pest like you will help me check that where exactly do I stand."

This got the attention of everyone including all the maids as they were sighing thinking that he had challenged a beast as Cinzia was not just somebody but rather an apostle of one of the seven gods 'The Executor Of Sloth'.

{For those who do not know much don't have to think about it as it would be explained later in the series}

She then replied "As much as I would like to break that arrogance of yours let's see if you still have that arrogance after your time in the neutral zone"

Cinzia shifted her gaze back to Area 4's direction and giggled.

"You are going to go through a lot of hardship, that's for sure. To get to 1000 points from 0, now that isn't going to be a walk in the park."

Hearing this, several people began to flinch noticeably.

"This is the consequence of your own actions. Who told you to get a free pass through the Tutorial?"

"Now that we're here, we might as well get the awards ceremony done and dusted too. If there's someone deserving of punishment, then there should be others deserving of rewards…."

Cinzia let off a lengthy groan and reached into her inner coat pocket.

"From now, if I call out your name, stand up. Area 5, Tong Chai?"

A thin man wearing a white turban stood up.

"You already meet the requirements. If you want, you can enter Paradise right away."

"I choose to remain."

"Then, take this."

Cinzia threw something at Tong Chai. He easily snatched it off the air and asked her, full of curiosity.

"What's this?"

"What, a member of the assassination squad is asking for info?"

An unreadable smile formed on Tong Chai's face as he sat back down.

"If you're really curious, then ask your maid standing behind me later. Area 2, Salvatore Leorda."

This time, a man with a buzz-cut stood up.

Cinzia didn't bother to say anything and simply threw something at his way. The unexpectedly-youthful man caught it, bowed slightly, and sat back down on his seat.

"Area 7, Hao Win."

One of the identically-kitted Chinese men, a man with good physique and looking somewhere around in the mid-thirties, stood up.

"Seeing how you carry yourself, I can easily guess where you're from. So, will you be staying?"

"That is a foolish question. I will be staying, of course."

The man named Hao Win smiled refreshingly.

"Okay. And then…. Area 2, Odelette Delphine."

"I'm also staying."

The girl answered right away. She quickly caught the thrown item that drew a long arc in the air. She

checked it and then, promptly raised her hand up high again.

"Excuse me for a second!"

"Mm?"

"I think you gave me the wrong one because it says No.2 on the plate."

"Nope. I know full well that you earned 7500 points."

Shocked and impressed gasps came from the various parts of the audience. Most of the crowd here stared at the girl with the white hairband with disbelieving eyes.

"If I deduct the 1000 Survival points you got as your starting bonus, then your original points tally is 6500. And your Silver Mark got you a Mark of Survival with the 5 times multiplier. So, you earned 1300 points during the Tutorial. Am I right?"

"Y, yes, you are right…."

"How regretful. That amount would have been enough to get you to the top of the rankings. But this time, it's only enough for the second place."

The girl's jaw dropped. Quite likely, she hadn't thought of the possibility that someone else could've surpassed her in the points tally.

'Wait a minute? Didn't I also receive some Survival points as the starting bonus?'

Now that he thought about it, Lucifer did also receive 1000 points in the assembly hall as starting bonus. It seemed that the points he got back then were not subjected to the multiplier effect of the Mark of the Survival. In any case, that meant the actual total of Seol's Survival points was not 21000, but 22000, instead.

"Area 1…"

"I'm staying."

Lucifer said without getting up from his seat. His hands was getting really itchy right about now.

"How many points did that guy receive, then?"

"You shouldn't even ask. Just tallying up the original points alone, it's 4200. It's higher than yours by

2900."

"W, wow…"

Lucifer a key with a golden numeral '1' engraved on the attached plate.

"You know, I find it really amazing."

Cinzia unexpectedly displayed a certain amount of admiration.

"It's already impressive that your tiny country earned the right to recruit people independently, but now a second Irregular has appeared…."

Thanks to her declaration, the eyes that fell on Odelette was now firmly fixed on Lucifer. Finally, Cinzia gave out a signal, prompting the maids to hurriedly descend from the stage and move to either side of the audience area.

"The countdown to the month's deadline has begun already. What, you want me to spoon feed you everything you need before you'll starting moving your asses?"

The blonde maid was waiting for him in a different doorway than the one he used to enter the theatre. It was as if she was telling him to use this one now.