Chapter 25: Alone

"Hey Lucifer, do you know where you are standing?" Damian said.

"That's right, a poor person like you should go to the other side, you belong there. But what are you doing here?" Lynja said.

This time, their tone was no longer friendly, but the tone they used to speak to those who were less powerful than them.

Lucifer pursed his lips, trying not to get angry and punch all three of them. If he really did that, he probably wouldn't be able to make any friends anymore.

All Lucifer had to do was endure.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know someone like me was supposed to be on the other side."

"As if we'd believe you. You must be the type that tries to get along with people with power like us, right? I've met people like you too many times." Clark spoke up.

"I'm sorry." Lucifer couldn't refute them and could only apologize.

If he refuted, things would only get worse.

Suddenly, Clark spoke loudly, his voice echoing throughout the hall, attracting the attentions of everyone gathered in the hall:

"Hey everyone! There's a poor guy who deliberately stepped over to the side of these rich people! He felt hatred for his family background and was willing to step over to this side, trying to gain the trust from powerful people like us! This is unacceptable."

Lucifer was startled, his eyes widening in shock. All around him, everyone in the hall had already started gossiping about him. A series of malicious rumors had been created.

Lucifer couldn't believe that a small mistake of his could cause him to suffer such a big consequence.

Lucifer had only intended to take advantage of Clark, Damian and Lynja, but he had unexpectedly been the one who suffered the most. Lucifer didn't know what to do in this situation, so he just stood there, letting the gossip spread further and further.

'What should I do?'

***

After a while, the gossip finally ended, and the good impression of him in the eyes of others had also ended.

Lucifer tried to make friends with the people on the right side, but no one wanted to talk to him. As soon as they saw him, they would immediately move away.

They treated Lucifer as if he were a deadly virus.

Not knowing what to do, Lucifer could only stand in the corner alone, having no one to talk to. He didn't have a single friend, and he might have even made a few enemies for himself.

The chances of Lucifer dying in the 2nd Trial had become even higher than before.

Lucifer wanted to go back in time to fix everything, but it was impossible. He could only accept this reality.

Lucifer didn't dare to look at the faces of the others, he was afraid to know what kind of expression they were having on their faces.

While Lucifer was standing still, Drifting Aurora suddenly approached him despite the people on the left had tried their best to stop her

She stood still, not saying anything to Lucifer. Lucifer also had nothing to say to Reina. It was a miracle that they hadn't cursed at each other yet.

A moment passed and the two of them still didn't say anything to each other. During that time, the gossip and whispers arose once again. This time the topic was the relationship between a poor boy and the descendant of the Shadow Vipers clan.

Lucifer didn't care about those rumors and neither did Drifting Aurora.

Finally, Reina suddenly spoke up, breaking the silence between them:

"Haven't you made any new friends yet?"

Her question didn't have any malice in it, she was genuinely worried about Lucifer. But her contemptuous, sarcastic tone made Lucifer misunderstand.

He thought that she was deliberately picking up a fight with him, but Lucifer wasn't in the mood to scold her anymore. He just answered Reina's question normally:

"Yeah. But why are you asking? Do you want to mock me for not having any friends? You must be happy, you're getting so much attention."

"I haven't found any friends either."

"Hey, next time you lie, say something a little more believable. Someone who's surrounded by so many people like that, says she doesn't have any friends? You're really bad at lying."

"It's up to you, think whatever you want with that trashy brain."

"That's really harsh…"

Their conversation proceeded normally. No one yelled at each other, although they still cursed at each other quite a bit. But overall, this was the first time they had a private conversation without Lucifer feeling annoyed.

"You know? All the rich people here have been trained since they were young to be ready to face the first Trial at any time. That's why the reason they were able to clear the first Trial was mostly due to skill, and the rest was due to luck." Drifting Aurora explained.

"Have we run out of topics to talk about this?" Lucifer said.

Reina tried not to pay attention to his words, she continued speaking:

"Meanwhile, the rest of the people didn't receive as much preparation as the rich people. So the fact that they completed the first Trial was due to 40% skill and 60% luck."

"That's great…" Lucifer said boringly, clearly not interested in this topic at all.

***

That day ended just like that. In the end, Lucifer couldn't get to know anyone in that hall. It was all because of Clark. If he met him in the second Trial, Clark would definitely be killed by Lucifer.

Lucifer would kill him in the most gruesome way possible. He would make him want to die but not be able to.

Sitting in Owen's car, Lucifer just silently observed the scenery outside the car window.

In the past month, he had seen scenes like this many times. And he was starting to get used to them, or rather, he wasn't as interested as he was the first time.

But Lucifer didn't hate them or anything. He was glad that this wasn't the slum he grew up in.

But in just a few days, Lucifer wouldn't be able to see this familiar scene anymore. At least for a long time.

And whether he would survive to continue looking at these things was still a mystery. Lucifer's survival rate was quite low, but he would never give up on his life.

He had to live.