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“It’s necessary to have some fear of the unknown,” Hundred’s voice sounded as straight as a die. “Necessary fear, huh…” Lirzod reflected on some past things and nodded. “You are right. Everyone should have it when they act like a spoiled nut around me.” Hundred pressed his lips hard, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. “I didn’t mean it like that.” “Maybe you didn’t, but who knows?” Lirzod exchanged a sort of a knowing look with him and chortled. “Maybe you did.”

“Say goodbye to your arm, tough-nut!” Geragorn dashed the mace vertically at his opponent’s shoulder. Lirzod crossed his arms to block the incoming attack, but a silhouette entered his vision before the mace reached him. The attack was neutralized with a delicate arm movement without making much of a sound. “Hmm?” Geragorn narrowed his eyes at the person who had interrupted his attack. “You... why do you care for this foolhardy fellow?”

After Burton left the room, both Sariyu and Lirzod looked at each other and laughed their hearts off like apes to man’s slip-ups. A few minutes later. “Why don’t you grab some bananas and gorge on them? You can take the rest to your room, too, if you want,” Lirzod asked. “I asked Primera to pack them for you anyway, since you like them.” “Thanks, but no. I’m not in the mood right now,” Sariyu had finished picking up all the banana peels and cleaning the dirt marks on the floor. “It’s not like you to throw the waste around like this.”

"11.58 seconds... 101 passed," the referee shouted as he pointed his finger toward Lirzod, who seemed to be lost in thought. “11.59 seconds… 103 passed,” he then shouted for another person. The people, who had bet that Lirzod would win, were satisfied without reservation. “I knew it! If we trust Inch Man, we will always make profits!” “Yeah, he’s a master gambler with a great track record, after all!”

In some random corridor of the tenth deck. One messy blonde guy munched on pint-sized sweets as fed by two luscious ladies accompanying him on either side. Golden rings decorated all his ten fingers, and six gold chains adorned his neck hanging all the way down to the chest. The two ladies kept on feeding him sweets as they laughed aloud, fortuitously grabbing the attention of many men. “What’s that Lady Luster doing here?” “Isn’t it obvious? He must have come to buy off some ladies again.”

Lirzod pressed his lips harder and cocked his head forward. Wait, how do they know my name? “Hehe,” Younger Darling snickered. “The cashews were good, so we’ll treat you good as well. You can come out.” The brothers exchanged glances and smiles, and it was too plain to see they didn’t mean what they said. “I gave you a lot more valuable food than what I took from you two, did I not?” Lirzod's voice was loud enough to reach their ears. “Huh? What are you talking about? You hurt our men and expect us to let you go for just giving a small packet of cashews?” Younger Darling waved his hand.

“Mm, a white lie,” Lirzod looked around and realized that they were in the D Block. “Huh? Hey, didn’t we already go past this block before? Why are we in this one again?” He looked at her but didn’t get a response. A second later, his eyes enlarged. “Don’t tell me, you...” Sariyu’s heart began to pump faster, and she pressed her lips hard, hoping to control it. “Were you looking to find a partner in this block?” Sariyu paused a moment and then nodded in haste. Whew... Her heartbeat then slowed down. “C’mon, do you really think you can easily find a good partner on this deck?” Lirzod raised his eyebrows. “Let’s focus on climbing the decks first. If we do a good job with that, we’ll meet suitable partners along the way. What do you say?”