5 days ago, 20th floor, Dune City.
The plaza - a place that was crowded with people due to the appearance of a lot of Rankers, now had only two figures left - Kael and Hans.
"So Kael, what should we do now?" The protagonist approached him and asked.
"Let me see…" Kael frowned, seemingly having a lot of things to think about.
At that moment, he received a notification from the system.
[Letter to the Past has been activated.]
[You have received a letter from your future self.]
[Do you want to read it or not?]
"Huh?" Kael startled, his eyes glued to the notification that had just appeared.
But then, a smile quickly appeared on the corner of his lips.
It didn't take him long to understand what was going on.
It seemed that the first step of Kael's plan had succeeded.
"Of course I want to read it."
A piece of paper quickly formed from nothingness in his palm.
It contained only one word, but it was enough to say it all.
— Orphanage.
In this city, there was only one orphanage, and it was located in the East.
It was all too obvious.
The child being experimented on was in that orphanage.
"What's wrong?"
Hans, who had been silently observing Kael's every move since the beginning, suddenly spoke up.
"You seem happy. Did you figure something out?"
"Of course I should be happy. After all, I've already determined the location of that thing."
***
With the guidance of the citizens, the two of them successfully arrived at the only orphanage in this city, and at the same time, they also got some information from them.
It was a normal orphanage, not too luxurious, not too fancy, but not too shabby either.
Suitable for many people to stay.
Inside, the children without parents were playing happily with each other, all with bright smiles on their faces.
It seemed that not having parents was not such a bad thing for them.
Proving that the quality of life here was not bad at all.
This place was supposed to be normal, but the surrounding walls and the fully armed guards said otherwise.
It was those things that made this place look no different from a prison.
What was even more insane was that none of the citizens paid any attention to this abnormality.
— Actually, those things were just to prevent the kids from playing around and getting lost.
That was what the orphanage director had told other people.
And for some strange reason, they actually believed it to be true.
There was only one meaning.
No one cared about those children.
On the surface, they always showed sympathy and empathy for them, but deep down, not many people actually took action.
That was human nature.
And no one could change that.
"Kael, why are we here? If you want to adopt a child, then wait until you finish the mission of this floor."
He did not answer the protagonist's question.
Instead, asked another one:
"Hans, what I'm about to tell you may sound unbelievable, but it's the truth. And most importantly, don't ask me where I got this information from, okay?"
"…"
He didn't say anything. But sometimes, silence was the perfect answer.
"Somewhere in this orphanage, there's a place that specializes in inhumane experiments. And right now, there's a child who's being tortured every day."
"What?"
His tone had become much more serious.
The protagonist of Tower of Glory was someone who hated evil, especially when the victim was just an immature child.
Kael turned to Hans, looking straight into his eyes.
Serious, honest, and filled with murderous intent.
"I can be sure that the entire orphanage, and all the guards here, are the masterminds."
"..."
"So, I want to ask you, do you want to kill all of them?"
"..." Hans was silent, probably having a terrible internal struggle in his mind.
Realizing this, he approached the protagonist, then placed his hand on his shoulder.
"Relax, my friend. If you're still hesitating, why don't we go straight there and find evidence?"
***
The two of them didn't have to spend too much effort to successfully enter the orphanage.
And the moment they stepped inside, many children from all over instantly gathered around Hans and Kael, as if they had been waiting for them from the beginning.
"Who are you two?"
"Do you have any food?"
"I'm so hungry, but I want to play with you guys!"
"That's right! Come play with us. It's been a long time since anyone came to visit us."
"We know a lot of fun games! You two definitely won't get bored."
"Is that okay?"
Their eyes were filled with sparkling stars, joy, and hope.
They were all very cute, satisfied with what they had.
But unfortunately, the person Kael was looking for was not any of them.
His target was the child who had unfortunately become a test subject for those inhumane people.
The kid who had to go through crazy tortures almost every day.
And such a child must be a gloomy person, exuding an aura that no one wanted to get close to, isolating himself from everyone, and having a haggard appearance.
Most crucially, he must have a look of despair in his eyes, the look of someone who wanted to die but couldn't.
All the children surrounding Kael at the moment could not satisfy those things.
He bent down, patted the nearest child's head, forcing himself to smile as friendly as possible so as not to hurt anyone.
"Sorry, kids. I can't do it today, can I come play with you guys another time?"
The faces of these children quickly became visibly gloomy.
"Next time, I promise I will definitely bring food and gifts for you guys!"
After hearing those words, they returned to their previous bright expressions.
"Haha, if that's the case, then fine! We'll let you guys off this time!"
"Alright everyone, let's go!"
Just like that, the group slowly dispersed without looking back.
"Heh." Kael couldn't help but snort.
As expected, children were the easiest creatures to fool.
"Wait Kael, it seems like there's a kid still staring at us." The protagonist spoke up.
"Who?"
There, not far away, was a child who looked to be around 5 to 7 years old.
He had messy hair, almost covering both of his eyes, as if he hadn't taken care of himself for a long time.
The clothes he was wearing were also quite special, because although it was summer, that kid was the only one wearing a long shirt and long pants.
As if he wanted to cover his entire body.
Meanwhile, his body was thin, completely different from the others.
"Wait, is that..."
And most importantly, from the kid, Kael could feel an unpleasantly gloomy atmosphere.
Making anyone feel scared, not daring to approach.
There was no doubt that this was the person he was looking for.
Not wasting any more time, before the kid went somewhere else, he approached him with an incredible speed.
Even Hans was surprised, not knowing when Kael had arrived there.
"Hello, kid. My name is Kael Draven, I wonder if I could have a chance to talk to you?"
With a gentle smile, without any ill intent, he said.
Surprised, the kid slowly looked up at his face.
It was a gaze filled with darkness.
Belonging to someone who had gone through too much pain.
…
— Today, I met 1, no, 2 brothers.
— Someone I don't know.