"Tanvir… is that you?"
The voice sounded familiar.
Tanvir slowly opened his eyes.
He looked around in confusion.
He was inside a luxurious room.
Soft golden lights illuminated the walls.
Elegant furniture filled the space, and the air carried a faint scent of something expensive and calming.
Tanvir frowned.
"Sohag… where are we?"
But before he could say anything else—
Sohag suddenly rushed forward and hugged him tightly.
His body was shaking.
Sobbing.
Crying uncontrollably.
For a moment, Tanvir didn't react.
Then he slowly raised his hand and gently patted Sohag's head.
"There, there," Tanvir said in a calm voice.
Then he added with a completely serious tone—
"Son, do you want some milk?"
Sohag instantly froze.
His crying stopped immediately.
He slowly lifted his head and looked at Tanvir with pure annoyance.
"You son of a bi*ch."
Tanvir chuckled quietly.
While the two of them were arguing, a voice suddenly came from the side.
"Do you guys know each other?"
Neither of them responded.
They were still staring at each other.
The voice spoke again.
"Hello? I'm talking to you."
Still nothing.
Then the voice sounded slightly irritated.
"The fifth one is here."
A pause.
Then—
"What the hell are you guys doing?"
Tanvir and Sohag, who were just fighting moments ago, suddenly stopped.
They slowly turned toward the source of the voice.
The moment they saw the person standing there—
Their eyes widened in shock.
Standing right in front of them…
Was someone they knew very well.
Someone they thought they would never see again.
Shivaay.
They didn't wait even a moment.
Both of them rushed forward at the same time.
Not to hug him—
But to punch him.
Tanvir's fist landed first, forcing Shivaay straight to the ground.
Shivaay barely had time to react before the beating began.
While he lay on the floor, both of them started kicking him mercilessly.
"YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" Tanvir shouted.
"Who do you think you are, huh?!"
"Do you think that makes you great?!"
Shivaay curled slightly, trying to protect his head.
"Sorry! Sorry!" he shouted quickly.
"I won't do that again! Please—just let me slide this one time!"
"Get up!"
Tanvir grabbed him by the collar.
"Get up, you bastard!"
Both Tanvir and Sohag pulled him to his feet.
Shivaay immediately raised his arms in defense, preparing himself for another round of beating.
But instead—
Both of them suddenly hugged him.
Tightly.
Shivaay froze.
Completely stunned by the sudden change.
For a brief moment, he didn't move.
Then slowly…
He hugged them back.
And a small, relieved smile escaped his lips.
"If you guys are done… there's a guy trying to talk to us."
The voice came from the side.
"Finally… someone who is listening to me."
Tanvir and Sohag turned their heads.
Only then did they notice that someone had been sitting on a sofa the entire time.
Beside him sat a strange bear mascot,
quietly staring ahead.
The three of them walked toward the man.
"Hello. I'm Shivaay."
"I'm Tanvir."
"And I'm Sohag."
All three of them extended their hands.
The man's eyes widened.
"Wait… Shivaay, Tanvir, and Sohag?"
"You mean… you guys are the Rankers?"
They nodded.
The man immediately grabbed their hands and started shaking them violently.
"It's a great honor to meet you guys! I've always wanted to meet you!"
"My name is Adi."
Tanvir looked around the room again.
"Adi, can you tell us where we are?" he asked.
"Oh! We're in the waiting room."
Shivaay and Tanvir exchanged confused looks.
Neither of them had any idea what was actually happening.
"Adi," Sohag said, stepping forward.
"I'll take it from here."
Adi nodded, still looking a little confused.
Sohag turned toward Shivaay.
"Shivaay… what's the last thing you remember?"
Shivaay thought for a moment.
"I remember fighting a Titan."
"I got badly injured."
"You fought a Titan?!" Adi shouted in excitement, his eyes sparkling like stars.
"You didn't just fight it, jackass," Sohag interrupted.
"You killed it."
"And after that… you were almost dead."
Adi's face immediately turned pale.
Sohag continued.
"That bitch Moon gave us a quest to kill you."
Shivaay blinked in surprise.
"Then why didn't you kill me?" he asked calmly.
"Wouldn't that have been beneficial for all of you?"
BHAM!
Before he could finish speaking—
Tanvir slapped him across the face.
"What did you just say?"
Tanvir clenched his fists.
Shivaay immediately raised both arms,
guarding himself.
"Can you guys do that after I finish talking?"
Sohag said in annoyance.
Tanvir and Shivaay both nodded.
Sohag continued.
"Because of that quest, many players tried to kill you."
"But we—me, Tanvir, Farjana, Hamja, and his football team friends—"
Shivaay nodded.
"I remember them."
"We all fought," Sohag said.
"But…"
His expression darkened.
"We failed."
"Hamja's entire football team died."
"And the rest of us were almost killed."
Sohag pointed at Tanvir.
"But this bastard saved us all."
"Who?" Shivaay asked.
"Tanvir."
"I was shocked," Sohag continued.
"He asked me for some time."
"And when I saw him again… he had completely changed."
Shivaay suddenly looked at Tanvir.
"Hey… how did you realize it was me?"
"Weren't you confused when you saw me?"
"No," Shivaay replied calmly.
"Not even a little."
"Why?"
Shivaay smirked.
"Because in this world…"
"I know only one idiot."
Tanvir immediately clenched his fist again.
"Are you asking for another beating?"
Shivaay raised his guard.
"But seriously, bro," Shivaay added.
"You've changed."
"You've become tall and handsome."
Tanvir smirked.
"I know, I know."
"Now you can't keep up with me."
BHAM!
"What did you just say?"
"You son of a bitch!"
"Bring it on!"
"CAN YOU GUYS PLEASE LISTEN TO ME?!" Sohag shouted.
Tanvir and Shivaay immediately lowered their heads like scolded children.
"Jeez…"
Then Sohag looked at Shivaay carefully.
"Shivaay… how did you grow that tall?"
"You look almost as tall as Tanvir now."
"Now that you mention it…"Shivaay muttered.
Shivaay looked down at his body.
My bones kept breaking and healing… forcing my body to grow.
But I shouldn't tell them that.
"I don't know," he replied casually.
Tanvir's face darkened slightly.
He had clearly heard the sound of bones cracking and rejoining earlier.
"Where was I?" Sohag muttered, trying to remember.
"Tanvir saved all of you," Adi said.
"Oh right!"
Sohag looked at Adi.
"Thanks, bro."
"Don't mention it," Adi replied casually.
Adi leaned forward.
"So what happened next?"
"Tanvir protected us from the monsters,"
Sohag explained.
"Until a new types of monsters appeared."
"They fought Tanvir."
"And one of them died."
"What did they look like?" Adi asked curiously.
"They were black and white," Sohag said.
"But they had the power of ghosts."
Adi's eyes widened.
"What?!"
"Tanvir… did you really fight them and kill them?"
"Yes," Tanvir replied calmly.
"I fought them."
"But I didn't intend to kill them."
"My goal was to waste the quest time."
"Then why didn't you want to kill them?" Adi asked.
Tanvir smiled faintly.
"I don't know."
But inside his mind—
How could I kill them?
They were just like me and Shivaay.
Chuk died… that was an accident.
But when Chunk decided to kill Shivaay to avenge his brother…
I had no choice.
Chuk… Chunk… forgive me.
Adi frowned.
"If you didn't want to kill them… how did the fight end?"
"He killed them," Sohag replied.
"When one of them died… the other one fought fiercely."
"Until both of them died."
"What do you mean by both?" Adi asked.
Sohag smiled.
"Tanvir and that monster… both died."
Adi jumped to his feet.
"Sohag, what the hell are you saying?!"
"If he died… then how is he here?!"
"I don't know," Sohag replied.
"After the system announced the quest was over… a pillar of light separated me from the others."
"And the next thing I knew…"
"I was here."
"I was wondering how pathetic I was…"
"Then suddenly, like magic, Tanvir
appeared."
"And after that…"
He looked at Shivaay.
"You."
Shivaay turned toward Tanvir.
"So you really died?"
Tanvir nodded.
BHAM!
BHAM!
BHAM!
Shivaay punched Tanvir repeatedly.
"You piece of shit!"
"Do you think dying is funny?!"
"Why did you die?! Tell me!"
"I died trying," Tanvir replied calmly.
"What the fuck does that mean?!"
"You tried to get yourself killed?!"
"He tried to save you," Sohag said quietly.
Shivaay froze.
"Save… me?"
Then his expression hardened.
"Who do you think you are?"
"If something like this happens again…"
"Don't hesitate."
"Kill me."
BHAM!
This time Tanvir punched him.
"What did you say?"
"Do you want me to repeat it?"
"You—"
The two of them started fighting again.
Sohag watched them from a distance.
Adi looked at him.
"You're not going to stop them?"
Sohag sighed.
"How can I stop them?"
"A pathetic loser like me can only watch."
"Then I'll stop them," Adi said.
"No," Sohag replied quickly.
"Please don't."
"They'll eventually stop."
"How do you know?"
Sohag smiled.
"I just know."