ZiChuang, now in a clean set of clothes, opened and closed the door to his small room. He rifled around the thin pantry to find a protein bar.
Mid-bite, he stopped. He set the bar aside, on the aisle.
"You? You seriously survived the tutorial?" A cold, chilling voice rang through the household; it was the voice of the host father. The host mother of the house only kept quiet as they both stumbled through the door. Their hair was messy, their clothes torn and worn, and splatters drawn on the cheeks of their faces. The husband let out a mocking bark. "I'm seriously surprised that you didn't let the system kill you. Did something within you change?"
"Mrs. and Mr. Honor." ZiChuang lowered his head. ZiChuang would be lying if he said he wasn't slightly surprised that they were willing to talk to him. It had been months since they last talked to him. A few words, here and there. But after the incident on his 13th birthday, from which he got his lengthy neck scar, the husband and wife both stopped caring about the boy.
Mrs. Honor, hair pulled back into a bun, slowly began to talk. "... You should've died."
ZiChuang stayed quiet. "Are you talking about the tutorial, or my 13th birthday?"
The silence in the house spoke for itself. The answer was simply, both.
"You… just go."
"Okay. I'll head back to my room."
As he headed down the hallway, he couldn't stop himself from overhearing what the two were whispering about him.
"Those years ago… We should have never signed the exchange system contract for him to live here! The time is soon going to be up, but now with the system being in place… It's not like the exchange program is going to be focused on sending him back."
"Whatever, he'll probably die soon enough. Let's just ignore him, like we usually do."
"I know, but it's suffocating to be around him! He's draining, he always has since…"
"It's disgusting, really. His scar… he used to be such a bright boy before… that."
"Either way, he overreacted! And look at him, it's been two years since his brother's death! Yet he still is moping around."
"..."
ZiChuang flopped onto his bed, curling up tight in his thin blankets. Such words from others typically didn't affect him, but since Mrs. and Mr. Honor knew of the incident…
Draining… disgusting…
Whatever.
…
ZiChuang opened his mouth while wiping away a tear. "System Neo, can you explain to me the Galap that you mentioned earlier?"
"Explaining the Galap now…"