After their brief meeting, Cain and the other cadets were led out of the training area. Behind them, they heard the gate rumble as if reluctant to release the children into the outside world.
Cain saw two four-wheeled vehicles, resembling Humvees. They layered with thick armor and military tactical design, but with a slight twist in the upper weapon section, which could move automatically with a tap of a button from the driver's seat.
He and the others were led to enter the car and happened to sit near the right window with Abel and Rika in the first Humvee. As for Peter and the girl, they were entering the vehicle behind them.
In contrast to its fierce exterior, the interior design of this Humvee was quite comfortable, featuring a spacious cabin. Even the seats with soft cushions eased the tension in the boy's body.
Cain glanced briefly toward the military training ground, then shifted his attention to the window beside him.
'So me and the cadets live inside a cage in a large enclosure. Hmph, talk about irony.'
Behind the transparent glass, he saw the outside world. Towering buildings reflected the sunlight, illuminating the winding streets, which were filled with crowds of people living their lives.
Far behind the city's shadow, where humans took shelter. There was a high wall camouflaged by advanced technology. It was transformed to resemble a boundless horizon, creating an optical illusion that evokes a sense of escapism.
"Are you all ready?"
General Dosh turned to the cadets as he sat in the front seat. Cain turned toward him and nodded, followed by Abel, who was daydreaming with sparkling stars in his eyes.
"Yes, we are ready."
Rika nodded while fastening her seatbelt that wrapped from her left shoulder to her right waist.
"Good, start the engine."
The man next to the general immediately pressed the button to start the engine.
A gentle vibration was transmitted, and Cain could hear a soft engine's roar when the gas pedal was stepped on. The car began to move smoothly on the paved road, causing the scenery beside him to move away.
Cain leaned to the back as if ignoring the others around him while continuously looking out the window. He didn't want to incite a sudden conversation in this silent space.
'I hope the journey doesn't take that long.'
When he saw a cityscape that was somewhat shabby and darker in color than the others, his body leaned to the side, bringing his face closer to the synthetic glass.
His black eyes shifted to the side, then loosened the tension in his body as the scenery was gone.
"What's wrong, Cain?"
Abel asked, his eyebrows raised, looking worried about Cain's strange behavior. But the gray-haired boy shook his head and let out a gentle sigh.
"Nothing, I just remembered something."
"Something?"
Without answering again, Cain nodded, making Abel and Rika, who turned toward him, tilt their heads in confusion.
'That scenery?'
Cain's eyebrow twitched as his brain began to show some vague memories in the form of a short film.
A snotty boy lying on oil-smelling dirt. His body, which was curled into a small ball, was being rained down with kicks from several adults.
The expression on his face tightened. Cain's fingers unknowingly clenched hard as the memory suddenly disappeared, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.
'It is as unreliable as ever. My memories are…'
…
Wrapped in silence, the car sped quickly past multiple city districts until it finally came to a stop in front of an iron gate that hissed loudly as it opened.
"We are here."
General Dosh's hoarse voice made the cadets swallow hard. The moment the car passed through the open gate, their eyes widened in disbelief.
It was a metal fortress that cut the neon sky in Babylonia. The surfaces of the surrounding buildings were coated in black steel, full of scratches, and coiled by a dim blue techno-glyph line that pulsed around.
The car slowed down and stopped right in front of a building shaped like a large dome.
"It's time, you all get out."
Hearing the command from Dosh, Cain immediately opened the car door and stepped his foot onto the black paved road. He choked when he smelled the thick air full of urgency, which caused the hairs on his body to stand up.
'So this is where the soldiers used to train.'
"Woah, I don't know why this place seems familiar to me."
"What are you saying! This place is clearly very different from what we used to train in."
Behind him, Abel and Rika exchanged banter as usual. This made Cain's lips curl up in a slight smile, removing all the pressure on his shoulders.
"Thank you for the ride."
General Dosh spoke briefly with the driver. The car turned around, leaving the cadets standing while exchanging glances.
"General."
From behind, the voice of the female assistant rang, followed by the other two cadets who were also participating in this sudden expedition.
Cain wrinkled his eyebrows when he accidentally met Peter's gaze, who gave him a wink. He blinked and turned to the girl with the blue-haired boy. She had a pale face and a slouched posture.
'Is she going to be alright?'
"Okay, follow me, cadets!"
The general walked towards the building in front of him. Cain and the others followed after him.
When they arrived at the entrance, the lens mounted above it blinked red before turning green, and the door slid to the side.
Inside, a narrow corridor, lit by faint green neon lights, extended vertically, creating sharp shadows on the walls that resembled prison bars.
They moved in silence, their footsteps echoing in every corner of the corridor, enveloped in a gloom that slowly choked the cadets' throats.
Soon, after walking past several turns, they arrived at a large, circular facility, like an arena, that was housed inside a giant capsule.
"General, this place?"
Abel, who couldn't contain the curiosity in his heart, raised his hand to attract the attention of the two adults who brought him here.
"Hmm, this is a simulation place where you will conduct your advanced training."
'Simulation!?'
Not only Cain, but the other cadets froze when they heard the words 'training simulation.' The man looked at his assistant, and was answered with a slight nod.
The assistant raised her hand and began giving some written instructions on her smartwatch.
"Run a simulation!"
A hissing sound from the circular arena drew the cadets' attention. One of the doors opened, revealing a man wearing a black armor suit that clung to his skin. In his hand, he held a small baton connected to the smartwatch on his wrist.
"Cadets, watch him closely!"
Without turning toward General Dosh, the cadets nodded and flinched when they saw the atmosphere around the arena begin to distort.
The previously empty space has now become a dirt terrain with several rock mounds scattered throughout.
Also, the baton held by the man lengthened, forming a longsword. He swung the sword in his hand several times to test whether there were any anomalies in the system.
"It's time!"
Immediately after Dosh said that, the space in front of the man twisted, giving a glitch effect that gave birth to an amalgamation of machine and living organism.
A creature with a human body layered with a steel exoskeleton stood upright. Its upper limbs were swollen, forming a shiny giant pincer that could easily cut a boulder.
On its chest, a red eye pulsated like a heart. Its lower half had eight small pointed legs that stabbed the cracking ground as if they had a life of their own.
'Virus beast!'
Cain swallowed hard as his pupil dilated. His frozen fingertips twitched before he clenched them into hard fists while gritting his teeth.
The surrounding sounds began to fade, replaced by the loud pounding of his heart, which felt as though it was about to burst due to the tension.
From the faint reflection on the translucent glass, his black pupils, which stared blankly forward, trembled in rhythm with his throbbing pulse.
Cain briefly stopped breathing, watching the virus beast move inside the arena.
'Fast!'
In an instant, the beast stood in front of the man, who was frozen as if he had no intention of moving. But Cain's eyes narrowed as the man suddenly disappeared and appeared beside the monster.
With one precise swing of his sword, one of the monster's hands flew off and shattered into small particles, then disappeared.
The virus beast roared, raising its other pincer and revealing a red glow on its chest that emitted ominous light. The monster's claw blurred, raining the man with a series of deadly attacks.
However, the man calmly clashed directly. He blocked every attack calmly, waiting to strike at the right moment.
With one large swing from the monster. The man followed by swinging his sword that clashed, and created sparks to scatter around as he successfully deflected the enemy's attack, leaving it wide open.
'Now!'
Cain unconsciously whispered to himself and saw the man inside the arena thrust the tip of his sword into the red core on the monster's chest.
'Is it over?'