**#137. Cube (3)**
—
The light vanished, and his vision returned.
‘This place is…’
A cubic room made entirely of white marble.
From the outside, it had appeared as though the colors had been inverted—black and white reversed.
Natural, lightning-shaped black lines were streaked across the white marble, like bolts splitting the sky.
Aside from that, it was a completely empty room with nothing worth noting.
That is—
[Welcome to your second visit─]
Except for the floating lump of light hovering before him.
[─Welcome, User No. 1. You are currently in Processing Room No. 23.]
A glowing orb, about the size of a fist, pulsing with a mix of yellow and green.
From within, a mechanical voice rang out, cold and genderless.
‘Second visit?’
He’d used John’s card to enter.
Did that mean John had only been here once before?
‘That’s a little odd.’
Withdrawals had to be done inside the Cube itself. It seemed unlikely that John had only visited once.
‘And the mention of User No. 1 and Processing Room No. 23…’
He couldn’t make sense of “User No. 1.”
Processing Room No. 23 suggested there were probably multiple spaces like this one.
“……”
The sudden influx of information momentarily overloaded his thoughts.
But only for a moment.
His curiosity surged to levels far beyond normal, and the boy’s eyes sharpened with a combative glint as he stared straight ahead.
In all his sixteen years, he had never experienced anything so strange and fascinating.
[Ignis, renowned for its top-tier security, is currently only accepting new members through referral by existing users.]
The orb continued spouting what sounded like automated announcements.
One thing was clear—he needed to interact with it in some way.
[Ignis offers the best service for depositing and withdrawing money anytime, anywhere─]
“I want to withdraw money.”
[─‘Withdrawal’ selected. Please place your card on the sensor.]
“Sensor?”
A rectangular pillar rose from the center of the room.
Whirr─ Clack.
It stopped at chest height.
On top of the pillar was a panel with a numeric keypad and two plates shaped like a handprint and a card.
“……”
There were no instructions, but he had a good idea of what to do.
Ray placed the card onto the card plate and used the keypad to enter a password.
Then, he placed his palm on the handplate.
[Ownership verified: John Grid.]
[Password correct.]
[Pattern recognition failed. The registered pattern does not match.]
[Would you like to try again?]
He tried with the other hand, but the result was the same.
[Security system engaged. After three failed pattern recognition attempts, transactions will be temporarily restricted.]
It seemed further experimentation wasn’t an option.
As Ray stood still, the pillar retracted back into the floor.
[Ignis always strives to provide the best service for its users.]
The orb resumed its repetitive announcements.
Ray walked toward one of the walls, curiosity driving him.
Fwoosh!
He tried burning it.
Crackle!
He tried electrocuting it.
But the walls were treated with some special material—there wasn’t even a scratch.
‘I’d like to try the element of destruction.’
But it was impossible to produce that element using only the mana from the circle.
Besides, there was no mana within the Cube.
Ray clicked his tongue in disappointment and redirected his curiosity back to the orb.
“What are you?”
[I am a service guide.]
The orb didn’t seem to have a will of its own.
But it could at least answer questions.
“Repeat what you said when I first entered.”
[Welcome to your second visit. User No. 1. You are currently in Processing Room No. 23.]
“What does ‘User No. 1’ mean?”
[You, the customer currently in front of me, are User No. 1.]
“You mean not the cardholder, John Grid?”
[Correct. You, the customer currently in front of me, are User No. 1.]
“Then what does ‘second visit’ mean?”
[With this visit, your total number of visits to the Processing Room is now two.]
Ray tilted his head.
‘Second visit?’
One follows one. That’s logical.
But no matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t remember visiting this place before.
‘This is my first time.’
He didn’t know what kind of technology the Cube used, but he suspected some sort of error or malfunction.
He continued questioning.
“What does ‘User No. 1’ mean?”
[User numbers are assigned in the order of account creation. You, User No. 1, are Ignis’s first customer.]
The orb’s answers were becoming increasingly strange.
“Are you absolutely certain I’m User No. 1?”
[You, the customer currently in front of me, are User No. 1.]
He rephrased the question multiple ways, but the response never changed.
It made no sense.
He had never been here before. He’d never opened an account. Certainly not the first customer.
‘Maybe it’s a system glitch.’
Then a thought came to him that might clear up some of the confusion.
「You can forcibly take someone else’s card and alter ownership to hold multiple accounts.」
「But opening an account yourself? That’s restricted to once per person.」
That’s what Curiosa had told him.
Only one account could be opened per individual.
So if an account truly existed under his name, opening another one would be impossible.
“I’d like to open a new account.”
[‘New Account’ selected. Please provide a pattern for recognition.]
He placed his palm on the panel that had risen again.
[Pattern already registered. Account creation denied.]
Ray didn’t flinch.
“Then I’d like to check the balance in my account.”
[Please place your card on the sensor and enter your password.]
He had no card.
He didn’t know the password.
After a series of additional questions, Ray reached a conclusion.
‘I have an account under my name that I don’t know about.’
But account creation could only be done by the person themselves and only by physically entering the Cube.
Could his past self have come here and handled the process without realizing it?
…No, that made no sense.
A more plausible explanation was that someone else had used some unknown method to create an account under his name.
But why? For what purpose?
“……”
After some thought, Ray decided to settle on a system malfunction as the likeliest explanation.
Objectively, that seemed the most reasonable.
Besides, he could still use John’s and Skyle’s cards, so being unable to open an account wasn’t a critical issue.
If needed, he could also open one later through Phillip or Veronica.
“Who founded Ignis?”
[…….]
“When did it start operating?”
[…….]
“Did I open an account here during a previous visit?”
[…….]
“How old are you?”
[…….]
It seemed the orb only answered work-related questions.
After a long round of exploration, Ray concluded there was no more to learn here and spoke.
“I’ve completed my business. Let me out.”
*
*
*
The light disappeared, and the square’s scenery returned before his eyes.
Ray moved quickly, slipping into an alley between buildings.
Tap—tap—tap—
He twisted and turned without hesitation.
Going deeper and deeper.
He had lived his entire life in back alleys.
So even without much thought, he knew exactly how to reach secluded places.
Tap tap tap tap tap!
The loud footsteps trailing him became clearer.
At first, they at least tried to be stealthy, but once they entered the deserted alley, they made no effort to hide.
Seven men smiled confidently when they saw the hooded boy enter a dead end.
“Keh-heh. Walked right into the perfect place for a job.”
“No matter how fast he runs, what can a brat do? Hey kid, how about we have a little—huh?”
What greeted the hurried men was an empty alley.
They entered, confused, looking around.
“What the hell? He definitely came in here.”
“Did he jump over the wall?”
“It’s too high. No way a kid could get over that.”
“Wait… could he be a mage…?”
Silence. A chill ran through them all.
“Wh-What the hell are you talking about, you freak?”
“You think that damn mouth is for spouting cursed nonsense?”
“How the hell could a brat like that be a mage?”
The man who mentioned magic shrank back as rebukes poured in.
“Still… it’s possible. Those brats in the Amon Family—”
“Brats?”
“Yeah. You know. Those siblings—wait, huh?”
They all turned to the alley entrance.
There stood the hooded boy, tapping the ground with a metal pipe, staring at them.
“You… you!”
“How the hell is he there?”
“Is there a hole in the wall or something?”
Tension spread.
“The siblings. What about them?”
Ray asked, and the men scoffed.
“What’s this brat babbling about?”
“No idea. Looks like he’s lost all sense.”
“If you escaped, you should’ve stayed gone.”
They began pulling weapons from their coats—knuckles, knives.
Spitting on the ground in a show of intimidation.
But the boy didn’t so much as flinch.
‘Something’s off.’
Didn’t matter.
The outcome was the same.
“Let’s beat him up first!”
The first man who charged got his face smashed by Ray’s pipe.
Crack!
The unease they’d felt earlier surged into alarm, but it was too late to stop.
“Sh-Shit! S-Stop him!”
“Aaaargh! Spare me!”
Clang! Crack! Crunch!
The pipe split air, broke bones, tore skin.
Having confirmed the malice in their intent, Ray held back nothing.
After a few minutes—
Clatter—Thud!
Ray dragged over a nearby box and sat on it.
He looked at the two men kneeling before him.
They trembled and quickly averted their eyes from his pitch-black gaze.
“P-Please, have mercy!”
“W-We’ll do anything!”
Their vessels were filled with dark mana, but the emotions had changed drastically.
From overwhelming malice—
To overwhelming fear.
Naturally so.
Their companions now lay behind Ray, grotesquely mangled.
Not a sound.
Not even breathing.
…The smell of blood and other bodily fluids wafted from behind.
Their head spun. Their stomach churned.
“Your affiliation.”
They didn’t immediately understand that he was asking a question.
Smack! Smack!
His magically reinforced palm struck their cheeks without pause.
Necks twisted. Screams rang out.
One rolled across the ground, landing in a heap.
“H-Hurgh…!”
“Ugh-h-hhk…”
Tears mixed with ragged gasps.
The black mana inside them roared violently, syncing with their pounding hearts.
Ray watched them with cold eyes.
“Your affiliation.”
“N-Nostra Clan! We—we run the north street!”
“N-North—!”
The punishment had been effective.
Their answers came fast.
But—
Slaaap────!
Crash!
The man on the left was slapped and thrown to the floor.
Ray’s flat voice echoed through the alley like a chill.
“If you answer slower than the guy next to you, you get hit. Every question—one of you will be punished.”
Ray thought to himself.
He might be staying in Sector 37 longer than expected.
There were many gem-related orders that would require him to remain here and even cross the wasteland to distant ruins.
So understanding the ecosystem of Sector 37 was critical.
Both its light—and its shadows.
He already knew stepping into darkness would draw the shadows toward him.
These men before him were probably just a tiny part of the full picture.
“Sit back down.”
“Ghh…! Y-Yes, sir!”
But that didn’t matter.
If the shadows reached for him, he would become just as dark—and blend in.
Malice must be met with malice.
It was one of the principles Ray had lived by since he was very young.
“Your organization. Your boss’s name.”
“Nos—Nostra…!”
“No—!”
A deserted back alley.
“You were too slow.”
Ray’s black eyes glinted ominously.
Slaaap───!
Crash!
