Steven lost his composure at the sight of the notification. And then he repeated, deep within himself, the exact words the system had used. ’Be fled the body of a deformed Fish.’ He folded his lips, irritation crawling across his face simply from pondering it.

Meanwhile, while he was feeling utterly disgusted, the other members of the Cohort wore firm expressions, confident ones that made it clear they were more than ready to consume the flesh of the Sea Deity.

This was probably not even their first time, and Steven knew it. Still, he wanted to doubt it, wanted to assume they were merely putting on an act.

It didn’t take long before the moment of long await finally reached them. One of the massive walls opened up, and out stepped two guards carrying, in their hands, what seemed like a metal tray toward the center of the arena where the Cohort stood.

And on the tray were a variety of... body parts.

All of which were from their all-reliable Ark’shaRin.

Steven gazed into the tray, staring at the variety of meat offered to them...wait, was meat even the right term to use? Perhaps disturbing parts suited it better.

Three of them were pieces of a finger, snapped in multiple places, tendons still attached. That alone was far less disturbing than Steven had imagined. But then there was the last one, which was far weirder than the rest.

It was a slimy green ball, and strangely enough, it had a note attached to it.

Steven narrowed his eyes at the note, and his demeanor crumbled into pure exasperation.

"Oh no! Heck no! What the fuck is that supposed to be... Fuck me!" he protested, his hands brushing hard against his eyes as though he could wipe the sight off his eyeballs.

The other three stretched out their hands and grabbed the fingers, all eyes soon turning toward Steven with mixed concern and curiosity.

The message written on the note, placed close to the ball-like part, read:

(For the Rat, the balls of the Deity. Do well to gain weight.)

Steven frowned as the words crossed his mind again. What mundane, ruthless luck. ’Why the hell does this Realm hate me?’

{Your sponsor is amused at your luck}

He let out a frustrated sigh, noticing how slowly the stadium was losing noise. If he didn’t take the irritating ball of the mighty Deity soon, he might actually stir up more trouble for himself.

So, with squinted eyes, he stretched his hand toward the ball on the tray, grabbing onto the skinny thing. His fingers sank softly into the disgustingly warm encasement of the ball.

And then the guards bowed to the group.

Steven gritted his teeth, trying his best not to think about the slimy, disgusting ball in his grasp. ’Hopefully they won’t tell us to eat it right here. If so, I’d rather die. You and my damned sponsor can go fuck yourselves.’

But none of that happened. Instead, the audience began to clap heartily, and soon it was time for the group to leave the arena.

Drake was the first to walk, moving toward one of the opened doors of the Colosseum. Behind him followed Lin, then Favour, and finally Steven, who by choice stayed at the rear of the group.

He was lost in thought, his mind plagued by how close he had come to dying in that fight. And worst of all, his Sponsor had not deemed any of his deeds worthy enough to pull him out of this nightmarish Realm.

’If that’s the case, then what would I need to do to get back home to Earth? What would entertain this bastard enough to pull me out of this mess?’ Steven contemplated, his mind filling with questions and dread.

And then—

{Ding!}

The system chimed in his head.

{Poisonous Material detected. Do not consume}

Steven’s eyes shifted toward the irritating ball in his grasp, and he gasped softly at the notification. ’Poisoned.’

---

The group finally entered back into the Depths of Hell, welcomed by the foul stench of piss, fear, and rotting bodies that plagued the underbelly of the Fated Colosseum. It was nothing pleasant.

For a brief moment, Steven missed the fresh air of the arena instead of this meager, stagnant air that carried such a horrid scent.

They were guided toward the weapon shacks near the entrance and gently stripped of all their equipment, until they were left once more in their torn, uncomfortable rags.

When that was done, the guards conducted another thorough search of the prisoners’ bodies. Finding nothing, the six guards split into two groups.

Three of them led the two girls toward the women’s section of the ruthless prison, while the remaining guards escorted Drake and Steven down the opposite path.

The two men stayed silent throughout the walk. Drake walked ahead, his massive frame looming before Steven’s eyes as Steven found himself staring at the man’s back the entire time.

Steven did not trust Drake, not one bit... but he was grateful he had approached him in the first place. He hated to admit it, but it was thanks to Drake that he was still alive. And he intended to repay that favor before it came back to bite him later.

Finally, Drake spoke, breaking the silence as he reached his cell, "Let’s meet some other time, Steeve."

Steven gave no reply. He simply watched as the courageous man was resentfully shoved into his cell, forced to meet his roommate as the guards locked the door shut.

Steven sighed quietly, knowing he was next soon to be locked inside the unforgiving cage of this hell. A world he was never born into, problems he never deserved to inherit, pain meant for another who had taken the easy way out...

Yet all of it rested on him regardless, because of a stupid sigil mark.

’I’m truly cursed.’

Finally, Steven reached his cell. Inside was the old monstrosity of a man, quivering in the corner. When his eyes landed on Steven being dragged inside alive, his face paled in confusion. The fact that Steven had survived was disorienting enough, let alone how completely unscarred his body was.

He looked perfectly fine.

With two sharp clicks, the cell door shut, and the guards finally began to leave, Steven left alone with his cannibalistic roommate.

"Take this," Steven said, throwing the ball across the room. It landed in a puddle with a small splash, filthy liquid flying everywhere.

That was enough to draw the man’s attention. His sunken eyes traced the sound toward the puddle where the strange ball lay. Admiration slowly filled his gaze as he stared at Steven, already knowing exactly what it was.

"Instead of trying to eat me, eat that instead and don’t bother me."

If Steven was going to sleep that night, he needed assurance he wouldn’t be eaten in his sleep.

And that was what he did, nothing more than a clean bargain.