The woman carefully listened to his tone, there was a thick accent that lingered around his words. Hesychia was sharp enough to catch on it. The statement was a mix of a lie and the truth.

“You look trustworthy enough.” The man followed-up.

For now, she cannot pinpoint which was the lie and which was the truth. Relying on which is obvious, Hesychia answered blankly. “How can you not know what's happening? It's impossible that you were able to hide somewhere during the days of Earth going under screenings. Trustworthy? Find another convincing lie before talking to me.”

About to turn away whilst hiding the knife at her sleeves, the guy calmly stated. “If that's the case, might as well learn how to lie from you. Shouldn't I follow?”

Hesychia paused, amused. “How could you be so sure that I will let you?”

The man smiled, “It's because you have triggered something that needs another person for you to complete. You won't let me approach you for naught.”

The woman’s brows raised, “You're sharper than I've thought.” Glancing at the other person, Hesychia observed the light slowly eating them.

The unknown man nodded, “I will help you during the event and you'll tell me information later on. Is that plausible?”

Hesychia wasn’t convinced with his words, “And what if the game is competitive?”

The gray-haired person walked near the gate and touched it, “I am willing to lose.”

“Liar.”

Every screening has death waiting for them, who would willingly lose?

Two of them were delivered inside the white space once the blinding light subsided.

“Greetings! Player Hesychia Astrid has triggered a minor screening. Please stay at your place (the waiting room) and wait for another player to enter.”

This announcement was broadcasted inside Hesychia’s ears once after touching the gate of Artemis’ house. Formerly, she wasn't able to react to the sudden announcement and thought that she would be transported once again against her will. Though, because an amount of members that needed to trigger the screening at the same place were lacking, Hesychia didn’t disappear.

Her brain worked quickly in a few seconds, pinpointing the presence following her as a stepping stone. Hesychia turned around without skipping places and finally thought of something to get a hold of.

She was able to detect this person but let him be as long as he didn't touch any of her hair. In the first place, the man has no hostility (which is strange) or he was able to completely mask his bloodlust (which is dangerous). Either way, Hesychia's gut feeling punched her long ago that she wouldn't be able to shake this person off normally.

The young woman frowned, wondering how the man was able to see through her provocation.

At first, her plan was to provoke the stalker to approach her and pull him inside the minor screening. Hesychia recalled that the man didn't step any farther when their space was only one meter apart.

Many would think it's to contain personal space. In this world that has been turned into an incoherent mess, wouldn’t that be as good as a fairytale? The woman should've planned further to see this loophole. The unknown man stood right before the imaginary line where the minor screening could be triggered.

That meant that man was aware of Hesychia setting up a trap.

Calm and sharp.

Hesychia looked at the other person who seemed to have a complex expression, one of his hands was touching the side of his jaw.

It looks like a mannerism of dealing with anxiety.

「Why does he look troubled? It can't be his first minor screening, right? It's already been days. If he hadn't triggered anything at all, he's quite unlucky to fall behind the buffs.」

“Game data is being loaded please wait! The players are given five minutes to stay behave and patient whilst the game is being prepared. Thank you!”

The mechanical voice washed Hesychia's curiosity off, minding her business. This person as an opponent would be troublesome but can be used as a great teammate. His position in Hesychia's eyes will be dependent on the game they will enter.

The woman was lucky enough to trigger intelligence screening once though would it be applied the second time?

There's only two of them inside the white room. The mechanical voice didn't show any humans even after a few minutes. Last time at her first minor screening, Hesychia encountered two more people, luckily Erza was one of them. Coincidentally, the three of them were teammates and were forbidden to be violent towards each other. There was no other team that was hidden away.

If there's only the two of them, there's a bigger chance that this person will be his teammate. And, if ever there's another set of players hidden from their sight that will emerge once the screening starts as their enemies, it will be more complicated.

Well, during that, Hesychia will be able to confirm that the voice doesn't say how many people enter the screening before the game starts and doesn't show the opposite side (their enemies) when the game data is being loaded.

Hesychia closed her eyes to think.

Though, that's only one of the possibilities. There's also a chance where this person would be the enemy and there's only two of them. A minor screening where killing the other person is necessary to clear the game, a 1v1.

“Can I ask how I should call you?”

Hesychia opened her eyes, turning to the other person who had become silent with her after the five minute waiting time started. 

From the previous game, the mechanical voice respected their chosen identity, not revealing their real names against their will. Last time, triggering the minor screening can only be heard by the player itself and not the people around them. The voice also uses their preferred disguise as an announcement when the game loads in. Is this the purpose of the five minute waiting time?

Looks like the voice likes giving a fair amount of privacy to players?

Hesychia depleted the question, “You should tell me yours first.”

The man gave a light laugh, agreeing. “You can refer to me as Wyde. Is your surname Schwii?”

Her mouth went stiff for a moment but regained its neutral look of aloofness afterwards.

Every house in the city has a gate and an address, it has a number of its block and lot. Along with is the owner’s surname. She can’t let the other person know that in any way that she’s related to someone who’s surnamed Schwii. It’s better to use her own name to not make her friends suffer any setbacks of using their surnames instead.

She can't use Silas either, Hesychia needs to have different names in every screening every time a stranger will ask for it.

Whatever.

Giving up on thinking something, the woman responded, “Astrid.”

Wdye nodded with a small smile, “Then, I'm looking forward for your cooperation Miss Astrid—”

“The third player on Team White has entered!”

Hearing the mechanical voice, she was surprised to see another person slowly appear. Wdye at her side silently watched the shadow to form.

“...!?”

Aris Armani?