Kayla wasn't sure about what she was seeing right now, but the more she looked at it, the more she was sure that this was the gold coin Liam told them to find. The gold coin she is seeing right now is embedded with rose flowers in it. Kayla looked at it with a doubtful expression, she snapped herself out of her daydreams and took a deep breath, she reached out to grab that part, and just with her finger lightly scrapping it, the coins already lifted off and fell into her hands. Kayla quickly hid it under her palm and silently put it in her pocket, she then coughed two times and looked in Aaron's direction. Aaron seems to see her signal and raises one of his eyebrows in question,

  “I have something I wanted to talk to you, let’s go upstairs”, Kayla tried to say it as naturally as possible and got up, the both of them walked up towards the top of the stairs and Kayla told him to sit down. Aaron is still looking at Kayla with curiosity on his face, Kayla suddenly took out her phone from her pocket and opened her camera app, she raised her hand and pretended to do a pose, but her camera was clearly not in selfie mode and was zooming on the railing. Aaron also looked closely and noticed what Kayla had been meaning to tell him, Kayla talked to him with her mouth closed, and slowly muttered her words lowly, making a small movement on her lips as small as possible,

  “Do you see what I am seeing right now?”

  Aaron also pretended to smile at the camera and whispered,

  “I do, it is very meticulous of them, should we grab it?”

  Kayla let down her phone and looked at him with a nod, the both of them slowly slid down the stairs with Kayla taking the lead, they slowly and casually walked down the stairs while her hand scraped the coin down swiftly, the process was unhurried and doesn't seem too eye-catching, when she finally arrived back down, she has already grabbed four coins and put it on her pocket. Kayla silently turned to look and Aaron and he just nodded and the both of them sat back down as if nothing had happened.

  Just as she was sitting down, Jeremy immediately asked her a question, which made her heart thump loudly anxious about what he would be asking,

  “You.. are you both a couple?”

  Kayla couldn't help but feel stunned when she heard his question, she couldn't think that he would ask that out of nowhere,

  ‘Do we look like a couple?’

  “No, why?”, Kayla asked back, but Jeremy hurriedly shook his hand that he didn't mean anything bad,

  “No, I was just thinking if I could probably still have the chance”, he whispers so lowly that Kayla wouldn't be able to make up the last word he is saying if she didn't listen to it properly, but she heard those words clearly and couldn't help but froze. His face had now turned red, but Kayla pretended not to hear that and looked away, her face flat and trying to change the conversation.

  “Should we go to another place now? It seems the commotion has gone since a while ago”, Kayla suggested and they all nodded agreeing. They walked to the other room and as expected, the luxurious and beautiful alcohol on the display had been smashed into tiny pieces of glasses, and the filling scattered all around the place, the people here still didn't have any intention to prevent them, Kayla couldn't help but feel that it was such a waste,

  ‘At least if they let you do anything you want, you could at least have a taste of it instead of throwing it away’

  The windows from the right side also have been smashed to pieces, but Kayla could see that there was still another layer that was indestructible, Kayla stood there looking at it for a long time before Aaron snapped her out of it,

  “You alright?”

  Kayla nodded in silence and Aaron continued saying,

  “It seems that some people have come earlier than us”

  The door Kayla had seen before was now wide open, Kayla couldn't help but think about what disaster she was about to face inside behind this door, she let out a heavy sigh and walked towards that door, carefully not to step on any big pieces of glass scattered on the floor. On the contrary, it is much better compared to what she imagined, it seems that those people gave up just by crashing one place.

  Just like any other room, this room is also a sophisticated room, but the lighting here is very bright compared to the other rooms, many comfortable giant bean bags are scattered around the room, there are books located in the corner of the room, and beside it is a computer room, many people have been sitting and playing games in it. On the left side is a place for playing things you would love and yearn for, as if releasing the inner kid wishes, any kind of entertainment is available like legos, cards, puzzles, board games, all kinds of things you will find in a department store is here,

  ‘This is probably why they quieted down, they have found their own paradise’, Kayla scanned around the room and no matter how she saw it, this was a place for entertainment. Aaron headed to one of the computers and turned it on, Kayla asked, “What are you searching for?”

  “Why don’t you think that he is just going to play games?”, Jeremy huffed, it seemed that they had started off in a bad start,

  “Because I am not like you”, Aaron replied coldly, not even interested in paying attention to him. Jeremy let out a loud scoff, and Kayla could only chuckle,

  “You could basically search for anything, except for social media and emergency services, it has a special program that blocks away all our contacts towards the outside world”, Aaron said and they went silent, after a moment of silence, Kayla let out a small sighed,

  “It already happened, we are already here, and there is no turning back, let’s stop searching for a way to seek help from others and just get through this with the best we can”

  “Don't give up!! I am sure there must be a way”, Jeremy said determinedly with his eyes glistening clearly,

  “Are you stupid? Do you think Kayla wouldn't know that? She means that no one can help us now, we have to fight for ourselves to survive!”, Clara scolded him, his face turned into a frown, and asked,

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “Why?!”

  “I think something is wrong with that contract our parents signed, either they are being fooled or they..”, Kayla didn't continue her words, afraid that she would scare them out of their wits.

  “Such interesting things you are talking about”, a woman's voice suddenly comes from behind them, they turn to take a look and they are stunned by the glistening things she is wearing from top to bottom, her earrings, her headband, her clothes, and shoes, all are covered in shiny little diamonds and rugby, they don't need to say anything and Kayla was sure that this woman likes jewelry and especially shiny things very much.

  Aaron's face suddenly turned ugly and his expression went cold, he looked at her fiercely, and that woman arrogantly smiled at him and pushed all of them away,

  “I have never thought that I would be able to see you here”, she leaned forward in a flirtatious way, “Why are you together with this type of people? How about you join me with our group, we are much more reliable”

  Kayla looked in the direction she was looking and she found a group of six people, four men, and two girl, they were also dressing very lavishly and stood out in the crowds, their face high up and full of arrogance, but for Kayla, they just looked like a spoiled unruly brat, Jeremy immediately feels offended by her words and hisses, “What kind of people?! What the hell do you mean by..”, Kayla immediately nudges his side with her elbow, telling him to not continue his words, Jeremy pouted but didn’t say anything anymore, crossed his hands, and walked away angrily.

  “Shouldn’t I be the one saying that to you? Just like the usual, always hooking up with unreasonable people”, Aaron stated coldly, but that girl didn’t seem offended and only sneered, “Why? Isn’t it better than just hanging out with a bunch of losers whose faces are so unsightly to be seen?”

  Kayla didn’t find that word offensive at all because she has never taken people's words easily, especially about appearance, but it seems like someone else do. Kayla thought that he already left, but Jeremy suddenly came storming, Kayla thought that he was a gentle nature kid, but who knows that he could also snap like this, “Do you think you are that gorgeous! You look like a walking powder with how thick your makeup is”,

  That girl's face also has turned red in anger and looks at him hatefully, “What did you just say!! You prick just..!!”

  Aaron got up from his seat before she could finish her words, “You are not welcome here, please go”, that girl was at a loss for words, “You think you are very great, aren't you? Keep on pushing me away and hanging out with such lowly creatures!”

  Kayla finally stepped out before Aaron could say anything, “What is the definition of low born then? Because for us, the definition of low born is someone who amidst her high education could still say things an uneducated person would say”, Kayla is basically saying that she is brainless and that girls shouting with rage,

  “You..!!”

  “Enough”, Aaron reprimanded her, “If you are here just to fight, I will see how far you can go”, his eyes became cold and she seemed to be taken aback by his words, her eyes redden as if she was about to cry and walked away. Kayla let out a heavy sigh, now she officially had made an enemy with someone she didn’t even know.

  “You are so cool”, Clara said with her eyes glistening in awed, and Jeremy also nodded excitedly, Kayla looked at their expression feels dumbfounded, Aaron also smiled, Kayla coughed and changed the topic,

  “You.. know her?”

  Aaron, “I know, but can’t be counted as friends, we are in the same school but different classes”

  “I bet she is in the worst class”, Jeremy huffed, it seemed that he was still feeling quite mad.

  “If she is in the same school as you, that means she also came from an extraordinary family, no wonder she could act so cheeky”, Clara pouted, and Jeremy just scoffed,

  “Does having money allow her to act like that?! She is just getting used to being spoiled, without her parent's money how is she going to survive”

  ***

  The lunchtime was here and they decided to go early to queue, there were already a lot of people queuing, because they wanted to get the best food and no one wanted to give it to others. The atmosphere has changed a lot gloomy. Just as expected, on their turns there were only leftovers and many trays had been emptied, Kayla just took a simple salad and walked towards the table to sit.

  “Are they trying to kill us? I'm going to starve to death”, Jeremy wailed and acted pitifully

  “Just wait, there are additional meals after all the people got their fills, you could go and take it again later”, Kayla tried to comfort him and he nodded excitedly, Clara shows a confused expression and asked,

  “I don't quite understand, such a big place like this didn't have enough budget for food? Doesn't seem quite reasonable”

  Kayla also has thought about this problem, but she also couldn't understand what they were thinking, she has come up with a couple of explanations,

  “I have a very bold idea, I don't know if it is true though”, they look at her eagerly to listen, “I think they are planning to eliminate all the people who got the second batch of food”

  When they heard that their face went in shocked,

  “The first batch of food consists of the best ingredients and recipe, while the second one is only an ordinary meal, which means that they are trying to divide us into two groups— One that they think is suitable enough to be accepted and the other is not, but I still couldn't point out how they select these person, since they could just use force to stay at the top tier if they wanted to”

  “The test”, Aaron suddenly said, “They are using the test to eliminate us, so if we fail, we will probably also be taken away by them”, Clara shivered when she heard that, Kayla also realized something,

  “Then.. Those additional foods..”

  “Probably for the people who have got taken away”, Aaron finished her words. They went into a complete silence, hearing that, Jeremy didn't feel that hungry anymore. Since from the beginning, they didn't know what kind of punishment they meant, where are those people taken away and why they didn't come back. The more they think about it, the more they fall into despair.

  “So, we really have to choose properly this time”, Aaron sighed, finally realizing the seriousness of this matter.

  The lunchtime passed by and they decided to go back to the common room, they just basically searched all around the place and they indeed couldn't find even a single coin left,

  ‘Either it is not here or other people have taken it away’, Kayla didn't believe that they would hide in such a secretive place, there were a lot of people coming and going and they probably had found it and kept silent about it.

  The tea time came by and they decided to skip it, Aaron finally dragged them to the corner of the bookshelf in the common room and nodded at Kayla, the both of them pulled out the coins and let them see what they had found, the both of them gasped in shock,

  “So you have found it, and so many at that”, Clara squeaks in delight, but in a lower voice, “Where did you find it?”

  Kayla looks at Aaron and he definitely knows what to do, “A secret”, he puts his finger on his lips and blink, making Clara blush a little and Jeremy's face twisted in disgust.

  “Now, we should decide which one we should choose”, Aaron said, Kayla picked up five coins, three roses, and two blank coins while Aaron picked up seven, four roses, and three blanks, Kayla was a little shocked to see that he has picked up so many coins in such short amount of time. Aaron looks at Kayla with enthusiasm and expectation, it is clear that he wants her to choose, Kayla becomes hesitant and looks at the coins in her hands,

  “How about.. we choose the rose one?”

  Without saying anything they nodded their head and Kayla was baffled, “You are not going to ask for anything? This could determine our fate, you just easily believe me like that?”

  Clara looks at her with her innocent eyes, “Why must I doubted you? Even if we indeed choose the wrong one, I am the one who is willing to follow you, so don’t worry about it— I also like the one with the rose, looks much prettier”

  Jeremy and Aaron also nodded their head in agreement, Kayla could only silently let out her sigh,

  ‘Maybe our team is not that bad, we might even overcome it with their spirit like this’

  Since the decision has been made, now it is the time to discuss what they will do about the rest of the coins,

  “Just throw it under the table?”, Clara suggest

  “Or put it between these books?”, Jeremy recommended, Kayla thinks that those could works, but Aaron shakes his head,

  “How about we keep it until dinner times, if we find out that the rose is a death route then we could immediately exchange it”

  “That also works”, Kayla agreed and all of them decided to walk out and sit on the bean bag located at the end of the room, they basically had nothing to do now, so Clara got herself a book, and Aaron and Jeremy were playing lego. Kayla only takes the cubes and rustling it around mindlessly. Waiting for the dinner time to come

  TO BE CONTINUED…