The year is 2247. Humanity clings to existence within the vertical mega-cities known as the Cages, where the ruling Holders feast on luxury while the Resources beneath them are property—nothing more. Article Seven of the law says it plainly: killing a Resource is merely property damage.
Kaito has known nothing but the lower levels since birth. He learned young how to erase his own expression, how to survive in a world that sees him as disposable. Now eighteen, he has clawed his way through the
A Will for the Survivors - The Hour of Selection — The Duke Who Laughs Outside the Rules
The air in the operations prep room had been heavy and sunken since morning. One fluorescent light in the ceiling flickered, then another, and each time the letters on the roster surfaced and sank back into darkness. Kaito stood before the long table, looking down at the original copy of the Reassignment Roster. The thick, leather-bound ledger had the same weight as the one he'd touched in the archive last night, and it lay open on the desk, unmoving.
(This is where I decide.)
Kaito turned the page. Noah's entry. His classification read "On Hold." The word looked strangely cold in the dim light. The annotation written in the margins of the rulebook—Kaito had been turning it over in his mind since last night. If a dropout was deliberately processed as a reassignment target, that person fell under the jurisdiction of operational responsibility. In other words, they could be severed from the game's win-or-lose. They wouldn't have to fight.
But that also meant sending Noah into another cage called "reassignment." His memories would be shaved away further, and he'd be used like a puppet. Even so, it was better than being killed—Kaito told himself that.
(No. This isn't the better choice.)
(But right now, it's the only one.)
Kaito picked up the writing instrument beside the ledger. Special ink, connected to the terminal at the operations desk. The record would be sent directly to the Duke's system. The operation log would remain. It would be laid bare before the Duke's eyes.
His fingertips trembled.
Kaito pressed his right hand down with his left. The trembling wouldn't stop. The sound of his heartbeat echoed absurdly loud deep in his ears. He'd grown used to seeing death in the facility. He'd spent years acquiring the skill of not letting fear show on his face. And yet, now, his fingers were shaking.
(If the Duke finds out, it's over.)
(Not just Noah. Me, and Ren too—all of us, processed together.)
(But if I stop here, Noah dies today. For certain.)
Kaito drew a deep breath. The smell of mold and rusted iron seeped deep into his lungs. He exhaled. Inhaled again. By the third breath, the trembling in his fingers had subsided, just slightly.
(Do it.)
Kaito set the tip of the instrument to Noah's entry. Over the word "On Hold," he carefully, but firmly, drew two lines through it. Then, in the classification column beside it, he wrote new characters.
"Reassignment Target."
Kaito stared at the words until the ink dried. He checked, over and over in his mind, what he had just done. This record would be sent to the Duke's system. The log would remain. There was no going back now.
Kaito set the instrument down on the desk. His fingertips were still cold.
(Now Noah won't be killed at today's event.)
(Instead, someone else will be chosen.)
Kaito looked at the other pages of the roster. Countless numbers lined the "On Hold" column. Each one had a name, a face, erased memories. Kaito's choice would bend someone's fate in yet another direction.
(Like I care.)
Kaito said to himself, in his mind.
(I can't save everyone. So I choose the one in front of me.)
(That's all.)
——
At the same time, on the upper floors of the Tower of Veruna. The Duke's office was wrapped in silence. Beyond the window, countless lights of the upper Cage flickered faintly in the morning air. The room was as it always was—clean, cold, as if time had stopped.
Ren stood alone before the Duke's desk.
He understood the reason for the summons the moment he entered the room. A single terminal screen lay on the Duke's desk. It displayed the roster from the operations prep room. The record of the moment Noah's entry was rewritten from "On Hold" to "Reassignment Target" was preserved in meticulous detail.
"Did you see that? Quite interesting, isn't it."
The Duke swept his silver hair back and narrowed his cold, pale blue eyes. The usual smile played at the corners of his mouth. The jeweled ring on his left hand caught the light from the window and glinted.
"Your partner is trying to step outside my rules. That little trick with the roster—rather clever. Process a dropout as a reassignment target, and they're severed from the game's outcome. The child found that loophole."
Ren said nothing.
The Duke rose slowly from his chair. His footsteps were swallowed by the carpet, almost inaudible.
"Now then, Ren. Which will you choose?"
The Duke stood directly before Ren. Not a step of distance between them. The Duke's cold blue eyes looked down into Ren's amber ones.
"Your partner is trying to keep a man named Noah alive. Even if it means bending the rules. But that trick is transparent to me. With a single word from me, Noah will be processed today. You know this. Knowing it—what will you do?"
Ren smiled.
His usual warm, friendly smile. The corners of his eyes lowered, his mouth softened, his voice brightened.
"Isn't it obvious?"
Ren approached the Duke's desk. He traced his finger across the terminal screen, bringing up Noah's entry.
"I'll mark Noah as processed. Right here, right now, I'll proceed with the procedure. Kaito's little trick—I'll just make it never happened. If someone's defying the Duke's rules, correcting that is the operator's job, isn't it?"
Ren's fingers operated the terminal. The screen switched, displaying the execution confirmation. Without hesitation, Ren touched the approval button.
The Duke watched intently.
"Magnificent."
The Duke's voice resonated through the room.
"Truly magnificent. Your immediate decision has healed my boredom, if only slightly. Knowing your partner would break the rules, you outmaneuvered him as my piece. Truly, truly interesting."
The Duke placed a hand on Ren's shoulder. Thin, cold fingers.
"I shall bestow upon you a token of my trust as an operator. I'll entrust you with a portion of the initiative for the next entertainment. Selection of dropouts, adjustment of matchups, management of proceedings. You may move things according to your judgment."
Ren bowed deeply, smile intact.
"I'm honored, Your Grace. I'll entertain you with everything I have."
The Duke nodded, satisfied.
"You may withdraw. I look forward to today's event."
Ren bowed once more and left the office.
The door closed.
The moment he stepped into the corridor, Ren's smile vanished.
Ren began walking. The carpet swallowed his footsteps, and only silence remained in the hallway. Ren's right hand creaked. He was clenching his fist. His nails dug into his palm, and a faint trace of blood seeped out.
(This is fine.)
Ren told himself, in his mind.
(Now Noah is out of the Duke's hands. As processed, he disappears from the system. Even without Kaito's trick, Noah won't be killed at today's event.)
(I'll earn the Duke's trust. Play the cold-blooded operator. That way, in the next entertainment, I'll have access to more information.)
(I won't tell Kaito anything.)
(Your justice is always built on someone's death.)
Ren stopped before a corridor window. The lights of the upper Cage twinkled far away, small, in the morning air. Ren opened his fist. Four crescent-shaped wounds on his palm. Blood seeped out slowly.
Ren shoved his hand into the pocket of his servant's uniform.
(It happens.)
Ren started walking again. The smile was nowhere to be found.
——
The event was held in the dedicated viewing hall beneath the Tower of Veruna.
At the center of the hall, an arena enclosed by iron bars had been constructed, surrounded by spectator seating for the Holders. A large screen on the wall displayed the participants' numbers and statuses, and surveillance drones—"Flies"—circled quietly near the ceiling.
Kaito stood before the operations desk.
On the desk were the roster terminal, the progress chart, and the equipment for managing the reassigned participants' statuses. Kaito's eyes moved constantly. The faces of the Holders in the stands, the iron bars of the arena, the numbers on the screen, the logs streaming to the operations terminal. He observed everything simultaneously.
(Where's the Duke?)
Kaito looked toward the top tier of the spectator seats. The Duke wasn't there yet.
(Ren isn't either.)
Kaito brought up the Reassignment Roster on the operations terminal. Noah's entry.
(Is my trick still holding?)
Kaito's fingers operated the terminal.
At that moment, the screen switched.
In Noah's entry, two records were displayed simultaneously.
"Reassignment Target."
"Processed."
Kaito's fingers stopped.
(What the hell is this?)
The terminal screen blinked. The two records were colliding within the system. An error display. Noah's status wasn't being finalized. On Hold and Processed existed at the same time.
"Hey, what's going on?"
Kaito called out low to the operations staff around him. But no one answered. The staff had all turned toward the spectator seats.
Kaito followed their gaze upward.
At the top tier of the stands. In the Duke's private box, a silver-haired man stood.
Veruna fon Arusutoremu.
The Duke descended the spectator stairs slowly. One step, then another. His footsteps, amid the clamor of the hall, were strangely distinct. The Holders fell silent all at once.
The Duke stopped before the operations desk.
"This has become quite interesting."
The Duke traced the terminal screen with his fingertip.
"Kaito. You tried to process Noah as a reassignment target. You used a loophole in the rules to keep him alive. Meanwhile, Ren—knowing your trick—executed Noah as processed. As my piece, he outmaneuvered you. The two of you chose in completely opposite directions."
The Duke smiled.
"And this is the result. On Hold and Processed collide, and Noah's status hangs suspended in the system. Truly, truly interesting. You've exceeded my expectations, if only slightly."
The Duke looked back and forth between Kaito and Ren, who stood on the opposite side of the operations desk.
Ren had, at some point, taken his place on the far side of the desk. He wore a smile. The usual warm, friendly smile. But his eyes weren't smiling.
"Now then, you two."
The Duke's voice rang through the hall.
"Let me see which of you breaks first. I hereby officially declare your opposition. Kaito. Ren. Which of you is my piece, and which will try to step outside my rules? Show me the answer during today's event. Noah's fate will be decided by the result."
With those words, the Duke slowly returned to the spectator seats.
Murmurs spread through the hall. The Holders exchanged glances and whispered to one another. On the screen, Noah's entry still blinked with an error display.
Kaito circled the operations desk and approached Ren.
"What the hell were you thinking?"
He kept his voice low. But he couldn't suppress the anger.
"What was I thinking?"
Ren tilted his head, smile intact.
"Did you mark Noah as processed?"
"I did. Right in front of the Duke, without hesitation. Because if I hadn't, your trick would've been exposed to the Duke, and Noah would've been processed on the spot. If I mark him processed first, the records collide and his status hangs in limbo. At least for today, Noah won't be killed."
Ren's voice dropped. The smile vanished.
"Without your trick, Noah would've been processed immediately. You didn't account for the fact that the logs are completely transparent to the Duke. You're too soft."
Kaito clenched his fist.
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
"If I'd told you, you'd just go looking for another loophole. And you'd sink deeper and deeper. Your justice is always like that. Trying to save someone, you put even more people in danger."
Silence fell between them.
The clamor of the hall seemed distant. A surveillance drone passed quietly overhead.
"I've earned the Duke's trust. I've been given a portion of the initiative for the next entertainment. With this, I can dig deeper into the estate's interior."
Ren looked Kaito straight in the eyes.
"You save Noah your way. I'll corner the Duke my way. Let's see which of us breaks fi
Novelia is an AI-powered platform to read original light novels and fan fiction, create your own in just a few taps, and chat with the characters. New, illustrated episodes arrive daily — free to start.