Faust opened his eyes to a muted world of grey. High in the sky, a black sun hung in the grey skies like an omen.

Gasping, he looked around in confusion. A marble balcony overlooking a city that resembled the shell of a tortoise. Grids ran between stone buildings with no windows or doors.

Behind him, a grinding sound echoed. He jumped around and found the smooth walls of the building opening. Behind the stone walls, two girls in black leather jumpsuits waited patiently, whispering under their breath.

They walked onto the balcony and one of them tapped a screen on the stone ramparts. The ground beneath Faust’s feet began to move. He panicked and ran off to the side.

A pool revealed itself beneath stone and chairs rose along the walls of the terrace.

The girls slipped out of their jumpsuits and made Faust feel very awkward as they got into the pool. He didn’t avert his eyes—this was a memory after all—so he noticed deep bruises on their bodies.

"I’ll kill him," one of the girls whispered.

They looked human, just deathly pale and with huge black eyes. Both girls had inky-black hair, but one had her hair in a bob cut, while the other’s hair fell to her waist.

The one with longer hair smiled at her furious friend. "You’re obsessed, Vi."

"They sent him to my dungeon just to mess me up," Vi, the girl with a bob cut, said tightly. "That reckless move of his killed three hundred Gems."

"They’re Gems," her friend replied, "they reproduce faster than they die."

Vi massaged her battered body. Bruises so black they looked like dead skin healed quickly in the water. She winced every time but tried to hide it from her friend.

"Those Gems," she growled through the pain, "were my responsibility.... Do you ever get tired of it, Nems? This role that the system forced on us?"

Nems shrugged, brushing her flowing hair from her curvy body. Water glowed like crystal drops against her pale skin. Faust turned away a little, heat rushing to his skull, and just focused on listening.

"Villains are a necessary part of a story. Even the Drege and his perfect Teleste family know that."

"Drege. Hero." Vi looked like she had tasted something bitter. "The hero that kills thousands just to settle a feud between families."

Vi brushed soap against her body. "I wonder if his brother would be happy to know so many died for him."

"You killed his brother, did you forget," Nems said with a smile. "That’s what started this horrible feud."

Vi’s hands stopped. Her voice grew small and weak. "I didn’t mean to.... None of this matters. I’ve failed. My father can accept me coming second, but not if Drege Teleste is first. I was so close. If only I didn’t let caution rule me."

Nems waded through the water closer to her friend to comfort her.

Faust listened in confusion. What was all this about?

From what he could glean, these two just came from a dungeon. So this world had been taken by the system. They were assigned roles by the system.

Villain? So what? Are they supposed to show up and get beaten up for entertainment?

How could the system enforce such roles anyway?

Vi and Nems were villains. They were sent to a dungeon, but this Drege person had been sent there too. They lost to him and Vi’s father wouldn’t like that.

Big families. Feuds. Vi killed Drege’s brother.

*I get all that, but what does this have to do with the fifth wave?*

Footsteps interrupted his thoughts and the two girls tensed immediately. The sounds of excited breaths made all three of them more anxious. They jumped out of the water and raced towards their weapons. Faust reached into his bag and pulled out his axe.

The girls didn’t get to theirs.

Ten people clustered onto the balcony dressed in similar jumpsuits to Vi and Nems, but theirs were white.

The tallest boy among them walked forward, towering over even the taller Nems. His chiseled face was cruel, but his mouth looked like it was made to smile. He rubbed his chin as he examined the naked girls, arms like tree trunks rippling with muscle.

His voice was deep and intimidating.

"You look better than I left you," he said calmly, "’Rai, Puppeteer."

"’Rai, Drege," Vi muttered back.

The ten white-suited men and women spread out almost too naturally, like beasts circling prey. Each of them looked cut from stone, born for battle.

Faust gauged them, looking for weaknesses even in a memory. One of them favored a leg—an old injury maybe. Some were afraid of Vi even as she stood naked.

One of them was squatting, much older than Vi and Drege, who looked around twenty-one. He was much shorter than Drege but just as well built. He wore a uniform rather than a jumpsuit, decorated with medals.

That guy was hard to read, measured and relaxed. Faust hated people like that.

He hated this entire situation. The intruders took the girls’ weapons and clothes that lay on the floor. He could feel the fear Vi was suppressing right now. Even though this was a memory, he felt afraid of Drege and the mysterious older man.

His heart started pounding. Faust smiled.

"Ten Teleste fighters," Vi observed. "Does a hero like you need this many, Drege?"

"It was me against all your puppets, so I only think this is fair."

"The Quest is over. You won."

Drege turned his head sideways in a curious manner. "Does the game ever end? I don’t feel like a winner yet."

Vi stood proudly even without her clothes. Her short hair clung to her angular face. All the uncertainty from before was lost, her voice cold and slow, each word spoken carefully.

"You did win, at the cost of three hundred lives. But yes, the system counted that."

"Trying to make your loss look better," one of the Teleste girls said in a mocking voice. She resembled Drege like a cat resembled a lion. She was the smallest person here, with buzz-cut hair and a mocking face.

She lifted Vi’s curved, serrated sword and marveled at the pure black steel. "Lighteater. It was a gift from Farseer Julius, right? I haven’t seen you use it much. Swords like this aren’t easy for a mongrel to use, are they?"

"Drop it, Narla, you rat bitch," Vi snarled.

"Can we start already?" Narla whimpered, swinging Vi’s sword, Lighteater, around.

"I agree," Nems muttered.