My Oasis in This Hell

I felt great after a long good sleep. My eyes were stuck as if they are glued shut. It felt like I'd been asleep for days. For a great room, there's no clock or anything to know the time. After washing my face an alarm came from a speaker near the glass door.

The wall where the sound came from has small holes forming a circle. I guess the speaker is located inside the wall. It's the main reason why I haven't noticed it yesterday.

"Gather on the first floor."

It was too short for an announcement. I also felt like Genjo Tazawa is the one behind the voice.

The glass door always does a quick scan before sliding open.

I saw the beautiful woman leave her room as well. Should I try to have a conversation with her? I thought. But I remember how she ignored everyone yesterday. Even though my appearance was far from those who approached her, why would she trust anyone here? And what was I even thinking of flirting in such a place? She might've also done something horrible to end up in this prison.

I should just strive and do my best for survival.

As I entered the same elevator I rode yesterday, I noticed that only the button for the first to sixth floor lit up.

The first floor's appearance changed overnight. Now it looked more like a cafeteria, unlike yesterday with the fancy designs.

The VIP platform seems to have retracted on the wall as well. Though the huge screen was still in its place.

Unlike yesterday, there are fewer people who showed up on the first floor. I thought that those who didn't come down must've had their heads chopped off for not following the announcement.

"Eat breakfast if you want!"

A guard near the cafeteria serving place shouted into a small wireless head microphone he was wearing. What's irritating is that there is a speaker on both sides of the collar and his shouting was almost deafening. Why not announce it on the projector or lower your voice? I thought.

I saw Finnley walking in front of me. He must've ridden on a different elevator.

I decided to approach him.

"Hey."

I said as I walked faster to catch up to Finnley.

"Oh. Did you have a good rest?" he said.

"Yeah, the bed in this place is five times better than what I had before."

Finnley laughed, "On that, I actually agree."

We lined up to get some food in the serving place of the cafeteria. The food is not as fancy as what has been served yesterday. But it is far better than what I have been eating outside when I was still a free man.

The tables are also different from those single-person round tables we used yesterday. Now it is those long rectangular tables with lots of seats like those ones in school canteens.

You could sit anywhere. Though everyone looked intimidating, they were all just tigers on a leash, a leash that immediately cuts off their heads if they even show teeth. No one could hurt me, but I still feel a bit nervous.

After eating there are no other announcements. It seems what Genjo Tazawa said about us having time for ourselves is true.

Finnley and I decided to check the facilities that Genjo told us in the briefing.

Most of the accessible facilities are located on the third and fourth floors.

Everything that is related to training is located on the third floor. We began observing everything up close.

Starting from the advanced gym for monitoring one's physical health. All equipment I've seen was first-class. What caught my attention are the rooms with the omnidirectional treadmill as its flooring and an augmentation you can set to change your surroundings. I've only seen rich people buy those.

They also have places to learn archery, using a sword or spear and other weapons. Every weapon I've seen was mostly those typical ones in historical movies with knights or other warriors. Would've been better if they have those laser swords.

Guns on the other hand have their own facility. They have everything from small pistols to huge cannons. Though it's only replicas that shoot holographic rounds, its weight and design are realistic.

There is also a facility for learning how to survive in the wilderness. Such as making fire manually without any advanced tools.

As both Finnley and I examined every facility on the 3rd floor we also tried to have some assumptions in the upcoming Virtual Reality death game.

After checking every facility on the third floor. We decided to check the ones on the second floor which as Genjo said were for one's hobby or mental health.

On the second floor located the library filled with different kinds of books. It was real books, which in this age are much rarer to see. Everyone seems to prefer reading on their devices.

The game room is also located on the second floor. They have certain games for VR where you would not feel any pain as it normally is and holographic games, especially those board games like chess.

There's also a swimming pool as well as a basketball court on the second floor. And a VR adult room, where I saw a lot of convicts going in, so I decided not to step closer to it.

Aside from those they also have a Cinema and other facilities for one's entertainment. It seems like they have everything.

Every facility that we have seen is top-class. That is coming from me who only managed to visit shabby ones in the past. Though even Finnley seems to be amazed at how great Hell's Oasis's facilities are.

"Gray, I'll go run some laps in the gym wanna come?"

Seems like Finnley and I were growing closer naturally. We even call each other with just a syllable of our first names.

I decided to stay on the 2nd floor and check out the books in the library since I was also tired from walking around such a large place. Circling around a mall outside would've been a walk in the park compared to this place.

The library is a blessing for me. It's huge, nostalgic, quiet, almost as if it is deserted and I have the whole place for myself. I guess a library in the world's greatest prison is not really popular huh?

While looking for interesting books to read, I saw Toby in an aisle also browsing. He was ominous. Seeing him with that smile of his as he browses the books in the "Mystery, Murder, Gore and Horror" section of the library sent shivers down my spine. I decided to not even let him know I was there.

As I stealthily passed by him I took a random book and open it to cover my face. The book I took is quite big and the cover is hard but I didn't mind. I must've been really spooked by him since I had a huge sigh of relief after going to another aisle of books after passing a few in the library.

The moment I removed the random book covering my face I saw my beautiful neighbor. She's holding a book in her chest with both of her hands. It is a huge book, probably an encyclopedia.

Soon as she saw me her cold expression changed for a split second with a chuckle, then returned to its original form. I was taken aback by her sudden laugh that lasted for just a second.

Why did she just laugh? I kept thinking to myself as I subconsciously folded the book I have in my hands. When my sight was directed to the book cover I realized why she just chuckled.

Embarrassed, I could feel that my face is turning red. Who in this prison decided to put nursery books for death row convicts to read?

I don't have anything against the "Three Little Pigs" but that was pure embarrassment. Well, on a positive note, I have seen her beautiful smile even for just a second.

After that, she sat down at the table and started reading. Should I say hi? But I didn't know what was going on in her head. It's like nothing happened and I became part of the air. And she looked like she was engrossed in the book she was reading.

While returning the book to a random shelf I exclaimed something as a joke,

"Hmm. The pigs are cute."

I could swear that her chuckle was a bit louder this time. Though its duration is still the same. The embarrassment from earlier has gradually disappeared.

"Would you recommend a book for me to read?" I said while I was browsing on the shelf as if I was looking with great focus for a book that is interesting to read.

I didn't hear a reply. Though I heard the sound of her chair as she stood up.

I looked at her as she went towards the aisle where I'd got the book. She picked up something similar and went towards her seat. Carrying it with both hands, she looked at me with her typical cold expression and was trying to hand the book over without saying anything.

The book also has a hardcover and almost the same thickness. "Rapunzel" was written on the cover of the book.

Confused, I took it from her and without realizing it I looked at her with a very puzzled expression. Is she joking?

"It's my favorite book," she said.

"Oh, Thank you," I said with a smile.

She nodded once in reply. Maybe she's a robot, after all, a cute one.

"Uhm. I'm Grayson."

Without turning away her gaze from the book she said something, "Amelka."

With just a single word, I felt soothed by her sweet voice. I also started reading the book she handed me. I only heard this classic before but I guess it's quite entertaining.

It's relaxing, the absence of white noise that came from people talking in the background and the sound of paper as we change the page of our books combined with the sweet, musky smell of the books is so peaceful. I could even hear Amelka's breathing.

With certainty, this place and moment is my oasis in this hell.