8 Closing gates

What if he gets a useless identity like any of these men? Wouldn't he have to suffer his whole life stuck in this prison for no reason?

Just the thought of it made him shudder in fear.

"What happened, kid?" The big guy asked in concern when he saw him shudder out of nowhere.

Cyril can't say that he could see all their identities and was scared for his future, right?

So he just shook his head, "Nothing, Big Brother. I am just worried for my future here."

The big guy felt pity and patted his shoulder, "What are you inside for, kid? You don't look like a criminal worthy of this cruel prison. What exactly happened to you?"

What should Cyril say? That he was kidnapped? He felt lame to say such a thing in front of all these strong men.

He opened his mouth but no words came out.

Suddenly a mechanical voice sounded through a speaker in the ward:

{All the prisoners above level 20 should leave Ward 1 immediately. The gates leading to the other wards will be closed within one minute.}

"..." Look at the surroundings. How can one run to any gate in just one minute? The area is wide. After all, this place inhabited around five hundred inmates below level twenty.

The big guy looked at Cyril and asked in concern, "Kid, if you are above level twenty, run immediately."

Cyril nodded but asked in a hurry, "What happens if I stay here and the gate is closed?"

The big guy shook his head, "As I said, no one cares about anyone here. But if you stay in other level wards, even if you finish your tasks, the system wouldn't accept it. So, you will have to live without gaining any points."

"..." 'Damn, wouldn't that mean I wouldn't have any food or other necessities? That would be terrible, Run, Cyril, run. Run for your life.' He encouraged himself as he sprinted all the place in a flash.

There was even dust visibly flowing behind him, which stunned the big guy and his henchmen.

"Woah, Big brother, this kid is fast," One of the henchmen admired loudly.

"Ha ha ha. I know right? This kid has a good future. As long as the system gives him a good identity, he will live a good life in this prison." The big guy wished for Cyril's good future looking at his back wholeheartedly.

He then looked at the youngest of his henchmen and said, "Kiddo, you go and see if he reached safely or not. If he needs any help, go and help him."

"Okay, big brother," The youngest one nodded with a smile and sprinted right behind Cyril.

Cyril ran as fast as he could but when he reached the place leading to different wards, there was a huge rush. It was clear that not only did the higher-level ones want to enter their respective wards but so did the lower-level ones.

Unlike the big guy who had years of experience inside this prison, the new ones wouldn't know what would happen if they stayed in the wrong ward. So they would think that if they stayed in high-level wards, their life would become easier and they would live a luxurious life there.

They did not know how wrong they were nor did Cyril care.

What Cyril wanted the most was to find which gate led to his ward.

He looked around and saw the boards saying: 

(Level 21-40)

(Level 41-60)

(Level 61- 80)

.

.

.

And so on. There are so many gates and since there were many, the gate size had to be smaller.

The crowd was too big and the gate size was too small.

Cyril had a bad feeling about this.

He couldn't get through this crowd at all. And the time was running out. At most there should be a couple of seconds left.

He pushed himself through the crowd.

Maybe because everyone in this prison was muscular but he was too lean, he easily passed through the crowd.

"Kid, did you reach on time?" He heard a familiar voice and looked back to see one of the big guy's henchmen.

Cyril was dumbfounded by the big guy's concern for him. He was sure that he was one who sent this man to help him. But he did not understand why that guy even liked him until now.

Anyway, he smiled and waved at him showing he was at the door right now.

Just as he was about to enter the gate, the crowd pushed around and somehow the muscular guys were able to push Cyril away from his place.

The big guy's man saw this and pushed himself through the crowd in a worry to help Cyril.

"Kiddo," he even shouted at him. He then pushed all the men around him away to pass through. Unlike Cyril, he wasn't slim. He was very muscular. One push from him and many of the men surrounding him were thrown to the side at once.

What he didn't know was that this push had changed Cyril's entire life in the prison.

As all the prisoners were shoved, the effect caused Cyril to stumble and fall sideways from his gate. There was another wave of pushing around and the gates started to close.

The gates were thick and made of iron. They were as thick as a man's arm length. There is no way one would survive of they were standing in the middle of the closing door. They would be squished to death like ants if that happened.

Seeing the gates closing upon them, everyone wanted to escape the fate of squished ants and pushed around even more.

Cyril somehow managed to not stand in the middle of the closing gate and even moved to the other side of ward one.

But when he raised his head and looked at the board hanging above him, he was shocked to his core.

(Level 41-60)

'I am f*cked up.'