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It was Wemmbu’s third night in this prison, and he already had enough. The food barely satisfied his hunger; sometimes he even had to steal from other prisoners. But their hunger wasy his problem.
He was currently lying on his bed, his mind wandering through all the events he had experienced on Unstable. When you really thought about it, he had seen places that ordinary players never had a chance to see: the underground world, the SkyBlock civilization, and… the underground kingdom—the kingdom guarded by Rejorce.
Maybe he really should try to sleep. Staying up late and dwelling on the past wouldn’t help him organize an escape from this prison.
Wemmbu turned onto his side and pulled the blanket over himself. These beds really weren’t comfortable. He closed his eyes, fighting his consciousness for a while, but eventually his mind drifted away.
Now Wemmbu was standing in line for his food. As usual, he walked up to Baablu to snatch food right from under his nose. After a short struggle between them, Wemmbu gave him back half of what he had taken.
“Wemmbu, you really must have a huge stomach if a normal portion of bread isn’t enough for you,” Fantst said. Wemmbu only laughed ironically in response. If he was going to escape with them, he would have to prepare for it mentally.
When everyone had received their food, they sat down at one table and started discussing the escape plan… or at least they tried to. With guards nearby, it wasn’t an easy task. Even though most of them were AFK, they still couldn’t lower their guard. It would be stupid if their plan failed just because of some Brickes people. That was one problem. The second problem was that their group couldn’t focus on a single topic, they kept arguing over the smallest details (and it definitely wasn’t like Wemmbu started most of those arguments).
Wemmbu looked at Prince Zam. The man was currently arguing with Fantst and Baablu. It reminded him of the times when Zam had his Empire, times when Wemmbu truly believed they were friends. He still remembered the pain in his chest after Zam’s betrayal. The words “oh my sweet sweet Wemmbu” haunted him in his dreams at nights.
But he also remembered the other part of the story, the part where Prince Zam finally lost that annoying smile on his face. Maybe it was cruel, but Wemmbu didn’t regret destroying all those buildings. Back then, he felt revenge, and he wanted to carry it out. After all, Prince Zam was the one who started by destroying his colony.
…But Wemmbu forgave him. It might be hard to believe, but he forgave people around him easily. He lived by the rule “forget, forgive.” After their shared escape from Clown Pierce’s prison, he never really thought about what had happened.
This prison must have had some bad influence on him.
While Wemmbu was lost in thoughts about the past, he felt someone’s hand on his shoulder. It was Prince Zam.
“Yo buddy, are you okay? You’ve been looking at me for a good few minutes.”
Right, he had forgotten he was still with them in the cafeteria. His thoughts had carried him away a bit.
“Yeah, just thinking, you know?”
Zam pushed his chair back. “Whatever, man.”
They spent the rest of their time in the cafeteria refining the plan. They even found a way to communicate with each other without drawing the guards’ attention.
Night came again. This time, Wemmbu was sitting on the edge of his bed, staring at the wall…? No, it wasn’t a wall.
He saw the figure of Rejorce.
He was smiling at him, his hair gently drifting in different directions, even though there was no wind in the cell.
“Rejorce?”
The figure didn’t respond. That’s when he understood, he wasn’t real. This was all happening only in his head. He was truly starting to lose his mind in this cell.
Yet, even though he knew the figure in front of him wasn’t real, he couldn’t stop staring. He looked so… hypnotizing. Even without saying anything, he seemed to invite Wemmbu to come closer. But Wemmbu couldn’t do it. His legs refused to move from the bed and approach the hallucination.
Maybe that was for the best.
Wemmbu tried to forget about him. He wanted to push the existence of that man out of his mind. He shouldn’t grow so attached to him, after all, he had planned to leave him alone among the abandoned civilization anyway. Still, spending time together with him and the other two had been strangely pleasant.
At first, he didn’t want to associate with them. He only needed Eggchan by his side. He didn’t need anyone else. But a shared goal and Eggchan’s persuasion convinced him. Together, they joined forces to kill JedanMan.
Now, whenever he looked at sunflowers, they reminded him of Rejorce’s wide smile. He really should try harder to forget about him.
Wemmbu didn’t sleep that night. He stared at the wall as if it were the most precious thing he had seen in this prison.
This time, the guards took them to some kind of training. They were supposed to do 1v1 fights against each other. In the first round, Wemmbu fought Prince Zam.
When the shout of “Start!” echoed through the hall, Wemmbu attacked Zam with his wooden sword. The other man dodged the attack while trying to strike back.
It felt familiar. Too familiar.
Training with Mane had been useful, he couldn’t deny that. Thanks to it, he was no longer a chungus. He could finally stand up to his opponents, face them in all kinds of fights. All those lessons and training sessions were still useful to him to this day. Because of them, he had learned to fight “without honor.” In the end, only victory mattered, no matter the method. He was still on the server, unlike those who tried to fight with honor.
Wemmbu still remembered the sign on the tree. Something inside him had snapped back then. A new need was born within him. He wanted, no he had to prove that he wasn’t a lost cause. That he was the most famous one, and that no one could defeat him.
Over time, that need faded, but it never disappeared completely. Even now, sometimes he felt like he still had to prove his strength.
“Wemmbu! That’s enough!”
The shout pulled him out of his trance. Prince Zam was lying on the ground without a totem in his hand. His face was badly bruised, and Wemmbu was gripping his prison jumpsuit.
Wemmbu stepped back.
“Chill out, I wasn’t planning to kill you.”
Zam got up from the ground and wiped the blood from his nose on his sleeve.
“I had like two hearts, bro!” Zam yelled at him as he walked off the arena.
Another night. More thoughts.
This time, his mind drifted toward his friend, Eggchan. He wondered how he was doing. When he thought about it, they hadn’t seen each other in a long time. He wasn’t even sure if Egg knew that he was in prison now.
At least he was safe in the End for the moment. The End’s guardian was a strong warrior, and he had noticed how Eggchan and Minutetech had grown closer when the angel got stuck in the End. Wemmbu would have to visit him once he escaped from here,Egg would probably show him some new lore book about Unstable or something… not that Wemmbu really cared.
Still, he was glad his friend had found some passion beyond fishing.
As Wemmbu was thinking, the lights went out throughout the entire prison. That immediately caught his attention. He stood up from his bed and walked over to the bars.
Spoke was standing there.