His vision blurred and then faded to black as unconsciousness took him. When he finally opened his eyes, it was slow and careful, wondering if this time, maybe, they were all gone. But deep down, he knew he couldn't truly die.
He found himself lying on a bed, fully healed and dressed in fresh clothes. Sitting up, he took a deep breath and decided to find out who had brought him here, and what kind of place this really was.
Aurex got up and stepped out of his room, expecting silence or maybe emptiness. Instead, he found the people he'd killed, the homeless man, the girl and the big guy who had knocked him out, all sitting together, laughing and joking like nothing had happened.
The big guy looked up and grinned. "Oh, he's awake." Then the girl, sitting nearby, giggled softly. "You did amazing yesterday."
Aurex blinked, struggling to make sense of what he was seeing. "How are you guys alive? What's going on? Can someone explain this to me?"
The homeless man just raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about? Of course we're alive." The big guy chuckled. "You're acting weird." The woman tilted her head, a sly smile creeping across her face. "Did something go wrong with your head after you died yesterday?"
Aurex stood there, stunned. "Is this normal here? People die and then just… live again the next day?"
The homeless man shrugged. "Yeah, it happens sometimes. After you get killed, some folks lose their memories or something along those lines." The big guy smirked. "Yeah, probably looks pretty weird to him."
The girl leaned in, her eyes serious but calm. "I haven't seen you around before, but this town is huge. So here's the one rule you need to know: every day, after sunset, we have to kill each other. It's the law."
She paused, watching his reaction. "But here's the catch, we don't really die. We wake up the next day feeling better, like a reset. We do this to purge the anger, the violent urges inside us. It's how we keep the town… manageable."
Aurex was surprised. The people responded naturally, just like humans. But suspicions gnawed at him. "Is that really the only rule?" he asked. "Why wouldn't you escape this town? Go to another place? Why would you stay here?"
The room fell quiet for a moment, as if his question had stirred something they preferred not to think about. The big man leaned back, confused but not angry. "Get out of here? Go where?" he said, shaking his head. "I don't understand what you're talking about."
He glanced at the others, checking to see if anyone else understood. "This is the town. This is where we live. Where else would we go?" Aurex didn't press further. He noticed a subtle shift in their expressions the moment he asked that question. Their mood changed, not drastically, but enough. They weren't as relaxed anymore. Something about what he said had touched a nerve. So he held back. Now wasn't the time to push.
Then Aurex asked, "Is this your home? Do you all know each other?"
The girl shook her head. "No, we don't. But people who kill each other end up waking in the same house the next day."
Aurex blinked, processing that. "So… does that mean I killed you?"
The big guy grinned, his voice light. "Yep. You did."
Aurex frowned. "What about the people who survive the night? The ones who didn't die?"
The homeless-looking man looked at him with a strange calm. "They broke the rule," he said. "And they will disappear. That's how it works." He paused, then added, "The rule is clear, everyone must fight, must kill. Or get killed, if someone refuses and survives till the end… they vanish."
Aurex kept the conversation going, asking small questions, nodding along, trying to understand more about the town and how it worked. On the surface, they seemed friendly, even helpful. But something felt off. In the back of his mind, he knew the truth. They were like the people from his old town. Conditioned. Brainwashed. Trapped in a cycle they didn't question and maybe couldn't even see. That thought stayed with him, quiet but heavy.
Aurex asked, "What if I kill someone before sunset? What happens to me? And what about the person I kill?"
They replied casually, "Nothing special. We gather at sunset because that's when our anger and hatred peak. But killing before then? That's normal too. It doesn't change much."