EVIL SYSTEM

Ben had a lot of money in his pocket and used it to buy the most expensive liquor he could find.

He drank and drank until he couldn't even stand or form a coherent sentence.

The bar owner tried to kick him out multiple times when closing, but Ben was too strong—they couldn't move him.

Left with no choice, they went through Ben's belongings and his phone.

On his phone, they found Dante's and Hubert's numbers. Since Dante's name appeared first alphabetically, they called him.

Dante arrived with Ryuji and Roger in tow.

"Why do I have to come pick him up too?" Roger grumbled, nudging the barely conscious Ben with his foot.

Dante looked at Ben sprawled on the floor and shook his head. He had known this would happen, but he couldn't warn Ben—he wouldn't have believed him.

He had to see it for himself.

Still…

Dante kept glancing at his watch while Ryuji tried to lift Ben.

"A little help?" Ryuji asked, and Dante finally tore his eyes away from the watch to assist.

"What the hell happened to this guy?" Roger asked. "Never thought I'd see him like this."

"Apparently, he caught Judy kissing another man—some random stranger, no less," Dante sighed.

"Seriously?" Ryuji looked at Ben with sympathy.

"Yeah," Dante nodded.

"And how do you know that?" Roger asked, but Dante ignored him again.

"Hey, brat, I'm talking to you!" Roger was furious but froze when he heard a faint sob.

All three of them stiffened in shock at the source of the sound.

Their eyes fell on Ben's slumped form, his head hanging low as he sobbed.

Ben… crying?

"What's wrong, kid?" Roger ruffled Ben's hair affectionately.

"Why doesn't she want me?" Ben whispered between sobs. "I'm a good guy. I have power, money… I care about her."

The three of them stood in silence, unsure how to respond.

"No!" Ben answered himself. "She's right not to want me! I'm trash!!"

"You're not trash!" Roger scolded.

"Yes, I am!!" Tears streamed down Ben's face as he choked on his words. "I swore I'd never drink after seeing what that disgusting poison did to me and my brothers."

Everyone fell silent at his words.

"After watching that damn drunk we called a father come home looking for someone to beat." Ben grabbed a bottle and smashed it against the wall in fury. "I swore I'd never give in to alcohol. I swore I'd never be like him."

"And here I am." Ben slapped his own chest in self-loathing. "Breaking that promise over some stupid setback."

"I'm trash, and I deserve whatever happens to me."

No one knew what to say.

They wanted to argue, to comfort him—Roger tried—but it was useless.

The three of them dragged Ben out, walking with him even as heavy rain poured down.

Not wanting to carry him the whole way, they quickly headed for the subway station and boarded.

Dante paid for all four of them, and they entered. Since they didn't want to haul Ben the entire trip, they walked until they found empty seats and sat down.

"Who'd have thought we'd ever see him like this?" Ryuji stared at Ben with a complicated expression.

"Why is it so weird? We're all human—we all feel the same way," Roger said.

"Yeah," Ryuji nodded. "But maybe it's because you don't know him well. He always seemed like a strong man to me—someone unbreakable."

"Everyone breaks at some point," Roger shrugged. "I just hope that when it happens to you, you're strong enough to get back up and keep moving forward."

Ryuji raised an eyebrow and nodded half-heartedly, not really absorbing Roger's advice.

"Why do you keep checking your watch?" Roger snapped at Dante. "You've been acting weird all afternoon."

Dante lifted his head with a hesitant look. His eyes scanned the subway car, which had been moving for a while now.

There were many people returning from work or school. A little girl even clung to her mother's hand.

This darkened Dante's expression, and his hands trembled.

He looked at Ben, then at the city outside.

"We're out of time." Dante grabbed Roger's wrist and yanked him closer. "We need to find shelter."

The view outside the subway changed—they were no longer aboveground but descending into the underground tunnels.

"Come on!!" Seeing this, Dante urged Ryuji to follow.

"But what about Ben?" Ryuji pointed at the passed-out Ben.

"He'll be fine." Dante forcibly dragged Ryuji and Roger away.

"What the hell's wrong with you? Where are we going?" Roger couldn't understand his grandson's sudden change in behavior. "Why are we leaving Ben?"

Dante didn't answer. He pulled them both toward the third car but suddenly stopped, staring at his watch again.

"It's too late," he muttered.

"Too late for what?" Roger grew more frantic.

Dante didn't respond. Instead, he lunged at Roger and tackled him to the ground.

---

Ben's mind was foggy from alcohol, but he was still vaguely aware of his surroundings.

He knew Dante and the others had come for him. He knew they'd put him on the train. But his memories blurred between unconsciousness and brief moments of clarity.

When he regained awareness again, he realized he was alone.

Dante, Ryuji, and Roger were nowhere in sight. He tried scanning the car with his bleary eyes but saw only strangers.

Then his gaze landed on a little girl—no older than five—staring at him and smiling.

She seemed amused by his state, and Ben smiled back weakly.

The girl giggled, but her mother scolded her. Ben started making silly faces to make her laugh again, and it worked.

His eyelids grew heavy, and he thought about resting his head against the wall for a quick nap, when—

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!

Ben was thrown to the ground, rolling through debris as the subway car flipped around him. The alcohol made everything slow, blurry—like a fever dream.

Fire roared, devouring the walls, and black smoke billowed like a beast, reeking of burnt flesh and molten metal.

People screamed and cried in panic as the world shook and the subway lights flickered.

The train tilted violently, sending bodies tumbling. Ben clung to a seat still bolted to the floor.

He saw the little girl a few feet away, her leg twisted, crying for her mother. Their eyes met, and for a second, Ben felt time stop.

Those eyes—so pure, so terrified.

"Hold on!" he growled, stumbling toward her. His legs barely worked, but something stronger than the alcohol pushed him forward. He ran, tripping over twisted metal, dodging a seat flying through the air. The girl reached out, and Ben stretched his arms—inches from grabbing her.

Their eyes locked again, and for a fraction of a second, Ben thought he could do it. That he could save something, even if it was just this.

Relief washed over them both.

But then—

A strange light flared around them, illuminating everything for a split second.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!

The sound never reached Ben's ears. All he knew was that his body—along with everyone else's—was swallowed by flames and the force of the explosion.

His last sight before blacking out was the girl's terrified face, just inches from his own.

The world turned white—blinding—before the heat hit him like a wall. Fire roared, licking the station walls, and black smoke rose like a damned demon, filling everything with the stench of burning flesh and death.

Chunks of concrete flew, crashing to the ground. Screams—sharp, desperate—mixed with the screech of twisting metal.

Through Ben's blurred vision, the scene was a living hell. Fire painted everything orange and black. Smoke coiled like a living thing. A woman crawled, her clothes charred, screaming something he couldn't hear. A man lay slumped against a pillar, blood running down his face, motionless.

And deep in the tunnel, flames kept spewing, as if the subway itself was vomiting its fury.

The train had derailed long ago. The world was upside down.

The screams grew distant in Ben's ears until his body went limp beneath rubble and fire.

A section of the ceiling collapsed, burying his unconscious form under debris and flames.

Fire alarms blared. Cries for help filled the air.

---

++++++

Author's Note:

Well, we've begun.

LET THE CHAOS START. LET THE DESTRUCTION BEGIN!!!

I don't know why, but today the AIs I use to translate inexplicably decided to fail. One of them, Grok, decided to translate what it wanted, and when I realized it and complained, it stopped giving answers. On the other hand, I no longer trust GPT chat since it started confusing the characters' genders. And now Deepseek has translated, but the text feels very short, so I'm not sure if it translated it as it is. And since you are the readers, you will know immediately; let me know if you find any errors.

I translated 1700 words and the translator made it to only 1300, so to fill that for now... blah bla bla bla. Bla bl bal ba bla