The field looked terrible.
Ruaan stepped out with everyone else and stopped for a second to take it in. The same packed earth, the same high walls, the same narrow strip of sky above. But scattered across the entire space were wooden boxes. Dozens of them. Closed, uniform, placed at intervals that felt deliberate.
He already knew what was inside.
He had known since Seo told him at dinner. Guns and bullets. Whether fake or real was still a question he hadn't gotten a clean answer to and was hoping to resolve before anything was pointed at him.
The energy in the field was different from the button game. That had been tense and quiet. This was loud and buzzing, with people moving toward each other in the focused urgency of men who had already decided who they wanted standing next to them as whatever was about to happen started unfolding.
Ruaan looked left and looked right.
No glasses anywhere.
