《Rhapsody of Fate and Origin》


 Prologue: Panic Before Departure

    My life would be so much easier if I had a different type of power.


    Why wasn¡¯t it some sort of physical power?


    Something like Flash¡¯s speed thing would be great, especially considering what I¡¯m doing now¡­.


    Hell, I¡¯d even take enhanced memory. At least I would be getting better grades on tests.


    Useless thoughts appeared in my head amidst my panic. I was frantically sprinting up the fourth flight of stairs, trying to reach the rooftop in the shortest amount of time possible.


    In the first place, why do I even have to do something like this? It would be fine if people learn to keep their hands to themselves! In the first place, why would someone even take a whole pile of survey results?!


    In one hour and half hours, I need to find out where some random idiot decided to take the club¡¯s survey results in this outlandishly large school campus.


    The penalty if I don¡¯t: Instant expulsion and a ruined future.


    Going to a prestigious school like Setro Academy is the dream of countless kids in the country, yet the standards here are too strict. The standards from middle school are too removed from the standards here, making it almost impossible to adapt. It''s hard to keep up with a bunch of geniuses.


    But that''s not even the worst part...


    Reaching the top of the stairs, I opened the door leading to the roof to the side of the building. There was some fencing in place, built to prevent students from falling if they got too close to the edge. It was perfect for allowing me to get a better look down at the streets.


    I took a moment to adjust, panting from the vigorous dash to the roof. Once I had calmed down, I started scanning the vast crowds down below for any clue about where the survey results were. And of course, it wasn¡¯t giving me any hints, and instead was filling me with a terrible dread.


    Every year, during a particular week in winter, Setro Academy allowed outsiders to enter and tour the campus. People from all over the world come to visit Setro for this reason.


    Why were there so many people here? It wasn¡¯t only because of Setro¡¯s appeal, but because the graduates it has produced. Throughout history, Setro graduates have been influential determiners in where society is today.


    The bravest generals, the most brilliant scientists, the most adept athletes; all products of Setro''s education.


    While that¡¯s all in the past, Setro still creates quality graduates. It¡¯s impossible to see a Setro graduate in a position that can¡¯t be called ¡®successful¡¯ by normal standards. In our modern society, most Setro graduates are foremost leaders in business and politics; those on the unsuccessful side are CEOs of wealthy companies or hold important government positions. The more successful ones are heads of huge conglomerates or are the leaders of a country. Even if you don¡¯t have a chance of joining the school, it¡¯s an honor to view the campus that has made the world it is today.


    This leads to another reason why so many people were present. Setro¡¯s auditorium was showcasing the achievements of the new freshman as they present their club projects, all completed in the past three months.


    The presentations were an excellent way for the families of the students¡¯ to view which students had more potential in the future.


    Most of Setro Academy¡¯s student population are children of those wealthy and influential graduates who run conglomerates, hospitals, cruise lines; if there is money in it, then they have it here. Those kids have been attending Setro Academy since they were five years old, known as elevator students/internal students as they go up through the years as a Setro Academy student.


    The presentations reflect the parents of the students presenting¡¯s company¡¯s future outlook. Students not affiliated with any organizations - also known as external students (who apply for the school midway through the elevated school process that the internal students go through in Setro, and typically are from ordinary families) - are often snatched up by the conglomerates when they graduate if they show an excellent presentation.


    It¡¯s an essential tradition of Setro Academy, which is why expulsion is the punishment for not having a presentation, and since the leaders of the country are viewing this, showing a terrible performance (much less not having one) is asking never to be hired in the future.


    Imagining the looks from classmates and others alike when they see that no one showed up for the club presentations for our club is just¡­ugh.


    This goes to show how significant finding the survey results are; it¡¯ll affect both my future and the rest of the club¡¯s prospects as well.


    I¡¯m an external student that applied and was accepted to join Setro Academy¡¯s High School Section, so I¡¯m still not very familiar with the campus. Especially with its ludicrous size, that would take years to get a sense of. The school was like a miniature city, especially with its numerous club facilities, dormitories, sports fields, cram schools, restaurants, shops, and much more.


    And to look for the results, I decided to go to the place with the most amount of people because I thought that maybe the person who took the results would be traveling through here as well.


    In the end, it looked like I was going to have to use that.


    And so I closed my eyes.


    It was like I had flipped a switch


    Once I opened my eyes again, I saw a whole different world.


    A dark and sparse earth colored the world before me, save for the various scenes of toiling emotions down in the sea of people.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    I needed to look for people who were holding malicious intentions especially if they took the results on purpose. I could see the general emotions of who I looked at with my power, but I would need to focus on getting any sense of the more delicate feelings. I¡¯ve done this for years now; it has even become a hobby. If there was ever a chance to save the day, then this was it.


    And I did just that, concentrating on people with any ill intent with all my might, as I searched for the person who took the survey results.


    * * *


    I was an idiot for trying to save the day anyway; now I can¡¯t even use my ability until tomorrow. My ability is very exceptionally useless; I thought to myself as I trudged around the area without any results to show for the past 20 minutes.


    Knowing Ben, he would have found the survey results within the first 10 minutes and rushed back to the club room. His luck is scary good. It¡¯s on the level of creating miracles by walking down the street. It only hurts to think that he wouldn¡¯t text me that he had already found the data.


    I¡¯ll keep looking until I get a notification that the results were found, or until the time for presentation gets nearer.


    To stave off boredom while looking for the survey results through the masses of people looking curiously around the campus, I had picked up some rocks and playing with them by throwing them up and down in the air.


    I have already resigned to getting kicked out of the school, but a stupid sense of duty kept me looking throughout the crowd.


    Most of the people were fellow students, dressed in navy blazers, sporting Setro Academy¡¯s insignia on the left side of the blazer with different colored striped ties, complete with dress pants for guys, or a skirt for girls. They were all from the elementary and middle school sections of the academy, as all the high school students were already in the auditorium preparing for their presentations.


    There were many refined looking parents and some well-dressed kids coming from other parts of the country, looking around the school as well. But one particular thing I noticed, was that there were quite a number burly men, sporting a big pair of sunglasses giving off an intimidating aura, looking around at every nook and cranny as they passed through the school.


    I guess Setro Academy takes security seriously during events like this. As expected of a prestigious school filled with rich kids.


    After walking around for a good 15 minutes with even less of a clue to where the survey results were than before, but with a nice addition of some rocks to play with, I might as well to go back the club room to figure out some plan for the presentation.


    I could probably come up with some fake results based on prior data; maybe it¡¯ll fly by. Or perhaps I could try changing the whole idea and present something else? No that wouldn¡¯t work¡­..


    While coming up with crappy ideas to skirt the expulsion punishment, I could hear sounds coming from a nearby alleyway interrupting my thinking. Feeling a bit curious, I peeked around the corner to look at what was going on.


    The first thing I saw were the survey results. They were in a messy pile on the ground, but it didn¡¯t look like anything was ripped or torn which was a godsend.


    The next thing I saw were people. It was a group of high school students in a circle that blocked others from looking in, as they faced towards the dead end that the alley led into. It seemed as if they were kicking a dirty pile of something that suspiciously looked like a person.


    They were yelling some insults at the thing on the ground, which confirmed that the identity of the dirty pile as a person. There were also some shrill calls for them to stop in the background, most likely belonging to a panicking girl.


    It was a case of bullying.


    Honestly, it was my first time seeing any bullying, and one really wouldn''t think of seeing it in a prestigious place like this. It was against the rules for one, as it could severely damage the reputation of a school especially in an area like Setro Academy. The punishment for bullying was expulsion, no questions asked.


    Two, even if you got out of the expulsion, 95% of the student population was made up of rich kids, and the external students were ensured to have a successful career in whatever they did when they graduated. Bullying the head of a future conglomerate or the kid of an influential company was a terrible idea, no matter how one looked at it.


    I knew what I should have done: Call a teacher over and get these people expelled, or stand up for the bullied kid on the ground.


    Instead what I DID do was put down the rocks in my hands and grab the pile of survey results from the ground, not even wondering why the hell they were there in the first place. I was extremely relieved that I found them before the presentation.


    Thank you, Lady Luck! Now I have to hurry back to the club room and input the results before the presenta¡ª


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Stella; I¡¯ll make sure they can¡¯t hurt you at all!¡±


    As I was standing up to run back to the club room, I heard a voice that I recognized: It was Ben, and with the shout, that Stella was the girl calling for the bullies to stop.


    They were both fellow members of the Human Nature Research Club. There were only five members of the club, with only two males, comprising of Ben and me, and Stella is one of the three girls. Members were also forced to meet each other every day, for 2 hours minimum by Setro Academy¡¯s rules.


    I say forced one-sidedly, I bet everyone else loves meeting up. I¡¯m the only one who hates being in the club, and I¡¯m practically a ghost member. I do my fair share of work during club projects, yet they never even contact me when they have meetups or celebrations as a club outside of regulated times. (Damn normies)


    It¡¯s like I don¡¯t exist. Whenever the girls in the club are talking to me, they don¡¯t even look at me. They focus on Ben out of the corner of their eyes. Even outside of the club they¡¯re fawning over him.


    He¡¯s got them all tightly within his grasp, and they love it.


    And the worst part about it is that he¡¯s oblivious to it.


    Ben has an above average face; he¡¯s kind and friendly, if not too familiar at times. His grades are decent, a little bit lower than mine. He¡¯s very average in athletics but has good stamina.


    Honestly speaking, the only thing he has going for him is that he attends Setro Academy, but that shouldn¡¯t be a plus within the school. It makes no sense how he has these people wrapped around his finger.


    If he were alone, I would probably have left him.


    A terrible thought, but there wasn¡¯t anything I could have done in a reasonable amount of time; most of the teachers were getting prepared for the presentation or helping lead the festival. I don¡¯t even know where I could find one, much less bring a teacher over.


    Truthfully, Ben probably would have even complimented me on letting us get the survey results back on time while he was being bullied.


    Even if I did stand up and fight the bullies with him, it would result in us missing the club presentations.


    But Stella was there.


    It wasn¡¯t as if I liked her, but we were friends in elementary school. At least for a couple of months, before she transferred away. It¡¯s a sad thing to say, but she¡¯s the only person I have considered to be a good friend in my entire life.


    She doesn¡¯t remember me at all, despite the fact that I remember her.


    Maybe I¡¯ve changed too much since then.


    It saddened me when I first realized this, but in the end, I have nothing to say about it.


    I shook my head a little. This isn¡¯t the time to reminisce.


    Once I realized the identities of the victims, I decided to deliberate on a course of action.


    How can I do this with relative safety? I need to get the bullies away from Ben¡­


    After a moment of thinking, I acted on a straightforward three-step plan:


    First, I proceeded to pick up the rocks that I had left on the ground in favor of the survey results earlier.


    Then I threw the rocks as hard as I could at the heads of the bullies who were roughing up Ben.


    And the moment the rocks were in the air, I ran to the club room with the survey results in hand as fast I could.

 Chapter 1: Wind From Below

    I didn¡¯t dare look back, lest the bullies were chasing after me and saw my face.


    I was running as fast as I could, taking turns at random intervals, to throw off anyone who may have been chasing me. It wasn¡¯t until I had been running for a couple of minutes before I gained the courage to look behind me.


    Thank god there is no one chasing me!


    Why the hell did I throw rocks at their heads? Actually, why did I even help Ben out? I just wasted more time running around.


    Well, I guess what¡¯s done is done¡­


    I just hope I don¡¯t get expelled after all this.


    Getting an expulsion for injuring another student after doing my best not to get dismissed for not having a presentation would just be some terrible joke.


    Thinking back, there was probably a better choice that I could have picked. But there was a plus side: it blew away all that stress I built up from looking for the entire day.


    Once I had confirmed that I was in the clear, I pulled out my phone and texted everyone in a group chat we had set up at the beginning of the year that I had received the results and was heading back to the club room.


    Just a couple moments later, I received confirmation that all of the other members had seen the message and were heading back as well. This included both Ben and Stella.


    I guess the bullies didn¡¯t ignore the rocks thrown at their heads. Ben and Stella probably got away while they were distracted looking for me.


    There was still around 30 minutes to the presentation when I arrived at the club facility, which housed a multitude of clubs including the Human Nature Research Club.


    As I was entering the front doors of the building and walking on autopilot to the club room, I was deep in thought in what could have made Ben be bullied.


    Maybe I was right, and he did find the survey results in the first 10 minutes with the bullied and tried to negotiate for them. Only they wouldn¡¯t give it up and proceeded to beat him up.


    That would mean that Ben was being ganged up on for at least 20 minutes, but someone would have come over and seen what was happening as I did. So that didn¡¯t make sense.


    Plus that didn¡¯t explain why Stella was there in the first place. Or why Ben had to ¡®protect¡¯ her.


    So maybe Stella found the survey results and they harassed her or something? It made sense; she was gorgeous. Then Ben came in to fight them. Only he lost terribly and was beaten to a pulp.


    It just didn¡¯t match up with what I knew about her when we were little; she was always someone who would fight other kids for no reason. It didn¡¯t seem like that changed at all, I see her get into some intense fights over Ben with the other girls at the club almost daily.


    I guess it never occurred to me that she could ever be that weak.


    My train of thought stopped as I reached the entrance of the club room. A nice sign with the words: ¡°Human Nature Research Club¡± printed across appeared in front of me, hanging horizontally across the door.


    ¡°Hey, Vincent!¡±


    A shout that came right next to me from the open doorway of the Technology Club.It came out of nowhere, making me flinch as I was about to enter the room.


    It was apparently directed at me, but my name wasn¡¯t Vincent. So I just ignored it and continued to enter the club room.


    It probably made me seem rude or antisocial, but I didn''t care. If you want to get someone''s attention, call them by the right name... However, the owner of the voice didn''t have the same principals and decided to grab my attention.


    While I was closing the door to make sure the person wouldn¡¯t follow by, they quickly grabbed my hand that was holding the doorknob, stopping me firmly in place.


    I really don¡¯t want to deal with this.


    I turned around facing the person grabbing me. I looked at him for a split second, searching my memory for his name.


    He was a slightly chubby person, with a broad face, and a ruddy complexion. His short-cropped hair was gelled back in preparation for his presentation, and the smell of an expensive cologne floated about him. He had round brown eyes that were shifted somewhat down to look at my eyes, as he was a couple of inches taller than me. His mouth was open about to say something else to me, but it made him look he was yawning.


    It took me a second to remember his name: Holtan.


    He was a member of Class B. We were classmates.


    The thing was, outside of the Human Nature Research Club I didn¡¯t really talk to others. I had a weak presence and common features so most people wouldn¡¯t approach me for a conversation. On top of that, I was an external student, so I wouldn¡¯t bring much to the table if we really did have a conversation either.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Simply put, I was a loner.


    I didn¡¯t hate being a loner, and it was quite a peaceful way of living. Everything about school here is excellent; the dorms are beautiful, the people are interesting. It was just that I wasn¡¯t interesting to them.


    That being said, the only reason why I didn¡¯t like being at club meetings was that everyone there looked like they were having the time of their life.


    In this part of youth, that is called high school; they were living every second of it to the fullest.


    As they stood in front of me, it was as if I was watching a different world.


    It was almost as if I was using my ability, only my side was the stark and empty world filled with bland colors, and theirs was a paradise in which they would be happy forever, filled to the brim with bright and shining colors.


    It made me uncomfortable, watching and acknowledging this contradiction of life, knowing the feelings they had within while living this perfect life, it made me hate it.


    I was indifferent to the passing of time and have always felt that there was something empty inside of me. As if I was a clock missing a vital piece, standing still for the rest of time.


    ¡°Vincent, you aren¡¯t ignoring me, are you?¡± Holtan inquired when I didn¡¯t answer back.


    I realized I was just staring at Holtan¡¯s face without replying, like an idiot.


    ¡°Sorry, I was thinking about something. Do you need something?¡± I replied while trying to seem as calm as possible, outside of the fact that I might be expelled in the next hour.


    ¡°No, I was just a little nervous about presenting. I was curious if you were feeling nervous as well!¡± He said in a cheerful voice, looking completely relaxed, contrary to what he just stated.


    Then why the hell did you stop me? Just ask other people in your club if they were nervous and stop bothering me¡­


    In the first place, why aren¡¯t you in the auditorium? Are you just that confident?


    ¡°Ha-ha, I guess I am a little nervous. In fact, I was just about to add a couple more things to my presentation as you can see here.¡± I replied, nodding to the stack of survey results in my other hand before adding with a smile filled with fake cheer, ¡°So I can¡¯t really talk right now, but I¡¯ll be looking forward to your presentation!¡±


    ¡°O-Oh is that so? Then I¡¯m sorry for bothering you. I¡¯ll be looking forward to your presentation as well!¡± Holtan stuttered, before letting go of my hand which was on still the doorknob.


    He nodded to me as a farewell with a trace of reluctance, before looking for a new target to bother somewhere else in the hallway.


    Glad he could take a hint.


    Now I really need to start working on the presentation.


    I turned back around to close the door once again before I felt something stopping me once from doing so once again.


    He didn¡¯t even try to find someone else for more than 3 seconds. Does he have some crush on me?


    Thinking that it was Holtan failing to find another target and thus coming back to annoy me, I flatly stated while turning around, ¡°Look it''s normal to be nervous. It¡¯s a bad time to talk so st¡ª WHOA!¡±


    When I completely turned around and took a good look at the person blocking the door from closing, I saw a girl standing there, not 2 inches away.


    And I flinched back in surprise.


    The girl¡¯s sparkling amber eyes held a trace of confusion due to me flinching, but her mouth was faintly perked up in a perpetual smile as if she found my blunder amusing. Her velvety eyebrows were raised as if she was surprised as well.


    She had a snub nose that was exhaling air at a perceptible volume, and her long, jet-black hair was slightly messy, both probably due to her rushing over.


    Before I could recover and greet her, the beautiful girl beat me to it.


    ¡°Vincent, I¡¯ve heard you¡¯ve obtained the survey results? Have you input any of the results yet?¡±


    ¡­my name isn¡¯t Vincent


    It was Aria, another member of the Human Nature Research Club.


    To be even more specific, she was the freshman representative in Setro, meaning she held the highest grades in this year¡¯s placement test and was the Class A¡¯s President. She was to become the Student President of Setro Academy¡¯s Student Council in the coming year, and that was a huge responsibility.


    To get where she is now, one needed overflowing amounts of intelligence, charisma, perseverance, and diligence, not to mention a background high enough to keep the other students in their place.


    If anyone in our club was panicking over not having the survey results on time, the person who would be panicking the most was her.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t yet, I had just arrived here in the room before you arrived and was just about to begin inputting everything,¡± I replied quickly.


    ¡°Is that so? Didn¡¯t really look like it¡­ Well, I¡¯ll let you off this time,¡± Aria said doubtfully, then reached out her hand and said politely, ¡°You can hand them to me, I¡¯ll finish it quickly.¡±


    I placed the survey results in her hand and stepped off to the side to let her pass by while keeping my head down in compliance.


    Once Aria sat down and started working, I decided to sit on on the other side of the room and start working on the speech required for the presentation. Although I was doing that, my legs couldn¡¯t stop shaking.


    Out of all the people that could arrive first, why did it have to be Aria?


    Aria was a scary girl. Aria was a scary girl. Aria was a scary girl.


    Important things need to be stated three times.


    When I first met her, I was surprised that my ability couldn¡¯t see any emotions from her at all. I thought that she was unfeeling, but the kind demeanor she held didn¡¯t look fake, so it didn¡¯t make sense.


    It peaked my interest, the contradiction that this girl was, full of emotions on the outside yet nothing on the inside.


    Throughout the first week of school during club meetings, I tried and tried to see any emotion in her. And in the end, I succeeded.


    I needed to really concentrate on her just like what I had done on top of the building. It was if something inside of her rejected my peering into her feelings which caused me to not see her emotions at first.


    I had found a small ball of emotion, I had never seen anything like it before, and it fascinated me.


    At the time, I was a little disappointed that she wasn¡¯t entirely emotionless, but I was also curious what the ball was.


    So I tried to look into the ball.


    It was like an ant against an elephant, and I was crushed instantly.


    Deep down in her, she has massive amounts of killing intent and malice. It was my first time going up against something like that; even serial killers didn¡¯t have a smidgen of the amount of killing intent she had.


    When she talks to people, it seems as if she hopes something terrible will happen to the other person. Almost no compassion or sympathy exists inside her.


    My father has once told me that those who fabricate a lie perfect enough to entrap everyone always have a reason for doing so, whether it was a secret, a pleasure, or a goal.


    I knew then that this girl, this beautiful, perfect girl, must have a secret, a terrible secret to continue lying to the entire world.


    It scared the absolute hell out of me.


    Do you want to know what''s scarier than having to meet with a person like this?


    It¡¯s meeting someone who that person loves with all her heart.


    Ben is going to die a terrible death.


    Ben is going to die a miserable death.


    Ben is going to die a wretched death.


    If there is one thing I know for sure, is that Ben is a dead man walking.

 Chapter 2: Prayer before the New Sky

    The sound of knocking permeated throughout the club room when I was almost finished writing the speech.


    Who was it now?


    I glanced over at the opening door, noticing that Aria wasn''t particularly concerned, to see who was coming in.


    This time, it was the last member of the Human Nature Research Club: Lisa.


    The first thing one would notice about her was the youthful and lively aura that appeared whenever she came into a room. It made her seem approachable and friendly, to the point where even I would consider initiating a conversation with her.


    Of course, a consideration is a consideration, and it would break the Law of Loners if I were to do such a thing.


    Lisa wasn''t a particularly beautiful or cute girl, but she was pretty. She had more of an artistic charm, where the more one looked at her, the more attractive she appeared.


    Her wavy shoulder-length hair was a lot messier than that of Aria''s when she first arrived, indicating that she had run quite the distance. Despite that, her breathing was still even, displaying her athletic prowess.


    "Hey, sorry for being late. Was there any trouble with the survey results?" Lisa got straight to the point, without a moment¡¯s delay.


    As per usual in the club, the question wasn¡¯t directed at me, but to Aria. Even so, Lisa didn¡¯t even spare a single glance towards me.


    ¡°Outside of the results being missing for the whole day, there are no problems at all. In fact, I¡¯ve just finished inputting everything.¡± Aria stood up and went off to the side, indicating Lisa to browse through and check for any errors.


    That was quick; it hasn¡¯t even been 10 minutes. There was quite the number of results in there, but I guess that¡¯s expected of the future student president.


    Lisa did just that and quickly skimmed through all the survey results while Aria watched on.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Looks good! Oh, did Ben arrive here before me? I was looking for him on the way back, but I couldn¡¯t find him.¡± Lisa said urgently as if she couldn¡¯t wait to hear the answer.


    Aria gave her a meaningful smile, ¡°No, I haven¡¯t seen him; if I did I would surely inform you. Since I¡¯ve finished inputting the results, there isn¡¯t much else to do. The next thing should be for us to tidy up a little, I can see you¡¯re a little disheveled up from searching.¡±


    ¡°Look who¡¯s talking,¡± Lisa said, letting out pleasant laughter, before grabbing Aria¡¯s arm and walking towards the entrance, ¡°Let¡¯s go together, you¡¯re probably looking even worse than I am right now.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡±, Aria¡¯s eyebrows were raised in disbelief, ¡°Is that so? I¡¯m glad you told me, else I would have embarrassed myself as much as you have walking around the school.¡±


    With that, a fight started, adding to the countless number of clashes between the girls of the club since the start of the school year. And as per usual, I blocked out the fight while I continued to finish the speech.


    Seriously, it hasn¡¯t even been 10 seconds since she walked in and they¡¯re already fighting. Ben would usually be the one who appeases them, but he¡¯s with Stella right now.


    Come to think of it, what is taking them so long¡­


    I took a considerable detour before coming to the club room, so it would only make sense if they got here before me. Was Ben hurt bad enough not to be able to get to the club room? He did get away from the bullies, so he shouldn¡¯t be injured too severely.


    Oh, wouldn¡¯t Lisa be glad if I told her where Ben was?


    I took a quick glance at the girls, before quickly removing my gaze as I realized their faces starting to become increasingly distorted as insults and passive-aggressive retorts were being thrown back and forth. I began to get a little scared, especially as I watched Aria¡¯s smile grow wider, a sure sign that someone was about to die. Source: Every serial killer movie ever.


    I had lost any modicum of courage I had to my name after witnessing that, choosing to stay silent as a lamb and putting all my attention on finishing the speech quickly so I could depart even a second earlier.


    I might even start praying to that stupid Geroth guy that my father keeps tricking people with, for the girls to stop fighting before Aria kills someone (and if not possible, then preferably not me) or for Ben to come sooner to calm them down.


    Seriously, why couldn¡¯t I have chosen a better club? And what¡¯s with that stupid rule that says you can¡¯t change clubs in freshman year?! If I could turn back time, I would have chosen to go to the Literature Club. I heard they had cute girls too, only they have members that bring cupcakes every day to the club meetings and shared poems they had written every day; it sounds like a loner¡¯s paradise, one filled with peace, quiet, lots of books, and cute girls. Maybe I could ask their club leader if I could join next year.


    What was their name again¡­? I think it was Moni¡ª


    Out of the blue, I started feeling a slight burning sensation. The feeling of pain interrupted my thoughts, sending me to wonder what the heck was going on with me. Did Aria poison me? Maybe she stabbed me without me noticing? Perhaps she was prepared to murder Lisa and didn¡¯t want to leave any witnesses!


    I started to wildly look for the cause of the sensation, patting my body, looking for any clues of a weapon stabbed in somewhere. After a frantic moment of searching and a new addition of black history, I located the feeling in my chest area where a very noticeable hot temperature was being emitted.


    I unbuttoned the top of my blazer and stuck my hand inside, groping around to find the hidden weapon. While I couldn¡¯t see a weapon, I did manage to find the source of the burning sensation: It was a small golden pendant that was shaped like a goblet with a symbol eye on it.


    It was something that my father had given to me when I was five years old, after an incident that I still don¡¯t remember to this day, after telling me that I was never to take it off. Thinking about it, I don¡¯t remember much from back then. Guess that happens naturally as one grows up.


    I¡¯ve thought about what the heck the pendant was on separate occasions, and I¡¯ve concluded not long after I received it: cult merch. I mean, what better way to advertise a cult¡¯s merchandise than to put it on the cult leader¡¯s son? It gets people curious, and they¡¯ll want to get it too. I¡¯ve seen quite the number of identical pendants, except I¡¯m pretty sure my pendant is actual gold. Glad to know my father didn¡¯t skimp on me when advertising.


    I had taken off the pendant once when I was an 8-year-old because I was going to swimming at a classmate¡¯s birthday party and didn¡¯t want to show them the pendant. My father had forbidden me from going to the birthday party without the pendant and even detained me with middle-aged men from the cult meetings if I didn¡¯t put it back on.


    Have you ever been detained by regretful middle-aged men? It¡¯s incredibly disgusting, and especially soas an eight-year-old. It was even worse when I heard them mutter about how nice being young was, and how much they wished they could go swimming at a birthday party. In the end, I didn¡¯t attend because I didn¡¯t want to show off the pendant.


    I could probably go on as far to say that it''s their fault that I became a loner because between the choices of showing off cult merchandise to classmates and staying home whenever presented the decision, I had always chosen to stay home. It wasn¡¯t worth the hassle anyway.


    The way my father handles things is a little crazy¡­ like where did he even get people to detain me? Did he ask for volunteers and those people just spring up? Or maybe he carefully handpicked people who could mildly traumatize me like them? It¡¯s a little scary when I think of it like that because it means he¡¯s been slowly developing me the way he¡¯s always wanted. Like turkeys being fattened up for Thanksgiving! But people do that with the end goal of slaughtering them after a period. I just need to find out why my father wants to slay me then¡­


    Ending the trail of thought before it got somewhere dangerous, I pulled out the pendant to get a better look at it, if only to find traces of the burning pain. As I carefully searched goblet, I saw a sight that I had seen a countless number of times; it was my name intricately carved into the bottom: Victor Proel.


    I meticulously searched the goblet a couple more times after that, but instead of finding the source, the pain only got steadily worse. The increase wasn¡¯t too much, almost imperceptible, but I could feel it growing bit by bit.


    Say, is this a bomb? I can¡¯t think of anything else it could be¡­


    ¡­and it does sound like something my father would give me. A bomb disguised as cult merchandise, how original.


    I contemplated throwing the pendant out the window but was worried that if it was a bomb and it exploded, I would be branded as a terrorist. It did seem like security was pretty tight around this time, and I¡¯m pretty sure I wouldn¡¯t be able to get very far before one of those buff mafia looking security guards took me down.


    On the other hand, if I didn¡¯t throw it out the window, and the pendant was a bomb, then I would be injured when it exploded in my hands.


    With that thought, I had come to a very swift decision. The window was still draped in heavy curtains, which would make a considerable racket if I hurriedly threw it open. I was cursing my father while trying to discern if attracting the attention of the fighting girls was worth it.


    Seriously, Father makes these sorts of dangerous pranks too much. I can¡¯t believe it was a bomb this time! Especially one that had been in my hands since I was five¡­


    The blast radius shouldn¡¯t be too big; it doesn¡¯t seem very reactive or why else would it have been dormant for ten years? I wonder what set it off now¡­


    I¡¯ll need to teach him a lesson the next time I get back home. I wish he were right in front of me so I could throw this right at h¡ª


    A louder knocking reverberated throughout the room before the turning of the knob sounded, putting a stop to Aria and Lisa¡¯s squabble and my thoughts. Aria and Lisa suddenly turned away from each other as if they were afraid that someone was going to see signs of their fight, ruining their image.


    If I put it like that, wouldn¡¯t that mean they don¡¯t care what I think?


    I looked through my memories for a split second, skimming through memories of our past interactions.


    ¡­hmm I guess they never did. How depressing.


    While I was putting myself down, the girls quickly tidied themselves up as if someone famous was arriving.


    Maybe it was a teacher that was coming through to check if anyone was staying behind before the presentations? Ah, it was probably Ben and Stella! Aria and Lisa wanted to look at their best for Ben, how envy-inducing! Or at least it would be if Aria didn¡¯t want to murder Ben, ha-ha.


    No that wasn¡¯t funny at all.


    They¡¯re going to flip out when they realize Ben is with Stella¡­


    And predictably, the moment the door started to swing open, barely showing Ben peeking out from the gap, Aria and Lisa had already begun greeting him.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re finally here Ben, Lisa couldn¡¯t wait until you arrived! What took you so lo¡ª"


    ¡°Ben, I was looking for you all over the place! Where were y¡ª¡±The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Aria and Lisa both rushed up to Ben, about to bombard him with a multitude of questions but were shocked silent by Ben¡¯s condition once the door was completely open.


    Even I was surprised. I didn¡¯t get a good look at either Ben nor Stella when I saw them in the alleyway, but they did look very weird at present, especially Ben. It even made me forget about the pain coming from my hand for a moment.


    His blazer was missing presumably taken off because it was too dirty after the scuffle. The button-up shirt underneath had a couple of buttons removed from it, exposing his stomach, and it had some tears around the right shoulder area revealing the skin beneath.


    His pants weren¡¯t spared either: his entire left pant leg was torn off from underneath his knee, showing off a white sock that went midway up his shin. His right pant leg looked fine, making his outfit look like an avant-garde fashion attempt that went wrong.


    Why the hell did the bullies try to pull apart his clothes? Does it even make sense to do that in an alleyway?!


    It¡¯s a surprise he even got to the club room without getting caught because of his clothes!


    But there is something off¡­


    Then it hit me.


    His clothes weren¡¯t the weirdest part about him; the most bizarre thing was that there wasn¡¯t a single sign that he had been in any fight. There weren¡¯t any bruises on him; there wasn¡¯t even a scratch! It was as if the fight never happened. The only thing different thing about him was that his dark hair was extremely disheveled.


    He looked utterly healthy with an embarrassed smile on his face when he saw the two girls gaping at him, but if one looked carefully, you could see that his face was a little pale.


    It looked like he was trying to surprise the girls as if removing the tension from the presentation by trying to prank them and injecting some humor. A touching act! Or at least it would be if Stella didn¡¯t come into view while clinging to his left arm.


    Stella was an extraordinarily charming girl at any point in time. Anyone would have said the same thing if you asked them, but she looked particularly sexy and alluring hanging off Ben¡¯s arm.


    Her usually elaborate hair was let loose and was uncharacteristically untidy as it spilled down her shoulders, with individual strands stuck to her flushed face because of sweat. Her head was angled down as if she was embarrassed to show her face to anyone else.


    Her pointed eyebrows were scrunched up as if she was in pain, and her celestial nose, was beating hard, and even from the other side of the room I could tell hear the huffing loud and clear. She had a flushed complexion as if she had just done a vigorous activity or something that took up a lot of physical strength¡­


    If I didn¡¯t know what happened in the alleyway, I would think that Ben had a ripped clothes fetish and came into the club room after doing Stella, as if inviting the other girls to join in. Or maybe he did do Stella, and that¡¯s why they took so long? What¡¯s with that embarrassed look on both of your faces!


    No, they probably went to the infirmary, that¡¯s why Ben¡¯s all fine and dandy now. Wait no! The infirmary would never be able to fix him up that fast, at most they would just be able to reduce the swelling a bit. And they would never let him roam around campus with that attire on; it would just shame Setro Academy!


    And what¡¯s with Stella? Walking over from the alleyway to the club room should have taken less than 5 minutes just walking at a slow pace! It makes no sense that only yelling someone¡¯s name would get you that worked up. Well, I guess if Ben did do her, then it could have happened¡­


    Thoughts popped up, both speculating and refuting, at a rapid pace in my head, and it was still doing so when Aria and Lisa acted.


    Aria reached Ben, who was still foolishly smiling, and grabbed his right arm¡ªthe free arm¡ªand reached over to gently pry off Stella from Ben¡¯s left arm before starting to back up with Ben in tow. While she did so, Lisa came over and supported Stella, making sure she wasn¡¯t about to fall and started pulling her the opposite direction of Ben.


    It was incredibly smooth; seemingly impossible to have done so without prior practice. Even my father would have complimented them for their seamless act. It was awe-inspiring, especially as it took less than a second to do.


    It¡¯s like they¡¯ve known each other for years, not at all like what they were doing a second ago.


    I was surprised because this was the first time that the girls had ever treated each other so nicely.


    ¡°Ben, what happened to you! There¡¯s no way you can go off to present like this! Here, take a seat. I¡¯ll go grab an extra uniform for you to wear.¡± Aria forced Ben into a seat and gave him a sweet smile, filled with charm.


    At the sight of that beautiful smile, I knew that my most significant trouble wasn¡¯t going to be some pendant bomb my father implanted on me.


    Ben as oblivious as always, sheepishly smiling back at her, ¡°Thanks for the consideration, but you don¡¯t have to do so much for me. I can get a uniform myself, so don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°And a-as for what happened to my clothes¡­,¡± Ben looked away not daring to maintain eyesight with Aria, taking a deep breath before exclaiming: ¡°Erm, I-I got stuck in a r-rose bush or s-something!¡±


    ¡­a rose bush or something? What the hell? Even I could tell that was a shitty excuse.


    Actually no, that was much worse than a shitty excuse, that was just pathetic. In fact, it was so pathetic that even Aria is looking at you like you¡¯re trash. You might as well have not said anything.


    Amber eyes filled with disdain locked onto Ben reprimanding him, ¡°Uh-huh, are you sure you got stuck in a rose bush? If you did get stuck in a rose bush, why do you not have any scratches from the thorns? Especially with your clothes being this badly damaged, you must have been incredibly stuck in that rose bush. So stuck you must have gotten lost in there.¡±


    Wow, she is really tearing at him. The look in her eyes¡­ I bet he wants to hide in a ditch. I would probably start doing the same as well if the same happened to me.


    I sat as still as possible, not daring to move lest Aria directed a smidgen of her anger towards me, at which point I might start kneeling on the ground and begging for forgiveness. I had lost my chance to throw the increasingly hot pendant out the window; but between facing an angry Aria or a bomb exploding in my hand, I would pick the bomb every single time.


    ¡°Do you know what the Setro Academy uniform is made from? It doesn¡¯t get stuck, even if you get stuck. If you don¡¯t want to say what happened than just say that it isn¡¯t something you wish to disclose. Haven¡¯t you ever heard of the saying that a bad excuse is worse than none? You¡¯re enrolled in Setro, so of course, you have, yet you still give me such a terrible excuse! Do you have no pride as¡­¡± The remarks continued on and on, while Ben was sitting there dumbly lowering his head further and further as it kept coming at him.


    Ben started to look so sorry that I couldn¡¯t bear to continue watching. I closed my eyes for a second, trying to block out the of the scathing words coming from that beautiful girl, before opening them again, this time looking towards Lisa and Stella.


    It didn¡¯t look like anything special was going on that side, it was just a great view of two gorgeous girls talking. Stella was supporting herself on the wall facing Lisa, while Lisa had her back turned towards me, facing Stella in turn. It looked like an engaging conversation; Lisa seemed like she was getting pretty into it, especially with all that gesturing and swaying she was doing. Stella was even recovering her noble princess look, complete with a regal aura, as her face became less flushed and became more cold and aloof looking. I had no clue to what they were saying, as it was drowned out by Aria¡¯s angry ¡®speaking.¡¯


    There¡¯s the regular Stella. I didn¡¯t know that Lisa and Stella close enough to help each other, I always thought they had a lousy relationship mainly because they¡¯re the ones that fight the most. I guess even the worst enemies are kind to one another sometimes...


    ¡°You shameless slut!¡±


    *Slap*


    I spoke too soon¡­


    A crisp and loud sound attracted the attention of everyone else in the room. I could see Ben and Aria¡¯s heads jerk over to the source of the noise. I knew when I saw what happened that Aria¡¯s tirade was child¡¯s play compared to what they had been conversing about.


    Stella was laid out on the floor, an almost crimson hand mark appearing on her flawless white cheek, while she held her hands against the area in pain.


    Lisa, the perpetrator, had her right hand in front of her, clearly showing that she had slapped Stella to the ground. She was breathing heavily in anger, which indicated that her rage still controlled her.


    Ben stood up immediately and rushed towards Stella as if his life depended on it. Aria was just looking at the scene with apparent schadenfreude in her eyes yet had a concerned look on her face to keep up her fa?ade, despite nearly blowing it by lecturing Ben.


    Once Lisa had realized what she had done, she quickly glanced at the other members (of course, excluding me) in disbelief before sputtering out, ¡°I-I didn¡¯t mean to! She j-just wouldn¡¯t sa¡ª¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough Lisa. I¡¯m disappointed in you. In all the years we¡¯ve been together, this is the first time I¡¯ve felt so let down.¡± The previous embarrassed Ben was replaced with a cold stranger in an instant, with a harshness beyond what I usually thought Ben could pull off.


    Lisa¡¯s emerald eyes were filled with tears, ¡°B-But it was her fault! Sh-She obviously did something to you; there is no way that you would have do¡ª"


    ¡°I have done nothing to her. I have already said I had gotten stuck in a rose bush, why do you believe otherwise?¡± Ben abruptly interrupted her, pausing a second as if trying to hear an answer to his question while he gently caressed the area of the slap on Stella¡¯s face.


    The only sounds that could be heard where from Lisa, who had started to burst into tears once she witnessed the sight of Ben touching Stella¡¯s face.


    ¡°Why haven¡¯t you apologized for hitting Stella yet? We¡¯re right before one of the biggest events in our lives and look what you did! How is she supposed to present like this? The very least that you could do is apologize.¡± Ben didn¡¯t plan to let Lisa off just yet, still pressing for a mature response.


    Lisa cried for a good moment or two, before sending a reproachful gaze at Stella, who was held tightly in Ben¡¯s arms. She was about to apologize, and one could even see her trembling jaw, showing her reluctance to doing so¡­


    But suddenly, the door to the club flung wide open.


    ¡±THE SKY! THE SKY! LOOK AT THE SKY!¡± A loud cry came from a round figure that had barged in.


    It was that annoying classmate of mine, Holtan.


    He probably had thought he would come into a peaceful room seizing all the attention like the attention hog he was, but upon seeing the scene of a pretty girl bawling her eyes out, a gorgeous girl in the arms of a boy dressed in rags, and the beautiful freshman representative watching on, Holtan had effectively frozen up.


    ¡°O-Oh, sorry for bothering you guys. But really, look at the sky!¡± Holtan stammered out rather pathetically, before decisively leaving just as quick as he had come.


    What the hell is this idiot even doing in this school! He made the room incredibly awkward, at least fifty times as uncomfortable as it was before.


    And what about the sky? The curtains are still blocking the windows, so I¡¯ll need to brush them off to the side to see anything, but the atmosphere right now¡­


    The club room was so silent; one could hear a pin drop. It was as if the awkwardness and tension had a tangible effect, making us not dare to form a single peep.


    Suddenly, Lisa stood up and pointed at Ben, shouting: ¡°Idiot! Pervert! You can be with Stella for all I care!¡±


    Then she ran straight out the club room, as fast as she could.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    What is even happening¡­


    An even more awkward moment passed by (if that was even possible) before Ben picked up Stella, who had her eyes closed in pain and put her in a chair next to me, during which I caught a snippet of Ben murmuring to himself, ¡°¡­ I didn¡¯t want to do that to you. I¡¯ve spoiled you too much over the years; I hope you don¡¯t take that to heart. I just want you to know and acknowledge what you did wrong. I¡¯m not going to be with you forever you know¡­¡±


    Whether he was speaking to himself, or to Lisa who had long left, was something only he would know.


    He turned to me, his soft brown eyes twinkling, ¡°I¡¯m going to go after Lisa, look after Stella for me would you Vincent?¡±


    Damn you and your popularity. You¡¯re the one who started calling me Vincent and everyone else followed suit. I might as well change my name from Victor to Vincent¡­


    He didn¡¯t bother checking me for my response and directly went to the exit of the club room.


    But before he reached it, a pleasant voice sounded out. ¡°Looks like I¡¯ll have to use my presidential favors early. I¡¯ll talk to the Headmaster and ask him if he can make an exception for us. It¡¯ll be bad if my entire club is absent or roughed up during the presentation anyway.¡±


    Ben just continued as if he didn¡¯t hear the voice, but as he left the room, a voice wafted inwards: ¡°Thanks, Aria, I¡¯ll be in your debt this time. Just tell me what you need whenever, and I¡¯ll do my best to get it fulfilled no matter what the cost.¡±


    Only the fading sound of hurried footsteps could be heard a short while after.


    Aria chuckled softly, before leaving the room as well.


    Then it was just Stella and me alone in the club room.


    Well, that was like a scene from some 3rd rate drama¡­


    It¡¯s the perfect time to throw the bomb out the window. Maybe it would hit Ben and end all my troubles all at once! Ha-ha, I wish¡­


    I reached out for the window curtains, coincidentally reaching out over Stella¡¯s head. With strangely impeccable timing, just as my hand was about to pull back the curtain, her eyes snapped open.


    My gaze intercepted the intense blue eyes and continued to do so for a good moment or two. Stella then stood up naturally, without any signs of trouble, then brushed dust off of her uniform. She put a hand to the area of the slap, making me unsure if she was checking the feeling of pain or she was checking where Ben had been touching her face.


    ¡°Hand me your phone. Mine is dead.¡± The demand came out of nowhere, surprising me. Yet I didn¡¯t do anything to refute such an unreasonable command and did as Stella asked, placing my smartphone into her outstretched hand. I was weak to pretty girls, bite me.


    She inputted a number into my phone and made a call, and all I could tell was that the owner of the voice was a man. Stella also spoke quietly, but I could make out some parts of the conversations: ¡°No need to search for the survey results, we¡¯ve found it,¡± ¡°¡­head back and report¡­,¡± ¡°¡­invite him to birthday party¡­,¡± ¡°¡­stop him from leaving.¡±


    It seemed like a trivial conversation, and it was disrespectful to listen to other''s phone calls, so I tried my best not to overhear.


    Look at me being a gentleman, with a bomb in my hand.


    After a minute, she turned to look at me, with a noble and elegant aura exuding from her. It seemed like she was perfectly fine. The slap didn¡¯t appear to affect her at all, the red mark just adding a factor of mysteriousness to her already overflowing charm.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be heading out now.¡± Then she left the club without consulting me. As she exited, a phone came hurtling towards me. I fumbled for a couple of seconds as it landed in my arms before successfully catching the phone with my free hand.


    Slipping the phone into my pocket, I went back to facing the windows.


    As I thought, it¡¯s as if I don¡¯t exist. Do I smell or something? Is there a reason why everyone just found half-assed excuses to leave the club?


    Well, at least I can throw the bomb out the window now without worrying about others¡­


    The heat from the pendant had been slowly increasing throughout that whole ordeal, now at a temperature hot enough to burn me. I hurriedly reached for the curtains with my free hand and pulled wide open with all my strength.


    The sight that greeted me was one that gave me a sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu and filled me with confusion.


    The sun was gone from the sky, yet it was still bright as day. The atmosphere was clear; no clouds, no birds, yet there was a starry sky in broad daylight. Most importantly, the sky was turned from its beautiful blue color into one of dark green. All were unusual points, but they didn¡¯t make a single ripple in my mindset.


    That was because something even more astonishing was happening.


    Holy shit, my hands are on fire!

 Chapter 3: Fire and Light

    My immediate reaction to my suddenly flaming hands was to start waving them around frantically, in a bid to put out the flames.


    After a couple of frantic waves, and a brief acknowledgment that it wasn¡¯t doing jackshit to help with the situation, I started to panic with constant cursing going on in my head.


    FuckFuckFuckFuckFUCKFUCKFUCK!


    What did Father say to do if I was on fire again?


    I started to desperately remember what my father told me back in 5<sup>th</sup> grade when I had accidentally set myself on fire after a failed cooking attempt, but it was hard to concentrate with the flaming mass that was my hands.


    That''s right! Stop, Drop, and Roll!


    The instant I thought of it, I dropped to the ground with a loud thump and started rolling around desperately for the next couple seconds. The rolling around was doing nothing to help; the fire was still burning brightly. So, I quickly stood back up.


    What the fuck am I supposed to do?!


    Out of decent ideas (not like there were that many anyway), I started to slam my hands against the table front of me as hard as I could in another attempt to put out the fire, accidentally setting the speech I had just finished to flames. When it set on fire, it started burning away rapidly, leaving only a pile of ash in the next moment.


    That made the panic in me grow to despair, leading to a rash decision: I started to run for the exit screaming, ¡°HELP! HELP! I¡¯M ON FIRE AND THERE¡¯S A BOMB IN MY HANDS! HELP! IT¡¯S ABOUT TO EXPL¡ªAGH!¡±


    My screams for assistance were cut short as I clipped the edge of a table as I ran by, making me hunch over in pain yet I still tried to hobble quickly to the exit. My effort went to waste the next instant, as I magnificently managed to catch my foot on the leg of a chair and started falling towards the ground.


    As the floor rushed up to meet my face, I faintly wondered why my hands weren¡¯t in the pain one would imagine from being on fire.


    If there is another life, I hope I can get a different power. Preferably one that isn¡¯t useless.


    Then all went dark.


    * * *


    Lisa was running, tears falling to the ground, as she rushed through the entrance of the club facility.


    Stupid, idiotic Ben! Stupid slutty Stella! An idiot and a slut, what a perfect match! I hope you get married and have dumb slutty children!


    I never cared about you anyway, you big, dumb idiot!


    She had her head down, and her eyes closed as she sprinted across the campus, trying her best to put as much distance possible from the club room.


    Why are you so easily tricked?! Did the years growing up with me mean nothing to you?!


    Absorbed in memories of the past, she didn¡¯t notice the peculiar sky, nor did she notice those that were frozen, gazing at the strange sight.


    All of a sudden, a warm hug embraced her from the front, stopping her dash. ¡°Whoa there! You need to pay attention, can¡¯t you see what¡¯s happening?¡±


    Lisa was confused at first, before realizing that she had almost knocked into someone. She looked up to see a handsome man, who looked like he was in his early 30s. The man¡¯s black hair was in a classy hairstyle, which worked well to frame his strong jawline and excellent features. He had blue, almost purple, eyes that were filled with concern when looking down at her, but Lisa noticed that he seemed to be pondering over something.


    The man was wearing a tuxedo, one that looked extremely expensive, presumably to watch the presentations that were due to start soon.


    She quickly unentangled herself from the man¡¯s embrace. ¡±Hic! S-Sorry for r-running into you. I w-wasn¡¯t ¨C hic! ¨C paying any a-attention.¡±


    Lisa lowered her head from embarrassment, not wanting to show her distorted face, due to crying, to the kind man in front of her.


    ¡°You¡¯re crying! Did I hurt you on accident? I was sure you didn¡¯t hit me that hard¡­ Here, wait a second.¡± The man pulled out a packet of tissues, with an eye insignia on top of the packaging, before handing it to Lisa. ¡°Use these to clean up and take amoment to calm yourself.¡±


    He completed the action with a dazzling smile, one filled with more charisma than Stella could ever have. It was as if he was an angel down on Earth, his kind gesture exuding with a certain type of holy aura that was incredibly appealing.


    At the unexpected kindness, Lisa burst out into more tears, wailing loudly; it reminded her too much of Ben, of his kindness and consideration that he had always given to her, only now it was just to be directed at Stella.


    The man¡¯s kind smile immediately changed into one full of awkwardness.


    Did she think I was some a pervert or something? That¡¯s impossible; my smile always works in front of those middle-aged men, why wouldn¡¯t it work for some high school girl¡­


    ¡°Hey! Hey¡­ Don¡¯t be like that; I didn¡¯t mean it! Whatever I did¡­¡± He stepped off to Lisa¡¯s side and tried to console her, patting her back gently with his right hand and stroking her head on the head softly. Which to his surprise only served to make her wail even louder. But, no matter how loud she got, everyone else was still focused on the sight in the sky, some only sparing a glance at the racket.


    The man stepped back, with his hands raised. ¡°Sorry, sorry! I didn¡¯t mean it; I really didn¡¯t mean it! Don¡¯t cry, please don¡¯t cry. I¡¯m not a pervert I promise!¡±


    Hearing the man desperately trying to console her with his words thinking it was his fault she was crying¡ªmisunderstanding her actions to the point of saying he wasn¡¯t a pervert¡ªbrought a smile to Lisa¡¯s face and made her chuckle. But as she was still crying, the smile made her look even sadder, and the giggles made Lisa sound like she was choking. Hearing herself, she covered her mouth in embarrassment and crouched down to the ground, using her other hand to shield herself from his view.


    At this gesture, the man started to panic, looking around at the enraptured people around him, before resigning himself to something with a sigh. He turned to look directly at Lisa¡¯s head. If someone were paying attention, they would be able to see his iris turn a beautiful purple, and his pupil transforming into an enticing crimson red, a shocking yet captivating sight to behold.


    So it was boy troubles¡­ Glad it wasn¡¯t my fault, Myra would have killed me for making a girl like this cry. It seems like it''s your lucky day, miss, that I¡¯m here to help you out a little.


    At that thought, he put his right hand about 5 inches away from Lisa¡¯s bent head, his palm facing outwards. An unintelligible syllable drifted softly from his mouth, his eyes flashing back to normal, before retracting his hands and directing another dazzling smile at Lisa.


    Lisa, who was still bent over, began to calm down promptly, forgetting her troubles about Ben. After a few seconds, she felt as if she was completely fine, and looked up once again. Seeing the sparkling smile from the man, she blushed, feeling even more embarrassed.


    Ah! I should just die! I¡¯ve shown him such a disgusting sight; it¡¯s definitely all Ben¡¯s fault! Stupid Ben! Look at what you made me do!


    Seeing her gazing up at him, looking completely fine but blushing, the man relaxed, feeling a little bit smug.


    I¡¯ve still got it! How jealous would my son be, if he knew that I was the knight to a damsel in distress?


    Thinking about that son of his, the man¡¯s smile grew even wider.


    That reminds me, he goes to this school, doesn¡¯t he? What a lucky dog, he gets to go to such a beautiful place¡­ When I was his age, I was stuck at home, learning how to assassinate people and the best ways to lead the family! Well, I guess that¡¯s all behind me now¡­ or it would be if I hadn¡¯t picked up traces of them.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Lisa stood back up and sent a bashful smile back at the man. ¡°Sorry for showing you such a distasteful sight. I was feeling down, but I¡¯ve calmed down now.¡±


    ¡°Then it¡¯s all good! No need for an apology, you did nothing wrong. It¡¯s pretty curious that you still have the gumption to run around when the sky is like this now, eh?¡± The man lifted an elegant hand, pointing upwards.


    ¡°The sky¡­?¡± Lisa''s eyes darted towards the heavens, only to be met with the spectacular sight.


    Wow, the sky is beautiful¡­


    The man chuckled seeing that she was preoccupied. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be off now. I hope you¡¯ll have a nice day. You should start heading back soon.¡±


    Lisa gave no sign of response towards the departing man, still looking at the sky as if hypnotized.


    He was a thoughtful man; I¡¯ll probably never meet him again. For some reason, he reminds me of someone¡­


    * * *


    That was a delightful girl. It would be nice if I could meet her again, but that¡¯s improbable considering what I do.


    The sky must have been their doing. I have no idea how they accomplished such a thing; it shouldn¡¯t be possible, Earth doesn¡¯t have enough origin energy to support such large-scale magic like this¡­


    The man was pondering while eyeing the surrounding scenery, dodging the people who were frozen in place without a trace of effort as he swiftly traveled throughout the campus.


    It seems harmless, what¡¯s the point of setting up some illusion array like this? What are they planning? I guess I¡¯ll find out once I find them¡­


    The man¡¯s eyes changed once more, and he took one last thorough look at the area before stopping his gaze towards the top of a club building.


    ¡­There you are!


    However, just as he was about to start running towards his new destination, his head jerked upwards. He felt a distinct change in the sky.


    How?! The situation has changed! They¡¯ve located him!


    Pupils turning an even more profound crimson, the man sped up to a different location, heading towards the tallest point in the school: the principal education building.


    I¡¯ve got to stop them before anything happens! Victor, you must not be found¡­


    * * *


    What sort of situation is this?


    Ben was captured not long after he had left in search of Lisa, by two extremely buff men who were very well-dressed and wearing sunglasses, one for each arm.


    He wasn¡¯t in a panic because the moment they grabbed him they said they were just doing their job, and if he cooperated then nothing would happen. And so, he did, and they brought him to a nearby alleyway.


    It was just that, why the heck was Stella here?!


    She was standing at the end of the alleyway, with her arms crossed, looking impatient. Her arrogant and noble temperament showed her prominent background as the men respectfully released Ben in front of her and stepped off to the side.


    ¡°Fancy meeting you here!¡± He flashed a goofy and endearing smile at Stella while rubbing his slightly sore shoulders.


    Stella scowled back in reply, looking extremely cute while doing so. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want to meet you anywhere while you look like some homeless bum. It¡¯s your fault that I was slapped by your darling sweetheart, I couldn¡¯t muster any energy to defend myself once I used up everything I had on treating your wounds. If you can¡¯t control your woman, at least make it so that she doesn¡¯t get so easily jealous. It¡¯s unbecoming of a student of Setro Academy.¡±


    ¡°First off, Lisa is not my ¡®woman¡¯ as you put it. She¡¯s not my ¡®darling sweetheart¡¯ either; we just grew up together. As for her jealousy¡­ I¡¯m helpless too! She¡¯s just so cute that I can¡¯t bear telling her to stay away, she hasn¡¯t confessed to me, so it would be cruel of me to deny her feelings before she can express them. I know she¡¯s a great girl; we¡¯ve been together our entire lives. Sorry that she hit you, she has some small self-control issues. I¡¯ll make sure it doesn¡¯t happen again.¡± Ben shrugged shoulders helplessly, offering some perfunctory words of apology.


    ¡°Oh? You''ll make sure it ¡®doesn¡¯t happen again¡¯ you say. Do you think that sweeps everything under the rug? You¡¯ve said the same thing repeatedly since the start of the school year,¡± Stella glared at him. ¡°There¡¯s a need for some compensation. But don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t ask Lisa to pay me back because you¡¯re already here.¡±


    ¡­you¡¯re the person that brought me here.


    ¡°Haa, if you say so. Well, come out with it.¡± Ben sighed helplessly, awaiting the order. helpless


    Stella inhaled loudly, ¡°Then it¡¯s settled! You¡¯ll be coming to my birthday party! It¡¯s in three days, so make sure you get a gift befitting of my status. It¡¯s an honor to get an invite from such a beautiful and important person like me, so you better treasure it. It¡¯s a once in a lifetime thing for a person like you. And make sure you get this: it¡¯s not me that wants you to come, it¡¯s my father. He wants to check out your magical ability. Make sure you get it stuck in your head! It¡¯s not me but my father! Make sure you remember that okay!¡±


    She had released a long string of words rapidly in one breath and by the end of it, her cheeks were red.A second later, she turned away from Ben, not looking directly at him. Whether her face was red from saying that too fast, or embarrassment wasn¡¯t apparent.


    But the men standing off to the sides were looking embarrassed for Stella, with awkward smiles plastered on their faces.


    ¡±¡­heh¡­haha¡­BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!¡± Ben slowly burst into laughter, tears welling up in his eyes. He raised his hands to wipe the tears from his eyes. ¡°That¡¯s it?! Did you bring me here just to ask me to your birthday party? You even used some mafia looking dudes too!¡±


    Stella¡¯s face went beet red, either from extreme embarrassment or pure anger. ¡°I told you, I¡¯m not the one that wants you there! It¡¯s my dad! If you don¡¯t want to go, you¡¯re the one missing out! Hurry up; we¡¯re going to leave!¡± She gestured for the men to follow her out, not daring to look at Ben¡¯s face.


    ¡°Wait! When did I say I was going not to go! I would love to go! I was just laughing because of how serious you¡¯re taking this! I promise I meant nothing bad by it, don¡¯t worry.¡± Ben stopped laughing, and ran up to Stella, halting her with a hand on the shoulder with a big smile on his face.


    Stella, still facing away from Ben, but with her red ears visible, ¡° As I said, I don¡¯t care if you come or not!¡±


    ¡°Hey don¡¯t be mad, I seriously didn¡¯t mean it!¡± Ben exclaimed, before thinking for a second.


    Would she be mad if I asked to bring Lisa too? I might as well ask for everyone to come as well if I¡¯m going this far.


    ¡°Actually, why don¡¯t we have everyone from the club just come over? It¡¯ll be enjoyable!¡±


    Stella was silent for a moment, before muttering in a quiet voice, ¡°So you really don¡¯t even want to spend a smidgen of time alone with me. Still bringing along Lisa I see¡­¡± It was inaudible to Ben, but the men in sunglasses looked at each other as they heard it.


    She replied in a louder voice, ¡°Yeah, I was planning to anyway. Don¡¯t think you had a great idea because it wasn¡¯t one at all.¡±


    She said it in a slightly rough tone, where one could feel the irritation lying underneath.


    She totally got angry.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be looking forward to it! If it¡¯s Stella¡¯s birthday party, then I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be really nice. I also can¡¯t wait to meet your father! My magic is getting better, and I¡¯ll make sure to protect you better than what happened today. It¡¯ll never happen again, I promise!¡± Ben told her with utmost sincerity.


    ¡°Who needs your protection, you big dolt! I would have blown them away if I was allowed to use magic against regular people. You just keep worrying about yourself. It was so pathetic watching you get beat up in front of me, if it weren¡¯t for those rocks that came out of nowhere then you would be half dead by now.¡± Stella refuted harshly, but one could hear the tone of her voice become a little more cheerful. The men walking beside her saw the tips of her mouth raise.


    ¡°Did you have to remind me of that¡­¡± Ben became a little downcast, ¡°I¡¯ll pay the guy who helped us back, many folds over! It¡¯s a shame that he didn¡¯t leave his na¡ª¡±


    An undulation appeared through space, coming down from the sky. It was so intense it interrupted Ben¡¯s speech, and both Ben and Stella whipped their heads towards the sky, observing a new spot of light up in the new sky. The point of light seemed to be growing bigger and bigger slowly as time passed by.


    That¡­ I¡¯m getting a bad feeling from it.


    Stella¡¯s brow furrowed. ¡°I¡¯m getting some bad signals from that. We need to head back and quickly too.¡±


    ¡°You go on first; I need to go grab Lisa. She might be in danger.¡± Ben¡¯s face was the picture of seriousness, no trace of the fun and laughter that was just present a second ago.


    The moment he said that he dashed off in search of her.


    Stella just looked at his disappearing back for a second before walking back towards the club room, softly muttering to herself. ¡°He didn¡¯t even look back for a second¡­¡±


    Ben just ran for a short time, before luckily encountering Lisa not too far away. She was just staring blankly at the sky, entranced.


    It¡¯s a good thing she¡¯s safe. I don¡¯t know what I would do if something happened to her.


    ¡°Lisa! We have to go back. It¡¯s starting to get dangerous. Hurry up!¡± Ben grabbed Lisa¡¯s arm, shocking her back to reality. When she saw who caught her, she resisted fiercely.


    ¡°Why are you here?! You should be out with your Stella instead¡­¡± Lisa sounded as if she might cry again, looking slightly surprised and sad at the same time.


    Girls¡­ I just can¡¯t understand what¡¯s going on in their heads! Your this, your that, what do you take me for?!


    ¡°This isn¡¯t the time for that Lisa. Stella isn¡¯t mine; we have nothing between us. If anything, you¡¯re the most important person to me, and that¡¯s something that won¡¯t ever change.¡± Ben gazed into her eyes as he nonchalantly stated something super embarrassing.


    At that, Lisa blushed, looking down, unable to meet Ben¡¯s eyes as he pulled her back towards the club room.


    It looks I was the most important in his heart! Take that Stella, you stupid slut!


    * * *


    ¡°Aww looks like the fun''s over for now. We almost lured out that cult leader too!¡± A pretty voice sounded out from the top of a building.


    Don¡¯t get greedy; it¡¯s good enough that we¡¯ve located such persons of great talent. It would be too much to ask for someone like the ex-heir of the Proel family as well. In the first place, you can''t even handle someone of his level yet.


    ¡°Then I won¡¯t fight him. When can I just kill the others? It doesn¡¯t make sense to me to just keep them running around. I want to devour their talent already. That one loner kid seems to have already caught up to something already. It¡¯s starting to get dangerous.¡±


    You can¡¯t be impatient. It¡¯s all in due time; we are part of the fateless, unfettered by destiny. The rules of fate do not pertain to us. We belong to the realm of Gods at birth. We, with my wisdom and your supreme gifts, will reign as the ruler of all Gods!


    ¡°There you go spouting your delusions again¡­ ruler of all Gods? What sort of shitty children¡¯s TV show have you watched recently? You¡¯re already dead, yet you¡¯re still dumb enough to dream about some stupid things like that. We can barely even use magic here; the origin energy is too sparse on Earth.¡±


    It¡¯s not a delusion! That¡¯s why we¡¯re borrowing that organization¡¯s portal to get us over to Soras; it¡¯s filled with origin energy, unlike this barren wasteland here. It seems like its targeting something, and we just need to find what they are trying to get and hold on to it. Then we¡¯ll be on the path to godhood.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ well, whatever. Let¡¯s head back; Ben has just about finished. It''d be suspicious if I take too long up here."


    The point of light in the sky was reflected in amber eyes before the owner turned back around, slowly descending the stairs.

 Chapter 4: The Devil in the Dark

    ¡­ Where am I?


    The last thing I remember is that my hands were on fire, then I hit tried to get help, but I failed magnificently¡­


    Am I dead? There was a flaming bomb in my hands after all.


    I looked around, and all around me was just a never-ending expanse of darkness. It gave off a timeless and eerie feeling as if nothing in the universe would be able to affect the surroundings.


    Huh, one would think heaven would be more interesting, but it refuses to live up to expectations.


    I started walking, hoping to find something, in this endless space. Maybe whoever runs the place would let me be reincarnated with a with a more useful power in my next life? Oh, and hopefully a better family? That¡¯s not to say my family was a bad one, but man did having to go to cult meetings even Saturday take all the fun out of weekends.


    After a what seemed like an eternity, I started to doubt that this was heaven. Maybe it was hell? It would explain quite a few things about this place. But, as if this place could sense my doubt, a tiny figure appeared in my vision.


    It rekindled my drive, urging me to sprint all the way to the place. As I got closer, the figure grew clearer. At first, I saw a silver twinkling, encasing the figure gloriously. Which made think it was an angel, thus this place would be heaven!


    But as the distance shrunk, the thought that this was an angel was gone entirely from my mind. The silver twinkling, I had seen previously, were innumerable sacred chains, rising from the ground encasing a person. The person in question had their head down, long black hair, that was even blacker than space around, blocked me from seeing their face. The chains encircling him was like a beautiful gown, holding him down from everywhere from below his shoulders.


    The aura coming off the enchained figure filled me with a feeling of fear more profound than that of which I get from Aria. It transmitted feelings of hunger, an intent filled with the desire to devour the world! It must have been a devil, and the place around him was his personal hell.


    When I first felt that terrible feeling of fear, I should have escaped as soon as I could. However, as the person¡¯s aura washed over me, I felt a desire just as keen to get closer. Like something there was the missing piece that I had always felt. My head was screaming at myself to run the fuck away, yet my body wouldn¡¯t listen, continuing to get closer, step by step.


    Arriving less than three meters away, the fear inside me disappeared. It wasn¡¯t as if that aura had faded, but it was more like I had accepted the fact that I was probably about to die (again).


    Is it possible to die while being dead? It¡¯s not like I¡¯m a zombie so I guess this would mean I¡¯d just be obliterated or something along those lines?


    Whatever the answer was, I didn¡¯t want to find out. But still, I got closer and closer.


    I started to feel an absolute calm, almost like an out of body experience. It was as if I was just an observer to my own body walking towards the enchained figure, where nothing could affect me, yet at the same time, I was acknowledging that I was undoubtedly about to disappear forever.


    Suddenly, I had stopped, 3-4 steps in front of the devil. There was a deathly silence hanging in the air, and at that moment, all I did was stay silent, as if speaking would have broken an unspoken rule. I didn¡¯t know what else to do except stare. First, I looked at the silver chains, noticing something that would have been impossible to see if I were not so close. Each link in the chain was engraved with intricate and delicate patterns, each harmonizing together, making a scene akin to a piece of art. It was impossible to think of the amount of time it would have taken to make many chains out of such links, but here it was right in front of me.


    Next, I started to inspect the ¡®devil.¡¯ Or at least what I could see of it. I couldn¡¯t see its face, as the long black hair was blocking my vision, and there weren¡¯t any exposed spots for me to look, as the chains were tightly packed, almost like a cocoon. Whether because of the desire still burning deep within me, or my loss of all fear, I did something that I would have normally never done: I went to brush back the hair to take a good look at the devil¡¯s face.


    I was a little bit hesitant at first but steeled my resolve in an instant. As my hand inched closer to the hair, there was a slight pressure on it, making it hard to continue onwards. But, I continued to do so, and by the time I was virtually touching the deeper than black hair, I was exerting all the strength in my body.


    I¡¯m spending a lot of effort on something useless. How long have I been standing here trying to do this for?


    When my hand finally could brush away the hair, the faint pressure disappeared, and I could move normally. And I got a good look at the face underneath, shocking me.


    The devil¡¯s features looked attractive by themselves, but something was off about how it was presented, making its face look average. Its complexion was a pale white as if the sun had never once had its gaze on it. It had closed eyes, showing off long, full lashes, framed by arched eyebrows, which rested next to a sharp nose, which produced a strange dissonance in tandem with its prominent cheekbones and delicate chin. It was like they couldn¡¯t decide if they wanted to be an attractive boy or girl and decided to throw in traits of both, resulting in something that looked half-assed.


    It was me.


    But it was a little bit different. It looked younger than I did now, only around age 12-13 instead of the more matured 15 that I was. It seemed more taken care of, and for lack of a better word, ¡®purer¡¯ than I did. Its hair was longer than mine usually was as it had hair going down to even the floor, while I kept my hair long enough to cover most of my face. Who would have thought such an evil thing would look like me?


    I was getting a weird feeling as I kept looking at the familiar, yet different face. Thoughts that I would never think of before kept popping up. I just wanted to consume it. To devour it. To make it a part of me. To en¡ª


    As if feeling my extraordinarily perverse and disgusting thoughts, the devil¡¯s eyes snapped open, interrupting me, revealing shocking silver colored-eyes, yet another difference to me. For a second, the silver eyes roamed over my body, as if gauging something. I, who was standing in front of this devil, snapped out of the earlier trance I had been in, this time feeling something else. It was a feeling of envy, one where something in front of you was perfect, yet you had to be content with something incomplete. It was driving me insane.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    I want to stab those eyes out. Why would I want to do that? There shouldn¡¯t be any poin-


    I need those eyes; I NEED them. Why does he have it? They should be mine. Why aren¡¯t they mi-


    What the hell is he? Why am I thinking these things? It¡¯s just a dev¡­


    New thoughts kept appearing, while I did my best to route them. I felt that if I acted on them, a terrible ending would be waiting for me. But it was at most something that would keep myself from doing actions that I would regret in the next few minutes before thoughts once again emerged in my mind en mass.


    I¡¯ll start with the corners. He can¡¯t move, and that aura is ineffective, so I could try clawing it directly out. Would prying work better? I don¡¯t want to damage the eyes thoug¡ª


    ¡°Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting.¡± A harsh insult, carried on a sweet voice, interrupted the notions swirling inside of me.


    With this, the words building up inside of me vanished, as if they had never existed to begin with.


    ¡°How long has it been since I¡¯ve been sealed? I do it to myself to keep you safe, yet here you are trying to steal what is rightfully mine. Did you know? That these chains in which surround me, are nothing more than air to me?¡± The devil me took two steps forward, dragging the chains along with him, getting close enough for me to feel his fiery breath on my face.


    What the hell is he talking about? Does he have to be so close? It¡¯s not like I wanted to think that stuff¡­


    It was as if he could see my confusion inside of me, making him even angrier. ¡°What? Now you¡¯re bewildered? You don¡¯t even know what is going to occur and you still are here? That damn man, sealing me ten years ago with that damnable artifact! If it left your hands even once then I would be able to help you! Wanting to conceal my presence, I knew it wasn''t going to last! But now, they¡¯ve locked onto him, they¡¯ve found him, what am I supposed to do!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I was still confused, but deep in my mind, I was wondering if this sort of thing happened to everyone that died. Like if someone died from old age, would they just come to find a younger, eviler version of themselves just spouting random shit that confuses them? Then I started to feel bad for people who commit suicide; they came to escape the bullshit in their mortal lives, only to meet up with some batshit crazy person like this. Maybe if people knew this would happen, suicide rates would go down?


    Now that I think about it, I wonder if my body is intact. Did I burn to death first, turning into ashes, or did the bomb blow up first, rendering the clubroom a bloody mess? Too bad I¡¯m stuck here with this lunatic... if only I could be a ghost to see the looks on the rest of the club when they discover my remains. I feel like at least one of them would throw up spectacularly. Maybe it would even be Ben! Afterward, I woul¡ª


    ¡°Now you¡¯re off on a tangent! Oh, Geroth above! Why am I stuck with this halfwit on the eve of peril?! Even with great talent, it¡¯s useless without any intellect! We¡¯re going to perish for sure, FOR SURE!¡± Screaming in my face, his remarks turned into ones of panic. The chains holding his arms down disintegrated into fine particles, before lifting his hands up to clutch his face in a sort of inward pain.


    Now, I was sure he had a mind-reading ability; something I had wished countless times for. I grew slightly jealous, about why some random crazy person I meet when I¡¯m dead has a better power than me from the get-go. So, I decided to vent a little bit.


    ¡°Look, you crazy lunatic, if you want me to understand what is going on, you would have to explain the context to me. Even little kids know something like that. Now I don¡¯t have time to spend bothering with you. I have somewhere else to be.¡± I stopped there, looking at the devil¡¯s dumbfounded face, before searching the surrounding area for any signs of a way to leave. Just darkness everywhere, no different from before. I turned back to speak to the devil, ¡°Do you know the way out of here? I would hope so, but you do seem sort of out of it. Actually, ¡®sort of out of it¡¯ is an understatement; you¡¯re a lost cause. No sense of personal space, a severe case of chuunibyou, no respect for those older than you, I might as well look for a way out by myself.¡±


    Then I spun to a different direction from the way I had come from and began walking in a straight line without looking back.


    If it was a devil, wouldn¡¯t they have to be thousands of years old? I¡¯d have to correct my statement then¡­ Well whatever, it''s his fault for looking younger than me.


    ¡°YOU INSOLENT BASTARD! GET BACK HERE!¡± Came the angry voice, accompanied by a raging aura.


    I turned back to see the look on his face, but what greeted me was a silver chain whistling towards me. The first thing I did was roll over to the side, dodging the chain coming towards me, before getting up and starting to sprint as fast as I could.


    What the hell! This is probably the only time I¡¯ll ever be grateful for those summer camps Father made me attend. I don¡¯t even know what would happen if he caught me¡­


    I kept looking back to see if any more were coming at me, and just as I predicted, he sent more chains along with an angry shout, ¡°YOU DARE TO DODGE?! I¡¯LL KILL YOU, YOU UNGRATEFUL BRAT!¡±


    And with that, started a long game of tag, one where the chains were ¡®it¡¯ while I tried to get out of there. It was a refreshing bit of time, I didn¡¯t get exhausted in this abyss, so I could run and dodge as much as I wanted to. The devil was waddling around trying to chase me; it seems like he was exaggerating when he said the chains were ¡®like air¡¯ to him. At most, he only broke out one of his legs to slightly increase his speed. The problem was the increasing amount of chains that were sent hurtling towards me, accompanied by hate-filled insults towards me. While it didn¡¯t seem like the devil had excellent control over them, the number of chains made it hard for me to find places to dodge to.


    But, as all things must come to an end, so did this.


    Thanks, Father, there would have been no way for me to keep up for this long without those crazy things you made me go through... It¡¯s only too bad I¡¯m dead now, I would have liked to thank you one last time in person, I had always thought that you were an outrageously sadistic father who loved to see his son being tortured, beaten black and blue, day and night, after forcing me into a circle of sucker punch obstacles without any protective gear.


    "..."


    Now that I think about it, all I want to say to you is ¡°Fuck you.¡±


    I was slowly dragged by one foot towards the devil at the start of a single chain, before countless more joined in, turning into a cocoon leaving only my head exposed. As I was being pulled, I could only think of what someone else would feel if they could see this scene; where a giant cocoon had arms and a leg free while dragging a smaller cocoon towards him, that of which looked the same. It made me chuckle a little bit.


    When reaching the devil, I was hung upside down, forced to stare at his darkened face for an indefinite period. It was quite awkward, and I could feel his turmoil of emotions, ones of anger, hatred, and helplessness. Then came the talk, surprising me once more: ¡°You¡¯re better than I thought. It¡¯s something that I can work with¡­ You don¡¯t seem too stupid, even though you have no idea what¡¯s going on. If you can live through what is coming next, I might forgive you.¡±


    I looked at him, this time I was the one with a dumbfounded look on my face. ¡°Weren¡¯t going to kill me or something? What was even the point of all that if you were just going to stop?! What¡¯s coming? Why would I even want your forgiveness?¡±


    ¡°Ah, that was just me venting my anger, only an idiot would think someone can kill them in their own origin space. As for what¡¯s coming¡­ I¡¯ll give you some advice and some help: Do not ever trust the fateless ones. They are our eternal enemy, our only equals in the universe. We are made to destroy each other, to devour each other. There can never be a day when we get along, never forget that.¡± He looked deeply into my eyes, engraving that pair of serious silver eyes into my memory. ¡°While the seal is lifted now, you¡¯re the one in control. Don¡¯t get us killed or I¡¯ll kill you.¡±


    I¡¯m already dead though¡­ Plus all that ¡®advice¡¯ you gave me was just some more chuunibyou stuff; completely useless drivel. Fateless this, enemy that. What a scam. I just want the way out of here, but I¡¯m still stuck here with this hare-brained chained person!


    I was still looking at his face while I thought that, and I could see his face darken.


    ¡°The only hare-brained lunatic here is you! AWAKEN!¡±


    The last thing I thought before a restless feeling enveloped me was: Jeez, this guy has no chill.

 Chapter 5: The New World Awaits

    ¡°Yo bro, wake up! Wake up dude!¡±


    An obnoxiously loud voice right beside me urged a pulsing pain in my head to worsen, while clammy hands half caressed and half pat my cheeks as if the person doing so was trying to imitate what they had seen on television, but not wanting to hurt me accidentally. I would have preferred if they did slap me because the moist palms stroking my cheeks gave me feelings of extreme disgust, which did nothing to help with the whole ¡®I¡¯m dead¡¯ situation that I was in.


    What¡¯s up with ¡®bro¡¯ and ¡®dude¡¯? It¡¯s too familiar¡­ I hope that Heaven isn¡¯t filled with hip wannabees like this guy. I would prefer to go to hell. Even spending more time with that lunatic would be a better choice.


    Something about my displeasure must have tipped the person off because I could hear them getting excited and calling to their surroundings, ¡°I think he¡¯s awake! He¡¯s awake, right? Hey dude, get up quickly, we got pretty nervous for you!¡±


    The voice wasn¡¯t only loud, but also exceptionally nasally. It was a voice that belonged to a male, one around the same age of me. It didn¡¯t sound like anyone I recognized, so I guess it was safe to say this was heaven. Then again, there are lots of people that I don¡¯t know, even in my class. It¡¯s quite sad.


    The guy started to grope around my clothes for a purchase to which he could pull me up to my feet with, but as a terrible pain coursed throughout my head, making me shut my eyes tighter. I refused to cooperate.


    Truly, going to heaven is too bothersome. First, you have to put up with some crazy chuunibyou then you have to put up with people who can¡¯t use common sense to check out the atmosphere. You¡¯ve been through this before right? You should know how painful this is then! Someone stop this idiot, please¡­


    ¡°Sorry, I just have a terrible pain in my head. It was like this for you too, right? Don¡¯t worry about me; there''s nothing all that special about my death. Only some fire and a bomb¡ªan accident.¡± I still replied politely, engraved by my father from a young age, no matter how repulsive and annoying the person I was talking to was. I was speaking towards the direction of the last voice I had heard as my eyes were shut closed, hoping that I wasn¡¯t addressing the wrong person; but after I had said that statement, I could feel the atmosphere stiffen around me.


    ¡°Your death? A fire and a bomb? What sort of joke are you trying to pull Vincent?¡± A questioning voice came from the other side of me, a little farther away than the obnoxious voice. It was a voice that I recognized; it was Ben¡¯s.


    I froze up for a second, as I was sure that a bomb and being on fire was enough to kill me and send me to heaven. But I very quickly regained my calm and started to stand up, receiving some help from someone next to me.


    ...Ben¡¯s going to think that I¡¯m an idiot now. Damn it!


    ¡°An extremely distasteful one I suppose. It¡¯s already time for the presentation, and yet, here we find you sprawled out on the floor, smelling of smoke, next to ashes, with your hands in glued together. If you wanted to pray and have a sacrifice to whatever you worship, make sure to pick a better time and better place. You¡¯re lucky that the sky is green, else I don¡¯t know what would have happened to you if we couldn¡¯t find you in time.¡± A cold, stern voice answered for me, belonging to Aria.


    Are all the members here? That¡¯s even worse! They must see me as a total loser now¡­ though it¡¯s not like they didn¡¯t think that before. Damn it, should I just die?! How am I supposed to play this off!


    And I vaguely remember something about a green sky when my hands were on fire. Has it turned into a big deal? I might as well check it out for myself¡­


    ¡°Ha-ha, sorry! I guess it is a pretty bad joke. I didn¡¯t mean to stay on the floor; a small accident happened to occur. Thanks for waking me up, I appreciate the thought.¡± It was a terrible pretext directed to anyone present, accompanied by some perfunctory words of thanks for the disgusting awakening.


    I backed up a few steps, to get off of the shoulder of the person I was leaning on. Then I opened my firmly sealed eyes, to get a better look at the situation. Filling up the space around me was Ben on my right side transmitting worry and unease, with Lisa beside him transmitting feelings of passionate love and Stella closer to the exit behind her transmitting feelings of envy and jealousy. Aria was on my left side, looking coldly down at me, seeing through the pathetic explanation without blinking an eye, and I could feel a terrible impatience, and killing intent directed towards all of us present from her. The person who had been supporting me was Holtan, whose face was covered in fat beads of sweat, transmitting feelings of nervousness. His eyes were locked on me as if he didn¡¯t dare to look in the direction of anyone else.


    ¡°No problem!¡± Holtan said, confirming that it was he who had woken me up, before whispering, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I thought your joke was sort of funny.¡±


    What part of me being unconscious on the ground funny to you?


    So it was Holtan that woke me up? I guess he¡¯s sweating and nervous because of all the pretty girls in the room. What is he, a middle school student?! Or maybe it was because of Aria¡­ well, I can¡¯t fault him if that was the case. That could also explain that weird nasal voice I¡¯ve never heard him use before. Wait no, in the first place, why is he even here?


    I shot him an odd look, questioning him, but it didn¡¯t seem like he picked up on it, as he continued to look at me. I gave up, after becoming slightly depressed at the clueless expression he was giving me.


    Then it finally hit me, why are their emotions being transmitted to me? I had already overused my power for the day, and my vision was still completely normal, still in full color. But it was nearly the same feeling I had when using my ability except I couldn¡¯t see how their emotions might make them react.


    Is this that ¡®help¡¯ that lunatic told me about? Wasn¡¯t that just a bad dream?


    I immediately checked if focusing did anything for the transmitting of emotions, but nothing happened.


    Why is this even more useless than what I had before?! At least I could decide when I wanted to look at other people¡¯s mood; now it forces it on me¡­ Help, my ass, if anything, you harmed me instead!


    While I was doing my thing over on the side with Holtan staring intensely at me, Ben and the girls started a talk about what they thought the green sky was about. They were ignoring me as usual and even came to ignore Holtan as well, and I didn¡¯t feel the need to listen in. Just the transmitted feelings were enough to fill me in on what the situation was: Green sky equals danger. At least that was what Ben and Stella were giving me. Aria was just giving me the usual ¡®I¡¯m about two seconds away from murdering everyone here¡¯ vibes, and Lisa was just lovestruck, not paying attention to the conversation.


    All in all, pretty normal despite what just occurred.


    That aside, I decided to get a good look at the unusual sight that kept everyone on their toes despite my pounding head. I walked over to the window with Holtan following, seeing the curtains once again covering it.


    Now how am I supposed to do this with both my hands stuck together? I guess I could ask Holtan for help¡­


    I took a glance at Holtan who, feeling less nervous, finally took his eyes off me. Just as I was about to ask for help, he just sat down on the ground and started to breathe slowly for no reason.


    ¡­what is this kid even doing. I¡¯m better off just spending some extra time opening this up myself.


    I wasn¡¯t resigned to spend an inordinate amount of time just to open the window curtains, so I tried opening my firmly stuck hands. To my surprise, they came apart easily, leaving the pendant lying peacefully in my right hand, as if it wasn¡¯t a bomb at all.


    I¡¯m not sure it is a bomb anymore¡­ I don¡¯t think bombs can stay ok in fires, much less cause a fire and stay perfectly fine afterward. At least, not the bombs that Father has shown me.


    As long as I¡¯m alive, I should be happy. Nothing like being on fire and a bomb scare to make you glad that you¡¯re still alive!


    Shrugging my shoulders to dismiss any other thoughts, I put on the pendant around my neck, leaving it on the outside of my blazer in case it acted up once again.


    I took a deep breath, readying myself for this unique phenomenon when I had placed my hands on the curtains. What has caused this? What¡¯s going to happen now? Most importantly, are my hands going to catch fire again? Whatever the answer, the only way I would know is if I tried it out. And thus, using all my courage, I threw open the curtains, recreating the scene from not too long ago. Once again, the incredible sky greeted me.


    Unlike the previous time, there weren¡¯t any distractions that took my attention away from this sight. It was a breathtaking scene, one that I would surely remember for the rest of my life. While the sky was green, that wasn¡¯t the most unusual occurrence. What really took my breath away were the aureate, resplendent lights that filled my vision. They were all moving towards one point, resembling a magnificent golden river as it flowed towards its destination. The lights seem to come from everywhere, the earth, the trees, people, some seemingly popping into existence. It was a never-ending movement of light, stunning me for what seemed like an eternity.


    A point in the sky, a transparent, golden disk, was the final goal of all the floating lights, and I watched as it grew real-time at a rapid pace, from half a meter in radius into something spanning tens of meters in a few seconds.


    It was a captivating and picturesque sight, a sensation of ancientness and profoundnessemanating from the disk, before concluding its growth with a glimmering shine. The golden lights continued to flow into it, and the disk started to actually grow smaller, becoming it seemingly more solid and less transparent. Intricate engravings began to mark itself on the surface, turning the scene into one full of mysteriousness. Then, the scene turned frozen as the engravings ended, and the disk returned to its previous size of half a meter, only this time it was dark gold in color, covered in deep lines, exuding an alien presence of something that I felt that I should remember, but couldn¡¯t place. It shocked me out of my reverie, leading me to contemplation.


    What the hell did I just watch? Is that a fucking UFO? Are they the reason why the sky is green? Are they here to abduct people? Maybe they¡¯re here to capture the leader of big companies who are at the presentation? That actually isn¡¯t a terrible plan¡­


    During my useless thoughts, the pendant started to burn once more. This time, it was one of a cleansing heat which swept throughout my body, removing my headache, fatigue, stress, among other unhealthy traits. I didn¡¯t know what was going on, but it made me feel great and filled me with energy.


    ¡­I have mixed feelings about this. Wasn¡¯t this a bomb? Why is this giving me energy? Maybe this was actually one of those energy pendants I¡¯ve heard about? I think one of the kids in my class is the son of a manufacturer. I just hope it doesn¡¯t set me on fi¡ª


    Out of the blue, a gigantic golden beam descended down upon me like a bolt of lightning, striking the pendant on my chest, sending me sprawled out on the ground. When I looked back up, I was welcomed by Ben and the other girls¡¯ faces full of surprise. There was a split second of silence on both my side and their side, due to this unexpected event.


    What. The. Fuck.


    ¡°Um, Vincent what happened to you? Did you just fail a backflip?¡± Ben was surprised and unconcerned as if startled by the unexpected act, but not worried about me at all. Screw you too.


    ¡°¡­Are you okay? That looked like it hurt, whatever that was¡­¡± Lisa was feeling more curious than concerned. But at least she was a little worried, Stella wasn¡¯t even looking in my direction, opting to look towards the open window, feeling a little mortified while Aria was feeling a little pleased about something, staring intently at my chest where the pendant laid in all its golden goblet glory.


    ¡°Sorry for interrupting your conversation,¡± I let out a weak smile towards Lisa, completely disregarding Ben¡¯s questions, ¡°I think I¡¯m okay, and I¡¯m not too sure what happened either¡­ but I can tell you that there is a UFO outside if you wanted to know why I¡¯m like this!¡±


    10/10, I might as well have joined the Drama club at the beginning of the year, look at those deflection skills! Looking at those confused faces actually is making me want to commit suicide. Goddamn it UFO, you motherfucker, if you wanted to screw someone over, why did it have to be me? What even was that? It hit me, and I went flying¡­


    ¡°Uh-huh, a UFO. I¡¯ll check it out, no worries Vincent.¡± Ben spoke to me in a patronizing voice, looking at me with a worried expression. He was doing it with kind intentions, which was starting to piss me off.


    Aria came over to me and extended a hand to help me up, following her kind girl act she always had on. ¡°Vincent, your jokes aren¡¯t humorous¡­ It¡¯s an inappropriate time to do this as well. I get that you''re trying to lighten the mood, especially when we¡¯re supposed to be presenting but I can tell you now that you need to tone down.¡±Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    ¡°¡­¡± My name isn¡¯t Vincent! It¡¯s Victor, Victor! Get it in your head; you¡¯re the freshman rep, how do you not know this? And my jokes aren¡¯t funny? Does it look like I¡¯m joking? You¡¯re the one that¡¯s a joke!


    She was feeling oddly excited, speaking not to my face, as her gaze was affixed to my chest. It was seriously weirding me out, and she was starting to piss me off too. Not like I would actually do something though, she probably brings a knife where ever she goes¡­


    I ignored the outstretched hand filled with malicious intent and decided to just continue lying on the ground while closing my eyes. I was full of energy because of the pendant, but I was starting to become seriously disheartened. It was like the world was out to get me. Bomb scares, fires, a lunatic in my head, and UFOs hitting me with laser beams on what is the most important day of my life... It would be weird if I didn¡¯t get the message that life was giving to me, a big, fat: FUCK YOU.


    ¡°Ben, take a glimpse out the window! The light in the sky has changed; it¡¯s become a summoning medium! There¡¯s definitely something wrong with this!¡± Stella was speaking in a hushed voice, full of worry, taking care to make sure others couldn¡¯t hear. The thing was, I could still hear her loud and clear.


    Ben went silent, presumably taking a quick glance out the window and observing the changes for a few seconds. ¡°Hmm, maybe regular people see it as a UFO?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not the point! Get serious, would you? This is a massive problem! That¡¯s the biggest summoning medium I¡¯ve ever seen, and I¡¯m part of the Ardor family!¡±, came the harsh reply.


    ¡°Sorry, I just can¡¯t see how I would help. I¡¯ve only been studying magic for two months, what do you expect me to do? If something does happen, then I¡¯ll be sure to protect you guys, so don¡¯t worry about that.¡± Ben was getting into his girl-capturing mode, spouting embarrassing cheap lines.


    ¡°Who would want your protection! You can¡¯t do anything but get beat up...¡±


    Summoning medium? Magic? That¡¯s some pretty intense chuunibyou. What are these guys even doing with their lives¡­


    I couldn¡¯t take the flirting and opened my eyes only to see Stella blushing red like a tomato. Seriously, can¡¯t you take this somewhere else? If not, pick a better place, Lisa is looking like she wants to murder you guys. Can¡¯t you have some self-awareness? It looks like you guys are just whispering sweet nothings to each other¡­


    Lisa couldn¡¯t take it any longer and grabbed Ben¡¯s arm to pull him away from Stella. ¡°Get away from him you slut! Can¡¯t you keep your hands to yourself for a second?¡±


    ¡°Slut? Where did you get that from? I guess it¡¯s expected, athletic and smart, the boys can¡¯t get enough of you, and now you¡¯re projecting on others. Maybe your reputation exceeds you, and you just don¡¯t know what the word slut means?¡± Stella shot back heatedly.


    Another drop in the bucket. Do these girls not get tired of these fights? I closed my eyes again, to shut out the quarrel. Ben, why can¡¯t you just go out with one of the girls? The lively Lisa, the noble Stella, even Aria sometimes looks like she¡¯s got the hots for you, albeit in a different manner. Speaking of which, lately she doesn¡¯t even look at you like she wants to murder you. Take the chance and turn the tables on her, I¡¯ve heard hatred and love are two sides of the same coin. I bet it would be a happy and wholesome relationship!


    Meanwhile, I¡¯m just here on the ground listening to girls fighting over a different guy, and no one even calls me by my real name. Fun right? The saddest part is, you probably yearn for a shitty life like this. I think it¡¯ll be one of my best achievements if a girl would even call my real name during the whole span of my high school life. Right up there with being able to dodge 50 baseballs going 120 mph and being able to say that my father runs cult meetings with 500+ people attending every week. What a fulfilling life!


    While you yearn for my life, I can only hope to have a fraction of your happiness; even a familiar name calling would be nic-


    ¡°Hey, Victor.¡±


    Just like that. It even sounds like Aria. Am I really that desperate for someone to call my name? A murderer¡­ actually wouldn¡¯t her personality fit into a certain archetype? Hara.. harg.. Damn, I just can¡¯t remember. If it really was Aria, I guess it couldn¡¯t be too bad. Being friendly with a beautiful, high-spec person like her would be the dream of many boys at our school. I would probably have a crush on her if not for my useless power. So I guess it isn¡¯t useless all the time¡­ Oh, what am I kidding, if I didn¡¯t have my power, I wouldn¡¯t even have the courage to go near people like this, despite what my father has put me through. It''s not because I¡¯m shy but because we are from different worlds, in more ways than one.


    I can¡¯t imagine finding myself a girlfriend or have somebody even remotely see me as someone that they would like to romantically go out with. In fact, most people don¡¯t even notice I¡¯m near them. Just like how those girls got into a fight despite me being on the ground. What would they do if I peek or something? The world is lucky it has a gentleman like me in its ranks. The evil that people could do with my nonexistent presence, the horr-!


    ¡°Victor, are you ignoring me?¡±


    I guess I¡¯m incredibly desperate or something. Imagining Aria saying my name once is one thing, but two times is a little¡­


    ¡°Victor, stop joking around! I told you it wasn¡¯t funny!¡±


    Oh shit, she really is calling my name.


    My eyes snapped open, to see Aria right in front of me. She was crouched down, staring down, not looking at me, but at my pendant with a greedy look on her face. I could feel her delight seeping from every pore of her body.


    You know what? I thought this would be a more monumental moment of my life, but I really don¡¯t feel anything at all from this. Maybe it¡¯s the girl, but I feel cheated of a happy moment. If she knew my name before, why was she calling me by Vincent this entire past year? She just called me Vincent a second ago actually! Just looking at her expression makes me disgusted. Why is she looking at some crappy cult merchandise like that? It¡¯s just a bomb/energy pendant¡­


    ¡°Oh sorry, I wasn¡¯t paying attention. Do you need something?¡± I scooted back a little, to put some distance between me and Aria, but it was futile as she inched even closer than before.


    ¡°Not much, I was just wondering where you got that necklace of yours! If it isn¡¯t important, would be able to gift it to me?¡± A sweet, captivating smile appeared on her face. I could imagine people¡¯s jaw-dropping if they could see this smile. But I wasn¡¯t fooled, it was suspicious enough that she would say my name correctly, but she wasn¡¯t even trying to hide her greed.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a trinket that my father gave to me on my fifth birthday. He absolutely loves it when he sees me wearing it, so it would be impossible for me to give this to you. Sorry!¡± I denied her as softly as I could, continuing to back up as fast as I could. I was also trying to stand up if only to make Aria give me a little bit more breathing room. But alas, the situation took a turn for the worse.


    She grabbed my shoulder with an iron grip as I was in half-crouching position, sticking me in place. This was despite me being in the best condition in my life.


    ¡°Oh, but I think it would be possible.¡± A sinister aura suddenly appeared; one that was usually reserved for Ben. Aria put her face closer to mine, this time staring deep into my eyes. Her amber eyes spoke tales of murder and death, making my back covered in sweat in an instant.


    What is she doing?! This is blatant robbery!


    ...just please don¡¯t kill me.


    ¡°Haa, you¡¯re right! I was just¡­a little absent-minded, that¡¯s all! Just pretend I didn¡¯t say anything earlier. This is my present to you, so don¡¯t feel as if you need to give me anything back.¡±


    Actually, you don¡¯t have to feel the need to ever see me again. I¡¯d be willing to take the initiative if that doesn¡¯t bother you.


    ¡°Oh my, thank you! Don¡¯t worry about the presentation; it''s just icing on the top for everyone here, even if you skip it, I¡¯ll make sure nothing happens to you!¡± She gave me her terms for the pendant (not like I had any choice in the matter), and I passively accepted it. She allowed me to stand up properly after removing her hand from my shoulder.


    Then she grabbed the pendant.


    BOOM!


    It was if a bomb had gone off. A deafening sound erupted the moment Aria¡¯s hand touched the golden goblet, from up above. There was screaming involved, but I was pretty sure that it was just Holtan. The pendant started shining a brilliant gold, rays of light spilling through her fingers. Ominous popping noises started to fill the surrounding area.


    It was the roof. Cracks began appearing on the walls around us, accompanied by the moaning of rushing wind.


    Then it came off. The roof just was lifted in the air, and in mid-air, I witnessed it turn into the same golden light I had seen before. Air rushed into the room, making all the members duck in cover, and Aria was forced to remove her hand from my pendant. I grabbed it again and turned around.


    A chance!


    I immediately ran away from Aria, hoping to make lots of distance, but then the walls started to disintegrate around us, exposing us to even more air than before. It threw me off balance, and I landed on the floor, facing me towards an open hole leading outdoors. It was here, where I witnessed one of the eeriest sights in my entire life.


    I saw almost all the people on the streets float into the air, turning into golden lights, before rushing to a point above my head. All the many lights I had seen before were rushing upwards as well, creating yet another beautiful scene, which made me wonder: Where did these lights come from?


    The green sky changed color once again, into a deep bloody purple color, and was darkening by the moment as if the presence of light was disappearing forever.


    When half of the walls disappeared, I gained the courage to look upwards and saw the ¡®UFO¡¯ directly overhead. Except that it was a little different from how I remembered it. It was a lot bigger than before, spanning the entire building. There was a black spot in the middle, where all the aureate lights were disappearing into, widening by the second.


    What the hell?! It actually is a UFO! The world is going to end; they don¡¯t want to abduct people, they want to extinguish humanity!


    Not a moment later, one of us in the room started to float upwards: Holtan. Filled with despair, he started bawling and screaming, presumably because he had seen what had happened to the others who were lifted up as he was the one closest to the window.


    It happened before I realized it. Filled to the brim with energy thanks to my pendant, I got up in a split second and jumped to hold Holtan¡¯s legs down. I didn¡¯t really understand what this would do, but it seemed to help the situation somewhat, as Holtan¡¯s rise had halted.


    What the hell am I doing? I¡¯m not some hero¡­ That¡¯s Ben¡¯s role! Should I let go? I mean he¡¯s already fine now, but I¡¯m already up here, so I might as well go all the way. Damn, why am I such an idiot! Look at you, bawling and screaming, I feel like doing that even more than you! *Sigh* Its reasons like this why people don¡¯t know my na¡ª


    All of a sudden, Holtan started rising again, albeit at a slightly slower pace than before. The thing was, I was still holding on to his legs.


    Whoa! Oh my god! OH, MY GOD! I¡¯m so dead. I¡¯m so dead. I¡¯m really dead this time. I think I¡¯d rather get blown up by a bomb than disintegrate into those golden lights! Of all the ways to die, this is something I would never have thought of¡­


    I closed my eyes in anticipation of death, wondering what the feeling of disintegration felt like.


    Is it painful? I sure hope not¡­


    But the feeling didn¡¯t come as expected. Instead, a pair of hands found their way around my ankles, preventing both me and Holtan from rising. I opened my eyes again, waiting to see Ben holding on with all his might, but instead was greeted by Stella¡¯s determined face. I was touched; did she remember me?


    But alas, time waits for no man. After another second, we started rising once again, only to stop once more. This time it was Lisa grabbing onto Stella¡¯s legs. I couldn¡¯t see Lisa directly, but I could infer so because I was able to see Ben rushing over still, while Aria was glaring murderously at me.


    ¡°Thanks, Stella! You¡¯ve saved me once again!¡± I felt the need to say it to Stella at least once in my life.


    I didn¡¯t receive a reply, and that was to be expected. It was something that I had bottled up for years, meaning to keep it deep in my heart. I didn¡¯t have the bravery to say it out loud to her, but to speak it in the middle of a torrent of wind was enough for this life. In the first place, she was only paying attention to the object in the sky.


    It was like a stalemate against the ¡®UFO,¡¯ everytime it wanted to pull us into its clutches, we would deny it of that chance. It was exhilarating to me, despite the fear deep in my heart


    We can do this! We can survive!


    It was as if it could sense my defiance, and immediately I could feel another change. The howling winds grew even faster, buffeting the entire human ladder thing we had going on. I was forced to close my eyes, as I couldn¡¯t see anything with my hair being blown into them. Things are a lot scarier to imagine in the dark, and it was especially so when in a situation like this. The whistling wind and screams from people rising were all that I could hear. It there was hell, it was here. That was all I could think about.


    We started ascending even faster, with two breaks in between, presumably when Ben and Aria joined in. Yes, we kept going up, and up, and up. It was weird because the others on the ground had disintegrated when they had risen only about 3 meters in the air.


    Have we really not risen that far yet? It seemed very improbable¡­


    Speak of the devil, and he doth appear. I could feel the pull coming from up above me slowly starting to get lighter, horrifying me. A second hadn''t passed before my hands became empty. Holtan had disappeared.


    It wasn¡¯t as if he was just gone, but I could feel that he was broken down. I sensed his feelings, emotions, memories: the whole of his life was just slipping away into the air.


    I was next.


    I opened my eyes once again, despite the wind whipping my hair against my face. I wanted to get one last look of the world before I left it, to keep a beautiful image in my mind as I died. I wasn¡¯t scared of death at this moment, but instead, I felt that I had accepted it, like how it was when I first met the devil. There weren¡¯t any flashes of my life, and all worry vanished, with a smile appearing on my face.


    To enter the world cluelessly, and to leave the world with a smile; It was the way my father told me he wanted to die when I was nine years old. I kept that in my heart until this day.


    I bet he would never think that I would die before him either. I still don¡¯t really believe it myself; I figured that someone would stab him in the streets long before this.


    What else do people look for when they die? Regrets? I don¡¯t really have any¡­


    Happy moments? I don¡¯t believe I have any of those either¡­


    To be surrounded by friends and family? I can check that one off, my only friend in the world is right underneath me!


    My smile grew, even more, self-satisfied, glad that the ideal way to die was right in my hands. Even if my life has been one filled with disappointment, I can say that I¡¯ll die the way countless people hope they can die.


    While I awaited death, my vision filled with shining golden lights as if heaven had come down to greet me into its doors before I had even died. With one last look at the sky, I screamed out into the gaping hole: ¡°FUCK YOU! ALIENS ARE PIECES OF SHIT ANYWAY!¡±


    I burst into laughter after hearing my self-speak nonsense and prepared myself to stay laughing to the end.


    It looks like you¡¯re having fun in the face of death. It¡¯s quite admirable that you have this type of quality in you, despite how much of a weakling you are.


    ¡­what?


    Do you have a yearning for death? It¡¯s amazing how ignorant you are about the things around you. A fateless accompanying you in death is something that I would never even dare to imagine.


    It was that stupid chuunibyou lunatic¡¯s voice inside my head.


    Do people go crazy before they die? That can¡¯t be right, I¡¯ve always heard that people become more lucid at the point of death¡­


    You have the Holy Grail around your neck, yet you speak of death! How amusing!


    ¡­what the hell? I did go crazy!


    I¡¯ll help you out once again, you didn¡¯t survive this, but I¡¯ll let you pass on behalf of your attitude.


    Before I could think of anything, I felt the control of my body cease. My hand slowly reached up to grab my pendant, then stick it in my mouth, starting to chew furiously.


    ?!


    After a couple of bites, I spat it back out, only to watch it start to glow with sacred light. It was burning brighter and brighter, eventually resembling a miniature sun.


    Not a bomb, not an energy pendant, not even cult merchandise; what the heck is this thing around my neck?!


    I stared at it, dumbfounded, while cracks appeared all over the body of the pendant. As the cracks grew wider, a golden sheen appeared on the outside of my body and making its way downwards to cover everyone else.


    We were still being dragged upwards, but I had an unusual sense of safety when I saw the gold cover me.


    Maybe we CAN live through this! If I can survive, I¡¯ll make sure to change my life around! I¡¯ll tell those everyone to start calling me by my actual name, and I¡¯ll get real friends. It¡¯ll be¡ª


    Then the pendant blew up, right in my face.


    As I sunk into darkness, I felt vast anger over a certain chuunibyou. Before I could think of anything derogatory, I saw a strangely broken figure at the edge of my receding vision.


    Father, what are you doing here...

 Chapter 6: Awakening

    Interlude: The Man Named Proel


    -A few minutes prior-


    ¡°Oh, lindin fillimin e jet?s. I b?j thirrje p?r t? sjell? zjarr n? gishtat e mi; p?r t? hedhur posht? madh?shtin? t?nde mbi ata q? guxojn? t? blasfemojn? bot?n¡­¡±


    Chants came down from the top of a grand and dated structure. A figure was waving his arms frantically, sweat coming off him in thin trickles. If anyone else were paying attention to him, they would have thought him to be a madman.


    If Lisa were to see the figure, she would be pleasantly surprised; it was the handsome man she had met earlier. Only he looked a little bit different at a few choice spots. His black hair was now a light purple, and his eyes were utterly crimson red with golden pupils. The atmosphere around him spoke of archaic might. This atmosphere, combined with the scenery, gave him a sense of timelessness.


    His eyes were transfixed on the ¡®UFO,¡¯ as coined by Victor, watching as it expanded and contracted. It was as if it was searching for something.


    What the hell are those old fogeys thinking?! They only used a utility origin tool to establish a summons; not even an artifact! Did they run out of ideas? The worst part is¡­ it succeeded!


    A frustrated look on his face popped up for an instant before he returned to his awkward poses and chants.


    The stingy bastards are trying to make this side power the summoning! Don¡¯t they know that even if it were established correctly, then the destination would be up to fate?


    It even forced me to start using the foundational technique to assist the spell in being correctly released¡­ If I ever go back, I¡¯ll kill them for sure!


    The spell finished with a loud shout. An arrow of fire, made of golden flames appeared, floating atop his outstretched palm. The man directed it to the floating object and pushed out, where it shot out faster than a bullet.


    The moment the arrow was in the air, it started twirling, growing even more substantial as it pierced through the wind.


    ¡°Hah, if big man Ardor were to see that, he¡¯d lose his shit!¡± The man mused to himself as he watched on, thinking about the current situation.


    While the origin energy here is very dense compared to how it usually is, it still isn¡¯t enough to power the summoning. But why does it seem like they aren¡¯t going to stop? And why here? This doesn¡¯t make much sense unless someone set it up so that it arrived up here!


    That¡¯s impossible, how would they get someone over here to set that up? Even they don¡¯t know how to influence the summoning destination from across planes, and if someone from Heaven¡¯s Court came over I would have sens¡ª


    The man stopped his thoughts as the arrow hit the target without a sound, ripping through the ¡®UFO¡¯. It should have been a joyous occasion, yet a golden beam appeared striking a random point from down below. At the sight of this, his face stiffened, a twisted expression emerged. His handsome face looked like a devil¡¯s in conjunction with his crimson eyes and purple hair.


    They¡¯ve already marked the Holy Grail! Victor¡¯s in trouble¡­ I need to destroy the summoning fast before anything else occurs!


    I didn¡¯t want to use this¡­


    ¡°Bloodline Open: Origin Affinity¡± He opened his arms wide, and a baleful aura materialized, coiling around his body like a snake.


    His purple hair turned back to black, but it was a black closely resembling the Devil in Victor¡¯s ¡®dream¡¯. The gold in his pupils swiftly took over the rest of his eyes, creating a holy aura in complete contradiction to what he had earlier.


    ¡°Arrow Barrage¡± He lifted a pointed finger towards the ¡®UFO¡¯ and a torrent of dark arrows appeared to soar over to their target.


    The first arrows just bounced off the surface, but under the unending volley of projectiles, slight damage could start being seen. This continued to worsen with every continuing second.


    Doing this under the effects of a skill is much worse than doing it manually¡­ But still, it¡¯s more potent than expected with all the energy here.


    How many years has it been since I¡¯ve used a skill like this?


    ¡°Lightning Spear¡± This time, a sizeable 10-meter spear made of coursing energy appeared above the man, where he directed it towards the same target. He intended to use this a finisher when the ¡®UFO¡¯ was damaged enough.


    The spear was growing more substantial, more uncontrollable, as time went by, humming as if in anticipation. The man frowned a little, still concentrating on the different types of magic, as he continued to observe the slowly breaking object.


    I still need to speed up.


    ¡°Judgement: 1<sup>st</sup> Mortal Sin.¡±


    Countless miniature swords appeared around him, following his lead to provide cleansing on the object floating in the sky. Each sword looked as if it could be a children¡¯s toy, but the aura that emanated from each one spoke of countless trials and domination. Altogether, it seemed like a sea of swords as it sped onwards.


    A satisfied smile appeared on his face, ¡°I really do still have it! This is still cool no matter how many times I witness this; it¡¯s too bad there isn¡¯t enough energy to use the other forms of Judgement.¡± He looked downwards as he observed the entranced faces of the ordinary citizens down below. ¡°If only they could see this as well. It¡¯s too bad I can¡¯t use this stuff to dupe more people into joining the religion, but one can¡¯t get too greedy.¡±


    Time slowly ticked onwards, his smile growing more profound as he watched the ¡®UFO¡¯ fall apart.


    This turned out to be a great day! I¡¯ve found a trace of them, and I can ruin the plans of those old codgers. All finished with relative ease as well. I brushed up on some of my skills, and I found out that I¡¯m still as spry as I was 20 years ago.


    Maybe Victor is my lucky star?


    ¡­Yeah right!


    Now, the ¡®UFO¡¯ was in a state of total disrepair, pieces of it were still falling into the air as it continued to be bombarded. The man waved his arm, dismissing both Judgement: 1<sup>st</sup> Mortal Sin and Arrow Barrage, leaving the sky nice and bright once more.


    Time for the end of a busy day.


    He pointed towards the broken recipient, focusing his intent at the core. Humming intensified from the energy spear, now 15 meters long and a deep purple color, as it slowly started turning like a drill. After a few seconds of highspeed spinning, it shot out, even faster than the previous fire arrow.


    As it flew, the man turned back around. His hair turned back into a less deep shade of black, and his eyes turned into a deep blue. His aura turned back into one of a pure air, making him seem no more than a gentleman. He pulled out a phone from his pocket, dialing a number.


    ¡°You finished?¡± A hoarse voice with a slight feminine charm came from the speaker, seeming as if it belonged to a rough woman.


    ¡°Yeah, it was surprisingly easy. It looks like we don¡¯t have to do much after all.¡±


    ¡°Well that¡¯s good, we need more hands down at the base, there''s a problem with the energy levels.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it; the cause was over here. I¡¯ve just about solved it so you guys can just treat it as a little hiccup.¡± The man paused, thinking of a good idea, ¡°How about this, since I¡¯ve done such a good job¡­ treat me to a meal?¡±


    There was no reply for the next couple seconds, and just as the man thought the other side had hung up, a voice answered, ¡°You already know my answer, no romance with others in the organization. Besides, what would Victor think once you¡¯ve brought me home to meet him?¡±


    ¡°What the are you thinking? Romance? I just want to ask you about something; I¡¯m too busy for love anyway. Victor and taking care of the cult and all that, y¡¯kno-¡° His head jerked back around, as he felt the lightning spear he had sent out disappear without reason. Once he got a look at what had happened, he exclaimed, ¡°Fuck, that¡¯s cheating!¡±


    ¡°Cheating? What are you talking about? Neither of us is married, and I¡¯m not seeing someo-¡° The woman¡¯s voice was full of questions, curious about what the man had going in his head.


    ¡°Sorry Myra, I¡¯ve got to go! We can have a meal some other time, make sure to have it nice and spicy! He urgently interrupted the woman¡¯s weirdly reluctant reply, cutting off the call.


    The supposedly destroyed ¡®UFO¡¯ was rapidly repairing itself, as if turning back time. The man could feel the origin energy starting to assemble at the bottom of it, as it was unceasingly absorbed to supplement itself. The thing that horrified the man was the source of this new origin energy.


    They¡¯ve gone crazy! It¡¯s stealing the origin energy from the citizens and buildings!


    I fucked up big time¡­and it¡¯s my job to fix it.


    I need to find the weakness of this summoning medium!


    ¡°Unveiling Vision¡± A new spell appeared on the tip of his tongue, a golden radiance covering his eyes.


    In his vision, the world had turned black and white, seeing only an unbelievable amount of origin energy entering the ¡®UFO¡¯. He watched on as people were being converted into golden lights at an alarming rate, listening to their screams. The ¡®UFO¡¯ was suspended loftily in the air, all black.


    Shit, no weaknesses either¡­


    I need to hurry before it can warp away the Holy Grail!


    Victor should be okay for a while; the Holy Grail was only marked. As long as he doesn¡¯t do anything stupid...


    He closed his eyes, dismissing the magic once again, allowing his vision to return to normal. He tried to focus, to pump out any idea that can help the situation.


    If there aren¡¯t any weaknesses, then I must destroy the whole thing at once!


    There isn¡¯t enough origin energy in the atmosphere to power any epic spells, even now. At most, only mid-tier spells can be used. So¡­


    A determined look appeared in his eyes, showing the man¡¯s resolve. He stretched out his arms in front of him, palms on top of each other. ¡°Bloodline Open: Heaven¡¯s Will¡±


    A burning feeling coursed throughout his body, intense pain accompanying it. The man stood firm, as unwavering as a mountain. A radiant light started to peek out from the outermost palm, slowly forming the shape of a sword.


    Ah, this sucks. I left Soras because I wanted a peaceful life, yet look where I am now. Stuck burning my life force trying to prevent a multiplanar summoning!


    If someone had told me this would be my life 20 years ago, I would be laughing my head off!


    The radiant sword of light started to appear more genuine as time went by, settling at a length of around 7 meters. It was huge and unwieldy, looking utterly unfit for human use, yet was entirely controlled by the man. It was just about finished, only now he was waiting for the will to converge.


    However, the situation took another turn. The ¡®UFO¡¯ moved off in a random direction, attracted by something, tearing up buildings and absorbing people at an even faster pace. It had found what it was looking for.


    Damnit! They¡¯re starting the transfer!


    But it¡¯s still not ready yet¡­


    An exasperated look appeared on his handsome face, as he jumped down from the top of the building. A crazy act, done only by the suicidal, but he did it without a moment¡¯s hesitation. Just before he was about to become a smear on the ground, he raised his free hand, and a mysterious gust of wind blanketed his fall. He turned himself just as he was about 2 feet the open road, balancing himself, before running off in pursuit of the ¡®UFO¡¯.


    He nimbly dodged all the panicking people, as they tried to run away from a fate of being disintegrated. Some were still entranced by the sky, under the effects of the illusion. He made his way over quickly but was still delayed considerably. By the time the ¡®UFO¡¯ was in his field of vision, he saw a long line of people hanging in the air: it was the Human Nature Research club. (plus Holtan)A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    What even is this?


    It was a strange sight for sure, but the man didn¡¯t hesitate at all. He started running up the stairs to get to the highest floor, only to witness the person at the top of the line begin to disintegrate.


    Holy, was that Victor?!


    No, that¡¯s impossible, the Holy Grail protects him. If he doesn¡¯t do anything else and sits tight, I¡¯ll be able to save them.


    Heaven¡¯s Will is almost ready to go out fighting! Just a little bit longer¡­


    In the wait time, he watched as Victor closed his eyes as if thinking of something, with a peaceful expression.


    It¡¯s impressive that he has such an attitude in the face of death. But I guess it¡¯s expected, especially after all the stuff I¡¯ve put him through.


    He started to look at the other people hanging from Victor¡¯s legs, slowly making an astonished face.


    Is that¡­ Stella? Ardor¡¯s little girl? Did she and Victor become reacquainted? She has grown quite a lot in these past couple years since I¡¯ve last met her. She¡¯s lucky she met up with Victor now.


    Next is... Oh! It¡¯s that girl I met earlier! What an unexpected reunion! Only, she¡¯s crying a lot more than she was before¡­


    Who¡¯s that young man below her? Doesn¡¯t seem like anyone from the magic clans, so why does he have a trace of energy? He¡¯s unexpectedly talented! I hope he becomes friends with Victor¡­ or I guess they¡¯re already friends, huh.


    He made a smug face, deep in the ramblings of a man about to die.


    There¡¯s one more person¡­ it¡¯s a pretty girl too! No magic though¡­ that¡¯s too bad. I could consider giving Victor over to her if she was a little magical. Or I guess someone normal is what he needs? Then again, she doesn¡¯t really look normal in any sense of the word. In fact, there is something a little off about her; is it her calm face? Well, that shouldn¡¯t be a problem.


    But why are my instincts screaming at me¡­


    It was a puzzle at the end of his life, and he wanted to find the answer. Others might have let it go, wanting to think about happy times or regrets at the end of their lives, but it wasn¡¯t part of the man¡¯s nature. Then it hit him.


    The summoning could mark down the Holy Grail faster than expected¡­ And coincidentally appeared in the area as Victor and Stella. The traces of them were here too¡­


    It¡¯s her.


    A murderous intent filled the man, dense enough to catch the attention of Aria hanging off Ben¡¯s legs. As she looked down confusedly, the man found her contented smile, making his killing intent soar even higher.


    That little bitch¡­ right under my nose too! I need to kill her before anything else happens. But the summons is about to happen! I¡¯ve only got one chance, to destroy one of them, or to disrupt the summoning.


    A trace of indecision appeared on the man¡¯s face when presented this dilemma. But after an instant, he made his choice and prepared to act on it.


    I¡¯ll kill her while the will is still preparing, then slash down the summoning right as it finishes condensing. The timing will be tight, but it¡¯s still doable.


    ¡°Ten more seconds, just ten more!¡± The man counted the time before he would sacrifice himself, choosing to burn Victor¡¯s figure into his gaze before he died. ¡°The world is lucky they have a guy like me. I¡¯m the hero this place needs, but doesn¡¯t deserve!¡±


    No wait, I think I got the quote wro¡ª


    ¡°FUCK YOU! ALIENS ARE PIECES OF SHIT ANYWAY!¡± A loud shout startled him before he started to chuckle along with their boisterous laughter after recognizing the voice.


    Sometimes you surprise me, Victor, you really do. It¡¯s my pride that I have a son like you¡­


    Then he watched Victor take the Holy Grail and stick it into his mouth, chewing away as if it was the tastiest morsel in the world. The man had an indecipherable look on his face at the sight of this.


    ¡­what am I dying for again?


    The world, it¡¯s the world I¡¯m dying for! It just so happens that my son happens to reside in the world¡­


    He let out a short sigh before his face turned sharp once again. ¡°It¡¯s time.¡±


    His legs exploded with energy, shooting him towards the sky like a rocket. He wielded the sword towards one side, making it look like a trail of sorts. He was planning on cutting off Aria¡¯s head while he was building momentum upwards, and it seemed right on course to happen.


    Aria, who was distracted by the yelling as well, finally noticed what was about to occur. A face filled with incomprehension first appeared, before fear started to creep in as the edge of the holy sword swiftly closed in on her neck.


    First target dow- FUCK!


    A golden sheen repelled the sword¡¯s edge from digging into the young girl¡¯s neck, and he was powerless to go any further, forced to keep moving onwards. Once she realized she was still alive, she broke out into a roaring laughter, filled with triumph.


    Shit, was that the Holy Grail? Can¡¯t do anything about that then¡­ someone else will have to take care of her after I die.


    I¡¯ve got to focus, destroy the portal, and I ruin their plans, that¡¯s the most important thing. If they get their hands on the Holy Grail¡­who knows what might happen.


    The man concentrated on the gaping hole underneath the ¡®UFO¡¯. One good hit was all he needed. It would be better if he landed it on the core, then there wouldn¡¯t be an explosion. Heaven¡¯s Will, as he called it, finished forming midway up. The sword looked wholly physical and had shrunk down to a length of 3 meters. Blood started to drip out of his eyes, ears, nostrils, and the corner of his mouth.


    Here it is!


    The man lifted his hands above his head, the sword radiating a domineering aura, preparing to cut down on the last of his strength. He bent his knees, wanting to look cool as he finished this last strike. A smile appeared on his face, not for what he was about to do, but for who he knew he would see when he died.


    BOOM!


    Man proposes, but God disposes. A quote came from to his mind; it was one he was quite impressed with when first reading it on Earth. An explosion happened below his legs, moving him off course.


    It was the Holy Grail.


    He was thrown off the path he had calculated; it would be lucky if he could even nick the ¡®UFO¡¯ now. His momentum still carried him upwards, but a full look of disbelief appeared on his face.


    So, this is how I die¡­


    I¡¯ve always thought that life was meaningless until I met you¡­


    But it turns out I was always the useless one. Talent? Power? Intelligence?


    I guess it was all useless in the eyes of Fate.


    He closed his eyes, blood starting to drip out of every pore of his body. He began to reminisce about his life, everything that had happened. Hiding his talent for 15 years since birth, secretly joining Heaven¡¯s Court at the age of 12. Level 25 at age 11, level 50 at 15, level 75 at age 19, a speed of growth that would have put fear in geniuses everywhere. And once he met her, he decided to leave Soras. An impossible task, but he had succeeded. But with a price. In the end, he was left with just a baby.


    The times he had with Victor wasn¡¯t that of fatherly love. It was more of a training, watching the life of her offspring, making sure he would grow into someone respectable. It wasn¡¯t until now that he realized he took pride in him.


    What a pathetic end for someone like me¡­


    I¡¯m someone who was destined to have the world at my feet, yet now I can¡¯t even complete one task.


    I just hope he turns into¡­someone that is better than I was.


    A dejected sigh, accompanied with bubbles of blood, came out of his mouth.


    I¡¯ve still got one more card to play.


    A specific person saying, ¡®FUCK YOU!¡¯, appeared in his mind.


    His attitude really is something to be praised.


    ¡±Bloodline Open: Life Dispersal¡±


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center" colspan="4">Status</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">Name</td>


    <td colspan="2">Ryder Proel</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">Race</td>


    <td colspan="2">Human</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">Age</td>


    <td colspan="2">39</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">Sex</td>


    <td colspan="2">Male</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">Occupation</td>


    <td colspan="2">Bloodline Elemental Sword Saint</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">Level</td>


    <td colspan="2">75</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">Title</td>


    <td colspan="2">Dimensional Traveler</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center" colspan="4">Attributes</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Health</td>


    <td colspan="3">50/572 (11789) (-5.0/s)</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Mana</td>


    <td colspan="3">0/653 (9817) (+4.0/s)</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Strength</td>


    <td>12 (172)</td>


    <td>Magic</td>


    <td>9 (157)</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Agility</td>


    <td>8 (90)</td>


    <td>Endurance</td>


    <td>13 (179)</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Dexterity</td>


    <td>11 (102)</td>


    <td>Charisma</td>


    <td>17</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Intelligence</td>


    <td>15</td>


    <td>Willpower</td>


    <td>40</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Wisdom</td>


    <td>12</td>


    <td>Perception</td>


    <td>2 (121)</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Dignity</td>


    <td>147</td>


    <td>Bloodline</td>


    <td>0 (50)</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Leadership</td>


    <td>69</td>


    <td>Luck</td>


    <td>5</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Divinity</td>


    <td>57 (126)</td>


    <td></td>


    <td></td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center" colspan="4">Specialties</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Magic Scholar</td>


    <td>Elemental Affinity</td>


    <td colspan="2">Origin Control</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Deft Hands</td>


    <td>Muscle Master</td>


    <td colspan="2">Nimble Feet</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Robust Body</td>


    <td>Increased Regen.</td>


    <td colspan="2">Intermediate Berserk</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Poison Resistance</td>


    <td>Curse Resistance</td>


    <td colspan="2">Abnormal Resistance</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Sixth Sense</td>


    <td>Danger Perception</td>


    <td colspan="2">Bloodline Ancestor</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Noble Will</td>


    <td>Swords Mastery</td>


    <td colspan="2">Magic Mastery</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center" colspan="4">Status Effects</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Bleeding</td>


    <td>Overdrafted</td>


    <td>Cursed</td>


    <td>Marked</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">


    All your levels, attributes, titles, and specialties will be sacrificed to make a severely weakened Life Dispersal.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Yeah, yeah just hurry up and do it.


    A bright, purple light, came into existence. It originated from his body, and in a flash, formed a sword-like appearance. It shot out, at blinding speeds towards the ¡®UFO,¡¯ cutting through half of it but failing to do any more damage as it disappeared.


    The man smiled in happily, as he witnessed his last move doing some damage before he died. Then, his eyelids felt heavier and heavier.


    It¡¯s all up tofate now¡­


    All went dark.


    But it wasn''t the end.


    * * *


    ¡­¡­..


    ¡­¡­


    ¡­


    .


    Ugh¡­ what is this smell?


    A dank, pungent odor was the first thing I noticed when I had woken up. The next thing I noticed was a slight rocking sensation, comfortable to say the most, but it was a little creepy. I mean why would I wake up with a rocking feeling?


    My eyes were still closed out of habit, as I liked to savor that last bit of darkness before having to look at other people. But I felt there was something wrong. It was the noises. I could hear the silent steps of something around me, and the loud talk of gibberish between a group of people. Honestly, it was annoying as hell. I tried to move my arms and legs, but it was impossible to do so. It felt as if there was something tying me to a rod of some sort, in a crossing fashion, preventing me from being able to move.


    Am I getting pranked? Did people break into my dorm room and just leave me in the shared bathroom?


    Wait, the bathroom smells pretty good though¡­


    SHIT, DID THEY DROP ME OFF IN A PUBLIC BATHROOM?!


    Even for a prank on someone you utterly despise, it would be too much. In the first place, there shouldn¡¯t be a reason why you hate me!


    These motherfuckers! I¡¯ll piss on their beds! Let¡¯s see how you like it then!


    But, it¡¯s too much work¡­ and it¡¯s risky also¡­ meh, I guess I¡¯ll give up on it. I¡¯ll set their beds on fire instead.


    After a moment of intense deliberation about my situation, I felt something wasn¡¯t right. Why couldn¡¯t I understand a single word they were saying? If I couldn¡¯t understand a word, then the kidnappers couldn''t have been from the dorm. The only people from the dorm that would do something like this belong to D class, and I sure as hell know that I speak more languages than them. It can¡¯t be some secret language because those idiots wouldn¡¯t have the patience to do such a thing.


    I can feel movement, so I think they¡¯re still in the middle of kidnapping me. But what¡¯s with that smell?


    Don¡¯t tell me¡­


    That¡¯s what they usually smell like?


    It seemed improbable, but I couldn¡¯t think of a good reason as to why someone would roll around in something that smelled like shit. Unless they naturally smelled like that. Even if you wanted to disguise your scent, there are millions of different things you could have chosen to pick.


    Why would someone want to kidnap me? Money? No, they could have seized someone else in the dorm, and made tons more ransom money. So, it couldn¡¯t be wealth.


    I kept thinking, but nothing made sense to me. Then it hit me.


    It must be because of my father. His shitty cult got me into this mess, and his cult enemies are trying to get back at him by kidnapping me. What sort of fucking situation is this?


    I¡¯ve been in a couple of kidnapping situations (all simulated of course, or at least I think so¡­), and the first thing one needs to do is to keep calm. Check for that one.


    Next step, observe the surroundings, try to predict what the kidnapper is going to do.


    Well, first it seems like their steps aren¡¯t too big as the rocking sensation is shallow. This means that the kidnappers are either very small or are being cautious, taking small steps. I think it¡¯s the former because they aren¡¯t being cautious, else they wouldn¡¯t be talking so loud. Plus, the sound of their footsteps is light as well. Now the number. I could pick out 4 different, distinct voices. But it¡¯s best to think of the loner in the back, so I would say, 5 people.


    That¡¯s it for the senses without vision. I didn¡¯t open them up before because I didn¡¯t want them to tip the kidnappers off that I was awake. So, I started. First was opening them up just a crack, and from that little slit, I could see long strands of grass, mixed in batches of dirt. It was close to my face, which strengthened my suspicion that my kidnappers were tiny.


    The problem is, I didn¡¯t recognize this ground. There is only concrete for miles outside the campus, how did I not wake up before then?


    Well, whatever. Time for the next step.


    I opened my eyes a little wider, letting myself see the world a little bit clearer. Just in time to see a bit green foot.


    What?


    I thought I had hallucinated for a second, so I opened my eyes a little wider, so I could get an even more unobstructed view. This time, I could see a pair of tiny green feet walking step by step.


    What the fuck. What the absolute fuck is going on!


    Amid the panic, I started to remember the past day. The presentation, the scramble for the survey results, Ben¡¯s bullies, the bomb scare, that idiot Holtan, the weird dream (that apparently wasn¡¯t a dream), the green sky, and the UFO.


    OH GOD! Holtan died! I¡¯ve always wished for you to disappear one day, murdered in cold blood by a family member, but it was just a joke! But you died! You actually died!


    I feel¡­


    ¡­


    Huh, I don¡¯t really feel anything.


    A little creeped out by my insensitiveness; I decided to not think about it anymore, focusing on how yesterday could be connected to this kidnapping.


    Green feet¡­


    A UFO¡­


    I¡¯ve been kidnapped by aliens! They¡¯re going to take me to their laboratory and experiment on me! Oh my god, I thought my life before was bad, but now all I¡¯m going to be is a lab rat! Damn, I should have died just like Holtan instead! (Too soon)


    I began to panic again, this time ignoring the kidnapping rules. Rules can go fuck themselves; I¡¯m being kidnapped by aliens that smell like shit! What happens if they make me smell like shit too?!


    The realization that panicking didn''t really do much to help with the situation made me regain my calm, but it was too late. I heard the alien carrying my legs behind me call out loudly in gibberish, resulting in a stop.


    Oh shit, rules are there for a reason. Especially ones for kidnapping, you don¡¯t want to break those rules or something terrible is going to happen to you. Except something terrible is already happening to me!


    The aliens dropped me on the ground and kicked me so that I was facing them. I started screaming my lungs out, to get them to back away, but it got cut short once I saw something peculiar.


    The aliens were, as expected, as tiny as little kids. The thing was that they were much uglier than little kids, so it didn¡¯t give me any reason to get soft on them. If anything, it made me disgusted.


    But that wasn¡¯t thestrange thing. It was theblue box floating above their heads that got me to shut up.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">


    Goblin Lvl. ?? (2)


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>

 Chapter 7: Not a Dream

    It was all that was in my vision: Blue boxes, that denoted messages that I couldn''t comprehend at first sight.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Goblin Lvl. ?? (2)


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Goblin Lvl. ?? (7)


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">


    Goblin Lvl. ?? (8)


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">


    Goblin Lvl. ?? (4)


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">


    Goblin Lvl. ?? (2)


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Um¡­what the hell are those things?


    Are they¡­ screens? Why are they floating over their heads?


    Do aliens feel the need to distinguish themselves with this? They all look the same, smell the same, and this is the only way they can tell each other apart?


    No, that would be dumb, there are two identical screens. Plus, if a civilization of aliens couldn¡¯t tell each other apart without displays like that, then they deserve to be wiped out. Preferably before they start kidnapping people from different worlds.


    Questions appeared in my mind as I was looking up at the tiny dwarf aliens. They had surrounded me and were gazing down at me with their little beady, black eyes, apparent disdain on their faces. Their noses were out of proportion to their faces, big enough to make me wonder how they could walk properly. All of them had a broad, toothy smile on their face, showing small, yellowed teeth that would have looked like fangs if they were not so rotted. They started chattering in their gibberish again, shooting looks at each other, without a care in the world. During the ¡®conversation,¡¯ one of the aliens licked their lips with an unnaturally long, purple tongue. My only saving grace was that they had ragged hides of sorts to cover their genitals.


    Man, these aliens are disgusting. Couldn¡¯t I get picked up by a super gorgeous human-looking alien from Mars? Maybe we would be able to start a legendary romance¡­


    Hell, what am I kidding myself for? Tiny green aliens with a penchant for smelling like shit is just my luck. Shouldn¡¯t hope for anything better.


    They were just ignoring me as if they were waiting for something. Or trying to intimidate me. Neither of which made much sense to me, but I was forced to just wait alongside them. I was tied up after all.


    But contrary to what I believed, no one showed up after a few minutes. Even the aliens seemed to get bored, as they had started a little scuffle off to the side. I couldn¡¯t see what was happening, but the noises were enough to fill me in on what was happening. I decided to contemplate on what those screens might have been.


    Those screens¡­they look like they belong to video games.


    Ones that give information about different monsters¡­ and come to think of it, a ¡®goblin¡¯ is a stereotypical beginner mob in games as well, isn¡¯t it?


    If that was the case, does Lvl. stand for level? But what the heck do the question marks represent? Does that mean I don¡¯t know their level? What¡¯s with the numbers next to them?


    There is just too much I don¡¯t know¡­


    I closed my eyes again, trying to see how this all fit together. Games! Aliens! How doest thou fit together?


    Maybe aliens found video games on Earth, and decided to integrate it with their society, resulting in what I see here?


    "..."


    Nah, if they could do something like that then why the hell would they be carrying me everywhere. They had a super high-tech looking UFO; it doesn¡¯t make sense to move me anywhere on a stick.


    I won¡¯t even begin to question their smell, maybe that¡¯s a cultural alien thing.


    Alien cultures¡­ I wonder what color their blood is¡­


    I started to get off track, a bad habit formed by talking to myself to stave off boredom during school. Consequently, I can proudly proclaim that I¡¯ll never get bored by myself, and by extension, meaning that I haven¡¯t been bored since the start of middle school!


    To stop myself from getting too off track, I decided to try observing my surroundings. So, I opened my eyes again; I was greeted with the night sky if you could even call it a sky.


    It was an eerie midnight blue like a deity had wrapped a blanket of the color all around the world. It was just a block of color, nothing else inside of it. It made me confused. Where did the soft light come from?


    But before I could get my answer, the five ¡®goblins¡¯ suddenly stopped making noise and scrambled to stand back in front of me. They stood shoulder to shoulder, in order of height, with their backs facing towards me, showing off their dirty backsides. While it was hard to tell, they had differences of a couple of centimeters in height depending.


    Maybe the number next to the question marks corresponded to height? The more significant the number, the taller they were?


    It seemed improbable, and a very useless thing to do. It was only a couple centimeters, what was the point of doing such a thing?


    Before long, a loud thumping could be heard from a distance. It was possible for me to feel vibrations coming at me through the ground as if the object approach was one of massive proportions. It frightened me, but also left me in anticipation. Would it be a super high-tech vehicle? Another UFO? Maybe a mecha was coming here to save me!


    Alas, my hopes were dashed. What came into sight from over the goblins¡¯ heads was another alien fellow, standing about one and a half meters tall. Its body was a lot more humanoid than the aliens around me, with the skin of a darker shade of green that approached black. It didn¡¯t look muscular, more off to the thin side if anything. But what grabbed my attention was the fact that it didn¡¯t have pants. It was strutting towards us, green penis in all its tiny glory. It was disgusting, but I could barely contain my laughter.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    It was because the goblins in front of me immediately lowered their heads at the sight of the minuscule penis as if trying to compare it to their own. I could feel their jealousy and subservience, and it was just too funny.


    Do aliens base their position in society off penis size?!


    I was frantically trying to stop that feeling of laughter from welling up inside my chest, scared that this new guy was going to try anything weird if he saw me laughing. However, a moment later it subsided when I saw another blue screen on top of his head.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">


    Hobgoblin Lvl. ?? (1?)


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Hobgoblin¡­another monster from a game.


    Are these¡­aliens?


    The thought that these thingsweren¡¯t aliens scared me. Why else would I be here? Who brought me here? Why was I captured? Where are the others? Have they also been caught?


    Questions that I couldn¡¯t possibly know the answer to started to appear inside of me, bypassing the false calm I tried to give myself. A hysteria quickly sprouted in my heart and took hold of me.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">


    As the Hobgoblin approaches, his will overpowers you from afar.


    You are now under the status: Fear


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    What the hell is happening?!


    Why the fuck is this happening to me?


    Where are the others?


    Why me?


    WHY ME?


    I¡¯m going to die¡­


    I¡¯m going to die surrounded by shit smelling ¡®goblins.¡¯ If that¡¯s what they even are.


    Do I have a little screen above me too, one that says ¡®Human¡¯?


    Or do I have one just like them, labeled as a ¡®goblin.¡¯


    All this crazy shit¡­ it¡¯s impossible.


    There¡¯s no way that this all happened.


    This must be¡­


    A dream. That is what this is. Don¡¯t think too hard, just have fun. It¡¯s a pleasant, game-like dream. Live the way you want; it¡¯s supposed to be carefree.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    The Dungeon''s Voice speaks its sweet lies in a moment of Fear.


    You are now under the status: Bewitched


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    A voice that was like mine, but nothing like I would ever say resounded in my mind. It was a persuasive voice, one that could only belong to a devil: Full of temptation and empty promises. I usually wouldn¡¯t have listened to something so suspicious but¡­


    A dream¡­


    Yeah, that¡¯s the only thing that could make sense. What the hell was I thinking?


    There¡¯s no way my pendant couldn¡¯t be just cult merch. Holtan didn¡¯t die in front of me. I didn¡¯t catch on fire. My father didn¡¯t die in front of my eyes.


    I haven¡¯t had a good night¡¯s rest in a while, so this could only be expected. What have I been doing to dream stuff like this¡­


    Have I been playing too many video games? I guess I¡¯ll have to cut down on the amount I play when I wake up.


    Now that I think about it, I should have known something was wrong the moment Aria said my name. There¡¯s no way she would have known what it is; she¡¯s a sweetand lovely girl. She wouldn¡¯t call someone by the wrong name on purpose, that would be impossible. Why did I think she was a bad person? It doesn¡¯t matter now, I guess.


    I should wake up soon and get prepared for the presentation¡­ It would be bad if we were late, like in my drea¡ª


    RAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!


    A loud roar resounded in my ear, green covering my vision. All of a sudden, I felt a pain In my midriff, and a sensation of flying appeared. When I landed a fair distance away, I rolled a couple of times on the sparse, sandy earth before coming to a rest facing upwards. A thick taste of iron was the only thing on my mind, as I coughed up blood and teeth fragments, shivering like crazy. My throat was hoarse as if I had been talking for hours. Or maybe it was from my screaming.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">


    A Hobgoblin''s might is not to be underestimated.


    You are now are under the status: Bleeding


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It hurts.


    Ouch¡­ what a realistic dream.


    This is a lucid dream right? I should be able to imagine myself out of these bindings, ha-ha.


    Oh, look! That hobgoblin is coming over again¡­


    He seems a little miffed¡­ when did he get pants? I wonder what happened to him¡­


    Where are the other little goblins? I liked them¡­


    Well, this is a dream, so I guess it doesn¡¯t matter.


    The hobgoblin swiftly arrived in front of me. I could see burning anger in his eyes, as it gazed upon my broken body. He was baring his fangs, which looked nice and proper like a vampire''s would.


    Wow, he looks like he¡¯s about to face a threat. It¡¯s surprising how nice his teeth are, if only they weren¡¯t so yellow¡­


    I¡¯ll give him some encouragement. Hopefully, he¡¯s about to kill off some aliens¡­


    I gave him a half smile from my place on the ground, showing off a mouthful of blood and broken teeth. A terrifying sight for sure. ¡°Go gef fe Ariens!¡±


    Ah, why can¡¯t I speak correctly for once? Now it''s even with guys too¡­


    I can¡¯t do anything right even in a dream¡­


    Look at his face! It¡¯s all twisted now! Sorry, bro, I wasn¡¯t trying to disrespect you.


    The hobgoblin kept staring at me, holding his gaze fixed on my smile.


    Wow, do you like this sort of smile? It¡¯s too bad; I¡¯m getting tired¡­ I¡¯d keep smiling if I could.


    It hurts.


    What a crazy dream¡­ I sorta don¡¯t want to wake up now


    ¡­


    *sigh*


    I can¡¯t leave with that guy still looking at me¡­


    I tried talking to the ever-angrier hobgoblin. ¡°Hey, ran you rea me arone? I wand do reave.¡±


    Damn, I forgot I couldn¡¯t speak properly in this dream. What a crappy dream. Maybe I do want to wake up¡­


    Ah, so much blood is everywhere¡­ Why is it so dark? Am I waking up now?


    Oh, he¡¯s leaving! Now I can fina¡ª


    *CRUNCH*


    ¡°AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!¡±


    The Hobgoblin stomped on my legs, a terrible crunch came from my legs, yet he still kept stomping. I was in tears, sniveling like a baby, screams coming out of my mouth. Except, it ended not long after¡ªthe screams, not the stomping. I guess my throat couldn¡¯t take all the screaming. What a shitty dream. Why is it so painful?


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">


    A Hobgoblin''s cruelty knows no bounds.


    You have been Crippled.


    Bleedingis now Severe Bleeding.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It hurts.


    Ha~, this reminds me of something from before¡­ Was it with Stella? Some men appeared when we ran away¡­


    When did that happen? I can¡¯t remember¡­ I sure something else happened too¡­ They took us then what happened?


    The hobgoblin stopped stomping, a pleasant reprieve for me, though that didn¡¯t stop the terrible pain. He walked closer to my face this time and looked at it carefully as if checking something out. As he got close, my gaze focused on his eyes. Different from the goblins¡¯ beady little eyes, the hobgoblin had pupils and an iris like a human. And I could see the emotions coming through them. Confusion, anger, fear, killing intent, and relief.


    He stood back up as if nothing had occurred. And then he lifted his foot over my head.


    What¡¯s this big guy so scared about? I¡¯m sure it isn¡¯t anything too bad¡­


    But really, when am I going to wake from this crappy dre¡ª


    His foot came down.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">


    Despite the inhuman pain and mental status effects: Fear, Bewitched, yourWill shines through.


    You have unlocked a new stat:Willpower


    You have obtained the specialty: Pain Resistance


    The Sourcelooks kindly on those who can persevere.


    Due to obtaining an intermediate specialty at Lvl. 1, you have been granted:+10 all stats


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It hurts.

 Chapter 8: My Past Beside Me (I)

    Consciousness returned to me gradually, and with it came a deep calm. I didn''t want to remember what happened just before. So I pretended it didn''t happen.


    Out of habit, I kept my eyes closed, not moving an inch. It was painful. My entire body felt like it was ablaze, and it made me worried. One of the first things Father had taught me was that sharp pain in my spine or neck could indicate that I was paralyzed. But what did my entire body in pain mean? Am I now a bloody pulp?


    Either way, I understood it wasn¡¯t a good thing.


    Still, I chose not to move and kept my eyes closed. I won¡¯t make that mistake again. I didn¡¯t even know where I was. I couldn¡¯t feel anything around me, smell anything, nor taste the blood that filled my mouth not too long ago. There was only darkness and pain.


    This is nostalgic¡­


    I wasn¡¯t a masochist by any sense of the word, but I was very familiar with this feeling of weakness and helplessness. Even the pain was bringing back memories. Not very good ones, mind you, but it was nice to reminisce occasionally. Especially during times like these.


    Where should I start this time?


    Should I begin when I first met Stella? Or maybe when I first started attending Father¡¯s cult meetings?


    I¡¯ve done this countless times¡­ Maybe a change would be nice.


    Then middle school it is. The days I first met Ben and the days of my black history. The times I first realized I was different from others.


    In normal circumstances, I¡¯d never think about someone like him. Nor would I ever think about something nearly as embarrassing my black history. I often was more inclined to think about how cute Stella used to be, and how cool I was when I was a little kid.


    I¡¯m stuck in the past, and I¡¯m not afraid to admit it. But I digress.


    I took myself back to when I was 12. Being the edgy kid I was at the time, I didn¡¯t have any friends, but I never believed that I needed them. All I needed was the memory of one good friend and the goodwill from the cult members. I don¡¯t really remember what I was thinking.


    Maybe I wanted that one true friend, someone genuine that would never leave me. Someone that would be with me always, accepting all of me and me, receiving all of them. Something that could have been the greatest friendship amongst all of history, one that others could only wish to have. I had already failed at the start, but I deluded myself into thinking it was never over.


    Stella had already left me, but my memory of her was always there.


    Now that I think about it, I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s what led to my bad first impression. Not that it¡¯s Stella''s fault, even I find the self from back then very repulsive. In the first place, what kind of person only has a five-year-old as their best friend?


    Ah, I¡¯m going off topic again.


    Well anyway, as an edgy introvert, I kept to myself. When people talked to me, I wouldn¡¯t talk back. They were beneath me. My father was the king of his religion, and I was the prince, as his son. My qualifications to this were almost perfect grades; even by Setro standards, it would have been considered outstanding. I didn¡¯t feel the need to associate with these peasants, who I will never see once middle school ended and high school started. And so, I spent my days on the roof of the school, gazing down upon all my ¡®subjects.¡¯ This was with my useless power, but at the time I thought it was one of royal heritage. I even called it ¡®God¡¯s Eye.¡¯


    At first, I did it with a superior air. I mean, what ruler didn¡¯t want to know the feelings of their subjects? Scratch that. Only a lousy ruler wouldn¡¯t understand the feelings of their subjects. And thus, I was the king of all kings.


    ¡­I¡¯m regretting reminiscing about this. I¡¯m seriously getting goosebumps from myself.


    Maaan was I pathetic. I wasn¡¯t even a loner back then. That would be an insult to all loners. And now that I really look at it, Father¡¯s cult is what made me have no friends. Why am I alive again?


    FUCK, OFF TOPIC.


    Umm¡­ where was I¡­ oh yeah, budding king and all that.


    With a sense of distorted pride brought by the factors around me, I kept at it every day for an entire year. My ¡®God¡¯s Eye¡¯ was made to rule the world, and it would be malpractice for me not to use it. Eventually, it became a habit and a pleasure. Even now I still do it as a hobby, but without the disgusting self-confidence. I saw how happy they were, and it made me happy as well. A king¡¯s happiness can only be as great as his kingdom¡¯s, was what I thought.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    Days in school were a monotonous routine. It was something useless to me, but I thought of it as experiencing the daily life as a peasant. It was a duty of a king to experience what his ¡®subjects¡¯ do, and to make concessions based on that. I believed myself to be the most benevolent ruler in all of history. I even remember running for student council one time in my second year of middle school.


    I was still in the middle of my delusion, and when I stood up at the podium for my campaign speech¡­ Let¡¯s just say it didn¡¯t leave a good impression on others.


    Another reason why I had no friends in middle school, but I wasn¡¯t too bothered by the fact. What did bother me was why no one voted for me. I didn¡¯t get it, and couldn¡¯t understand it. I was destined to be the king of the world! Why did they not accept me? They should have been on their knees to beg me to lead them!


    When I walked down the hallway, I could see sneers of disdain. Words of rejection, denial, and denunciation could be heard from all around me. Anger curled up inside my heart and grew by the day. But I could take it. I was a future king who would one day be needed to hold the weight of the world, much less the anger of a couple of peasants. That¡¯s what I told myself.


    Maybe it was teenage hormones, but I feel like someone was trying to murder me thatspring day.


    I was up on the roof, like I always was after school, gazing down at everyone. The entire day I had been feeling chills, pure cold malice permeating the school. Everyone was silent when they looked at me. I didn¡¯t get why this was so and felt uneasy, but I couldn¡¯t not go to the roof. It was calming and had become indispensable to me. It was my place of solace, my Avalon. No one would bother me here, right?


    How na?ve I was.


    Looking back, everyone must have known. Yet no one told me, no one warned me, no one gave me so much as a hint. Humans really are the worst. Just another reason why I¡¯m a loner now.


    The roof of the middle school had features very much like the buildings at Setro. But instead of substantial, full-body fencing at the top, they had a little barricade of bricks. The barrier only reached up to about waist level, perfect for leaning over and gazing down or sitting on it. Maybe the school believed no one would try jumping off as a joke. Perhaps they thought no one would be suicidal enough to jump off. Either way, it wasn¡¯t safe at all, but it was still my favorite feature of the school. I thought it as my divine seat, my king¡¯s throne. I fancied myself a brave king, and sat on the outside of it, legs hanging in the air, as I observed the happy students down below. Their happiness was my happiness, despite what happens during school. This was the real them. A smile formed on my face, as I thought this.


    A hand pushed me off the edge, interrupting my reverie.


    I grabbed back, by instinct. Formed by rigorous training by Father (I thought of it as King¡¯s Training back then, which allowed me to get through it. Now I realize the whole program must have been sadism on his part. Damn cult leaders.), it was something that I didn¡¯t even need to think about. My delusional brain thought it was an assassin, sent to end me before my reign could start. No mercy was required for dealing with trash like this.


    The assailant wasn¡¯t expecting my fast reaction and was pulled off the building with me. I yanked him in front of me, towards the ground, my free hand swiftly grabbing his neck. I planned to use him as a cushion as I fell, but when I got a look at the person¡¯s face¡­


    It was a classmate. I didn¡¯t talk to anyone in my class, but I figured that I should at least remember those that surrounded me every day. He had a frightened look on his face, which made him look incredibly pathetic. It horrified me that someone I knew tried to push me down.


    The school building was four stories tall, one floor for each grade of middle school and one more for exclusive clubs. This made the fall over 12-meters if you included the height of the barricade. We fell from this height, down to the asphalt.


    Do you know what the cited fatality height is for falls? 12 meters, where death rates are around 50%, depending on what you land on. I was made to memorize this height by Father, to keep in my heart always.


    So although it horrified me, I still used him as a cushion. I needed to survive, if only for that girl in my memory. It was a miracle that he ended up alive. He was never to move anything below his neck after that day. His organs were ruptured, his spine was injured, and he sustained countless fractures and broken bones in the fall. Nothing happened to me. Not even a bruise. It was another type of miracle to the first responders.


    One fall, two miracles.


    I will never regret what I did that day.


    I got off scot-free, and it wasn¡¯t my fault in the first place. The school made the incident go away like it never happened. The classmate was to stay in the hospital for the foreseeable future. But I didn¡¯t go back to school. I wanted to know why. Why would someone like this try to harm me?


    The boy was a wimp to put it lightly. He was scrawny, pale-skinned, freckled, with glasses. He even had a submissive personality.


    A perfect target for bullying.


    I had never seen it happen, and I didn¡¯t even know that it could occur in my school. It wasn¡¯t on the school grounds; else I would have known about it. I got it out of his mouth, the only part of him that will ever move again. He was crying tears of hate towards me, screaming at me for my arrogance that led to schoolwide abhorrence.


    His cries of loathing haunt my dreams to this day. But I will never ask for forgiveness.


    To this day, I only know that the bullies from our class instigated him to push me off the roof. I couldn¡¯t get much else out of him other than that. I snooped around and found who out the bullies were. They were keeping a low-profile at the school since the incident, and no one would have connected them to the event.


    They were high performing students, candidates to get into Setro Academy like me. Intelligent, famous, and good looking; they were the models of the school. They had perfect girlfriends to match, and it was like a painting on Earth when they were together. They were my favorite subjects to look at when I gazed down upon them. They were the happiest, most satisfied, most fulfilled out of everyone else in the school. It made me the most pleased to look at them. Yet here they were, trying to harm me with someone else. My heart chilled when I realized it was them. Father wasn''t wrong, the brightest lights have the darkest shadows.


    I was surprised, but even more so furious.


    The anger in my heart, nurtured by days upon days of hatred, finally had an outlet.

 Interlude: The Boy Dressed in Blood

    Interlude: The BoyDressed in Blood


    The stench from the mid-sized goblin village was overpowering. From only a whiff, one could imagine the horror that had occurred. It was a smell I had become very familiar in this past month: the smell of death. Except it was countless of times more powerful. It was warning others, telling tales of despair, doom, and misery. A message could be felt from the smell, ¡°Death is all that awaits.¡±


    There was an animalistic presence that could be felt when approaching any side of the village, guarding the area, intimidating other creatures of the deep dungeon to stay away. I knew what this entailed. There could only be a terrible, fearsome monster residing inside. One that we¡¯ve had the luck to never encounter in the time we¡¯ve been here. But still, we had to go in. Stella was there.


    I gathered my courage, not sure to be happy or sad as my Willpower was barely scraping the minimum to endure this beastly, ferocious aura. Then, I uttered something that I hope wouldn¡¯t lead us to death.


    ¡°We need to go in.¡±


    I was prepared to go alone. They had no obligation to join me in this death march to save Stella. It might be a suicide mission for others, but if I didn¡¯t do at least this¡­ I wouldn¡¯t be able to live with myself. I kept my eyes forward, scared to see the look on their faces. My companions, my best friends, my family.


    This is who these people were. They were people I had entrusted my life to countless times over this past month, and we pulled through. Yet, someone above must have forsaken us, and Stella was captured. It was my duty to get her back. She sacrificed herself for me, and I needed to get her back.


    No, I must get her back.


    Silence prevailed throughout the next moment.


    A more definite message couldn¡¯t have been made. I thought they might have felt the same as me, but I guess I was wrong. I don¡¯t blame them for their choice, and will never hold it against them. They will always be my companions. I only hope they can live a happy life when I leave them.


    I began stepping forward towards the dilapidated village, conviction oozing out of every movement. I didn¡¯t stop either moving; else I don¡¯t know what I would have done. My hands were holding tightly to my sword and shield, ready for any surprise. Hopefully, it would be able to buy some time for Stella to run.


    While I was never going to be angry about their choice, why was I the only one that felt this way? It was a sad thought to me. Would they refuse to help each other in times of need? Or were they just waiting for someone to save them? This was their way of life, but not one that would allow one to survive here in the dungeon. I realized this when I was conferred a title by The Source.


    I won¡¯t be here forever you know.


    Two hands, one from each side, stopped my movement from each side after a couple of steps. They were gentle, trembling even. I could have kept on walking, throwing off the hands without breaking a sweat. But I knew. This was their resolve. They couldn¡¯t walk there by themselves; they needed me to lead them. These were the bravest, most strong-willed people I knew. Yet they needed me; they could only function with me. I slightly dipped my head, as if in approval, but if someone really understood me, they would know it was in disappointment. Still, my Perception picked up their own stabilized Willpower, and I moved forward once again. This time, with two others joining me in my charge.


    The wild aura only got more and more dreadful as we approached. My eyes never strayed from the insignia on my right hand, in case a system prompt was triggered. If I were overpowered despite my ability, then I would have them retreat immediately. It didn¡¯t take three seconds before the message I was waiting for appeared.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    The Will of a ???? washes over you, intent on deterrence.


    Fear of the ???? has been planted in humans from eons past, but the Willpower of a Hero proves unyielding.


    You have successfully resisted with the help of Hero: Overcoming Fear


    Under the baptism of the ????''s aura, your Willpower has been tempered.


    +1 Willpower


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    I let out a pent-up sigh of relief, glad that I made it through. I was a little surprised about the unexpected gain; it had been ages since the last bonus. But it wasn¡¯t over. I could feel the two hands on me tightening in fear.


    ¡°Hero: Age of Inspiration.¡±


    I chanted a short spell through the system, one that proved immensely useful immediately.


    The hands tightly grasping my shoulders had loosened considerably, and the one on my left side had even given a slight squeeze of gratitude. No problem, just doing my job.


    And so, we continued forward as one.


    After that slight system check, the pressure on us from the presence had lessened significantly, allowing for faster, stronger steps towards the village. It made me marvel at the importance of Willpower. We were lucky and hadn¡¯t encountered any monsters with a strong Will when we first appeared; else our fate would have only been death.


    Maybe that had happened to Victor when we all first transferred. Alone, without anyone else, he had to face up against monsters crueler than the devil. He¡¯s probably dead.


    It made me sad; he was a good friend. But more than that, he was my model.


    The ideal person that I wanted to be.


    I thought he was the sun when I first saw him up on that podium. No, he was even brighter than the sun.


    His pure arrogance, his overflowing dignity. That courage that seemed never to end, the absolute confidence he had in himself. Elegance in every movement, a noble aura that could have only been instilled at birth.


    He was beautiful. He is a king.


    Those were the only thoughts I had when I first gazed upon him.


    It¡¯s all in the past now.


    I shook my head as the smell of blood, death, and rot was gradually becoming stronger. We had reached the front ¡®gate¡¯ of the village, nothing more than a large hole in the primitive stone barrier.


    ¡°You guys ready?¡±


    I asked, wanting confirmation that this was what they wanted. I received two small squeezes, but no words. They were probably too scared. Or maybe they didn¡¯t want that stench in their mouth. Either way, I closed my eyes, steeling myself for a split second.


    We need to get everyone out alive. Stella, you must be okay. I promised that I would protect all of you. But you were the first.


    Regaining my confidence, and renewing my conviction, I stepped into the village. At first, there was nothing more than smell in the air. But it was peculiar. There wasn¡¯t any movement in the village. The former villages we had raided were always full of goblins, charging at us or hiding somewhere for an ambush. While it was always tiring, it was never silent and lifeless like it was now. I paused for a moment, sweeping out with my Perception. I immediately felt immense fear.


    There was something wrong.


    My Perception only felt one living being in the entire village. Nothing else. Goblins were many calibers below me. It was fundamentally impossible for them to escape from a Hero¡¯s Perception. The question was¡­


    What happened to Stella?


    The worst case had immediately presented itself. There were no signs of life except for one, which I assumed belonged to the monster that this formless pressure originated from. It was a located deeper into the village, at the core, where the hobgoblins and the goblin chief would usually reside. A panic that I had been suppressing ever since she was taken away had suddenly gushed out from within. I bent down, confusing the two companions beside me. I tried to keep silent, tears flowing out of my eyes non-stop.


    Sorrow replaced the panic in a blink of the eye, memories of Stella and me filled my vision.


    When she first discovered my talent for magic in the first week of school.


    Our meetups everywhere following that discovery.


    The days in the Human Nature Research Club.


    Our misadventures in the forest.


    After confirmation from her father, the beginning of magic lessons.


    Our time together grew, and more meetups were encouraged.


    The panic we had when we first awoke in the dungeon. The brave you, who took the lead.


    You led us, taught us all how to use magic. Without you, we would have all been dead from day one.


    You are the real hero.


    I silently sobbed, grieving for a true friend. This wasn¡¯t because I loved her romantically, but because I loved her as my family, my companion, my best friend. I had lost someone dear to me.


    This isn¡¯t the time.


    A voice of reason floated in my mind, calming me down. It made me angry. How did I come to this? The me from a month ago wouldn¡¯t have calmed down no matter what happened¡­


    All I¡¯ve ever wanted was a life of happiness.


    I had stopped sobbing abruptly, but I took a moment before standing back up. I didn¡¯t really feel up to the task anymore. But in the end, I decided that I had to kill it.


    I would take revenge.


    Stella, even if this fails, I¡¯ll be joining you soon. But not making before making sure that Aria and Lisa make it out alive.


    I stood back up, no weakness in my eyes. We continued once again, but this time Aria and Lisa behind me got out their weapons: a magic staff and a bow. As we delved deeper into the broken village, the once tolerable aura turned ferocious once again. It felt like knives caressing my cheeks, warning of a bloody and painful death. There was only a turn left before we could reach the center of the village. But it was the hardest turn that I was ever going to make in my life. The pungent stench of shit, blood, rot, and death was overpowering. I could hear Aria slightly gagging behind me, trying to keep her vomit. We needed to hurry.


    If the beast were lying in wait, then the smell of vomit would alert them.


    We were only half-hidden because of my passive Hero specialty, but it wouldn¡¯t last long against a monster with more than 30 Perception. I signaled with my hand, indicating that we were about to start.


    ¡°Haste¡± ¡°Blessing of Protection¡± ¡°Knighting of Justice¡± Soft chanting of spells, resembling a whisper, originated from Aria. A golden shine came from her before a green, purple, and white light went out of her staff to cover both me and Lisa. I counted down to zero from three with my sword in my hand, crouching down in preparation for a swift take out.


    Once I hit zero, my muscles bulged, and I dashed around the corner smoothly, thanks to my high Agility.


    ¡°Fear Me!¡±


    A loud roar came from me. It was a skill, one that I learned once I had hit level 10 and transitioned into the Magic Warrior occupation. It was a fight initiator that came habitually, created from countless battles. It was even more effective than the usual Warrior skill as I inputted mana into it. It gave the chance of inflicting Fear and Stun on the targets, with a slim chance of inflicting Bewitched. I was looking for an opening, and this was a perfect skill for that. But I stopped mid-charge when I could get a clear view of the central area of the village.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    There was no monster.


    The gruesome sight of corpses everywhere, greeted me as I turned the corner. Goblin corpses, hobgoblin corpses, even a big goblin shaman corpse in the middle. The ground was flooded with green blood, half-congealed. It was smelly but had a weird morbid allure to it.


    The entire village must have been there. The corpses were in all different types of states. Most of the goblins were oozing green blood from one or two cuts on their throats or a stab wound on their heart. The rest could be seen with deformed cavities in their chests, or their skulls cracked open, revealing a blackened brain and even more green blood oozing everywhere. Some corpses died screaming, long purple tongues hanging out of their mouth and yellow canines framing it. There were some decapitated bodies here and there, creating a nauseating sight. Some had small, rusted knives in their hands.


    The hobgoblins all had at least one distorted or broken leg, the only difference in their corpses was what happened above the shoulders. Some had their throats cut; some were stabbed through the eye, some had stab wounds in their foreheads. All the hobgoblins had rough, leather armor that covered their body. It looked absolute untouched by a weapon if not wholly dyed green by blood. These guys had snarls on their faces, some with disbelief as if they had died without realizing it.


    The goblin shaman was the most revolting sight. It was covered in slashes. It was clear to see that it used to have a magician¡¯s robe, but it was shredded. But it was enough to cover the emancipated body of the corpse. This one died afraid, fear engraved on its face. It looked like it was going up against a Demon King, finally dying from a dagger stuck in its head. It held a fetal position, facing upwards towards the sky. It looked like a mummy. Blackened skin hugged its skeleton, filled with cuts and scratches, revealing even blacker bones. A broken, wooden magic staff was off to the side, fragments floating in the green pool. It looked like a vampire had gone sucked out all the blood from the corpse. It was a chilling sight, unnatural even for a game world.


    The smell was even denser now, almost a solid, as it pushed me. The aura was vicious, whipping the air around us like a storm. It made me feel an unprecedented sense of danger, keeping me on my toes for any threats.


    But what caught my attention the most was the girl holding a corpse in her arms. She was sitting down in front a broken, wooden cage, ignoring my skill.


    It was Stella.


    She wasn¡¯t crying, nor did she look harmed. However, she seemed worried about the dead body in her arms. She had her face held close to the head of the corpse. The look on her face was grave as if hearing something troubling. Her head blocked my vision of the corpse¡¯s face, so I couldn¡¯t see who it was. My Perception couldn¡¯t feel any trace of life from it, making me faintly wonder what she was so worried about.


    I was sure it was a human corpse. It had red blood.


    It was in a terrible state, even worse than the various monster corpses around us. Both of its legs were distorted, parts of meat missing as if bitten off. It was very pronounced, as the legs were almost like sticks. It was covered in claw marks, stab wounds, and bite wounds. The whole thing was doused in bright green blood, making the skin look like a goblin¡¯s. I would have thought the corpse was a hobgoblin if it weren¡¯t for faint traces of red coming out of the wounds. That was just the legs.


    My eyes traveled up the body, which was only half-covered in tattered rags, allowing me to identify the corpse as a guy. It seemed like a miracle that the cloths, dyed green from blood, were still able to cover his body. Even his pants were in a worse state, barely concealing his groin. It resembled a diaper, only much more disgusting and smelly. It wasn¡¯t as injured as the legs, but one could see a thick claw wound going down his chest, which seemed like it would have instantly killed this stick-like figure. His arms were even more so stick-like. His right forearm was broken, unnaturally bent, while his left arm contained a few teeth stuck deep inside. I couldn¡¯t see any slight injuries, as green and red blood was plastered on his body as if he was papier-mach¨¦.


    He was holding onto a dagger that looked like it belonged to a pair with the blade stuck in the goblin chief¡¯s head, only this one was half broken with no clue as to where the other was. The quality of the dagger was inferior; one could see how unbalanced it was at just a glance. Rust speckled the blade, and it was slathered in green blood, some running off towards the ground.


    It was unbelievable that such a knife could kill anything, and even resembled those of the goblins¡¯ weapons.


    It was clear that the aura had originated from the corpse.


    It took me a moment to take this in, and I felt a little sick at the sight. It wasn¡¯t at the level of throwing up, but I was worried continued looking would force me to hurl.


    Lisa and Aria, however, had no such reservations. It only took a moment before they started throwing up because of the visual impact and smell. I didn¡¯t blame them, and there were no monsters around, so it didn¡¯t seem like such a big deal. But we¡¯ll have to work on our resistance to gore; it¡¯s no good if we become like this in the middle of a battle.


    After taking a second to calm myself down, from both disgust of the scene and the joy of seeing Stella alive, I ran over to her.


    Why is she so close to the corpse? That aura might hurt he¡ª


    It disappeared. It was like the eye of a storm, where the center is the most peaceful of all. It happened when I was only about 2 meters away from the pair. The moment I stepped into this quiet area, the smell from the corpses was gone. Stella¡¯s head snapped over in my direction, alarmed. When she realized it was me, her face visibly softened, losing tension gained from her capture.


    ¡°Took you long enough. What makes you think you¡¯re allowed to be late for a girl like me?¡± It was the usual snarky greeting she did. It made me relieved when I heard that. It meant she wasn¡¯t too shaken. Yet my legs were made to tremble when I saw the look on her face. It was one of sadness, one of worry that I had never seen before, even when Lisa had almost died that first day. Her eyes weren¡¯t focused on me when she was talking but at the corpse. ¡°Keep what you have to say to yourself. Get Aria over here. QUICKLY!¡±


    My mouth was open, my heart filled with words that I wanted to say to her. Words of thankfulness, words to greet her, words to say sorry. It was all stuck in my throat. They refused to come out.


    ¡°Well?! Did you not bring them?¡± Words of impatience stabbed towards me when she heard no movement from me. She looked towards me, and after seeing my conflicted face, said, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you stormed in here alone like a fool¡­ If that¡¯s true¡­¡±


    Her eyes turned moist, tears quickly dripping down her face. She turned back towards the head of the corpse, and started to apologize, ¡°Sorry! SORRY! I can¡¯t save you¡­! Just wait a little longer¡­ Aria will be here then you¡¯ll be saved. Stop talking, and save your energy¡­ please stop talking¡­¡±


    ¡°BEN HURRY UP AND GET ARIA!¡± Her tone demanded compliance. It was the tone she used when she was serious, something I had only heard a couple of times this past month.


    Can she not see Aria and Lisa?


    I didn¡¯t know what was going on, nor why Stella was apologizing to a corpse, but I decided to hurry. I turned around, but I paused. I didn¡¯t know where I was. The area was devoid of life, Aria and Lisa gone. What was happening? Still, I took steps forward, intending to search for them.


    Once I stepped out of the 2-meter area of peace, the aura had appeared once again, and Aria and Lisa were right in front of me. They were still throwing up bile, with no sign of letting up. I was confused before it hit me.


    It¡¯s an illusion. The smell, the presence, maybe even the corpses¡­ I haven¡¯t come across one that inflicted this sort of effect on us, but here it is.


    It made me doubt if Stella was real or not. But I needed to take the chance. If she was a fake¡­


    ¡°Aria! Lisa! It¡¯s an illusion! Use Dispel!¡± I didn¡¯t know if it would work with such a high-level illusion, but it was worth a try.


    Aria nodded her head before silently casting Dispel on herself.


    I regretted making her do so while throwing up, but its effects were quite evident. She immediately stopped retching and spat out the bile that was in her mouth.


    ¡°Sorry for showing you such a disgusting sight.¡± Polite as always, she nodded towards me. Her attitude was much friendlier towards me than what it was a month ago, but that¡¯s only expected considering what we have gone through. But really, I¡¯m not sure you have your priorities in order¡­


    ¡°Umm¡­ Aria, you need to get Lisa too¡­¡±


    She turned towards Lisa, suddenly jumping backward as if disgusted by Lisa throwing up.


    Lisa saw what had happened, and was glaring at her murderously, but was unable to say anything back.


    ¡°Dispel¡± A white light came from her staff and covered Lisa, merging with her. Lisa immediately stopped retching as well and spat out bile. Towards Aria.


    ¡°You bitch! You did that on purpose, didn¡¯t you?!¡± Anger was the reigning emotion on her face, along with relief. Her face turned red, as if ashamed of what she had just done. ¡°Sorry, you had to see that Ben.¡±


    I shrugged my shoulders, indicating it wasn¡¯t a big deal. The girls were cute, but we didn¡¯t have time to waste. ¡°Aria come with me. Lisa join if you feel like it. You don¡¯t have to come.¡±


    I saw Aria¡¯s triumphant look on her face, as I turned around and started walking back to the area of peace. This smell, corpses, and aura were still there. But it wasn¡¯t as bad as before, strengthening my assumption that this was an illusion.


    I still wanted to know one thing though¡­ was Stella an illusion?


    Right before we entered the 2-meter peace area, I stopped Lisa for a second. ¡°Use Clear Vision when you don¡¯t smell anything. If Stella¡¯s an illusion, we attack the corpse. Greet her if she¡¯s real.¡±


    Then I carried on, Aria and Lisa in tow. The smell disappeared in the next step, and I could feel Lisa using her skill next to me. This was the moment of truth. Stella looked towards us, with tears still falling down her eyes. She quickly wiped them away to look more presentable. ¡°Oh Ben, you returned earlier than I thought you would. Hurry, Aria use Resurrection!¡±


    I waited with bated breath, to see what would come next. Lisa took a step forward, standing in front of both me and Aria. She had a big smile on her face.


    ¡°Hello, Stella! How are you doing?¡± I released my held breath, in relief. She¡¯s real. We saved her. She¡¯s back. I stepped forward as well, about to speak, but Lisa continued with malice. ¡°Is this your type of man? Crying over a corpse? I always knew something was off about you¡­¡±


    She was trying to start a fight. But this was the wrong time to start something. Usually, I would have just let it play out, but not this time. But Stella beat me to it.


    ¡°What the hell are you going on about? Stop your nonsense. Aria come over here.¡± Her brows were furrowed, eyes serious. Aria sensed this and stood beside Stella. ¡°Hurry and cast Resurrection!¡±


    Resurrection was a spell. The ultimate spell of a priest, one of the most significant benefits of transitioning into a support occupation. It couldn¡¯t bring someone back from the dead but was able to heal an almost dead man back to full health. Thus, ¡®Resurrection.¡¯ Or at least that¡¯s what the system told Aria.


    There was a downside. The priest who uses Resurrection can¡¯t use any spells for the next month and is weakened for a week. The skill can¡¯t be used for six months afterward. It was a big price and our safety net. We had never cast it before, even when I had almost died because without healing spells there would be no way for us to survive for as long as we have now.


    I had to step in. I signaled Lisa to stop her fighting, before starting.


    ¡°Stella, who are you planning to use the Resurrection on? Surely not that corpse, right? We need Aria¡¯s healing spells¡­ I know you¡¯ve been through something tough, but that person is dead. My Perception can¡¯t pick up any signs of life from him.¡± It hurt, having to say something this to her. But I needed her to get back to reality. We¡¯ve saved you, and you¡¯re ok now. That¡¯s what I wanted to convey. I guess I failed miserably.


    ¡°WHAT?! What do you know?! A corpse? He¡¯s not dead! He¡¯s talking, even now! He¡¯s sustaining an illusion around us right now too! I thought you were a nice guy, Ben, but I guess I was wrong. Aria, hurry up and cast Resurrection. He doesn¡¯t have much time!¡± She went ballistic. She was screaming her lungs out, showing her stubborn nature. Her best trait was her steadfast will and stubbornness, but it wasn¡¯t something I admired in her right now. Why can¡¯t she see the reality of the situation? She must have sensed my unwillingness and disbelief, so she explained. ¡°You can¡¯t sense anything from him because he¡¯s sustaining himself on origin energy! He¡¯s going to die if we don¡¯t do anything¡­ please! He saved me, I promised him¡­ Aria, please I¡¯m begging you! I¡¯ll be in your debt forever, just cast Resurrection!¡±


    It shocked me; sustaining yourself on origin energy? Impossible. The system said the requirement for reaching 50 attributes and above was to be able to live off mana. Origin Energy is a much higher tier than mana and yet¡­


    It didn¡¯t make sense. Why would an expert like this die in a mid-sized goblin village? As much as I didn¡¯t want to believe it, I had to acknowledge the fact that Stella had gone crazy. But I was willing to play along, to appease her. I gave a slight nod to Aria, who was looking at me, waiting for a signal. She nodded back, in understanding. And so, our performance began. Or at least it was supposed to¡­


    ¡°Stella, I believe you. I¡¯ll cast it.¡± A shock went down my spine, realizing she didn¡¯t understand that nod at all. You¡¯re supposed to console her, not agree with her¡­ ¡°But, I¡¯m a little curious. What¡¯s he saying? You told me he was speaking¡­¡±


    ¡°Thank you! Thank you so much!¡± Stella nodded calming down at the words. She moved over to the side, freeing up some space. ¡°He¡¯s talking about his life. It¡¯s a little quiet, so you can¡¯t hear him. But that doesn¡¯t really matter right now; he doesn¡¯t have much time! Hurry and cast Resurrection!¡±


    This allowed me to see the head of the corpse. It had long, messy, black hair that was covered in green goblin blood. It was hiding his face, so I still couldn¡¯t see who it could have been.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry; I¡¯m only a tiny bit curious.¡± Aria stooped down, shrinking her magic staff into a more wand size tool, before coming to a rest where Stella was before. She put her head closer to the corpse for a second. And then paused. And after a few seconds, it seemed like she couldn¡¯t hear anything. ¡°Um¡­ Stella, I don¡ªAGHH IT¡¯S TALKING! IT¡¯S TALKING!¡±


    She jumped up in fright, like a frightened rabbit, and took a couple of steps back. I watched on in disbelief.


    It¡¯s alive? He¡¯s living off origin energy? Why is he here¡­


    ¡°I told you already! What are you waiting for? Hurry up and cast it! Seriously, he¡¯s about to die!¡± Stella stood up and brought Aria back by her arm. Aria was trembling as if she didn¡¯t want to get too close to the zombie man.


    ¡°O-okay, j-just give me a moment.¡± Creeped out, Aria was stuck stuttering. It was going to go awry if this kept on going. I decided that I needed to step in again.


    ¡°Wait,¡± I walked closer to the body, on the opposite side of Aria and Stella, Lisa following behind me. ¡°Let me see his face.¡±


    I squatted, with slight displeasure. I wanted to check out this man, who Stella was willing to throw all of us away for. I had a knife in my boot, and I was planning to stab him in the throat, ending his life after I saw his face.


    Mr. Corpse, you¡¯re going to kill us if you do this to us. It¡¯s either you or us. I¡¯m grateful you¡¯ve saved Stella, but we can¡¯t pay you back with our lives.


    For someone of your caliber, Aria can¡¯t save you with just one Resurrection spell. And healing spells don¡¯t have much effect on people attuned to mana, much less origin energy.


    Die so we can live. I¡¯ll engrave your face in my mind, and make a grave once we get out. You deserve that much.


    Become my experience, become part of my strength. I¡¯m a Hero, and I will make sure everyone knows your sacrifice. It will not be in vain.


    I could feel the stares of everyone present as I stretched my left hand out towards the man¡¯s face. I tightened my right hand on my knife, ready to kill him in a moment.


    I could feel a disgusting sensation of slime on my hand as I lifted his hair, uncovering the face. While doing so, I raised the knife, slowly so no one would notice my plan.


    I closed my eyes before fully as I completely showed his face to the world, preparing to murder my first human, and ready to remember his face for the rest of my life. I want them to live a happy life, one that I have always wanted. They can¡¯t do that if they kill someone.


    So¡­


    Even if I must bear all the sins of the world¡­


    I will make sure they are safe.


    I opened my eyes, to gaze upon the face of the man I will kill first in this world and swiftly brought the knife to cut his throat.


    Sorry! Sorry! Please don¡¯t be angry at them in the afterlif-


    But I stopped my hand mid-way before it left my boots.


    Gasps sounded from everyone around me, in shock.


    The man looked younger than I had first imagined, about our age. He looked average. His face was dirty and smeared with blood, featuring a sharp nose, small face, prominent cheekbones, and a delicate chin.


    My entire body shivered as if shocked by electricity. I knew this man. Despite the blood-smeared face, changed aura, and slightly different looks, I was absolutely sure I knew him.


    Because he was my idol.


    It was Victor.

 Chapter 9: My Past Beside Me (II)

    Perhaps if I were as street smart as I was book smart, I¡¯d have thought of many better ways to deal with my anger. Or at least I would have found a much better way to go about what I did. Seriously, it was like I set up a foundation for a massive domino tower, but before I could start building the second layer, I kicked it to the ground. But alas, second-year middle school syndrome spares no man in its merciless wake.


    Ah, black history, indeed the darkest times in one¡¯s life.


    I¡¯ve always lived in a First-World country, so I¡¯ve never had to worry about how to get what I needed. I took it for granted. Not only that, but my family was well off. It was just Father and me, but we never had any problems despite his occupation. It had always surprised me how much a cult makes every day. What is even more surprising is the things he talks about when he preaches¡ªhe pulls bits and pieces from different religions. Sometimes it seemed as if he was talking about the setting of a video game or fantasy book he had recently read. It was on the level that even toddlers wouldn¡¯t believe, but even then, daily meetings held around five hundred people attending. He never asked for money, but everyone always gave 5-20 dollars every session.


    If we weren¡¯t on the level of Setro families, then we must have been very close.


    At first, I was always confused how he managed to pull it off, but as time went on, I learned just, to accept it. When asking the members, they would never give me a straight answer, instead opting for staying silent and spoiling me as the cult leader¡¯s son. It wasn¡¯t bad though; I got to know some interesting people.


    The members came from all walks of life. A police officer, a janitor, a beauty pageant judge; it was crazy how diverse it was. Many people probably attended just to make connections. The only thing that they had in common was that they were all middle-aged men. Even worse, they were all very regretful middle-aged men; wishing for their youth back, nonstop whining about it. It was probably Father¡¯s target market, and boy did it sure work out well. Too well. There were no women!


    The number of friendships or acquaintanceships I had with girls in my entire life up into middle school could be counted on one hand. To be more specific, one finger. If you didn¡¯t count a particular five-year-old girl, then I had none. That¡¯s right; my only girl ¡®friend¡¯ was Stella.


    And to be frank, that doesn¡¯t mean anything in the real world.


    So, to put it bluntly, I had no experience with girls. It wasn¡¯t really a problem, as I didn¡¯t speak with anyone in middle school, but it led to a weird reunion with Stella that first day of school.


    Middle school is the time where hormones bud, and clash together, blooming to create a beautiful springtime of youth. It¡¯s the times where we have a first love, and we pursue it, see if we ¡®make¡¯ or ¡®break.¡¯ Those that ¡®make¡¯ it have their first love fulfilled, and those that ¡®break¡¯ get their hearts broken and the next week they have a new crush, and they pursue once again. And the cycle continues until the end of high school.


    Well, at least that¡¯s what normies do. And upon further thought, this means that middle school normies are sluts beyond salvation.


    The ¡®me¡¯ in middle school was quite surprised when he received the results of the investigation he asked for¡­


    * * *


    A king shouldn¡¯t and never should have to get his hands dirty when dealing with trash. The king¡¯s subjects deal with the waste instead, to pay back his boundless generosity and wise rule.


    That was what I believed in, and I abided by that way of thinking in middle school.


    ¡­now that I think about it, I had already broken that rule when talking to the bullied kid¡­ and I never did get that kid¡¯s name¡­


    Fuck, I keep getting off topic.


    Following that train of thought, I asked one of the cult members to investigate the well-to-do bullies. He was a private investigator that I had gotten to know over a nice slice of cake. He branded himself with titles as the All-seeing Investigator, the Omniscient Mortal, the Villain Detector; They were all sorts of crazy and unbelievable claims. They were mostly under the influence of Father¡¯s cult preaching, but the guy did have the statistics to back it up.


    I asked for any dirt that would allow me to blackmail them. I told him everything I knew about them, which apparently helped facilitate the investigation by quite a lot. He didn¡¯t want to take any money, as I had given quite the amount of information, and my background as the cult leader¡¯s son but I had to give money where payment is due. It all came from money I had saved up from past allowances. My kingdom¡¯s first treasury was to be used for removing the rotten eggs from the kingdom. How fitting.


    The bullies were a group of three. They were all very handsome and smart, with decent backgrounds as well. The first of which the private investigator was going to investigate was a boy named Andre, the ace of the basketball team. Tall and lanky, in combination with his dark hair and deep eyes, made girls from either side of a game cheer for him. His girlfriend was the basketball manager, and they had an excellent relationship. They did almost everything together, the absolute model of a fun and loving couple.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    The next was the student council president that was recently elected. His name was Harold. He had dark hair, glasses, and was a little bit shorter than Andre. That didn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t tall though; he was probably half a head taller than me if we compared heights. And my height was above-average. He ranked 2<sup>nd</sup>in the school, right below me. His position, in conjunction with his glasses and piercing eyes, gave him a sense of authority wherever he went. It¡¯s said that delinquents don¡¯t dare to cause trouble around him. His girlfriend was also part of the student council, obtaining the position of secretary.


    I remember distinctly hating this person because he ¡®stole¡¯ my rightful position¡­ I don¡¯t think he really liked me either¡­ I stole all the limelight when I had my campaign speech; he only won because of his good looks and popularity instead of his competence. I don¡¯t even remember what he said back then, ha.


    Now for their leader, Leo. He was the president of the Literature Club back in middle school. He had won quite the number of literary prizes at a young age and was immediately recruited in the club when he enrolled. He was incredibly handsome, with curly hair and delicate features; he only needed to smile before girls would swoon for him. That¡¯s not all he has going for him, he had a witty tongue, and his pickup lines could melt the heart of any girl ¨C or so went the tales circulating amongst the boys. He didn¡¯t only have one girlfriend, but three of them. And they didn¡¯t mind at all.


    Anyway, the private investigator told me that it would take a week for him to get back to me, after doing all his current cases. I didn¡¯t have anything else going on, so I agreed to it. I was a little sad that I had to wait a week for justice to be served, but a wee bit of waiting never hurt anyone. It¡¯s only what happens after the waiting that hurts people.


    One week and the anger in my heart would be satiated.


    And so, I returned to school after a small period of being absent. Right away I noticed something different when I walked in the halls. Wherever I walked, silence would reign over the students around me. No longer were the whispers full of scorn and disdain. The stares were still there, but even more, students would pretend I was not. Ignoring my presence as if I didn¡¯t exist.


    Did they do this out of scorn or malice? It was a question I had been asking myself a lot since the presidential election. Sometimes, I would activate my ¡®God¡¯s Eye¡¯ in the middle of the hallway, finding scorn, mockery, contempt, and ridicule. It made me angry, but not furious. In the first place, I didn¡¯t like to use my ability during such a time. After all, I did have a time limit on how long I could use my ability for. Only 30 minutes, if I didn¡¯t focus on feeling the finer emotions. And it was supposed to be reserved for my surveying on top of the roof.


    But it was different now. Amidst the silence and cold stares, there was only one thing that the students felt: fear. Fear of me, fear of what I had done. In place of their disrespectful comments and slanderous rumors, a new saying was born: I was a murderer.


    In their hearts, I was as good as a murderer. I could go back to school after committing a murder. The entire incident suppressed, covered over like nothing happened. It terrified the hell out of everyone, and no one wanted to speak up about it lest they would be next.


    The fact that the kid who pushed me off was so susceptible to bullying worked against me. The whispers told a tall tale of an emo kid (me) who bullied the kid on the top of the roof every day. It continued, about how I had bullied him since the beginning of middle school, and he had taken it for an entire year before finally gaining the courage from his friends to fight back. As the story goes, when he fought back, I pushed him off the roof, and he pulled me off as an act of defiance. Only I was cruel enough to use him as a shield as we fell.


    Guess who his ¡®friends¡¯ were. The bullies, of course. They most likely spread this entirely false story, to cast all suspicion off them, and onto me. Only, they didn¡¯t know that I knew it was them.


    Slander, terrible defamation, and fear. It was what had taken the place of the past scornful stares.


    There were many things wrong with this, but I¡¯m mostly angry about the emo part. What part of me seems emo?


    Was it my personality?


    I was not nor ever felt emo during that period so that couldn¡¯t be it¡­


    Maybe it my hair?


    At the time I thought long hair was cool, befitting of a prince. So, I let it grow out, but I guess it gave off an emo impression¡­


    I¡¯ve gotten it cut since then, but it still is long by reasonable standards.


    ¡­off topic again.


    When I entered my class, the usually lively students all hushed, leaving only sparse whispers. I could feel the mood of the class change even without my power! Of course, it probably was something that wasn¡¯t too good on my part. The class was oddly quiet the entire day with me present, none daring to speak too loud save for the bullies. The teachers were happy about a more or less peaceful day and left it at that. The more curious teachers sent glances towards me, who was not paying attention to class at all, knowing the entire story as told by the Principal.


    I didn¡¯t pay attention to this but focused all my attention on the bullies. I was observing their reaction, using my power to gauge how they felt about the situation. They were spread throughout the class. Andre was in the middle of his row, in the front of the class, located closest to the blackboards. Harold was in the middle of his column, on the rightmost side towards the windows. Leo was on the left side of the classroom, surrounded by girls, in the middle of his column as well. Meanwhile, I was in the back, able to observe all of them without drawing attention from others. It was all I did that week while waiting for the notification from the private investigator.


    I wanted to find out the motive. Why did they do this?


    It was something they didn¡¯t need to do. Just walking the paths they made for themselves would have brought them success in life, so why bully someone? Why make him push me off the roof?


    There wasn¡¯t a reason why I wanted to know. It was one of those things that gave you the burning desire to understand something. If I had to provide a motive, all I could say was that I was curious.


    It was a meaningless curiosity, because no matter why they did so, all that was left for them was my punishment.

 Chapter 10: My Past Beside Me (III)

    Setro Academy is known as the best school around the world, available only to those who have the luck to be born with a platinum spoon in their mouth in conjunction with immense genius and talent. The only exceptions to this would be the external students that the school accepts in the high school division from the local schools, as a ¡®tribute¡¯ to its most celebrated graduate. Each year, they would only accept up to 10% of the upcoming freshman population as external students from the neighboring schools. External students have everything paid for by the school, tuition, books, the dorms; everything that a student could need, the school would pay for it as long as they attend Setro Academy. External students also get a free ride to Setro University, one of the leading institutes in the world. Even if you didn¡¯t want to go to Setro University, you would be able to go to any university you wanted!


    The total population of Setro Academy is around 1,800 students, split almost evenly across genders. Approximately 1,000 of those students belong to the elementary school division (K-6<sup>th</sup> Grade), and about 400 students are in the middle school division (7<sup>th</sup>-9<sup>th</sup>), with the rest of the population in the high school division (10<sup>th</sup>-12<sup>th</sup>). Ten percent doesn¡¯t seem that bad at first glance, but the keyword is <u>up to</u>. This means they can accept no external students in a year, and it would be entirely reasonable. Setro Academy is a rigorous and renowned school, so outsiders needed to be screened extensively. If there were enough people who met the criteria, then they would be perfectly happy to fill the quota to the brim.


    When I was in my third year of middle school, there were 128 upcoming freshmen in Setro Academy¡¯s middle school division, allowing for only a maximum of thirteen external students. There were lots of geniuses and intellectuals in the surrounding area, at least ones smarter than me, but still, there were only three external students chosen: me, Lisa, and Ben. While our grades were good, they certainly weren¡¯t the best. Which meant that there was a criterion for admission than academics and sports...


    When I was accepted, they told me it was my personality and attitude in life that gave me the position. They said my mindset was still immature, but my character was one that could help the world.


    Yeah, I was pretty sure they were blind at the time. Even I didn¡¯t want me back then...


    Looking back, my character was shit. I was blackmailing people for Pete¡¯s sake!


    And bullies are attending Setro Academy! They were bullying Ben earlier! How would those guys help humanity?! I question the criteria they use to judge people...


    Setro Academy did not lack geniuses, nor did they require talents. Neither did the world. What humanity needed were people that could lead them, to show them the way to a better future. That was what Setro Academy wanted and aimed that every student could be. It was a precept set by the first founding father of Setro Academy.


    Setro Academy was not always called as such. It used to be an average, below-average school that taught village kids from the local area. But that all changed with the emergence of Setro Academy¡¯s golden generation, and the person who led them: Primo Ardor.


    They all showed immense talent from a young age. Able to speak at two years of age, read and write at three years, learning sword fighting at the age of four, finishing the entire course of arithmetic in the school at the age of five (I¡¯ve seen the level math was back then, and I¡¯m not entirely impressed, but I¡¯m pretty sure it was a big deal at the time.) Receiving national attention, invitations from institutes all the country was sent to this group of geniuses, all miraculously born in the same place. Yet they chose to stay in their hometown and attend the local school until graduation at 18 years of age.


    Why?


    They wanted to follow the most talented of the group, Primo. He was the core of the group, a born leader. Stories about him in his younger ages still are told today: Solving the nationwide famine for the price of a candied apple, defeating a royal knight with swordsmanship at the age of 8, triumphing over the wisest sage in a debate at the age of 9, inventing various gadgets we still use today at age 10¡­ The tales go on and on. His team went on to become a band during the first world war hundreds of years ago and eventually ended in complete domination over their enemies. They all became nobles, with no casualties. It was the birth of an undying legendary team.


    It¡¯s no surprise that he went on to become the king of the continent at the age of 21, creating even more myths and legends about his deeds. He was beloved by all, hailed as a just and kind ruler, able to sympathize with peasants because he came from a humble background. He was everyone¡¯s idol and still is to this day. He was a symbol of the infinite potential that belonged to humanity, a title that will never belong to anyone else.


    But there is controversy over him. Some records have been dug up from the long-forgotten ruins of surviving enemies from the first world war. Journal entries labeling him as the Devil: flinging the fires of purgatory burning all that come near into ash. Allies called him both a descended angel from Heaven, sent to guard the empire with righteous flames and godly might. Others labeled him an evil alchemist king, a traveler from another world, a non-human; accusations of every sort were thrown at him.


    He took it all in stride, leading his kingdom to greater heights over the next 60 years. He spent time improving the quality of life for commoners and inputted laws that would benefit everyone in the long-term. In the end, he even abolished monarchy a week before his disappearance, drafting the constitution we use today.


    Primo Ardor, the greatest man ever to lay foot on the continent and the most mysterious, disappeared after leaving a message at his old school:


    ¡°I attribute all of my achievements to the education that my family, comrades, and most of all, my school has given me. Without it, I would never have been able to become the man I am today. 70 years ago, I believed that all I would ever amount to be a simple peasant farmer, content with having a hard yet simple life with my family.


    I proclaim this establishment as Setro Academy, in hopes that future students will wield the education that it bestows upon them as if it were the king¡¯s scepter, able to lead the world to a better and brighter future.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    While I disappear from this moment onwards, I will live in the hearts of my people. There are myriad mysteries in the world, and I can only hope to become one of them as I leave this world. I leave the future in the hands of my comrades and my children.¡±


    With that led to the birth of the current Setro Academy. And every single graduate has lived up to his expectations.


    Do you know what I hate about this?


    He and his little band of geniuses were the reason that we must attend clubs every day, just like them! They¡¯re the reason why the presentations are a huge deal! (Though it has a different meaning now.)


    Primo Ardor¡­ if you wanted to be a cool kid, you should have done it in a corner and stop bothering lazy kids like me.


    Every year, Setro Academy receives countless applications to become an external student. Sometimes it makes sense, the smartest kids and the best athletic kids are accepted. Sometimes it doesn¡¯t make sense, and ordinary kids are admitted. It was almost like a lottery, but no one believed it to be so. Regardless, those students turned out to become the cream of the crop in their year.


    In my year, public outrage almost broke out when three kids from the same school and class were accepted as external students. The world went into shock when my deeds were made public to give a reason why I was chosen.


    Hilarious.


    It was the closest I had ever felt to happiness when I received the call that graduation day, six months ago.


    * * *


    I wasn¡¯t planning on going to the roof during my week of waiting. It lost its charm for me at the moment, plus I wasn¡¯t sure if they were going to attempt some crazy stunt again. It was doubtful but better safe than sorry, right?


    My life during that week was that of a stalker''s, depending on how you look at it.


    I was part of the ¡°go home club,¡± aka no club at all. The only thing I felt like doing at the time was watching the bullies¡¯ reactions to what had happened. I decided to start with Andre, and thus I pretended to be interested in the basketball club. I accompanied their practice that Monday, watching them do their thing. Man, was it awkward!


    I didn¡¯t know anything about basketball, but I could tell that they were doing bad. Some were fumbling with basketballs all over the place, unable to dribble properly. Drills were taking forever, and no one could make a hoop, it was so bad that the coach decided to end it early. Andre was particularly doing terrible, literally sweating sheets of sweat. He was disgustingly anxious, and he couldn¡¯t hide it.


    Sorry that a certain ¡®murderer¡¯ decided to spectate your practice.


    I was sure that he was suspicious that I knew what he did, but I gave him no clues. I acted the pure boy, curious when games were starting, questioning if I could join midway, and asking for forms. It was decent acting if I do say so myself. The coach said I could watch their next game, which luckily for me, was coming up in the next hour. It was the preliminary match of some league at the time. For years, my school has always cinched first place, but this time...


    We lost terribly. Tee-hee


    I might not have mentioned it before, but our middle school was upper-tier in the local area, with a couple of Setro Academy external students in the last ten years (Yes, that¡¯s how they ranked schools in the area. Not by grades, but by the amount of Setro Academy external students accepted in the last ten years.) The school standards shot up, and only above-average students could be at our school. We were pretty much the sports and academic tyrants of the district.


    So, when we lost 256-4, you can only imagine the faces of disbelief and triumph of the somewhat below-average opponents and the looks on our side. The coach was screaming bloody murder at our team, especially when they had someone (me) interested in the group watching. Little did he know, that it was entirely my fault that this happened.


    I don¡¯t regret a thing, it was great.


    I used my ¡®God¡¯s Eye¡¯ throughout the game, and found that Andre was surprisingly focused. He kept a smile on his face, trying to help keep motivation up with his teammates after the second quarter. He was also the only person that scored on our team, eliciting shrill cries of joy from all around. The pure emotion and heartbreak throughout the game could have been made into a stellar movie. He had girls from both sides trying to cheer him up throughout the game, including his beautiful girlfriend. Even when the other team won, I was pretty sure they felt like they lost. All the girls were staring daggers at them. Andre, with his handsome and earnest face, was the epitome of sportsmanship.


    But I knew.


    Ah, what a fake, I thought at the time.


    I never noticed it before, but he was scum, trash, filth, and rubbish. Sportsmanship? I thought he wanted to kill someone. I felt the panic he held towards me, every time he looked at my direction during the game. I sensed the murderous intent when he lost by over 250 points. But I didn¡¯t detect a trace of guilt. He wanted to hurt me because he knew it was my fault it turned out this way.


    Truly deserving of retribution. Thanks for making my job guiltless.


    I called up the private investigator, telling him to get over here. He was going to see something interesting.


    It was a home game, so all the boys went into the locker room to get changed and ready to go home. Or that was what was supposed to happen¡­ I could hear the coach¡¯s screams for half an hour before he stormed out of the place. I waited a little longer for the sobs to end and for the team members to leave before I went in.


    There, I was met with a raging Andre. He was screaming curses at me and punching walls and lockers. His handsome face was distorted, making him look repulsive. It was sickening. I just watched on from a corner, until he calmed down a little bit. It was fifteen more minutes before the tantrum started to subside. Really, how pathetic.


    I was more surprised that someone could yell that loud for that long without losing their voice. It was impressive, enough to make someone want to applaud him. Oh, that¡¯s what I did¡­


    I walked out, clapping for him. That was when he first registered my presence and the look of surprise on his face¡­ I nearly grinned on impulse, but instead, I called out to him, asking if he was ok. It must have pulled some trigger because he went berserk after that.


    It honestly hurt, much more than falling off the building. But my heart was at peace, and it felt quite good knowing that he was going to get his.


    The malice he was giving off was heart-wrenching, almost making me afraid for my life. Luckily, he knew his limits and stopped when I started spitting blood. He held back before it got too dangerous. Still, he gave me quite the number of punches.


    I¡¯ll pay this back many times over, you bastard, was what I thought while being cursed and punched.


    When the grin appeared on my face, I could feel the fear settling deep within him. He feared taking responsibility for what had happened to me, giving me excuses that it was my fault that I was beaten. If I hadn¡¯t pushed off that scrawny kid off the building with me, then they wouldn¡¯t have lost the game! I should have just fallen off like I was supposed to, even death would have been too good for me¡­


    I shook my head. With such a loose composure, how could he also be considered a candidate for a Setro Academy external student? I gave a signal with my hand, and the private investigator came in. I could see Andre¡¯s beautiful deep blue pupils shrink to a pinpoint when he saw the camera resting in that man¡¯s hands.


    One moment, he was giving excuses, and the next he was on his knees, begging for mercy.


    ¡°Sorry, but I don¡¯t like giving mercy to trash like you.¡±


    At those words, anguish and hopelessness were all that I could feel from him.


    One down, two more to go.


    ...I realize that I broke that rule again...