《To Live Again, For the First Time!》


 Chapter 1 - Prologue: What A Sad Way To Die...

    Alone


    I have been alone for as long as I can remember.??


    There has always been this emptiness in my chest. I had known from the very beginning that none of this was normal. The emotions that I felt, would always leave me before I could even get an impression of them. I would start to think about how much I hated being in my own situation, yet in the very next moment, I found no more reason to hate. Contemting whether I should do something to change how I felt, yet not having the motivation to care in the very next instant.


    I don''t think that I have been able to feel what they call emotions for any longer than a single moment, a split second. Before it was all shut down, an experience that was truly off-putting.


    It was like trying to grasp something, that would be forever out of reach, and then out of sight and then finally out of mind.


    Theck of interest that would result from this was apparent.


    Now though, now that I''m so close to the end, I think I feel it again. I remember once hearing that all the regrets would sh before one''s eyes, at the moment before their deaths. I guess I am no exception.


    The film of my life, or at least the parts I still remember, was a boring one. No one will remember me after my death, and I didn''t care in the past.


    For the past two years, I didn''t really care if I lived or if I died. In the end, it was all the same. It was an inevitable oue. However, at this moment, something changed. An emotion that I was still trying to figure out rushed into my chest and clenched my heart.


    Tight, my chest felt so tight, yet I could do nothing about it.


    I regret it.


    Before I ever get to start regretting that I didn''t do more, I begin to regret that I didn''t even try, or start to try. What could have been different if I had started regretting before I had lost my only shot. I guess the first andst emotion I will ever get to experience, is despair.


    I watched as these people walked past these dull streets every single day, apanied by family, friends. The little kids often held the hands of their parents without another care in the world.


    Why do I only think of these things, once I know I can''t have them anymore?


    They all look so happy. Happy? I wonder how that feels. I wish to be¡­ happy. Can I? I wish I had time to find out what these words mean, but I guess this is it. Why do I only start to feel, once I''m already making my death bed?


    The dim lights of themp posts on the streets got dimmer and dimmer by the second. Then, darkness took over.


    What a dumb way to die.


    ***


    The little child was shivering while hugging her short, thin legs. The child was clearly malnourished as her skin caved in, making her every visible bone prominent.


    Her knuckles were white, from the force exerted by her small dirty hands. An unknown amount of time passed before those tiny hands loosen up until they finally had no force in them whatsoever.


    All of the tension that had once been there, leaving along with the child''s life, yet no one seemed to notice, nor did anyone care to notice.

 Chapter 2 - Mothers, The True Warriors

    Exo Hospital: Labor Sector, Room 868.


    Time: 2 PM ??


    "Ahhhhhhhh!" Shouts such as this one echoed throughout thebor room. The womanying on the hospital bed clenched onto the baby blue sheets as she conveyed all of her agonies using her vocal cords. Deep down, she knew that it wouldn''t exactly lessen her pain, but at that point, she didn''t really have the time nor heart to care for such things.


    Such cries were actually rathermon in these delivery rooms, as one could imagine. Yet this one seemed to be able to channel the full torture, that the patient was experiencing to any other passerby.


    The damage done was irreparable, more specifically the damage done to the eardrums of the surrounding people. It would most likely leave a scar for life.


    Even the doctor and nurses that had already gone through thousands of battles against simr enemies seemed to be troubled. Yet these brave souls were able toe out victorious nheless.


    Some people would start suspecting that there might be something going wrong with the procedure leading to the pain. They would be wrong.


    There were absolutely noplications. It just happened to be that Elena felt more pain today than in her two previous experiences of childbirthbined.


    A moment of silence for her.


    It wasn''t long before the doctor was able to slowly ce the newborn in her mother''s embrace. This led to a sigh of relief from both the mother and the doctor.


    Even when there were no great difficulties during the actual childbirth, the aftermath from the yells was too great. His ears were still ringing ever so slightly.


    He was seriously questioning his life choices. Did he really have to go choose a specialization where his hearing would be forever sacrificed for the greater good?


    This woman was definitely a true warrior. The pain she seemed to be going through almost made his small headache seem pitifully insignificant.


    He struggled to contain another sigh.


    The only thought going through Doctor Elm''s mind after this whole fiasco was, ''I should go apologize to my mother when I get off work...''


    Before leaving to give both the mother and her family some time together, he didn''t forget to write down a reminder on his report.


    Install better soundproof walls!


    He was already expecting some possibleplications otherwise. The people outside might even call the police to report a possible murder urring here. Which was thankfully not the case.


    He carefully put down the report that he had just finished writing after doing a full body check-up on both the child and the mother. After which he made his way to the door of thebor room to let the family in.


    A tall and handsome man in his 30s quickly rushed next to the woman''s bedside. He stammered as he walked but thankfully didn''t trip. He had wanted to apany his wife throughout the childbirth, but his sons weren''t able to handle her poor wife''s cries and so he had to leave the room to make sure they were safe outside.


    In addition to the fact that this hospital was rather strict with who could be present during the childbirth, the chances of him being in the room during delivery, were even slimmer.


    While Gabriel listened to criesing from the inside through the small cracks of the door. All he could do was clenched his fists and steady his shaking legs to prevent himself from sumbing to his desire to rush in. The woman he loved was in such pain, yet he was unable to soothe her nor share her burden.


    Looking at Elena, his mouth twitched between a smile and a frown. He was stuck between dejection stemming from her wife''s suffering and his tion to see his newborn. But this stopped when he saw the undeniable joy in his wife''s expression.


    "Let''s name her Emilin." Her lips curled up into a beautiful smile that showed both her motherly love and signs of elegance despite her originally messy appearance due to the intensebor.


    Then, the boys that had followed Gabriel in, felt the need to let their parents take note of their presence.


    "Emiii~!" The younger of the two boys eximed, with a wide grin on his face.


    "It''s Emilin you little dum dum." The older boy spoke as if he actually meant to say his little brother was mentally retarded, even though he was only 3 years old. However, his amusement and joy were still apparent. This made hisment sound doting.


    "Emiii!" He repeated. The mother of the two looked at them with mirth,ughing once again, this time, at their little antics.


    "Little Theo seems to really like Emi, huh. What about you Little Nathan?" Her gaze was the epitome of motherly love while looking at her three lovely children. The kind of gaze that could melt just about anyone''s heart.


    "Humph, even though she is really wrinkly, she''s still my sister. She might be bullied when she goes to school because she''s so ugly! So as her big brother, I will have to protect her!" He said, causing another bout ofughter, from both parents. Theo who didn''t know what exactly they were saying justughed along.


    ''It seems I might have raised a little tsundere.'' She wondered about the future growth of her children. She kept her mouth closed trying to contain the emotions that were about to rush out. Now didn''t seem to be the right time to express them. [Author''s Note: Tsundere is a Japanese term for a character development process that depicts a character with a personality who is initially prized warm/soft, cold, temperamental, hotheaded before gradually showing a warmer, friendlier side over time.]


    Shortly after, the focus went back to baby Emilin. It wasn''t long before both parents found the abnormality in the situation.


    ''Emilin hasn''t even cried yet!''


    When both Nathan and Theo were born, they started to cry the moment they first opened their eyes, until they were closed again, it was so tiring.


    These are parents for you, they willin if you cry, but worry if you don''t. And you''ll still have to love them for it.


    Both Elena and Gabriel were very worried, while the children had no idea what was happening. The parents looked at Emilin with eyes wide, filled with worry, just to find that the child was looking back at them with the same intensity, if not more. Big round eyes, filled with confusion and curiosity, which seemed unfitting for an infant that was less than an hour old. This was quickly ignored due to the more pressing issue of possible problems that might be rted to her health.


    "Doctor! Doctor! Is there something wrong? The child has yet to cry." The mother of the child could not mask her worry, nor did she try to. The Doctor who had juste back after the post-procedure clean-up was slightly confused and concerned, but he didn''t show it on his face.


    He had been too preupied with his own thoughts that he had not been paying enough attention to the child, which waspletely unprofessional of him. The other nurse didn''t notice either as she was checking the reports on the data of the baby while recovering from her mild headaches, which wasmon among all the people that had been in the room during the process of thebor.


    The doctor took the baby from her mother''s arms so that he could check the child''s condition. However, before baby Emilin could even leave her mother she started wailing and crying, most likely instinctively.


    At this point, Doctor Elms had to take a deep breath in order to keep calm.


    ''Why did I pick this job again?''

 Chapter 3 - New Found Warmth

    EMILIN POV:


    At this point, my body felt a little tight. It was as if I had been packaged into a tiny box, which made me d that I''m not ustrophobic. My surroundings were slightly warm and cramped, which seemed to be a strangebination in this case.??


    Warm... hell isn''t supposed to be so warm right? I guess I''m going to heaven. That''s nice.


    Wait.


    Do they send people to Heaven in tiny boxes?


    I struggled to open my heavy eyelids, which just didn''t seem to budge. I could see that there were lights from the other side of my lids, but the source of the light was still unknown.


    Then, what I heard next truly made me question death.


    Did I really go to heaven? Because those cries sounded like they came straight from hell! On another note, ''hellfire'' seemed to be a moremon saying than "when hell freezes over".


    A miscalction on my part. But to be fair, I didn''t really think I''ve done anything to warrant a ticket in a small container to the underworld, at least not from what I remember.


    When the yells were cut off, I felt my body being touched all over with some cold material, but I wasn''t able to move at all.


    Do they check their products before they are sent off? It was incredibly ufortable. Honestly, at this point, I didn''t even really know what I was saying, or rather thinking, or better yet, imagining. I guess I just let my mind wander off on its own.


    I kept trying to sway what I think were my limbs, but I seemed to fall short of touching anything every time. I was getting a little worried. Then, the cold material was finally taken away. I felt like I was floating in the air, yet still incredibly heavy at the same time.


    Then there was warmth. What was seemingly endless warmth surrounded me, and it was at that moment that I finally realized that my heart also felt warmed by this sensation. My soul trembled from the first contact to something other than emptiness. The sudden moment of euphoria was shocking, to say the least.


    Was this all a marketing trick to make people think they plunged into the depths of torture, before giving them a safe pass?


    Because it''s working.


    When I was finally able to open my eyes. I found myself looking at a beautiful woman that seemed to be in herte 20s nearing her 30s. Her embrace was sofortable. I looked at her and at that moment, she was smiling while looking at her right. She seemed to be talking to someone but I wasn''t really able to make out any of what they were saying.


    All I heard was something about some ''Emi'' from a cute and squeaky voice, which came from someone I couldn''t really see at the moment. I think I was pretty safe to assume it was a child.


    Then the woman finally looked down at me. Wait. Down? I look back at her in total confusion.


    I don''t think this is really heaven, even though the warmth found here is totallyparable to how heaven is depicted. At least from what I''ve heard. I had alreadye to a usible conclusion, but I wasn''t too keen on believing it. Was there really something as convenient as a second chance in life?


    I remember that Buddhists said that reincarnationes after death. Does that mean there really isn''t any heaven or hell? I''m sure some other religions have some more about it. I couldn''t really find anything else to base off my thoughts on.


    Then is this the legendary reincarnation? But surely I was supposed to have all of my memories wiped out, right?


    I really wanted to think about anything other than what that tiny box/container I was in stuck in previously. I just didn''t want to imagine what it actually was. Out of sight, out of mind.


    Before I got some more time to think, I felt the warmth that was beneath me suddenly start leaving and I panicked.


    ''No! Don''t abandon me.''


    Suddenly, I heard another crying sound. This time it was smaller than the first, but it seemed to resonate even more with me than the former. That is before I realized that the sound came from myself.


    I didn''t even cry during my long years on the cold streets, yet after I was given a taste of true warmth, these devils were trying to take it away from me. Truly something from the underworld. They knew their torturing methods well. So I cried. Not because I was in any pain, nor because I was sad.


    The cries that I had hidden deep within my heart for all these long years just suddenly burst out without warning.


    I cried and cried and cried. I don''t know exactly why, but I was also happy. I could finally feel again. All these strange emotions were now ones that I could also experience. The void that was in my heart seemed to have filled up just a little. Yet, even that tiny bit was something I would treasure.


    I don''t really remember when or why I had stopped feeling emotions before my death, but I have a feeling that it wasn''t always this way. My memories from before I was around 10 werepletely forgotten, including my possible family, friends, home, or even my name.


    When I had woken up one day I had been covered in piles of rubble, but I couldn''t even feel any pain. I had started walking aimlessly on the streets, not knowing who I was, nor where I should be.


    The street could only be distinguished through the scale of dull and duller. Everything had been incredibly tedious, including eating. Those were how my days were spent until I died of starvation and exhaustion.


    After two years of surviving my body wasn''t able to keep up anymore. That was okay when I didn''t care, but when I finally did, every memory became incredibly painful. My time on the streets was anything but joyful.


    While I had been scouring the streets, I also realized something else, something that I now find interesting. There were a lot of things that I knew. When looking at the shows and programs that were being broadcasted on the televisions that could be seen through the windows of various shops, I realized that I could still use information that I had learned before I lost my memories.


    For a few moments there, I had thought that I came from a wealthy family because I was educated on various topics, including politics, economics, maths, and variousnguages. Then I found it even more peculiar that no one had evere to look for me. My knowledge in psychology also told me that the reason for my loss of memory was anything but normal.


    But I didn''t really find it necessary to find out why I lost my memories or who I actually was. I just didn''t care. Even if this was abnormal there didn''t seem to be much I could do about it.


    But now, that was all different. I felt the warmth on my skin as I slowly calm down from my previous fit. I wanted to grab onto this feeling and never let go. The tense knot that had previously resided in my chest loosened up as I let myself ease in the warm embrace of the woman I assume to be my mother.


    My eyes that had been tightly shut while crying also slowly rx.


    The frantic people that had been panicking in the room also seem to get less agitated at the same time.


    The room that had been bustling hours prior all the way until a couple of minutes ago seemed to fall into a peaceful silence.

 Chapter 4 - I...um...can I Also Hold Emi?

    ELENA POV:


    I always thought that my first childbirth would be the most painful. But I was wrong. So wrong. In the end, though, it was all worth it. Emilin gave me a scare at first, but after she fell asleep she was akin to an angel. ??


    Both Nathen and Theo had been trying to stay awake to watch over her and me while Gabriel had left to settle the payments and get some food. Not long after though, the two tired children also dozed off.


    When Gabriel came back with some warm white porridge, I looked at him, conveying to him, my worry for Emi''s condition. He told me that the doctor would take her to do another check-up in half an hour.


    Gabriel sat down on the chair that was ced next to my bedside after moving the boys that had fallen asleep onto the couch. His gaze lingered on me for a bit before moving on to our beautiful little daughter, who was still asleep.


    Seeing Gabriel''s hesitation I took the initiative to hand Emilin for him to cradle. His caring eyes remind me time and time again why I fell in love with him, to begin with. He was definitely the most caring man I had ever met, and that was still true to this day. Well caring, to me and our children. Anything outside of this family was no longer my business.


    The worry in his eyes as well as the bags beneath them also didn''t escape my observations.


    "My concern is that Emi might not be willing to go. She was crying really hard when you were handing her to Doctor Elms." Gabriel seemed really tired from the overtime he had been doing the past two weeks and now with the earlybor, he had to rush to the hospital with me so early in the morning. He hadn''t had any time to resttely.


    The pressure he has been feeling must have been immense, even with the small bursts of adrenaline. After everything calmed down, his eyes couldn''t hold the same excitement anymore due to the high levels of fatigue.


    I wish he would just take care of himself sometimes. There was a part of me that wished I could also do more for him.


    "We''ll have to see when the timees," I said, trying to push my worries to the back of my head.


    ***


    Their worries ended up being unwarranted as Emilin was in deep slumber. The kind that couldn''t be shaken even with 5 rms in 5-minute intervals on snooze. She wouldn''t be able to create a fuss even if she wanted to, not that she did.


    When Doctor Elms strode back into the ward he was already in a much better mental state. After doing all the customary checks, Emilin proved to be healthy, despite the earlybor. Even then, it was only around 2 weeks earlier than what was predicted, which couldn''t be said to be too bad. Emilin was tilting a little towards the lighter side of the scale in terms of weight, but nothing that would lead to any form of concern.


    Although Emilin seemed to have a rather high brain activity, nothing seemed to be wrong physically and the baby was still too young to have any notable conclusions drawn from the information about just that. It could mean just about anything at her age, again, nothing that would lead to any major concerns.


    "From what I can see, your child is healthy, so there won''t be any need for you to worry. You will have to be ready to breastfeed every two hours for the first weeks. Please stay at the hospital for the night, so that we can make sure everything is okay and you will be able to be discharged tomorrow." Doctor Elms repeated the speech he memorized while thinking of the nap he was about to take after getting off his shift.


    "Thank you, Doc," Gabriel said as Doctor Elms left. "Honey, I''m going to have to go to the office first. Will you be okay with the kids?"


    "Gabriel, you should be resting. Can''t you tell them that I need you here to take care of the kids to take the rest of the day off and rest for a bit? It''s already 5 PM." Elena looked at her poor hubby, who was already sleep-deprived.


    "I wish I could just stay here and sleep, and wake up to the cries of the children, but instead, I have to go to the office and try to stay awake to the cries of my subordinates." Gabriel''s exaggerated sigh would make most think that he was beingpletely sarcastic, but Elena knew that there were always some neers that would break under pressure leading to some mistakes that they wouldn''t be able to fix.


    Tears would be shed.


    Gabriel was the Chief Operations Officer in one of the branches in Continent A of a ratherrge real estatepany called Gua Real Estates that was now breaking into Continent E. He earned enough to lead afortable life with his wife being a stay at home mom. They lived in arge 2 floor t in a high rise apartment building in the tinum Co. chain owned by Gua Real Estates.


    The rent was already covered, one of the perks that came with his position. It was also much easier for him to move around with his family if necessary to other cities or even countries. His capabilities would allow him to work just about anywhere. He was a polyglot a very proficient one at that.


    "Okay, but don''t tire yourself out." Elena brought Emilin back into her embrace and sent Gabriel off with her eyes, watching him leave until the door was finally closed.


    Elena''s eyes followed soon after, leading her into a deep sleep.


    A couple of hours after Gabriel had left, Nathen woke up and rubbed his eyes with a dazed look. He nced at his little brother that was sleeping beside him on the inside of the wide couch, probably to prevent him from falling off. Then he moved his sight to his mother and his new little sister and slowly moved over.


    Elena who was promptly woken up from the shuffling urring from the couch to her bedside looked up to see her eldest son''s hesitant movements.


    "What''s wrong Nate?" Elena asked as she had quickly noticed his cute fidgeting. She raised her hand to her mouth to cover her yawn.


    "Oh. I didn''t mean to wake you up mom. I just wanted to ask..." Elena listened intently, waiting for little Nathen to finish his sentence.


    "I...um...can I also hold Emi?" By the time Nathen had finished his sentence his voice had softened so much that it was barely a whisper. Elena''s loving gazended on her little Nathen, to see his facepletely flushed red reaching for his little nape.

 Chapter 5 - Elenas True Nature ;)

    "I...um...can I also hold Emi?" By the time Nathen had finished his sentence his voice had softened so much that it was barely a whisper. Elena''s loving gazended on her little Nathen, to see his facepletely flushed red reaching for his little nape.


    ''(??¥î?)?*:??? Kyaaaa~ Sooo cute. How did I give birth to such an adorable little angel! No, wait. I can''t be too excited. I have to be the adult here. Yes, the adult.'' Many thoughts rushed through Elena''s mind at this moment.??


    On the outside, she was able to remain the admirable, calm, and mature mother of three. She smiled gently, not showing a trace of her inner thoughts. ''Good job me!'' She had been suppressing these thoughts all day already.


    "Come over here and sit down." She said gently while scooching over to one side of the bed, allowing for some more space. Nathen climbed up to the bed and sat right next to his mother. Elena moved Nathen closer and ced Emilin into his arms while holding onto his to make sure Emilin would be safe.


    "Of course you can, but you have to be very careful, okay?" She knew his son best, and thus she knew that he was an absolute softy. "You''re Emi''s big brother now, so you have to take care of her okay?"


    "Duh, if I don''t take care of her who will? I''m not going to be like those big bullies at school! Hmph, they''re always saying mean things and making people cry, they''re the worst! Anyone who makes someone cry is a baddie who''ll be a baldie!" Nathen dered indignantly with a puff.


    "Really now. Then what if Emi makes another little boy or girl cry?" Elena''s ears perked up, awaiting another interesting answer from her son. Nathen hesitated and took some time to think. His eyebrows creased before they rxed again.


    "Umm... I''m not sure. But Emi can''t be in the wrong!" He said, firmly engraving that statement into the depths of his heart. However, even he didn''t really know what he was implying. All he knew was that no matter what happened, from that moment on, he would definitely be on his family''s side no matter what.


    Elena was a little startled, but she didn''t take his response to heart too much seeing as he was still young and hadn''t developed his own ideals or morals yet.


    Nheless, she was still happy to know that her son ced his new sister in his heart, knowing that many children would be upset if they were to have a new sibling. Such children would think that their parents wouldn''t love them anymore or that they would have to split the love they received. This was not true at all, in fact, the love received by each child would be multiplied. Their parents and siblings would each send them their support and care.


    "Is that so?" Elena looked at little Nathen who watched Emilin with a novel determination.


    Nathen''s expression rxed again to one that was more fit for the five-year-old he was. "Of course. Emi will be so smart because I''m going to teach her. She couldn''t possibly ever be wrong then." He said, with a high and mighty tone, which made Elenaugh. Little Nathen''s cheeks puffed with dissatisfaction from his mother''s response. He was totally serious!


    Emilin who was resting in Nathen''s arms which were ced on hisp suddenly showed a small smile, which was quickly noticed by the two people who were observing her intently. The smile seemed so incidental. It was so pure, yet full of depth and even this small smile, fully showcased Emilin''s adorable little dimples.


    Another pure little angel had descended to the mortal realms.


    Elena almost didn''t squeal right then and there. ''My god, my genes must be perfect. How else could I give birth to such godly children? I guess Gabriel''s genes should be pretty alright too.'' Her heart almost burst, yet she wasn''t the only one in this situation.


    "I want to take it back." Little Nathen said shyly as his face turned pink once again. He lowered his head again and again until his chin touched his chest. This statement was quite confusing as it seemed to being from nowhere.


    "Huh?" Elena questioned her ears.


    "I mean, she''s not that ugly." At that Elena burst into a fit ofughter. Nathen''s once milky white countenance couldn''t help but turn redder. He turned his head to the other side, not wanting to face his mother who wasughing at him. ''Hmph, where else can you find a parent that likes tough at their own children like this!''


    What Nathen didn''t consider was that Elena was in factughing at how adorable her little baby Nathen was, rather than the embarrassing situation he was thinking of.


    "Now, now, does that mean that you won''t need to protect little Emi from bullies anymore?" She asked in a teasing tone after calming down.


    "No way! Now I have to protect her even more. What if some scummy little boy wants to take advantage of our poor little Emi? I can''t just wait to see my adorable sister get hurt." Little Nathen seemed to forget his age at that point, but honestly, that''s just what made him all the more adorable.


    "You seem to be right. But what did I say about using badnguage?" Elena asked with a rare stern face, used only to educate her children. Nathen lowered his head.


    "Sorry, mom. But everyone that wants to take advantage of little Emi should be a baddie, right?" Nathen said indignantly, however, he still understood the concept of not using these derogatory and mean terms. Plus at his age, he was rather keen on learning from his parents, unlike some of the teens going through puberty.


    "Yes, definitely a baddie, but if you say nasty words, you will seem like the baddie, do you understand?" Elena was always very patient when it came to educating her children. So she watched as Nathen contemted her words until he finally nodded his head in understanding.


    "I got it." He said. "Can I keep holding Emi for a bit longer?"


    Yet, before he could hear an answer, a small figure rushed to his line of sight. Little Theo who had just woken up wanted to see what was going on. Without really knowing what the other two were talking about, he rushed in to say, "Meeee too, Meeee too" in his adorably squeaky voice.

 Chapter 6 - Meeting Her Big Brothers

    EMILIN''S POV:


    When I finally woke up, I realized that I was on my own again. My chest felt all stuffy, missing the feeling of warmth that I had bathed in previously. ??


    I had to flutter my eyes really quickly to prevent the tears that were about to roll down.


    I''m not too sure myself why it is, but ever since my death, my waterworks seemed to have started working overtime.


    Maybe it''s because I''m in what I assume to be the body of a baby. Well to be fair, I can be considered a baby so crying isn''t shameful at all, right?


    And so I convince my 12-year-old brain that it''s okay.


    Because it is.


    Yes.


    Definitely.


    There should be no stigma around crying, no matter how old or young someone is (-//¦Å//-).


    I was honestly more worried about the disappearance of my personal heart heater.


    ''Thatdy should still be here, right? Yeah, I just have to calm down. Go back to sleep and when I wake up it will all be okay. Either that or I am still dead. Gosh, what''s happening?''


    I pondered on the thought that she might be my mother, but I was a little scared to get too attached so quickly, even though I knew that such precautions were pretty much useless at this point.


    I was already disarmed and defenseless.


    I was weak to the warmth.


    ***


    Emilin had felt more confusion in the past day than most would in a lifetime. Her emotions were a mess, she had experienced death and been reborn.


    Everything was just fun and games when there was that prettydy with her, but now that she was alone, everything was a mess again.


    She still didn''t know how to organize her feelings. Being alone now waspletely different from when she was alone in her past life. Back then it didn''t matter if there was someone with her or not, it was all the same. Now, a bundle of emotions that Emilin wasn''t able to process were trying to vie for a spot in her heart, most of which weren''t very good for her at this moment.


    She was nearing the edge readying to jump down the hill to the mental breakdown that was skillfully hiding at the bottom, waiting for her to take that final step.


    At that moment, the door of the room Emilin was residing in opened up and the whole area was illuminated. A small child ran in and saw his little sister who wasying in her crib looking back at him.


    "Emiiii." Theo ran in and said. His steps were slow but steady. He looked at his own feet as if to ask them to move faster. When he reached the crib, he used his hands to grab two of the wooden bars and moved his face closer to get a better view of his sister.


    Emilin ended up having an adorable child''s face just inches away from her own.


    ''He''s... adorable.''


    Little Theo had dark brown hair that was rather short and kind of messy. He had a pair of big phoenix eyes that were hazel in color and thick eyebrows that that paired perfectly with his full lips that were tinted in a rudy pink pigment.


    Emilin opened her mouth, trying to express her thoughts about the little child''s cuteness, just to realize that only baby babble wasing out of her mouth.


    ''I don''t know why, but I think I want to cry all over again...''


    Theo on the other hand found the baby babble incredibly endearing.


    "Baby. sister. Emi." he pronounced his words slowly, one by one.


    After finishing, his mouth widened into a toothy smile and his whole face brightened with pride as he called out his little sister''s name.


    The second little angel in the family had descended.


    Seeing his smile, Emi couldn''t help but smile as well. Such children could leave anyone absolutely defenseless and Emilin wasn''t an exception.


    The walls ced around Emilin''s heart slowly cracked ever so slightly, allowing for some of the liquid warmth to seep in. This was the first time in her life that those barennds within her heart were able toe into contact with something that would help the living flourish.


    Emilin herself was still clueless about these changes that were urring within her.


    At that moment, the door opened again, this time with two figuresing in.


    Elena was rushing in and Nathen was following closely behind. Elena had been quite flustered when she had seen the door to her room, where Emilin''s crib had been ced, opened, but when he noticed that little Theo wasn''t in the living room anymore, she was able to deduce what was going on.


    "Theo, why are are you in here, what if you had woken up Emilin from her sleep?" Elena had to lecture Theo a little so that troubles wouldn''t arise in the future.


    "Theo wants to see Emi!" He exined, his voice as innocent and clear as always. Obviously, he couldn''t understand why he wasn''t allowed to see his baby sister.


    Elena didn''t know how she should refute because hearing Theo''s care for his sister was like music for her ears, but she also didn''t want Emilin to be disturbed from her sleep all the time.


    "I want to see Emi too!" Nathen added on from behind her. Elena could only sigh, and quietly sign her letter of resignation.


    It was too hard to be the mother of such cute children. How can you even deny them anything? You would just seem like a monster.


    "Okay, but don''t be too loud when you''re here if Emilin is sleeping. She has to sleep a lot to grow up so that she can y with you in the future." She exined.


    "Yes! Yes!" Theo said signifying his understanding and Nathen nodded at once.


    "We''ll make sure that we do that Mom," He said. Elena looked at Emilin whose eyes had already long been opened. She then walked to the crib to get Emilin and walked over to her bed to sit down.


    Elena let Emilin face little Nathen and little Theo so that she could introduce them to little Emi. Emilin sat on Elena''sp while observing the two boys who were looking at her intently. Elena used Emi''s hand to point at both Nathen and Theo


    "The one on the right is your big brother Nathen, he''s 5 years older than you, while the one on the left is your big brother Theo who is 3 years older than you." They each had arge smile on their faces when they heard the term ''big brother''.


    The two were thinking of the same thing simultaneously unknowingly. ''I''m a big brother! Emi will be calling me big brother in the future.'' Although Nathen also had Little Theo to call him big brother, and sure he was cute, but it just wasn''t the same. Having a cute little sister following you around seemed to be better than a little brother.


    To be honest, the real reason why Nathen was slightly adverted to having a little brother like Theo was that he was growing too fast! He didn''t want to be shorter than his little brother, which is also what led him to pick up various sports in and outside of school.


    Emilin who had already seen Theo earlier looked at Nathen. He was only slightly taller than Theo, but he already lost quite a bit of baby fat. He was still cute and slightly chubby nheless. His hair was a lighter shade of brown and his eyes were a little rounder than Theo''s. His hazel eyes, though the same color as Theo''s seemed to shine even more than the former''s. His lips were also slightly thinner than his younger brother''s. Then they parted open so that he could voice his thoughts.


    "I''m your big brother, so I''ll be sure to protect you!" Nathen proimed once again, but this time he was speaking directly to Emilin.

 Chapter 7 - The Cracking Walls Around Her Heart

    "I''m your big brother, so I''ll be sure to protect you!" Nathen proimed once again, but this time, he was speaking directly to Emilin.


    Seeing his determined look, Emilin was incredibly touched. Even though she knew that a child''s words were, well, just that, she also knew that they were the purest. She could absolutely tell that he was 100% serious, which moved her greatly. ??


    Though her emotions were described using such words, they were in fact much rawer than words could describe. They were like diamonds that were dug up before they even had such a name or value. They were untainted of any human definition because Emilin had yet to define them. Such diamonds were only special because they were pretty and appreciated by the person who had found them, themselves.


    Emilin was the only person who needed to be satisfied, no one else. There was no need for her own feelings to be approved of or defined by other people.


    The cracks on the walls surrounding her heart deepened as emotions of gratitude and joy as well as care tried to flood in. The turmoil was physically manifested as tears of joy, yet Emilin was still unable to process what they meant.


    The sheer number of feelings coursing through her was already fully capable of confusing her. She didn''t know that her eyes were tearing up, but the people surrounding her noticed and their first thoughts were all to check on her, to see if she was either ufortable or in pain.


    These were the gestures of love that were done subconsciously, the actions that proved that more often than not, one''s family will be the ones who will be there to support you, even if you don''t see it yourself.


    Yet many aren''t able to realize until it is toote. In fact, Emilin herself had yet to find out just how much her family cared for her.


    The giggles that inadvertently came out of her mouth, were those of the innocent babe that she was, yet the two tears that slid down her cheek made her seem anything, but simple. If there were anyone else there to witness this scene, they might even believe that this child was cursed or simply mad. And yet somehow, the two young boys along with their mother seemed to find this scene both novel and beautiful, like no other.


    Ghost hiding in the corner of the room: ''I remember that Boo-Sempai said that one of the symptoms of staying in the human world for too long at once was insanity. So am I going insane or are these people all crazy? Since when have humans been so damn creepy, god they give me the chills.''


    God who was unwarrantedly pulled into the conversation: ''...''


    Nathen was the first to react, reaching out his hand to wipe the tear that was about to fall off of Emilin''s chin. It was truly a wonderous moment, everyone seemed to be stunned when they saw that tear rolling off Emilin''s face, unable to tear their eyes off of her.


    "Don''t cry again. Or I might be scolded for doing a poor job and being a bad brother," Nathen said. He said more to himself than to Emilin who supposedly couldn''t understand him. It was only then that Emilin noticed her tears.


    ''WHY AM I CRYING AGAIN?'' Emilin truly didn''t understand it at all. She knew that when people were, quote on quote ''sad'', they would cry, she also heard that sadness was not an enjoyable emotion. Even with herck of experience, she was able to tell that she was not feeling, the emotion called ''sadness''. So why was she shedding tears?


    ''Is this supposed to be normal for babies?''


    When she thought again, she realized that she really wasn''t very knowledgeable about children, but she had found the term ''cry baby'' in the files that were locked in her mind as recollections.


    ''Then I guess this should be normal then?'' She thought. Elena on the other hand didn''t know what to think...''Even when my little baby is crying she is adorable!'' Her mind was truly riding on another wavelength whenpared to others.


    Theo was worried when he saw tears, but when he heard little Emi''s giggles he followed up with giggles of his own. Meanwhile, Elena''s poor little soul was preparing to ascend to heaven.


    ''Ah this is my little piece of heaven on Earth'' She thought. It is unknown if Gabriel would be sad or not if he were to hear his precious wife''s thoughts.


    Gabriel who was still at his office rubbed his nose. ''Why is my nose so itchy? Gosh, I want to go home... just onest report! Will my wifey forget about me if I''m at work too much...? I must be overthinking things because of the stress. Yes, she would never stop loving me.''


    Gabriel''s worries were unwarranted, but his thought process wasn''t wrong either. He was deeply loved by Elena, yet her children would always be ced slightly above him. He was nheless, the father of her children, another piece of her heart that she would not be able to forgo.


    Back at home, all was peaceful as the children interacted with each other. Nathen was seated on the bed with his back resting on the headboard as he read a short story to both Theo and Emi. Theo was seated next to him with his head resting on Nathen''s shoulder and Emilin was ced on hisp. The two children who had been listening to Nathen dictate the story of Cindere intently had long started to doze off.


    When little Theo started to snore, Nathen looked at Emilin, who had also gone to dreand. He closed the book and ced it on the bedside drawer. It was then that Elena came back with a te full of cut apples, only to see that the two of the children had already fallen asleep. She sat down next to Theo and raised her hand to move his hair away from his eyes.


    "You''re going to be an amazing big brother Nathen, you don''t have to be worried." She said.


    "Of could I am!" He responded. His mother knew him best. Even though he didn''t show it Nathen would sometimes worry that his sister wouldn''t like a brother like him. Even after his mother''s assurance, he still wasn''t too sure.


    After a few seconds of peace and silence, the phone call came to Elena. She picked it up after seeing it was from Gabriel.


    What she didn''t know was that the news she received today, would also change her life, as well as the lives of the rest of her family.

 Chapter 8 - 15 Years Later...

    "Did you see her?"


    "My gosh. Who didn''t? That''s our campus''s ice belle!" ??


    As she walked through the school campus, people would open up a path to let her walk through while murmurs would erupt throughout the crowd.


    The youngdy whose name was in the mouth of all who saw her walked with a poker face. Many noticed that her poker face in fact contained a small smile, which more often than not made her look even more chilly and unapproachable.


    The times where it didn''t, her stern aurapensated for.


    Even though everyone was wearing the same id uniform, the way she carried herself made her seem like she was wearing silk robes, walking the runway.


    "What kind of skincare does she use? Why is her skin so damn perfect?" Someone murmured to the person next to them.


    It was not an exaggeration to say nearly all of the people in the school have had the same thought on previous asions, and some would still have the same thoughts now.


    The girl who was at the center of everyone''s attention walked as if she couldn''t care less about the people talking about her.


    Her pitch-ck hair was tied into a clean ponytail as it swayed at her every step. The color of her hair further entuated her hazel eyes and pink full lips. Her thick eyebrows adding to the depth of her face.


    Even after entering the school building, the conversations didn''t stop.


    Theyout of the school buildings was in a reverse ''U'' shape, with 3 floors each. Two towers were built where one of the buildings met another.


    The bell from the bell tower rang, signaling the start of morning sses, to which anyone who wasn''t in ss within the next 10 minutes would bete.


    The ssroom that had been bustling with various ongoing conversations quickly became silent to the appearance of a single student.


    She walked to her seat in her homeroom ss that was next to the windows in the middle column and ced her bag on the floor next to the wall.


    Honestly, her entrance had a better effect than any teacher would ever be able to produce by themselves. Theck of any sound continued until the teacher came in secondster.


    "Ah I see that everyone has settled down, we can start with roll call." Ms. Dimsum said, knowing full well that she would not have such an easy time if she were to wait any longer.


    The roll call was conducted in alphabetical order ofst names. As Ms. Dimsum reached the end of the list of around 36 names, the students became increasingly louder.


    Yet when a certain name was called, silence would always follow.


    "Emilin Wei" Ms. Dimsum was also, long ustomed to this reaction. Of course, it wasn''t always like this, but as a teacher who had taught this ss for over half a year now, this situation was alreadymon.


    "Here" The young girl with the raven hair turned her head to face the teacher, her voice was as clear as a wind chime at a summer house and as melodic as a grand piano on the greatest stage. Her ssmates would look at her, before quickly looking away.


    "Theodore Wei" Ms. Dimsum followed.


    "He''ll being next period," Emilin said, before turning her head back to the window. The view was of a mountain that was behind the school buildings, which was mostly a restricted area.


    "Okay then." After a few more names were called, sses started.


    Emilin would never open her mouth unless the teacher had an extremely troublesome question that no one else had been able to solve. Then the teacher would have to resort to asking her.


    Emilin would say the answer and exin how to reach that answer in a concise way that was easy to understand, and no one would doubt her answers.


    She would then promptly shut her mouth and sit down as if her words were in fact worth more than gold, which led many to not want to trouble her to speak more.


    Leading to the current situation, where she could only be admired, but never approached.


    Theodore was in a simr yet vastly different situation.


    He was equally admired, his locker used to be constantly stuffed with letters and choctes. It was early on when he decided to get a lock, but that didn''t stop the letters froming. In fact, the number seemed to increase after the addition of the lock.


    What Theo didn''t know was that when the lock was absent, some of the letters were thrown out by the people who opened the locker to either put their own letters.


    The only ones that remained were either from people who were either confident and didn''t believe others werepetition or too scared to throw the items away. The remaining people were the ones who didn''t open the locker to stuff letters in.


    Now that the locker was locked, these girls had topensate by sending more letters, plus they wouldn''t be thrown out because Theodore was the only one who could open his own locker.


    This led to an influx of letters and Theo''splete befuddlement.


    These letters were obviously not all love letters, but of course, there were some in the mix.


    There were letters ranged from, being asked to join some club to congratting him for his test scores, in other words, these girls found just about any reason to talk to him or write to him.


    None of them had his number so they couldn''t text him and Theodore absolutely refused to give any of them his number after past experiences.


    He did have a separate phone for schoolwork in case of group projects, but that was on mute when it was not used, and his school email would block out anyone he deemed to be spam.


    The people who tried to send him unnecessary emails were "spam-zoned".


    Emilin had also gotten various gifts at first.


    She didn''t really understand the concept of the confession letter and when she asked her brothers, they told her that the people sending her such letter as well as the boys who asked her to talk alone, because of "something private" were in fact perverts that want to beat her up inside and out and to stay far, far away from them.


    Emilin of course knew this wasn''t entirely true, but she still listened to her brothers, because they care for her most.


    It''s not like she wanted to start dating either, not that she could at all. If she had those kinds of social skills, she''d already have friends...


    As for the food that was sent, she ate it all.


    Emilin fell in love when she first got a taste of food, more specifically desserts when she was reborn. She was finally able to taste the joy that was food, and man was it a ''hallelujah'' moment.


    Though she ate the snacks given to her the boys realized that they shouldn''t have any other thoughts after being threatened on various asions by Theodore.


    Yet, what the brothers didn''t expect was that after the first wave of people that would give Emilin snacks,rger waves came, all aiming for her locker too.


    This time, however, arge portion came from other girls.


    Some of them wanted to get closer to their "future sister-inw" and after a while, these people started to enjoy feeding Emilin. They sometimes evenpeted to see who would be able to give Emilin the best snacks. Theypeted to see who could guess her taste buds best.


    Emilin had a strictly no-wasting food policy, but the amount of time she took to eat the food, as well as her expression, would tell you how much she liked it.


    If she ate it really slow and had a bad expression then she really hated it, sometimes she would pass those to Theodore. That would be followed by straight up passing it on after taking a quick bite if she hadn''t tried it before and passing it on to ''Trashcan Theo''. Then it would be fast-eating paise with a smile and finally slowly savoring speeds.


    Anyways, that had long be a tradition, and Emilin would just follow along. She of course didn''t lock her locker, she didn''t really have anything worth stealing and no one would dare take the snacks ced there, because anything missing would be promptly noticed as everyone bet to see who brought the best snack. Plus, it was always a plus to get on the good side of the smartest student in the ss.


    Though Emilin loved food, she was very picky. Everyone would usually just get the snacks over the weekend and they wouldst the week. She would just ce the snacks under her desk when she finished for the day.


    Today, however, after the first period was over, she did not take out the snack bag.


    She was just looking straight at the ssroom door as if waiting for someone. The people who were waiting to watch the show were confused. That confusion quickly dissipated when they saw a figure walking through the door.


    It was Theodore.


    They all looked in understanding, but Emilin felt that something was off.


    Theodore had yet to enter the ssroom when he tilted his head back to look to his right. It was then that the people were able to see that there was in fact another figure beside him who was now walking in the ssroom, both hands carrying something as he walked in.

 Chapter 9 - Stay Away, Snotty Boys!

    The two Wei siblings were legendary in this school. Not only were they beautiful people, but they were always upying the top two ces on the leaderboard for the school rankings in their grade.


    They had participated in various national levelpetitions as well, nevercking a ce on the podium, but they seemed to stop there, never wanting to go to the international stage. It was quite mind-boggling because everyone believed that they were capable enough, to at least reach the semi-finals of the international olympiads. ??


    At first, most people thought they were just pretty faces, but in the end, their results were enough to prove everyone wrong. Some even believed that they bribed the school to ept them, as they looked like they came from money.


    Yet another misconception about the two was that they were twins. This was quite a reasonable assumption. They hade together on their first day at Azure Highschool and they were also in the same grade and had the samest name. They also directly called each other by their nicknames while asionally using the term ''big brother'' or ''little sister'', which is why people assumed they were around the same age, being ''twins'' that is. And that Theo was the older of the two.


    They were proven wrong on the same day when Emilin and Theo both had to go up to the stage to give a speech as the two people who had received the highest grades in the entrance test, which to them had a difficulty akin to multiplication problems to most other students.


    Theo did most of the talking in the speech while Emilin said the ''thank you'' at the end. That was when the role of ice belle had been assigned to her. When they reached the ssroom that day everyone started surrounding them, everyone was excited, each with varying reasons.


    "Hey, you guys see the ''twins'', they were so cool!"


    "Yeah, I can''t believe that both of them could be so smart. Howe they both get full marks? Shouldn''t one of them be the dumb and noisy one while the other is the silent but smart one?"


    "You''re just too dumb and now you want to drag others to your level."


    "Hey! No one that can get in this school can be dumb."


    "That''s not true, your parents might have bribed the school. But it doesn''t matter, if your no good you''ll fail and be kicked out anyway."


    "Yeah let''s just wait and see who is expelled first then!"


    "Well not exactly expelled, but I''m sure that after failing the grade once or twice they''ll be too embarrassed to continue."


    Every grade had three sses and both Emilin and Theodore were ced in ss three, they would remain in the same ss for the next 2 years unless they were a really good reason why they wanted to change sses, of course, there were always people who would leave the school and others that would join in the following year.


    When they started the introductions, it was also by alphabetical order of theirst names. Emilin and Theo''s introductions were one after the other. When Emilin had to give her introduction, her stomach churned due to nerves.


    Her eyebrows tightened and she frowned which would happen every time she had to actively speak to others. Emilin would get so nervous that she had to try really hard to keep a straight face.


    Everyone: ''She must not want to waste her time talking to us.'' Some thought she was too stuck up, acting like she was better than them, while others believed that she was right to act stuck up and that she was indeed better.


    In the end, all Emilin was able to say was. "Emilin. Nice to meet you." Her jaws were slightly clenched which made her seem even more unwilling to talk.


    Thankfully Theodore was here for the rescue. He stood up and exined, "Hello everybody, I''m Theodore Wei, you can just call me Theodore." Then he looked at his little sister who became even more embarrassed because of herck of ability to do a simple introduction.


    She lowered her head as Theo spoke, "She''s my younger sister Emilin. We''ll both be in your care, so if you ever have any questions about schoolwork, you can just ask Emilin or me. But Emilin is much better than me at both school and teaching. And boys, stay away!"


    Theo was trying to help Emilin with her troubles inmunicating with other people outside of their family by giving her more chances to talk to other people. Thatst part, however, was slightly more aggressive than his original, rather admirable attitude. Also, Theo wasn''t actually worse than Emilin.


    If Emilin didn''t have some of her previous leanings and a great memory, she would never be able to surpass Theodore. He was truly a genius. Since young, he already showed greatprehensive ability and creativity. He was working on theputer scene since he turned 4 and instantly fell in love. He was already set in going into the technology industry.


    After he finished the introduction, the room already fell into silence. The girls were already slowly proiming how they had fallen in love at first sight in their minds, imagining all kinds of unrealistic stories in their pretty little minds. On the other hand, the boys were feeling both indignant and fear.


    It went something like ''You can''t tell me what to do or not do!'' to ''What if he sends someone to beat me up or worse, he won''t be willing to answer my question and then I''ll fail!''. And realistically, both of their worries were quite warranted.


    Then after the first round of individual thinking time, the students all started to talk to each other about how different these ''twins'' were.


    Someone who wasn''t quite convinced that the two were twins due to how much taller Theo looked finally asked the million-dor question.


    "Are you guys actually twins?" And Theo promptly replied.


    "No. My sister is three years younger than me." He said. Then the ssroom erupted into gossip once again.


    "Three whole years! Wow, she''s about my height. Is she really three years younger than us?" One said, but the person next to him refuted venomously.


    "No way! I bet that it was the brother that failed the grade!"


    The first person was not convinced at all.


    "He failed three years and then suddenly is tied for first ce in our grade? I don''t buy it!"


    But before the fans, aka lips, could keep blowing the mes of gossip, Emilin who heard others speak ill of her brother got very upset.


    "What do you mean! My brother did not fail the grade. Hmph, and of course he got first, who else would? You?" When it came to her family, Emilin''s mouth became very venomous. Which added to her portrayed image.


    If not for the fact that Emilin would usually keep to herself and would neverin when helping others exin things, she might have be the ''Mean Beauty'' or something simr.


    The other boy became embarrassed by Emilin''s rebuttal and lowered his head.


    "It''s fine Emi, it''s just because I''m more mature and taller. Everyone, there seems to be a misunderstanding, I should be the same age as you all, while my sister skipped 3 years to go to school with me. But please, even if you have questions or don''t understand something you don''t have to be embarrassed to ask Emilin."


    He sounded even more reasonable and admirable at that point. But the hidden message for the boys was clear: "I know that my sister is amazing, and you should too, but you snotty boys better not get any ideas."

 Chapter 10 - Nathen’s Appearance!

    Emilin POV:


    Simr monologues went through Emilin''s pretty little head every single day: ??


    ''God damn it, why am I still such a nervous wreck! Get your act together Emilin! You''re already 15 years old today, you can''t keep going on like this. How do you expect anyone to want to be your friend at this rate? Even when they are just asking you a question, can''t you try to hold a longer conversation? It shouldn''t be too hard to ask about the weather''


    ''Wait I think I can''t me everything on my skills, there should be something wrong with my face too. Yes! I remember that time I tried. I swear I did. I was about to ask about the weather when everyone just ran away. God, I think if I don''t keep my poker face people might really start to run away. Then they won''t even ask me about sswork.''


    ''At least there is something I can talk about without being awkward. Yeah, facts. I should spew facts. You can''t go wrong with facts. More facts. Yeah. I should try that next time. Facts!'' That was Emilin''s mantra for the rest of the ss. Yet she still wasn''t able to go around actually talking to someone.


    ''Why does everything work so much better through aputer? But that was all work-rted, those were just facts.''


    ''I should just ask Theo how he does it.''


    [For the readers out there. Just so you know, this is most definitely not the first time she has asked, nor will it be thest.]


    ***


    Back to when Theo walked in followed by Nathaniel. When he came into Emilin''s vision, she was shocked.


    Both Theo and Nathen had grown quite a lot in the past years. Nathen had be more mature and of course much taller. He pursued various sports and learned many martial arts throughout the years, to make sure he wouldn''t fall behind Theo in his growth.


    His hair color became slightly darker over the years; however, it still could notpare to the dark brown that was Theodore''s hair color, it was more of atte brown, while Theo''s hair was a coffee brown. His eyes were still as soft as ever and even though his build grew quiterge at 186cm and muscles in all the right ces, he still remained the perfect image of a friendly, admirable young man. He was wearing a white dress shirt that wasn''t able to hide his figure and ck trousers.


    Now he was 20 years old attending one of the top universities on a sports schrship as the valedictorian of his year, with the help of his siblings when it came to the matters of his studies.


    The truth was that both of the younger siblings could easily start taking university sses, but Emilin could not afford to skip more grades for various reasons. First, they would be too eye-catching, not that they minded too much, but being the center of attention prevented her from being able to start normal conversations. If she were to start ''studying'' with even older kids, she might as well give up on her goal of making normal friends or even starting a normal conversation.


    Theo on the other hand seemed to be more of a ruffian bad boy. He was on the skinnier side, yet his muscles were not to be undermined. As a boy, he didn''t want to be any weaker than his older brother, but he didn''t have as much interest in sports. He just opted for swimming and running as well as some trips to the home gym.


    Emilin was startled by his big brother''s appearance. Her ssmates even more so.


    ''Who is this?'' Of course, some noticed Nathen''s appearance was exceptionally simr to Theodore''s. Only an older, friendlier version who was also more muscr and a tiny bit taller, a bit that was barely noticeable. Actually, since Theo was on the leaner side, if they weren''t standing side by side, one would think that Theodore was in fact taller.


    After looking at Nathen, everyone''s gaze naturally shifted to what he was holding. It was cake. And on top of it were the words ''Happy Birthday Emi'' written using a candle in cursive. They seemed like individual candles, but the letters were all connected.


    In the past, this never urred because Emilin''s birthday would be on the weekend, and this year, she thought she wouldn''t be able to see Nathen because he had school and it was March. They were nearing testing season.


    Emilin quickly stood up and was closing the distance between the two siblings. Nathen who saw her movements quickly handed the cake to Theo who was next to him and opened his arms for the young girl that was closing in for a hug.


    "I thought you weren''ting back this year!" She said, in a rather loud voice.


    "How could I miss such an important asion. You know you''re growing up way too fast. I can''t have my little sister, who''s not so little anymore start dating in secret, now can I? I have toe to check, but of course, your birthday is equally as important." As he said this, he scanned the room for any possible threats. He still maintained his gentlemanly expression, this being one of the greatest differences between Nathen and Theodore.


    "Hey! My little sister too. Emi, howe after Nathenes, you forget that there''s this big brother here that has been taking care of you this whole time." Theodore who had been forgotten on one side had put down the cake on his own desk, which was closer to the door, but also in the middle row and walked back. He then joined in for the now group hug.


    Emilin chuckled a little. With her the appearance of two people she didn''t have to be nervous around, she quickly forgot that she was still in her ssroom surrounded by her ssmates who were now in a state of disbelief.

 Chapter 11 - Sister-In-Law Fan Club

    Emilin chuckled a little. With the appearance of two people she didn''t have to be nervous around, she quickly forgot that she was still in her ssroom surrounded by her ssmates that were now in a state of disbelief.


    Some of the moremon thoughts running through these people''s minds went something like this: ??


    ''What the hell¡­''


    ''They''re all siblings?''


    ''Why the heck are they all so damn good looking.''


    ''Did they win the gic lottery or was it their parents. They probably just all won one after the other.''


    As for the girls, it went something like this:


    ''No way. I can''t be like this. Theodore is supposed to be my crush¡­ I can''t do this to him. I can''t jump ships now. F*CK IT. Imma jump!'' Multiple girls looked at each other in mutual understanding.


    They were already huddled up while waiting for Emilin''s snack opening, what they hadn''t expected was for such premium eye candies to show up. They nced at each other onest time before taking out their phones one by one. Going to their own group chats. One of them being the Fan Club. The higher-ups, however, had their own chat. These were the people who first founded the club because they greatly appreciated Emilin''s help.


    Some were from her ss and there were also some who were not.


    They were also people who admired Theodore''s looks, but the majority weren''t crazy enough to think that they actually had a chance with him. It was more like a fan club for idols.


    Sister-inw Fan Club Higher Ups Group Chat:


    ''Lolita'': [I''m so sorry Theo. I might have to leave you. I don''t want to I swear, but I think I have found true love today. On another note. DID YOU JUST SEE HOW BEAUTIFUL THE GODESS WAS JUST NOW!]


    ''Kylester'': [Yes, I''m with you. Rest In Peace people who were on the Theo ship¡­ the ship has sunk, it was unfortunate, but it had to happen.]


    ''President'': [Wait. Wait, let''s all stay rtively calm. We don''t have to jump ships just yet. The group is a sister-inw fan club, we didn''t specify which sister-inw. This isn''t jumping ships, we are just adding a new member to the ship.]


    ''Vice-President'': [What are you guys talking about? Did something happen?]


    ''President'': [Our goddess has another brother. Well I''ll send a picture; it will speak for itself]


    ''President'': [*Picture*]


    ''Vice-President'': [Holy Shmoly]


    ''Ave'': [He looks so familiar.]


    ''Lolita'': [Girl, you can''t use lines that are that old to call dibs. Remember no dibs here.]


    ''Ave'': [No I mean it, I think I''ve seen him somewhere, maybe on the news?]


    ''Ave'': [HOLY SH*T!]


    ''Ave'': [IT''S HIM]


    ''Vice-President'': [I thought Ave never swore]


    ''Ave'': [He''s the one who won the national Jujitsu Championship two years in a row. It was the 18+ championships and he was just a newbie back then. Then,st year, during his interview, he said that he wasn''t participating anymore.]


    (Ave also participated in Jujitsu and was a part of the school''s team, but she didn''t do any other sports and so she was only familiar with the news about Jujitsu.)


    ''Kylester'': [No way. No wonder he has such muscles. *Wipes Drool*]


    ''President'': [You guys will have to make do; I can''t waste more time texting.]


    ''President'' went offline


    ''Lolita'': ''Bye, I have to go to eat. With my eyes.''


    ''Lolita'' went offline


    ''Kylester'' went offline


    ''Vice-President'': [F*ck you.]


    Back to the ssroom, Emilin had let go of both Nathen and Theo who had both pulled chairs up to her desk and sat down. She had just realized that everyone was looking at her, making her nervous again. She lowered her head and put her poker face back on.


    Both Nathen and Theo were already used to this and so they didn''tment. They also didn''t want others to see how adorable their little sister was. They did however worry about how troubled she was when it came to making friends.


    She was able to talk normally to just about anyone, but whenever it was implied that she was either going to be friends with someone, or she thought of someone as possible friends, her nerves would spike.


    She was scared to say something that would scare people who she wanted to befriend away.


    "Howe you came to our ssroom?" She asked, but not in an using nor annoyed voice. Just pure curiosity.


    "I''m hurt. I already informed the teacher for your next period and he said that he would give us some time, I told the principal I wasing too." This was one of the perks of being a good kid.


    Nathen had also gone to this high school and won multiple awards for various sports teams he yed in. Actually, they even hung his jersey along with the cups he helped win, but they only used his initials on those and so most people wouldn''t know it was him.


    Those who bothered to ask would only be told that it was from a senior who had already graduated. Those who weren''t at the school at the time he was, just wouldn''t know who he was, even if they saw him.


    Nathen kept talking, "We have a ser game with a University nearby in the afternoon and I didn''t want to dy celebrating even further. You might misunderstand and think that we forgot about your birthday." He exined with a teasing tone which Emilin missed.


    "I thought you stopped all of your other sports to concentrate on basketball and volleyball." She pointed out.


    "I did. But I asked them to add me as a sub so I coulde here today."


    "And they allowed that?" Emilin was doubtful.


    "Of course not. They pushed me as a starting yer, but I already told them that I''m was not going to be able toe to the after-party. The captain said that it would be good if the neers were able to see a real game, so they agreed to take turns to sit out. That was before I could even voice any objections." Nathen blinked twice to show his innocence in the matter.


    "Well good luck then." Nathen would sometimes forget how useless these tiny tactics were on his little sister. It didn''t matter because she was just like him. No matter what happened, family always came first so there was no need for small actions.


    "Let''s cut the cake already." Theo interrupted with a pout before he was forgotten again. He would only act in such a childish manner when he was talking to his family. Both Nathen and Emi nodded in agreement


    Theo cut the cake while Nathen gave the pieces to his sibling''s ssmates.


    Some of the boys who had also recognized this big sports idol were looking at him in awe. They saw him on the magazine covers from thepetitions he went to after high school.


    The girls were drooling. Over the cake. Yes, the cake.


    Nathen soon reached a couple of girls that were looking at him with eyes that he was all too familiar with. The 3 girls were part of the higher-ups of Emilin''s fan club, who were also conveniently Theo''s fans, and now Nathen''s too.


    L ''Aka. Lolita'' took the cake that was handed to her and said ''can I touch your abs'' to Nathen... in her mind. She froze a little.


    Phoebe ''Aka President'' was actually able to get some works out. "Hey, are you our goddess''s brother?" She asked which led Nathen to let out a chuckle, that she didn''t understand.


    "Yeah, I''m Nathen. Thanks for taking care of my sister." He said with a smile.


    "Oh um. It''s the goddess that is always taking care of us. She''s probably the only reason why all of us will be able to go to our dream schools." She started to mumble a little and had to try really hard to get her words right. She definitely didn''t want to get her words wrong right now.


    Kylie ''Aka Kylester'', on the other hand, was rtively calm, starting to eat with her mindpletely empty until the moment Nathen said his goodbyes and left.


    What soon followed was Kylie''s frustrated grunts. "What just happened. Did I really just do that? I can''t believe it. No way, that was so embarrassing. I couldn''t even get a word out."


    "Hey what did he say?" She added. She justpletely nked and had an ''Emilin'' at that moment.


    "Frick. I think I was worse off. I''m pretty sure I sounded like a weirdo back there." Phoebe retorted ignoring herst question.


    "I want your abs," L said before realizing that the hot guy had already left, leaving her with awkward silence, which wouldn''tst long.


    Not that it would have been less awkward if he had still been there.


    "Darn. He left." Actually, the ones that were having an awkward moment were L''s friends that were looking around to see if anyone heard her. That would be the moment in which they would have to pretend they didn''t know her.


    L herself didn''t feel awkward at all.


    Nathen who had already passed the cake around came back to his seat next to Emilin.


    "Your ssmates are quite interesting you know?" hemented.


    "If I knew, then I wouldn''t be sitting here right now." She snorted. Knowing that her brother was finding amusement in her plight.


    "Really now, I think we''ll never know then," Theo added, not hiding his mirth either. They would be happy if Emilin was able to make new friends, but they wouldn''t push her past her limits either. She needed some space to grow and coddling her all the time wouldn''t be of any help.


    Though it was quite interesting seeing their all-knowing little sister being ignorant for once.

 Chapter 12 - The Soccer Teams Dilemma

    Nathen POV:


    I had to leave when Emilin''s teacher came back for the second period 20 minutester. I was able to tell that many of the students had questions hanging in their mouths, maybe about how we were able to dy ss time. Well, it was as simple as asking the principal for permission. ??


    Well, I guess it wouldn''t be too easy for others. The school was quite a prominent one in this city, but in reality, whenpared to other schools in this nation, it was iparable. Much less this continent.


    15 years ago, we had to pack our bags and move here. Our father got a job offer that he simply wasn''t able to refuse, for various reasons.


    Hispany was revealed to be a subsidiary of arger one. The higher-ups specifically asked him to take charge of the branch in this country, which was very suspicious.


    How would they even know father? It was just too strange and so we all kept our guards up.


    Even after 15 years here, nothing out of the ordinary had happened, but we still couldn''t afford to let our guards down.


    Dad had thought of rejecting, but thepany made it very clear that he had toe which just made the situation even more dubious. The power we had in hand wasn''t even worth noting whenpared to whoever wanted us on this continent, which rendered fighting useless in all aspects.


    I heard most of this when mom and dad were talking about it when I was younger, but there were still details I had missed through the door.


    We were able to enter the continent that most people weren''t even able to visit after years of applying for a visa. This was something that not even mom or dad would be able to imagine reaching for in their lifetimes, at least that is what they said.


    I would have believed them when I was younger, but knowing the younger siblings I had, I knew we would have gotten here sooner orter.


    Some might be jealous of their sibling if they were to be born with a naturally higher talent for everything. Sour that they, who were younger, were in fact smarter.


    And at some point, in my life, I was too. But I was also sensible enough to know that they were my siblings that I had to protect. Somethings couldn''t be changed, and aftering to peace with myself, all I can say is that I wouldn''t want it any other way.


    Of course, I wish I could do more for them, but that won''t stop me from appreciating everything they do for me. They were two separate matters that just shouldn''t be entangled together.


    I do wish that we could spend more time together, but we were all busy with different things. I had gone to a top university in the nation, but that didn''t mean that it was easy. Even though it wasn''t top of the world, it could still secure a top 10 internationally. When necessary, I would still have to rely on Emilin and Theodore''s help.


    8 of the top 10 universities in the world were in this continent, which is also how most people would get a visa into one of the four countries that made up the H¨¦ Continent.


    The city that our family lived in was a top second-rate city a couple of hours away from the capital, where my university was. There was, however, a good university that was located nearby. That was the one that I was going to y against in the afternoon.


    Ever since mom had moved here, she was more motivated. I don''t know the exact reason for the sudden change, but it was a good thing.


    As Emilin got older, there was less and less for mom to do, and you could tell that she would get listless if she didn''t get a hobby.


    To this point, she still won''t tell me what project she was starting, but I had an inkling.


    I wanted to go home first, but then a call came in, so I had to change my destination.


    After reaching a caf¨¦ near the school district, I went in scanning the room a little before my eyesnded on a group of around 17 people, one being around histe thirties, with the rest in their early twenties.


    ***


    "Hey over here!" One of the ones with a buzz cut waved energetically.


    "You shouldn''t be so noisy, I''m sure he already saw us, Captain," The person next to him said calmly, he was clearly already ustomed to his captain''s personality as the vice-captain. That didn''t stop the captain from continuously swaying his arm, telling Nathen toe until he was just around a meter away from the tables they were sitting at. Most were sitting on the round couch around a round table while the rest had pulled up some chairs.


    Nathen sat down on the vacant seat that had been left for him next to the coach and one of the starting members of the team, which could be seen from the uniform he was wearing. The starting member''s numbers were written in red on the white uniform while the others were in blue.


    "What''s up? I thought the game was at 5 PM. It''s only 12 right now." Nathen asked.


    "Well, it''s like this. The people from the other university said that they wanted to invite us to y another game with the people from Ye University because the Ace from their team wasn''t able to make it and the ser team from Ye University was going to y them this morning." The captain, Jason, said.


    "They expect us to believe them?" Nathen questioned.


    "I don''t think they care. They just want to see our prowess''s against another top university so as to better prepare for the tournament in the fall." The vice-captain, Yu, exined his thoughts.


    "If I y, then they will defiantly get an inurate scope of your abilities. They might go all out against you in the tournament, or maybe they will fear going against you. But they also know I''m not on the team anymore. If I carry and make them believe that the only reason you win is that I am there, then they might let their guards down. So, in the end, it depends on what you want them to believe. What do you say?" Nathen asked.


    All the team members pondered for a bit. They didn''t think what Nathen said was cocky at all, instead, he seemed considerate. Even though ser was a team sport, once everyone had a certain level of skills, what mattered more was leadership, cooperation, and strategies.


    Nathen excelled in both leadership and stratagems, understanding both his own team and his opponents, his charisma along with his other traits led others to willingly listen to him, improving their cooperation with his every nned move and action.


    Psychology was one of the first things that Emilin imparted to Nathen, followed by the art of war. Though Emilin wasn''t able to employ much of her knowledge about psychology on herself, it was still the topic, as well as medicine as a whole, that she knew the most about.


    The members were speaking between themselves, debating how they should utilize a resource as useful as Nathen, while Nathen would set up psychological cues that would make these people think more favorably of him and feel both admiration and the need to repay him for his troubles.


    "I think we''vee to a consensus then," Yu said.

 Chapter 13 - Nightmares?

    Emilin''s POV:


    [Trust no one.] ??


    ''...''


    [Never believe.]


    ''Wha- what is happening?''


    [No one wille.]


    ''Come? Come where? Where is this? Why is it so dark here? What are these voices?''


    [No one will help.]


    ''Help who? Me? Why do I need help?''


    [YOU HAVE TO BLOCK IT ALL OUT!]


    ''Block what out? What do I have to block out?''


    ''WHO ARE YOU?''


    Questions came one after another, yet there seemed to be no answer. Never was there an answer to any of my questions. This darkness that seemed to onlyst a second, felt like the longest eternity. Before I knew it, I woke up, my eyes now wide open.


    ***


    ''Was it that dream again?''


    ''What was it about?''


    "Is there something wrong Emi?" I turn my head to the side and see Theodore is there with a face full of worry. Then after scanning the room once over, I notice that there is no one else but him in the ssroom anymore.


    I take some time to reassure him that there was nothing wrong. But he didn''t seem very convinced. There was nothing I could do about it either.


    I would tell him if I knew...maybe I would tell him if I knew.


    I''ve had multiple asions where I would just wake up full of sweat and disorientated, I can tell that I most likely had a nightmare, but I just cannot force myself to remember what it was about.


    Still, the answer was quite obvious. In this life, nothing would warrant such pressing nightmares and if the two years that I still remembered from my past life weren''t the reason, then it had to be the 10 I had forgotten.


    But why? What was so traumatizing that my own brain would rather me forget. So traumatizing that even after forgetting I would still have nightmares about it?


    Even after years of pondering upon this problem, I still couldn''t find an answer.


    It was honestly best I stop thinking about it.


    It was already the afternoon and I had slept through all my sses, as well as lunch, which was what I was honestly more worried about. I guess there were perks to not failing ss, the teacher would let you sleep.


    Theo took me to eat out after calling home to tell our parents that we weren''ting back. I agreed with his decision. It was about time that they had some alone time on their anniversary. Their anniversary was the same day as my birthday, so they were always trying to spend our time as a family.


    We went out to eat at a rather casual restaurant that we were regrs at. Sometimes when we had work that we would rather our parents not worry about, we would tell them we had a school project ande here. They didn''t really question it.


    The atmosphere was always quiet, and despite the good food, the restaurant always seemed a little empty. There was a homey feel with the warmer colors of wood and vibrant green nts that were hung from the ceiling.


    The waiter who was already familiar with us took us to our usual private room and left already knowing the order that we always asked for.


    Though my birthday was a very special day to me, I still wouldn''t put too much emphasis on one day. There were still emails I had to respond to and work I had to get done.


    Myputer was already out, and Theodore''s didn''tg either.


    Most of the ''spam'' emails were ignored as I closed in on one contact who wasbeled as "Xander". I couldn''t bother reading all those other emails, if there was anything pressing Xander would end up informing me of it.


    Before I opened his email, I uploaded one of the documents on myptop to the website that was opened previously. And this time, I didn''t forget to mute all my other notifications for the week.


    This is what I call learning from my previous mistakes.


    When I went to check my new messages from Xander to see nothing new I close myptop and nce at big brother Theo, who then lifted his head from his screen to look back at me.


    "Are you done?" I ask.


    "Not yet, I want to build a few more firewalls just in case, I''m finishing up the 3ed sector of the 8th phase." He exined. Meanwhile, the food had alreadye in and so I picked up my utensils to eat.


    The ms here were to die for, not literally because I still had to eat everything else that was ordered.


    Never skip meals!


    I can''t believe I lost the opportunity to eat lunch, I had to make up for it during dinner.


    After my first te change, I see Theo join in as well. After finishing the meal, we decided to stay a while longer as there was no need to go home so early to disturb mom and dad''s alone time.


    "You uploaded another one?" I looked at my big brother Theo and nodded.


    "It''s good to keep a stronghold of the industry. I don''t care too much about the medicine, but the leveraging power is quite good. I haven''t taken out any of the big files yet, I''ll leave it to when we are actually in trouble. Well ideally never, but that''s unrealistic." Theo just nodded and didn''t ask anything else.


    "It seems I''m going to have a few visitors this week. I guess I''ll have to push back thepletion of phase 8 for next week." Theodore looked very excited about this development.


    I could already see through his thought process. The appearance of other hackers that would be trying to break through his firewalls always made him ecstatic.


    Every time they came, he could improve on the firewalls again and again.


    There were always people looking into my identity, so it wasn''t anything new.


    Recently it didn''t seem like many people were getting past the first firewall, which is when the rm would be set off. Which was very suspicious.


    "Don''t get toocent big brother. After so many years, I would be more surprised if they didn''t start using other tactics. Have you ever questioned if they might not be sending these people who can barely break the first firewall to make you think you have already reached the top? You can''t stop or they will take advantage of that." I had to lecture him a little as this involved our safety.


    I see Theodore frown a little and waited until he nodded.


    Suddenly the deafening sound of an rm came out of Theodore''sputer. If it weren''t for the fact that we had asked the staff to note into our private room after sending the food in, I''m sure the door would have long been knocked down.

 Chapter 14 - Who Is Backing M?

    Theo POV:


    Of course, I was somewhat upset when I realized that I was being incrediblycent, especially when I needed my little sister to tell me that before I realized this fact. ??


    My poor ego as a big brother had already been thrashed on multiple asions. I would say I had gotten used to it, but that didn''t mean it didn''t hurt. Though my recovery time had been improving.


    I really just had to get over myself sometimes. I shouldn''t have cked off on the psychology lessons!


    I was always more of a straight forward person; I really didn''t want to take the same route my brother did. It sounded like such a pain, but now I recognize I was somewhat mistaken.


    Psychology wasn''t just about manipting others but also learning more about yourself. It was not only used to attack other people but also to protect yourself.


    And before I knew it, my shorings were manifesting themselves in the form of a loud rm. One that was destined to p me in the face, really hard.


    I was typing as fast as I could, but before I could react, I realized that they had already broken into the thirdyer of firewalls I had set up. My hand speed probably just broke through at least 2 or 3 limits. At the rate they were melting my walls, they were going to be done before the two-hour mark.


    ''Sh*t!''


    ''Just who are these people?''


    There were holes appearing left and right. I just wanted to curse but Emi was here so that was out of the question. My lips tightened and just as I thought they were going to break through my 6thyer everything stopped. The warning lights on myputer stopped blinking before they disappearedpletely.


    The next couple of seconds seemed tost longer than the time I had spent fighting against the other hackers. That had to be at least a team of hackers working together.


    My shirt was already soaked in sweat as I checked my systems again.


    ''Are they gone? Just like that?'' My mind was stillgging behind in the processing of this information.


    "Of course not, I had to hack into their system first."


    ''Sh*t did she read my mind?'' I looked at my little sister who was staring at me sternly. I messed up. Big time.


    "No, I didn''t read your mind. I just had to read your face." Am I really that easy to read? I might have to ask brother for some lessons if I want to save the remains of my tattered ego.


    "Did you really think that they would really let us off just like that? Big brother, you need to be more careful next time. We could get into serious trouble one day. You know I can''t help you make any of the defenses." That was true.


    After I got some thinking time, I had to look Emilin in the eye. "It won''t happen again."


    "I''m sorry I dragged you into this." I was shocked. I couldn''t believe my ears. What the heck!


    "What do you mean? Emilin, you must stop doing this, you can''t be sorry. We''re family and there''s no way in hell I''ll let you put yourself in danger. Do you really think you dragged me into this? I came myself! And I''m here to stay. Humph."


    I just wanted to walk off to show her how upset I was, which was exactly what I did. When I finally cooled myself down, I realized that I might have been a little too much when I left Emilin alone, going outside first. But to be fair I was really upset.


    Sigh, what should I do? What if she really starts doing dangerous stuff by herself? She can''t possibly think she can handle everything by herself.


    I turn around to go back to the restaurant and into the private room, but when I put my hand on the doorknob, I immediately feel chills down my spine.


    ***


    1 hour ago


    8 men were sitting on the edges of their seats with their heads buried deep into theirputers.


    "Frick, this firewall isn''t easy. What are you guys even doing? Why am I doing all the work!" One of the men shouted in frustration.


    "I was the one who broke the secondyer so shut up!" Another oneined while moving his head just inches from the screen. It was no wonder he was wearing sses, but even so. That couldn''t have been doing his eyes any good.


    "You seem to have enough time to chat." This was from a man in a ck suit that was observing the progress of the mission the hackers had toplete.


    He had to report to the boss, so if anything went wrong, he was the one that was going to get his ass handed to him.


    Another hour had passed before a cute voice burst into the room. All of theputers'' speakers were suddenly on max and the voice said, "Thank you foring, Try again next time!" On the screens, there was a cute little tiger animation cartoon moving his mouth. They coincided with the words that had been heard, making it seem like it was the animation talking.


    Then theputers went dark. They couldn''t be turned on anymore, no matter how much those people tried. Theputer was fried. The hackers sat there inplete silence for a few seconds before breaking into a frenzy in their minds.


    Person 1: [WHAT THE HELL!]


    Person 2: [WHAT THE F*CK!]


    Person 3: [WERE WE JUST PLAYED?]


    Person 4: [WHAT DO YOU MEAN TRY AGAIN!]


    Person 5: [WHO WANTS TO COME AGAIN, GET OUT OF HERE.]


    ...The other thoughts didn''t vary by much.


    This was in fact Emilin''s doing. In order to ensure her big brother Theo''s continued improvements, she had to provoke thepetitors intoing back. Of course, she had some of her own measures, but there hadn''t been a need to employ them as of yet.


    As for the unlucky men who would be scolded by the boss, their faces were deadpan. If res could kill, the hackers would have long been sliced. The supervisor was about the stare a hole into their bodies. Everyone was in for a real treat.


    ***


    In a penthouse, a man stood next to the floor to ceiling window, staring into the bustling streets beneath him. A row of men in ck suits stood behind him. All of them letting out cold sweat. One of them stepped out from the formation and bowed his head down past 90 degrees.


    "I''m sorry Sir. We have failed." He was trying his best to sound as steady as he could.


    A low and husky voice chuckled. "How interesting. Surely I don''t have Dementia?"


    "Tell me, did you not say that your team was the best there was?"


    The man stuttered toe up with an answer. That was indeed something they had imed.


    "S-sir. This team is the best of this generation. They all graduated from--" Before he could finish his thought, he was interrupted by the man with the deep mesmerizing voice.


    "The point. I don''t have the time to listen to all their qualifications, they were obviously not enough. Maybe you should have let your opponent listen to their qualifications. It might have bought you a few seconds before you were demolished." He didn''t hold back, not even a little.


    "There would still be the old fogies of the hacking industry that would be more experienced. But to defeat our team, there would have to be at least two or three working together, but those people are already old in the industry, they are also very unwilling to cooperate. As you know, these people were taught by Master Giovanni."


    "Then what do think are the chances that two of the old fogies worked together?"


    "Less than 20% chance."


    "And what would the other 80% beposed of," The man asked.


    "I''m... not sure yet, which is why we are so conflicted."


    "Leave." As the other men scuffled out, the one who had been staring out the window the whole time turned around and sat down on his revolving chair. The lights of the room had been turned off, with the only source of lighting for this room being the lights from the buildings outside and the full moon.


    "This M must have some connections if he can hire two old fogies."


    "How annoying." He sneered. The man leaned back on his chair and his pale green pupils were illuminated, reflecting the full moon to which he stared at. He let out a soft chuckle that resounded in the office room of this penthouse.


    Mini-Theater:


    Big Boss: Hehe, this M is so annoying. I can''t wait to catch ''him''


    Emilin: *Shivers all the way down to her spine*


    Theo: Are you cold? Are you sick? What''s wrong?


    Emilin: Someone must be scolding me...


    Theo: WHO DARES!


    Emilin: Aww...


    Theo: ONLY I CAN SCOLD YOU


    Emilin:...


    Nathen: Me too! I''m sure I called dibs first!


    Theo: Dibs are for 6-year-olds. heh


    Nathen: That''s why they are perfect against you.

 Chapter 15 - Overlooked Skill!

    Theo POV:


    I pushed the door open and my eyes first shifted to Emilin. She seemed a little upset, which was understandable. I felt sorry that I had made her feel that way, but there was nothing that could be done about it now. ??


    Nothing seemed off inside of the room as I scanned around. ''What was that chill I felt?'' I reminded myself to take note of this, but it wasn''t too important right now.


    Emi also seemed to have had some time to cool off.


    "I''m sorry, I didn''t mean it that way. I''ll always want you to improve and be the best you can be. It''s just that, sometimes, I''m scared that even with everything, it might not be enough to keep us all safe. Of course, I just want us to live happy lives in peace. I didn''t want to go into any of these big industries, the bigger we be the more likely we are to be in danger" Emilin seemed to be really distressed on this matter.


    "But without money, power, and influence, we may not be able to stay safe. As for living a simple life? I''m not sure if that''s an option anymore. Or if it was even one, to begin with." Emilin finally exposed some of her worries.


    Deep down I was d. Really d that she would finally share some of her burdens with me. I pull her into a hug to reassure her.


    "We''ll work through this together, as you said, we can only keep improving ourselves." I just wanted to reassure her so that she could part with some of her burdens.


    After packing up to get ready to go home Emilin had remembered to call big brother who had called about his schedule earlier in the day. She had also turned the phone on speaker.


    Emilin started off by asking big brother Nathen about how the game went, which I was also curious about.


    "Haha, it was interesting. It''s a shame I''m taking a leave from ser. The tournament might have been a real show." I had a bad feeling about this already.


    ''Where did my kindhearted brother go?''


    ''Never mind. Dumb question.''


    His chuckle was his signature semi-sadistic, semi-friendly one. The one that would make people question themselves time and time again. The sadistic parts were hidden deep. Most people would think that they had heard wrong if it was their first time. Their second time would be no different maybe even their third, fourth, and possibly even fifth. Though not many people would even be able to see this side of him that many times.


    They would only see it if Nathen let them, and they would only realize it if Nathen wanted them to.


    I think it took me a year or so to realize these changes, though I was still young back then. Not that I''m old now.


    ''He must be scheming again. Should I be sorry for the other team?''


    "Since when has the definition of quitting changed to taking a leave? Howe I wasn''t informed?" Emilin smirked.


    "Hm? I don''t seem to understand what you mean. I''m sure they would love to have me. Isn''t that reason enough? The definition has yet to change, but we can''t always be here waiting for the dictionary to catch up with the times. Though it is about time they add a subsection to their definition for me¡­ Would that be too eye-catching?" Even if big brother wasn''t here, I could already see the grin he would have on his face.


    I couldn''t help butugh at their little antics. It seems that every time we are together, we regress a few years. I guess in front of our family we''re always that kid, but that''s okay too.


    Whenever I''m with these two my mood swings seem to exceed that of a girl on her period. What''s up with that? Emi and brother seem to be able to change the mood of the conversation so quickly yet subtly. Another skill that I seem to have overlooked.


    After conversing a bit longer big brother had to hang up. He expressed his disappointment about the fact that he had to leave early. Mainly due to the game they had yed that afternoon. He couldn''t stay longer to celebrate. Emi and I also had to go back home, or mom and dad might worry, then again, they might not notice.


    I would have driven us back home but then I would have to go back to school where I had left my ride. Plus, it was a good chance to digest our food and go for a morning exercise when going to school tomorrow.


    After moving we now lived in a modern semidetached house with a ck and white theme. Though I was young, I remember how when I first arrived here, it thought we had traveled to the future. It''s a little embarrassing thinking about it now, but the appliances here were just too high-techpared to what we had in our old home.


    I''m d that Emi was only barely one year old and didn''t have to see my reaction.


    As an energetic 4-year-old, I ran to every single room in the house to turn the lights on and off. The panels here were of ss, so to turn the lights brighter or dimmer, you just had to slide your finger up and down the panel.


    I was a little too short at the time to reach the ones in the room, so I had to resort to the one in the living room by standing on a chair.


    When I nearly fell, I got prohibited from messing around with the lights alone until I got older... ¨r (. ? ? ?.) ¨q.


    "We''re home." Emi and I said in unison.


    We changed into our slippers and walked into the kitchen where our parents were seated. Though we had arge table in the living room, we never ate there. Most things were done in the kitchen, then it became a habit to sit there to talk because normally everyone would have more time to chat about our days around mealtime.


    Sometimes I am shocked to think about how mom and dad are already in their 40s because they do not look the part. I don''t think I''ve ever seen them age much. Especially mom. Of course, since I see them every day, I wouldn''t be able to tell even if they did change.


    Looking back, she always had a really healthy lifestyle and so she has remained as beautiful as ever. Though both seem much calmer, probably due to the effect of time.


    We sat down to talk a little about our days. Emilin started off, talking about the events of the morning about brother''s appearance.


    "I had a call with him earlier and he said that he wanted toe home earlier, but some school stuff cropped up," Emi exined.


    "Oh, he must be pretty busy then¡­ busy enough to not care about his parents. Humph" Mom seemed to be joking, but at the same time, not really. She seemed to be a little upset, or maybe disappointed? I was never really good at reading people.


    "Haha, he must have gone to meet his friends, speaking of friends. Do you know if your brother has a girlfriend yet?" Dad has always been interested in his children''s love life, which so far, has been nonexistent. Thankfully.


    I''m sure mom wouldn''t be any less interested in this topic.


    "Who would be crazy enough to date him." I felt the need to add.


    "I don''t think he would get any fewer confessions than you do little Theo" Mom still had to call me little Theo, I swear I''m like a head taller than her, but I can''t really say anything either. So, I just have to let her, because she''s mom.


    "Then just who would be amazing enough for big brother Nathen." I want to say it in a sarcastic way, but I just can''t seem to make it sound that way. Even I have to recognize that I have an amazing brother. Not as amazing as Emi though. Hehe. The conversation on that topic seemed to just end there.


    We were just having some more idle chat, but then, I don''t even know-how, we started talking about university.


    Why is it that everyone can direct the conversation so easily? I need Emi to teach me how to do that. I keep getting led on!

 Chapter 16 - Explanation Of The Universities

    There were a total of 10 universities that could be considered "top universities" with 8 of them being in the continent they had moved to.


    The top universities didn''t ept people purely based on their grades, they were epted based on their proficiency in their own areas, which included sports and arts. However, the sses they took would vary depending on their grades as well as their diploma. ??


    Most people dreamed of going to these schools because of the mentors there. If you could catch the eye of one of the mentors there, you were nearly set for life. That is if the teacher didn''t give up on you, though those cases were within the minority.


    There were normal sses there while the honorary teachers, also known as the mentors, had lectures whenever they felt like it.


    Most of those times, there were looking for sessors or apprentices to take in. Even if someone didn''t get a mentor, which was a great majority of the students, the connections made there were priceless, which made going there, all the more worthwhile.


    Other universities were still unable to change their education system and eptance structure due to theirck of autonomy. If the new system proves to be effective, then the education world may change forever. It was only about 20 years ago when this system was first changed.


    It just so happened that this change to the education system started from the very top. These universities didn''t all upy one of the top 10 spots, but after 20 years, the 8 of them all had their undisputed ce up there.


    It was truly a shocking moment. No one knew what this world-shaking change would imply, but as one can see, it was taken very well, and the reputation of these colleges only continued to improve.


    Some of the people who wanted to enter the university solely based on their grades were very upset. As they felt all their hard work went to waste, but there was nothing they could do about this.


    These were the people who had enough brains to recognize the issues with the previously existing education system. Plus, some had other thoughts on this matter.


    They convinced themselves that this system wouldn''t work out. Even so, these universities wouldn''t change their minds.


    They took a strong stance of wanting to move on from the industrial ages where everyone only needed to learn how to follow orders. They didn''t want to create robots out of the new generations of prodigies. Nor did they want to undermine any skills that weren''t being measured within the premise of the current education system. The world was changing at a fast pace and it was about time that our education systems followed this trend.


    The 8 top universities in the H¨¦ Continent were the first to change, and all at the same time too, it was a very strange phenomenon. People suspected that the HC Union''s department of education had a y in this, but it was never confirmed.


    Others rejected this idea as it would have been great publicity for the Union, so it wouldn''t make sense for them to not take credit.


    If it worked out, this moment would have gone down in history. It now secured 7th ce in the top 10 unsolved mysteries of the world.


    These rankings of the universities would affect the allocation of some of the teachers which is why the universities put a great emphasis on them.


    The current 4th ce, Dong University, was the one Nathen was now attending.


    The cements were decided through various factors including, but not limited to, sses, teachers,munity, awards won by students in both arts, academics, and sports activities. Points were awarded to students who brought the school honor which could be rewarded through various favors and other resources avable, including graduation points.


    The other favors would be of great help when the students started working. The points would be kept even after they graduated, and it wasn''t a loss for the university either. They were able to keep the people who were skilled enough to get such points connected to businesses that had rtions to their universities.


    These points were also the reason why Nathen had started going public with most of his achievements.


    Every award he got, along with the interviews he attended and magazines he was on, he represented a part of his university. And his influence would only expand. It also allowed him to branch out meeting new people in differingmunities.


    He was building real-life connections and rtions. This was also the goal he was aiming for, something that both his siblings weren''t currently capable of doing. He wanted to fill in their gaps as much as possible.


    While Emilin and Theodore could build connections and favors through a screen, it wasn''t the same.


    Emilin wasn''t able to do what Nathen was doing for obvious reasons, being the mental barrier that blocked her from forming close-knit rtions, or any friendly rtions with others.


    Theodore on the other hand was unable to do this simply because he wasn''t motivated to do so. He had no interest in such matters and had yet to understand their importance.


    When the time came, it was still unknown if he could pull it off. He had always remained true to his heart. Doing only what he liked to do and being with the people he liked. Even if he was doing something he didn''t want, it was to protect the people he loved.


    ***


    Both Theo and Emilin were in a pickle. It was getting closer and closer to the deadline for the applications for most universities and both had yet to make a choice.


    This is also the reason why they were feeling reluctant to continue when their parents had directed the conversation in such a direction. It was a little painful for Emilin when she had realized what they were trying to do. She knew that she wouldn''t be able toe up with an answer right then, but seeing her parent''s determination to get their children to start thinking of their futures made her unable to change the topic on them.


    The two siblings both made their way to the second floor, where their rooms were located and their parents followed soon after to their own rooms to get a rest.


    Emilin sank into her soft bed in one swift movement as soon as she closed the door. Sheid there staring into the ceiling, basking in the silence of this long night. The fatigue she felt during the day prevented her from raising another finger, much less wash up and change, which was very unusual.


    And this was all despite the fact that she had slept all afternoon. Her eyes fluttered again and again, with her efforts to keep them open. But sleep won, as it always does. And so her eyes closed and brought her into thend of dreams.

 Chapter 17 - Emilins Choice!

    Emilin''s POV:


    When I woke up, I felt more tired than when I had first gone to sleep. I felt like I had just run a marathon with a bear chasing me all the way. It was indescribable. My body didn''t feel well-rested, much less my mind. ??


    I grunted in difort trying to go back to sleep, not caring about the fact that I still had school. I felt like I had sunk deeper into my bed with every passing second. When my eyes try to open at all, all I could see was a blur, making my head hurt even more than it had previously.


    What seemed like a few secondster, I felt myself being lifted from my bed. I wanted to protest a little, but as I tried to open my mouth, I realized that I could barely even part my lips.


    ***


    I have to squint my eyes as they open and the first thing, I see is my mother by my bedside. I didn''t even have time to question the fact that this was not my bed, which was duly noticed due to the difort of the sheets.


    Mom looked like she had pulled all-nighters. Her eye bags were more prominent and her eyes were slightly swollen.


    "What''s wrong mom?" I had never seen her like this before, not even when¡­ well, let''s not talk about that.


    "Oh baby, I''m so d you''re okay." I was relieved to see her relieved. But I had to note down that I had put down my guard too soon when I heard what followed.


    "YOU''RE ASKING ME WHAT''S WRONG! I should be asking you that! We hear little Theo calling your name all the way from the kitchen and when we get to your room all we see is Theo carrying you out while on the phone with the ambnce. Do you know how worried we were when we saw your soaked sheets! You were sweating like a pig." Sometimes I do question if mom is bipr, but I know that she just loves us too much. Her unpredictability is part of her person by now.


    Her worry fills my heart with both warmth and worries of my own. I''m worried about making her worried and she gets worried when I stress. What a vicious cycle made of love and care.


    I just don''t want her to be that scared ever again, but I also yearn for the care she gives me, the love that everyone sprinkles me with. The cost is no longer relevant, I can no longer let any of it go.


    This too was something that was no longer an option.


    I pulled mom into an embrace. I seemed to have used a little too much force. Mom was patting me in the back lightly signally for me to loosen up, but I didn''t want to let go just yet.


    Then, from who knows where dad and Theo joined in.


    "I''m so d you''re awake," Dad said, his voice nearing a whisper. The phrasing of his statement seemed a little off.


    "How long was I asleep?" I asked.


    "Around 12 hours. It''s already 7 PM now." This time it was big brother Theo that answered. I wanted tough. In the past two days, the time I spent sleeping seemed to overwhelm the time I was awake.


    Yet I still felt exhausted.


    We talked for a while and dad informed me that the doctors said it was just a normal fever that might have been caused by a small virus or any other reasons really. They wanted me to properly rest for the next few days as my fever had yet topletely subside. I hadn''t even noticed, which was weirding me out.


    Brother stayed a while longer and left me myputer and other necessities. When he left, I was alone again with my thoughts.


    I just wanted to know what led me to this stage. If it was the nightmares again. Because at that point, I would have be an unwilling participant in a silent psychological warfare that I wasn''t exactly aware of. I wasn''t unaware either, but I still didn''t know what this was about.


    Multiple scenarios ran through my mind, yet none of them seemed right.


    Was it really something that unimaginable? Or did I just not want to imagine it?


    WHAT WAS IT!


    Forcing it wasn''t going to work, but I didn''t want to get sick again for a reason that I wasn''t ever going to be fully aware of. It was just so frustrating.


    The following days all passed simrly. I was discharged 2 days after the hospitalization and so I spent the days at home. Most of the time I was working remotely as I usually do with a few of my projects.


    Then came the day that I had long forgotten. Exactly one week after the date of my birthday. It was at night, the time was the same as when I had first muted all my work-rtedmunication channels.


    What first alerted me was the constant buzzing of my phone from the notifications. I was too tired to check, but they would only keep piling up if I didn''t.


    Just the numbers on the top of my email icon were already giving me a headache. I didn''t even want to start on anything else.


    I started by skimming some of the messages and news articles, but most of them were just more of the same. Then I moved on to Xander''s messages.


    He was one of my associates from the International Medical and Procedural Association (IMPA), which is such an unnecessarily long andplicated name that can just be shorted to the Medical Association at this point. Adding International, only if absolutely need be. I mean, procedural. Really?


    Well back to his ongoing list of messages. As I read his messages, I was also making a livementary in my head.


    7 days ago


    Xander: [MASTER!]


    ''I don''t really know how, but it somehow spread that M stood for Master... Now, while most people just termed me as M, there were still some that could call me Master. It was a strange experience at first, I mean I''m pretty sure they are imagining an old man. At first, they wanted to call me Old Master, but then Theo who was known as TWO, informed them that I was younger than they had imagined me to be.''


    ''Well, even then they would never get to my real age or gender. Normally I might be upset to have my gender assumed, but this time it was a good thing. I had my identity hidden under anotheryer. It was honestly probably due to my attitude and personality when it came to this work.''


    Xander: [Master! Howe you didn''t tell me before posting another one of your research projects? ( ?????????)]


    ''Really crying emoji? Gosh, Xander really loves being dramatic.''


    Xander: [You''re making big waves again! How do youe up with these reports, throwing them out like they are cabbages found on the streets!]


    ''Does it really look like that? So far I''ve only released the reports for the procedures that cure less known, but lethal, illnesses that currently had no cure. There were many considerations for this decision.''


    ''First, lethal ones because that''s how you get people to feel indebted. Ones with no cure because those are the ones that make people most desperate, most enough to have those people actively seek for a solution.''


    ''Even if they don''t, when they find out there is a cure, they will definitely seek out who came up with the procedure. As for the less-known part... well, I guess if it''s less well known and fewer people are infected, the ones who are will be more desperate. Fewer people are looking for the cure and so they can only rely on my procedure.''


    ''Yes. Definitely not because I don''t want to deal with the extra trouble. Right, I''m giving these helpless people hope.''


    Xander: [I don''t even want to ask how you made this procedure to cure SMT]


    ''Please don''t. I don''t know either, it''s all just up here. I wouldn''t be able to tell you even if I wanted to. I''m not even sure what timeline I was in, in the past. So many of the diseases that inflict people now had been long cured, yet there were still no shortages of illnesses in that timeline. I don''t even know if that ce was apletely different world. I''m almost as lost as you are.''


    ''Though I say it''s all in my head. (Well think, not like I''m actually saying any of this, wait, is it normal for me to have so manymentaries and conversations in my head? Eh? it should be fine), even if I didn''t already know it, I would still be confident that I could find a cure, just not as easily. What a nice ego boost.''


    Xander: [The doctors here are already testing your procedure. They even stopped bothering to spend those extra days in theboratory for the simted tests. They never worked anyways. As for the patients, after hearing that it was a procedure guaranteed by ''M'' they also quickly epted. Most of the family of the patients had long been doing research in the medical field to find a possibility of a cure. This opportunity to them was a god sent]


    ''That was the idea.''


    6 days ago


    Xander: [Has 2 sent you the patients list already?]


    ''Hmm. I should probably remind him to do thatter.''


    Xander: [Should I send themittee your regards?]


    ''Sure.''


    Xander: [Are you going to ghost them for a month again? Didn''t we agree that you wouldn''t ignore these matters again??]


    ''No, just a week.''


    5 days ago


    Xander: [I already told themittee that the M just wants them to remember this asion and that the credits, as well as reports, can be saved for ater date.]


    ''Well, how efficient.''


    There were a few more lose messages here and there, none of which were very important. Emilin had to spend a few hours tying up some loose ends. Not forgetting to send Theo a message about the list of the early patients.


    I still had to think for a bit, but in the end, I still decided to ask Xander about the matter that had been bothering me.


    M: [How should I deal with the possibility of PTSD?]


    Xander: [Master, you''re back! Wow, only a one-week leave?]


    Xander: [Wait. PTSD? Do you have PTSD? What happened? You said possibility. Does that mean it''s someone you know? You''re not sure if this person has PTSD or not?]


    M: [Just answer the question.]


    ''It would take way too long to exin. Plus there was also no need for that, I did want it to be somewhat objective.''


    Xander: [I would say to go to therapy, but since Master is asking about this matter then it must be moreplicated than that. If they are unwilling to get a therapist, then they should probably spend more time with family and friends that canfort them.]


    ''No duh, E for effort.''


    M: [Try again.]


    Xander: [¡­ I guess if that doesn''t work either then they might want to take a break. Going traveling, meeting some new people, and breathing in some fresh air somewhere far from where they might have had this traumatic experience. Especially doing something they enjoy would also probably be helpful.]


    ''That... doesn''t sound half bad.''


    M: [okay.]


    I had to ponder on that thought for a while longer. Though I''m probably already far enough from the location, and also the time of the incident, Xander''s other suggestions are still reliable.


    I have yet to ever travel by myself and this new life had to be lived to its fullest. Nheless, I still hesitated. This would be the first time I wouldn''t be with my family since the beginning of this new life.


    After some internal debacles, I had to firm my heart. I should talk about it with mom and dad first, if they''re okay with it, then I should also be going on my own journey. I''ve already had 15 years of love.


    The best 15 years of my life, that I wouldn''t trade for anything. The attachment was undeniable and slightly unhealthy.


    I was walking the thin line between attachment and obsession. There were still moments where I had to take some time for myself. Exploring more about myself and this world, and hopefully, when I get back, I can bring back a better me. One that won''t need my family to worry about my health, physical or otherwise.


    I stood up and headed to the kitchen where I could hear both mom and dad talking with Theo.

 Chapter 18 - Xanders First Encounter With M And TWO Part I

    Xander was quite confused during his conversation with the Master. He always knew that geniuses were quirky, as was he, but he was still shocked when M was talking to him about personal matters.


    He ended up staring at his conversation log for an extended amount of time. Some of the other doctors around looked at him weirdly, but none of them took the initiative to ask. Even though they were of simr ages, if not older, Xander was still their superior. ??


    Xander was a young man at the age of around 25 and his gifts in the medical field were noticed at a very young age because his family was well connected.


    His uncle was a member of the Board of Directors in the Medical Institute.


    He had been learning medicine at the age of 9 and started interning at the Medical Institute to learn more at the age of 14. Only one year after his internship started, the people around him could no longer see him as a child.


    He was more of a monster.


    That was also around the first appearance of M. After his appearance, no one thought much of this M. His work had been left to be checkter, and in the end, this job was assigned to Xander.


    He was really upset. At the age of 15, he wanted to do something big to prove himself, he wanted to actually help people.


    Though he had a lot of theoretical knowledge, more than people decades older than him, what he really wanted to do were actual procedures and surgeries.


    Despite his young age, he was not at all scared to get his hands dirty. Of course, no one would actually let him do anything but learn on the side.


    His dream was to be like a superhero who could save lives.


    He thought that his talent was being wasted looking at a report submitted by someone online, this person didn''t even have any noticeable educational background (the data was faked by 8-year-old Theo).


    At least that''s what he believed until he read the report.


    It was about the treatment of an illness that he had once read about in his studies. However, he didn''t seem to see more than a handful of these cases in the past years, that was because most died within a year or two after they were affected and only weeks after showing the symptoms.


    It was a type of paralysis that urred due to a gic mutation. The cells in your heart were nearlypletely reced in around 3 years'' time, and this disease would have settled in by then, stopping the patient''s heartpletely by the end of that time.


    The amount of time the patient survived after the first cardiac arrest was not very long.


    As for recing the heart, that was not viable either, because by the time the disease had reached the heart it would have already infected many other parts of the body, which wouldn''t have shown any visible effects. Unlike the pacemaker in the heart, which makes it beat properly.


    When Xander finished reading the report he found it absolutely absurd and ced it on the side,pletely forgetting it for the next months.


    Then came the day things started to change.


    A notable figure was rushed into the ward that was a part of the Medical Association. She was Mr. Lander''s mother. The mother of a member of one of the Board of Directors. She rushed in with a cardiac arrest. Though she was saved at the time, she was diagnosed with Pacemaker''s Heavy Paralysis which had no cure at that time.


    Mr. Lander was devastated and Xander was shocked when he suddenly thought of that report. He hesitated for days, but when Mr. Lander''s mother had another cardiac arrested she was already living with numbered days.


    Xander decided to tell Mr. Lander who was desperate enough to give it a shot. The next days for Xander were spent with the heavy monitoring of Madam Lan''s condition.


    Everyone in the Association had heard about this incident at this point and most people believed that Mr. Lander had gone crazy for trying this procedure with no factual evidence of its sess.


    At the same time, they felt bad for the possible end of the career of this prodigy child. Life wouldn''t be so smooth anymore if Mr. Lander started to oppose Xander''s career progression, even with the help of his uncle.


    Xander POV:


    I really didn''t know what I was thinking at that time. I had told Mr. Lander, whom I wasn''t very closed to because I saw his desperation for a chance, but even I didn''t believe it would work out.


    I had to take care of Madam Lan because everyone else believed it was a waste of time. Actually, they just didn''t want to be associated with her death.


    I had no choice because I was the one that proposed using this method, which I then regretted. It would forever leave a stain on my reputation, but as a teenager, I just wanted to save a life.


    I did however know that I had made a mistake when my uncle, who didn''t have a very good rtionship with Mr. Lander, came to scold me for my presumptions actions.


    With each passing hour, I got more nervous. But when those hours became days, I couldn''t help but get excited. Madam Lan''s condition wasn''t deteriorating as they had originally predicted.


    After surviving 2 whole weeks without a single seizure, everyone who had been paying attention to this matter was shocked. With the Pacemaker''s Heavy Paralysis, her heart rate would normally continue to fluctuate until she had a heart attack. If the patient didn''t die in that heart attack they would eventually die in the next or the one following.


    After less than 6 months of continuous monitoring and treatment as well as an increase of doctors working on the case to make sure everyone followed the procedure to a tee, she had a full recovery.


    She didn''t even need surgery or anything of the sort. Following her recovery, multiple studied that procedure time and time again, including me, yet no one was able to figure out what had saved the patient.


    The International Medical and Procedural Association went into an uproar and everyone was trying to look into this M. Even so this wasn''t enough to get the higher-ups to take note. This M had no other achievements and we still didn''t know if the procedure would work for all patients. The illness also wasn''t a widespread one.


    I knew this because even my uncle was doing the same. Multiple people hade to find me for information about him and the report and how I got it. I had to make it clear to every single person who came to me that I had no real clue who he was except for the information already in the database. Which apparently wasn''t much.


    That aside, I finally felt like I had done something of importance. Just by handing this ''M''s'' report to a higher-up, I was able to save a life, and probably many to follow.


    It was an amazing feeling.


    Day after day I waited for any information about M. I checked thrice every day for any reportsing from him, though I''m sure they would have been intercepted before they ever reached me.


    It was then, 3 months after the whole fiasco, exactly one year after the first report had been sent I got a message on my personal phone.


    Unknow Number: [Hello Xander. I''m TWO. It''s nice to meet you. I''m here to talk to you about M.]


    I was a little upset because I also wanted to know about M. Yet here came another person asking me when I''ve responded countless times that I don''t know.


    Xander: [I don''t know who you are, but I don''t have the information you are looking for.]


    Unknown Number: [I already told you, I''m TWO, you should add this number into your contacts under a different name though. As for the not knowing more about M, of course, you don''t know, haha.]


    ''Why the heck is this guyughing. What''s so funny?'' I didn''t really understand, but he had already caught my attention.


    ''If he isn''t looking for information about M then why is he contacting me? And he talks like he knows a lot more about him than I do.''


    Xander: [Why should I add your contact? Why are you looking for me?]


    Unknown Number: [You don''t want to work with M? Then it seems I am indeed talking to the wrong person. Well then, I guess you don''t have to add this contact, byeee. This chat and anything rted will be deleted within 10 seconds. See you never!]


    ''SLOW THE F*CK DOWN! WHAT THE HECK DID YOU JUST SAY! WHAT DO YOU EVEN MEAN?''


    Unknown Number: [10]


    Unknown Number: [9]


    Unknown Number: [8]


    My fingers stammer as I tried to send a coherent message.


    Xander: [WAIT!]


    Unknown Number: [??]


    Xander: [Can''t you talk like a normal person!? Who the heck talks like this?]


    Unknown Number: [Me?]


    At this point, my face was already buried in my palm in what one would call a facepalm (-??).


    Xander: [Do you actually know M?]


    Unknow Number: [Of course.]


    I didn''t really know if I should believe this person, he could have very well been a scammer, but the teenager me felt like this was a once in a lifetime opportunity.


    Xander: [If you''re for real, then, of course, I want to work with M!]


    Unknown number: [hehe.]


    I didn''t really know why, but even though a text, thatst message seemed sinister. But what mattered more was the chance to work with M, so that scary gut feeling was ignored.


    To this day, I still don''t know if that was the best or worse choice of my life.

 Chapter 19 - Xanders First Encounter With M And TWO Part II

    Xander POV:


    I can''t believe it! Am I really going to be working with M now? What if this guy is a scammer? How does he even know who I am? If this TWO can encrypt M''s information so well, he must have already gotten my information by now. ??


    These were the questions that I should have been asking before I had already agreed. Things I should have been worried about back then. Toote now.


    {One thing I didn''t understand back then is that once you sell your soul to the devil, the devil won''t sell it back. Well, maybe you''re a masochist and you don''t want it back anyway.}


    No. He must be like me, wanting to save the lives of the ones in need, and he''s already done it. A true superhero!


    I had many doubts about the deal I had just epted. But deep down, I was excited more than anything.


    On the same day, TWO sent me another message.


    TWO: [*contact card*]


    TWO: [This is M''s work number. Hehe, good luck.]


    My gut feeling told me that the ''good luck'' he had sent wasn''t anything good. Then, I told my gut to shut up.


    I had already added TWO''s number and now I had, what I hope, was M''s number.


    M: [*Report* *Report* *Report* *Report]


    ''???''


    M: [Send these ones under my name. After sending the first wait 6 months for the next and do the same for the following ones.]


    ''Why in 6-month intervals? If he already has so many procedures that can save lives, why does he not want to turn them in now? If I don''t turn them in now, won''t people who could have been saved die?''


    M: [Don''t do anything you''ll regret]


    ''Does he mean sending them all at once? Or something else entirely? This conversation seems more stressful than any test I have ever taken.''


    M: [If anything happens, just put it under my name, credit included, everything else can be pushed off or ignored.]


    ''What do you even mean? What pushed off? What ignored? What if my superiors ask me about it? Do I ignore them too?''


    M: [good luck.]


    ''Why was everyone saying good luck as if I''m going to a death mission?'' In the end, I wasn''t able to say anything other than ''understood''.


    What kind of pressure would M emit in real life if even through the screen I can barely withstand the aura he creates? Probably the aura of a superhero.


    Wait. Why do I feel like I''m working for M rather than with him? I guess I''ll learn from him first. A superhero''s sidekick? No, more like a prot¨¦g¨¦, yeah. Well, I guess I''ll figure it out as I go.


    I did as M said and submitted the first document directly to the higher-ups. When they heard it was from that ''M'' the first to react was Mr. Lander. He wanted to see if this savior was a true genius or if finding a cure for PHP was just a fluke.


    Was he a one-hit-wonder? That was a question I also wanted to know the answer to.


    The Association had already tested the procedure for the Pacemaker''s Heavy Paralysis in multiple simtions. The thing is, the patient would always die in the simtion, yet when they followed the steps with real patients who were in critical condition, every single one was cured.


    This made them believe their simtions were faulty, or maybe their system just hadn''t been developed enough to be able to process the procedure.


    This just made M even more mysterious.


    The following weeks for me were just testing the new procedure that M had sent. Following the instructions was very simple. M seemed to have written the report so that even neers with the most basic knowledge of medicine would be able to follow his instructions.


    In other words, it was written like a 101 for Dummies


    I didn''t really know how I should feel about that.


    This was once again a procedure that was made to cure a disease that wasn''t very well known but also had no cure with a 100% mortality rate. I wondered if M was choosing such illnesses to build a reputation of doing the impossible because it was working pretty well.


    My days got busy as the patients I was in charge of were showing signs of recovery. When my colleagues and superiors saw the results of the procedure, they went into gossip mode.


    There were all types of gossip, but I didn''t pay them any mind.


    My mind was set. Being M''s prot¨¦g¨¦ would definitely be a steal for me. I had to hold on to this golden thigh.


    He was going to teach me how to be a proper superhero!


    {Yeah, please don''t judge me, I was pretty delusional when I was a teenager. So delusional that I never noticed the changes in my workflow.}


    Slowly, my work, my goals, and my aspirations were mutating. And I seemed to be the only one who had yet to notice this change.


    My mantra became the one that M gave me: ''everything else can be pushed back or ignored''.


    Only now, nearly 10 yearster, did I finally realize how much that one order changed my views on life.


    ***


    Levi Stanley (a supervisor for the interns) POV:


    It was absolutely absurd. A teenager working as an actual doctor. My first instincts told me to question his qualifications, but as an avid reader of online novels, I wondered if this Xander was the main character. If so, I didn''t want to be a cannon folder this early in the story, I still wanted to live a long life.


    This is what led me to take an observer''s role.


    At first, I thought I might have been mistaken because Xander was just too na?ve. He was like a 5-year-old when it came to his aspirations and a 40-year-old when it came to his medical knowledge.


    It was just too tough to read a novel with a super na?ve main character, even if he was a genius in the medical field.


    In the first year, he showed to everyone, who cared to pay any attention, that his knowledge in medicine was no less than anyone there, if not more. But that wouldn''t be enough for him to be the main character.


    The main character needed a little more.


    Not even two years had gone by since he first came, and he was already bing infamous.


    Everyone was raving about how lucky he was to have gotten his hands on M''s report first. Then, not a single person in the lower ranks wasn''t wondering why M chose Xander to be his ''handler''.


    His personality started to change too. At first, he acted like that little kid in front of the superiors, buttely, he had be much more like them. Sly and cunning. Using the files as leverage he was able to keep the ones who were scared of M''s possible identity, the ones who were in debt to him, and the ones who admired him all on a leash. Getting opportunities others could only dream of. Going to various conferences and getting hands-on-experience. The speed of his improvements was through the roof.


    Genius. Check.


    Luck. Check.


    Handsome. (maybe not as good looking as me but I''ll reluctantly check it off.) Check.


    Mysterious Backer. Check.


    This proved my original decision to be the right one. Xander was now either the main character or the canon folder second male lead.


    I really wanted to watch the development of this story close up. I''ll admit it, while I wasn''t working, I did what some would consider semi- stalkerish actions. But I call it research, which is exactly what employees at the International Medical and Procedural Association should do.


    After thinking it through, I told my superior that I wanted to watch Xander in order to get a better picture of M. That''s whatnded me the ''demotion'' to bing his assistant. It didn''t remain a demotion for very long.


    I was at least 10 years older than him, which made me a little embarrassed at first. Then I realized that it didn''t really matter. It wasn''t shameful at all working so close to a possible main character.


    The longer I spent assisting Xander, the more convinced I was. He rose in ranks quickly, not only because of his connection with M, but also his personal skills.


    He was the person who studied M''s procedures the most thoroughly and when they became moreplex, he was the one that took charge. This also gave him the opportunity to finally start participating in surgeries. Starting as an assistant surgeon and then as the primary one.


    Throughout these years he took every opportunity he could find to improve himself, and just 2 years ago, he became the youngest department head at the age of 23, younger than the previous record-holder by a whopping 20 years.


    There were of course a lot of silent protests, but none were voiced.


    This was something that was going to go down in history, and because I followed the ''main-character'' I was able to watch the show on a front-row seat.


    But we obviously still haven''t even reached the climax of the story.

 Chapter 20 - Pulling Heart Strings

    Theo POV:


    I was in the kitchen chatting with mom and dad about my university options. I still didn''t know if I was going to go to the same university as Nathen or if Emilin already had thoughts about the university she wanted to go to. ??


    I wasn''t sure if I should go to one close to Nathen''s for convenience or if I should go to one in a different country to better spread our manpower.


    The connections we would make would bepletely different either way.


    I didn''t really believe I would learn much but going to a top university would just open too many doors for me.


    I told mom and dad that I was most likely going to wait to see Emi''s decision because mine would vary ordingly. That was also when she happened toe down.


    Emilin''s expression was a little off when she came down, which I''m sure everyone was able to tell. She seemed a little nervous.


    Maybe she had already made a choice and didn''t know how we would react? But that didn''t seem right either. I pulled her chair out for her to sit. Then we just waited for her sort to her thoughts out.


    "I''ve already made a decision on where I want to go for the next two years." Question marks filled my mind. University was 4 years and I''m sure that Emilin wouldn''t want to skip more grades. She also said she knew where she wanted to go rather than study. But my doubts were answered in no time.


    "I want to take a break from school." She exined. Mom and dad were also visibly shocked. I think none of us thought of this option before.


    If it was just taking a break, I''m sure we would all be fine with it, but the question was, what was Emi going to be doing meanwhile. Knowing her, it wasn''t that simple if even she was nervous.


    "I''ll call big brother so that he can add his input on this too," I said as I took out my phone to call him. He answered within 2 rings.


    I quickly exined the situation. Then I ced my phone on the counter where we could see him, and he could see us through the video call.


    Nathen: [Well, she doesn''t really need to go to university this early. If she goes in two yearster, she can go to ss with people her age. But Emi, what do you want to do in these two years?]


    Those were my thoughts exactly. Even though Emi is my little sister, sometimes even I forget how much younger she is.


    It''s strange now that I think about it, she''s always been so much more mature. I guess girls really do mature faster.


    Thinking about Emilin''s troubles with making friends, maybe taking two years off would be the right choice after all.


    I was just being convinced when I heard what Emi said she wanted to do.


    "I want to take this time to travel." Emi was really serious. I think everyone, including me, was stunned for a bit.


    "You want to go traveling alone? Where?" Mom was the first to ask.


    "I''m not sure yet, but I was thinking of applying for visas over the summer and leaving when school starts so that we can still spend the summer together." She exined her thoughts.


    "Emilin, I know you''re already all grown up, but traveling alone takes a lot of nning and it can be really dangerous. Have you thought things through? You need to decide if you want to get tour guides, where to eat, sleep and there would be a lot of other issues you would have to solve. You don''t know what kind of people you''ll meet outside, and what about thenguage barrier?" Dad was always one to care more for the logistics and safety.


    Of course, we all cared a lot for Emi''s safety, but dad seemed to understand more about the specifics.


    He just had more real-life experiences.


    "Language barrier shouldn''t be a problem, as for tour guides, I think it will depend on where I go. I just want to widen my horizons. I know that it can be dangerous, I''ll be really careful. I''ll message you guys every day and call whenever I can." I could tell that Emi had already gone through her coaxing speech a couple of times.


    It was also funny to see dad worry about a measlynguage barrier. I remember how shocked I was when I found out the number ofnguages Emilin knew how to speak fluently in.


    When we first started working with some international associations, they didn''t always speak ournguage. At that age, I was totally lost.


    We were having a call with an associate from another country and I had yet to integrate the automatic trantor through my voice modifications. In the end, Emilin started to speak in theirnguage and I still had no clue when she found the time to learn.


    We didn''t need it a lot, but it was enough for me to see her prowess.


    Actually, even now I''m not sure of the exact number ofnguages she had learned, but it was definitely more than the ones that dad knew or even the ones I could think of from the top of my head.


    Nathen: [Dad is right. Though I''m sure you can take care of yourself, we''ll all be very worried if you go alone, and I don''t think anyone can go with you either.]


    I nodded my head in agreement and watched as Emilin tried toe up with a reasonable answer.


    "That''s the thing. Mom, dad. I need some fresh air. I need some space to see what I want to do in life."


    "I feel like I''ve been moving too fast all this time. When I finally got sick this week, I feel like I finally stopped for a bit. I want to take things slowly so that I can enjoy the scenery that the world has to offer."


    I was already getting a little emotional from hearing Emilin''s speech, and I see that mom is even tearing up a little.


    This little girl really knew how to pull on one''s heartstrings to get what she wanted. While I wiped my eyes to try to get the sand that was making my eyes water, I swore to myself that I really had to start taking psychology sses seriously.


    I might want to make that my second major, or minor if things don''t work out.


    All I could think about was how there was now absolutely no way that mom and dad wouldn''t give in. Emilin already had us all figured out.


    Brother and I had already given in when Emi first opened her mouth, the only ones she had to convince were mom and dad.


    Which she definitely seeded in.


    Gabriel POV:


    Sometimes I felt like I didn''t really have to raise my children. Other parentsined about how naughty their children were and how they didn''t listen to their parents at all.


    At first, I thought they were all exaggerating, butter on, when one of my colleagues brought their child to work, I realized that I was the one who was mistaken.


    Everyone looked at me like I was an alien when I questioned how a child could be so misbehaved.


    Colleague 1: "But I thought you had 3 children. Aren''t they all like this at one point or another?"


    ''Yes, three children and they''re all little angels.''


    Colleague 2: "Mr. Wei must be joking, it''s okay, no one wants to let others know how their children actually behave. But deep down, we all know how children are."


    ''???''


    Colleague 3: "This is the reason I didn''t want kids. When I was younger my nephew was just like this child. I don''t think I would be able to handle it."


    Colleague 4: "Yeah but they''re also cute kids you know. Some can be really well behaved."


    ''Yes. Exactly.''


    Colleague 2: "Haha, you can say that because you don''t have children."


    Well by the end of the conversation I was really confused. I asked my wife if she had been going through many hardships while raising our children when I got home, but she ended up just as confused as I was.


    That was when I first noticed how well behaved my children were. They never asked for anything that was excessive and after Nathen turned 9, none of them even asked for toys anymore.


    Though they spent a lot of time on theputer, they went outside to y just as much. Signing up for sports without having to be forced to. As a parent, I could only watch and sigh as my job was being done for me.


    Seeing as they were so well behaved. All I had to do was provide all the love and care I could to my family. I couldn''t even spoil them, well, maybe with food.


    When Emilin said that she was going to take a two-year break, I was smiling inside. I hoped that school wasn''t too stressful, because she was already learning two years ahead of her time and she still had to maintain good grades.


    It couldn''t have been easy.


    Elena and I didn''t care too much if they got top grades or just average ones, but we would still celebrate in our hearts when our children did well.


    When Emilin said she wanted to go traveling my instinctive reaction was to agree. There was finally something that she wanted to do for herself. But then, while thinking of the possible dangers, I couldn''t agree so easily anymore. I wish she chose something that was closer.


    With Elena''s secret project going on and my work, none of us could apany her. It was also clear that our daughter didn''t have that in mind.


    Yet, after hearing her thoughts, there was nothing left to show her other than our support for her every decision. That was the least we could do as parents.


    So, in the end¡­ it seems that we gave in without much of a fight.

 Chapter 21 - Mental Health And Making Plans

    Emilin POV:


    After convincing mom and dad to let me go, we stayed a while longer to iron my ns out. I already had a lot of thoughts about ces I wanted to go and sights I wanted to see but it was gettingte. ??


    Dad took mom upstairs to go rest and big brother Nathen had already hung up on the call because he was also busy.


    Theo was the only one who stayed. He looked at me like he wanted to ask me something but wasn''t sure if he should.


    I wanted to talk to him about something too, so it was quite convenient.


    "Don''t look down on the universities too much. I know your skills and you know them too, but to be safe in a battle, knowing your own skills is not enough. You''ll have to make sure you know your enemies better than they know themselves. Make sure your informationwork stays strong."


    "Be careful. It''s good to do as you like, but don''t make too many enemies. Don''t take things sitting down either, that might just bring you even more troublester. As for the mentors. I''m sure someone wille find you at some point. When that timees, just do whatever you like."


    "Stay safe okay?"


    I wanted to reassure brother Theo and at the same time tell him that he could do as he liked, and it would still be okay. There was no need to get into too much trouble, but he shouldn''t bend to others.


    Theo''s expression changed while he was listening to what I had to say. For those few moments he would put down what he was thinking about before and concentrate on the advice I had to give.


    Then, after acknowledging what I had told him, he went back to the thoughts he was thinking of previously.


    "It''s not just wanting to go sightseeing right? I''m sure sightseeing and taking a break has something to do with the reason you want to go traveling, but there''s something else you''re not telling mom and dad, am I right?"


    I didn''t expect this to be his question, but I also expected him to ask at some point. Two years was a rtively long time.


    Since when were big brother Theo''s senses so sharp? I wondered. It seems that even without knowledge of the inner workings of people''s minds, big brother still had the advantage of a keen sense. He also realized something was off.


    Maybe it was just because he knows me too well.


    "Yes, you''re right, there''s something else." I wondered for a bit if I should tell Theo, but in the end all I did is look him in the eye until he gave in.


    First, I didn''t want him to worry too much, but I understood the concept of the worry stemmed from not knowing. The thing is, I would have a lot of things that I couldn''t possibly exin. And many other things that I didn''t even know.


    Theo and I had a small stare down before he nodded in understanding. I knew he would know what I meant, but that didn''t mean what I did was any less hurtful.


    Not being able to be 100% honest with my family about a lot of things was painful.


    "I''m sorry, but I promise you, it''s nothing dangerous. I just want some time to find some peace of mind." I told him just about as much as I knew myself.


    I didn''t want anyone to know that there was a possibility I had PTSD just yet, I hoped I would be able to solve the underlying issue before it became any bigger.


    Of course, normally it would be best to talk about these issues concerning your mental health with your loved ones and people you trust, but this wasn''t a normal case.


    People shouldn''t be scared to voice out their problems, be it physical or psychological, and seek help.


    In this case, I had no clue what psychological issue I was gued with, and because I couldn''t exin my situation to anyone, I could only look for help indirectly.


    This was one of my purposes for my travels, learning from different cultures including nature itself of the concept of eptance.


    Part one involved self-eptance and part two consisted of epting others. I wasn''t sure which one I was having trouble with, maybe it was both and I just didn''t know it yet.


    Well¡­ and while I''m there, it should be only right that I try all the food the world has to offer.


    Honestly, it sounded like a nice n.


    The following weeks went by in a sh. I went to school as usual and tried to make some friends too. Well I tried to talk more with some of my ssmates¡­ more like I tried to get a word in.


    The end result was the same either way. Nothing new. No need to mention it.


    I also made sure to send Xander 3 reports. He knew what to do with them. Those wouldst me till I came back.


    I would still have to deal with some misceneous things here and there, but I''m sure that Theo could take care of everything else. This was also a good opportunity for him to be more independent.


    I had also decided my first destination. My visas were also applied for. I applied for countries that I was sure I wanted to go to and others that I was considering. The money wasn''t an issue. I wanted to spend my own savings, which were in no way small, it was also nice to give dad a chance to pay.


    Though I was probably going to use my own money for the things I was going to buy throughout the trip. I''m sure he wouldn''t question where exactly the money came from. The prizes from thepetitions brother Theo and I won were all kept by us. Even those cash prizes were already a sizable amount.


    Meanwhile, big brother Theo had made an announcement.


    He decided that he was going to go to BeiChen University, the university ranked 3ed on the world rankings and located in a neighbouring country in the H¨¦ Continent.


    It was quite a nice choice, the weather was a little hot as it was closer to the equator, but it was still within an eptable range. It wasn''t even close to some of the hottest countries in the world, it was just that the Polo Country in which we resided now was much cooler.


    Polo Country had very nice weather, it was never too hot, but it didn''t snow in the winter either. As for the Basilian Country where brother Theo was headed, it was like summer for the duration of spring, summer and fall, while it also somehow managed to snow during the winter.


    The weather just had a whim of its own. It was especially bad during the months of April and May, where it was both hot and humid due to the rain.


    Brother sent in his application and we didn''t really need to worry if he was going to be epted or not. Even if his national titles didn''t get him in, there were countermeasures.


    It would be best to keep as many of our side jobs undercover as possible, but showing some pawns wasn''t going to affect the overall game.


    In the end there was no need. Brother Theo got in without the need for an extra boost to his application. We celebrated that day, but it was also not very unexpected.


    Mom and dad insisted that we had a party with our ssmates, but in the end, we couldn''t go through with it because both Theo and I had already booked our ne tickets for the following week and we wouldn''t be able to organise something in such short notice.


    It was 5 days before the date of our departure and also the day I realized that I had an opportunity to do.


    Something that I had fallen in love with since I was reborn.


    Something I had to do before leaving.


    Something essential, that had to be done before my trip.


    Impulse shopping!

 Chapter 22 - Incident At The Café + Damien And Kent

    Emilin headed towards thergest shopping center in the city. It was a mall that looked simr to an indoor za at the entrance. It also resembled a greenhouse from a distance as all roofs were made of ss.


    Seemingly very eco-friendly. Though that didn''t guarantee it was. ??


    When customers were starting their shopping experience, the calmer ambiance would most likely make them walk slower and look around more shops.


    Perhaps that was the designer''s goals.


    That wouldn''tst very long because once you went in, it wasn''t as calm anymore. It wasn''t super crowded per se, but it wasn''tcking in bustling people. Just like any other mall really.


    Emilin had made sure she came on an empty stomach that morning. She headed towards a caf¨¦ that was close to the entrance and her eyes seemed to shine as soon as she went in.


    Right before her eyes at the counter and through the disy sses, there were rows upon rows of desserts.


    They ranged fromyered mango cream pudding to ck forest cake. Every one of them looked more delectable than the previous, yet none of them looked worse than the former.


    A foodie''s mini paradise.


    This caf¨¦ was called LaLaLatte with multiple branches all over the world. Their desserts were widely known and acknowledged by connoisseurs around the world.


    This caf¨¦ was connected to 3 floors of the mall. It was also at a prime location. Most people who wanted to enter and leave the mall would all have to walk past. While entering they could have a treat ande here to rest before leaving after a long day of shopping.


    On the floors above, they could also rest while shopping. Not only that. Esctors were right next to each entrance of the caf¨¦.


    It made one question how much the rent was for such a location in this big-scale mall.


    It was unknown if LaLaLatte''s boss had some connection to the mall owner, but it would be hard to rent these kinds of locations without connections.


    Emilin sat down on a window seat after ordering a fluffy pancake breakfast, whip cream set + a slice of mango raspberry mousse cake.


    Emilin had already sat down and closed her eyes as she waited for her food. Her aura was calm, and she sat up straight to close off all of her senses except for her hearing for those moments.


    Emilin concentrated as hard as she could so that she could aplish her task. Trying to catch stranger''s gossip. It was a hobby of hers.


    Meanwhile, her food had been brought up by the waiter and ced in front of her. She had yet to hear anything interesting and her food was 20 times more important.


    Some passer-by would look at her way every once in a while, then turn their heads because they didn''t want to make it too obvious that they were looking.


    It wasn''t working.


    Emilin was concentrating so much on eating that it seemed as if she was trying to finish a final stroke on a future masterpiece. It made others want to eat what she was eating and try to appreciate it as much as she did.


    Eating was also a form of art.


    It was about time for people to acknowledge this fact.


    Just as Emilin was about to move on to her mango raspberry mousse cake she noticed somemotion between some people two tables over.


    "Doctor! Are there any doctors here!" One of the waiters amongst the people shouted in a voice loud enough for everyone in the caf¨¦, as well as some people outside to hear.


    Emilin wasn''t very interested in going, it would only add to her never-ending troubles. Even so, she couldn''t help but nce in the direction of themotion anyway.


    Her eyes widened when she saw the two people at the center of the mor.


    The person in need of help was a ck-haired man with a pale countenance hidden behind the ck rims of his sses. He was holding his stomach really hard as if his stomach hurt which is what he made the surrounding people believe.


    For a trained eye, however, it was obvious he was choking on something, this could be seen through the changes in the blood cirction and his face''s countenance.


    He knew that the man next to him didn''t know the Heimlich Manoeuvre and so he was attempting to do it on himself, but due to the stressful situation he was in, he couldn''t do so properly.


    The man next to him was one with hair dyed light blue. It was obvious as his eyebrows were pitch ck and he didn''t look like he was wearing a wig. He wore a suit of a simr pigment to his hair color, making people wonder if he had lost a bet.


    His dress shirt was white with a shiny golden western bow tie around his neck. This man was trying to see what was wrong with the ck-haired man wearing sses while simultaneously asking for help from the surrounding people.


    Emilin who was at first skeptical about helping reached the ck-haired man''s side in a sh.


    With a quick Heimlich Manoeuvre, she smoothly unchoked the man who was then lying on the ground. A piece of food soaked in saliva was ejected andnded on the chest of the blue-haired man.


    The man who had just seconds before looked like the most caring man changed faces faster than one could say Dorayaki.


    "Bro, I''m here trying to help you as best as I can, and now even while choking you won''t spare me?" The tense atmosphere that was created due to the life that was in danger dissipated just like that.


    The man who Emilin had just helpedughed as if he had not just gone through a life or death situation just seconds prior.


    "How could I? You''re the one that''s supposed to be serving me today. How could I possibly die on you? Even if I did, my ghost would have to haunt you for the rest of eternity, just imagine how tiring that would be for me."


    "You''re not worth it." The ck-haired man continued as he pushed the bridge of his sses so that they would go back to ce.


    The man wearing the light blue suit ruffled his light blue hair and turned around to the girl that had just saved his friend.


    "Couldn''t you just have let him choke to death?" He asked theplete stranger.


    Emilin scoffed. Maybe she should have.


    "You can only me yourself Doraemon," Emilin replied in a soft and nonchnt voice.


    Well the only reason she saved him was because of the blue-haired man. Emilin was convinced that the blue-haired man was a cosyer, he had an uncanny resemnce to Doraemon, just in a human form and taller as well as less round.


    Otherwise, she might have really just let these people be to forgo the trouble. It wasn''t her problem to deal with anyway.


    Seeing that both people were fine, Emilin went back to her table to get her cake and ate it in 3 seconds t before leaving.


    The men who were left on their own were too stunned to do anything before she had already left and the surrounding people who had gathered to see what was happening weren''t any less speechless.


    "Can you believe it? She left just like that. Damien, what are you still doing here, shouldn''t you go thank your savior?" The blue-haired man said. He had just ignored everything else Emilin said. The ck-haired man, Damien, stood up and looked straight at hispanion who was shorter than him.


    "Well it doesn''t look like my savior wants my gratitude seeing as how she left, but you Doraemon Kent, seem to be asking for something." He was getting ready to give his friend a punch in the face.


    "Hey, hey. First, What Doraemon? Kent is just fine. Second, it''s not my fault you can''t chew properly. Rather than majoring in business management, I''m sure we could find some sses on chewing for you."


    "If they don''t have sses on chewing, how can they even call themselves top universities." Kent wasn''t helping his cause at all.


    "I might really need to choose another school. If they are epting people like you, then it''s no good." Damien tidied himself up and gave his card to a nearby employee to pay for all the troubles they had caused.


    "Hey! Why don''t you ever say that the others are no good? They also got epted and they''re no better than me!" Kent didn''t realize that he was both admitting that he was no good and throwing his pals under the bus at the same time.


    Damien chuckled, "You''re right, but they aren''t here, which means they''re at least better than you at something."


    Kent looked very reluctant while thinking, ''I should have shoved a bigger piece of that doughnut down his throat.''


    He hmphed.


    Meanwhile, Emilin had long left and started her shopping journey not knowing that she had left multiple tables of people dumbstruck.

 Chapter 23 - Try The Entertainment Industry!

    Emilin walked around doing her window shopping and picked up anything that interested her.


    She filled her tote bags with cute but misceneous items. This included everything from cute notebooks and stickers along with tapes and small plushies.??


    She convinced herself that she would use the notebooks during her journey and the stickers and sticky notes would make things more memorable.


    Her mind was filled with thoughts such as the following:


    ''Yeah, I''m going to need this¡­''


    ''and this¡­''


    ''I don''t think I''ve seen one of these before¡­''


    ''Oh, and I definitely don''t have one of these¡­''


    ''I should probably take two or three since I''ve never bought any of these¡­''


    ''Wow, they''re much cuter than I thought¡­''


    ''Yeah, you can''t go wrong with a dozen or so of these.''


    Emilin loved to go on such shopping sprees but seeing as she wouldn''t use most of what she bought, she would first store them away.


    She bought a warehouse a couple of years ago when she noticed that things were piling up and thenter, she started donating everything.


    Though she loved buying things with her own money she wasn''t particrly interested in hogging. Everything was then slowly donated to charities for children who needed these things more than her.


    Toys and plushies were donated during Christmas, food and treats were donated as soon as possible along with the cute household appliances that she would buy.


    Everything depended really on what she bought and what holidays were around the corner.


    Emilin''s logic was quite simple.


    Her shopping sprees were not to indulge in her desires to spend money, but rather to help the economy as a whole. Not only did she help sustain some businesses and industries with her spending she was also helping the less fortunate.


    Thinking like this was helpful for the economy, society, and Emilin herself.


    See. Simple.


    Emilin stopped when her hands were full and sore. She dropped everything off at the rented lockers at the mall and headed to the food court for lunch. It was already gettingte, so she decided to just pick something up to eat on the way.


    She took a taxi to her warehouse and left the bags in arge container filled with simr bags. Whenever a holiday neared, or if Emilin had bought quantities of something that couldn''t be conserved, she would call for people toe to sort the items and donate the sections that she wanted to give away.


    Seeing that the container was filling up she made a call for the things to be organized and sent off for the beginning of a new school year to public schools in this country.


    Emilin didn''t dy her trip home anymore. She got home and the first thing she would say would always be, "I''m home." To which her parents would always respond with a hum.


    Elena was cooking dinner and Gabriel was working in the living room. Emilin noticed that the only one missing in the picture was Theo.


    "Where''d Brother Theo go?" She asked casually as she changed into her slippers.


    "Oh, he''s working out downstairs," Elena responded, a little absentmindedly as she concentrated on her cooking.


    "Can you go check how he''s doing and call him up to eat?" She added and Emilin just nodded her head and hummed an affirmation.


    She walked downstairs to reach the basement floor where the home gym was located and opened the door.


    From the outside, she could already see her brother who was on the treadmill. She knocked on the ss door before letting herself in without waiting for a response.


    Theo stepped off the treadmill which automatically stopped and used the towel around his neck to wipe his sweat.


    "I see you''re working hard. Do you n on going into sports in college?" Emilin passed him his water bottle.


    He drank as if he had been in the desert for the past two days surviving off of his sweat alone for hydration.


    "No. I think Brother Nathen has that base fully covered. I am considering taking psychology sses though. I noticed recently that I''m sourlycking in that aspect." Theo sounded a little depressed when he spoke of this topic.


    "Didn''t I tell you when you were cking off that you would regret it one day?" Emilin chuckled at her brother''s misery. [I guess they were normal siblings after all]


    "This is not an ''I told you so'' moment. I thought you were trying to use reverse psychology on me, and I didn''t want to fall for it." Theoined. [Pushing the me was always the way to go].


    "Now really? Then I guess you really do need psychology sses." Emilin replied.


    "Don''t mock me now. Yes, I get it, I get it. I''m not sure how to go about it though. Which sses should I take?" Theo wanted to hear a professional opinion to see what his options were.


    Emilin thought for a bit and gave her brother a one over.


    "Hmm, how do you feel about going into the entertainment industry?" Emilin asked, seemingly out of nowhere.


    "What does that even have to do with my question?" Theo tilted his head.


    "Just answer the question." Emilin rubbed her chin as she thought about the endless possibilities for her brother''s future.


    Theo didn''t really like the way he was looked at. Gave him the chills, but he just shrugged it off because it was his sister.


    He is the type of person who would be sold off by Emilin and still sit there counting the money for her.


    Of course, that would never actually happen¡­ Yeah, never.


    "Wouldn''t the entertainment industry be a waste of time? Why would I do that when I could spend my time strengthening my firewalls?" He wondered what his little sister was nning.


    "Not at all actually. There would be many pros to going into that industry. First, it would serve as a cover for your actual focus. Most would just think you''re a wannabe celebrity."


    "Change that to a rising star" Theo corrected. He didn''t realize that he was talking as if he had already agreed to be a celebrity.


    "Yes, yes. Rising star. Second, more people would try to look into you and so you''ll have more practice making believable falsified information. It''s a good chance to practice."


    Theo was already nodding his head in agreement at this point.


    "But how does this have to do with the psychology sses we were talking about?" Theo finally noticed what the main issue at hand was.


    "Big Brother, don''t you know? The entertainment industry is the stage where the biggest psychological warfare urs, it is also where all the most willing actors gather." Emilin exined. She just conveniently forgot about the sly foxes in the business industry, and the politicians and everywhere else really.


    It was true that the entertainment industry was the most obvious choice as well as the best one considering Theo''s age and the fact that he was still going to school.


    "Left and right, you have to worry about what others are nning and scheming and what they think of you and what you think of them. Not to mention what you want them to think of you and what they want you to think of them."


    "If that wasn''t enough, if you go into acting, then you can even explore the psychology of different characters and you''ll have the directors as well as everyone else in the world to judge you."


    "This is the perfect real-life psychology ss in real-time."


    By then, Theodore was already thoroughly convinced.


    He was about to nod his head to agree when he felt that something was off. He scratched his head while pondering on that realization.


    Suddenly, the lightbulb was lit.


    "Damn, I can''t believe I was so easily tricked. Do you really have to do this to your big brother?" Theo sighed when he realized how easily he was convinced with this small speech.


    He was one step away from throwing himself into a pit of snakes. Emilinughed.


    "Which goes to say how much more you need the sses. But I mean it. I think this would make your skill sets more well-rounded."


    Seeing that Theo was still hesitating, Emilin knew that she had to take the hammer and hit thest nail on the coffin.


    "The most important reason is also due to the changing of the times. Now, everyone''s following their stars. The media have the greatest influence on the thoughts of the people. One word is enough to build an image and one more is enough to break that reputation. It''s important that we also have some influence in this field. This would be the perfect opportunity."


    Theo gave his sigh of resignation after hearing thest point and so he nodded his head signaling his agreement.


    Emilin smiled. "If you really don''t like it, you can always leave the industry after giving it a try. We have enough power to go without it. If you like it, then even better. Don''t force yourself okay?"


    "I got it. Let''s go eat already, I''m famished."


    And so, the two siblings left the gym and headed towards dinner.

 Chapter 24 - Dory Syndrome?

    The following days also went by in a sh. Emilin spent her remaining time in Polo Country with her family. Gabriel went to work as usual and when he came back home, he would also join Elena, Emilin, and Theo as they caught up with some shows and movies that they had been missing out on.


    It was all in all, a very rxing week. ??


    When the day of her departure came her whole family came to the airport with her. Theo''s ne would takeoff two hours after Emilin''s and so they all came together.


    "Remember to keep your passports close, as well as your bags! And get some extra sleep on the ne. Don''t forget to eat something too. And call often." Gabriel was the one listing out all of the reminders while Elena stood back and watched her two children pretend to pay attention.


    Emilin and Theo who had already heard this speech 6 times on their way to the airport looked at each other and then back at their father.


    "We got it, daddy," they said simultaneously in a childishly cute manner. If there was a health bar here, Gabriel would most likely have been one-shot KO''d. He would at most be left with 1 HP. (HP= Health Point)


    The children stopped using the term daddy a couple of years ago and reserved it for special asions.


    Mainly when they wanted to coax their father.


    Gabriel knew that, but it didn''t really matter, the endearing term still warmed his heart, so he let his children off. He also knew that they were aware of when to be careful and how to take care of themselves.


    Emilin and Theo: ''d to know it still works like a charm.''


    He sighed. All he could do now as a father was to give his children a firm hug and send them off, which is exactly what Elena and he did.


    They separated when they reached the bag checking areas, leaving only Emilin and Theo to go in by themselves.


    Emilin was wearing ck leggings and a dark blue hoodie with a white print with her hair tied up in a loose bun. Everything was forfort on the ne.


    Theo was the same. He was wearing loose sweat grey pants and a white hoodie with a red print.


    Both looked like university students that were going to go back to school after visiting their parents. The time was a nice fit too since schools were about to start. That''s what the surrounding people believed.


    After going through all the checking procedures, they had to part ways too. Emilin''s port and Theo''s ports were in opposite directions and they had to use their boarding passes to get to their specific waiting areas.


    "Take care and be careful in your travels." Theo reminded Emilin again because Gabriel''s reminders were definitely not enough.


    "You too. Have fun, but don''t let your guard down too much. You can always fall back if necessary." Emilin was reassuring Theo that even if he was met with troubles, there would always be people for him to fall back to.


    These were the people he could give his unconditional trust.


    They parted ways after a few more casual reminders.


    Emilin headed straight to the first-ss lounge. It was the first time she traveled alone and so she didn''t want anyplications, plus she also wanted to get some sleep in during the 15-hour trip.


    She went straight to the self-serve bar and filled up a te with small snacks before finding herself a couch.


    The remaining time before the boardingmenced was spent scanning the various tourist spots of her next destination, Mlakan Country. She had already set her heart on some ces to find out some more of this world so that she couldpare it to the world she lived in, in the past.


    She marked any areas that interested her and wrote them down on her new notebook that she had bought a couple of days ago.


    It served as a bucket list, but with a two-year deadline rather than death. Then again, if she didn''t do some of these things in two years, she could always do themter on.


    Around half an hourter.


    [Attendants on flight 18FC24 from Polo Country to Mlakan Country please get ready to board now, the gates will close at 12:30 it is now 12:00, thank you for your patience.]


    Emilin who had been scrolling on theputer she brought stopped to hear the announcement when she heard the number of the flight and then continued when it was over.


    The people around her, no more than a dozen, who were all going into business ss started to board the ne and when Emilin noticed that no one was left, she started packing up and boarding too.


    Her seat was on the front row by the end, a window seat.


    She quickly settled down and put down her bags, putting on her seat belt before putting on her earphones for the takeoff.


    The take-off of the ne proceeded smoothly, and the Wi-Fi was back on. Emilin didn''t feel like worrying about anything else and so she ended up doing a movie marathon, a moviathon.


    This would go on for the next couple of hours. Emilin scrolled through all kinds of movies. After watching 3 consecutive horror movies, she couldn''t take it anymore.


    It was then that she finally changed to something more friendly.


    Finding Dory caught her eye.


    By then she had already gone through a few scares and 6 hours of the flight had passed. She started with her eyes fixated on the screen that she had already been staring at for multiple hours.


    Watching as the little fishy swam, it reminded her of the lunch she had eaten on the ne, sushi. Yet, that disturbing thought didn''t stop Emilin from smiling.


    10 minutes into the movie and Emilin''s head was already ced on her hand, swaying, about to fall off before she caught it again.


    She was dozing off.


    And it wasn''t long before she fell asleep.


    When she woke up again the movie had already long ended, and people were already leaving the ne.


    Over 9 hours had passed.


    Emilin looked around the ne. She noticed that the people in herpartment had already left and that the flight attendant who had woken her up was still there.


    "Sorry for disturbing your rest Miss, but the ne has alreadynded." She said. Emilin rubbed her eyes a little as she started to get her things together.


    "Yes, sorry for the trouble, thank you for waking me up." Emilin stood up after grabbing all her bags and followed the flight attendant as she took her to the exit.


    As she got out of the ne to the airport, she saw arge banner saying, "Wee to Mlakan Country!" And it was only then that she woke up from her daze.


    ''How did I end up sleeping so soundly?'' She really didn''t think that she would be able to sleep for such a long period of time on the ne.


    She looked back at the time she spent on the ne and still couldn''t figure it out.


    ''My eyes were probably too tired from the long hours staring at the screen.''


    Was that really the only result of her long contemting?


    But then again, she felt like she couldn''t even remember any of the content of the movies she had just watched.


    She knew that she was watching Finding Dory before falling asleep, but she couldn''t remember anything that had happened during that movie. Or any of the previous movies for that matter!


    Was she inflicted with Dory syndrome just by watching the movie??


    ''What the heck!?''


    [Well yeah, she didn''t watch much of it, to begin with, but she had watched trailers and some short clips before starting, which is how she figured some of the characteristics of the characters.]

 Chapter 25 - Malalakan’s National Museum

    Emilin first headed to the national museum after dropping off her bags at the hotel she was going to stay at.


    After buying the entrance ticket, she started walking around first before she would decide if she wanted a tour guide or not. ??


    But before getting into the museum, there was some basic knowledge that needed to be known first.


    The Mlakan Country was one of the 7 countries located in Continent M.


    Its geographic location made it so that it boarded every single country in its continent, and it was ced second in terms of size in Continent M.


    Mlakan''s geographic location was no coincidence, it was as it is now, due to wars that had urred centuries ago.


    There was a total of 8 continents in this world.


    Each continent had its own history.


    Wars and revolutions led it to its currents state.


    With every continent, there was another union. In the M continent, it was of course the MC Union just as the H¨¦ Continent had the HC Union.


    These unions were only formed after countless countries were destroyed and reformed in these same continents.


    The history on this was rich and though most people believe that allnds were now at peace, the truth was that there was in fact still a lot of tension between the various countries and the various continents.


    Wars between countries on different continents were now very, very scarce. This was because once war was dered the whole continental alliance would be called upon.


    Still, it wouldn''t be unusual for there to be dozens of spies from other countries ced in government positions in other countries to keep everyone in check.


    The H¨¦ Continent wasn''t the smallest of the 8, yet it had the least number of countries. This just went to show that the size of each one was in no way small, and the history even moreplex than most other continents.


    The small number of countries directly corrted with the number of wars that had urred there.


    There was one point in their history where the H¨¦ continent was made up of over a dozen smaller countries.


    As for when they were united into the four countries that made up the H¨¦ continent¡­ that was a story for another time.


    Back to the Mlakan Country in Continent M, it was wildly known as a neutral country throughout history, yet that didn''t mean it didn''t have its own role in the wars that urred around it.


    The Mlakan Country was used as a resource stop during times of crisis. During wars, other countries used the Mlakan country to smuggle guns and food.


    At that time, they had individually made deals with all of the surrounding nations. Their neighbors didn''t know that they had made simr deals with their enemies until centuriester, long after the MC Union was already formed.


    They had their suspicions but seeing as their own people were in danger and that they would be at a disadvantage if they didn''t cooperate with the Mlakan Country, they could only let it go.


    This is what led the Mlakan Country to be one of the countries with the most preserved historical records.


    They participated in every single war, knowing information from all sides, yet their records would never be destroyed because they were a ''neutral country''.


    And now, centuriester, these records were kept in the national museum that Emilin was now visiting.


    This country was still led by a monarch, and so it would be absurd to think that these records were the real ones. No one could be sure about what information was real except for the royal family.


    And though there was a royal family, there were no other noble families.


    All of that was already long abolished, but the people of the Mlakan Country still found it only natural that their rulers were of the royal family, it was already deeply integrated into their culture.


    Or maybe they just couldn''t care for another revolution with bloodshed as the royal family treated their people well


    Emilin wouldn''t trust everything written in the records, nor would she believe that they were the real ones, but they would be enough to get a rough idea about the history of the M continent.


    Or at least, she would know what the royal family wanted the people to think.


    As Emilin walked around, she realized that, though the museum looked pretty and everything¡­ there wasn''t much substance.


    However, there was something she got out of this trip, the ancientnguage.


    Emilin had long realized that thenguages used in this world were vastly the same as those used in her previous one, or at least, the ones that she knew from her previous world.


    While walking around, she had seen cards with the names of various wars that had urred, and yet none of them rang the bell.


    It was strange, though the nations were simr and thenguage too, the process that brought them to the stage that they were in now, were not the same.


    As she walked, she took note of everything she found peculiar and started filling up her pages.


    She walked as she wrote, which, in hindsight didn''t seem like a good idea.


    She bumped into a man who was on his phone, in a call.


    Even after being bumped into, the man didn''t stop talking. He paced around in circles as he spoke into the phone with his hand covering his mouth. He was speaking in Makin, the nationalnguage of the Mlakan Country.


    Not much could be heard, but Emilin still caught something: [Mr. Blue¡­ no we didn''t get it yet¡­ but there are no¡­ I''ll try my best.]


    When he finally got off the call, he saw Emilin who was staring at him. Right when she was about to apologize for bumping into him, he beat her to it.


    "Oh, I''m so sorry¡­" The man started to mumble some incoherent words, clearly still in a daze from the call he was on.


    ''He was probably being scolded by a superior,'' Emilin thought.


    "Oh wait, do you understand what I''m saying?" The man asked. He had still been speaking in Makin.


    Emilin didn''t look like she was from around, plus she was at the national museum, which was a tourist destination. There were of course also children that woulde with their parents, but Emilin was clearly not one of those cases.


    "Yes, I just wanted to say sorry for bumping into you, but you seemed busy, so I''ll be leaving first," Emilin replied in fluent Makin.


    "Oh, ok¡­" The man, who looked like a white-cor worker, was somewhat impressed by her fluent Makin, but just assumed that she might have lived in Mlakan and had parents from elsewhere.


    Emilin moved on to another sector of the museum and kept reading the small cards. Normally, they would be written in both Makin and in the International Language, English.


    But not in the calligraphy sector.


    If tourists wanted to learn more about calligraphy in the national museum, they would have to get a tour guide.


    Emilin walked in just as she had in all the other sectors, just to be met with the chuckling of another visitor.


    A young woman that hade with her husband and her daughter.


    She had noticed Emilin a while back because her husband was always ncing her way. Even though she wasn''t old, she wasn''t as young and beautiful as she had been before.


    After giving birth to her daughter, who was now 7 years old, she had aged very quickly.


    She was self-conscious because her husband was 4 years younger than her and she had just entered her 30s while he was still in his 20s.


    When she saw her husband looking at this beautiful foreign youngdy, her whole face scrunched up, but she was still holding her daughters'' hand, and so she didn''t say anything.


    They were always walking a distance away and so it was obvious when her husband was ncing back which just worsened her mood.


    Now that she saw Emilining to the calligraphy room, she felt like she was being followed by her, even though she knew that there was a specific path that was to be followed in the museum.


    The calligraphy room was the only one that could be skipped as it was at the center of the building.


    Thedy thought that since the young girl was clearly a foreigner, she would skip this room since she had no tour guide following her.


    "Look at that foreigner. She doesn''t even know anything about our nation''s masterpieces and she''s here walking as if she owns the ce. When you grow up, you can''t be a pretentious little girl like her, Rose, do you hear me?" Thedy said to her daughter.


    "She''s pretty" Rose replied.


    "Ha. Pretty isn''t everything! The pretty people are the ones who do the nastiest things!" Thedy wasn''t being quiet in any way and Emilin who had heard her clearly narrowed her eyes with a dangerous gleam that was quickly hidden away.


    "But how can that be? Mom is so pretty and so nice too. How can the pretty sister be mean?" Rose let out a light-heartedugh while pulling on her mother''s arm.

 Chapter 26 - Hes Cheating On You!

    Emilin POV:


    When I first heard what thisdy was insinuating my brows tightened. Even if you tried to make it look like these things didn''t bother you. It would still be a little upsetting to hear. ??


    Upsetting to know that there were such people in the world that knew nothing about you but would stillment on your morals as if they knew you better than you knew yourself.


    Even beforeing here, the moment I decided that I wanted to go traveling alone, I already knew something simr would happen.


    It was a ssic. When someone thinks that the tourist doesn''t know theirnguage, they say whatever they like.


    Bad choice. Who knows who understands you?


    It just sounds like a bad idea to speak ill of someone behind their back, much less to their face in hopes that they don''t understand what you are saying.


    Is it not absurd that this person who doesn''t even know me, that I have just met is now trash talking me?


    I was going to wait to see what else she had to say about me because well, drama. But then the little girl spoke.


    "But how can that be? Mom is so pretty and so nice too. How can the pretty sister be mean?"


    I couldn''t stay mad after that.


    The little girl''s hair was tied in pigtails and she was wearing a sky-blue long skirt matched with a white blouse and her smile was just adorable.


    I wanted to go there and pinch her chubby cheeks and in order to not show my thoughts, I had to keep a straight poker face.


    This is what I''ve trained for!


    She reminded me a lot of Brother Theo and Brother Nathen when they were younger.


    I turn back to see the mother''s face visibly redden from embarrassment and then shame.


    ''Well, if you could raise a child like this little girl, you mustn''t be too bad. I''ll let you off this time.''


    Just thinking of the cute Big Brother Theo and Nathen, I couldn''t help but smile and when I noticed that the two females were still looking at me, now with an incredulous look I was confused.


    They seemed shocked for some reason and then I hear the mother say something again in Makin.


    "Ah, mommy was just upset. You''re right she doesn''t look like a bad person, but you still have to be careful with strangers. As long as they stay away from your father." Thatst part was in a softer but also firmer tone, and even though thedy probably thought that I couldn''t understand what she was saying, she seemed to subconsciously say that in a lower voice.


    Well, I could still hear her, but it was¡­ an effort.


    Kudos to her, I guess.


    "Well, mommy is only pretty when she is happy." The child shed her mother the brightest of smiles.


    I couldn''t keep myposure anymore.


    She just reminded me too much of my family. If I didn''t think of them (which was impossible), maybe I wouldn''t miss them so much. I closed the distance between the little girl and myself. Lowering myself so that I could see her eye to eye.


    "What''s your name, littledy?" I use Makin as I assume that is the onlynguage we can speak inmon, after which I can see the mother''s eyes widen to the point where they seemed as if they were about to fall off.


    "Rosalina, but everyone just calls me Rose or Rosy!"


    "Wow, what a cute name little Rosy. What are you doing here today? Do you like history?"


    "Mhm, I like it. I''m here because daddy finally has time to take us out to y!" At this, I squint my eyes a little. I had noticed the man that was standing by the side, but when you looked at the family as a whole, he just didn''t fit in the picture.


    You would imagine him a little like a passer-by, even though little Rose had his same blue eyes and dark hair. They just somehow didn''t match


    When I nced at him again, I could see the dirty look he gave me, which just made me feel bad for both Rose and her mother.


    I pat her in the head as I usually did with brother Theo and brother Nathen when they were younger.


    "Rosy is so pretty, you really like mommy and daddy, right?"


    "Rosy likes mommy and daddy the most!" Her eyes sparkled as she spoke of her family which warmed my heart.


    I stood back up and looked at the mother of this little Rose Blossom. My face was already back to its usual stoic fa?ade.


    Leaning into the mother I say, "You should be careful with that husband of yours, he''s cheating on you."


    Normally I wouldn''t want to meddle in someone''s business like this but seeing the little Rose who had yet to bloom I couldn''t hold back. I didn''t want to see her wither just like that.


    If the mother was not prepared when the truth came to light. Rose would end up being the one hurt by both sides.


    Even though I didn''t care too much for the woman, she still clearly cared more for her daughter than the man who was cheating did. Rose would probably be safer with her.


    I see thedy''s eyes widened, first in shock, then disbelief, followed by anger and frustration, most likely towards me. But just momentster it shone again with realization, and finally with despondency.


    This all happened in a matter of seconds. Her back was against the husband, who didn''t see any of this happening, even before his eyes.


    I take out my notebook and scribble some words, making sure they are readable for the average person, and then rip it out, handing it to the mother.


    Before leaving, I sh Rose onest smile to which she waves at me.


    ***


    After separating from that family, I started to jot down my own notes.


    It seemed that I had no trouble talking to that young child.


    Was it due to her age?


    Our age difference?


    Her innocence?


    Or her simrities to Bother Theo and Brother Nathen?


    These were all theories worth testing. When I thought of being kinder to the woman, even though I held no real grudges, I felt a chill down my spine that screamed for me to stop.


    In the end, writing her the information I wanted to convey was all I could resort to.


    My head throbbed as I felt a migraineing. The pace of my walking quickened as I headed towards the exit.


    I''ll have toe back to the museum again tomorrow.

 Chapter 27 - You Should Get A Good Lawyer!

    Maria calmed herself down and stuffed the paper that was handed to her in her pocket before turning around to face her husband.


    She would have to find another time to read that note, but not right now. She looked at her daughter who was still smiling without a care in the world. ??


    She knew that she would have to drag her daughter into this issue even if she didn''t want to.


    In a divorce, it was the child that would suffer the most.


    Maria didn''t know why, but she just believed the foreigndy that she had just met. She also had had her suspicions, but she hadn''t wanted to believe them because she still had her daughter.


    It was heartbreaking to have someone else confirm what she already knew deep down in her heart.


    She took her daughter''s hand in her own and walked straight to her scum of a husband with her back as straight as a pine tree.


    "Hey dear, I have to go. My office is calling me to do some overtime." He said.


    "Really now, I guess we can''t keep you here then." Maria struggled to give him her most normal smile, but it didn''t matter, because he wouldn''t have noticed anyway.


    "Why? Daddy said he was going to be with Rose all of today." Rose''s smile turned into a frown so quickly that even a clown would be impressed.


    The man became a little impatient, but knowing that it was his daughter, he didn''t show it.


    "Sorry little Rose, but it''s work things and I have to work to be able to feed you." He exined with little guilt. He was already used to lying to his family.


    He had started seeing other people at bars after work around 2 years ago and at the beginning, he had felt really bad about it.


    He convinced himself that it was due to the stress and that he wouldn''t do it again, but nothing seemed to work.


    He was working hard to dig a hole for himself so how could he not jump in?


    In the end, he wasn''t able to get rid of thedies that he had found at the bar and when he came clean to them, they actually started ckmailing him. In hindsight, he seemed to have really messed up when he gave away his personal information. And well, also when he decided he was going to be a douche and cheat on his wife.


    After a while, he got used to it. To lying to his wife and daughter and everything else. The more he got used to it, the less he felt it was wrong. Which was just sad in so many ways.


    The truth was that it was actually his lover that had sent him a message, she had threatened him. If he didn''te right now, then she would go to him and expose the truth to his family.


    He was actually more than willing to go; he just felt a little bad for this daughter of his.


    "Rosy, your father has to go, so can you forgive him?" Maria''s insinuations weren''t caught by the father or daughter.


    As for forgiving him, though she felt a deep hatred for her husband, she didn''t want to burden her daughter with simr grudges.


    "Fine! But you have to promise to go out with Rosy twice now!"


    "Yes, yes. Daddy promises." His only option was to agree now, everything else could be dealt withter. He then left without even looking back.


    After making sure that he had left and wasn''ting back, Maria took out the crumpled paper that she had stuffed into her pocket and straightened it out.


    [First of all, the lines around his ring finger show that he frequently takes it off, he also had a tendency to stuff that hand in his pocket to hide the fact that he is married. As for concrete evidence, the message this number 22193#####]


    Maria''s eyes widened. She hesitated before sending a message to the international number, but she still did it within the minute.


    Maria: [Hello?]


    Unknown Number: [Who is this and how did you get my number?]


    Maria: [Um. The foreigndy gave it to me.]


    Unknown Number: [ I see.]


    Maria: [It''s about my husband¡­]


    Unknown Number: [I know now, give me 5]


    Maria: [5 what?]


    Maria was looking at her phone and had unknowingly started pacing around. She didn''t know if this was actually a scam, but it was already toote to think about that.


    [Why was being mistaken for a scam artist somon for these two? Is it a gift? People think they are scammers, yet still decide to trust them. It must be a gift.]


    She was still stuck on the fact that her husband had cheated on her.


    Rose looked at her mother in confusion.


    Since her daddy left her mommy was acting all weird. She was chewing her nails as she stared a hole into her phone which in turn made Rose nervous, but she knew well enough to not interrupt at that moment.


    After what seemed like an eternity, 5 minutes, the notification bell rang again.


    Unknown Number: [*file*]


    Unknown Number: [This is everything you need, get a goodwyer]


    Unknown Number: [But if you''re toozy to throw away the trash, it''s not my ce to interfere. I don''t rmend it though, mold will fester and your daughter might get infected.]


    Unknown Number: [When you need help, you should try this number again, just put Three as my name or something. I''m Two by the way]


    Maria: [¡­]


    Maria didn''t know if she wanted to look at the files, toment on thewyer part, or the terrible naming sense first.


    There were just too many things to point out.


    ''Like really? Your name is Two (which I assume to be a code name) and you want me to add you as Three? Are you trying to be secretive or are you trying to mess with me? How old are you? Are you two years old pretending to be three?''


    These were all things going through Maria''s mind, but then she reminded herself of the file. She was about to open it when a small voice by her side made her jump.


    "What are you looking at mommy? You''re even ignoring Rosy now. Daddy doesn''t want Rosy and now mommy doesn''t want me either. Humph." Rose crossed her arms in front of her chest and put on an act for her mother.


    She noticed that her mommy looked distressed and so she didn''t want her to keep thinking about the phone that was upsetting her.


    Maria quickly put her phone away and picked her child up.


    "My Rosy is so heavy now, mommy can barely carry you. Let''s go home okay?" Maria remembered to put up her strong front for her beautiful daughter, to block her from the nastiness that was the truth for as long as she could.


    Which would end up being much shorter than she had imagined or that she had hoped for.

 Chapter 28 - On The Unknown Islands

    On the other side of the world on an unknown ind in the middle of the ocean between H¨¦ Continent and Continent E.


    "What have you people even doing in the past 6 months? I can''t believe it. Half a year and there has been zero progress in finding M''s identity?" The same man in the ck suit that had been supervising the hackers previously was still reprimanding them to this day. ??


    He wasn''t taken too seriously, there wasn''t much that could be done anyways, if there was it would have already been done.


    It was inconceivable that he had been given a second chance in taking charge for the operation of looking for the elusive M.


    He couldn''t keep messing it up because of these ipetent hackers. He couldn''t fail again; the Big Boss was already getting impatient.


    "It''s not that we aren''t making progress Boss. It''s just that TWO is improving too fast." Falcon leaned back on his chair as he stretched the muscles in his hands.


    He was the person with the fastest hand speed in the team, and one would think that that was why he was given the codename Falcon, but that was not the case.


    In reality, it was because Falcon was always the fastest at talking back, but if he asked, it was because of his hand speed¡­


    "No, I doubt he''s actually improving this fast; he''s probably just ying with us." Serpent knew best when he was being yed because he was an avid yer.


    In the hacking world, he was the most slippery.


    His opponent might be setting up a trap, and when they took a step back to watch the show, they would fall into the hole that Serpent had just dug for them.


    He loved messing with his adversaries before swallowing them whole.


    Yet against this opponent, he felt like he was dancing on someone else''s palm. This was especially true due to thest message that was left for their team 6 months ago.


    ''Try again? They were obviously toying around with us!'' That was what Serpent was thinking, but he didn''t dare say it out loud for fear of being berated again.


    "Yeah, he''s probably got a team working for him setting the firewalls up one by one to mess with us." Bear was ying some games online at the moment, with his online friends, because he didn''t have any in real life.


    Bear used to be a video gamer, actually, he still was but that''s beside the point. He got into hacking when his gaming server was raided by hackers. He was pissed off and so he learned how to hack and 5 yearster, he got them all back.


    By the time he had taken his revenge, those people had already long forgotten that such a thing had happened.


    "We should tell the Big Boss about it. Maybe he''ll let us off." His code name was Bear because he was rather good at brute force and rather weak at everything else. Everyone was rather confused as to how he became a hacker.


    His attic was rather empty.


    Or at least that''s how he portrayed himself to be.


    Bear was actually one of the people with the smallest figures in the group, which just further proved how these code names had nothing to do with these hacker''s physical traits.


    Serpent shot Bear a look of disdain. While the others didn''t really bother with the two.


    "Ha, Big Boss letting us off. What a nice dream." Sloth, whoid on the couch used his pillow to cover up the lighting so that he could go back to his peaceful sleep.


    Well, his name spoke for itself. If he had the choice to sleep all day every day, that''s exactly what he would be doing.


    He acted as if he had been forced toe here and forced to learn to hack, and if that was what you had assumed, then you would be absolutely right.


    "I agree with Sloth on this one, there''s really nothing we can do about it right now. We should probably wait for Captain toe to give his opinion." Though Serpent was sly, that was mainly against his opponents. With his own people, he was less scheming¡­ most of the time.


    "Well for one¡­ never mind, I''ve got nothing." Falcon who had just finished warming up his hands was trying to warm up his brain. But there wasn''t much to warm up, so it didn''t work out very well.


    It was then that another person walked into the room. Though most men here were physically well trained, with the exception of Sloth and well¡­ Sloth.


    This man was on another level. He looked like a bodybuilder rather than aputer geek.


    "Captain. You''re here" Falcon was, of course, the first to notice.


    "Yeah, gather up in the lounge for a meeting before we get fired." The Body Builder Captain gave his order. And of course, he had to have the meeting at the lounge, or else Sloth would never make it.


    The meeting room that was just a door away from the lounge currently was of zero use.


    "Well, I think we''ve already wasted enough time on testing TWO, we should probably move on." He crossed his legs as he sat on the single person couch, intertwining his hands and moving them to his mouth, looking as serious as he could.


    Well at this point, rather than a bodybuilder, he looked more like a gangster or an evil mastermind.


    "Captain, why do you sound like we''re having a bad group break up over one girl?" Falcon asked.


    "Oh, shut up, how would you know? It''s not like you''ve ever had a girlfriend." Serpent retorted.


    A strange silence followed.


    "No way. I won''t believe it." He shook his head vehemently and then hid his face behind his palms.


    "Not the time to talk about Falcon''s close to non-existent love life, much less Serpent''s truly non-existent love life." The captain had to interrupt, or else this meeting was going to go off track, like the 5 before it.


    "We should start thinking of n F and step one is to keep this from the Big Boss."


    "As for step two¡­"


    ***


    Somewhere on a neighboring unknown ind, a mansion was built as a part of the mountain that it was on. If one didn''t know what they were looking for, they would never find this structure.


    It was very well hidden in the midst of forests and hills.


    The colors were also camouging it so that from an aerial view, nothing could be seen but the greenery and rocks that one could expect to find just about anywhere.


    Inside that mansion in a room fit for royalty, an olddy struggled to sit up straight on her bed, even with the help of the young man who was sitting by her bedside.


    "Grandma, you have to be careful now, you should let the servants take care of you." His pale green eyes that were surrounded by a firm ck ring, reflected sincere care.


    "Oh, it''s nothing! Don''t you know that your grandma still has years to live, stop acting as if I am already on my death bed. I guess this was one good thing about being a teenage mom, I get to see my grandson grow up all tall and handsome." Thedy''s smile was still bright, despite her wrinkles.


    It made her shine with a noble yet warm aura. Her wrinkles didn''t make her less beautiful, no. In fact, they made her look more human. One that had years of wisdom, one that had already let go of the material things in the world so that she could embrace the beautiful things that others couldn''t see, nor imagine.


    It made one wonder; at what age would I have to chance to find something so beautifully elusive. A feeling indescribable, one that could only be felt after a long journey, exploring all the nooks and crannies, and all the secrets that life had to offer.


    It made one wonder. Just what kind of life did this woman live? What had she experienced? What kind of enlightenment was she bestowed?


    "When can I know granny? Won''t you tell me?" The man that looked domineering in front of the whole world, was but a pleading grandson in front of his beloved grandma.


    "My Elijah, you''re not ready right now. There have been many things hidden from you over the years, some of which even I have no knowledge of."


    "When the timees, I know you''ll be able to figure it out, but before that, you have to look for your own answers."


    "It''s like a warmup, do you understand? You have to warm up your mind with all kinds of crazy theories, so that when you find out the truth, it won''t be that bad, or that shocking." Grandma Mu wasn''t fazed at all by her grandson''s plea. Without the means to protect oneself, too much knowledge would only end up causing more harm than what it was worth.


    This was a point that Elijah also understood.


    "Grandma. You don''t know, but I''m already letting my mind wander off, from here to space and back. I promise you. Aliens have definitely been within my considerations. Is that still not enough?" Elijah''s eyebrows tightened a bit before loosening up. He held his granny''s hand in his own as his granny gave him a meaningful look.


    "Okay, I''ll work hard. One day, you can part some of those burdens to me. I''ll be happy to take it from you." Elijah''s pale green eyes shone with the eagerness of a child, but the dejection in his heart couldn''t be ignored either.


    Granny Mu chuckled a little at Elijah''s childish tone and moved closer to pat his head, but since she couldn''t reach, she just opted for his leg.


    "What a silly child." She whispered, just loud enough for Elijah to hear.


    ___________


    Comment here if you would like the next Elijah chapter, or if I should just move on and go back to our Emilin''s travels. <3 <3

 Chapter 29 - Next Time Don’t Use Paper!

    Just as Elijah was going to make himselffortable on his seat, his assistant, Liam, informed him that he had more work to deal with.


    The background noise from the helicopter they were on was disrupting their ability tomunicate, but it didn''t prevent Assistant Liam from pointing at the files he had in his hands. ??


    Elijah, who was already exhausted from his day''s work still took the files.


    He opened the folder and skimmed through it before tipping them off. In other words, throwing the papers out of the helicopter.


    "My hands slipped. Next time don''t use paper." Elijah spoke into the microphone that he was provided which transmitted his message straight to Assistant Liam''s headphones.


    They were currently flying over the ocean, so Elijah didn''t have to worry about others finding some of the confidential information in the papers.


    Plus, he had skimmed the papers just in case there was something that was really important, that would put them at risk if someone found it.


    As for his assistant, he was thinking the same thing he thought of every time this happened.


    ''I''m only printing these so that you don''t keep throwing theputers into the ocean. I don''t want to pollute the oceans.''


    ''But you''re the Boss.''


    Well, actually, Elijah''s subordinates had gone to get back thatputer, but it took a whole scuba team to get the work done.


    Just to make sure none of the files were leaked.


    Since then, they made sure that they would start using paper, and thenter biodegradable paper.


    Elijah closed his eyes to think about his day and his future ns.


    ''Those hackers seem like a bust. How should I find M? I can''t keep going at this cat and mouse game, I need something more foolproof.''


    He long knew that the zoo was a no go, but he left them there as bait as he formed new ns.


    Yes, he called the hackers the zoo.


    He wasn''t purposefully being rude. When he was talking to Assistant Liam with other people around, if he needed to call specific groups he would use their code names.


    It would go something like this:


    ''Go call the zoo.'' Or ''zookeeper'' if he were talking about that man in the ck suit, whom he gave a second chance to.


    Unable to sleep, Elijah rested his eyes the whole journey.


    The more he thought of the strategies he could use and the routes he could take, the blurrier his future path seemed.


    M''s identity was hidden behind a thick haze. Gender, age, ethnicity, nothing was known for certain.


    All of his ns would take a certain amount of time to fester. He had people nted in the International Medical Association, but not even the higher-ups knew information on M.


    As for Xander, the only connection to X that the Medical Association had. He was both very wilful and incredibly loyal.


    The investigations that had been done had shown that he was never one to budge when it came to M''s demands. He also used ''his'' name to get nearly everything he wanted. It was unknown if this was ording to M''s will, but even if it wasn''t M was already giving ''his'' silent consent by allowing it.


    Elijah wasn''t going to get any information from him, at least not without violence, but that wasn''t his worry. If he wasn''t going to get any information anyways, he didn''t want to be put on M''s radar or get on ''his'' bad side just yet.


    If desperate times came, he would definitely have to use desperate measures. Kidnapping Xander was surely an option, but with an unclear view of just how much power M had behind him, it was just an all-around terrible choice.


    Elijah thought about how this one person brought him so many headaches and smirked.


    The small grin that had appeared on his face, was so minute that even his observant assistant hadn''t noticed.


    ''I guess grandma was right, this is a great challenge. If just finding this one person gets me stumped like this, how could I ever be prepared?''


    If anyone who knew Elijah''s identity heard of his thoughts, they would most definitely be shocked at how self-deprecating yet thoroughly amused he sounded.


    ''How did this world leader end up like this, just who was this monster he was facing.''


    It wasn''t his fault though. Due to the circumstances surrounding his case, he had severely overestimated M''s disposable forces, which is also what had dyed him in his conquests for so many years.


    If he had just gone for the win a couple of years ago, he would never have been stuck in the predicament he was in today.


    But it wasn''t entirely his fault. This was what Emilin had been aiming for. An identity so mysterious and secretive, that one would have no choice but to be wary.


    It was perfect for her circumstances.


    Her brother Theo''s and her hacking prowess were perfect for masking theircking of manpower when they were younger.


    We could just resume all of that as: They were ying them!


    ***


    Back to the person who was now on her vacation.


    Emilin POV:


    I went back to my hotel room wearing my sweaty clothes. The weather in Mlakan was a little too hot and humid.


    All the time.


    The first order of business was to take a shower.


    I opened the luggage that I had just previously just ced on my bed.


    Aftering out of the bathroom, I already changed into my tank top paired with a sports bra and denim shorts.


    I would really love to tie my hair into a bun without drying it, which would normally be my go-to option. Mostly in my mind. But I would never be able to do that because my hair would hate me afterward.


    I dried my hair until it was semi-dry so that I could brush it. If I didn''t brush it then, in two hours, when it dried by itself, the tangles would be no joke.


    At that point, both my hair and my brush would have to go through some serious physical abuse.


    By the time I was done with everything, it was already around 9 PM. It took a whole hour and a half to take a quick shower and deal with my hair. Well, as short as a shower could get, so like a half an hour shower.


    Any longer and my stomach would start protesting.


    The street foods were calling out for me, I couldn''t just ignore their pleading calls.


    After doing a once over of myself on the full body mirror in the bathroom, I took my hotel key card, wallet, and phone and took off.


    *


    *


    *


    The streetlights were incredibly vibrant in the streets of the capital of Mlakan, Mlaka. Yes. These people were not very original. The capital of Mlakan was named Mlaka.


    Just imagine the number of people who have misspelled something by mistake. Imagine the number of people who got confused. And now, finally, imagine the number of people who didn''t read this paragraph, and then, when they read Mlaka, they would think the dumb author got the name wrong or misspelled it.


    In order to ensure everyone has no excuses, I must make it clear.


    COUNTRY: MALALAKAN


    CAPITAL OF THIS COUNTRY: MALALAKA


    Yes, the two words are different, just in case you weren''t sure.


    Now that that is over and done with, we can move on to the more important things, like my food.


    [By the way, your wee stupid author, I wasted the time in which I could have been eating, just to make sure your readers wouldn''t get confused. That should be your job.]


    I called over a local cycle rickshaw, the same way you would call a taxi to get to the street markets.


    Cars were actually lessmonly used here due to the high prices for gas and the cycle rickshaw became part of the culture for short distance traveling. Even when electrical cars were created, they weren''t popr in most cities in Mlakan because of the structures of the roads.


    Of course, the further you were from a city and the closer you were to a highway, the fewer cycle rickshaws you would see. For long-distance traveling, a car was still necessary.


    This was all information that was obtained during my quick search at the airport.


    I paid the cyclist with the money I had exchanged for when I was in the airport and got off at my stop.


    Finally reaching the market.

 Chapter 30 - If You Touch It, You Buy It!

    The market was beautiful.


    The streetlights and the lights installed in the stores and stalls illuminated the whole market. ??


    At this time of the day, this market was one of the most boisterous ces in the city. Be it, locals or foreigners, the one thing this street wasn''tcking was people and entertainment.


    The first thing that caught my eye is the illuminated signs. The pubs would have neon signs with drinks, but these weren''t the fluorescent kind that was hard on the eyes. These lights were just as eye-catching, but not nearly as bright.


    The street stalls would have smaller signs with their name and menu written in glow in the dark ink.


    This just went to show how a lot of the activities urred after the sun had already set.


    I do wonder how this market would look like in the morning.


    There were silks and mats disyed at the first stall I stopped at. Thedy who was behind the stall was talking to the owner of the stall to her right.


    I could see that everyone else was talking to each other with familiarity, both the shop owners and the customers.


    Though there did seem to be some people who were not as familiar with the market, they were all following people who were.


    It was hard to tell if this market was targeted at foreigners or locals, it just seemed like there was something for everyone.


    I walked straight past the mat store to the skews stall beside it. The scent from the stall was permeating to its surroundings and you could tell it was popr from the number of people standing around. I took a ticket like all the people before I had and waited.


    When it got to me, I just ordered whatever the specialty was.


    Mlaka wasn''t exactly known for any of its food.


    I know, shocker. I didn''t pick the ce with the best food to go to first. But it was quite known for its variety of spices.


    I took a big bite of the meat skewer I had just paid for, and I must say.


    This is what I was reborn for!


    This was the life I wanted to live. If I could just forget about everything else, this would be perfect. Without any of those other worries, without any of the burdens. Just me, my family, and all the wonders of the world.


    How perfect would that be?


    How perfectly unrealistic.


    I ate what I called my dinner as I wandered around the stalls looking for anything interesting.


    Then I chanced upon a stall that was selling books. All the books looked rather old but well kept. I scanned through the books avable when one caught my attention. The title was just two words, "Messenger''s Diary". It was a peculiar title.


    It reminded me of a messenger that would go around listening to secret love affairs as he passed around letters in the royal pce if you know what I mean.


    Then every day, he would write those secrets in a diary. Wouldn''t that be fun?


    Or maybe, a romance novel of some sorts, that would be even better.


    But what really caught my eye was the symbol on the cover of the ''diary''.


    It was apass that had the sun of the Mlakan country as its symbol. The sun was on the national g, but that same sun was being held by the crescent moon. The sun that was a golden yellow on the national g was a dark blue, nearly ck, on thispass.


    Somehow, thispass design looked familiar.


    The chances of this being a coincidence were low, as the design was very unique. The whole thing only had a few strokes, yet the design looked terriblyplex.


    How peculiar.


    I wanted to reach out to open the book to look at the contents when another hand pressed the cover down.


    "Girl. Can you even read this cover? If you can, then you should also be able to read this sign." The shopkeeper gestured at the sign that I had missed.


    The sign was written in both Makin and the International Language, English.


    [THIS SHOP HAS A TOUCH BUY POLICY. IF YOU TOUCH IT, YOU BUY IT!]


    It was no wonder that there was no one in here.


    I look at the shopkeeper who was no longer paying me any attention. She had a tan, caramel brown skin. It looked very well cared for, smothered in skincare products. Even I had to admit, it looked way too smooth. She wore a long ck cape that hid most of her figure, but most of her face could still be seen.


    Her hair was dyed a dark blue, the same shade as her beautiful, ocean blue eyes. I was a wonder why people weren''t swarming here to hit on her.


    But then again, it wasn''t my business. That is what I said to myself, but deep down, I wanted to know all the juicy details.


    Sure, I pretended to be oblivious in front of my brothers, but what other choice did I have?


    It''s not like I had any interest in my ssmates, it wasn''t a bad choice to act like I didn''t know what they meant.


    Plus, I''m sure that neither Big Brother Theo nor Big Brother Nathen truly believed that I knew nothing. It''s just acting that way and believing such things gave us all peace of mind. Even if that was the only reason to keep up the act, it was enough of a reason.


    I had bigger problems to deal with. Let''s not talk about dating someone, if I can''t even hold a conversation.


    But even so, who could live in this world for 15 years and not know a thing or two? The amount of innocence and that kind of sheltered life was neither one I had, nor one I could afford. And frankly, it wasn''t one I wanted either.


    My hand once again reached out for the book, but this time, I stopped myself just before touching it.


    "How much?" I ask the shopkeeper, who I believe to be just about my age.


    Yes, just because she owns a book shop, doesn''t mean she has to be an old granny. She was a very hot woman. Well, teenager. But when you''re around that age, it''s hard to define you.


    Should I use girl, woman, miss, ordy?


    The choices.


    "The book is in Makin, will you be able to read it?" I had used the same English that she used to speak to me, so it was only normal for her to doubt my ability to read thenguage. Plus, she didn''t exactly use a very condescending or belittling voice, just one that pretty much said ''don''t waste my time''. But in more of an annoyed tone rather than a, ''you''re not worth my time'' voice.


    "Yes," I say in Makin.


    The young miss just nods her head.


    I feel as if someone was grabbing my heart when I try to open up to her just a little more. I feel my brows tighten due to the pain, but I don''t want to show it in any other way.


    Maybe it does have something to do with the age of the other person, but it seems like ethnicity doesn''t matter too much.


    I automatically opt for my poker face in this scenario so that I don''t make the situation any worse.


    "I''ll tell you the price if you buy it."


    Me: "¡­"


    Just¡­


    ''Are you even trying to sell these books??''


    "Okay." I wasn''t even buying the book because it seemed interesting anymore. I just wanted to know what kind of prices she sold at.


    She handed me the book without batting another eye. "All yours."


    "How much." I felt like I was ying a cat and mouse game just to find out the price of this stupid book.


    "Just take it. On the house."


    ?


    I''m sorry what? I think I might be going deaf. Surely, I didn''t hear that right. After all that, and you were going to give it out for free? Is this even a business?


    "You''re my first customer so I should be giving you a discount. There. 100% discount. But don''t expect the same thing next time." She waved her hand as if signaling to me that I could go now.


    Well. I''m not even too shocked that I''m her first customer. Even though in my head, all I could think about was how¡­ unique, this miss was.


    Even the poker face that I had trained years for couldn''t prevent my lips from twitching.

 Chapter 31 - Were All Here For You! Hehe...

    After getting back to the hotel, I didn''t forget to message the family group chat.


    The time zones didn''t line up very well, which was good in this situation. It waste at night in Mlaka and early in the morning in Polo as well as Basilian. ??


    I didn''t bother messaging them earlier, since they would have been resting, but now I don''t know if that was the right choice or not anymore.


    Me: [I got to Mlakan. Went to the national museum andter the street market. Just got back to the hotel safely!!]


    Big Brother Theo: [Why didn''t you contact us earlier? Do you know how worried we would be?]


    That was bs, I let Theo monitor my situation. If he wanted to know of my safety, it was as easy as a tap on his phone.


    He was obviously digging me a hole.


    Just what did he do this time?


    Me: [Isn''t that because I didn''t want to bother your sleep?]


    Big Brother Theo: [Still!]


    He definitely did something.


    Mom <3: [Your brother is right this time.]


    Now they''re grouping up to attack me¡­


    Dad <3: [But don''t think that we''ll forget about you, mister! I can''t believe you didn''t tell us that you liked men. We even had to find out through the school forum!]


    Good one dad!


    I would have been left in the dark if you didn''te in for the save.


    Me: [ Gasp! Big Brother Theo. I didn''t know you were this kind of person. I''ve miss judged you £¨>©n<£©. Why don''t you trust us a little more? You should know that we support you no matter what!]


    Big Brother Theo: [I told you it was a misunderstanding! And the forum post was already taken down. I got my first kiss stolen. Shouldn''t you beforting me rather than attacking me all together?]


    Karma.


    The second you turn around.


    It stabs you in the back.


    Mom <3: [Who''s that guy in the picture? Shouldn''t we know that much? It seems like you want to wait for us to find out through other people again.]


    Big Brother Theo: [His identity won''t matter for long! And I already told you, the day I''m gay is the day that¡­ well whatever that is never going to happen.]


    Big Brother Theo was definitely going to do something to that other guy¡­


    I wonder what happened.


    Big Brother Theo: [Even Big Brother Nathen is more likely to be gay than me! And he''s the straightest man on Earth!]


    Big Brother Nathen: [Why was I dragged into this?]


    Me: [Oh Big Brother Nathen! You''re here. You didn''t miss too much. Let me do a small recap for you. Big Brother Theo was just about toe out of the closet when he got nervous.]


    Big Brother Nathen: [Oh I see. So that''s why you had to use my name. That''s okay then. But don''t do it again. Let me tell you that I am a very sexually flexible person, so you might not want topare yourself to me.]


    Big Brother Theo: [WTH. They''re obviously working together to attack me!]


    Big Brother Theo: [Mom! Dad!]


    Dad <3: [Kiddo, we would love to help you, but you forgot something.]


    Dad <3: [We''re still against you too! ?( ??? )?]


    When your parents use text emojis.


    Too cute.


    Mom <3: [Yup, we''re all ganging up against you together! ¦Å?(?> ? <)?§Ù]


    Big Brother Theo: [Can I just disown myself already? (?©n?)]


    Me: [Why would you say that? You''ll make our hearts ache if you say such harsh things. £¨>©n<£©]


    Big Brother Nathen: [How can you stand to make Emi so sad?]


    Big Brother Nathen: [We were just trying to help you ept a part of yourself. You should know that your sexual preferences don''t matter to us, we will ept you no matter who you like. You are still you.]


    Mom <3: [Your siblings are right; we will love you no matter what. How could you even talk about leaving us? ?o(¨i©n¨i)o?]


    Big Brother Theo: [You''re all too two-faced¡­ *Coughs out blood*]


    Me: [Big Brother Theo, you have to take better care of yourself. I know that social pressure on same-sex couples is high, but the times are changing! You shouldn''t have to worry yourself so much that you''re coughing up blood!]


    Me: [We''re all here for you if you want to talk about it. <3]


    Dad <3: [Yes, we''ll always be on your side. <3<3]


    Big Brother Theo: [I''ll be going before I cough up more blood.]


    Me: [Yes, you should go to the hospital to do a check-up. Rest well.]


    Big Brother Theo: [¡­]


    Mom <3: [Take good care of yourself!]


    Me: [I also have to get going to sleep]


    Big Brother Nathen: [Sleep early, I''m going to get going to my morning ss.]


    Dad <3: [(^ _ ^)/]


    After leaving the family group chat, I made sure to check up on Theo.


    Me: [You okay? What happened? Will you be able to take care of it yourself or do you want me to step in?]


    Big Brother Theo: [Nah, I''ll be able to handle it]


    Big Brother Theo: [It was just an ident, I hope. If not. Then he should better start praying for himself. It''s no big deal, but it was in a public setting. It''s probably going to be forgotten within the month or so.]


    Me: [Be careful, it mighte back up when you least want it to. That''s normally how rumors and gossip work.]


    Me: [Depending on what kind of person you want to portray yourself as in the entertainment industry, you may or may not need to be careful about such things.]


    Me: [I don''t rmend you trying to make a whole new persona like Big Brother Nathen. It takes a lot of work and self-control.]


    Big Brother Theo: [Are you saying I have a short fuse?? Haha. You''re right though. I don''t think I could do it.]


    Me: [It''s not that you can''t do it. It''s just that while Big Brother Nathen''s persona won''t be constantly challenged due to his image, yours will. There will be people constantly provoking you and just waiting for you to make a mistake so that they can sign your execution in the industry.]


    Big Brother Theo: [I guess it is a battlefield after all.]


    Me: [A psychological battlefield that takes and changes real lives.]


    Big Brother Theo: [I''ll be careful.]

 Chapter 32 - Thank You. (Part I)

    WARNING: This chapter hints at human experimentation, death, etc. If you are notfortable with such topics, please skip to the next chapter!!


    * ??


    *


    *


    *


    *


    *


    [The sess ratio so far has been just under 2 percent.]


    [Yes, it''s quite good, better than I had expected, and it will only get higher from now on.]


    [Let''s continue until we have at least 100 sessful subjects.]


    [The youngest ones from the streets are perfect. They have the strongest tainted mentality. If we only use them, we might even raise the sess rate. After the first testing phase, we should be able to get at least 1000 sessful subjects to proceed to phase two.]


    [Plus, no one will notice even if they disappear. The higher-ups should agree.]


    [AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!]


    [Sessful subject number 4 seems to have woken up.]


    [Use the level 3 tranquilizer, if that doesn''t work just inject another dose.]


    [Got it!]


    [UHHH]


    [uhh]


    [¡­]


    ***


    Emilin POV:


    WHAT WAS THAT!


    I could feel the cold sweat soaking up my clothes along with the hotel sheets. My anxiety made me want to sit up from my position, but no matter how much I wanted to il, I couldn''t move an inch.


    It was sleep paralysis.


    Was this what happened in my previous nightmares?


    I was there.


    This was too realistic for it to have been conjured up from my imagination.


    The sentences were too specific, but more importantly, the voices sounded so familiar


    What exactly was happening?


    They seemed to be two men talking about subjects.


    Test subjects?


    Was I being tested on?


    Was it possible that I was experimented on in my past life?


    But I don''t recall having any scars or injuries on my body. Except for being incredibly frail. Plus, wouldn''t these scientists want their subjects to be in their best physical condition possible?


    Even if that wasn''t the case, I was one of the sessful subjects, right? They should want to keep me alive.


    If I was a failed one, I would have died no?


    And there were more people?


    If they actually got 100 sessful subjects even though the sess rate was less than 2 percent¡­ 4900 deaths would be a conservative estimate!


    That''s not even going into that phase two they spoke of.


    Yet somehow, I had a gut feeling that the ones who survived were the unlucky ones.


    I stared into the nk ceiling as I tried to calm myself down so that I could think rationally. Hours seemed to pass like seconds and the next thing I knew it was already morning. I could tell through the digital clock on my bedside.


    It was already 8 AM and my sleep paralysis had still not gone away. I could move my head, but the rest of my body wasn''t listening to mymands.


    Today had just set a new record for bad days.


    ***


    It had started raining just a few hours ago, even though there were no signs of rain clouds justst night. It also didn''t seem like it was going to stop anytime soon.


    Emilin looked at the depressing view as she bathed in her depressing thoughts. It was just too much mental pressure for her to handle, especially when it came in like a wrecking ball.


    Completely unexpected.


    She got a glimpse of the reason for her PTSD, yet it seemed to be the least of her worries. There were just too many.


    Too many things she had to think about.


    Too many things that gued her mind.


    Too many things left unanswered.


    And too many doubts, that were most likely better off unsolved.


    She couldn''t handle it. She was like a can of soda that was continuously shaken without her own knowledge, and then suddenly, she burst from all directions and she didn''t know which hole she wanted to cover first.


    As she covered one hole, she would be constantly thinking about the damage done by the other holes that she failed to cover.


    Inmon terms.


    She was having a mental breakdown.


    Her stomach that had started grumbling was also ignored. Its sounds were overshadowed by the pattering of the rain.


    Emilin didn''t know when it happened, but she regained her mobility.


    Even though she didn''t really want to move, Emilin slowly sat up, still staring at the view beyond her bedroom window, before moving on to the shower.


    The bright looking hotel room from yesterday, couldn''t feel more mncholic.


    She came back out in her bathrobes and sat back on the sweat-soaked sheets. With each second that passed, Emilin felt as if another piece of her was taken away.


    Or maybe a lost piece was ced back. Her mind would shback to the memories she had regained. To what they meant, to what they implied.


    The pain that she felt.


    And the pain that she had yet to understand.


    It seemed to be too much of a coincidence that she was to finally start to regain her memories after so many years.


    Maybe it was her location? But there didn''t seem to be anything special here that would induce such a reaction. Recalling her memories had to be something that her own brain wanted subconsciously.


    Emilin was traveling to find her happiness, not relive her past.


    Maybe this was her brain''s way of telling her that she had to face the past before she could move on.


    Or maybe it was the world telling her that she didn''t deserve to be happy after all.


    Then, the realization came.


    This was also the first time she was alone in this world.


    ***


    This is part I, part II will also being out today.


    I would just like to take this time to say that the painful things you experience in life, are the ones that make you stronger.


    Sometimes you will go through a tough phase, that will make you think you are better off dead, but that''s not true.


    In the end, there are just too many things in life worth living for.


    Be it the people, the ces, the food. Don''t ever give up, even if you are in a slump.


    I know that a lot of what you will read in this novel, as well as many others, will be very unrealistic and romanticized.


    But this is also a method of coping, and that''s okay.


    If you ever meet someone who needs help...


    Sometimes, what people need is not words offort, just a shoulder to cry on.


    Sometimes, they also need to know that it''s okay to look for help.


    And other times. They just need to know that there is someone in the world that cares.


    Your words and actions have bigger impacts on others than you could ever imagine, so use them carefully!

 Chapter 33 - Thank You. (Part II)

    Then, the realization came.


    This was also the first time she was alone in this world. ??


    Of course, she could always message her family or call them, but she was still in a foreign country with no familiar rtions or close acquaintances.


    The best way to solve this would of course be to go back to Polo Country, but Emilin also realized that this was something that she had to ovee at some point in her life.


    Or else, she would never be able to find peace with herself.


    The self that was hidden in the corner of her mind, crying for help.


    The one that she didn''t know existed until it was already toote.


    Many times, people would act okay. So much so that they themselves think they are okay.


    Yet that is also the reason why mental breakdownse at the most unexpected times.


    This was exactly the case for Emilin.


    Emilin, who was once sitting on her bed, somehow moved to the edge, and then the ground.


    She sat on the cold floor and dragged some of her sheets with her. But she herself didn''t notice anything. She moved closer and closer to the ceiling to floor window and closer to the rain that was pouring from the outside.


    Her eyes followed the scenery.


    Her dim pupils stared out in a daze and tears started to flow down her cheek, but Emilin didn''t bother to wipe it.


    In the end, it dropped on to her chest without her knowledge. She would most likely never find out that she had shed a tear that day.


    The rain flooded her mind with chaotic thoughts, but her face remained as solemn as ever. Her mind was clouded with thoughts that she knew were no good for her.


    But her thoughts raced, and she could do nothing about it.


    An unknown amount of time passed. It could have been hours or minutes, but the sky finally cleared.


    The grey clouds were reced by a bright blue sky and the rain that had been falling as if there was no tomorrow, created beautifully clear puddles on the floor below.


    Everything was so sudden.


    The storm that hade out of seemingly nowhere, left with no warning.


    Emilin''s eyes reflected those changes and as she looked up, she saw the most stunning double rainbow.


    Her eyes widened with realization.


    The rain that had been in her mind for hours was now nowhere to be found.


    After seeing such a view, she could no longer recall how the dark clouds looked anymore. It was the same sky, yet the two scenes looked so distinctly different.


    In the end, there will be more clear days than rainy ones. And rainy days are the reason why we are thankful for sunny ones.


    Her second chance at life was also her second chance at seeing everything beautiful. Even if her past was there, it would only make her present more stunningly precious.


    Emilin''s hazel eyes cleared up and she rushed to look for her phone to take a picture of this double rainbow, yet it seemed like her phone''s lighting disagreed.


    From her phone''s camera, nothing could be captured. The rainbows were also starting to fade which disappointed Emilin greatly.


    She stared into the sky with longing, watching as the phenomena faded away.


    She looked back at the phone that she held tightly in her hands and sighed. Going back to her family group chat, she felt the need to send a message to her family, who have supported her so far.


    Me: [I love you, all of you. So much, I can''t imagine what I would have done without your support.]


    There was no need to say thank you to family. But Emilin still thought that she couldn''t go without conveying her appreciation.


    She feared that maybe without her family, she might have started to get such nightmares when she first reached this world, and if that were the case, she was sure she wouldn''t have survived that long.


    Back then, she had just lived a life with nothing. If she were to suddenly be hit with such a mental blow, she might have believed that there was only so much to live.


    She wouldn''t have been able to meet her most precious people.


    Her Big Brother Theo, who was always working hard to improve himself to be able to protect his family.


    Her Big Brother Nathen, who loved her to no ends.


    Her mother, who was the heater for her heart, her warmth still lingering to this day, to tell her everything would be okay.


    And her father, who always put their family first and foremost, above everything else in the whole wide world.


    Maybe she would have thought that her previous life was in fact better. The one with no emotions.


    Maybe she would have believed that she simply didn''t deserve to feel joy.


    Maybe, she would have decided to end it once in for all.


    But there was no point in thinking about all the possibilities.


    All she had to do was to be thankful and to live her life to the utmost.


    Even if there were lingering fears, she would fight them.


    If her past was going to haunt her, then so be it.


    Emilin was sure that as long as she lived long enough, she would be able to capture every single moment and person worth living for.


    Emilin''s changes from when she first came to this world were apparent.


    Even if she didn''t deserve to feel happiness, she would take it by force. Letting herself do everything as she liked.


    Perhaps that was a good thing, or maybe not.


    It didn''t matter, because she still had her family, who cared for her to no ends.


    The ones who would be sad if she were sad.


    The ones who would morn her if she died.


    The same ones who would be happy when she smiled.


    Nothing could be done about the past. The only two choices were to ept it or to let it haunt you forever.


    Even if it would take a very long time, Emilin had already chosen to ept it, because she didn''t want to trouble herself nor the family who loved and worried for her.


    Emilin''s phone vibrated in her hands.


    Mom <3: [We love you too! <3<3<3]


    Dad <3: [ You can talk to us when you''re ready. We''ll wait for you. If you get tired in your travels, juste back. Mom and Dad miss you already. <3]


    Big Brother Theo: [You okay Baby Sis? Gosh, you''re getting so emotional, I guess the traveling really works. You might be able to make some friends when youe back.]


    Big Brother Nathen: [Don''t listen to him. We also couldn''t possibly imagine how we would be without you. You support us as much as we support you and that''s exactly how it should be. Don''t be burdened by us. We love you too.]


    It was already reallyte in their time zones, but all of them responded instantly when they saw that there was a message.


    They could all tell that the mood of Emilin''s text was a little off, but they also knew to not ask.


    Emilin was clear that she wasn''t ready right now, all they needed to do was support her by the sides. To let her know that they would be there for when she was ready.


    ***


    You might now know it, but there are people who also care for you more than they care for themselves.


    Sometimes, you just have to find them.

 Chapter 34 - Tomorrow

    "How''s the progress on Xander''s assistant?"


    "He''s a dead end too, Master Elijah. Levi Stanley doesn''t seem too ordinary himself. He started following Dr. Xander before he made a big name for himself. Mr. Stanley used to be Dr. Xander''s supervisor and right after the appearance of M, he volunteered himself as Dr. Xander''s assistant." ??


    "That was a very risky move at the time due to theck of information on M. That, and Dr. Xander was only at the young age of 16, with no real achievements. Now, people can only say that the early bird caught the worm."


    "Now Mr. Stanley is the assistant of the youngest department head in the International Medical Association."


    "It can be said that from the people we know of, Mr. Stanley was the closest spectator during the rise of both Dr. Xander and M with the exception of the two people themselves."


    "If it weren''t for the fact that he seems to be most loyal to Dr. Xander, he would have been the perfect target."


    "But the one scary thing is that he seems to have undying trust in Dr. Xander. Mr. Stanley''s already loyally served him as his right-hand man for 9 years."


    "There are also various suspicious points about him."


    "His loyalty being the most suspicious one."


    "What are you insinuating Liam?" Elijah asked.


    "Don''t you find it strange that this man, who was in a rtively high position for his age, was willing to give up his job and be demoted to a mere assistant for a teenager who had no real achievements? At that time, even we wouldn''t be able to tell if M was the real deal or not."


    "Continue."


    "Yes. I suspect that Mr. Stanley may be one of M''s people who he nted next to Xander, to both watch and assist him."


    Elijah pondered for a bit.


    "Tell me the results you have from the tails."


    "Throughout the week he is always following around Dr. Xander, and when he isn''t, he''s running errands. On his one day off, he spent the whole day walking around idly. He went to multipleics and novel''s stores but spent most of his time on his phone. It''s as if he was trying to throw us off. Not that he can''t read novels, but his other actions are rather suspicious." Assistant Liam was already nearing the end of his report, so he was giving his personal opinion on the matter right now.


    "It is suspicious. Perhaps he already knew he was being followed. Or perhaps that is simply his own hobby," Elijah turned his chair around to look outside the window of his office in the secret headquarters.


    The outside was a piece of a vast forest and from afar, you could see the continuation of the mountain range that his secret headquarters was neighboring.


    Most of this structure was underground, but his office was one with an outside view. The whole building was impossible to find as it was embedded within the mountain. The entrance was also hidden within the vast spans of the surrounding trees.


    "Contact Master Giovanni and ask for his help. His apprentices are really helping him lose face." Elijah decisively decided that he was going to use this Grand Master, or else he would be wasting resources.


    "Sloth said that he didn''t seem like he was going toe out of seclusion any time soon."


    Elijah handed Assistant Liam a file that had been ced on his desk.


    "Put the n in motion. He''ll have toe out of seclusion. Or he''ll have no more face left to salvage."


    ***


    Mom <3: [How long are you going to be staying in Mlaka?]


    Me: [Mm¡­ I think I''ll stay for around two more days, but I''m not sure where I''m headed yet.]


    Emilin had been thinking of going to Continent A, where she was born, but that was yet another big city.


    Emilin wasn''t ready for that right now.


    Big Brother Nathen: [You might want to try out the Hemafuji Mountain Range in E Continent. The air over there is really fresh.]


    In the end, Nathen still understood Emilin''s intentions best. He would pick up the hints she dropped.


    Big Brother Nathen: [It''s open to the public, but there aren''t many people going there due to the long track, if you walk for a couple of days, you''ll be able to get some time for yourself.]


    Me: [I might just do that.]


    Mom <3: [So are you going camping?]


    Me: [Yeah, it sounds fun.]


    Big Brother Theo: [Dad, you don''t have to keep typing, we have memorized your speech, I''m sure Emi will be able to take care of herself.]


    Dad <3: [¡­]


    Dad <3: [I was just going to tell her to have fun.]


    Big Brother Theo: [Sure¡­ I believe you dad. I really do.]


    Dad <3 left the chat


    Mom <3: [Your dad is over here pouting. Haha.]


    Big Brother Theo: [¡­]


    Big Brother Theo: [Don''t look at me.]


    Big Brother Nathen: [We weren''t. Really.]


    Mom <3: [?£Þ¨Œ£Þ?]


    Why does Karma always seem to hit Theo the hardest?


    Me: [Okay, okay. We can talkter. Sleep early!]


    Ah¡­ Emilin also needed to give her Big Brother Theo a hand every once in a while. This was an apology forst time.


    Emilin left the chat and nced at the time. It was 6 PM and she hadn''t eaten anything all day. She called for room service to get her sheets swapped and to order some food.


    The cleaningdy who came in was already used to the rooms being a mess. She just assumed that there had been someone else here previously.


    She did her job very efficiently and left.


    Emilin took this time to write some ideas down in her journal as she ate. She scarfed the food down like someone who hadn''t eaten all day, which is exactly what she was.


    She stood up to look back outside. The clear sky was already getting dark and the streetlights made their presence know.


    Chin up.


    Shoulders back.


    Tomorrow will be a new day.

 Chapter 35 - Misunderstanding?

    "Hey! Hey! Be careful."


    "He''s a cameraman, he could snap at any moment." The salesperson wasughing at his own joke like it was the funniest thing he had ever heard.??


    ''I just¡­ do I pretend tough?''


    ''Would that be too pretentious?''


    ''Poker face seemed to be the way to go.''


    Emilin was at a loss with how to deal with such a person and so, she just stood there and stared at him.


    "Sorry, he''s just like that. I''m Mason. Is there something I can help you with Miss?" The cameraman whom the salesperson was talking about came in for the rescue.


    "A camera."


    ''Ice queen?'' Mason had to admit that this customer was very beautiful.


    Easilyparable to many of the celebrities he had worked with. It was a shame that she wasn''t here for a photo shoot. She would have been a great addition to his work portfolio.


    "I see. I assume you are new to photography. Do you want to do it professionally or just for fun?"


    Emilin pondered a bit before responding.


    "Professionally."


    "Over here are the cameras you should be looking for. On the right side are the more portable purchases. The left side has heavier essories depending on your needs."


    Emilin nodded at the clear disys.


    "Get me what you think to be most suitable for photography during travels."


    He seemed much more knowledgeable than herself when it came to these things.


    Mason nodded and led Emilin to the disy cases.


    "Since it looks like you don''t have anything yet, you''ll first need a suitable camera, lenses, and other essories. As for traveling, if you want a stand here are the lightest series, you''ll barely feel their weight."


    Mason continued to exin all the parts and their functions once he noticed that Emilin was not very familiar with them.


    He acted much more like a salesman than the actual salesman.


    The person who had been ignored could only stare as his eye twitched. ''Why does he seem more professional than me? This is my store, right?''


    "Thank you."


    Emilin could tell that Mason knew what he was doing, and he seemed trustworthy enough. He wouldn''t pick the most expensive products, but rather the ones that he believed worked best for her. Even though it was clear that Emilin didn''t care too much for the price.


    "Your wee, you can check out with Logan." Mason pointed at the salesperson whose eyes were a little hazy.


    When he heard his name, Logan snapped out of his daze.


    "Mason! Why don''t you just agree toe work with me? You''re obviously better at handling these customers." Logan made a beeline for Mason.


    "Yeah, I can tell. You realize that you just ignored your customer, right? And don''t even think about trying to bring me into this little molehill. You can''t afford me." Mason took a step to the side, dodging the iing Logan.


    Logan seemed to have expected this as he stopped right before bumping into the showcase that Mason had been leaning on.


    "One second. I''ll get back to you Mason, I have a customer right now."


    You really couldn''t tell where his cocky tone came from.


    Mason apparently didn''t work here, but he knew the ce well enough. Emilin almost felt bad for him when she saw how determined Logan was.


    Logan quickly scanned everything which Emilin had to pay for with her card. She didn''t have enough cash to spare in the local currency.


    "Here. This is my business card. You can call me if you want to do a photoshoot sometime."


    This got Emilin confused. She looked at the tinum-colored card with text written in ck print.


    The information was simple enough.


    [Nosa]


    His pseudonym?


    Emilin thought it was strange at first since she was clearly a newbie, but since this pie fell from the sky, it would be a shame not to take it.


    She thought that he was inviting her to see how a professional photoshoot worked.


    "You can call me anytime, my schedule is normally filled so you''ll have to call me in advance, but it would be great if we could work together sometime. I work around the globe, so location won''t be a problem either. We might even be able to get you to work with some of the more famous international models."


    Emilin nodded.


    "Sure."


    Mason was a little startled by how calmly this girl was acting, but his eyes still shone when he heard that she had agreed.


    He was very passionate about his work and so he was happy to work with Emilin¡­


    "That''s great!"


    He had thought that his name would be pretty well known among photographers and since this girl wanted to be a photographer, he thought she would know him, but that didn''t seem to be the case.


    Emilin took a piece of her notebook paper and ripped it off to write her own name and contact number which Mason promptly took.


    They bade each other goodbye with satisfied hearts not knowing that this simple exchange would end up creating great waves in the future.


    After Emilin left Logan was finally able to ask the question that he had kept in his heart.


    "Howe you''re offering to work with a newbie? She obviously doesn''t have any experience in photography yet."


    Mason tilted his head in evident confusion.


    "What do you mean? Couldn''t you tell? She''ll make the perfect model!" Mason''s expression was that of a child in a candy store.


    His hand which grabbed onto his camera was itching a little as it had been a few moments ago as well.


    Logan was at a loss.


    "Are you sure that that girl agreed to be your model? She''s clearly not into modeling! If she were, she would already be world-renowned. It would be impossible for you to not know her."


    Mason''s eyes widened. He was bbergasted.


    ''Since when did this guy actually make sense¡­''


    ''Then¡­ was this a misunderstanding?''

 Chapter 36 - Confrontation Part I

    Maria had two days to think over her options. In the end, she realized, the more she dragged it, the more she and Rose would suffer in the future.


    Me: [Can you help me? Could you tell me the next time my husband goes to meet the slut?] ??


    Maria didn''t have to wait too long for a response, but it wasn''t as immediate as the first time.


    TWO: [Hmm. Sure. What are you going to do with this information?]


    Me: [Confront him and ask for a divorce.]


    TWO: [I see you have made up your mind. But I should remind you, thedy is a psychopath.]


    Me: [¡­]


    Me: [Real psychopath or Gen Z psychopath?]


    TWO: [Haha.]


    TWO: [She was clinically diagnosed.]


    Me: [¡­]


    TWO: [It was in the report you know?]


    Me: [Sorry, my mistake, I seemed to have been too absorbed in the fact that my husband was cheating on me. I know, I should have had my priorities set straight.]


    TWO: [Deprecating sarcasm.]


    TWO: [Are you sure you''re not a Gen Z too?]


    Me: [Never ask a woman for her age.]


    TWO: [Noted.]


    TWO: [They''re meeting at XXXXXX Motel at 9 PM tonight.]


    Me: [Thank you.]


    Maria didn''t know if she should feel depressed that her husband was going to be meeting up with a mistress in just a few hours or if she should be d that she could proceed with her ns.


    She wanted to cry but no tears were shed. Perhaps she had exhausted them all in her sleep.


    Hours passed as seconds for Maria as the awaited time arrived.


    Me: [Are youing back for dinner tonight?]


    Husband: [No. I have apany meeting tonight, I won''t be home tillte. Tuck Rosy in early. Don''t wait for me.]


    Me: [Okay.]


    At least Maria agreed with her soon to be ex-husband in something. She should stop waiting for him. He had obviously long stopped waiting for her.


    This husband of hers obviously didn''t see her as much. They were going to a motel just minutes away from their home. Just the notion made Maria sick.


    "Rosy, mommy has to go out to take care of something really quick okay? Can you sleep early?" Maria didn''t want Rose to see the confrontation that was going to happen in the hotel.


    Rose hesitated for a bit before agreeing.


    Maria watched as her daughter turned around to tuck herself to bed. What she didn''t see was the teary ze that covered Rose''s eyes.


    Maria locked the door before heading off in the direction of the hotel.


    From the shadows of the dimly lit house, another figure appeared. Rose, who had heard the shutting of the door pulled a short chair over holding the spare key.


    The streetlights illuminated her path as she followed her mother''s moving figure and Maria, who had yet to find out that her daughter had followed her, only had one thing in her mind.


    To catch those two fuckers in the act and get a divorce with full custody of her daughter.


    ***


    Rose made sure to keep a safe distance away from her mommy as she followed her so that she wouldn''t be caught.


    She learned this the hard way while ying ultimate cops and robbers with her friends at the yground.


    She wasn''t very inconspicuous, but Maria didn''t notice.


    Rose followed all the way to the crappy motel and her whole face scrunched up when she got there.


    ''Why is mommying to this stinky ce to sleep when she can sleep with not stinky Rose! Humph!''


    She was about to go confront her mommy about this when she saw that her daddy was there too.


    ''I knew it! They''re going out to have fun without Rose (?©n?).''


    ''But who''s that other woman? Mommy''s friend? Why is he so close to daddy?''


    Rose was even more confused as to why her mommy wasn''t greeting her daddy. She was just like her, watching behind a pir. It was truly a strange sight for strangers. Well, there weren''t many people here, to begin with though.


    The person at the front desk, who hadn''t been doing much all day thought about asking that little girl what she was doing, but then he realized¡­ he didn''t really care.


    Rose moved to the pir that her mommy had been hiding behind when she saw that her mommy had moved. She didn''t get why her daddy had gone inside the room with the otherdy without mommy, but she didn''t think too much into it when she saw her mommy knock on the door.


    Loud muffled sounds and shuffling noises were heard before the door was opened by an annoyed man.


    Rose''s daddy.


    His eyes widened and his face visibly paled when he saw who was behind the door waiting for him. He stood there for a good while like an idiot.


    Rose had the urge to rush to her father but was scared of the consequences of being caught sneaking out.


    From her position, she could barely hear what was said at first, but the conversation slowly got louder and louder, so it was no trouble for her to hear theter parts.


    Rose could tell that the situation wasn''t good. She was incredibly scared when she saw her mommy''s scary face. She had never seen her angry like this before.


    *Bam*


    Rose''s eyes widened when she saw her father falling to his knees. Her whole expression froze.


    "Don''t do this¡­ Please¡­ for our daughter. Think of how sad Rosy would be!" Rose couldn''t understand what he meant, but she recognized that they were talking about her.


    ''Are mom and dad getting into a fight because of me?''


    "Why didn''t you think of our daughter when you decided to betray our marriage." Maria''s expression was scarily cold. She had already shed her emotional side in the past two days and even if there was something felt, she would still put it aside to get the job done.


    Now was the time to stay strong for her daughter as well as herself.


    The door of their room was wide open, and Maria couldn''t help but move her gaze inside. There stood a woman in herte 20s.


    Her expression looked incrediblyplicated. Both her eyebrows and fists tightened in frustration and her lips formed a straight line.


    She didn''t know if she was going to be happy that the couple was having a fallout or if she was going to blow the top because the man that she was going to spend the night with was now kneeling at another woman''s feet.


    Well, she didn''t have to think for very long because before she knew it, she was already walking towards Maria.


    "Yeah, so what are you going to do about it. We''ve already been sleeping together for so long and you''ve only figured it out now?" Her chin lifted in obvious disdain.


    *Pah*


    Maria wasn''t going to take any crap from this slut.


    She pped her right across the face leaving a scorching red palm print.


    "You must be really proud of yourself."


    ***


    1 hour ago.


    Emilin who had gotten back to her hotel wasying on her bed resting her eyes.


    *Ring*


    Big Brother Theo: [Remember Maria, that woman that you gave my contact to?]


    Rose''s little figure shed in Emilin''s mind.


    Me: [Yeah.]


    Me: [Has she made a choice yet?]


    Big Brother Theo: [Today. She left for a head-to-head confrontation.]


    Me: [Hm¡­ Should I go to check it out?]


    Big Brother Theo: [If you want to. I''m worried about her safety. The person she is facing is a real doozy.]


    Me: [Send me the address.]


    Big Brother Theo: [XXXXXX Motel, they should be getting there at 9 PM.]


    Me: [Thanks. You should really be sleeping you know?]


    Big Brother Theo: [Well I''m worried something will happen today; I''ll sleep more when everything is solved. I have no morning sses tomorrow.]


    Emilin thought that it would be enough to just give the mother-daughter pair a helping hand, but it seems that she became more attached than she was willing to admit.


    When Emilin thought about the possibility of Rose getting hurt when she could have done something to prevent it, Emilin felt a tinge of guilt in her heart.


    Emilin''s eye''s narrowed when she realized her own thoughts.


    It was already strange to be so concerned about a stranger, acquaintance at most, but now she was even feeling guilty about something that had yet to happen and might not ever happen.


    She thought back to those clear blue eyes.


    Filled with untainted purity.


    Rose''s azure eyes seemed to be something that Emilin subconsciously wanted to protect and now that she realized it, she felt a sense of familiarity from them.


    This was something that she had to further study at ater date.

 Chapter 37 - Confrontation Part II

    "How dare you p me!" Thedy raised her hand about to p Maria back.


    *Pah* ??


    The hitnded on the man that had been kneeling in between the two.


    "Sasha! What are you doing?! Stop!"


    Sasha''s eye''s widened. "You''re the one that alwayses begging me to spend some time with you. You said you love me! Why are you taking her side now?"


    Her eye''s reddened with a madness that could not be feigned.


    "What do you mean. You''re the one that had been threatening me this whole time. You said that you would expose me to my wife and daughter if I didn''te. I just wanted to protect my family."


    He wanted to salvage any good feelings that his wife might still have for him.


    In other words, he was delusional and desperate.


    A scarybination.


    Sasha scoffed.


    "What a joke."


    "Maria! You can look at my messages. I still have them here!" Marcus, Maria''s husband, raced to the bedside table where he left his phone.


    He scrolled through the messages before reaching the one in which Sasha had threatened him.


    "See! It''s all because of her. I wouldn''t have done it if she had not threatened me!"


    Maria briefly nced at the messages before looking back at Marcus. She couldn''t believe that he was serious.


    For once she agreed with this Sasha.


    How absurd.


    He was saying that he was threatened, but couldn''t he even take a good look at what he was being threatened with¡­


    Now she wasn''t sure who was really the crazy one.


    She just settled with the both of them.


    "Marcus, you can give it up. I will never forgive you for taking away Rose''s family. You realized that she could only threaten you because you were the one to cheat on me first, right? You also seemed to be more than happy with this arrangement."


    "NO!"


    "Maria, I''m telling you, it wasn''t my fault. It was her! She seduced me first."


    "And you seduced her second. Potato, patato."


    "I just want a peaceful divorce, and don''t you dare drag Rosy in this, or I will forgo anyst considerations I have for you as her father." Maria was reaching the ends of her patience. She was incredibly upset with herself.


    How did she not notice this before?


    Is this what people meant by ''love makes you blind''?


    All those signs, ignored, just to preserve something as rotten as this.


    "Who do you think you are?" Sasha who had been ignored until then shouted the most clich¨¦ line in the book.


    "Whatever. I''m out of here."


    Sasha''s stomped out of the room, but it was already surprising enough that she hadn''t made more of a fuss considering how humiliated she felt.


    She left with a head of messy hair and a red palm print on her face. If one didn''t know of the circumstances that had led her to be in such a state, surely there would be men lining up to console her.


    She was still fuming as she walked down the hall and so she didn''t notice the small figure that was still hiding behind the pir and thank god she didn''t, or this might have turned into another clich¨¦ kidnapping arc.


    Then Sasha would really be the most clich¨¦ character out there.


    Rose''s back slid down the pir that she had been leaning on her butt hitting the cold ground.


    Even if she didn''t really understand what was going on, as a child, she had sharp instincts, and they told her that it was nothing good. Sometimes, it is much harder to hide things from children. They are more perceptive than you believe them to be.


    She hadn''t heard of words like seduced, but she had been introduced to the meaning of the word divorce before. One of her ssmates had mentioned this word in the midst of sobs and her desk mateter told Rose the meaning of a divorce.


    ''Is mommy leaving daddy?''


    "Why are you sitting here on the floor?"


    Rose looked up to see a familiar figure. A youngdy with raven ck hair tied in a ponytail. Her bright hazel eye''s looked at Rose with some concern as she extended her hand to help Rose up.


    The foreigndy that Rosy had met in the museum, Emilin.


    "Howe you''re here." Rose''s voice was a little hoarse.


    "I could ask you the same thing. It doesn''t look like your mommy knows you''re here." Emilin pointed out. She couldn''t help but worry about the situation at hand.


    Even if it was summer here, Rosy could still get a cold from sitting on the cold floor for an extended period of time, especially when her brain was most likely working overtime.


    Emilin could tell that Rose was most definitely not in the right state of mind at the moment.


    Any more words of concern from Emilin were interrupted by someone much louder.


    "YOU CAN''T DO THIS!"


    "Please, I won''t ever cheat on you again. I promise!"


    Marcus was getting desperate. He seemed to have sped through the stages of grief. Denial had be anger and then bargaining in a matter of seconds.


    "Just sign the papers." Maria hade prepared. She took out the divorce papers as soon as she saw Sasha leaving.


    "Why are you doing this. What did I do to disserve this!"


    Maria took out her phone. The evidence spoke for itself.


    Marcus'' eyes widened in realization, terror, and shock, all at the same time. He knew that there was no getting out of it anymore. It was checkmate.


    His hands were numb as he took the pen handed to him and signed his own divorce papers.


    He hadn''t done anything that would warrant sole custody so they would still have joint custody after divorce.


    "Well, this ended much better than I had imagined, but you two seem to have forgotten something. Or better yet, someone." A sharp and powerful voice came from behind Maria, even Marcus hadn''t noticed that there was someone else present.


    "Who are you?" Marcus shouted. His agitated heart could not be calmed in such a short amount of time after everything that had happened that night.


    Emilin gave him a nce and then proceeded to ignore his presence.


    Emilin took a step to the side exposing little Rose who had been hiding behind her.


    Maria''s eyebrows shot up when she saw her daughter whom she had left at home with the foreigndy that she had met previously.


    "You should be in bed!"

 Chapter 38 - Theodore Pt I: (5 AM)

    Kayden tried sleeping but had long given up and opted for lying on his bed counting sheep.


    "You''re really embracing the college spirit of sleepingte, but even this is a little much don''t you think?" ??


    Theo sighed, he didn''t want to inconvenience his roommate, but he had no choice in the matter anymore.


    "You sleep first, I''ll knock off in a bit."


    "That''s what you said 2 hours ago. I can''t sleep because of the light from themp." Any source of light would prevent Kayden from falling asleep.


    "Do you want me to go outside?" Theo had also thought about working in the lobby, but he didn''t want to be caught thiste. He would just have to work with the lighting of hisputer.


    "Nah, it''s fine. I was just wondering what you were working on, it''s not like I have any sses tomorrow morning anyway, I''ll just sleep in."


    Kayden didn''t care too much about pulling an all-nighter, it wasn''t the first time sinceing here. Plus, he could just make up for itter.


    "Just don''t oversleep. I''m working on some family matters."


    "Family matters at 5 AM?" Kayden''s eyes widened as he stopped counting sheep.


    "Different time zones."


    A soft ah sound came from Kayden who sat up to see if he could sneak a nce at Theodore''s screen.


    He couldn''t.


    "I see, but what matters can keep your attention for this long? You don''t seem like you''re unwilling either. Don''t parent normally want their children to sleep early?"


    He didn''t really understand what family matters could be so interesting. Theodore didn''t seem to be the type of person who would skimp on sleep. Then again, they didn''t know each other very well yet.


    "Ha. My cute little sister is asking for help. How could I keep her waiting?"


    ''So, he''s a sis-con¡­''


    {Author''s note: In this context, sis-con is short for sisterplex as in they are obsessed with their sister, but not necessarily in a romantic or sexual way, just that they show an excessive amount of care for them.}


    Kayden added this to the things he now knew about his roommate.


    "How old is she?"


    "She''s three years younger."


    Pfttt¡­


    Kayden had been imagining a 5-year-old? Well, 15 wasn''t too old either. Well, not that there was a specific age limit, but the way Theo had said ''cute little sister'' earlier made him off by a few years.


    "Oh, sister you say? howe you didn''t mention her earlier when you said you had a brother? Considering your looks, she must be quite a beauty."


    Not that he was considering a minor.


    "Of course," Theo said without skipping a beat.


    "You even rejected that pretty senior without batting an eye, like she was some cabbage on the streets."


    Not too long ago the department belle had confessed to Theo, it was without saying that she was t out rejected.


    "Which senior?"


    Theo really didn''t know who he was talking about. ''Why would I want to date someone I don''t know?''


    "I want to punch you. Did you know? I''m sure many of mypanions share my sentiments."


    It was without exaggeration that there were a number of male and even a few female freshmen who wanted to see what was going on in that handsome little head of his.


    "Whatever, like anyonepared to my little Emi."


    "Oh, Emi? Cute name too. Want to introduce us?" That''s what Kayden said, but what he thought was different. ''Did he have to be so exaggerated? She''s 15 and he''s calling her little. Is she short or something? She shouldn''t be considering Theodore''s height.''


    If he didn''t know better, he would have still thought that Theodore was talking about a 4- or 5-year-old.


    "Fuck off."


    "Damn, I''m hurt. I thought we were friends. Why would you say such cruel words?"


    "We''re not that close."


    This reminded Theo of his previous conversation with his family. With his family, he couldn''t say this, but with this new roommate, there was no space for mercy. The two of them in a room was enough, 3 was a crowd.


    As for Kayden, he was still joking around, but he hadn''t expected such a strong reaction either. He had read about sis-cons but never actually met one.


    "So, what does she need help with?"


    Kayden knew well when to change the topic.


    "Mm¡­ I don''t know what this should be called. Well, there''s just some clean-up work left to do."


    "I''ll hit the sacks within 15 minutes. I''m almost done here."


    Since Theodore didn''t want to say anymore Kayden didn''t probe further into the matter.


    "Kay." He pulled up his sheets to cover his body up to his neck and turned to face the wall.


    On Theo''s side, he was messaging Emilin.


    Me: [Progress report?]


    Baby Sis <3: [Mm¡­ Maria finished coaxing Rose to sleep after getting home.]


    Me: [¡­]


    Me: [I mean about the bastard.]


    Baby Sis <3: [Oh, him?]


    Baby Sis <3: [They spoke about how to break the news to Rose tomorrow and the details about the custody. Maria could aim for full custody, but it''s unlikely. Plus, Rose is still very fond of her father despite everything. Marcus also doesn''t want to give up.]


    ''That sucks.''


    Me: [Then what are the next steps?]


    Baby Sis <3: [I''m not sure if I should get involved. I mean it isn''t exactly my business.]


    The corner of Theo''s lips twitched a little. ''You only figure that after diving this deep into the matters??''


    Me: [Just do whatever you want to do, and I''ll follow suit.]


    Theo didn''t care too much about any of the people involved except for his little sister so his position in the matter almost went without saying.


    Baby Sis <3: [Let''s just stay passive. If they ask for help, provide some. If they don''t, then just leave them be unless it''s something big.]


    Emilinpletely trusted his brother''s judgment in the matter.


    Me: [Mm kay. Then get some rest. Your ne is still for, tomorrow right?]


    Baby Sis <3: [You''re one to speak.]


    ''True.'' Theo sighed.


    Baby Sis <3: [Sleep!]


    Baby Sis <3: [Yeah to Continent E. I have to get some rest.]


    Me: [Night.]


    Baby Sis <3: [Night.]


    Theo shut hisputer and turned off themp after giving Kayden a nce. ''I seemed to really have troubled him this time. I should treat him to something next time.''


    They weren''t incredibly close, but they were still roommates and in the same year.


    "You''re done?" Kayden murmured; his voice dripped from the drowsiness that couldn''t have been found 20 minutes ago.


    "Yeah," Theo slid into his own bed.


    "That was 16 minutes."


    "Shut up."

 Chapter 39 - Theodore Pt II: (Snacks)

    Theo woke up a couple of hourster at 9 AM, he was the type of person that wouldn''t be able to sleep past a certain hour, no matter howte or ''early'' he slept.


    Normally that would be around 6 AM, but considering he slept at five, waking up at six would be simply dreadful.??


    "You up already?" Kayden asked in a sleepy voice.


    "You too? You''re a really light sleeper, aren''t you?" Theo yawned.


    "Ha. I guess you noticed."


    "How are you able to stay so energetic throughout the day?" Theodore had already realized what kind of person Kayden was despite their short interactions.


    "It''s a secret of the trade, but since you''re my roommate, I''ll reluctantly tell you."


    "You have to sleep at every possible moment you can. Whenever you feel like it." "Everything elsees second."


    "Mm¡­" Theo was going to think back to this after taking note of what kind of student Kayden was. If he could pass his course with this mindset, then he would just have to concede to his ways.


    Kayden was majoring inputer sciences and software development, while Theo was minoring in the same course and majoring in performing arts andmunication.


    "I''m going to the convenience store, want anything?" Kayden had slipped into somefortable clothes and was ready to leave with his slippers on.


    "I''lle with you; I need to get familiar with the routes anyways."


    Kayden nodded in acknowledgment and waited for a bit longer as Theo put on some proper shoes.


    ***


    "I didn''t think you were one to eat so much junk food." Kayden watched as Theo''s basket of snacks filled up.


    Theo was very fit and so he really seemed to be the type to care a lot for his figure and his diet, especially as an aspiring actor, but that didn''t seem to be the case.


    Kayden was somewhat concerned about the prospect of his new roommate having an eating disorder.


    "Haha, I didn''t either." Theo thought back to all the trashy snacks he had to eat during his high school days.


    "Well, as you can probably imagine, us siblings had a lot of fans at school. Any of the junk food gifted to Emilin that she didn''t like would end up in my mouth."


    Theodore was very aware of their family''s good genes and efforts to have a somewhat healthy lifestyle.


    He smiled as he thought about Emilin who was sometimes reluctant to keep up those efforts.


    Kayden was left in awe as he looked at Theodore''s face. His smile could be seen to be filled with affection.


    This was the face of potentially every girl''s first love.


    ''If the girls saw him like this, it wouldn''t just be two or three females confessing their undying love. ssmates and seniors alike would most likely start lining up. I think even I would be bent with prolonged exposure.''


    ''This is bad.'' Kayden was stunned, to say the least.


    Thank god Theo didn''t have this kind of expression all the time, it seemed to be reserved for when he was talking to or about his sister.


    "Our ssmates made it a habit to bring new snacks every week." Theo reminisced the good old days now that he couldn''t see his sister on a daily basis anymore.


    Kayden seemed to have caught on to something.


    "''Our ssmates?'' I thought that you said that your sister was three years younger."


    Theo nodded.


    "Yeah, she is. I told you my little sister is the best, she skipped 3 grades to go to ss with me." Theo was too proud to care about how childish he sounded.


    Kayden on the other hand didn''t know if he wanted to praise this little sister of his or gawk at how shameless Theodore sounded.


    He was definitely devoted.


    "Yup, she sure sounds amazing," Kayden concurred somewhat monotonously.


    "Hey, just because she''s amazing doesn''t mean you can think about her." Theodore''s expression turned dark really quick.


    Kayden''s left eye twitched


    ''What the hell man. You''re the one telling me how amazing she is and now this?''


    ''Protective hound much?''


    Kayden didn''t take it too much to heart though. It seemed that this Emi was Theodore''s reverse scale. He should be a little more careful about this subject.


    "So, is she in college this year? Our school or another?" Considering the fact that she had skipped 3 years, she must be pretty smart was what Kayden thought.


    "No, she''s taking a break."


    Theodore didn''t exin further so Kayden didn''t ask.


    "Why are you so curious?" Theodore put his guard up when he thought about their conversation for a bit.


    ''Why was he interested in?''


    Theo didn''t realize that it was mostly himself carrying that conversation about his own little sister with little effort from Kayden.


    He was just too immersed to notice.


    "Protective brother huh. I get it I get it¡­ Don''t worry I won''t even think about her. When''s your next ss by the way?" Kayden did his best to change the topic.


    Even though it wasn''t the smoothest transition, it did its job.


    Anything rted to this little sister of his seemed to be a hiddennd mine.


    Theo thought back to his schedule for the day.


    "First is the improvisation ss."


    "Ah, then it''s most likely just some introductions."


    "How do you know so much about sses you''re not even talking?"


    "I talked to some of the other freshmen and they told me. They probably got it from the seniors. The information should be pretty reliable." Kaydenmented and Theodore nodded subconsciously.


    Kayden broke a few of the stereotypes of theputer and software geeks.


    He was a very chill person and looked very approachable, his personality didn''t disappoint. Though he was on the short and lean side, he was still around 177 cm tall, only seeming short due to the fact that he was walking beside Theodore who was a little more than 10 cm taller than him.


    His face leaned more towards a babyface while his hair was dyed red, which made him seem more like a rebellious teen rather than a studious schr. That is considering that he got into the university ranked second in the world with his grades and academic achievements.


    If you found him on the streets, you might have mistaken him for a high school dropout. Then again, who determines how a top student should look like?


    Though with his habits, looking at his day-to-day life, he also acted somewhat like a college dropout sometimes, as much as he could at least.


    Theodore was going to go to his dorm before heading to ss, but Kayden volunteered to take his bags to the dorm so that he wouldn''t have to worry about beingte to ss.


    Seeing him insist Theodore conceded.


    On his way to the dorm, Kayden met some of the freshmen that he had spoken to previously.


    "Where are you going with so many snacks?" They looked at the bags of snacks that Kayden carried.


    "Oh. They are Theodore''s."


    When he saw that they didn''t know who he was talking about he added.


    "The Freshmen Heart-throb."


    "Ah, him!"


    Theo had gotten such a nickname after his previous affairs.


    But he was a heartthrob for females for different reasons than for males.


    Female''s heart''s throbbed when they saw him and then male''s heart''s throbbed when they saw the way the females looked at him.


    How sad.


    "Where is he now?" They asked.


    "Improv ss," Kayden said.


    "So, a pretty face huh." They started murmuring amongst themselves, even though they were all at a top university, they could still be there for varying reasons and so for someone who didn''t know Theo very well, it was only natural for them to assume that he was there as a pretty face or maybe a celebrity, especially considering his looks and his major.


    Kayden who knew a little more than he let on just chuckled.


    "Talk to you guyster."


    "I''ve got to catch up on some sleep."

 Chapter 40 - Theodore Pt III: (Presence Is Key!)

    On Theo''s side, he had reached his first improv ss. Everyone found a seat and sat down. This wasn''t a normal lecture ssroom, and the seats were arranged to form a circle while a small table was attached to the side of the chair.


    "Good morning everyone, I trust you are all well. It truly doesn''t matter if you are not, I hope you can pretend you are. Aren''t you all here to learn acting? You can start now."??


    "I am your improv teacher so you can call me Professor Thiago. If you can''t remember my name, just go with teacher or professor."


    "Now that I''ve done my introductions, you can start with yours. Seeing as everyone has found a seat, we can start from my right-hand side."


    ''I guess Kayden was right.'' Theo thought.


    Mr. Thiago came off to be a very no-nonsense guy, very straight forward and Theo liked that. Since the introductions were starting from Professor Thiago''s right-hand side, Theo was second.


    The person before him was another freshman male. His looks were above average, nothing outstanding, but people couldn''t help but have a good impression of him.


    He gave off a really clean and refreshing feeling.


    "Hello everyone, I''m Dean McCan, acting is my passion and so I hope to be an actor in the future. I will work hard with everyone so if anyone has any constructive feedback, they would like to give me, feel free."


    His introduction was meant to be short and sweet. Everyone already had a somewhat good impression of him just from his appearance and so they didn''t find his introductionme. It also wasn''t boring or mundane since he was the first.


    His humble tone enforced the impression that he was already giving everyone previously, a friendly guy with a passion.


    Everyone pped softly out of politeness as Dean sat down, smiling at Theodore who was next.


    "I''m Theodore Wei, I guess you can all call me Theodore. I don''t have any experience in acting, but I''m willing to learn, so I''ll have to thank you in advance for your patience."


    Theo didn''t really know what he should say, but he didn''t want to start off on the wrong foot with his future ssmates.


    He decided to keep it as short as possible, the more he said, the more ces he could go wrong. He had learned that one from Emilin.


    Theo ignored the female gazes that hadnded on himself less he''d feel a chill down his spine from the intense stares.


    Another round of apuse was given.


    The introductions continued in such a manner until they reached a tall female. Even seated, you could just tell that she was not short, especially with those long legs.


    Tall for a woman, reaching around Theo''s shoulders if ced side by side so around Kayden''s height.


    The girls seated beside her all seemed excited just to hear her introduction.


    "Hello. I''m Charlotte. Since we''re all going to be ssmates from now on, you can just call me Char. I''m d I''ll be able to go through this learning process along with everyone."


    Charlotte gave a shallow bow with a small smile on her face, dazzling some of the male counterparts.


    The girls around her apuded significantly louder than everyone else in the ss while the other side of the room could only sit thinking to themselves, ''just who is this girl? Is she famous or something?''


    Indeed, she was.


    She had acted as a third female lead in a popr drama recently and so she could be said to be ahead in the industry whenpared to her peers.


    The rest of the introductions were all somewhat simr to the previous ones.


    Theo took note of all of their names without paying much attention to much else, stopping when they made a full circle back to Professor Thiago.


    "Though we don''t have much time left for a full lesson, there is still much for you to learn from today''s ss."


    "Please take note of which people you have the strongest impression of."


    "Why do you think you remember them so clearly. Was it because they introduced themselves first? Last? Was it because of what they said? Because they had something inmon with you or maybe the person before them. Did you know them beforehand? Or maybe it was simply because of their presence."


    "What made those select few people memorable?"


    "I assume you are taking my ss because you want to start a career in acting, or perhaps hone your skills."


    "If that is so, and even if it isn''t, you should take note of all the previously mentioned topics."


    "When you go in for an audition, though you may hope that everything will be based solely on your skills, it is not."


    "Your audition won''t be memorable because the person before or after you was just that much more skilled. If you are after a long line of auditions, the judges will already be tired of hearing the same things over and over again, so if you don''t bring something new to the table, you''ll be forgotten."


    "There will of course also be cases where some of the other actors auditioning for your role are much more famous or even well connected. They are more known than you. Then how can you win?"


    "Your presence is key."


    "During these introductions, you were all judges. You make your first impressions of these ssmates and the auditions will work in the same way. So, if you were to give a job to one of these ssmates, who would it be?"


    "There are people like your ssmate Charlotte here, who some of you seem to already know. You might give her the role because she''s more experienced."


    "Of maybe you give it to Dean over here because he seems friendly and you remember him because he went first."


    "Some of you may give it to Theodore here because he looks like someone who would do a good job."


    "In retrospect, none of you actually know how well they will do at the job you give them, but you have already made an impression of them."


    "That is what the preliminary auditions are for."


    "The order in which you audition, your previous experiences, your aesthetics, what you say, and your mannerisms are all part of your presence."


    "Whoever has a presence best fit for getting the role they are after, wins."


    "Ponder on this lesson and bring your questions in for the next ss."


    Everyone''s eyes followed Professor Thiago as he gave his lecture. He paused after every major point to give his students some time to think about what he was saying and stopped when he knew that they were still processing.


    His presence enraptured the students of his ss. Something as simple as an introduction ss was made into a lesson that would leave a deep impression throughout the lives of these aspiring actors.


    Theo couldn''t help but be amazed at the aura around the teacher.


    It was unlike Emilin''s authoritative aura when she was M and much less like his Big Brother Nathen''s shapeshifting aura, and even unlike the aura that the Professor had at the beginning of ss.


    It was an aura, both mellow and imposing. His words weren''t to be questioned, not because he was forcing them down your throat, but because he had already persuaded you to swallow.


    To swallow the lesson whole.


    When Theo left the ss, he was left pondering on the issue.


    ''When will I be able to cultivate something like that?''


    The professor seemed to be able to use that aura to make people listen, to make them think about what he wanted to convey. To lead.


    And he even seemed to be able to turn it on at will.


    Theo felt that he was much more behind than he had originally thought.


    Before this lesson, he had yet to realize that both his siblings had already been able to wield such a presence. It was something most people wouldn''t be able to notice, but couldn''t help but be influenced by, all the time.


    Something that he seemed to be sorelycking in.


    ''I guess taking this ss was the right choice after all. I wonder if everyone can use their aura like that in this industry or if it''s just him.''


    Professor Thiago was, after all, a professor at this university.


    His background couldn''t be simple.


    Theo was immersed in his thoughts as he left the ssroom.


    He hadn''t looked back and so he didn''t notice that his Professor, was watching all of his new student''s reactions.


    Thiago had a wide grin on his face as he observed these students take on his lesson. Years of experience told him that he had quite a few potential diamonds in the rough in this ss.


    ''Then again, they could end up being simple pebbles on the road, but even those can leave a mark.''


    ''I guess I''ll have to wait and see, there''s still a long year ahead of us.''

 Chapter 41 - Game Pt I: (Doorii)

    "You''re back?" Kayden sat on his chair with his knee up to his chest.


    "Those were mine you know?" Theo said, as he took off his shoes and put them under his bed. ??


    Kayden looked down at the chip he had hanging from his mouth.


    "Is that right? It must have been mixed up with the ones I bought."


    Theodore''s eyebrows arched as he looked at the pile of wrappers on Kayden''s desk.


    "Right. Just take them."


    Kayden who hadn''t bought anything for himself when going to the convenience store didn''t feel any sense of shame when eating Theodore''s food.


    "You''re the best. I''ll get you someter." Kayden acted as if they had already known each other forever now. It seemed only natural for them to be this close andfortable with each other even though they had only known each other for a couple of days.


    "Anything you want in specific?" Kayden was mostly asking about allergies.


    "Nah just get whatever. I''ll take a shower first." Theo had already unpacked his luggage and so he just took some fresh clothes from his closet.


    The weather in Basilian was truly disastrous. Even though Theo was mostly inside the building where there was air conditioning, just the walk from the campus to his dorm was enough to make his clothes sticky from sweat.


    This was because his body simply hadn''t gotten used to such weather yet. He would naturally start to adapt as time went by.


    Kayden was still on his phone when the sounds of the shower stopped.


    Theodore came out in a thin white shirt and workout pants and a towel around his neck sitting on hisfy rolling chair.


    The rooms were also air-conditioned, so he didn''t have to worry about taking another shower before going out again.


    Seeing that there were still a couple of hours before his next ss, he took out his phone ready to scroll through some novels to pass time.


    "Do you y Mobba?"


    "The RPG?"


    "Is there another one?"


    "Yeah. I have an ount."


    "I didn''t think you would be the type to y. I was going to introduce you, but I guess even you couldn''t escape the power of Mobba." This game had been sweeping the gaming industry, but it wasn''t big enough to say that everyone, even those who didn''t y, knew about it.


    If you were to say that you are an avid game yer and you hadn''t heard of Mobba RPG, then you were either lying or living under a rock ying only board games.


    "Do you want to join in for a game? My high school ssmates and I made a guild a couple of years back and we''re pretty good." Kayden was trying to be humble, but he couldn''t help but smirk with pride.


    "Sure, I''ll send you my ID and you can just send me an invite."


    Theodore: [ID: Doorii]


    "What''s up with your ID name? Door from Theodore?" Kayden found the ID cute and also somewhat familiar.


    "Don''t mention it. I made this ount back when I was 6. I called my sister Emilin, Emi, all the time and so she started calling me Doorii. I know, adorable right?"


    Theodore gave himself a self-deprecatingugh.


    "Wow, so you started ying right when it came out. I didn''t even know that this game existed back then. How did you even find it? I can call you an old veteran now."


    Theodore thought about it for a bit before responding.


    "It just popped up one day. I didn''t think that it would have be so well known in the future, so I guess I was lucky. The game is very different now. It''s gone through quite a few updates actually; I don''t think I would be able to remember how the original interphase even looked like."


    "If you''re such an old yer, howe you haven''t joined any guild or even just built your own guild yet?"


    "I guess it was a little too troublesome, plus, I don''t really keep up with this game anymore. Even if I started ying earlier than you, you probably know more about Mobba now whenpared to me."


    Kayden nodded as he sent ID: Doorii a friend request.


    "Hey, you don''t have friend requests turned on."


    "Oh right, um. I''ll turn it on in a second." Theo had long forgotten.


    The moment he switched it on¡­


    *Ding you have one new notification*


    *Ding you have one new notification*


    *Ding you have one new notification*


    ¡­


    *Ding you have one new friend request*


    *Ding you have one new friend request*


    *Ding you have one new friend request*


    Notifications filled his screen as his phone vibrated.


    ¡­


    "Shit man. How long have you not logged on?" It wasn''t unnatural to have notifications from the server piled up if you hadn''t logged on for a while and so Kayden didn''t really think too deeply about Theodore''s vibrating phone.


    "A couple of days. Maybe you should have just given me your ID."


    "It''s DenK."


    "Wow, your name is even more original than mine," Theodore said sarcastically.


    ''It was obviously just Kayden, Denkay, and then Denk¡­''


    {Author''s Note: pronounced Denk, not Denkay, but it can be read as Denkay or Kayden for the people who know him}


    "Thank you. I spent hours to get myself a perfect name." Theodore tried his best to ignore how serious Kayden sounded.


    ''I don''t know if you''re serious, but if you are. That''s just sad.'' Theodore didn''t say that out loud less he''d hurt Kayden''s feelings if he was serious. It would be a low blow, even for him.


    *DenK has been added to your friend''s list* Theo turned off the notifications as soon as he finished adding Kayden.


    "Yup. Got it. I''ll add you to the guild now."


    "Will the other members be okay with you adding another member just like that?"


    "Yeah, it''ll be fine. Most of us know each other in real life."


    "By the way. I feel like I''ve seen your ID sounds familiar."


    "Oh that. It''s probably because there''s another top user with a very simr ID. Dori."


    "That''s it! He''s ranked 4th in the international server. But I think he''s going to be dropping in ranks soon."


    "How so?" Theo showed a little bit of interest in the topic and so Kayden borated.


    "You mustn''t have heard since you don''t seem to y much, but there''s another ranker who has already sworn to take him down from his pedestal, and after that, he''s going for rank 3 and then 2 until he''s number one in the international server."


    Kayden seemed like Mobba more than Theodore had originally thought, especially since he was into it enough to stay informed.


    "Who? What''s his current ranking?"


    "Bear Storm. Currently ranked 14th. He streams every once in a while, and so he has quite a fan base whenpared to Dori, but he uses a voice modtor and hasn''t shown his face."


    "You know what." Kayden, who had just finished his round looked at Theodore, who was then staring at him.


    "What?"


    "I think our names are pretty damn good byparison." Theodore smiled radiantly, showing Kayden a part of him that he had not known before. Disying his strong charisma.


    "Don''t do that to me! I thought you were going to tell me that my new roommate was a murder." Kayden said in the midst ofughers.


    He himself did not realize that his face had be a little hot at that moment.


    Theo didn''t notice either as his attention was once again on his screen.


    "Hey, but he''s quite ambitious for someone 10 ranks below Dori, no? Why do you think he''ll be surpassed?" Theo asked.


    "That''s because he''s only started ying recently, well at least this ount was only created recently," Kayden exined.


    It would be very hard to rank up so quickly without the right resources, especially without enough time and experience.


    Mobba was a game easy to start ying, but incredibly difficult to master.


    "Do you think that he''s another ranker who made a new ount?" Theo asked.


    This was actually one of the most likely possibilities, but it could also be that there was some other reason for Bear Storm''s sess,pletely unknown to the two of them.


    "Who knows. Maybe he is maybe he isn''t. There are just too many top rankers who don''t care about fame or fortune. None of them show their identities and so it could be just about anyone."


    Theodore nodded in agreement.


    "Well, but I don''t think it''s anyone in the top 4. Why else could he be so keen on beating Dori." Kayden expressed his thoughts on the matter.


    "Well forget about Stormy Bear. Let''s start our game."


    "Bear Storm." Kayden corrected.


    "Same difference."


    "Then let''s go." Kayden conceded.

 Chapter 42 - Game Pt II: (Playing Support)

    MMXLV Guild Chat:


    Doorii has joined the guild...??


    Dyson (Guild Master): [Who''s the new member DanK?]


    Only the guild master and the vice-guild master could send invitations and since Dyson knew that he hadn''t sent the invitation, it had to be DanK, the vice-guild master.


    DanK (Vice-Guild Master): [My new Bestie, I don''t need all of you anymore.]


    BBAD (Member): [You had an old bestie? That''s news to me?]


    ''Do you have to be like this¡­ not cute at all,'' Kayden thought. But he probably deserved it, Kayden had known BBAD for years now and that''s just how they interacted.


    Good friends were nice to each other while best friends roasted each other.


    Of course, if necessary, they would still always be there to support each other.


    Dyson (Guild Master): [That''s harsh man.]


    Dyson (Guild Master): [Do we know him?]


    DanK (Vice-Guild Master): [Nope. My new roommate.]


    Kayden had a silly smile on his face that couldn''t be seen by anyone else across the screen.


    Beeme (Member): [Is he any good?]


    DanK (Vice-Guild Master): [Not sure.]


    Doorii (Member): [I think so.]


    Theo found it both funny and peculiar that these people were talking about him when he was already in the chat.


    ''I mean if it was before it would have made more sense no?'' He thought.


    Beeme (Member): [He thinks so!]


    Genie33 (Member): [Great, let''s go for a game and test him out.]


    Genie33 only ever really cared about games.


    It didn''t matter what time it was. If you need someone to join you in for a game, Genie would always be ready to jump in.


    Most people suspected that he might have an rm for notifications, either that, or he never slept.


    Both were equally likely.


    DanK (Vice-Guild Master): [I''ll pull you guys into a party. Who else is up for a round right now?]


    Dyson (Guild Master): [I''ll join. We''ll have to see what the new guy is made of Afterall.]


    Genie33 (Member): [Me too.]


    DanK (Vice-Guild Master): [Perfect. It seems that everyone else is busy anyways. It''ll be Me Dyson, Doorii, Genie33, and BBAD.]


    BBAD (Member): [When did I say I was in?]


    DanK (Vice-Guild Master): [You''re always in.]


    BBAD (Member): [True.]


    Dyson (Guild Master): [Ok let''s get started then.]


    Kayden nced at Theodore to see how he was faring, not expecting that, at that very moment, Theodore also looked Kayden''s way.


    "How many people are in your guild?"


    Kayden snapped out of his small daze and responded.


    "16 with you."


    Theodore thought about this fact for a bit. You needed a minimum of 10 people to make a guild in Mobba, which made one assume that there would be hundreds of thousands of guilds considering that there were millions of people ying, however, that was not the case.


    Registering for a guild was rather simple, but one person could make a guild once every 3 years.


    Now you may ask, why would someone need to make multiple guilds?


    Well, they don''t, and they can''t.


    The thing is. When you make a guild, all of the member''s fame points were added together for the total sum of fame points of the entire guild. If you had hundreds of members, only the top 50 yer''s points were counted. There were also guild points that could be earned after the creation of the guild and those would end up being the foundation for its survival.


    Over time, it would be harder and harder for people to juste in with a new guild and surpass the pre-existing ones, but it was by no means impossible.


    The guilds ranked within the top 100 in fame points were on the leader board, while any guild ranked under the 20,000 mark was cut off.


    These rankings were updated quarterly (four times a year, every 3 months) and so, though there would be over 20,000 guilds, most of them were only in their trial period, while the ones ranked at the bottom still had a lot to be worried about.


    This number could not be underestimated. With so many yers in Mobba, anyone with a higher rank in arge guild could be famous.


    This was even more so with the top yers, especially if they had the resources of a top guild backing them.


    All the guilds wanted to recruit people at the top of the leader board so that they could increase their fame points and consequently their rank, but it wasn''t that simple.


    Many of the top rankers were already a part of a guild and a number of those within the top 50 made their own guilds and brought them to the top.


    Thepetition was fierce.


    As for those rankers who didn''t want to join a guild, if they hadn''t joined or created one already, chances were, even if you bribed them, they wouldn''t join.


    This frustrated many people.


    This was the main reason why Theodore was impressed when Kayden told him that he had created a guild with his friends a couple of years ago. This would signify that the guild had survived the passage of time, but he was even more surprised when he heard that there were only 16 members including him.


    This would mean that the members of this guild would all be ranked rather high. There didn''t have to be someone within the top 200, but there had to at least be someone within the top 500 and this was internationally.


    However, after the initial shock, Theodore didn''t think too much about it.


    Their two phones simultaneously changed to the screen in which they had to choose what character role they would for this round.


    "Dyson the guild master ys swordsman and BBAD is most familiar with tank while Genie is the mage. I normally y assassin, but since you''re here, I can y support." Kayden started exining the dynamics of the team when the screen changed.


    There was a high number of yers who liked to y the assassin in Mobba, and so Kayden just assumed that Theodore would be more familiar with it than with support. He was happy to give his role to Theodore so that he could see how his skills measured up.


    Even so, Kayden didn''t expect too much.


    After all, from what he knew so far. Theodore didn''t y much, and he was even a top schr majoring in acting.


    Except for maybe his minor, he didn''t seem like much of a gamer at all. And you didn''t even have to be into games to be intoputer science.


    Theo could also somewhat tell what Kayden was thinking


    "Nah, I''ll take support, you can just do your usual role."


    "Are you sure? Support is also a very important and equally hard job." Kayden thought that Theodore was just being polite since he had only just joined the guild.


    "I don''t know if you knew this, but in the first version of Mobba, each party was only 3 yers."


    Kayden was indeed familiar with this fact; he was a true fan.


    "My Big Brother Nathen, Emilin, and I yed together, and guess what. My brother ended up as a tank, Emilin as Assassin, while I took support. You can trust me when I say that I''m very familiar with the role." Theo''sugh was one of both amusement and a little bit of self-deprecation. But thinking back, he still found it a little funny.


    Kayden saw that Theodore was being serious and so he conceded, choosing the role he was most familiar with, Assassin.

 Chapter 43 - Game Pt III: (Handsomer Than The Others)

    [2045 is the number for the roman numerals MMXLV, which is also the name of Kayden''s guild.]


    When Kayden saw who his team was going against, a small smirk formed on his face.??


    ''Haha, what great luck we have. We have to trash them this time.''


    Kayden was very familiar with their opponents; in fact, their whole guild was familiar with them.


    "You know them?"


    Theodore noticed Kayden''s reaction when looking at him from his peripheral vision.


    "We''ve gone against them a couple of times. We''re familiar."


    ''Familiar huh?''


    But that was not nearly as interesting as the other party''s name. Theodore was thoroughly stupefied.


    [You''re against ''Handsome Fivesome'']


    ''Is it just me or is everyone intensely uncreative? No, I should say that everyone is just too creative.'' He thought.


    "Isn''t this party name a little¡­ forced?" Theo didn''t know what else to say.


    "They''re just a group of narcissists, but don''t underestimate them too much. Our battle records against them are about 50/50, we only win around half of the times we y."


    They sure sounded like they yed each other a lot, but Kayden didn''t borate too much as the game was about to start.


    The screen disyed a 3 second count down and the moment they started; the party''smunication channel was open.


    The first 2 minutes were just Dyson giving out a few orders. Even though he didn''t know much about Theodore''s skill level, he was quite familiar with his own team member''s proficiencies. He was also adept at leading a small team, so this was nothing really.


    His leadership skills were clear after the first phase had passed. Genie was attacking the beasts from the other team''s side while Theodore was providing support. Dyson had great trust in Genie''s skills so even if Theodore wascking Genie would be able to make up for it.


    If Theodore could handle his own, that would be even better as they would have a field advantageter in the game.


    Dyson was familiar with Handsome Fivesome''s strategies¡­ all 5 of the yers liked to attack the other side''s team members. All 5 of them yed attack roles with no supports, but they were still a force to be reckoned with. Truth be told, they all found support boring, so no one wanted to do it.


    They were all ying for a good battle.


    If they weren''t good at their attack roles, they would have most likely have been ughtered countless times by other teams.


    The first thing that team handsome did was y the beasts in the middlenes so that they could quickly reach the team''s side and start the battle.


    When they had seen that they were going against team 2045, they all got fired up. It had been a while since theyst fought and so they all thought it was about time they made it clear who was above the other. After all, after taking into ount wins, losses, and ties, they were more or less evenly matched.


    Even after the game had gone on for 4 minutes, they had yet to realize that there was actually a new member in 2025''s team.


    They did however notice that there were only 2 yers defending the middlenes. That was Dyson and BBAD.


    All of the members of team handsome were the type of people who only yed for a good match, none would be satisfied with an overwhelming win and so even if they had a numerical advantage, they still split up.


    They didn''t really know where the other three were, so they just went back to their own base since the starting protection on the towers they had to protect was already about to dissipate, which is also when they noticed the two members hunting their beasts.


    On their side.


    "Hey, I''ll take the mage, you guys can take the support!" [Super Handsome] said.


    "No, it''s ok. You don''t have to I''ll take the mage; you can take the support." [Handsomer than the Others] insisted.


    They both acted as if they were doing the others a favor when they knew full well that was not the case.


    [Genie33] was fairly famous especially among people who yed against this semi-expert. Which numbered over the thousands, Genie was really online all the time which is why this yer was pretty much a figurehead for 2045''s guild. Genie was also the only one proficient at the role of the mage, well they never needed another one, so they didn''t bother looking for one.


    As for the other members of the guild. They all took the guild''s best interests into ount and so they didn''t bother trying to y mage either, they would always have Genie there so there was no point in fighting for the role, not that there would be any issues with having two mages.


    "You guys are too kind, I won''t burden you, I''ll take the mage. Mage against mage, it''s only right I take this task." [Handsomest] didn''t wait for the other''s response as he went for the kill.


    [Super Handsome] and [Handsomer than the Others] were dumbfounded.


    ''What is this, we are all civilized people, can''t we talk it out? Why do you have to be so violent?'' Both of them shared this sentiment as they watched their team''s mage go fight against the other team''s, leaving only the support for the two of them.


    "This support isn''t enough to fill in the gaps of my teeth." [Super Handsome] sighed.


    "I see that you seemed tired, since you can''t help it, I''ll take the support. You can just sit back and watch." [Handsomer than the Others] replied, taking the support was better than nothing.


    "No way, we shouldn''t take the support out just yet. Let the support help the mage out and make [Handsomest] suffer a little." [Handsomer than the Others] thought for a bit before agreeing, he had really wanted to go against Genie and since this opportunity was taken away, he thought he''d at least take the support, but watching a good show wasn''t too bad either.


    Just when he was about to express his agreement, he realized that [Super Handsome] had already left to fight the support.


    "What the hell!"


    "I can tell that you are very tired today, your countenance doesn''t look too good, I''ll take him." [Super Handsome] had long left and was about to engage in a battle leaving [Handsomer than the Others] to be stunned by himself.


    ''Countenance my ass.''


    Not wanting to hear more, he promptly muted thems.


    ''What the heck! Is this what they mean by the viins always lose due to talking too much? Next time, I won''t waste my words on these people!''


    ''Wait.''


    ''That''s not right, they are the viins! How did I be the viin?''


    [Handsomer than the Others] hadn''t been paying much attention to the ongoing game during his daze and when he looked back. His screen only disyed 2 words. [You''re DEAD.]


    ''What the hell just happened?''


    Well, though he had spent some time AFK (away from keyboard), it would be near impossible for both [Super Handsome] and [Handsomest] to have finished their battles. The most likely possibility would be that the 3ed member of the other team hade over without him noticing.


    ''I don''t recall 2045 having a member called [Doorii]?''


    He thought back to all the battles they had against 2045 before, but he indeed didn''t recall any Doorii.


    [Handsomer than the others] turned on hisms and his ears were instantly bombarded with the ovepping voices of his teammates.


    "Did you see that! I can''t believe it. How can supports even do that? Is he a moderator ying in disguise as a normal yer while using hacks?" [Handsomer than the Others] was happy to hear that [Super Handsome] had suffered a loss, but when his brain had finished processing what he had just heard, he was also stunned.


    "What do you mean by the support? What support? What happened?" [Handsomer than the Others] still had no clue what was going on, but he had an inkling from what [Super Handsome] had said, even so, as a battle maniac, he didn''t want to believe it.


    "You''re finally back on! What do you mean by what do I mean? You weren''t much better, in fact, you died faster than I did. At least I put up a fight." [Super Handsome] huffed.


    "I was just away for one moment. Tell me what exactly happened while I was gone." [Handsomer than the Others] didn''t want to say that he was simply in a daze when he was killed.


    "Just watch the rey." [Handsomest] who had been fighting Genie said.


    He too had just died.


    [Handsomer than the Others] quickly clicked the rey.


    The next scene sent him into a state of absolute shock.

 Chapter 44 - Game Pt IV: (The Best, Prettiest, Coolest, Magical Senior Sister Gen)

    [Double Kill]


    These two words shed in front of everyone''s screen with a blue halo indicating that it was 2045''s team that had aplished the kills.??


    "Just how much have you been ying Genie?" Kayden asked, with a soft chuckle. He was hiding in the bushes waiting for an opportune moment to ambush the two people who were currently fighting against the Guild Leader and BBAD.


    Genie yed more than any of them and so it was only natural that her skills were above theirs in most respects.


    "Who knows, why don''t you first tell me what kind of big shot you brought into our team?" Genie''s voice wasced with excitement that she reserved only for games.


    The others probably never heard her talking in such a way about anything except Mobba, the anime which she watches while ying Mobba and the 2D characters taped to her walls.


    Well currently it was Mobba, but there were also some other games she yed during her free time since she couldn''t always make up a 5-person team and she didn''t particrly like ying with strangers.


    They had the tendency of dragging her down.


    Of course, hot guys were also wee, but only for gawking at.


    Talking¡­ not so much. Especially if anything interesting about them didn''t extend past their looks.


    "Hm, what do you mean?" Kayden was still hiding in the bushes and so he didn''t mind deviating a little from the game, it wasn''t as if he would be killed as easily as [Handsomer than the Others] had.


    He subconsciously looked at ''the big shot he had brought to the team'' unclear about what Genie meant.


    "You ask him! He''s the one who killed the two. Let''s meet upter I want to meet this guy."


    "Well, I''m sure you guys were going to meet at some point but isn''t this a little too impromptu?" Kayden was a little startled by this development, but it wasn''t a bad idea either.


    "Not at all." She responded calmly.


    "We have a ss in a bit, so I guess we can meet up after ss? Can youe to the coding department? It''s ssroom 2002."


    Theodore still found it amusing how everyone spoke as if he himself were not there. They promptly decided everything without consulting with him, but he had also given his silent consent.


    "Genie is also attending our university?" Theodore still paid attention even if he didn''tment when they were talking about him.


    "Mhm." Kayden knew very well that Genie was still listening, as was everyone else.


    They were all waiting for him to say one wrong word and he was not nning to give them that honor.


    Seeing as Kayden wasn''t going to add anything else to her introduction, Genie did it for him.


    "Yeah, I''m at this school and I''m your senior sister too. So, when you see me walking by, remember to greet me as ''The best, prettiest, coolest, magical senior sister'' got it?"


    Theodore: "¡­"


    Kayden who looked at Theodore: "¡­"


    Dyson who was listening in on the conversation: "¡­"


    BBAD who was also listening in on the conversation: "¡­"


    Though they knew of Genie''s antics¡­ well yeah that was about all they could say. Anything else and they would most likely be hunted down and mercilessly killed.


    And they could count on the fact that she knew where they lived.


    "Let''s not get into the details about how Theodore doesn''t even know who you are and what you look like. What are the chances of him seeing you on this campus? Or better yet, what are the chances that you leave the dorm enough to meet anyone?" Kayden was astonished by Genie''s shamelessness, but seeing as they were friends, he would kindly help change the topic.


    "Oh, so his name is Theodore huh? I can find him with that!" Genie said enthusiastically.


    Theodore clearly felt a shiver crawl up his spine as he gave Kayden a re. He didn''t even know why. He somehow felt vited in some way¡­


    It was scary, to say the least.


    Kayden just shrugged.


    "By the way, since you''ve given me, your name, it should be only right that I give you mine, right? I''m Ginevra, but you can call me Gen."


    He felt like Gen was riding on apletely different wavelength. While everyone was still stuck on the title she had given herself, she had already long moved on and the others didn''t seem to be capable enough to keep up.


    ''Who the heck gave you my information? It was this idiot over here, get it right.'' Theodore inwardly thought.


    He didn''t hold back as he gave Kayden another re, narrowing his eyes, making them sharper than before.


    To be fair, he wouldn''t have minded letting her know anyways since she was Kayden''s friend.


    If anything went wrong and she was in fact some creepy stalker, he could always go find Kayden and strangle him.


    Seeing Kayden turn the other way, he also gave up. It wasn''t worth the effort.


    "I got it best, prettiest, coolest, magical senior sister. Yeah, I''m Theodore. But we shouldn''t be biased like this. I''m sure that Kayden feels the same way when I say that calling you best, prettiest, coolest, magical senior sister is an honor. It would be great if you could allow him to do so as well."


    He shed Kayden a smirk.


    Theodore could tell that these bunch couldn''t go much about Gen either.


    Kayden''s eyes twitched heavily when he heard what Theodore said, giving him a fierce re.


    To which Theodore just shrugged.


    BBAD almost didn''t burst intoughter.


    With everyone''sms still being on suppressedughter could be heard from all three of the people who were listening, including Gen.


    She didn''t feel embarrassed at all by her new title. Even though she said that as a passing joke, she was still somewhat ttered that Theodore had remembered it word for word.


    "So, what do you say Squire Kayden?" Gen used her most noble voice as she talked down to the ''attendant''


    "Yes, your majesty best, coolest, magical senior sister." Kayden had long surrendered beforehand.


    Dyson and BBAD were not at all shocked by how easily Kayden had given in while Theodore thought that he would have at least put up a little more of a fight.


    Thought it seemed like Kayden was more whipped than he, himself would like to admit. As for why this was, he didn''t know, and it didn''t seem appropriate to ask.


    They were still ying as they were talking, and it was only then that he realized how Theodore was ying.


    He felt like a whole new world had been opened up to him¡­

 Chapter 45 - Game Pt V: (Ive Got The Skills...)

    Theodore''s fingers moved across the screen, bending in ways that no one would believe to be possible. They crossed and shifted seamlessly as if it was only natural that they could move in such a way without bumping into each other or messing up his gamey.


    At moments it seemed as if it were saying, ''yeah this finger is somewhat tired so let''s change to this one'' or ''Ah I see that this attack will need the coordination of all of these together''. And then it was just done, just like that. ??


    A scene truly hard to exin with simple words. Kayden felt like his vocabry was simplycking in words to describe such a scene. His dictionary was akin to the tips of Rapunzel''s hair, being dragged across the floor as Theodore moved on without a care.


    Utilizing all of his fingers, with the exception of his two thumbs which seemed to be stabilizing his screen as his phone rested on hisp, Theodore could maneuver his character in ways others couldn''t.


    Though it was doubtful that anyone had ever tried.


    "Are you ying Mobba or piano? Why does it seem like we aren''t ying the same game?" Kayden looked back down at his own two thumbs that he used to maneuver his character.


    He felt like his gamey suddenly seem so boring while Theodore could practically be acting as the main character of some drama with cool filters, and no one would know any better.


    "Hm?" Theodore was finishing the remaining beasts with Genie (Gen) so that he could buy some equipment before heading towards the tower to start their attack and attract the yers who were going to respawnter.


    "Don''t hm me. How did you kill those guys?" Kayden suspected that it may very well be due to his wacky technique. He had thought about asking Theodore to teach him, but that was before he saw how crazy his dexterity was.


    Meanwhile, Kayden seemed to havepletely forgotten that he too, was still ying.


    This led his assassin character to crouch in the bushes for an extended period of time.


    Even the Gods wouldn''t know what business this particr assassin had behind those bushes. What would take so long?


    Well, it was a mystery and it seemed like it would remain that way.


    "I''ve just got the skills I guess." Theodore didn''t often y with other people around, so he didn''t know how exactly he should respond. If they were just ying online, he could ignore suchments, but with Kayden, that was clearly not an option.


    He also wanted to tease Kayden a little more, it was enjoyable, to say the least.


    "Haha okay, okay. I got it, you''re amazing." Kayden resigned to his fate of being teased for the day, but that didn''t prevent his sarcasm from leaking out, that was inevitable.


    It was Karma.


    "Don''t worry about Geneva, she''s just something else entirely, but I think you guys will get along well," Kayden assured.


    He wouldn''t sit still being yed all day long and so he remembered to make sure he wasn''t the only one taking a blow.


    Truthfully, Theodore didn''t even know what he had to fear about Gen, but just the way she was introduced and the way Kayden and the others reacted, she didn''t seem to be a simple figure. At least Theodore knew that these guys were already either whipped or scared of her.


    Even if it was subconsciously, they didn''t seem to want to oppose Gen.


    "I think so too," Gen added. It was easy to forget that thems were consistently on when everyone spoke as if no one else was there. It seemed like even Theodore was picking up on this habit.


    Since he didn''t exactly know what he was getting himself into, Theodore didn''tment, pretending to be immersed in the game, and seeing as Kayden had gone silent, Gen took the liberty to start talking about how Theodore had killed the two yers in detail.


    Theodore found it interesting to hear his own actions from another perspective, feelingpletely unfamiliar with what was being recounted.


    ''Why do I feel like she was there while I wasn''t? She''s reiterating the events with so much conviction that even I question if I just remembered wrong.'' This had Theodore in for a loop as he couldn''t help but think back to what had actually happened.


    Pondering on the events that had led to him killing those two, all he could say was that the others were truly a weird crew.


    Theodore had been quite a distance away from Genie when the handsome trio had arrived. They were about an equal distance away from either one of them, so he moved in slowly when he saw that they were about to attack, but strangely enough only one of the three came. And they weren''t aiming for him either.


    It wasmon to see people attack the support first as they had less health, second only to the assassins and they also had healing spells. If they got rid of the support first, the support wouldn''t be able to heal or buff their teammates. Yet this team didn''t seem to understand this, or perhaps they just didn''t care.


    Before he had any time to think about this matter, one of the other yers who had been simply standing there finally made their way towards Theodore.


    Supports had very low attack powers or even skills that did the damage, but they made up for it with some life-saving skills. In addition to that, the damage done by supports couldn''t be healed by other supports.


    It could be said that Theodore was a pretty poor match against this team in specific since they didn''t have any supports to begin with.


    He used one of his skills right away to give both Genie and himself a buff and didn''t hesitate to start attacking.


    As a yer who had been ying Mobba since the game was first developed, he knew of a lot of small glitches which he didn''t report. These were all things that most people wouldn''t be able to notice anyways and so even after all this time, they were still existent.


    In the big scheme of things, these small details didn''t affect the gamey, but for Theodore, who knew multiple of them, it could change a lot.


    His fingers tapped and slid on the screen like a well-oiled machine.


    Even as a support, Theodore was able to use what little moves he had to kill off the swordsman who hade for him. As for the the assassin who was just standing there, he was no less than a fish on a chopping board.


    After all, assassins had the least health in this game, which was made up for by their explosive power and speed.


    His victory was attributed to both skill and experience.


    Some would say it was exploitation or even hacking, but that would only be the people who didn''t know of these loopholes as well as how hard it was to take advantage of them. As for Theodore, he didn''t feel anything unnatural about his kill method.


    Genie who had been watching from afar to see if she would need to go ''help the newbie'' was ck jawed.


    ''Can you even do that?'' she thought.


    She had never seen a support attack in such a way. Even seeing a swordsman aplish an 8 hitbo was rare, much less a support. Every consecutive attack in a chain attack would double the damage delt, but that was only because the system acknowledged how hard it was to aplish such a feat.


    Just the skill involved would leave one in anguish, but the longer the chain, the easier it would be for the other yer to escape from the attack, especially since there was no paralysis effect.


    Most people who live streamed trying to doplexbos would end up with no results except for some serious hand cramps and a group of angry viewers, or no viewers at all. This was also why nearly no one would do so.


    Even someone who could aplish a long chainbo once with both skills and luck could then proceed to try another 100 times and manage to fail every time.


    The ones who could achieve good results whenever they willed it, those were the people who ranked at the top of the leader boards.


    Genie didn''t know if the new guy''sbo was due to incredible luck or real skills, but either way, it was impressive.


    The game would record all the kills that urred throughout the game to rey some of the more impressive ones at the end and people could save such videos for future reference. After the game ended, it would bepletely wiped out from the data base, after all, even apany as big as Mobba couldn''t save so many useless files.


    Genie took note to save this video for future reference and directed her focus back to her own ongoing battle.


    She was able to finish off her opponent with some time and effort. After all, she was one of the best in her guild.


    [Handsomest] being distracted due to hispanion''s deaths also attributed a little to her sessful kill.


    Then, she watched as [Doorii] continued to kill the remaining beast as if nothing had happened.

 Chapter 46 - Game Pt VI: (Plenty Scary To Me!)

    Theodore didn''t find aplishing an 8 hitbo anything out of the ordinary, much less something to boast about. After all, he had personally witnessed much moreplex and longerbos, which is also why he couldn''tprehend Gen''s hype.


    She spoke of the event as if it had been somethingpletely unimaginable, inting his own skills to another level, which only left Theodore even more bbergasted.??


    ''How do I even proceed? If I am to downy it now, after all, you''ve said, then won''t I just seem like I''m trying to humblebrag?''


    It had to be said that Theodore really didn''t know how to stop this conversation from steering in the wrong direction. It seemed like Emilin''sck of experience had rubbed off on him more than he had expected, or that he would like to admit.


    He was relieved when he realized that the others didn''t take Gen''s prattling very seriously, after all, she was using her ''I''m gossiping tone'', reserved for when she was both bored and had something to talk about.


    The reason for such a tone was because even she herself didn''t know what kind of skills Theodore actually possessed. As for Theodore''sments about his own skills, that wasn''t a reliable source of information.


    He might just be trying to brag. Although Theodore didn''t sound like such a type of person, it was also true that they had only just met, and so she really couldn''t make an urate judgment. Though she was leaning on the side that told her that Theodore had at least some skills, after all, he definitely acted as if he''d done it before.


    By that, she meant that Theodore acted as if the 8 hitbo was nothing to him. If it were any other ordinary person, they would have most likely been shouting in excitement, not able to wait to tell everyone what they had aplished, but Theodore clearly didn''t find that necessary.


    Definitely the attitude of someone who''s been there before.


    [For those who don''t understand. This is referencing the people who make a big deal out of winning and rub it in on other people''s faces (mostly the people who lost) that they won. They are told to ''act like they''ve been there before, as in act like you''ve won before.]


    As for the others, who had died in [Doorii]''s hand. They were just as shocked if not more by this event. It was as unbelievable as it was eye-opening.


    "Have we been doing something wrong all along, because this doesn''t seem right?" [Super Handsome] who had been the first to fall was in disbelief even though he had personally witnessed the whole thing happen right in front of his eyes.


    He never felt so entrapped in this game before. It was as if his opponent knew exactly where and how he wanted to escape from and so [Doorii] was always one step ahead of him.


    This was not his misconception; it was indeed the case.


    As for [Handsomer than the Others], he was watching his rey, a short clip, showing him how he had died to a 4-hitbo.


    It was only natural that he had died in fewer moves as he was both stationary and he had less health than the swordsman [Super Handsome]. That also meant that the attacks he took on were more centralized and effective, making it so that less was necessary.


    "I''ve been living a lie." [Handsomer than the Others] added in a monotonous voice.


    "Should I change jobs? If I y support can I do that too?" [Super Handsome] questioned his life and everything he had believed to be set in stone. Like the fact that swordsmen should have morebat prowess than support, but thisst battle broke this ironw as if it had been in fact made of ss instead.


    "No I think it''s just that guy, [Doorii] was it?" [Handsomest], who had been finished by Genie wasn''t nearly as shook, but as a battle maniac, it was still a cause for concern.


    "Hey, don''t be so sexist it may be a girl you guys are talking about." [Handsome Hunk], the captain of the teammented from the sidelines.


    They were a team of males, and although they didn''t necessarily want to be actively sexist, they couldn''t help but have some bias.


    It could be said that their main cause for concern would be the user''s username. Though [Doorii] didn''t clearly indicate a specific gender, it seemed like something a female would use more so than a male.


    In no way did it indicate the yer to be a tall buff male, it seemed more suited for a cute loli, but they all shuttered to think that such a personality would be able to y them with such ease.


    "No way." [Handsomer than the Others] shook his head when hearing his captain''s im, even though no one could see him doing so. His disbelief stemmed from his previous shock and so he didn''t want to think about all these other possibilities, quickly changing the topic.


    If someone were to tell him now that it was a young loli girl that had ughtered him, then he would most likely start sweating profusely as he questioned his own existence.


    "Who is this guy anyway? I''m sure we''re never gone against him before. I would remember." He asked even though he was quite sure that no one knew.


    "You''re right, I think we''ve gone against just about every member of 2045, he''s probably new." [Super Handsome] nodded.


    Meanwhile, Theodore and Genie had already made their way towards the towers that they had to destroy. Without sparing another moment, they started their attack, knowing full well that the yers who were about to respawn were going to be making their way to them in no time.


    "We''re already at the tower so you guys should get over here after you get some new equipment. A battle is going to ensue soon." Geniemanded, her serious tone making it sound like she was in a real-life or death situation.


    It was do or die.


    Dyson was finishing off on his end and the other two were going to head out it a bit too, to join them in the tower.


    "Yes Ma''am" BBAD, Dyson, and DanK all got serious in the split second that it took them to process themand they had received.


    Everyone''s blood boiled as their visions blurred for an instant.


    This suppressive mood shocked even Theodore.


    ''Are these even the same people? Why do they seem so different all of the sudden?'' Theodore was at a loss.


    "Am I that old? So old that you can call me Ma''am?" Gen''s voice turned even deadlier and more oppressive than it had before, but the effects were worlds apart.


    "No Ma''am," they all said in unison, nearly unable to suppress theirughter.


    The previously tense spirits dissipated as if they had never been there, to begin with. Theodore even questioned if it had all been his imagination when he felt the atmosphere around him almost visibly lighten.


    The world around him that seemed to have turned into shades of grey and blood red reverted to its original form.


    If not for Theodore''s strong confidence in his own mental health, he might have suspected that he was hallucinating.


    ''Have I done drugs that I don''t know of?'' He immediately dispelled such an absurd idea as he would never allow himself to jump into such a rabbit hole.


    His intrinsic fear for Gen rose to new levels when he realized that such a psychological change could only be due to her. She was clearly the only one that had spoken, but what was scarier, was that this was all through a screen. Just imagine how it would have been if they had been right next to her in real life.


    ''Scary.''


    ''Is this what Big Brother Nathen meant when he said that women are much scarier than they seem?''


    ''Because this woman seems plenty scary to me.''


    ****


    ***


    **


    *


    Author: Hm¡­ things seem to be a little too quiet and it''s been a while since I''ve added a mini theatre. Should I just go for it? Yeah, let do that.


    Author: Wait. What should I say?


    Author: I guess a little drama is ok to spice things up.


    Author: Theo, these people areparing you to a loli!!!


    Theodore: WHO! WHO DARES! IN WHAT WAY DO I LOOK LIKE A LOLI? JUST BECAUSE I''M NOT AS BUFF AS BIG BROTHER NATHEN?


    Handsome Fivesome: ¡­ [please don''t look this way please don''t look this way please don''t look this way please don''t look this way please don''t look this way please don''t look this way please don''t look this way please don''t look this way]


    Author: Over there, it''s them.


    Handsome Fivesome: [*beep* *beep* *beep* *beep* *beep*]


    Handsomer than the Others: Bro, we didn''t mean it.


    Super Handsome: Yeah, yeah exactly.


    Handsomest: We were only thinking it! We didn''t even say it out loud!


    Theodore: *Veins bulge*


    Handsome Hunk: We only meant to say that your name was cute.


    Everyone else in the team: [captain, are you trying to get us killed? Can''t you tell how he''s already at his limit?]


    Theodore: Hmm, I guess you guys can''t help it.


    Handsomer than the Others: ???


    Super Handsome: ???


    Handsomest: ???


    Secret Member who has yet to be introduced: ???


    Theodore: After all, Emilin personally came up with it. It''s not your fault that you can''t help but marvel at the masterpiece.


    Handsomer than the Others: ¡­


    Super Handsome: ¡­


    Handsomest: ¡­


    Secret Member who has yet to be introduced: ¡­


    Handsome Hunk: ¡­


    Handsome Fivesome: [Whatever you say, bro. As long as you let us go now.]


    Author: P.S. (it''s my birthday today. <3 hehe)

 Chapter 47 - Must Be Hacking! Pt I: (Report)

    In no time, the battle at the towers had started, Gen and Theodore split up to cover some more ground, but it didn''t take long for the yers who had died from the other team to respawn.


    Even so, when that time came, they were already toote.??


    One tower had already been taken down by Gen as she made her way to the one that Theodore was trying to take care of. The health bar on this tower still had over two-thirds of its original durability remaining, which only went to further show how weak support''s attacks were.


    If not for the fact that Gen was confident in finishing up before the opposition could reach her or Theodore, it would have been a really bad idea to leave the support attacking a tower alone.


    Everyone could see that the tower on the left-hand side was destroyed and the one at the center was rapidly losing its durability and so it was only natural that the yers would head to the tower at the center.


    Gen and Theodore were on a roll, but they had to stop when they spotted three of their enemies that had just respawned.


    "I''ll take the middle guy and the one on the right, will you be able to hold off the one on the left?" Gen asked. She was still skeptical about Theodore''s prowess and so she thought it better to be safe rather than sorry.


    This was, after all, her life or death situation.


    Theodore quickly agreed to her approach and gave them both a buff.


    By the time Dyson, BBAD and, DanK joined in the fray followed by the other team''s [Handsome Hunk] and [Drop Dead Gorgeous] team 2045 had already lost its advantages in the fight.


    This was because they were in enemy territory and they fought right next to the enemy towers. These towers gave each of the members of the [Handsome Fivesome] within its area of effect, which was all of them, a buff that also regenerated some of their health at a very slow pace. Even so, this advantage in a team fight was very significant. These buffs made up for theirck of support and then some because each of them had a strongbat prowess.


    "I''ll take the swordsman going against Gen," BBAD said. He already had considerably low health due to the previous fight he had participated in and even with Theodore''s buff, he wouldn''t be able to recover nearly as quickly as the other team did with the tower.


    "But I don''t think I''ll be able to hold on for very long," BBAD already had low health, and his opponent wasn''t to be underestimated either.


    "That''ll be enough."


    Even so, before Gen could take thest strand of [Super Handsome]''s HP, BBAD and Dyson had met their demise.


    This left the battlefield with only DanK who had not lost any health previously as he had been hiding in the bushes the whole time, Gen who was now attacking the tower once more, and their three opponents who were slowly encircling the two.


    In this three v. two, Gen and DanK''s demise was pretty inevitable, they were at an unfavorable position when it came to both terrain and numbers.


    When they both died, they would respawn again on their side of the map, but then they would be at an even worse disadvantage than they were at now. The time that it would take for them to respawn was also enough for their opponents to take out one of their own towers.


    The best way they could prevent the worst-case scenario would be for them to survive long enough for Dyson and BBAD to respawn while aiming for mutual destruction.


    The remaining number of the Handsome Fivesome didn''t give them any time to adapt, aiming straight for the kill and it was only after Kayden had died that he noticed that someone was missing on the battlefield.


    "Where are you, Theodore?" Kayden hadn''t seen him since Theodore killed off his opponent. Vanishing into thin air. Perhaps if they had fought a three on three, they would havested longer. Of course, it was only natural that Kayden wouldn''t expect to win in such a situation, no matter what kind ofbat standards Theodore may have.


    After all, their opponents were being healed perpetually and it didn''t even cost them any mana or time. Meanwhile, if Theodore were to try and heal them in the same way, not only would he quickly run out of gas, he would also be a stationary target for the team members of the Handsome Fivesome.


    They were in enemy territory and so the other side had the home ground advantage.


    As Kayden waited to be respawned, he stood up to go look at what Theodore was doing on his side as well as figure out why he hadn''t been in thatst battle just then.


    Yet, in the end, what he found on the screen was anything but expected.


    On Theodore''s screen, some of the most unforeseen words were disyed for him to ponder on.


    [YOU WIN]


    [Recieved 0.2 guild fame points for beating Team ''Handsome Fivesome'']


    Kayden was dumbfounded.


    ''What happened in the few seconds I wasn''t looking.''


    ''Can you not be this fast?''


    ''What about my processing time'' Kayden inwardlyined.


    He looked back at his own phone just to make sure that it wasn''t a glitch and surely enough, his screen disyed the same words he had previously seen.


    Truthfully, Kayden was not the only onepletely startled by this turn of events. On the other side, the people from the Handsome Fivesome were equally shook, if not more.


    "What happened?" Super Handsome, who had only just respawned when they lost asked.


    "That was crazy! This guy did a 9 chainbo on the towers. Can you even do that?" Drop Dead Gorgeous shook his head intensely, making sure he wasn''t hallucinating.


    It had to be said that a chainbo had never been tried on a tower, only on other yers. So how could Drop Dead Gorgeous and the others not be shocked when they witnessed what they didn''t think the be possible right in front of their eyes?


    "He must be hacking! There''s no way that was something in the realms of possibility or else everyone would have long been discussing it right?" Handsome Hunk, the team captain who had watched the whole event happen was equally as distraught.


    "Should we report this?" Handsomest was also having some troubles stomaching this loss.


    It would have at least been somewhat eptable if they had been purely overpowered, but they clearly had the upper hand back then, yet before they knew it, they had lost two of their towers. And to smear some more salt on the wound, they only realized that the towers had been attacked after the fact, too stunned to make a move to prevent the support from the other team from taking them down.


    "Let''s report it, there''s just no way that there isn''t a glitch or hacking involved. If worsees to worst we just lose some measly fame points." Handsomer than the Others felt like if he didn''t get to the bottom of this, this moment would most likely lurk over the back of his mind for a long time.


    "Okay, then you report it." Handsomest pursed his lips and nodded.


    "It would be great if you reported it." Handsomer than the Others insisted.


    "One of you just report it already!" Handsome Hunk didn''t want to listen to their shenanigans at the moment and as the captain, he had to disy his iron fist every once in a while.


    "Let''s take a vote, we''re all very democratic here. I think that captain should report it since he''s the captain. What do you think?" Handsomest smirked as if he had been waiting for this moment to arrive, ayer of mischief coating his eyes. It was truly a pity that there was no one there with him to see it.


    ''I''ve been had,'' at this point, Handsome Hunk would have to be seriously moronic if he didn''t know what was going on.


    "I agree." Handsomer than the others nodded his head after pretending to ponder for a bit.


    "Yeah, we''ve always been very democratic, I''ll give my vote to the captain too." Drop Dead Gorgeous inwardly rolled his eyes at Handsomest''s little tricks, but he had no choice but to go along with it. Though even if he had a choice, he would have most likely have done the same.


    "Well that''s already three out of five, so I guess my vote doesn''t matter too much, but I''ll give you my vote of confidence captain." Super Handsome leisurely added.


    No one wanted to be the one to have to report it, but everyone wanted to know the results, the reason for this was quite simple. So that people wouldn''t spam the report button, the developers made it so that it would cost fame points to report.


    If you misreport, you lose the 50 fame point it cost you to report the glitches/ hacks/ hacker, and if you do indeed point out a mistake in the system or a hacker, you are gifted up to 500 fame points depending on how relevant your contributions were.


    Meanwhile, though these people didn''t want to believe that Doorii hadn''t hacked, deep down, none of them were sure of their ims.


    None of them wanted to lose their fame points, but they wouldn''t mind if their captain, who was already in the lead, gained a little boost if they were right.


    Handsome Hunk resigned to his fate the moment he realized that he was cornered while thinking about resigning from his friendship with these bastards.


    [You have reported ******]


    [Sent!]


    ***


    Mini-Theatre


    Theodore: Howe one of these guys doesn''t have handsome in their Username?


    Drop Dead Gorgeous: Oh, you''re interested in me?


    Theodore: ?


    Drop Dead Gorgeous: I guess you could say it''s because I stand out from the rest, I''m just that much more good-looking.


    All the other members of the team: .... *veins bulge*


    All the other members of the team: ''We can''t even say he''s wrong though, he''s pretty damn good looking¡­''


    Theodore: For real? I thought maybe you guys were just a group of semi-bald uncles sitting in front of theirputers all day in the dark while eating junk food and experimenting with more ways to lose hair.


    Handsome Fivesome: !!!


    All the individual members: WHO THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, MAYBE THE OTHER MEMBERS WILL BE LIKE THAT IN THE FUTURE, BUT HAVE YOU SEEN MY GORGEOUS FACE. YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF.


    Gen: No, he''s literally never met any of you guys. How the hell would he know?


    Handsome Hunk: Why does she sound like she makes sense?


    Everyone else in the crew: ¡¥_( ????? ??)_/¡¥


    Gen: ''This is why good-looking people are only for looking at, spend any more time with them and by the end of the day, all your brain cells will have died off or run away. Gone one way or another.''


    Author: Don''t you say (???). Hehe.


    Gen: What are you nning. *suspicious re* ?_?


    Author: ¡¥_( ???? ??)_/¡¥


    Gen: Hey, TELL ME!


    Author has gone offline¡­


    Gen: !?¡ê?#!"#$%&%


    Theodore: Eh, let''s just wait and see. I''m sure when the timees, we''ll be the firsts to know.


    Author: Hehe¡­ you sure will.


    Gen: You''re here,e over here. Let''s have a nice chat. *Scary smile*


    Author has gone offline for real this time¡­

 Chapter 48 - Must Be Hacking! Pt II: (Make Up Your Mind...)

    On the 8th floor of a skyrise building somewhere in this world... more specifically Polo Country in H¨¦ Continent.


    "When is the day going to end already!" If you were to count the number of times he had sighed, that''s what you would be doing all day.??


    "You''re one to speak. You''re lucky, your clocking off in another hour, we still have four before we''re released." The worker seated at the desk to his right gave him a firm pat before going back to his own work.


    "What are you even in a rush for? It''s not like you have anyone waiting for you at home." Someone from a faraway office table snickered.


    In the end, the man who had beenining could only release another sigh, knowing that everything the others had said was 100% true.


    He had no one waiting for him at home and he was quite lucky that he was getting half of his day off.


    ''I guess I''ll just have to go through some more of these. It''s not like there''s ever anything interesting.''


    Gran worked at the Mobba as a white-cor worker, scrolling through messages that would serve as crowdsourcing and every once in a while reports from yers.


    [Wiki- A white-cor worker is a person who performs professional, desk, managerial, or administrative work.]


    ''I can''t believe there are still so many people sending hacking reports. I should ask the managerter if he can propose to the higher-ups that they raise the number of fame points it takes to report...'' Gran''s index finger of the hand on which his head rested, tapped on the side of his face as he pondered, lost in his own thoughts.


    ''Well that''s probably not going to happen, but isn''t it a bit too much for us to be scrutinizing every single one of these clips?''


    Even though the cost of the fame points may seem high, it really wasn''t considering the sheer number of yers, it was simply absurd the amount of work a stapler pusher like him had to do.


    There were a number of people who would report the most mundane of clips and some were even repeated. No matter how fun this game was, at some point, you just kind of want to rip your eyes off you know? (¨R¨Œ¨Q)


    His hands moved his mouse almost mechanically, showing how familiar he was with every one of his actions. As if he had repeated them tens of thousands of times.


    That was also when he clicked on the feed that popped up on his screen.


    At first, there was nothing unusual about the video. Gran strained his eyes, trying his best to concentrate so that he would be able to pick up the details. After all, he didn''t want to have to watch this clip multiple times just toe up with the conclusion that there was nothing wrong.


    It was a wonder how he still hadn''t ruined his eyes seeing as this was all he did all day.


    About two seconds into the video, he realized that his actions were unnecessary, because, it was very clear what was wrong with this clip!


    ''Damn, if this isn''t some hacking glitch then I don''t know what is.'' He thought.


    ''Isn''t this guy a little too presumptuous? There are clearly recording functions and reporting functions yet he still openly hacks the game... Well, I guess it''s a good thing too. At least like this we can send it in and fix the bug.'' Gran wouldn''t normally be in such a rush to send this up to his superiors, but this time, things were on a muchrger scale.


    It wasn''t a small glitch that could be left to be fixed at ater date, but something that they wouldn''t want to get out.


    For the clips in which it was easy to tell at a nce whether they were reported seriously or as a joke, a refund of the fame points was handed out immediately, as for the remuneration given based on how relevant the report was, that would have to wait for after the whole thing was assessed, but it was usually also given within two working days.


    "Damn," Gran unintentionally voiced his thoughts.


    He gave the yer who made the report a refund before bringing his supervisor in, to show him the clip.


    "Woah, this is insane," Issac expressed, dragging some of his words as Gran nodded violently in agreement.


    If this wasn''t enough to attract everyone''s attention, then it would be unknown what was.


    People started gathering around Gran''s workspace and they didn''t even have to ask their supervisor Issac to show them what they were watching because he was ying the clip on a rey loop.


    "Who is this guy?"


    "Damn, even if he''s hacking, I think he''s my new idol!"


    "Too cool. Do we have to ban him?"


    "I think this one should go to the higher-ups right?"


    "Is the department manager here today?"


    "I''ll go call him."


    Issac picked up his phone and scrolled through his contacts stopping at [Cassie]


    "Oi, Cassie,e over here, there''s something interesting today."


    "You know, if it were anyone else, they would think that you''re my superior instead of the other way around." Cassie let out a rueful sigh.


    "What would you like me to call you then? Mr. Department Manager, Mr. Superior, or something else?" Issac chuckled. Both Issac and Cassie had met as interns but Cassie was more skilled in more ways than one. He was also more ambitious and hard-working, in the end, he was also promoted faster, but Issac was in no way discontent with this oue.


    He didn''t have the ambition to go any further.


    ''I mean just think about it, the higher your pay, the more work you have to do. The more responsibilities you have to burden yourself with. That''s just not for me. I have enough money to be content with my life and not have to worry about going hungry or not having a roof to live under, what more do I need?''


    They were still great friends nheless, even though they didn''t have many simrities when it came to their goals in life.


    Their objectives didn''t sh either.


    "Just go with Cassie haha... I''ll be there in a bit, I''m dropping the call. You know how it is in the elevator." Before Issac could add any more, Cassie had already hung up.


    "Oh look the manager is here." Someone informed, at the same time. A tall, caramel-skinned man of lean stature, stepped out of the elevator that had beening from the upper floors.


    He pushed back his dark hair with one hand, the other in his front pocket, looking like an approachable man, an absolute angel if you must.


    "Come here! Look, this guy is crazy cool."


    It was then that Cassie realized, ''seems like everyone talks to me informally... eh. How did I only notice now?''


    "You''re talking about a hacker you know? Can you not sound like he''s some kind of idol or something."


    Cassie made his way to Gran''s workspace where everyone was already gathered.


    "It''s this guy, he''s my new idol, look at him. A chainbo on a tower, even if that''s hacking, it''s just too cool."


    Cassie didn''t pay this guy any mind as he earnestly watched the clip, but while everyone else watched the yer''s maneuvering, his character flipping from one side of the tower to the other, attacking seamlessly. What really caught Cassie''s attention was the yer''s name.


    ''Hm... this ID seems familiar, but from his tags, he isn''t even in the rankings. Maybe it''s a side ount? Where have I seen it from?''


    Cassie pulled out his own phone after watching the short clip two times over.


    In a moment of Eureka, he finally realized it was at their meet. The people in the upper echelons of thepany had a gathering in which they had some fun ying the game in teams based on their department after the short conference.


    Me (Cassie): [Deputy, have you mention the ID: Doorii before?]


    IT Department Deputy Head: [Where did you hear that ID from? Surely I didn''t mention it.]


    On the other side, Matthew was already somewhat panicky. ''When the hell did I mention that guy, no matter how drunk I could have been, I couldn''t have. Right?''


    Me (Cassie): [Really, then sorry for interrupting. It must have been from one of the other people from our team back at the meet.]


    IT Department Deputy Head: [Wait, tell me what it is you want from him]


    Matthew couldn''t very well ignore the problem now that it was right in front of his face, staring him down.


    Cassie on the other hand found the way his sentence was phrased, very, peculiar.


    ''Deputy, you should make up your mind. Do you know him or not, because your mouth seems to say two things at the same time?'' Of course, Cassie could never actually voice his thoughts, Matthew was still his superior.


    Me (Cassie): [It seems like it''s a hacking incident.]


    Matthew''s whole face rxed for a split second before bing serious once again.


    IT Department Deputy Head: [I see, can you send me the clip?]


    Me (Cassie): [*File*]


    Matthew took some time watching the clip and his eyes couldn''t help but twitch.


    ''Do you have to be like this?''


    ''What if things got out of hand, we would still have to clean up your mess.''


    ''Why is my life so hard... how am I supposed to exin this?''


    ''Ah yes, the best n is no n at all.''


    It was a wonder how he got his position.


    IT Department Deputy Head: [Ignore it, it''s not hacking. Don''t let things get out of hand.]


    Cassie was dumbfounded.


    ''Deputy, I see that you have chosen your stance but couldn''t youe up with something more believable??''


    ''Not hacking? Do I look like I''m three? Surely not or I wouldn''t have been promoted to my position.''


    Me (Cassie): [I see, I''ll take note. How should I exin this to the others? Around two dozen other people have already seen the clip.]


    IT Department Deputy Head: [Don''t let it get out of hand... the rest is up to you.]


    For a second there Cassie had forgotten his position due to the absurdness of the situation, but he quickly regained hisposure.


    Me (Cassie): [Leave it to me, Sir.]


    ***


    Mini- theater


    Author: How are you going to solve this Cassie?


    Cassie: Oh I don''t what''s better.


    Cassie: Coercion? Threatening? Honey trap?


    Cassie: There are just too many options


    Author: *Bead of sweat rolls down forehead*


    Author: I guess I''ll leave that to you then, you seem to have it all figured out.


    Cassie: No I still have room for improvement, why don''t we sit down and chat for a bit. *smiles brightly* Maybe we can brainstorm toget--


    Author: *beep* *beep* *beep* hello who is this? Ah is this the other thing I have to attend to right now? I see. I guess I have to be there ASAP then.


    Author: Ah sorry dear Cassie, I have to get going now *sweating profusely*


    Cassie: I see then I won''t keep you, we can always make another appointme--


    Author has gone offline for good, not to be seen for the foreseeable future...

 Chapter 49 - Must Be Hacking! Pt III: (Dont Think About It Too Much...)

    Cassie put his phone in the front pocket of his ck suit looking around at everyone before determining that all the people who had watched the clip were present.


    He coughed lightly into his fist to attract everyone''s attention to himself before informing everyone of the situation, or at least part of it.??


    "Everyone, attention."


    Two words were enough to make the whole scene as silent as a room filled with unnamed Pok¨¦mon.


    "It''s all been a misunderstanding, there is no hacking involved in thisst incident so everyone can go back to their seats and quiet down."


    "Everyone who has a file of the clip is to delete it immediately, and when you are done,e sign this non-disclosure contract. "


    "This is most likely someone that even the higher-ups are not to mess with. Even I don''t know much so it''s best if none of you act outside of your positions, or even I won''t be able to promise anything."


    The moment Cassie finished his part, the whole room broke out into an uproar.


    Person one: Isn''t this a little too much? A non-disclosure contract?


    Person two: Who''s this big shot?


    Person Three: Not hacking, who do you take us for. We all work under the IT department (though it''s a subsidiary department with no actual rtions) and you tell us that this person is not hacking?


    Person four: Is this guy ying a different game? It can''t be the same one we''re working on, that''s the only reasonable exnation.


    Person five: Eh, why do I have to delete it?


    Cassie only opened his mouth after everyone vented a little, it was ok to gossip a little here, but once they were outside, the situation wouldn''t be as simple. It was best if they all got it out of their systems as soon as possible.


    "I can tell that many of you are not satisfied with this oue, so I''ll give you guys two choices, you can sign the contract, and make sure to not vite any of the terms, or you can get fired and be sure that you won''t be able to get a better job." He paused to give everyone some time to process before continuing.


    "In the future, when you are pondering on why you ended up in the situation you are in, you will realize that it was all because you wanted to be a gossipmonger. Then, all you have to do toplete the script is to regret this moment for the rest of your life."


    Though Cassie said all of that with a face filled with smiles, there wasn''t a single person who didn''t take him seriously.


    Even so, with his face and the tone of his voice, they didn''t feel like they were being ckmailed at all, in fact, it was the exact opposite.


    It was as if an angel had descended.


    His threats were more like a chance.


    They were given a new lease on life.


    Thankful that they hadn''t made any hasty decisions, the people who were justining and weren''t actually nning to spread the news about any of this quickly signed the non-disclosure contract while the people who were previously somewhat hesitant also grit their teeth and solidified their resolve.


    It wasn''t as if this contract was going to change much, they just had to be more careful with their mouths in the future. Plus, there weren''t many people who were reluctant in the first ce.


    In this aspect, Cassie''s small speech as well as the hacker''s mysterious background had a ratherrge impact.


    Issac, who had moved in, getting closer to his pal Cassie felt a chill crawling down his spine.


    ''How did no one else realize how threatening my man''s speech was? Or did they all notice, but notment on it?'' Issac showed how puzzled he was on his face as he furrowed his brows and tilted his head to one side.


    It was only a matter of seconds before he reached his good friend''s side as everyone else was filling in papers.


    "How do you do it?" When Issac saw that Cassie didn''t seem to understand his question, he borated.


    "How do you simply threaten people like that and then have everyone just go with it?" He added, to which Cassie just chuckled.


    "Who knows? Perhaps it is my charm, or maybe my strong charisma." Cassie responded with a bright, yet elegant smile.


    "Charisma my ass," Issac muttered, but seeing as he couldn''t exactly respond otherwise, he didn''t question him any further, changing the topic to what really mattered.


    "Was this yer really not hacking? Is the source reliable?" He was still stuck on the fact that Doorii''s crazy moves were legit.


    In front of his friend, Cassie didn''t hide his thoughts.


    "I''m also not sure either, but one thing I''m sure about is that he is most definitely not a figure to be messed with. As for why he was ying in such small-scale games, unknown to the public, we probably shouldn''t dig too deep into any of it." He sighed helplessly.


    "Even the Deputy Department Head seemspletely helpless to him."


    "I was talking to him through messages and even so, I felt like I was talking to someonepletely different from the Deputy Head I know of. It felt more like he was a subordinate, trying to clean up for a willful boss or a coborator''s second-generation rich spoiled son." Cassie''s brows furrowed the more he thought about it.


    ''Just who could this be?''


    Even if he said that they shouldn''t think about it too much, he couldn''t help but let his thoughts wander, after all, curiosity was the death of many and for a good reason too.


    Still, even after a saying as depressing and rming as ''curiosity killed the cat'', a line as amusing as ''but satisfaction brought it back'' followed.


    "It is quite interesting. I''m sure as you climb the ranks, you''ll figure it out one day. As for right now, we definitely shouldn''t think about it." Issac ratified.


    The more he thought about it the stranger it was. This person was clearly either hacking or taking advantage of a big loophole, yet the higher-ups didn''t sound like they were preparing to change anything.


    This was simply inconceivable.


    If this came out, the oue would be unimaginable.


    Would the people curse the game for being too much or would they curse thepany for not disclosing this? Adding this to the fact that clearly, close to no one would be able to achieve these same feats again, the ending didn''t seem particrly pretty.


    "I guess so."


    After Cassie finished speaking the air around the two of them seemed to freeze for a instant, but no one noticed. The conversation ended there as the two of them went back to a state of contemtion.


    ***


    Meanwhile, the person who caused thisrgemotion was not nearly as worried or preupied.


    After shaking off some questions from Gen, no one else asked too much about how Theodore had done it or anything of the sort. These were a group of smart people. They could tell when it was the right time to ask about something and when to give up.


    As for what Theodore and Kayden were doing now, they were already heading out to their next lecture.


    "Hey, pal. Why are you guys all waiting outside?" Kayden tapped a random person waiting outside of the lecture room after double-checking that he was in the right ce.


    The person who was tapped turned around and responded after giving Kayden a good look and determining that Kayden was most likely a ssmate based on the paper with his schedule he was holding.


    "I don''t know man, but from what I heard, the earliest people who came had already sat down in the lecture room and the teacher was also already there. Then it seems like when another professor came in our professor asked everyone to wait outside."


    It was then that another person standing to the first talker added.


    "Yeah, and now we''re specting who this other identity is. He might even be one of those legendary honorary teachers (Chapter 16 for reference)."


    They didn''t have to ponder on it for much longer as the door for the lecture room opened and the students outside quickly shuffled in, everyone finding a vacant seat.


    It seemed like everyone''s jitters were left outside by the door because everyone''s movements were incredibly swift and seemingly coordinated. It was almost as if they had agreed on who was going to sit where beforehand.


    Especially when they saw the two professors standing at the podium, with who they believed to be their own teacher standing behind the new figure, in a somewhat subservient manner.


    "Since everyone is seated, it seems we can start today''s ss."

 Chapter 50 - Once-in-a-lifetime Opportunity...

    "I am your professor for the advanced coding ss you were supposed to attend today, but seeing as Master Sungcha is here today, we will be postponing our first ss."


    "I''m sure I won''t have to tell you that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity you have been given here today." Professor Smander''s voice hid a hint of envy that most wouldn''t be able to tell, but his words exposed his inner thoughts.??


    Theodore''s head rested on his right hand finding the situation intriguing.


    ''It seems like this really is a fortuitous event then, and on the first day too. I wonder what Master Sungcha is here for.''


    "As many of you have already spected, Master Sungcha here is indeed one of the honorary teachers present at our university. As for why he is here, I''ll let him talk to all of you for himself."


    ''Isn''t this just a tad too creepy, I''ve been having this feeling a lot, but why does it always seem like these people can read my mind?''


    Theodore shook his head.


    ''I''m just thinking too much.''


    ''If the professor calls him ''Master'' Sungcha, then he must be a big figure, and since even our ss was canceled, he clearly isn''t here just to sit and chat. It''spletely natural for him to tell us why he is here first. What do you even mean by mind-reading, plus there are so many people here, why would they read my mind.''


    He had definitely been reading too many fantasy novels these days.


    As Theodore''s mind started going in circles around these meaningless topics, starting and fueling unconventional conversations with himself, his eyes started going out of focus, which not even the people sitting next to him noticed.


    Professor Smander backed off the stage, sitting down on an empty seat to the side allowing for Master Sungcha to take the podium.


    Everyone subconsciously straightened up their backs and perked their ears.


    These were all people who called themselves the geniuses of their generation.


    But it was also because they could reach this point that they knew the weight of being called a Master by a professor of this university.


    No matter how arrogant some of these prodigies maybe, they knew very well that a Master, no matter what area they specialized in, was a true expert.


    An expert with real connections with the people at the top of their society.


    The people who could wave their hands and shake the structure of a city.


    No one wanted to miss a word of what Master Sungcha had to say.


    A booming voice came out of the man who had just reached the podium, it wasn''t necessarily loud, but it was so filled with vitality that even Theodore had to snap out of his daze.


    ''This presence!''


    ''He looks to have at least 50 years under his belt.'' Theodore thought, looking at the middle-aged man at the center of the stage. He already showed signs of aging, notcking in white hairs that inteced with his ck locks.


    Yet at the same time, Theodore wasn''t able to say for sure that this man was a day over 40, his posture better than most 20-year-olds.


    ''What is this feeling?''


    ''His vitality seems to be affecting even me! How is this possible? Is it my imagination?''


    Theodore pushed his palm against his heart, feeling it pound against his ribcage as if trying to escape from his chest. He couldn''t make heads or tails out of this.


    "I''vee here to find a disciple, anyone who meets my requirements I will take in as my personal disciple whom I will impart all I know. This number will be limited to two people. However, if no one meets my requirements, I won''t be taking in any of you. I don''t carry around unnecessary burdens."


    Master Sungcha spoke as if he were asking for water.


    No one would have guessed that he was making such a life-changing decision from just his monotonous tone.


    He looked like he didn''t really care about the oue.


    No.


    That wasn''t right.


    Rather, he looked like he didn''t want to be here.


    ''He really skips to the chase, no beating around the bush.'' Theodore felt that he wascking in words to describe his current sentiments.


    There was a great difference between Masters who were taking in students and Masters who were taking in disciples.


    As a general rule, there is an insurmountable gap between a professional in a subject or art before they were recognized as a Master of that respective field.


    The reason why these Masters were even revered at the international level universities and given a position with a title of honorary teacher, was not at all because they were good at teaching.


    In fact, they may have never dabbled with teaching at all, but they were just on another level when it came to what they specialized in, no matter how inexperienced they were with teaching, they had the qualifications to guide others in some way or form.


    There weren''t Masters who didn''t know how to teach, only those who didn''t want to.


    As for taking in students, most of the time, they just needed someone to do the manualbor, but this would be very helpful for the students so they were more than willing to be people who worked and didn''t get paid.


    AKA ves.


    In fact, many people who were already well within the field were also willing to take such jobs, which is why the top universities quickly made agreements with some of these Masters so that they could promote their school.


    This was also good for the Masters because they could get ess to good seedlings before they started sprouting.


    In the end, it was a win-win.


    As for bing a disciple, that was on a whole new league.


    If bing a student was bing a maid in the imperial court, albeit a maid who didn''t get paid, then bing a disciple was akin to bing a prince or a princess.


    They would have a chance to be the crowned prince/ princess, also known as a core disciple.


    Many of these Masters were researchers, some didn''t have children, others didn''t want any and even more, had children who didn''t have the same aspirations as their parents or even the skills to follow their predecessor''s footsteps.


    In order to pass down their legacies, they took in disciples.


    When you became a Master''s disciple, you had the opportunity to inherit everything they had rted to their masteries, but even if you weren''t the one to inherit it, you would be in no way missing out either.


    You would still be able to reach new heights within that field and the connections of a Master were unimaginable to themon folk.


    All inessible to the students, after all, who would care to remember the maid so clearly.


    They would know countless, mayors, presidents, generals, even royalty depending on what they worked on.


    "I won''t be telling any of you what exactly my requirements are so as to prevent the scale from tipping to any one person''s side."


    Though he said that he wasn''t voicing his requirement to prevent cheating, it sounded more like he was hoping that no one would meet these ''hidden requirements''.


    Like, ''I won''t be telling you because you won''t need to know, not like any of you will meet them.''


    At that time, one of the students sitting across the ssroom raised his hand, indicating that he had a question to which Master Sungcha nodded.


    He stuttered a little before getting his words out straight, but no one lost their patience.


    "Um... can I-I ask what Mas-mast-ter Sungcha specializes in?"


    This was also a question many others had in their minds.


    "That will be for you to find out throughout the test, everyone can give out their guesses next week."


    This left even more doubts in the minds of everyone present.


    ''Next week?''


    ''Aren''t we doing the testing today? Why wait another week?''


    Seeing everyone''s confused reactions, Master Sungcha smiled for the first time throughout the whole lecture.

 Chapter 51 - It Wasnt Always Like...

    Around this time, in the International Airport of Janpa in E Continent, a youngdy of raven hair, wearing casual sports attire was standing in line, waiting for a taxi.


    ''How should I deal with my luggage?'' ??


    She needed to bring it to White City, the city closest to one of the entrances to the path on the Hemafuji Mountain Range, her next destination.


    She had already packed a separate bag in which she would keep her necessities for camping.


    Everything else would just be an extra burden.


    Now she didn''t know where she wanted to keep everything.


    ''I guess I''ll rent an apartment in the city.''


    Emilin thought about keeping her luggage in one of the lockers in the Airport, but that was inconvenient since she didn''t know how she was going to proceed on this trip.


    She didn''t know how much longer she was staying either, but she definitely didn''t want to waste time just to get her bags in case an asion in which she needed something arose.


    ''Who knows? If this area is as good as they say, I should consider buying a ce here as a retirement home. Or better yet, a vacation home.''


    If Theo and Nathen knew that their little sister was thinking of buying a vacation home so far away, they might have reconsidered rmending such a ce.


    The trip to White City was a long one, but considering the distance, she was traveling, it was already quite good.


    Emilin took this time to tell her parents that she had arrived safely.


    In fact, she got quite a scolding since she hadn''t told them that she left Mlakan before she had already arrived on another continent...


    The scolding was well deserved.


    She also made sure to check up on her sibling''s college life, spending most of her travel time on her phone.


    The taxi driver was also ustomed to such long and mundane trips and so he yed some podcasts to entertain himself.


    After 1 hour of texting and 3 hours of Kdramas, Emilin had finally arrived in White City.


    The moment she stepped off the taxi, she realized the reason it was called White City. On every street, as far as her eyes could see, there were birch trees nted.


    None of them looking younger than 10 years of age.


    A mesmerizing scene.


    ''I bet it would look even better at dawn''


    Emilin could just imagine, the orange-pink rays trying to shine through the white barks.


    The taxi driver took her straight to her rented apartment which she had also prepared on the ride here, a very simple task with all the applications avable these days.


    Everything rted to travels could be found in two or three applications, and getting a premium membership gave Emilin a worry-free trip.


    The apartment was already cleaned and fully furnished and she had already paid for a two-month stay, though she didn''t n on staying for that long, she needed a ce to keep her things and use as a resting point.


    To rent this kind of apartment, it would normally require one to pay for a 6-month lease in the minimum, but considering that Emilin was a VIP, they were willing to concede a little.


    The living room was furnished in a modern design, perfect for people of all ages. A lot of the wooden furniture was made of birch wood, used in ways that you wouldn''t be able to find elsewhere.


    The shelves were especially nice as the color of the wood matched well with the color of the books avable.


    ''It is a shame I won''t be staying in this ce for long. Should I contact a designer to remodel our home?''


    Emilin thought back to the home in which her parents were now living alone, back in Polo Country. The walls there were incredibly white, so it would be nice if they could remodel for some warmer colors.


    After unpacking, she went to the bathroom to clean herself up, taking a shower before looking into good interior designers.


    ''It seems like I don''t really know anyone good for this job. I guess I''ll still have to ask mom and dad what they think about it.''


    After thinking about it a little more, Emilin concluded that it was best to think about itter, maybe when they all reunited in the winter or summer break. Since it was about their house, Theo and Nathen should also have a say.


    There was no point in thinking about it now.


    ***


    As for Theodore, his lecture had already ended when he received the messages from Emilin.


    In fact, they had just ended.


    While everyone else was still talking about the test that Master Sungcha had given the students, he was seriously texting, his actions standing out from the crowd.


    But the reason he stood out was not due to his texting, rather it was because he wasn''t paying any attention to where he was walking¡­


    Kayden who was now in charge of making sure that Theodore didn''t bump into anyone while walking took a peek at Theodore''s phone once the coast was clear.


    He had guided them to a bench near the outer areas of the campus and Theodore quietly sat down, not knowing where exactly he was.


    After sitting, Kayden was also quietly looking at Theodore''s phone.


    It was clear who he was texting.


    The contacts were [Mom], [Dad], [Big Brother], and [Baby Sis <3].


    There was no need to ask why Theodore was so concentrated. After all, he was someone willing to stay up all night just because his little sister, who was not actually that little asked him for a favor.


    When Theodore finally looked up from his phone, he was finally able to take in his surroundings. He knew that Kayden was taking him somewhere not as crowded, which he was thankful for, but he didn''t know where.


    If Kayden could hear Theodore''s thoughts, he would deny all usations.


    Kayden: ''I''m not doing it for you, I just don''t want my roommate to die after bumping into one too many trees...''


    Kayden: ''I don''t want other people to be like: Do you see that guy? He''s the one who had that idiot as a roommate.''


    Kayden: ''I definitely didn''t do it for you so you don''t need to be so thankful, though you can praise me since I''m such an amazing guy. That I don''t mind.''


    "Where is this?" Theodore asked.


    They were in a really nice and quiet area and it didn''t feel like it was too far off from their campus area.


    Well, at least Theodore didn''t feel like he had been walking for that long.


    "The outer campus for the second years, they nevere here since it''s too far off so it''s rtively empty."


    Theodore nodded, ''this could be a nice ce to study outside.''


    "But that''s not what''s most important here. I should be asking you. How did you get so whipped?" Kayden was purely curious.


    No matter how cute Theodore''s little sister was, there was no way that she could break the ever firmw that siblings should have a love-hate rtionship, of course, leaning closer to hate for most.


    Theodore tilted his head as if he didn''t understand the question, but Kayden didn''t believe it.


    It was clear that his pal was whipped, it couldn''t possibly be denied.


    Whoever dare deny it, was a liar, and whoever dare believe him, was an idiot.


    Theodore was no liar and Kayden was no idiot.


    [Dicitonary: whipped. ng. excessively devoted/ submissive. (normally in a romantic rtionship, but in this case, it''s a sibling rtionship.)]


    "Your sister." Kayden rified.


    "Oh! Well..." Theodore thought about it for a while.


    "It wasn''t always like this you know." He smiled but didn''t rify any further.


    Even so, Kayden didn''t seem capable of imagining it.


    Just from how devoted Theodore seemed to his sister, one would think he was born that way, but he had already rified that that was not the case.


    ''If this isn''t in the genes, then howe you guys are so different¡­''

 Chapter 52 - Meeting Pt I: (Hotter Than I Thought...)

    Kayden didn''t think about Theodore''s sister any more than he had to. The remaining times he did were mainly due to curiosity.


    Everything about this little sister seemed to be shrouded in a thinyer of mist.??


    He felt like this was something that was going to give him a headache the more he thought about it and he definitely wouldn''t reach any conclusions unless Theodore himself told him more.


    Changing the topic was the next best thing.


    "So are you nning to take the test?" Kayden Theodore about his thoughts on the trial Master Sungcha had given everyone in the lecture room.


    "Sure, why not. It''s not like I have anything to lose. Though it barely seems like a test. I wonder why he is so adamant that no one will seed." Theodore tried his best not to undermine the capabilities of a Master, but just the formatting of the test was already off-putting.


    "He is giving us a whole week to try." Theodore already weighed out the pros and the consing up with the conclusion that the most he could lose would be some time, while he had nearly everything to gain.


    It was a small gamble so to say.


    "I guess you''re right." Kayden thought about it a little more and agreed with Theodore. Both of them didn''t seem to care as much as their ssmates did.


    They talked a little more about their ss and Theodore spoke a little about the ss he attended in the morning.


    "Are you waiting for a text from your girlfriend?" Theodore chuckled.


    He noticed that Kayden seemed to be a little distracted. He was ncing at his phone every two seconds as if waiting for a message from someone, incredibly impatiently.


    ''And he says I''m whipped, just look at him. His image right now is probably the dictionary definition of whipped!''


    The suddenment made Kayden realize how out of it he was acting, making him jump out of his seat, trying to cover Theodore''s mouth before he said any more.


    "Don''t say that! You''re going to get me killed!" Kayden looked around to see if anyone heard Theodore, but there was literally no one around.


    Just when he rxed, moving away from Theodore, sitting back down, a voice sounded from behind him.


    "Oh, he''s hotter than I expected."


    The sudden appearance of a new voice shocked both Kayden and Theodore, Kayden more so than Theodore.


    A figure appeared behind Kayden, who had been standing so that both of the two boys wouldn''t be able to see this person from their perspective.


    "Is it necessary to be that shocked?" This question was directed to Kayden.


    "Were you talking about me behind my back?" Her eyes narrowed at Kayden''s perspiration.


    The neer was a female significantly shorter than Kayden and even more so than Theodore. If it were to be estimated, it would be around 168ish cm.


    Her hair was a light ginger color which looked to be mixed with some darker strands.


    Her eyebrows, dark and well-defined, were well paired with her dark brown eyes, almond in shape, which were entuated by her longshes.


    Her face full of freckles just served to top it all off.


    She was a stunning beauty.


    "Gen, you''re here," Kayden said, nervously.


    He definitely didn''t want to talk about what he and Theodore were speaking of before she arrived, so even though he wasn''t guilty of anything per se, he sure acted like it.


    Theodore wasn''t nearly as concerned, but he was surprised to see Gen right now, though thinking back, she did seem to have said that she would meet them after their lecture¡­


    It was just that so many things had happened since then that Theodore hadn''t put that thought very high in his list of priorities of things to be thinking about.


    He stood up and politely introduced himself to his senior, shaking her extended hand.


    "I''m Theodore."


    "Ginevra." She responded with her own greeting smiling, exposing her pearly white teeth.


    To be honest, both of them found the other to bepletely different from their expectations.


    Well, they both expected the other to be less attractive, to put it mildly.


    This was especially true for Gen''s image in Theodore''s mind.


    With the way Gen was described, she seemed to be someone, secluded, who lived in her duvet.


    [Dictionary: duvet- a soft quilt filled with down, feathers, or synthetic fiber, used instead of an upper sheet and nkets.]


    Probably with some chicken cup noodles stacked up on one side, only visible due to the light from her phone screen which also reflected ck circles under her eyes.


    She was also made out to be some hot-tempered demoness or child?


    Now, Theodore looked at this woman in front of him and all his expectations were blown out of the waters.


    She looked like...


    A normal person?


    Albeit with higher specs whenpared to your average pretty girl.


    There were no ck eye circles, no messy hair, no sses, no moody aura...


    Though she didn''t look like an angel, she was no devil either. It wasn''t at the level where this grown man sitting next to him should be this cautious around her.


    Definitely not someone who pulled all-nighters, and though she had a number of ear piercings, they didn''t make her look any less... cool?


    Though Theodore had many doubts, he didn''t show it on his face.


    Gen, on the other hand, didn''t hold back.


    "You''re hotter than I expected." She repeated, studying Theodore''s face intently.


    "Thanks?" Theodore had a number of girls confessing to him before, one senior sister just yesterday, but people who so bluntlyplimenting his looks were few and far between.


    Not nonexistent, just a minority.


    They all sat back down on the bench, with Gen sitting next to Kayden, diagonal to Theodore.


    With Kayden sitting across from him, Theodore could see Kayden staring at him with a strange look.


    "Hm. You''re right, he is hot and he has a brain too, the world isn''t as fair as you thought Gen." Kayden nodded contemtively.


    "I never said the world was fair, I just said that these cases should be in the minority is all." Gen refuted.


    With everyone staring at him, Theodore didn''t show signs of difort, but there were hints of confusion.


    "Do you guys always do this?" Theodore asked. He was asking about how they were talking as if he weren''t there, but his words were easily misinterpreted.


    "No. I don''t usually stare at guys as if I were gay, which I''m not, not that I''m against anyone that is." Kayden started rambling.


    And the rambling continued.


    "But as for the staring, I can''t say the same for Gen. She has a thing for good-looking guys, not that she actually has a thing for them..."


    "Just shut up." Gen had to stop the misery, it''s the least she could do for Kayden. A cue that he promptly took.


    "What he means is I like looking at handsome guys but I don''t date them. Eye candy you know. Like in a fan kind of way." She didn''t borate.


    Theodore restrained himself to a nod.


    ''Past rtionship problem?'' He theorized, not that he would know. He didn''t have any experience to speak of so it wasn''t exactly his expertise.


    "So what were you guys talking about." Gen changed the topic skillfully, to which Kayden''s face darkened a little.


    "Ourst ss, there was a master who came in and gave us a test to finish by next week, looking for a disciple," Theodore responded.


    Kayden who sat across from him gave Theodore the look of someone looking at his savior, inwardly thinking, ''nice save!''


    "Really? Who?"


    "Master Sungcha." Kayden joined in the conversation.


    Gen''s eyes widened at the revtion.


    ''I thought that old man was never going to take in a student. This is big news. I wonder what kind of test he''se up with.''


    Well, Gen wasn''t staying in the dark for long.


    ***


    Sneak Peek into Kayden''s mind while rambling)


    Kayden: No. I don''t usually stare at guys as if I were gay, which I''m not, not that I''m against anyone that is.


    Kayden: ''God damn, what am I say!''


    Kayden: ''Can''t you just stop already?''


    Kayden: But as for the staring, I can''t say the same for Gen. She has a thing for good-looking guys, not that she actually has a thing for them...


    Kayden: ''Oh I''m so getting killed.''


    Kayden: ''Please pray for me. No, I''ll just pray for myself.''


    Kayden: ''Why am I still not stopping??!!''


    Gen: Shut up


    Kayden: ...


    Kayden: ''Thank god.''

 Chapter 53 - Meeting Pt II: (Otome Game...?)

    Gen POV:


    I made my way to the meetup spot that I had previously specified to Kayden. My heart pounding against my chest with excitement.??


    ''I have to get Doorii to teach me his ways. I won''t leave with a no!''


    His gamey was a mesmerizing scene and as a fanatic, there was just no way I was going to miss out on the chance to learn from a gamemaster. Even if Doorii didn''t say it, it was almost certain that he was a pro.


    It was strange that he wasn''t in the rankings, but it was verymon for pros to have alts.


    I even cleaned myself up to make a good first impression. Hopefully, it will increase my chances of learning some of those sick maneuvers.


    Coming from behind, I could tell right away that it was Kayden at the bench ahead.


    He wore the same jacket that he always wears, the red one. I can''t remember since when, but it feels like he''s been wearing it since forever.


    Whenever I see him, he''s wearing it.


    Sometimes I wonder if he has multiple or if he just never washes it, but I don''t know if I want the answer so I just don''t ask.


    As I got closer I finally noticed what was happening, a shocking scene to say the least.


    Kayden¡­ was kissing the other man?


    Kayden brought his face up to the person he sat across from, his hand, holding the other''s cheeks, their foreheads seemingly touching with their lips meeting in the middle.


    It was clear that Kayden was the one taking initiative.


    [Note: This could be said to be a beautiful misunderstanding as from Gen''s POV, from where she stood, she truly believed that what she saw was what was happening. Refer to thest chapter if you are unsure of what led to this misunderstanding.]


    ''So it''s like that huh. Wowza, calm down Kayden! No PDA allowed when I don''t have a boyfriend.'' I snickered.


    I considered enforcing it as aw, but then I rejected it.


    I like dog food.


    So it''s ok.


    I could wait.


    It was only after Kayden moved out of the way that I was able to see ''Doorii''.


    "Oh, he''s hotter than I expected." I couldn''t help but blurt out what was on my mind, but since the words were already out, there was no point in being embarrassed now.


    There was some small talk in which he introduced himself.


    Theodore was his name, I''m pretty sure I heard it before when we were ying, but then my brain promptly decided to forget.


    Names are hard.


    This was especially true since people from different origins considered vastly different namesmon. From where I''m from, though Ginevra wasn''t the mostmon name, it wasn''t particrly out of ce either. Meanwhile, these top schools that hosted only the people at the peak of each nation were as good as a hub for various cultures.


    In conclusion, this is me trying to justify not being good with names.


    Moving on.


    ''How does he have enough time to be a gaming pro while also building those muscles.''


    Though he was on the lean side, he definitely had abs.


    Why is the world so unfair... based solely on my imagination, he was clearly supposed to be a cute, but introverted nerd.


    Howe he''s this hunk of hotness?


    And also, sadly gay.


    I couldn''t concentrate very well as I looked at the man''s chiseled face and his eyes. A pair of mesmerizing hazel eyes. Those could just eat one''s soul right up.


    Too bad he was both gay and taken, the nightmare of all girls.


    Seeing as I had already made a fool out of myself, I didn''t mind keep making a fool out of myself I couldn''t help but express my sentiments again as if the man in front of me didn''t already know that he was good-looking. I''m sure he did.


    As for my original goal... That wasn''t a priority right now.


    It was then that I heard my nameing from Kayden.


    "Hm. You''re right, he is hot and he has a brain too, the world isn''t as fair as you thought Gen."


    What''s truly not fair is that all the hot and smart guys are either taken, gay, or bastards. I thought that these crazy ideas were blown out of proportion due to the novels and mangas I normally read, but seeing this, it seems like I had to reconsider my original hypothesis.


    He was someone I would imagine to havee out of a book.


    Not that I would have gone for Doorii either way.


    What was his name?


    Doorii...


    Dior?


    "I never said the world was fair, I just said that these cases should be in the minority is all." I refuted, giving up on brainstorming the names that could possibly be his.


    At this point, I was going to have to figure out his name without having him catch on that I had forgotten it. Should I just ask?


    Then the alluring man talked.


    "Do you guys always do this?"


    "No. I don''t usually stare at guys as if I were gay, which I''m not, not that I''m against anyone that is." Kayden said.


    ''Yeah right... I''ll just sit here and pretend I didn''t see anything earlier. Mr. Handsome clearly didn''t push Kayden away either.''


    ''Kayden! Do you have to be so obvious, clearly no one said you were gay and here you are ''denying it''. Ah, what a guilty heart does to a man.'' My heart was screaming. It was truly painful.


    Painfully amusing.


    I almost couldn''t stop the corners of my lips from ascending to the heavens. Ah! I always imagined having gay couples around, but I didn''t think it would have been Kayden, I thought one of the others would have made it first.


    Do you know the scene where the parent simply walks in and asks how their child''s day went and then they go on to say ''I didn''t eat that cookie that I wasn''t supposed to eat and then the parent has to suppress both theirughter and a facepalm?


    Yeah, that''s what this was right now.


    But I also felt a little bad for Kayden.


    It was true that in the past couple of decades, there were many more gay couples, both male and female and it was generally epted, but there were still a few families that didn''t have the same views.


    This included Kayden''s family.


    He was from a strict family that valued lineage and heritage, so though they wouldn''t openly oppose anything, there would be no positive reaction either, and I knew that, so I gave him some leeway so that he could figure things out on his own.


    It wasn''t my problem in the first ce. I wasn''t going to tell him what I thought would be right.


    "But as for the staring, I can''t say the same for Gen. She has a thing for good-looking guys, not that she actually has a thing for them..."


    ''You just had to drag me into this, but seeing as you were just trying your best, I''ll let you off just this once.''


    "Just shut up." I understood what he meant, there was no need to keep going on.


    ''I''ll keep your little secret.''


    "What he means is I like looking at handsome guys but I don''t date them. Eye candy you know. Like in a fan kind of way."


    It was true.


    I do like eye candy but I won''t hang out with dumb eye candy.


    It was about time to move on from this topic.


    "So what were you guys talking about."


    "Ourst ss, there was a master who came in and gave us a test to finish by next week. Apparently, he''s looking for a disciple," Mr. Captivating said.


    What a bunch of lucky little freshmen. Not even a week and they''ve already met a Master.


    "Really? Who?"


    "Master Sungcha." Handsome replied.


    HIM???


    Noo waaaaay!


    He was like an unmovable mountainst time he was asked to take a student, now he''s suddenly taking in a disciple??


    "What''s the test like?" I asked, not revealing my interest in my voice nor on my face.


    "Now here''s where it gets interesting." Kayden immediately entered gossip mode, I could tell it was going to be good.


    "Master Sungcha gave us a game to y and he said that the two people to beat the would have the right to be his disciples." He exined.


    "A GAME!" Kayden emphasized with some hand gestures.


    "Of course, though they have this choice, chances are no one would reject if they have the opportunity unless it''s a profession they really don''t want to get into. Even so, we still have to try right?"


    "We don''t even know what Master Sungcha specializes in yet."


    Kayden jumped around in his little speech, but it was still coherent enough.


    "Can I see it?" I asked.


    Before I knew it, a phone screen was already in front of me with the application open.


    ''...''


    ''HOLY SH*T.''


    ''This guy...''


    I''m sure at this moment, my eyes were sparkling.


    Uncle Sungcha, you''re now my idol. I can''t believe you set this as the requirement for bing your disciple. And I could tell that uncle Sungcha was the one who developed the game from the logo at the corner of the disy screen.


    "Shocked right? Me too. And from what I''ve seen so far, at least half of the capture targets are Yandere [1]." The hot guy said.


    Gosh, he''s just getting more and more perfect. Kayden hit the jackpot this time. It''s clear that he was a veteran weeb and he was a pro at Mobba too.


    "Have you started ying?" I asked.


    He shook his head, which left me a little confused.


    "No, you can tell just from the character design. Look at this brte. He''s clearly the cute one, which means this blond one that looks like he would be the cute one if the brte were not here is probably a Yandere character." I couldn''t help but nod my head in agreement as Mr. Professional Weeb continued his analysis.


    "And this one with the ck hair and the robes, if he isn''t a Yandere character, then no one is." I let a chuckle slipped out. He had a point.


    "Though I have to say, I wonder what exactly Master Sungcha''s objective is. Just what does he have to specialize in for this to be necessary, and I doubt this game is as simple as just finding the right routes, there''s just no way." As he kept talking, I couldn''t help but feel like he was talking to himself, as he started mumbling a little, rather than talking to me and Kayden, but I didn''t mind it.


    "After all, what kind of Master would set beating an otome game [2] as the requirement for epting a disciple, after all, the disciple is the one that inherits their legacy right?" He continued.


    [1] Dictionary- A YANDERE is often sweet, caring, and innocent before switching into someone who disys an extreme, often violent or psychotic, level of devotion to a love interest.


    [2] Wiki- An OTOME GAME, sometimes contracted to otoge, is a story-based video game that is targeted towards women. Generally one of the goals, besides the main plot goal, is to develop a romantic rtionship primarily between the female yer character and one of several traditionally male characters.

 Chapter 54 - Meeting Pt III: (Bad Habit?)

    Gen and Theodore kept discussing the otome game while Kayden chimed in every once in a while with a few questions. After having disturbed the flow of the conversation once or twice, he realized that it wasn''t a matter he would be able to pick up in one or two conversations.


    This led him to the next best option, a quick search.??


    Anonymous User (Kayden): Quickly, my friends are all talking about some Yandere? What do I say? And what''s a Yandere? Responses ASAP, the conversation is ongoing.


    Random Passerby: You may want to run away right about now. Good luck! I''ll light incense for you!


    Random Passerby #2: Good luck! I''ll also light you an incense.


    Buddhist Random Passerby: Incense lighter here, selling incense, light one for this poor soul, and pray for his/her livelihood!


    Random Passerby #3: I''ll light him/her one!


    Random Passerby #4: Me too! This guy/girl really seems like he/she''ll be needing it.


    Random Passerby #5: I''ll join in!


    Anonymous User (Kayden): ???


    ''How did this go from asking advice to lighting incense? Who are you lighting one for? I, your father, am not dead yet and I don''t n to die before you do! Humph!'' Kayden''s eyebrows furrowed in both confusion and annoyance.


    Dumbfounded, he put his phone away and just sat quietly like a good kid listening to this conversation that he was unable to make heads or tails of.


    It was as if the other two were speaking in a differentnguage.


    He could understand every word separately, but when they were strung together into sentences, his brain didn''t seem to be armed with the skills to understand what was going on.


    What gs? Main events? And blond who? What do you mean he looks like he has an evil glint? How are his eyes different from all the other ones? You want to follow which path now? And what''s this destruction route you keep bringing up?


    Looking at the little angel of a 2D character they were talking about, he was truly wondering if it was he who went crazy or his two friends who were just speaking gibberish that he couldn''t understand.


    Speaking of which, why the hell did it look and feel like he was the odd one out.


    Gen and Theodore spoke so casually and in sync that one would think they had known each other for years. They were totally on the same wavelength, meanwhile Kayden¡­ he was lost in trantion.


    It was quite sad, but Kayden didn''t linger on the thought.


    Gen walked with the two boys to their dormitory, which ended up attracting a lot of attention from both the first years and some of the second years who were in the area.


    "Hey, isn''t that the guy who rejected that pretty senior sister? Who''s that girl next to him?"


    "I''m not sure either, maybe she''s a second-year? I don''t think there''s anyone like her in our department and if I had seen her in the meet-up for the freshmen, I would have remembered her for sure."


    "No, she''s not from our year either, though I can''t say that I know all the second years, I would have also known if someone like her."


    "Maybe a third year?"


    "True, howe I didn''t see any pictures of her in the campus forum, I''m sure she could at least beat out the department beauty in whichever department she''s from. Maybe with the exception of the Mood Goddess from the acting department."


    "Maybe she''s why the Freshmen Heart-throb rejected that pretty senior sister. Though she was pretty, she probably can''tpare with this senior sister here."


    These were just some of the conversations that could be heard from the peanut gallery who lived for gossip.


    "How are there so many gossipmongers at this school?" Theodore questioned at some point. It was truly baffling to him, how this elite school hosted so many people who seemingly had nothing better to do.


    ''And seriously.''


    ''What''s up with this Freshmen Heart-throb thing¡­'' Theodore recalled how Kayden had mentioned this previously and he was still at a loss for words.


    "Hahaha, you have to know, this is also a school of information. Information is key here. Anything that is seemingly unimportant to one person can be valuable in the hands of another. And I''m sure you''ve heard the saying: Information travels fast, and rumors always travel faster." Gen giggled at the thought.


    Many would think that these top schools hosted either prim and proper students or wildly arrogant ones, and though this was in some way, shape, or form, true, there was also a reason why there seemed to be so many people who lived off of gossip.


    All the people here could be said to be incredibly talented and even the people who weren''t particrly smart had an IQ that was above average.


    They knew the essence of adaptability in society and that was connections, information, and more connections.


    And the easiest way of forming connections?


    Having something the other person needs. And what would these prodigies with nock of recourses need?


    Opportunities.


    And the easiest way to grasp opportunities, was, of course, information and connections.


    This was how an environment filled with interactions where people both gossiped and exchanged gossip was formed. Of course, there were still some people that provided incredibly reliable intel which will be expanded on at ater date.


    It all went full circle and so in the end, every one of the students was out for all kinds of information all the time, rather than a chore, it was more like a habit.


    And so, this was how all the students here developed the ''good'' habit of gossiping, all the time.


    Even if the information wasn''t particrly urate, it must havee from somewhere, whether it was fabricated by someone or from a real event.


    The credibility was for these young geniuses to discern.


    Theodore nodded at Gen''s previousment after pondering on it for a few moments.


    "By the way, why does it sound like no one knows you? Not even the second years." Theodore found this strange right when he heard the sidement from one of the second years.


    "Haha, that must be because of Gen''s bad habits. Considering how it was a couple of years back, it isn''t at all shocking that Gen wouldn''t be noticed when she could even hide back when she was still in high school, where pretty much everyone knew everyone else." This time, it was Kayden who responded, and his response was met with a p to the back of his head.


    Theodore: There are bad habits that make it so that you aren''t noticed by a whole grade of people who have supposedly spent at least one year with you???


    Seeing his confusion, Gen released a depressing sigh.


    "Well, I guess he''s not wrong when I don''t clean up. I guess I go pretty under the radar." She unwillingly disclosed.


    Kayden broke into a peal of crazedughter.


    "Hahaha, pretty under the radar? More like 6 feet under. Absolutely undetectable!" And it was no surprise that Kayden was met with yet another p to the back of his head.


    "My head is already iron-hard from all the tempering Gen¡­ you can stop it now, or I''ll really go dumb and say even more dumb things than I already do," Kaydenined indignantly.


    This was a serious threat.


    Well, as serious as it could get.


    Gen just scoffed and looked at him with disdain. She was nearly at the level where she was about to shake her head.


    "Let me show you, I have a photo of how she norma---" Kayden was quickly silenced with a jab to his abdomen.


    Gen wasn''t going to let her efforts go to waste before having achieved her goals. She was finally setting her priorities straight!


    "So, by the way. You have some really neat tricks, want to teach me some?" Gen asked.


    Theodore: Even for me¡­ isn''t this transition/ topic changing, a little too forceful?


    Kayden was stupefied for a second.


    Kayden: Can you be more obvious¡­


    ***


    Cute little chibi Kayden who was constantly hit is currently drawing small circles at the little corner of there. That small grey cloud causing the drizzling doesn''t seem to be helping out his mood either!


    Vote to lift up his mood a little!


    <3

 Chapter 55 - Meeting Pt IV: (I Really Dont Know.)

    Theodore was sitting there alone in his dorm room messing around with the otome game, testing some routes and tricks he had learned from past gaming experiences, he hadpletely put on the ''main character of a game, where everything revolves around me'' mindset, but after ying for a while, he had realized that this was no ordinary game.


    He currently had two options in hand, one was to properly y the game like anyone else, and the other was to hack it and beat it that way. After all, the requirement was to ''reach the end'' and not, find the right route or beat the game.??


    And Theodore quickly found out why that was so. There were just too many routes in this game¡­


    There might be 1 or 2 routes that could be considered the right route, no, actually, Theodore wasn''t even sure if there was a right route at all. But there were most likely more where the ending wouldn''t lead to defeat.


    Even so, Theodore wasn''t 100% confident that he would be able to find one, he just assumed there to be a right answer, but if he didn''t figure out the trick, this was going to be as hard as finding a needle in a haystack.


    This otome game was unlike the ones he had yed in the past, it was definitely more time-consuming and much more challenging, and after ying for a bit longer, he realized the reason why it waspletely different.


    The ''right answers'' to pass an event changed!


    He had sessfully passed the first event and when he reached the second one, he had made a wrong judgment, leading to death, but when he started again, he had died in the first event even though he chose the same answers.


    It was baffling¡­


    And in case you were wondering what kind of theme this otome game was, how it had so many turns that could lead to death, well Theodore could only say that the designer wasn''t the most creative person alive.


    The game was set in an all-boys academy, at which a female character crossdresser as a male. Every person could only y as the female character and so that was also the perspective that Theodore yed in.


    The nation believed strongly in male supremacy and so no females were allowed at the elite school. If she was found out by someone who didn''t have a high enough favourability or interest in her, then she would ultimately be killed off for deceiving the most prestigious school in the kingdom, supported by even the king.


    It was clich¨¦, to say the least, but it served its purpose of being a pain in the ass for the students taking the ''test''.


    Theodore sighed after his 24th consecutive death in-game, seriously considering just hacking it and getting it over with.


    But he knew that he wouldn''t actually be able to do that because he just liked a good challenge too much.


    Though if worse came to worse, he could always opt for taking hacking the game as the challenge, after all, a Master who came to theputer sciences department in a software designing ss to look for a disciple should be no pushover in this aspect. Right?


    Even if he wasn''t an expert at defensive systems, he should at least know an expert who could help him. Master Sungcha had already said that he would rather the scales not be tipped on any one person''s side so it should only be right that he took countermeasures into consideration.


    ''This could also serve as a good challenge,'' he thought.


    It was then that Kayden came back, closing the door behind him and plopping down on his bed.


    "Don''t catch a cold." Theodore reminded Kayden, whose shirt was mostly wet.


    The weather was hot, and they had bothe back sweating. The air conditioner was on, making this a perfect setup to get sick which Theodore took into consideration.


    While Kayden had been talking with Gen alone, Theodore had already washed up and changed into a new shirt.


    He was really jealous of the amount of money the school was going to be earning just from the money to keep the washing machines going, even if he wasn''tcking in cash.


    "Mm, I''ll go take a shower then." Kayden reluctantly got up, but only because he saw the merit in taking a shower now rather thanter. It was also the ce where he could clear his head and think the best.


    Around 10 minter; Theodore''s death count had already increased significantly, and Kayden came out of the bathroom, fresh and clean.


    Even so, his be [1] was still slightly wrinkled as he was lost in his thoughts.


    "What did you guys talk about?" Theodore nonchntly asked when he noticed Kayden''s disposition.


    He lifted his head and ignored the game to give Kayden his undivided attention for that instance.


    "That''s also what I wanted to know." Kayden tilted his head and held his hand up to his chin, rubbing it in contemtion.


    "What do you mean? You guys had a private conversation, and you don''t even know what you talked about?" Theodore chuckled leaning back on his chair while giving Kayden a nce that expressed his amusement, his eyes twinkling a little as if to tease him.


    Theodore knew that Kayden knew that Theodore wouldn''t ask anymore if he didn''t want to talk about it so there would be no point in going about the conversation in a roundabout way, which led Theodore to the only usible conclusion¡­


    This guy really didn''t know!


    Kayden scratched his hair, which was still mildly wet.


    Thinking back to that conversation, he was still lost even now. Back then, Gen had insisted for Theodore to go up first so that she could talk with Kayden. It went something like this:


    "What did you want to talk about?" Kayden was slightly embarrassed when Gen asked Theodore to go up first since he was supposed to be a middleman of sorts, or so he thought. And it didn''t seem nice that it sounded like he had something that he had to hide or anything like that.


    Almost as if he were talking behind Theodore''s back.


    It could be said that in some instances, Kayden was pretty innocent.


    Theodore on the other hand thought nothing of it.


    After all, Gen and Kayden had been friends for a long time, it was only natural that they had things that they wanted to talk about or catch up on.


    Things that had nothing to do with him.


    "Hey, you! I get that he''s a really special guy, but you have to be careful, ok? And don''t be too hard on him either, especially since it doesn''t seem like you''reing out with it." Once Gen started rambling, nothing could stop her until she was done. And it seemed like she was particrly stirred up about this topic.


    "It won''tst long if you''re not willing to sacrifice a little bit, you will have to confront these problems when the timees, and I don''t want to see you guys go your separate ways just because you aren''t 100%mitted in the rtionship. Don''t be half-hearted Kayden. I can tell that that guy is a sincere one. Got it?" Gen had finished her piece in a rush, saying all this because she didn''t want his friend to get hurt.


    As for the more selfish and credible reason¡­ it was more so because if there were a rift between her new idol (Theodore) and one of her best friends (Kayden), then it would be a pain in the butt for her.


    She hoped that they would stay together for a long time!


    Kayden, this dumbass, subconsciously nodded his head, even though he had no clue what he was nodding or agreeing about.


    Then he snapped out of it, asking, "wait, who are you talking abo--¡­", but sadly, Gen had left at a moment''s notice.


    He could only make his way back to his room in confusion.


    Now that he thought about it, it could barely have been considered a conversation. He wasn''t sure if he was being reprimanded and if he was, what exactly was he being reprimanded for?


    And which guy are you talking about?


    Theodore seemed to be the most usible conclusion considering the timing, but Kayden really wanted to smack Gen''s head a little.


    ''Do you even know what names are for? (¦Ð©`¦Ð)...''


    And as for the rtionship thing?


    Friendship? What was she so worried about?


    In the end, he could only shrug.


    "It probably wasn''t anything too important." Kayden nodded at his own statement.


    "Mm, okay then. Want to check out the game? It''s some really, next-level stuff, it''s surreal." Theodore had achieved a shocking 39 deaths in-game, but he looked in no way upset or frustrated, rather, he looked excited.


    His face was sporting arge grin as if he had just found his next ything.


    Rather than feeling embarrassed due to the high number of failures achieved in such a short amount of time, he looked proud of his deaths, just about as happy, or maybe even more so, as when he won the national level mathpetition, the name of which he couldn''t even remember anymore.


    Kayden quickly agreed, looking for a distraction and thus taking his phone out.


    As he looked at the loading screen, another thought popped up.


    ''Ah. Another thing that Ipletely don''t understand. Other than the thoughts that run through a girl''s head, it''s still a girl''s mindset that I don''t understand.''


    He had already done some research on otome games and so he knew the basics.


    It was pretty much a game where you tested the extents of the female imagination¡­ at least that''s what Kayden was thinking


    [1] Dictionary- be is the smooth part of the forehead above and between the eyebrows.


    ***


    Emilin is staring into the sunset, a beautiful view disyed before her eyes, of the setting sun, whose light shone between the birch trees.


    Emilin: Ah, I want to go take photos already. Vote so that we can get the great author to write more and faster!

 Chapter 56 - Other Than Death, There Was Only More Death!

    "Ahh! How is this even a game? It''s more like a specially modified torturing device!" Kayden let out a big sigh, throwing his phone to the side and sitting up on his bed which he had been previouslyying on while ying.


    Tinges of red were creeping on the edges of his eyes. He clearly hadn''t had any shut-eye all night. Instead, he was spending his time ying this stupid game and he didn''t really get a good rest thest night either, due to the incident with Theodore.??


    He had lost count of the number of deaths he had experienced after the count had passed 30 a long time ago and so he didn''t know just how many times he had died, but he knew that it was already over 9 hours'' worth of deaths.


    If he had to estimate, it might have been over 200, but he could say for sure it felt more like 2000. He was on the verge of rage quitting, but it was already toote for that.


    The time Kayden spend before one ''game over'' varied from under a minute, to over 30 minutes, just thinking about what he should do next. Many of those times, he died in the first stage, which had from 10 to 15 choice-making instances. In other words, 10 to 15 chances of falling into a death trap of words.


    It was unlikely to die in the first couple of choices as they would be used to determine the following questions, but they could lead you to much more dire straits.


    "It was that ''devil in disguise'' that caught me this time," Kayden informed Theodore, allowing Theodore to add one more datum to his table.


    He was trying to figure out a pattern based on the questions asked, how they were responded to, and when death fell upon the yer in order to figure out why.


    Theodore''s situation was not much different, but because he was already used to pulling all-nighters, his body wasn''tining as much, it had already adapted to the circumstances of the body''s owner.


    As for the ''devil in disguise'' that Kayden had mentioned, he was talking about one of the Love Interests [1] in the game, Khalid Vanhell, third son of Marquess Vanhell, the current head of the Vanhell household, a family well known for being a loyal sword to the King, a symbol for the epitome of justice.


    And of course, someone taught by such a family absolutely could not tolerate anything that went against the King''s will.


    In such a family of pristine knights, women were looked down on, like nothing else mattered less, after all, they couldn''t even hold a sword, but then again, even if they could, no one would know because they were never allowed near one since they are so ''weak''.


    So how could the righteous Khalid possibly allow for someone like the heroine (the yer) to go running around staining the reputation of the kingdom by staying in this school.


    Khalid was a character of dark skin and blue hair. The blue hair was a signature characteristic to recognize a member of the Vanhell family. Meanwhile, the dark skin was inherited from his mother, a noble from another country who was sent to the kingdom where the game took ce to be the Marquess''s second concubine.


    Even so, none of this affected the dignified aura of a perfect knight that he inherently possessed.


    And at the same time, no one would have thought that such a man of justice would be responsible for over half of Kayden''s repeated deaths in-game.


    He was seriously going to cry soon. (?©n?)


    "How did you die this time?" Theodore asked, in order to collect more data. Yes, that was definitely the only reason he asked. ( ?? ?? ?? )


    [Theodore: Author-nim, even if you are going to use the emoticon, can you not pick one that looks better??]


    [Author-nim: (currently offline, leave a voice message and wait 24 working hours to get your message not responded to. Thank you for using the BRACKET services, pleasee again.)]


    [Theodore: Howe you are willing to read and respond to all of your reader''s messages andments but not mine?]


    [Author-nim: (currently offline, leave a voice message and wait 24 working hours to get your message not responded to. Thank you for using the BRACKET services, pleasee again.)]


    "Gah! It was in the second stage, the 4th crossroad [2], the question about the room allocation. I clearly chose to move to a separate room, and it worked thest 3 times, but this time the Devil (knight Khalid, who also attended this school) must have been in a bad mood or something!" Kayden casually remarked.


    At this point, he had alreadye to terms with the fact that this was a death game. Other than death, the only other choice was more death!


    And this death seemed to be specially reserved for the yers.


    "Mm, this is your 215th death. Congrats, you''ve already surpassed me!" Theodore jokingly, or maybe not so jokingly replied.


    "Did you notice anything?" Kayden asked, starting another round on the phone that he had tossed out.


    "Not really. It seems like the right answers don''t depend solely on what you had chosen previously. There must another factor that I''m missing, but I just can''t tell."


    Theodore didn''t know, but Kayden could now recognize his ''seriously contemting, thinking to myself and pretty much just speaking out loud, but not necessarily to you even though we are having a conversation. I''m lost in my thoughts'' face. One that could probably make all females and bent males swoon a little.


    "It can''t be that Master Sungcha would make this a luck-based game, and he only gave us one week, which is clearly not enough to map out all the options." He continued without pause.


    Theodore was typing on hisputer as he talked while simultaneously ying the otome game on his phone.


    "It isn''t the formatting of the questions or choices, I''ve made sure. All the questions are written in the exact same words, in the same order, and with identical punctuation. The same is true for the options we have in the crossroads." Theodore exined some of his thoughts.


    At first, they had only been ying normally, but when they had finallye to terms with the difficulty level of this game, they both agreed to start taking things seriously and to work on it together for now.


    They had started collecting data, and Theodore had started processing it after their first hour of ying, and though it may sound boring, to just y this same game over and over and to subsequently die over and over, they actually both rather enjoyed it.


    They had a real challenge in hand now.


    They had also learned a lot more about each other in this process.


    Though Kayden may seem somewhat mellow and yful, he was able to provide some great insight on some of the questions Theodore brought up previously, proving that it was by no means luck that he had been epted to this school.


    He also had some crazy amount of endurance. When he started something, he wouldn''t stop until he got to the end of it, even if that end was inevitable doom, over and over.


    Kayden had already made an internal vow to himself that he was going to beat this game no matter how many times he had to die because of it.


    Though his mouth voiced his frustrations, he was far from giving up.


    He thought about rage quitting, but he knew that he wouldn''t be able to do it anymore, he was just stubborn like that.


    As for what Kayden learned about Theodore, he learned that Theodore was insane.


    It wasn''t just one or two things about Theodore that made Kayden suspect that he wasn''t really a human.


    It was ok to first put aside Theodore''s unreal willpower, not at all losing to Kayden''s stubbornness. Kayden had thought that if he imed to be second, no one would dare im to be more stubborn than him, but it seemed like he had now met his match.


    They both acted like ying this game for 9 hours straight was nothing, even though theirplexions said otherwise.


    Just Theodore''s ability to multitask was already stunning enough. In the beginning, Kayden still took some time to watch as Theodore read and responded to the game options, analyzed the possible patterns, while typing them up and jotting them down, inserting them in a table, and doing research on other simr games on a side tab.


    He soon got used to it, and after that, the realization that came to him was simply depressing.


    Now there was only one question left to ask.


    Why the fuck was this guy majoring in acting/ performing arts?


    Isn''t this a bit too much?


    [1]- Love Interest is the same as the capture target that you, the heroine, will have to raise your affection with. At the end of the game, you end up with that character, if you seed. There are many possible LI.


    [2] Crossroads is what Kayden calls the moments where a choice has to be made in-game. He just started using it and so it caught on.

 Chapter 57 - Trail Pt I: (Entrance)

    Around this time, in E continent, Emilin got on the bus that would take her from White City to one of the main entrances to the Hemafuji Mountain Range in that region.


    There were busses that took people to the mountain range avable in 30-minute intervals, depending on the number of people going. The round trip was only 40 minutes.??


    A total of 8 busses could be seen from the bus stop, 2 to keep the business going, and 6 for insurance so that things wouldn''t get dyed in case an incident urred or in the case of an influx of passengers.


    It was really dependent on the day, the asion, and even the season, there were just too many variables that would affect the number of passengers and thus the number of active busses. Still, when they weren''t being used, they would be stationed on standby.


    Thepany who provided this mode of transport was called out for being dumb because they could have been using these busses in other locations to earn more money, but they didn''t seem to care since those busses were still just there.


    There were generally 2 types of peopleing to the mountain range, the locals that came for walks and hikes, generally of the older generation and tourist that came to see the famous Range.


    These people were all generally not very young of age considering the fact that most schools had already started in most countries in E continent, where this range was located at.


    There were professional hikers, people who came for exercise, middle-aged people, and elderlies.


    With all that being said, Emilin somewhat stood out, but also not enough for people to pay her any mind. A couple of nces were still inevitable.


    She was carrying a mountain climbing backpack with a fold-up tent attached to the back. Her bag was filled with some necessities, but nothing too heavy. At least when she easily carried it on the bus with her thin stature, she didn''t make it look heavy despite the big size of the backpack.


    Well, there were things like her sleeping bag that weighed close to nothing, while taking up a big space, but there was also somewhat of a misconception involved.


    Emilin was in no way, weak or frail.


    It was just that her height made her look rtively thinner, but not in an unhealthy way either. After all, with brothers who exercised so much and cared so much about her health, there was just no way that they would let her escape from working out and taking proper care of her body.


    Emilin went on the 5 AM bus. She wanted to make some ground before the sun rose and the temperature along with it, affecting her stamina.


    When she got on, there were already quite a few people seated there, all wearing sportswear. At least half of them were not carrying big bags, showing that they were only going to the mountain range for a short hike and that they wereing back before sundown.


    Emilin found herself an empty seat and quietly yed some Mobba using mobile data.


    "Hello youngdy, you must be new around here, right?" An old woman who seemed to be around the age of 60 spoke to Emilin with a gentle smile.


    Emilin looked up, disregarding her phone and nodding her head in response to the elderlydy''s question with a stoic face.


    "Since this seems to be your first time around here you might not know, but that phone of yours won''t be able to catch any signals if you hike past the first peak." The elder informed, pointing at Emilin''s big camping backpack.


    Emilin nodded both in thanks and understanding, to which the elder only smiled, minding her own business after the short interaction.


    She noticed that this young girl didn''t seem to like to talk very much. Seeing as she was most likely not from around here, the whole conversation had been in English rather than the localnguage which the olddy was also fluent in.


    The 20-minute ride passed in a sh and before Emilin knew it, she was already at her destination.


    The entrance area before the hiking trail had multiple stores with trail mix, water, and a lot of other equipment that may be necessary for the people who were going up this path. It wasn''tcking in souvenirs nor ---other touristic features either.


    Emilin along with most of the people who were able to get themselves toe here so early in the morning walked straight past all of these buildings and tents, heading straight to the path that they were going to start treading.


    There were about 20 odd people and the ones who seemed more familiar with this location naturally went first, not caring for the others who were here. Everyone, with the exception of those who came together, seemed to have a silent agreement to mind their own business.


    Some started jogging and others walking, every pace showing their familiarity with their surroundings as if their every step were either nned or simply muscle memory.


    As for those who were not as familiar, like Emilin, they had to slow down to watch their step and so they naturally fell behind the others.


    There were fewer people in this group as most people who weren''t familiar with the area didn''te so early in the morning.


    A distance was created between everyone and Emilin who wanted to tread alone. She took this time to take out her phone and inform her family about the changes to some of her ns.


    Me (Emilin): I might not be able to send messages for the next while because there won''t be much of a signal up there. But don''t worry, I''ll take care of myself. I''ll send you all a message when Ie back.


    Mom <3: [Will you be okay? Out for so long. ( ¡ä?_?`)]


    Dad <3: [How long will you be out dear? Don''t let your mom worry too much.]


    Emilin thought for a bit, estimating the amount of time she would be out for beforeing to the conclusion that she would be back in around 3 to 4 days and that if she wanted to stay for longer, she coulde back after having rested for a while. But just to be safe, she gave herself an extension.


    Me (Emilin): I should being back before the end of the week. 6~ish days. If I don''t send you a message by then you can call the police and ground me for life! Haha.


    Of course, Emilin said this 70% jokingly.


    Big Brother Theo: Emilin''s a big girl now. She can take care of herself!


    Emilin simply wanted tough at her old brother''s response, because in private, his messages werepletely different.


    Big Brother Theo: Are you sure about this? One week is a lot of time! Lots of things can happen at this time. You might get hurt, and then you won''t have anyone to help you. And then you won''t be able to call.


    Emilin used the most solid argument she could find at that point in time.


    Me (Emilin): Forwarding message -->"Big Brother Theo: Emilin''s a big girl now. She can take care of herself!" ?_?...


    Before Theo could deny what, he himself had said, Emilin reassured with a follow-up message.


    Me (Emilin): Yes, I''ll be fine, I''m wearing the shoes you gave mest time so you can rest assured.


    Big Brother Theo: Okay, I was going to remind you if you weren''t wearing them already. You can go and have fun; I''ll pacify mom and dad. Your big bro has got you covered. ?(???¨F¨F)?.


    Me (Emilin): Yes, yes, you''re the best. And don''t stress out too much with that Master Sungcha''s test. Get some sleep already.


    Emilin was already aware of the game that Theo was working on all night, and honestly, she was just as baffled as he was, but she didn''t want to meddle too much with what her big brother did unless he asked for help, she would not involve herself.


    ''I guess all the people who have reached the level of a Master have their own entricities.'' She concluded.


    Big Brother Theo: Haha. No worries, it''s actually pretty fun!


    Me (Emilin): Gasp! Has my brother be a masochist? You''ve died over 200 times and you still haven''t even passed the fourth event after a whole night of ying and it''s still fun?


    Emilin didn''t have the same kind of patience her big brother and Kayden had.


    Big Brother Theo: Are you worrying for your big bro (?©n?). You don''t have to worry; your big brother is strong, and he can endure the deaths.


    Me (Emilin):¡­


    Emilin didn''t know, but she was smiling even after she had put her phone away in her bag, which was noticed by an elderlydy at the top of the first hill.


    "I guess that youngdy isn''tpletely unexpressive. Ah, this generation can only find joy on their screen. How sad. Mm, but at least this youngdy still knows to exercise restraint." She said, seemingly to herself, before turning around as if nothing had happened.

 Chapter 58 - Trail Pt II: (Breathing)

    After Emilin got off her phone, she was finally able to take a good look at the view in front of her.


    The sun had yet to rise and so it was still rather dark, but it was illuminated enough that she could see her surroundings without having to use her own light source. There were a couple of lights in the distance,ing from the shlights of those who treaded in front of her and had already left her behind.??


    There were also the lights that came from behind her, from the buildings that had already opened before sunrise.


    Emilin straightened up her back and looked up at the path that she was going to be taking. With a deep breath, Emilin pushed the inside of her bag straps with her thumbs, getting a firmer grip on everything she was carrying with her.


    She felt like nothing that had troubled her in her past mattered at this moment.


    Only the path ahead was of any importance.


    Of course, these problems she had didn''t simply disappear, Emilin just let them fade away to the back of her mind for an instance.


    Taking each step forward with a peculiar confidence.


    With the attention she was putting on her every physical movement, she didn''t have time to think about anything else, which was a good thing.


    Before she had even taken her first step, she had already set a goal for herself. One that she wanted to aplish in this short trip.


    She liked to set goals for herself so that she would have a tangible method to determine her sess, which she used to motivate her in order to move forward.


    After walking an inclined path for around 15 minutes at a moderate pace, Emilin had to take out her own shlight as she was already too far away to use the lights from the buildings as a light source.


    At the same time, the people who had been moving in front of her had also pulled some more distance, leaving Emilin in the dust.


    She could still barely make out some lights, but most people had already moved past a certain piece ofnd, which covered Emilin''s view.


    ''Is this the merit of fresh air?'' Emilin pondered on some trivial thoughts as she maderge strides along her path.


    ''Every breath I take is less suffocating than thest.'' Emilin thought.


    ''How did I even survive breathing such suffocating air in the past?''


    ''Did I hold my breath?''


    Her thoughts seemed both trivial and paramount at the same time.


    It wasn''t until she inhaled deep breaths that she realized; she had been holding back all this time without her own knowledge.


    Maybe it was due to the physical exercise or even the freshness of this air, but Emilin felt like she could finally take a moment to breathe.


    ''How funny. It''s something as fundamental as breathing, yet I feel like I''ve been doing it wrong my whole life.'' Emilin chuckled at her own ridiculousness.


    ''Do I take breathing for granted?''


    At some point, this thought popped up.


    ''People take shallow breaths, breathing only when necessary, as the norm, and fail to realize when they arecking in air.''


    ''Suffocating in everything.''


    ''Suffocating in everyone.''


    ''Suffocating with every extra thought.''


    ''Everything is piled up until they be tense enough to explode and only then, do they know to breathe. But how many cases are there where it''s simply toote?''


    ''How many people just stop and take some time to breathe. Something as fundamental as breathing will prevent you from suffocation, yet some people seem to like the thrill of being surrounded.''


    ''Is this why some people meditate? Perhaps I should try.'' Emilin thought.


    If meditating has a chance to solve even 1% of her troubles, then she was more than willing to try. She didn''t want her parents to worry too much in the future. She was too scared that something like what had happened at the hotel was going to happen again when she went back home.


    She had to solve as much as she could before her 2-year deadline before she went to school.


    She wanted to have normal interactions thereafter so now she had to work on herself.


    Before Emilin knew it, it was already 10 AM and she had been walking without stopping for over 4 hours while carrying herrge bag.


    Her legs were only slightly sore, which led her to stop at a big rock at the side, dropping her bag on the floor next to her feet.


    Even though the weather was rather nice, not at all hot, Emilin''s back was already soaked due to the bag she was carrying.


    She took out some garlic tbread that she had bought at a morning breakfast stall earlier in the day, next to the bus stop. The garlic tbread couldn''t be left for the next day, so she was nning on finishing it up today.


    ''This is really great; it deserves to be the specialty here.''


    Emilin thoroughly enjoyed the meal.


    Even though it wasn''t piping hot anymore, even after so many hours, it was still soft on the inside while maintaining its crisp exterior. The garlic part was just a big plus.


    ''Gosh, imagine how good it would have been if it were still hot.''


    She didn''t have any appetite that early in the morning and she didn''t want to eat right before a long hike which was what led her to decide not to eat, but now she wished that she had taken just one bite back then to try it while it was still in its prime state.


    Well, it''s toote to regret it now, there is really no point in doing so either.


    ''I''ll just get some piping hot ones on my way back.''


    Just as Emilin finished her meal, some other people could be heard running from the same path that she hade from.


    ''Hm, the next batch already caught up to me? Am I going that slowly?''


    In the past four hours, there had already been some people who went back to the entrance, passing by Emilin on their way. They shared a wave before parting ways, but since Emilin had always been on the move, and she hadn''t exactly been going slowly, she hadn''t met anyone that came after her.


    Well, these next people might havee using another mode of transport, but Emilin was assuming that they had also taken the bus.


    People who only came out for a walk, hiking for fun, wouldn''t havee this deep into the mountains.


    Out of curiosity, Emilin looked in the direction these people wereing from. They were currently on a somewhat even path and the new group was still a distance away from Emilin.


    She had noticed them due to the approaching sound of the footsteps that filled the quiet mountains.


    The closer they got the louder the footsteps and the clearer Emilin could hear.


    The steps were incredibly uneven and rushed.


    When her sight caught up with her hearing, what she saw was a group of males that looked like they were running away from a beast.


    At first, Emilin was preparing to grab her bag and run for it, it truly looked like there was a monster chasing these people, but when she heard the conversation they were having while running she released a sigh of relief.


    Well rather than a conversation, it was more like they were shouting at someone to stop and show mercy.


    Thankfully their terminology told Emilin that it wasn''t some gang or mafia chasing them.


    "Brother! Don''t do this to us anymore." A muscr man with dark hair, caramel skin, and dark green eyes running at the front shouted. He was mildly out of breath, but it was nothingpared to the people who followed.


    Even so, this man who looked to be a professional bodybuilder looked like he was about to cry while begging this ''Brother'' to stop whatever it was that he was doing.


    "We know we were wrong. Please stop! Give us a chance." The person next to the first bodybuilder seemed to be in the best condition after the dark green-eyed man, but his desperation ran even deeper than the person running slightly ahead of him. His shoulder-length ash grey hair was sticking to the back of his neck and a red tint was creeping up his neck.


    "COME ON! Second captain won''t know if you let us off this one time!" The man running behind the second man already had visible tears and snot running off to the sides of his face due to the speed at which he was running.


    He was truly iling his arms with all his might¡­


    "Pre¡ªpretty pl--- ea¡ªease." Thest one at the back of the crew spat out his words with all his might.


    He was alreadypletely out of breath, his face already bing red, which was especially noticeable due to his pale skin.


    As for the person who had caused all this distress for these four people.


    It had to be the person who followed after, no, chased after, these 4 in such a leisurely pace that one would think he was actually taking a stroll at the park.


    He had an incredibly small staturepared to the people around him, almost that of a teen, but Emilin had a hard time believing that he was actually a teen just from the way he was being treated in this group.


    Even so, he didn''t fall behind the speed of the four in front of him, in fact, he was making sure that those four would keep up their pace.


    "Do you guys actually believe what you say?" This person casually asked.

 Chapter 59 - Trail Pt III: (Unexpected Method)

    "Do you guys actually believe what you say?" he casually asked.


    "You really think that brother Dios, your captain, won''t know if I let you guys off?" He snorted.??


    As he spoke, he gradually picked up his pace, going from a casual walk or jogging situation into a slow jog of sorts.


    As for the people in front of him, though they were apparently going at the same speed, they weren''t having nearly as nice of a time.


    Sweat started rolling down their bodies as if the effect of gravity on those drops of precipitation were suddenly multiplied.


    It was even odder since the blond man was shorter than 3 of the men he was ''chasing'' and yet he was still able to casually catch up and make it look like he wasn''t in a hurry.


    "What a joke," he couldn''t help but chuckle at the mere thought of brother Dios letting these people off.


    These people were out of their minds if they thought such a thing would slip under Dios''s nose.


    Absolutely absurd.


    At this point, he even wanted to question how these people got their positions.


    Was it nepotism?


    Because if so, it should be solved as soon as possible. He didn''t want to have to deal with a brainless bunch for prolonged periods of time.


    Nepotism was probably the most unreliable method to rise in the ranks in their line of duty since the higher ranked they were without the skills to back them up, the higher the chances of death.


    It was pretty much a death sentence. Man, if you had a rtive or friend who you truly wanted dead, you might just want to rmend them here, but if any of the captains or their superiors found out that they were used as a trash can, the perpetrator of the whole thing would also receive their due punishment.


    That being said, it was unknown if these people actually got in through nepotism.


    ''It seems like I will have to sign these four up for extra mentality training or they''ll die once any one of the others takes over,'' the blondie thought.


    Though his words may seem harsh, he was already one of the kinder captains. Yes, this man who looked to be under 20 is also a captain. As for his real age, it was best to keep mum for now.


    Supervising these people as they carried out their punishment was pretty much a day off for him, so he made sure to have his share of fun.


    "I''ll let you guys take a guess at how many times you''ll have to run around the trail that spans across the whole mountain range if he finds out that you guys were trying to escape from punishment." He entertained the idea of a reward and his brain quickly worked on finding something that would be more amusing.


    The scariest part was that he smiled like if it was nothing.


    If you didn''t know any better then you would think he was talking about the weather or a pretty girl, maybe even some school event. Yet his gentle tone conveyed words that were nothing short of an agreeable threat if you took out the agreeable part.


    "How about it?"


    The ''fun'' ideas going through his pretty little head were going faster than his running.


    To put it kindly, he had embodied what it was to be an avid thinker.


    To put it bluntly, he was swimming in a sea of sadistic thoughts, and yes, you did read correctly when it was mentioned that he was one of the kinder captains, after all, the four people trying to deceive Captain Dios with his help could be punished ordingly if their words were taken as an act of insubordination.


    "If you guess correctly, then I''ll exempt you from extra mentality training." He concluded.


    "Captain Cenci, do you mean it? I thought even Captain Onu couldn''t exempt anyone from mandatory mentality training. It''s 8 months from now, right?" The ash gray-haired man, running in second asked in the midst of his panting. His eyes shone when he thought of skipping mentality training.


    Mentality training had another name amidst the people that had to go through it. It was called the Trials of Reincarnation. Because if you went through it, you''d surely die, and if you came back alive, you have been pretty much reincarnated as a new man.


    Congrats.


    Rest assured, I''ll feel happy even when you are unable to do so for yourself.


    I ensure you it will be a painful death, that you are unable to free yourself from because it won''t be physical death. It will be your mind that is broken down before being forged back together with stronger materials. And though it sounded good and all, there was no part of it that could be called enjoyable.


    Well, maybe it didn''t sound that good after all.


    "Where did you hear mandatory training from?"


    "I said exempt you from the extra mentality training you''ll all be having after you''vepleted the training and punishments Brother Dios will be giving you."


    Suddenly, as if they had agreed on it beforehand, all four pairs of eyes widened.


    Even the ones whose faces had been previously flushed became pale in an instant. Cold sweat reced whatever had been dripping down their backs just seconds ago.


    "Extra¡­ training?" The muscr man with the caramel skin at the front couldn''t hide the fear that shed in his eyes.


    It wasn''t a matter of having to do the mentality training, because everyone who wanted to rise in ranks once they became a trainee under the captains had to go through a total of 6 ''Trials of Reincarnation''.


    It was just that none of them were actually mentally prepared to face the unspeakable trials. Shivering just at the thought.


    Seeing all the blood draining from every member of the team''s faces, the blond man, Cenci, smiled. He knew that he had done his job well after seeing everyone''s reactions.


    It was also then that Cenci noticed that there was a figure sitting at a rock that they were quickly approaching.


    ''There shouldn''t be anyone from Syri here, right?'' Cenci thought.


    They had been speaking a Syrin this whole time and it was information that would sound suspicious to anyone who heard it. Though it wouldn''t put them in jeopardy per se, they were still better off without anyone knowing.


    "You guys go on off first, make sure to keep up this pace or I''ll make sure to double my speed once I catch up," Cenci ordered the four people in front of him, all of which immediately sped up, even if they were already dead tired.


    Double the current pace was no joke.


    And Captain Cenci was most definitely not joking, even if his tone could beg otherwise.


    As those four little fledglings ran off, Cenci halted to a stop when he reached the spot where Emilin was resting.


    Emilin, who had always cultivated an acute hearing in order to listen in on gossip whenever possible, had heard the whole conversation.


    Thenguage barrier was nothing in front of her and because of that, she was clear that not one of these people was your average Joe.


    As for the n she came up with.


    Well of course it was to feint ignorance!


    She didn''t want to be dragged into anything that she couldn''t make heads or tails of, so it was better to act like she knew nothing, and that wasn''t particrly hard either.


    At moments during their conversation, Emilin almost wanted to run away because she felt like she heard something she shouldn''t have.


    Mentality training???


    She thought back at her previous suspicions, what if rather than being chased by the mafia, they were the mafia themselves.


    But she didn''t recall any issues with Mafia arising in Syri, what if it was because those mafias had moved to a whole new continent! That being said, of course, she was talking about E continent.


    But the whole idea was just ludicrous.


    As for the actual answer, she didn''t want to know.


    Knowing too much without having the power to keep your neck intact was a sin.


    On the other hand, she might just be misunderstanding the whole thing.


    They may just be a group of super-duper buff Buddhistic practitioners who needed to constantly be going through mentality training, after all, she had even heard some murmuring about the ''six trials of Reincarnation.''


    In fact, this had piqued her interest for a moment, due to her own reincarnation, but Emilin quickly dropped the idea that was festering in her mind.


    When she saw that the four men who were sweating like pigs quickly ran away and that thest blond one stayed behind, she nonchntly took a sip of water as if she had no clue why he was approaching her.


    "Do you understand what I''m saying?" Cenci asked in Syrin as if he were going to ask for directions next.


    Emilin, who was determined to act dumb just tilted her head to the side in faked ignorance.


    Seeing as he wasn''t getting any reactions, Cenci opted for another method to probe how much Emilin knew.


    A method that even Emilin wasn''t prepared for.


    "You know, I really hate Russian dolls, they''re always so full of themselves."


    Pfft!


    ***


    Mini- Theater


    A wild Emilin has appeared...


    Cenci, I chose you!


    Cenci attack with ''One liner''!


    The wild Emilin has hit Cenci with ''Water Gun''.


    It''s a critical hit!


    Cenci has fainted from the critical attack.

 Chapter 60 - Trail Pt IV: (You Can Never Be Too Careful)

    ''Shit, I fell right into his trap and the joke wasn''t even that funny.'' Emilin couldn''t help but curse in her mind.


    It was a rare moment for her, it wasn''t every day that someone could do something to make her so flustered, but her face didn''t show any of this. The decade-old ice face came in clutch in moments like these.??


    ''This won''t work. Should I keep pretending? But I don''t think he''ll buy it.''


    While Emilin thought about what she should do next, she took out a handkerchief, handing it to Cenci, whose shirt was wet from the water that she had been drinking, and then, that she had no longer been drinking.


    If the person in front of her was able to think of and employ such a nasty tactic at a moment''s notice, Emilin seriously doubted that he would easily fall for her not-so-great acting.


    ''Just why did I have to react? Now I have to make something up.''


    Her mind churned at high speeds to think of a way to get herself out of her predicament, but on the outside, she still looked like she was simply worried due to her previous action of spitting water on aplete stranger, who looked friendly enough.


    "So you do understand what I''m saying," Cenci continued speaking in Syrin, sounding a little more determined than he had previously.


    "Hmm?" Emilin''s brows furrowed, and question marks were written all over her face.


    Fake it until you make it, there could be many reasons for her reaction that didn''t involve understanding his terrible one-liner.


    "You don''t need to keep acting! I already caught you red-handed." Cenci said, but this time in fluent English, he himself didn''t know why he felt the need to change his way of speaking.


    Maybe it was simply because he wanted to hear a response from this teenage girl who was in the middle of the mountain range all alone, or perhaps he just wanted to hear what kind of excuse she would dish out, after all, it was clear that she wanted to keep pretending.


    Cenci was already 65% sure that she had understood him, and this wasn''t solely due to his little test, but his powerful instincts that had saved his life on multiple asions.


    He didn''t get to the position of captain with just his looks. Well, who knows if he would have gotten the job if looks were truly part of the criteria, after all, his baby face was no joke.


    [Cenci: Hey! WTF, who the hell are you talking about here!]


    [Author: There, there, looks aren''t everything. And no swearing!]


    [Cenci: Just because I look young doesn''t mean that I''m actually underaged and you didn''t even say anything when that girl swore in her mind! How can you be so shameless? The first word that starts this chapter off is a curse word from that child.]


    [Author: I don''t know what you mean. ?¡«( £þ¦Å£þ)]


    Moving on.


    [Cenci: ¡­]


    "You speak English!" Emilin eximed as if shepletely hadn''t expected it, bringing her hands together into a small p of sorts.


    Cenci narrowed his eyes as Emilin spoke, putting his hands on each side of his waist.


    "Did you not understand what I said earlier?" Cenci''s doubt emanated from his every action.


    "Of course I did! ''I hate Ussian girls''" Emilin nodded her head eagerly.


    ''What is this girl talking about?''


    ''...''


    "Where did you hear that from?" Cenci asked.


    Dumbfounded.


    "It''s that what you just said? I didn''t really get thatst part, but I speak some Makin." Emilin informed.


    Yes, this was the amazing n she came up with on the spot...


    She realized that with her arsenal ofnguages, she could pick any onenguage that had words that sounded like what the man in front of her had said with a different meaning, and she would still have a reasonable excuse for her reaction.


    Surely there was more than onenguage that fit the bill, but Makin just happened to work and she had juste here from Mlakan so it seemed most convenient. At least it was the one that she first thought of.


    Though what they said wasn''t exactly the same, it still sounded simr, after all, Syri was one of the countries bordering Mlakan.


    "Really? Amazing. I learned some Syrin so I wanted to test this out."


    Cenci started to exin his actions, after all, English was the most spokennguage worldwide, so it simply didn''t make sense to ''ask for directions'' or whatever it was that he wanted to do in Syrin when they weren''t in Syri.


    "I watched from this video saying that girls particrly liked guys that spoke multiplenguages. You know, they say, if the girl speaks the samenguage, then you have something to talk about, and if they don''t speak thatnguage, you can just shrug it off and speak to them in anguage they do know. Looking cool is just a plus" Cenci excitedly exined.


    "It''s a good ice breaker no matter what!" His eyes were shining when he was thinking of picking up girls.


    It almost seemed too real to be an act.


    ''If this is acting, this guy is much better at it than I am.'' Emilin added.


    "But now that you''ve told me, it won''t work on me anymore." Emilin couldn''t let her guard down for one moment without knowing who exactly this person was.


    "No worries, no worries. I don''t hit on minors." Cenci waved his hand to emphasize his disinterest. Though Emilin was cute, she was still a minor nheless, and Cenci didn''t want to go to prison for being a pedophile, even if this girl wasn''t prepubescent.


    All the others would kill him if something like that happened.


    ''I appreciate it, but aren''t you in your teens too?'' Emilin directed a questioning nce at him.


    When Cenci saw the way Emilin was sizing him up, he knew exactly what she was thinking. After all, this wasn''t the first, second, or third time he had received one of those nces.


    "I''m in my twenties, no matter how hard it is to believe." Cenci let out a grieving sigh to which Emilin just nodded.


    That was just about as much talking as he was going to be squeezing out of her.


    In a moment where danger could be imminent, her instincts suppressed all else, but once that sense of danger dissipated, her stomach clenched just at the thought of trying to converse with this blond man properly.


    Seeing Emilin''s scrunched-up face, Cenci had mistakenly thought that this girl had mistaken him for a big yboy who would just waltz up to someone and hit on them, that was a misjudgment on his part, but there was nothing left to do.


    ''That was a poorly made excuse on my part'', he thought to himself.


    ''But she''s still very suspicious. This girl just happens to know Makin but not Syrin. Of course, that isn''t the strange part, her reactions just feel off. I should just dismiss this and let her put her guard down before looking into it any further.''


    Cenci didn''t want too much to be leaked unnecessarily, but just from the fact that there was a possibility that this person was ying dumb, it was already clear that this girl was a cautious one.


    Thus, there was no point in trying to probe any further and making himself seem suspicious in the case where she truly knew nothing.


    "Mypanions already went ahead of me so I''ll have to get going if I don''t want tog behind too much! It was nice to meet you." Cenci waved his hand and ran off.


    ''Yeah right. Then why do I feel like you''ll catch up in no time, no matter how fast they''ve run.'' Emilin secretly rolled her eyes.


    She wasn''t blind.


    She saw how those 4 other people were sweating like pigs while this man in front of him looked like he had just woken up from a good night''s rest. Even an idiot would be able to tell that he was exaggerating.


    "I hope we''ll meet again."


    ''I hope not.'' Emilin responded in her head.


    But on the outside, she just used her eyes to see him off before looking back down on the floor.


    She picked up the handkerchief that she had been using to wipe off the water that had stained that man he had just met a few moments ago.


    ''That was way too easy. I should have been more careful. If he really isn''t someone I have to worry about, then perfect, but if he''s waiting for me to let my guard down, then I won''t be falling for another one of his traps.''


    Emilin folded her right leg, resting her right ankle on her left thigh and as if disdaining the dirty soles of her shoe, she took the handkerchief and wiped some of the dirt right off.


    There was no one around, but even if there were, they would just think that perhaps this youngdy felt like her mountain hiking shoes were getting a little heavy due to the umted dirt after walking for such a long time.


    Even with a keen eye, it would be hard for one to tell that there are, in fact, four tiny pinholes that would only be able to fit a thin needle.


    Even if someone did notice, it would be more likely that they were to think that it was part of the design, and after walking for a while, it was even covered by some of the dirt umted.


    After making some actions of wiping her shoes, Emilin slipped in a long, thin, uniform needle into the second hole in the alignment.


    ''You can never be too careful.''

 Chapter 61 - Path Pt I: (Interesting Thought)

    The shoes that Emilin wore were exactly the ones that she had previously mentioned while texting her big brother Theo, the ones that he had gifted her before he went off to college and she to her travels.


    The thin needle that she held had a special maism. ??


    In order to activate the special mechanisms in the shoes, the needle had to be both close enough to the corresponding hole in her shoes as well as long enough to reach the bottom of the high heel soles. A click sound could be heard when the mechanism was sessfully activated.


    It was able to change the signal that was being sent to her big brother Theo''sputer, which her big brother Nathan would also be able to ess in the case of an emergency.


    The shoes were built-in with a GPS that worked even with poor signal or no signal at all.


    This is why Emilin was able to safely reassure her parents that she was fine, telling them that if something happened, they should first look for her big brother Theo who was most familiar with this technology, as he had made it himself with minimal help from Emilin, after all, it was supposed to be a parting gift of sorts.


    Of course, Emilin didn''t know that she had contributed to the making of the shoes, she was just happy to have received the gift.


    By poking into the holes of her shoes, Emilin effectively informed her Big Brothers that though there were currently no troubles, they might need to pay some more attention to the signals they were receiving.


    Each one of the four holes represented a different level of danger, the first two being possible dangers with the second one being higher than the first, while the third and fourth in that alignment were for the cases where imminent danger was already apparent.


    There was no need to wait to start taking immediate precautions.


    If the third hole was used, then it was best for them to wait and see, as for the fourth, there was no more time for waiting.


    They had to start taking action immediately. If it had to be defined, then it was a hidden SOS signal.


    When making the shoes, Theo also took into consideration that there was a high chance Emilin wouldn''t have a chance to activate the mechanisms in thosest two pin-sized holes if her life were truly in danger.


    Other precautions were already taken.


    That being said, if it was just a false rm, the opposing end of the same long, thin, needle could be used to remove the signal, telling her brothers that the prospects of danger were no more.


    All in all, it could be said that Emilin was extremely prepared when she decided to set off to travel the world, after all, if she were not, chances were, she wouldn''t even be able to take a step out of the country, much less alone like this.


    There was probably just no sane parent that would let their only 15-year-old daughter do such a thing, no matter how mature she was.


    Of course, Emilin didn''t want her brothers to worry, but there was a difference between not wanting them to worry and putting herself in danger and Emilin knew clearly when to draw the line between the two.


    They would be more worried if something actually did happen, so she didn''t want to bank everything on hopes that nothing would ur, that would just be na?ve.


    After finishing her business with her shoes, she continued along the mountain trail at a slower pace, so that she could sightsee while walking.


    On multiple asions, she took out her newly bought camera to take a shot, but just like in the morning walk, she basked in the glory of her terrible photo-taking skills.


    It was just really bad.


    ''I''m clearly doing something wrong. But what is it?''


    The photos she took became increasingly unsightly with each passing second. The more she looked at them, the more¡­ well you get the point.


    The scenes looked so stunning in real life, but howe when it was captured, it looked so terribly, terrible?


    She was at a loss for words to describe how bad it was. Even though her hands weren''t shaky or anything, the photos were always blurry, and they seemed to be angled wrong after she looked at them for a while.


    ''I guess that will be the next thing on my checklist.''


    Emilin was nning to contact Mason, the man who had helped out when she first bought this camera, after getting out of here.


    Otherwise known as Nosa, well at least from his name card.


    He seemed like someone who would be able to help her in her predicament and Emilin usually had a good sense for people, especially after seeing how familiar he was with the cameras in that shop. He also sounded quite professional and passionate about the arts.


    To be fair, just about anyone who had even minimally dabbled on camera-work would probably be of help to Emilin, but that was beside the point.


    While walking another path uphill, Emilin stops to squat down in the middle of the trail, pointing her camera at the small, dainty, yellow flower that was growing between the pebbles on the ground.


    Though she didn''t really know what she was doing, when it looked right, she just pushed the magical button.


    *Click*


    Even so, when she used the camera function to look at the photo she had just taken, the flower was all blurry.


    ''Maybe I should have asked for professional help beforeing out here, or even done a quick inte search. In hindsight, any of those things would have been a great help.''


    She couldn''t help but sigh a little, but it was a barely noticeable sigh. Not one of frustration or annoyance, but rather endearing helplessness.


    Despite her terrible skills, Emilin only became more determined to learn how to use the camera with every blurry shot.


    When she looked at the world through these thin lenses, something just, clicked.


    You know?


    It just felt right.


    Emilin wanted to see this world through all the lenses she could get her hands on. To get that perfect angle, and to know how to make everything less blurry again.


    To know how to capture an image that was meant to be remembered for a long, long time. Something she could look back on, to prove that she had been here on this and lived a life, and met these people, and seen these ces.


    To remember how she felt when she was there through these photos. Be it mirth, thrill, novelty, sorrow, or even anger, she didn''t want to forget any of it.


    She wanted something she could cling to.


    Just in case.


    Along the way, Emilin continuously took photos of everything that had interested her, but none of them looked quite right.


    She tried multiple angles, sides, and heights, just about anything she could think of, but the product still looked bad, to put it mildly.


    ''Well, I guess you really can''t just be good at everything. Why didn''t I learn camera work in my past life?'' Emilin chuckled at her own thought.


    ''Or maybe I like using the camera so much precisely because I hadn''t worked with it in the past.''


    Now that was an interesting thought.


    Even with no experience whatsoever, Emilin could tell that she was really bad at this.


    It was around 5 PM when Emilin decided to settle down for a rest. She was truly quite tired after hiking all day.


    Of course, she had taken multiple breaks along the way to take some photos, but she had still been on the move since 5 in the morning, having woken up even earlier.


    The trail had faded off a while back.


    The path she was taking now was no longer set for her. There wasn''t any paved way and so Emilin just chose a direction ording to her whims.


    She had set up a tent but had yet to start a fire, seeing as the sun had yet to set.


    Emilin closed her eyes to bask in what little warmth there wasing from the sun, and after doing some breathing exercises, she just stared off to what was beyond the cliff that she sat on.


    Down below, she could see a forest of birch trees, clustered together as if fearing the cold despite the fine weather.


    Emilin stared into the distance, observing the view diligently.


    ''Have I ever seen anything like this in my past life?''


    The answer was a clear-cut no.


    Never had she even seen something even remotely simr to this scenery. The trees and theke seemed both close yet oh so very far away. Everything beyond when she stood and towards where she looked was part of nature.


    None of it had been tainted by humans, it was as if it wanted to draw a clear line between the polluted society and its natural beauty.


    As Emilin lost herself in her own thoughts, an aged voice came from behind her.


    "We meet again, youngdy."


    ***


    10 hours ago


    Emilin: What''s wrong with the camera?


    Emilin: Did I get cheated?


    Emilin: Why isn''t this working right?


    Emilin: *Curses those who cheated her money from her to the 7 hells silently*


    Emilin: *turns the camera around ready to smack it a bit to make it start working*


    Emilin: Oh. I guess you would have to take the lens cap off...


    Emilin: Yup, I can see perfect now. Great.


    Mason and Logan who had been unfairly cursed to the 7 hells: ???£¨>©n<£©???

 Chapter 62 - Path Pt II: (Vivid Imagination)

    "We meet again, youngdy."


    It was the old woman that Emilin had previously met on the bus that she took to get here. The one that informed her about the bad signal in this area of the mountain range, which prompted her to text her family before starting her hike on the trail.??


    Emilin was restrained to a simple nod. Not expressing happiness nor annoyance, simply indifference, even if that''s not how she felt deep down.


    Emilin didn''t falter despite this stiffening feeling in her heart, after all, her mind was clear on what was worse, having feelings and not being to express them, or not having feelings at all.


    Byparison, her current troubles were not worth mentioning, after all, the previous obstacles in her heart had literally led to her death.


    She was already lucky that she was able to express herself to her family, the ones who first showed her what kind of life she could and wanted to live.


    The olddy just smiled, notmenting on Emilin''s reaction orck thereof.


    She didn''t ask before taking a seat on the rock next to Emilin, following her gaze into the distance.


    Time flew by just like this and the sun had started moving towards the horizon.


    Both the youngdy and the elder simply sat in silence, looking into the distance, and perhaps contemting life.


    They hade to a silent agreement to just look at the beautiful scenery.


    Not long after thedy''s arrival, Emilin took a few shots with the camera hanging around her neck as if the granny were not there.


    It was only after three or four handfuls of minutes that the granny retracted her gaze that looked towards the horizon and directed it towards Emilin, who had yet to open her mouth this whole time.


    "I wonder what a youngdy like yourself is doing here so deep in the mountains alone." She asked, in a tone that suggested that she had thought about it for quite a while.


    Emilin didn''t respond immediately, not even looking in the olddy''s direction. She let another minute or so pass, but in the silence, it felt like longer. Even so, the olddy didn''t get impatient in any way whatsoever, but she did not move her gaze away from the youngdy who seemed to be interesting enough either.


    Not wanting to be too rude, Emilin pondered on the question before giving a reasonable answer.


    "For fun?" Emilin responded, not quite convinced by her own answer.


    "Haha, what''s so fun about being here, out in the mountains? Is it not better to be in thefort of your own home, watching television or scrolling through your phone?" The elder asked, with a smile that quite nearly reached her eyes.


    "I like it here." Emilin''s response this time was much more earnest.


    Thedy''s smile widened. She could hear the sincerity in this youngdy''s voice.


    ''What a rare child.''


    The olddy found Emilin''s expression riveting. It was pure and innocent, but at the same time, it seemed to have facets of mncholy, eyes that reflected worries that were beyond the little girl''s young age.


    "Is that right?" She hadn''te here in a while, but she was very familiar with this area nheless. It wasn''t every day that you would see a child this young and clean this far into the mountains.


    Someone who came purely for the natural environment was not toomon around here, especially someone of Emilin''s age group.


    "But don''t you youngsters have school starting right about now?" The olddy asked in a curious tone, still looking straight at the young girl who had now also turned her gaze her way.


    Emilin gave the old woman a slight nod.


    "I''m taking some time off." She responded.


    The elder knew that children of this age were rather sensitive and so she didn''t want to ask any intrusive questions less this littless would get the wrong idea, thinking that this olddy was being rude.


    "If you don''t mind me asking, would you tell me what year you''re in?"


    A more subtle way to ask for this youngdy''s age without being impertinent.


    "I''m going to be a freshman in college when I go back to school."


    Emilin found that she had no trouble simply responding to these questions. Still, she had no way to start or keep a conversation. It was only because this elderlydy was kindly carrying the whole conversation that she was able to talk like this.


    "My, you look so young. I guess I don''t remember how students at your age looked like." The olddy mused.


    Emilin didn''t bother to correct the misunderstanding, after all, by the time she actually went to college, she would already be in the right age group. Plus, in the end, thisdy was still a stranger. There was just no point, not to mention she was still having a hard time keeping up.


    ''This is definitely something psychological,'' Emilin thought about her disorder.


    She also subconsciously started doing some breathing exercises, which the olddy noticed.


    ''Is there something wrong with this youngdy? Maybe it''s the reason why she''se all the way out here when she is at the age where she should still be going to school.''


    ''Considering her actions so far, perhaps a social anxiety disorder or a mutation of it?'' the granny spected.


    ''My word, it isn''t too nice of me to be specting this youngss''s mental condition like this.''


    "So, what do you want to study?"


    The olddy felt like this youngss''s character wasn''t too bad, so she wanted to learn a little more about her.


    The mountains here were rather silent and peaceful, one of the characteristics that made it so beautiful, but it wasn''t too bad to have someone to talk to.


    Emilin looked down at her camera, holding it up to her eye.


    "Photography." She responded softly, but determinationced her voice.


    "That sounds nice. Photography. It can tell you a lot about a person. That is true for both the person taking the photo and the person whose photo is being taken. My, my, I''m not too familiar with photography, but would you mind if this olddy takes a look at what you have taken so far?"


    Emilin''s brows furrowed a little, but she passed on her camera anyways after clicking the button that would allow thedy to scroll through the photos.


    The olddy calmly looked through the camera roll, but herposure visibly deteriorated by the second, before it finally copsed.


    With Emilin''s conviction and determination when saying that she wanted to learn camera work, she had assumed that Emilin would at least have some experience.


    But looking at this, she wasn''t so sure anymore.


    The olddy steadily nced at the youngss''s hands, which were as white as pearl. Clearly, she isn''t gued with essential tremors [1]. Her movements have always been steady.


    ''Youngss, are you messing with me here? I wasn''t expecting much, but isn''t this too much?''


    There wasn''t a single photo that wasn''t tilted or blurry, if not both, but before her thought process went down that path any further, she stopped herself.


    ''She doesn''t seem to be an insinceress. And she even came all the way into these mountains to take these photos. Perhaps she''s the type of child that puts in a lot of effort and is unable to produce equivalent results no matter what.''


    ''It is not her fault, so I should not me the child.''


    ''The world is truly not a fair ce. There are children like these who work so hard yet get no results, and there are yet children who are gifted with results, not necessarily having worked as hard as this child.''


    ''Maybe this is why she hase to these mountains and hiked these hills ande so far. Is this also the reason for her shyness and social anxiety? Oh god, and I was being so rude with my spections.''


    It had to be said that this elderlydy still had the vivid imagination of a teen, which did not conflict with the wisdom she had gained through old age.


    In this olddy''s head, she had already made up this whole plot, in which Emilin yed this poor child who was as hard-working, if not more, than any other, but whose results were unable to keep up with her soaring determination.


    If any of the people who knew Emilin could hear this olddy''s thoughts, they might have all rushed to call 911 thinking this olddy had gone senile.


    The Emilin, who had skipped 2 grades simply because she didn''t want to go to ss alone when she was young, the Emilin, who got first ce across the board despite being 2 years younger than her peers without the need to spare a second to study, and the same Emilin, who had multiple national-level awards, just short of international level ones due to her disinterest, was now being thought of as a poor, hardworking, mentally handicapped youngss.


    And these were only some of her surface-level achievements, not taking into ount the ones that she had achieved undercover.


    This was a truly sad moment for all those whose efforts had gone in vain, actually working hard, and still unable to surpass her.


    Amen.


    [1] Healthline: Essential tremor (et)- The mostmon cause of shaky hands is essential tremor. This neurological disorder causes frequent, uncontrolled shaking, especially during movement.

 Chapter 63 - Path Pt III: (Accepting)

    To be fair, the olddy was notpletely at fault.


    Emilin''s words and actions were just too deceiving and misleading, even if it was not intentional.??


    Her photos were a mess and she had only just picked up the camera that very same day, yet she spoke as if she had been inseparable from her camera for a long time and that photography was her lifelong dream.


    Emilin had clearly only started hours ago with absolutely no knowledge in the field.


    She had ZERO professional knowledge. Never had she taken 1 lesson in her life, and it was very likely that she hadn''t in her previous life either.


    It was quite understandable that the olddy, who knew none of this, had misunderstood. After all, Emilin said that she was going to pursue this in college, yet her skills were this incredibly subpar.


    This young girl, who looked like she had troubles expressing her emotions, hade here all alone this deep in the mountains to take some photos in order to pursue her passions, though she wasn''t particrly skilled when she should really be in school.


    This situation from an outsider''s perspective was simply too prone to misunderstandings.


    It would be a wonder if someone didn''t misunderstand, it was just that the level of misunderstanding would depend on the person.


    The olddy just let her imagination run wild to fill in the holes.


    "Did you find your peace and quiet here?" Thedy asked, handing the camera back to Emilin.


    Emilin''s eyes widened at the unexpected question.


    She had noticed the minute reactions from thedy while she scrolled through the photos, at first, she still had her usual smile on her face, but at some point, her lips had twitched slightly before she had regained herposure.


    The reason was clear and Emilin was very self-aware.


    Emilin had been expecting a greater reaction, but now, that was beside the point.


    She had thought that thedy would talk about the actual photos she took, maybe even giving her some advice, but it seems like she had underestimated the wisdom that came with old age.


    Thedy''s question had pulled on Emilin''s heartstrings, just a little. She had indeed found some peace in these mountains.


    ''What gave me away?''


    "Yes, I think I did," Emilin responded.


    This time, her answer was a little more sincere. She felt like maybe this elderlydy could see through her, and being understood felt nice.


    In truth, the olddy simply felt bad about talking about the photos with Emilin and so she didn''t want to touch on this topic less she stepped on and mine. Instead opting to ask about the other impending thought that was worrying her.


    Though they had ended up with the same conclusion, that Emilin had social troubles, the path to that answer was vastly different.


    The olddy had thought that this youngss was having troubles in school and was most likely being bullied due to her poor academics and her pretty face, while the reality was something that the elder wouldn''t be able to understand.


    This was clear as even Emilin didn''t really understand what was wrong with her.


    "That''s good. This ce indeed has beautiful scenery, but even if it can calm the mind, it can not solve the root of any problem you may have."


    Once again, Emilin felt like this olddy could see right through her troubles.


    Because she couldn''t truly confide in anyone with her troubles as she did not want to worry her family, who wouldn''t be able to help her even if they knew, and she had no friends for very obvious reasons, she felt like talking to this elder was especially refreshing.


    "Really? Then how do I solve my problem?" Emilin''s voice held a hint of hopefulness, but at the same time, she didn''t want to raise her expectations just to be let down, after all, this was a problem that had already gued her for quite a while, her whole life, to be more specific.


    ''Youngss! Do I look like a mind reader?'' The olddy almost wanted to huff, but seeing the youngss''s expectant gaze, she did the best she could to not disappoint.


    "Well I won''t say practice makes perfect, but practice definitely makes better in most cases." She responded with just as much confidence as she had used in her previous statements.


    This was the calmness that she had cultivated throughout her years.


    "Is that so." Emilin thought about this for a long time.


    Seeing as thess was lost in her thoughts, the olddy gave her some space to do her thinking.


    Was this really something Emilin could fix simply with more practice?


    When she thought back, it didn''t seem like she had ever simply gone for it. When had she ever been able to build up the courage to start a conversation with anyone outside of her family?


    Never.


    Even if she had tried building up the courage on multiple asions, so much so that it was nearly a daily urrence, not once had she seeded.


    She had subconsciously left herself a path of retreat.


    If she could me it on the fact that she had ''never tried'', then she wouldn''t have to face the disappointment of failing.


    Not trying was pretty much her definition of failure, especially with the experiences that she had gone through at the end of her past life.


    ''Gosh, how was I so blinded by fear?''


    ''It seems like I have been too narrowminded.''


    ''I''m here sitting in the bottom of the well, thinking that as long as I go out I''ll be able to solve all my problems, but all the water I need is clearly already right next to me.''


    ''Convincing myself that it''s poisonous water without drinking so that I won''t have to confront the fear of the possibility that the water is truly poisonous. Leaving myself a way out, which I''ll only resort to after reaching the verge of death due to dehydration. But in my case, I''ll never reach that level. I''ll just stay at the bottom of the well, forever thirsting for normal human interactions.''


    ''How absurd.''


    ''But I guess at least getting out of this well has opened my horizons. Hopefully, it will also teach me how to make better analogies.'' Emilin truly wanted tough at herself, but she held thatughter in.


    "Thank you," Emilin said.


    It was somewhat out of the blue as silence had already been permeating the area for quite a few minutes, but when the olddy had realized that the youngss was thanking her for her simple advice, she smiled brighter.


    It was a smile akin to that of a proud parent.


    ''I guess that youngss was able to get something out of this conversation after all. Maybe she isn''t as. slow-witted as I thought her to be. But that''s good.'' She thought.


    Previously, she had just seen this ''hard working'' youngdy in a good light due to her character, her eyes holding some pity, but now, the elder''s eyes reflected some rare warmth. Despite Emilin''s short responses, her words were doused with sincerity and no ulterior motives.


    "Your very wee, I''m happy to have been able to help. Youngss, how long do you n on staying here?" The ageddy asked.


    "Here?"


    "In this mountain range." The elder rified.


    "I''m not sure yet." Emilin had already put a lot of thought into this issue and had decided to take a ''wait and see'' approach


    The mood suddenly became a little tenser as the elderlydy responded.


    "Don''t stay for too long," she said, in an ominous and serious tone, as if she knew something that Emilin didn''t.


    But then she continued to add, "No matter where it is you go, including here. As a young maiden, it''s not safe to be in the wilderness alone."


    Emilin had felt a little invisible pressure when she was first asked to not stay long, which alerted her, most especially due to that previous group that she had met which included Cenci and the other 4 runners, none of which she knew the true identity of, but all of which made her put up her guard.


    Even so, this second part warmed Emilin''s heart, just a little bit. This was mainly due to how this olddy''s words reminded her of her mother''s words.


    This further improved Emilin''s impression of the olddy, which can already be considered quite favorable considering how the elder had helped Emilin previously.


    Both with the simple act of telling her that there was no signal around here, as well as her simple words, that effectively widened her horizons.


    "I see. I''ll try my best to not stay past my wee. After all, even the most beautiful scenery should be looked at in moderation, or it might go dull." Emilin agreed with the elder, knowing that she had only said what she had in her consideration.


    The elderlydy didn''t know where all this came from, but she was d that the youngss had agreed not to stay too long.


    Still, there was something that bugged her with how deste the child''s tone was.


    "Haha, you say the strangest, yet most interesting things child. Nature is one of the most epting ces in the world, perhaps second only to your home, yet you act like an outsider."


    ''Well, some can''t say the same. Families and homes may not even be as epting, but hopefully, that is not the case for this youngss.''


    ''But the point still stands.''


    ''In nature, who can say what? Can you be distinguished by your IQ? EQ? Money? Appearance? As for society, it is most definitely not as epting.''

 Chapter 64 - Path Pt IV: (Ha.)

    The sun already set and Emilin took a few decent photos of the scenery with the naturally urring twilight filter. Surrounded by darkness, a small campfire illuminated the area around Emilin''s tent as Emilin sat in front of the me with her eyes closed.


    She didn''t want to damage her eyes with the me''s residue that drifted in the air.??


    Even though the temperature at night wasn''t particrly cold yet, it would only get colder as time passed, as for right now, Emilin just wanted to absorb some of the warmth that surrounded her.


    It was both lonely andforting.


    Emilin had felt somewhat empty after Grandma Charlotte left. Even though they didn''t do or say much of anything, her simplepany out here was already somewhatforting. Now however, she didn''t have anyone around once again, but this time, it was after obtaining somepany and so the feeling was totally different from when she started out this journey alone.


    Emilin''s face and actions were akin to that of an abandoned puppy for a moment there, even though she had only had someone there with her for a couple of hours, most of which were spent in silence just like now, the two experiences simply couldn''t bepared to each other.


    ''I wonder just when I became a person who is so easily attached¡­''


    As for why she felt somewhatforted even after being left alone, this was mainly due to the warmth from the me in front of her.


    It wasn''t the heat from a heater or even the light from a lightbulb, yet it still did its job. This was what existed before everything else.


    ''Grandma Charlotte was right once again.''


    Emilin crossed her arms on her legs, embracing herself. The warmth of the me permeated and surrounded her as Emilin struggled to capture that lingering feeling. It was a feeling of eptance, being epted unconditionally, with no other stiptions or prerequisites.


    Nature epted her back like family.


    She wasn''t a weed guest, but rather a resident who had left for a while,ing back after a long trip out.


    In the end, this was where it all started, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nothing but mother earth, and this was also where many of us came back to when there was nowhere left to go.


    At the end of the road, everyone came back to nature.


    It wasn''t a specific ce that Grandma Charlotte was indicating, but rather Earth as a whole. She spoke of the ces untainted by anything else. Because, to begin with, this was already a rather epting ce, the only known to ept the living.


    Thinking back to Grandma Charlotte, Emilin couldn''t help but smile a little, something that she didn''t even catch herself doing.


    Even though their interactions were extremely short, Emilin found herself truly looking up to this elder. She was just... something else entirely.


    The feelings were that of a small junior looking up to an elder who just seemed to be so much more knowledgeable, someone to look up to and aspire to learn from.


    The short amount of time Emilin had spent with Grandma Charlotte was incredibly enjoyable, even if they spent most of the time in silence.


    But they were destined to part ways. As for meeting again, if they were meant to meet again, it would happen one way or another.


    [Author: The author will make sure of it. (?¨R?¨Q) Teehee~!]


    [Peanut Gallery: WTF. Why does it sound like she''s talking about the male lead rather than a nice old granny? What destined to meet? What a load of bull.]


    [Author: Shut it. (¨p?_?) Why the hell do all these irrelevant people swear so much?!]


    [Author: Should I close BRACKET services? It seems to be in the way... eh.]


    [Penut Gallery: They how are we supposed to talk?]


    [Author: Offline]


    [Penuet Gallery: Wow, not even bothering to write a long-ass text to say how you''re not avable... Why don''t you just think of this as the mini-theater in the middle of the chapter rather than the end? It''s the same right?]


    [Author: Hm... There''s some logic in your argument. But it''s hard to transition from bracket services to the plot without just saying moving on...]


    [Penut Gallery: Didn''t you say you were offline??]


    Moving on...


    [Peanut Gallery: ¡­]


    ***


    1 hour ago.


    "What are you doing here in the mountains then? It doesn''t seem particrly safe around here for you either." Emilin asked the granny, whose name she didn''t even know.


    She asked so casually that even she didn''t realize until muchter that she had just restarted the conversation.


    This is simr to the asions where you are looking for something, but you can''t seem to find it no matter where you look. On a random day, you''re just walking around the house and *BAM*, there it is. The thing that you may have been looking for, for hours on end with no results is right there when you aren''t even looking for it anymore, but somehow, when you were unceasingly looking for it previously, NOTHING.


    Whenever Emilin felt like she was forcing herself, expecting results, nothing worked, but now, she had just done it without even realizing it. She has started a conversation topic.


    "Haha, this olddy is quite familiar with this ce and has a few acquaintances who tread the same path, in fact, my great-nephew has a house around this area! You don''t have to worry about this olddy''s safety."


    "I see," was all that Emilin said, but normally if it wasn''t a question, she wouldn''t have responded at all.


    There was a moment of silence before the olddy opened her mouth again.


    "It''s about time I get going now, youngss, it''s not early anymore." The olddy said as she stood up from the rock she had been sitting on.


    "I see." Emilin couldn''t think of anything else to say.


    She was at a loss.


    "Wait," Emilin said, just as the old granny had turned around to leave.


    "What is it dear?" Thedy kindly smiled.


    "Can I ask for your name?" Emilin hesitantly asked.


    Before she had even thought it through, thedy responded.


    "You can call me Grandma Charlotte." Granny Charlotte had truly taken a liking to this youngss, so much so that she gave Emilin her real name.


    It was incredibly shocking even to herself much less to the people who had heard her in the distance.


    "Okay, Grandma Charlotte," Emilin felt her heart warm a little, a feeling simr, yet different from what she had felt when she was first born, faced with a whole new family.


    There was still that same familiarity, maybe not as intense, but there was something else there too.


    ''I wonder what it is.''


    "Then I hope to see you again someday youngss, preferably over some tea, somewhere where you can show me some of the photographs you''ve taken." Granny Charlotte smiled brilliantly.


    "Yes," Emilin responded as she watched Grandma Charlotte leave, just like that.


    Even after she left, Emilin''s eyes lingered in the direction to which she headed until there were once again no signs of humans in the area around this cliff.


    ***


    "Second Madame, are we going to head to the young master''s base right now?" Someone approached Old Lady Charlotte after she had disappeared from Emilin''s sight.


    "Oh god no. Not right now. I feel like I should appreciate the view that I haven''t appreciated in a while now. Let''s head there in another week or so, it''s not like they are expecting me for another week anyways." Charlotte responded casually.


    "Second Madame. Is this really okay?" He was one of the people who had been watching the interactions between Old Lady Charlotte and Emilin at a distance.


    At first, Charlotte hadn''t understood what he meant, but when he signaled in the direction from which she came from, she responded with an exaggerated a sigh


    "Oh, Edwin."


    "You''ve been with me for so long," She continued, with a shake of her head.


    "You should know not to worry too much about it. That youngss, well, she isn''t too bad," Charlotte grinned as she borated.


    However, in thisst part, she spoke with a calm demeanor as if the whole matter had nothing to do with her.


    "If we meet again, then it is fate, and if not, then it''s just too bad. Either way, giving my name out is no big deal, what are you worrying so much about? You''ll grow wrinkles really quick at your age if you keep worrying like this!"


    This was also quite exaggerated, Edwin wasn''t at that point yet.


    Completely unlike the granny who had been speaking to Emilin previously. Her face changed throughout the conversation, so much so that it felt like she was just switching around masks that she kept in her inventory.


    "Thatss is a poor soul, truly." There were signs of pity that shone through her eyes this time.


    Edwin, Charlotte''s right-hand man of decades couldn''t help but sigh at his Second Madam''s whimsical words. He already knew that there was nothing left to do, but he was also d that the youngss wasn''t anyone remarkable since that would greatly lower the chances of them ever crossing paths.


    "Ah yes, a poor hard-working youngss." She said with a sigh.


    What she didn''t know at the time was that those very words woulde to bite her back in the behindter on in the future.


    Hardworking?


    Poor?


    Ha.


    Her old pal Edwin wouldugh at her for the rest of her life for this one.


    A joke that would never meet its end, a line that Charlotte would regret saying out loud this very day, but also one that she couldn''t help butugh at when she looked back at it in the future.

 Chapter 65 - Path Pt V: (Spontaneous)

    I slept like a log after that long, long day of travel. God, I can''t believe I walked for so long without stop. While walking I barely felt anything, actually, I felt like I could still walk for another day or two without stopping.


    In retrospect, that was probably just the adrenaline talking. I mean, I was too preupied thinking about everything else, I really had no time to think about how my body was holding up. ??


    ''Now is the time to regret it.''


    ''After a good night''s sleep, it''s sore. EVERYWHERE!''


    The hard ground didn''t bother me at all even though I had been sleeping on a soft mattress throughout this lifetime.


    I wasn''t one to twist and turn in my sleep and so the small space didn''t bother me either, it''s just that, my legs were so stiff afterward. But I guess the me can''t be all ced on sleeping on the floor, of course in a tent, but still, the floor. In fact, I think most of it was due to the nonstop hiking.


    No matter how much I exercise on a daily basis, being always on the move is still taxing.


    Well, thinking about it wasn''t helping...


    The tent that I brought for this trip was one with a transparent top, with the option to pull up an attached cover, and so I was able to slip into sleep watching the stars and wake up to the sunrise.


    It was quite upsetting to wake up sote that I missed daybreak, but I was too exhausted to move anyway. Even so, I missed a good opportunity to take a shot of the sunrise in this part of the mountain range. One that wasn''t going toe by very often.


    Chances are that on my trip back, I wouldn''t be stopping at this exact location and so I didn''t really know if I was going to be seeing the sunrise here any time soon.


    After changing my clothes in the tent and stretching out, I quickly packed up the tent and set off after eating some trail mix for breakfast.


    Trail mix is just some of the ndest of foods to eat for long periods of time. At least if I had the option, I wouldn''t ever resort to trail mix in this lifetime again.


    ''Maybe I should get someone to make a better alternative.''


    ''I''m saving my jerky forter.''


    I then set off, continuing in the direction opposite from which I came from.


    Well, I could care less which direction I am headed in, but I''m not too fond of getting lost. Even if I picked a random direction I would have to remember them well so that I wouldn''t lose my way when I have to make my way back.


    ''What a pain.''


    ''But it''s worth the experience.''


    Everything seemed to go perfectly well, and time flew by like an arrow. I just kept working on my camera work, stopping to stretch out once in a while to relieve some of the sore spots, and working on those breathing exercises I talked about a while back.


    Of course, I don''t actually know any real breathing exercises so I just made some up.


    [Emilin: Wait what about going to the bathroom?]


    [Author: Oh darling! Don''t you know? Characters in novels apparently never have to go to the bathroom when it''s not convenient enough!]


    [Emilin: Well, I guess I didn''t want it talked about anyways¡­]


    A lot of time was also spent deleting some of the worse photos of the bunch, not wanting to max out the storage space on my camera chip, even though it was incredibly unlikely that I would have the skills to do that on this round trip.


    Anyways, when I went back to the apartment, I would have to go through the photos and sort them out anyway, so it didn''t really make a difference if it was deleted now orter, plus it wasn''t like I didn''t have any method to recover themter, if necessary.


    It was around 10 AM when I stopped. I walked at a much slower pace todaypared to yesterday so I covered less ground. Well at first I was nning to travel more, but with Grandma Charlotte''s warning, I decided to take it slow.


    ''I''m d I did.''


    ''There would have been tons of sights I would have missed. Wow, Grandma Charlotte. I guess I still find it weird calling her Grandma. Weird in a good way.''


    ''God I think I''m going to blush.''


    ''What is this?''


    I bring my hands to my face and I can feel it heat up. Fanning myself uselessly thinking that it would cool me down.


    ''Ack. Concentrate on the view!''


    ''Stop thinking about it.''


    I looked down, thankful that I don''t have a phobia of heights.


    I couldn''t help but be amazed and entranced at the view below.


    Though this was also a forest, like the one I was looking at when I was with Grandma Charlotte, it was upied with a different kind of tree.


    I let my legs dangle off the cliff as I stared off to the ground below, sitting quietly on the ledge.


    Of course, I''m in no way suicidal. I know that I''m not going to fall off no matter how careless I be since I carried my handy dandy heavy bag on my back as I sat.


    It serves me as both a safety pin and an anchor.


    The trees that made up the forest underneath my feet were all growing very closely together. The branches looked as if they would expand indefinitely, eachyering one on top of another. As the trees were so close, they all connected at one point or another.


    If I had to say what it looked like, I would say that it would beyers of webs, white webs all interconnected.


    Besides that, there was a reason I was so admin about sitting here! No matter what kind of dangers I may have to face! [Thinking back, this was simply a retarded thoughting from a retarded mind housed in the brain of a retarded person.]


    This is where I took my first decent photo! [That''s the sound of desperation right there.]


    Ah yes, to exin this I would have to take this to just a few seconds ago, it was more like a slip of the hand. It kind of just happen and then.


    *Click*


    I was going to delete it since it was a misclick, but thank god I looked at it before deleting it because it was definitely my best shot yet.


    You could see how the horizon met the forest trees in the distance in the background of the photo. Some of the trees in the distance as well as the birds that flew so far that even I couldn''t see them properly were somewhat blurry too.


    However, this blurriness only served to enhance the characteristics and structures of the trees in the foreground.


    I could clearly see each branch and how they extended out as well as how they ovepped.


    Most importantly, when I looked at the photo for prolonged periods of time, I felt like I could feel something.


    It''s quite strange to describe it in words now, but when I looked at the photo, I felt like I could distinctively feel the shock I felt when I identally clicked the button on my camera and heard the shutters.


    The photo simply reflected that instance.


    It was spontaneous just like the instance in which it was taken.


    Spontaneous just like this trip to the mountains.


    When I looked at the photo, I felt like doing something impulsive.


    To start moving right that moment and do something dumb during my youth. I felt like shouting ''It''s now or never!'' and then proceed to do whatever it was I thought of doing.


    Like finding my own path.


    Strange right?


    Well at least that''s how I felt while looking at it, I can''t really promise anything to anyone else.


    Now that I finally took a photo that was satisfactory, at least to me it was, I couldn''t help but want to linger here and see if I coulde up with something else like this.


    I took numerous photos after that first one, but as usual, there was nothing of substance. Everything was worse than mediocre. Quite sad to be honest.


    I kept swinging my legs like a child who didn''t fear the unknown and well, you know what happens when you know no fear and walk into the tiger''s mouth willingly.


    You get in big trouble.


    It was sudden. Out of nowhere, I heard a loud sound that was like a mixture of thunder and someone crumpling paper next to my ear.


    I don''t know what it was about that moment, maybe I was being too impulsive. Why the hell did I sit there on the ledge? Even if I wasn''t going to fall, it was still dangerous right?


    Why didn''t I put that caution that was in my mouth onto my legs so that I could have moved out of there?


    But to be fair, it wasn''t really my fault...


    Who could have seen iting?


    A fucking rockslide out of nowhere!

 Chapter 66 - Off Track Pt I: (Getting Off Track)

    Many thoughts ran through my mind in that instance.


    I looked from one end of the long path I had been treading before looking to the other and then up. The path wasn''t too narrow, but it wasn''t wide either. The rockslide was above, and a cliff was below, as for my right and left, the rockslide wasn''t going to spare those two ends either.??


    I craned my neck to look up at the movements of the giant pieces of the cliff that were slowly sliding down, reaching in my direction, being pulled by the force of nature that is gravity.


    Looking both left and right, as far as I could see on this path, the same phenomenon was urring, there was just no way I could get out of this by running now, not even if I sprinted at my fastest speed would I be able to outrun the speed of the sliding rocks considering the distance I had to travel.


    I knew my physical capabilities perfectly well. Even if I had a sudden ''surge before death'', it wouldn''t work out.


    Maybe if I had moved out right after taking that first photo here I could have made it out, but now it was toote for what-ifs. I just didn''t have the time to think about those anymore.


    I could hear the gears churning in my head, thinking of any other method I could use to get out of this without having my neck broken into two by a giant boulder, and at the end of a lengthy inner debate, there was really only one option left.


    Well, the debate wasn''t that long, I mean, you can just imagine how much time I had to spare... it was probably only half a second or two, but in front of imminent danger, it felt like much, much longer.


    In the end, I was left with only one option, jumping down.


    It''s not like I could fly up.


    The branches of the trees wereyered, which could somewhat cushion my fall, and though the height I would have to jump was still staggering, I wouldn''t die from it.


    I think.


    Well, I''m 90% sure I wouldn''t die from it.


    As foring out unscathed, well I guess it would only be slightly more likely than me finding a flying pig named Peppa and jumping onto it before flying off to and beyond the rainbow in order to steal the gold from the leprechaun with the name of ''Shiny Pants''.


    But only by < 0.000000001%


    The best would be to be able to hang on to one of the branches from any one of the trees before climbing down or simply jumping down, but I had no time to pray right now so I guess I''ll just have to make do.


    I quickly removed the chip from my camera, just in case I''m not able to protect itter on, before stuffing the chip into my breast pocket and the camera into my hiking bag, which I promptly threw off the ledge.


    Well keeping it was doing me more harm than good, dead weight if you know what I mean.


    It wasn''t going to be of any help unless I aimed fornding on my back, but considering how vital my spine is, there''s just no way I would risk it.


    I started climbing down the side of the cliff, trying to close some of the distance between the ground below and myself before jumping, but I quickly realized that my thoughts were simply too ideal.


    The debris wasing in quickly. I knew that at some point, rocks would start falling off this cliff, hindering my path.


    If I were to be hit by one of those, my chances of survival would decrease exponentially.


    ***


    Emilin, whose hand clutched onto the side of the mountain, bent her legs, moving them closer to the cliffside before extending them in one fell swoop and letting go of her hold on the ledge she had been franticly holding on to.


    Everything happened in a matter of instances.


    There was no more time to waste nor choices left to choose from.


    As Emilin propelled herself outwards to avoid the rockslide as well as the debris, she arched like a weak projectile into the forest below.


    *Creak* *Crack*


    The branches, unable to sustain Emilin''s weight, started to crack.


    *Creak* *Crack*


    She didn''t fall on any tree, but rather a space between two trees, gued with branches, but none of them thick nor strong enough to hold her weight.


    *Creak* *Crack*


    No matter how Emilin grasped at the branches, they just broke, one after another.


    *Creak* *Crack*


    Until there were no branches left.


    *THUD*


    ''Crappity crap crap crap.''


    ''F... that hurts like hell.''


    Emilin had done her best tond on her feet before rolling on the floor...


    The number of swear words she had thought of in thest two days was probably equivalent or even more than that of all the swear words she had ever said in her lifetime. Well, at least in this one.


    Even when she was working with foreigners with a different identity, she would always assume the identity of a gentleman ordy who knew no improper words, not because she was super against saying them, but rather because she wouldn''t be able to make them sound natural at all in many of the circumstances.


    Being a gentleman ordy who only spoke when necessary was much more convenient overall.


    All the personages who worked with one of Emilin''s other identities found themselves working with someone who went straight to the point, not wasting another word. Someone who probably wouldn''t even flinch if they were bombarded with curses, probably just calmly drinking their tea while ignoring them. Or even someone who was just too lofty to care.


    This was mostly a misconception seeing as Emilin worked with these people through a screen and various voice modtors. She would just mute whenever she wasn''t talking.


    When she was muted, a preprogrammed calm, even, and faint breathing sound was all that the other side would be able to hear.


    This subconsciously left the person on the other side of the call with the impression that they were talking to someone who couldn''t be fazed no matter what they said or what happened during their transactions or businesses, which was quite useful on most asions.


    Well, the point is, she didn''t really swear and she didn''t bother with her business partners who did at times.


    However, her actions gave others a different impression.


    The people who interacted with her all thought of her as ady/gentleman who was very proper and was strictly against cursing. Even if she/he didn''t say anything, Emilin''s business partners simply stopped swearing around her since there were just too many asions in which an awkward silence followed any swear words.


    To be fair, when most of these people first started working with Emilin, she was still quite young, so perhaps at that time she might have been slightly averse to strong curse words, but in order to not blow her cover, she simply didn''t say anything. In present times, she could really care less.


    Even her Big Brother Theo and Big Brother Nathan who worked with her in many of her ventures thought that she didn''t like curse words, though they may or may not have been slightly (strongly) influenced by the preconceived image that they already had of their little baby sister in addition to the fact that she was still young.


    The truth is, Emilin didn''t really care all that much.


    She didn''t really care if you swore not or even if she swore or not, but still, the habit of not swearing grew on her, mind you, after Emilin got the reputation of someone who wasn''t fond of swearing, most people around her watched theirnguage and since Emilin didn''t really say anything about it, it just became a habit.


    Not that she would be able to correct any of these people, nor did she really want to.


    Anyways, at this moment, Emilin couldn''t help but want to think of all the swear words in her personal dictionary.


    [9 long secondster]


    After going through theyers of branches, Emilin had done her best to aim for a smoothnding, but luck wasn''t exactly on her side.


    She had grabbed multiple branches, which eventually slowed her fall quite a bit, but as result, her hands had small cuts and scratches, but that wasn''t the main issue.


    Whennding, her left leg had been grazed by a sharp rock on the ground and when she instinctively rolled to the side after dropping to the ground to lessen the impact, she had ended up getting dirt all over the wound.


    ''It hurts like crazy!''


    Emilin couldn''t help but release a loud grunt.


    She shifted to her side so that she would lean on her right arm so to get her left leg off the dirty ground, instinctively reaching out for her throbbing leg beforeing to her senses.


    She couldn''t help but close her eyes, shutting them tightly. As tightly as she could to endure the pain.


    When she opened them again, she was finally able to properly see the condition of this leg.


    ''&%!!&@^¡ê&!''


    ''GAH!''


    ''What bad luck!''


    Her left leg was grazed by a sharp rock after having endured the hits from the trees above just like the rest of her body.


    The result is what we have now.


    Emilin had branches and leaves all over her clothes and her body while her bloody leg had even more essories attached.


    ''What a pain.''


    She wasn''t talking about the pain she felt now, but rather, just imagining how much it would hurt to clean the wound out, Emilin could already feel her head throb.


    Thankfully it was mostly surface wounds, she wasn''t going to have too much trouble walking after a good rest.


    ''God whatever. Where''s my bag?''


    Emilin wasn''t sure if this was the same area in which she threw her bag, but when she jumped down, she had made a conscious effort tond somewhere in the same area.


    "Why is it so far!" Emilin said out loud.


    She had turned her torso to look around, not moving anything below her hips so as to not irritate the wound any further.


    Well to be fair, Emilin''s bag wasn''t as far as it could have been. There was even a possibility that Emilin wouldn''t be able to see her bag, much less find it, especially in her current condition.


    Thankfully the bag was just around 7~ meters behind her, but now, looking back at her legs, it was 7 meters more than she would have liked.


    This trip had really gone off track.

 Chapter 67 - Off Track Pt II: (Tough-Luck)

    Emilin used the strength from her forearms to reach for the hiking bag a distance away. Her movements were akin to that of a sloth, both slow and draggy.


    A pitiful sight to say the least.??


    She was panting more than she had been throughout the entirety of the hike yesterday, but the injury had a lot to do with this exhaustion.


    ''Ha, since when has moving been so tiring.''


    Her situation reminded her of some of those homeless and handicapped people who crawled in the streets.


    Some didn''t have working legs and others simply didn''t have the energy to stand up.


    It wasn''t a rare sight in her past life, especially in the areas where she used to roam around when she did so in the area where she stayed.


    Back then she roamed around just for the sake of roaming and so there weren''t many sights that she hadn''t seen. Well, at least not many that you would be able to find on the streets.


    Roaming because she didn''t have a purpose nor a pattern.


    The word area is used since she didn''t even know where she had been. She didn''t know the name of the city she roamed around nor the name of the street she had died on.


    Well, maybe it is more urate to say that she didn''t recall.


    Perhaps she had seen the name before and had not bothered registering.


    It''s quite ironic, Emilin clearly knows the names of all the countries on that and even spoke so many of theirnguages, yet she didn''t even know which continent she had died on, much less the name of the country or even city, you don''t even have to start talking about street names.


    Everything was just a little muddled in those departments, but some of the memories were still intact. Like those of the life she had spent. She didn''t really know how they went, but she did recall the general situation on those streets.


    Even if she didn''t want to remember anymore.


    Of course, back then, she didn''t feel any pity for those people on the streets, after all, she didn''t even have the feeling to spare to pity herself.


    Ever since she came to this world, saving the homeless and weak had also most definitely NOT been her top priority.


    It would be more urate to say, it didn''t even upy a spot on her list of priorities.


    But now that she looked at herself, she couldn''t help but reflect a little.


    When she thought of the memories of her past life, she couldn''t help but empathize a little with the people who lived on the streets.


    Especially those who had no one else.


    ''I''m already lucky enough. I was born in a well-off and loving family in this life. Who am I toin. It''s only a scraped leg.''


    At this moment, Emilin thought about changing some of her ongoing ns.


    Her whole family moved to H¨¦ Continent and after Emilin discovered the significance of this event, she immediately started making preparations.


    She had always put her family''s safety above all else, no matter how unscrupulous she had to be, just like how she wouldn''t mind letting countless people suffer from illnesses that she could cure with her arsenal of knowledge.


    Of course, none of this touched on illegal boundaries, but still, if she simply gave away all that knowledge, she would probably be able to safe countless lives.


    But that is not her job!


    She wouldn''t be able to make the most out of her knowledge''s true value and she wouldn''t be able to protect her family either, only cing a greater target on their backs.


    She needed people to feel indebt to increase her status and thus raise her position in this world, and she could only use unscrupulous methods since she couldn''t reveal her identity, and even if she did, it would be hard to believe.


    It would also greatly affect her day-to-day life as well as her image with her partners. With the exception of those who had already worked with her long term, who would want to put all their trust in a 15-year-old girl.


    She simply didn''t have the power to protect her identities.


    If real big shots came looking for her in waves, not only would she not be able to live a peaceful life, she would also be putting her identity as well as her family in jeopardy. Even so, umting power was still necessary.


    This was why Emilin had always been very careful, putting safety as the first priority, second to nothing else.


    At that time, she hadn''t really considered what she could do for other people, not the sick, handicapped, much less the less fortunate.


    She just felt like it was none of her business.


    She didn''t feel that it was necessary for her to care for other''s well-being when she didn''t even know if she could protect her own family, but after a while, that was mostly used as an excuse to not get involved.


    Well, it still isn''t her business, but thinking about her situation right now...


    Thinking back to the moments before her death. It was quite sad to have died alone on the streets. There was probably no one in that world who would remember her, not even the other hobos.


    No one could stand in testament to her existence. At least not that she knew of.


    Even if she didn''t want to, she couldn''t help but feel pity, not wanting others to have the same fate as her.


    Even if she didn''t save the whole world, she could at least change a few people''s lives, right?


    And so, another thing was added to her never-ending to-do list.


    After she solidified her heart, she was determined to at least start doing something to help those who are in simr situations as she was in the past.


    Maybe she would be able to umte some more good Karma to top it all off.


    While thinking about all this, Emilin had finally finished her exceptional struggle, reaching her bag after an eternity of crawling like a fricking slug.


    She opened thergest zipper and then apartment within, reaching for her medical supplies.


    There wasn''t anything tooplicated in there, but she had everything she needed.


    She first took some of her water to clean up the wound. Even if she wanted to use it sparingly, she didn''t have that kind of luxury right now.


    She felt like their wound was already on fire, she couldn''t skimp on the clean-up process or else her leg may really get infected.


    By then, she would be in big trouble.


    Emilin did her best to remove all the dirt and leaves on and around her wound. Following the standard first aid for a cut, Emilin proceeded to stop the bleeding, disinfect the wound (which hurt like hell, if I must add), finishing the bandaging process exhausted.


    Maybe it was the umted fatigue or even the amount of stress she had endured in thest 30 minutes (it took a long time to calm down and get to that bag ok! (-//¦Å//-)), but Emilin frankly felt like she couldn''t move another inch.


    Thankfully this exhaustion didn''t impact her ability to do first aid as her bandaging clearly looked like it came out from some drawing.


    Neat and perfect, it was practically shining around all the dirt.


    She moved her leg carefully with her hands so that it would be stretched out straight beforeying down on the floor.


    The sky was still blue, the white clouds were still up in the sky, the world hadn''t ended yet and she hadn''t died and gone to some dreand, the pain in her left leg could attest to that.


    ''Why didn''t I just leave that ce when I took that damned photo, it clearly wasn''t the safest spot,'' Emilin released a big pent-up sigh that she didn''t dare liberate when she was still in the middle of a rockslide site.


    ''But it was worth it.'' The smile on Emilin''s face at the moment was that of a child who was just given candy.


    Even when she was a child she had probably never smiled like that.


    Yet now, she was smiling like a kid while looking that the tiny chip that she held with great care in both her hands, the one that she took out of her breast pocket.


    Raising it up above her head, against the background of the clear sky while lying downpletely disheveled on the floor, she stared at it intently.


    She was really like a child at the moment.


    An innocent child with a pure smile.


    She was so cute! (? ??????? ?)


    ''I have to go back and check these photoster, but now here''s the problem. How do I make my way back?? I don''t know the way around here anymore and it''s not like I can climb back up that cliff.''


    Though this was a great problem, it wasn''t one that Emilin could consider right now when she was seriously low on energy.


    Even if it was the afternoon, and she had slept all night, she couldn''t help but want to sleep.


    ''Whoever created the ''siesta'' [1] is a genius!'' She chuckled.


    It was good that Emilin still had the energy tough... even after almost getting crushed by a mountain of boulders.


    She quietly put her chip back into her breast pocket, but she didn''t move her gaze even after putting it away.


    She stared into the sky in a day dreamish manner.


    ''Yeah, I should definitely get to help some more people, maybe it can improve my Karma. It seems like I haven''t been having the best of luck.''


    Since she needed to rest up anyways and her leg was injured, she really couldn''t bother moving from the spot and so she just dozed off on the spot.


    Who knows what exactly was going through her mind when falling asleep, but if it was something like ''this day can''t get any worse'', well she''d be better off knowing that it can and it will.


    [1] Wiki- A siesta (Spanish pronunciation: [?sjesta]) (Spanish, meaning "nap") is a short nap taken in the early afternoon, often after the midday meal. Such a period of sleep is amon tradition in some countries, particrly those where the weather is warm.


    ***


    Mini-theater:


    Emilin just before falling asleep:


    Emilin: *Acho* *Acho* *Acho* *Acho*


    Emilin: This may really be bad luck, first a rock slide and now someone seems to be talking about me behind my back! God.


    Author: *Gasp!* How did you know this god was talking about you behind your back!


    Emilin: *Squints eyes*


    Author: I mean-- um-- I don''t what you talking about.


    Emilin: Hey wa--!


    Author: Sayonara

 Chapter 68 - Off Track Pt III: (Stop Thinking About It!)

    *Pitter Patter*


    *Pitter Patter*??


    ''God, what''s going on?''


    Emilin, who was stillying on the floor, tried to get herself to sit up, but a bout of dizziness brought her right back down.


    *Pitter Patter*


    *Pitter Patter*


    ''How long have I been asleep?''


    Emilin tried to look for clues in the sky above to see howte it was, but with no results. The whole sky was cover by an assembly of grey clouds. She wouldn''t be able to tell where the sun was even if she wanted to. Though she could assume it was quitete since the sky was still darker than it would have been if the sun were behind those rain clouds.


    *Pitter Patter*


    *Pitter Patter*


    She lifted her hand only to feel the raindrops falling from the sky above, which were also hitting her face mercilessly.


    ''I have to get out of here.''


    Looking up at the grey sky, Emilin didn''t need to be a professional weather woman to know that this rain wasn''t going to be going anywhere any time soon.


    In fact, it was surely only going to get worse.


    The droplets had woken her up shortly after they started falling from the sky and so it still wasn''t pouring, but it wouldn''t be long until it did.


    *Pitter Patter*


    *Pitter Patter*


    Emilin disregarded her migraine and quickly stood up, which only led her to stumble, nearly falling to her knees before catching herself.


    She didn''t hesitate to grab her bag, not bothering to observe her surroundings too much before heading in the direction of the cliff.


    The trees around here were all the same and so it wouldn''t make a difference if she stayed under one or another, but considering her migraine and her injury she had to consider the possibility of both getting a fever and further irritating her injury.


    She couldn''t be exposed to the rain for too long, especially not with the dropping temperatures, and since she couldn''t hope for the rain clouds to run away, she was the one who had to do the moving.


    If she was lucky, she might be able to find an area under the cliff where the rain wouldn''t be able to reach her, and even if she was unlucky, she would still be under the same circumstances as she was now.


    She would just have to pray under a tree that the rain clouds would quickly get over their break up and move on, or whatever it is that they had to do to stop crying. Even if they didn''t, they should at least move on and cry elsewhere.


    *Pitter Patter*


    *Pitter Patter*


    Once Emilin reached the rocky wall, she used it to support her weight as she moved along that path.


    It still wasn''t quite a cliff above her and so the small rain that was slowly growing in size still came crashing down on her figure.


    *Pitter Patter*


    *Pitter Patter*


    ''This is bad.'' She couldn''t help but frown in her current situation.


    She lifted her head, looking for an area that would be able to make for a cover in this rain despite the droplets that were drenching her face, some of which made her eyes squint.


    She kept looking up while using the cliff as support when suddenly, there was no more cliff there to support her.


    *BAMN*


    She quite literally fell face down on the dirty, rocky floor.¥ß( ¥Î_ _)¥Î


    ''God, why do you have to do this to me! This is just getting worse and worse. First was the rockslide, then the rain, and now this stupid fall out of no where! Where the hell did that wall go to?''


    Clearly Emilin couldn''t think properly at the moment.


    Her head was pounding, making all of her reactions much slower, so much so that she wasn''t even able to reach out her arms to prevent her face from taking all the damage.


    It was only after Emilin stood up properly again that she realized how she had really lucked out this time!


    She hadnded right into a cave!


    Well it was more urate to say that she had fallen right into a cave, but to be fair, her chin was always pointing upwards, looking for an area where she could take shelter from the rain.


    There was just no way that she would have thought that there was a cave around here with her long streak of bad luck so far. Plus, she just wasn''t looking in front of her so even her peripheral vision wasn''t able to catch anything, not to mention she the fact that she had been squinting this whole time due to the drizzle.


    And just to rub some more salt on the wound, Emilin wasing down with a slight fever, she was in pain from overusing her leg, which was all bloody again due to the rain and she hade down with a migraine.


    Her senses were already dulled out there was just nothing else she could have done.


    Maybe if her senses were even just slightly better, she would have realized that there was a fricking hole in the wall, but no.


    ''It''s simr to when you trip and your handnds on dog poop, but then you discover that there is a gold coin in that dog poop, just when you werecking in money. Of course you''ll be happy to have found the gold coin, but the event will still leave a bitter aftertaste due to the way you found it. After all, who wants they hand in poop?''


    Emilin seriously had to work on her analogies, but at least they got the point across.


    Emilin checked her surroundings after finding another wall to lean on inside the dark cave, illuminated only by the little light that was able to travel through the clouds and then into the entrance of the cave.


    The cave wasn''t exceptionallyrge, but it was big enough to fit at least 10 people. However, that wasn''t the biggest merit of this cave, after all, she was just one person, she didn''t really need that much space.


    The biggest attraction in this cave were the seat like rocks.


    There were 5 rocks that could easily serve asfortable seats in this ce.


    ''I guess the Godess of Luck hasn''t abandoned me after all.''


    Emilin slouched down on the closest ''seat'' and closed her eyes, allowing the water from her hair to drip down, meeting the droplets that were on her face before dripping down her chin.


    Words couldn''t describe how tired she was.


    Time past when one second felt like an enternity, Emilin could still feel the burn in her leg. The only thing that told Emilin just how quickly the time was passing was the pitter pattering of the rain, which slowly grew louder as the drizzle became a down poar.


    "Thank god I got here in time."


    It seems like Emilin was really having mixed feelings about god these days.


    Emilin had to make herself move again, even though she somewhat wished that she had been reborn as a rock [1], like Suga, but not really.


    ''If I were reborn as a rock, I wouldn''t have met mom, dad, Big Brother Theo, nor Big Brother Nathen and that can''t do.''


    ''I guess I''ve really got no room toin in this life huh.''


    She redressed her wounds slowly and carefully (she just didn''t have the energy to move any faster) and took a fever reducing pill. Since she already had her bag open, she also took her sleeping bag out.


    Though she wouldn''t want to get her sleeping bag all dirty and the ''seat'' she was sitting on was quitefortable, the seat wasn''t somewhere you could sleepfortably, you''d be better off on the floor, and she really couldn''t bother taking her tent out to prevent her sleeping bag from getting wet and dirty.


    At this point, she couldn''t really care less.


    ''Hot damn.'' Emilin''s eyes widened in realization.


    ''I could have just taken my tent out!''


    ''Then I wouldn''t have had toe looking for this cave. I guess my brain was really fried.'' She couldn''t help but release a sigh of frustration.


    ''Well, I guess at least the cave is slightly warmer and less windy. I also won''t have to sleep with the sound of the rain. I won''t have to worry or be scared that there will be a leakage of sorts. Yeah, this cave is still best.'' She thought in a depressed tone.


    Emilin did her best to console herself, knowing that she didn''t really have to go through all that trouble.


    ''Gah whatever. Though I''ve probably been sleeping all day, there really isn''t much else I can be doing at the moment but sleep or count sheep.''


    In the background, the rain kepting down harder and harder, increasing in momentum with no ns of stopping at all...


    Emilin really didn''t want to say if she was unlucky or lucky enough, but it seemed like talking about luck would only further jinx her and so she was now determined to stop talking about it, well no, stop thinking about it.


    It was clear that nothing good wasing from such thoughts, after all, things would go the way they were going to go and thinking about luck would only lower her morale.


    And if her morale was lowered any further, well, STOP THINKING ABOUT IT!


    ''Sleep''


    ''Sleep''


    ''Sleep''


    ''Sleep''


    ''The best thing you can do here is sleep!''


    Ah but there is something called the ironic process theory [2] for a reason.


    [1] BTS reference (If you don''t know them... check them out (and you''ve probably been living under a rock for the past n-years of your life))


    [2] Wiki definition - Ironic process theory, ironic rebound, or the white bear problem refers to the psychological process whereby deliberate attempts to suppress certain thoughts make them more likely to surface.

 Chapter 69 - Off Track Pt IV: (Too Flashy.)

    Emilin''s rations slowly dwindled as two days passed just like that.


    The rain clouds didn''t show signs of wanting to move away, and Emilin felt iffy when she was exploring the cave, not that there was much to explore.??


    There appeared to be various footprints on the sand in the cave, which she hadn''t noticed on the first day she arrived, but seeing as no one hade to the cave in the past two days, she decided to forget about it.


    Well at least she would stop thinking about it, after all, it had already been pouring for hours on end. Just which idler woulde out to the mountains now and even if they did, would they really travel so far just to get to this cave?


    Chances were, this cave was probably just used once or twice, and then the footprints were just left there.


    Anyways, she would move out right when the rain stopped so it wouldn''t matter if someone else came to this cave afterward, they wouldn''t bum into each other.


    In the past two days, Emilin had set up her tent inside the cave and would spend most of her time inside the tent with the tent door open, looking at the scene outside the cave.


    She was waiting for the rain to stop, but sadly, it never happened.


    As for what she was doing these past two days, she really couldn''t do anything but sleep, eat and meditate.


    Not that it was a bad thing.


    It gave her some time to think about things and she didn''t even have to y artificial water sounds to make the mood.


    Emilin could have also been on her phone, using all the applications that didn''t require a signal, but then that would go against the whole point of this trip.


    There was one more thing bothering her these days.


    It was the issue about whether she should send her brothers a signal so that they could get her some support.


    Of course, she didn''t want her Big Brother Theo nor her Big Brother Nathan toe themselves since they both had their own lives and their own sses to attend. After all, they were both in prestigious colleges, but the issue was that they would have toe up with some excuses.


    Since they wouldn''t know just what exactly was going on, it wouldn''t be optimal to get the police involved and so Emilin would really rather start contacting some of the more trustworthy partners they worked with.


    They were alreadying of age and it was about time they started meeting, though this was likely not the best way to meet.


    As all three of them were rather young in an age when they first started garnering fame and power, all being underaged, none of them had revealed their identities to any of their business partners yet, which meant that if someone came to help Emilin under the name of helping one of Emilin''s identities, the connection would be exposed.


    They would have toe up with some good excuse.


    But even if they did, they would still be corrted to the identity they were trying to hide.


    ''Well, it''s about time to meet some of them, but I wonder who woulde... who''s around this area?'' Emilin couldn''t help but imagine a meeting.


    She could definitively say that this was most likely not the best time to meet any of those people, but it would still be fun.


    In the best-case scenario, Emilin would just pretend to be ''her own'' apprentice, in the worst-case scenario, she would reveal her identity, but she didn''t really see why that would be necessary.


    But at this rate, she might really need some support.


    Her rations wouldn''tst too long, she didn''t really know where she was, and she had no idea how much longer she would have to stay here.


    The obvious choice would be to activate the 3ed hole, sending the signal of ''I need help, but I''m not in mortal danger yet.''


    With such smart brothers, with abined IQ of probably over 300, they would have no trouble going to a random search engine to figure out the weather here.


    Right?


    Well if they couldn''t do a google search, then she had really taught them for naught.


    Ha. That would be a truly sad moment in her life.


    Thankfully, it was highly unlikely for anything like that to happen, ever.


    ''I guess reinforcement would take a while toe, so if I''m going to ask for them, I should probably do it now.''


    After grueling over this thought for the past two days, staring at the endless rain, she finally took out another one of her needles from within her hiking bag and inserted it in the third hole of the alinement for the exact time of 3 seconds courtesy of counting with Mississippi [1], showing her urgency.


    ''Hm... I wonder who will being. There should be quite a few people in this country, but who would Big Brother Theo contact?''


    ''I wonder how he''ll choose¡­''


    ***


    3 days ago


    Theodore, who was still busy with the game, working along with Kayden, had finally made a breakthrough after a (not to be disclosed) number of deaths.


    He finally realized why the ''right answers'' were always changing, every time he yed as well as what was used as a signal, telling the yers when which answers would be right.


    At first, he had been mostly using instincts throughout the gamey, seeing as the same answer could lead to multiple results, but when he started taking screenshots every time he restarted after dying, he finally realized what was different about the characters and what would lead to the different oues.


    It was the micro-changes in the character''s expressions.


    It was so small that he couldn''t even tell at first nce, especially after staring at them for hours on end, but when the images were side by side when he knew he was looking for something, he would be able to tell the minute differences.


    He had been so concentrated on the options and the formating on the answers that he hadn''t noticed the small details in the bigger picture, quite literally.


    After testing his THEOry out, he quickly came to a conclusion, telling Kayden his findings before Kayden could finally reach the 500 deaths mark.


    "I got it." he calmly said.


    "Mhm, mhm. Ok, sounds nice," Kayden replied, absentmindedly.


    He was severely sleep-deprived and so his mind really wasn''t working properly.


    A couple of seconds passed in silence before Kayden snapped out of his daze.


    "Wait, what did you get?"


    "These characters, they have ''emotions''." He didn''t even blink as he responded.


    "Their facial expressions, a slight purse of the lips, extra tiny wrinkles between the brows, those are supposed to tell us how the character is ''feeling'' and that''s how we distinguish when which answers are right," Theodore said all this as if it were nothing, and that he hadn''t just spent the past, who knows how many hours working on this.


    It was truly hard to tell as those signs were not in the form of lines on the drawing, but rather a different shade of simr colors, which would change the character''s expression.


    "Of course, I still don''t know which ones match up with which, but this should at least set us up. We should continue with this n in mind," He finished up.


    Kayden just sat there and blinked for a while.


    "Gah!" He let out his frustrations as he leaned back on his chair without a second care in the world.


    "Are you telling me I''ve been ying a game of chance so far?"


    "No, you''re saying that. I''m not saying anything." Theodore took this chance to drop any and all me.


    "That''s even worse!" Kayden continued.


    Just as he was about to go into a rant, a ringly loud rm sounded from Theodore''s electronic watch.


    Kayden, who was still stuck on the revtion about the game that his roommate had just disclosed to him wasn''t able to react to another surprise, just shifting his gaze to Theodore''s electronic watch that was shining yellow.


    Suddenly, Theodore''s phone also started ringing.


    ''Shites in sheaves huh,'' Kayden thought, looking at Theodore''s sour expression.


    ''This guy always seems to be held up with something.''


    "Sorry, I''ve got to get this, I already told you what I know. You can take a rest or keep going if you''d like." Theodore said, turning around before concentrating on his screen while also picking up his phone while he was at it.


    Theodorepletely forgot about Kayden''s existence at that moment, but that didn''t really bother Kayden.


    He already seemed to be okay with entertaining himself.


    Kayden decided to make himself useful before anything else popped up and started collecting more data ording to Theodore''s new theory.


    As for Theodore, he was currently in a call with his Big Brother.


    As for the yellow light, shing from Theodore''s electronic watch, it was to promptly signal Theodore when there was an rm going off.


    This yellow light was reserved for when Emilin poked that second hole in the soles of her shoes, as for the reason his elder brother called, that was self-exnatory since he had received the same signals as he did.


    ''I should really consider making things less loud and shy...'' Theodore thought, looking down at his wrist as he shut down the obnoxiously loud rm in hisputer.


    The reason why this was set up like this was just in case something happened while he was sleeping, he didn''t want to miss anything important if that was the case.


    Now he had to consider, what if something happened while he was in ss?


    Wouldn''t this be way too eye-catching?

 Chapter 70 - Off Track Pt V: (Lazy)

    "Did you get the signal?" Theodore asked, holding his phone between his ear and his shoulder, tilting his head to hold it in ce.


    He quickly stopped what he was doing to get some wireless earphones before continuing.??


    "Of course I did. I was in the middle of a ss you know?" Nathan guffawed.


    "But still, you should really consider changing something in this device. I don''t know if I''ll be able to handle it if it just goes off like that again."


    "Do you know just what kind of excuse I had to make?" Nathen asked.


    He nearly burst intoughter just thinking about how silly it was.


    "What was it?" Theodore was truly curious about what his ''model student'' brother coulde up with.


    "Haha. I said that it was my wake-up rm that I forgot to turn off. Now you can just imagine how the others must think I sleep till 2 PM on days off. One day, I might really just get a heart attack from this rm, and if my fellow students go along with me, they might say this was all premeditated." Nathan continued, in an incredibly serious tone, hiding is smiling voice.


    "Mm, I''ll take note of your request." Theo casually mumbled, but he definitely took that advice to heart since he was thinking the same thing.


    "But god. You couldn''t havee up with anything better?" Theodore asked.


    "Hey, give me a break! I never thought I would have to. This was already me using my improv skills to the max! It''s fine, they all bought it and those who didn''t, well what other choice did they have but to buy it?" Nathen leaned back on his chair from his side.


    "Then let''s get to business. What has my genius little brother found so far?" Nathan teased.


    He sounded like he was joking, but Theo knew better than anyone else how serious Nathan was right now.


    "Just from a surface search, there hasn''t been much activity in the Hemafuji Mountain Range area in E Continent. But Emi activated the second level rm so she''s saying that there is something to be wary of or something is off, after all, if there was nothing, there''s just no way in hell she would tell us in this way." Theodore exined.


    "If it''s something just to be wary of, then chances are, it''s people. Emi wouldn''t activate this for everything and nothing, so clearly there are some suspicious people there, but if they could escape from my preliminary search, then they won''t be your average Joe." Theodore spoke rather softly.


    Maybe it was to hide the worry seeping from his voice.


    "Mm, you''re more familiar with the people you''re working with. Though I might have one or two people I could ask, I doubt any of them would be d to help. As for you guys..." Nathan''s voice trailed of before he finished his sentence.


    "I''m sure you have people lining up for the job."


    "Mm," Theodore agreed while looking into the locations of the people in his list.


    "Just find a trustworthy one. It was about time you guys did this anyways." Nathan continued.


    "I guess so. I''ll take care of it so you don''t have to worry Big Bro."


    "I''m sure she''ll be fine," Nathan reasured, but it was unknown if he was reassuring his little brother Theo here, or himself.


    "Mm, rest assured, I''ll drop the call and send you messages to keep you up to date."


    "Then I''ll be hanging up."


    "Wait. About the rm thing, I''ll change it within the week and send you an update to install. You can look forward to it." Theodore smirked at the thought.


    "It seems like you already have something in mind?" Nathan felt somewhat skeptical.


    It wasn''t the first time the rm went off, though normally it wasn''t for these reasons, but rather hacking incidents.


    So far, Theo had never opted for changing the system though Nathen couldn''t understand why.


    "Yeah. Ok I''ve got work to do! Love you, bye."


    "Mm, good work. Love you too, keep me up to date."


    *Beep* *Beep*


    "Gosh, sorry for listening in, not that I had a choice, but I don''t think I''ve seen another family as high level loving as yours." Kayden couldn''t help butment on what he heard while munching on some sun flower seeds that he took from Theodore''s snack pile.


    Even if those two were brothers, it felt like premium dog food was shoved down his throat.


    "If it were a call with my siblings, we would be lucky if we didn''t try cutting eachother''s thoats with words already." Kayden continued.


    "I thought you didn''t have siblings?"


    "Cousins, same difference. We pretty much grew up together." Kayden replied as Theodore nodded.


    "You know, my cousins would always rush to my ce when we were young, want to know why?" Kayden kept up his chatterbox ways and though Theodore would normally find it annoying to talk to someone who spoke so much, he didn''t seem to mind it too much this time.


    "No, not really, but I''m sure you''ll tell me why anyways." Theodore didn''t let this conversation distract him from his screen and what was really important right now.


    "Well I can''t let our big god Theodore here be wrong right? I guess I''ll just have to reluctantly tell you." Kayden didn''t mind the way Theodore spoke and even chuckled, knowing that Theodore didn''t actually hold any malice towards him.


    "They were some really unlucky bastards! They didn''t even have wifi at their ce. The best they could scrounge up was their neighbor''s wifi! And they live in a mansion surrounded by a garden so they would have to go all the way to the edges of their garden to get any signal, and even then, it would be pretty bad." Kayden went on to story telling mode.


    He was much more rxed with hisnguage when he spoke about these cousins of his.


    "Gosh it was so sad."


    ''Which part? The garden, mansion or wifi part'' Theodore thought.


    "They stole one of my phones since they didn''t have one back in freshman year of highschool, but they weren''t even able to use it. It was only in their softmore year, when I went to their ce that we found out that their house did have wifi, it was just a hidden server. After all, their parents clearly had work to do even at home at times, so it just didn''t make sense for there to be no signal."


    Theodore suddenly seriously didn''t want to listen anymore. This was some serious first world problem bullshit.


    He didn''t even want toment, after all, it''s not like he couldin.


    "He''s the one," Theodore mumbled, concentrating on his screen.


    He seemed to have quickly learned a skill that took Kayden''s other friends many years to master.


    The skill of ignoring everything unimportant Kayden said, in other words, around 99.9999998999999% of everything that came out of his mouth.


    He put his attention on getting someone in E continent that was free, close, and most importantly, trustworthy, to help Emilin before finally stoping at one name on his map.


    "I choose you," Theodore said with a grin.


    ***


    Emilin on the other hand, didn''t know that his brothers had already called for someone a few days ago.


    ''Is this the life of a pig?''


    All Emilin did these days was sleep, eat, sleep, sleep and did I mention sleep? Oh and eat. To hell with low rations.


    All or nothing right?


    ''It''s not too bad'' sheughed.


    ''I like it.''


    Rolling around in her sleeping bag wasn''t too bad at all.


    While she did all this, the rain outside was still at it non stop.


    ''When was thest time I slept this much?''


    She had slept and rested so well thesest few days that she nearly forgot the reason why she was gued by insomnia.


    And just like that, she fell into dreamnd once again, tired from rolling around.


    ***


    Emilin was mistaken when she thought that no one woulde to this area in this rainstorm as just a couple of trees from the cave she was staying at, a group of men,posed of 4 muscr, burly men along with one lean one were hidden on the trees, behind the thin branches.


    "She can''t be a spy sent here right?" The one of the far-right side asked.


    They had already been observing this littless in the rain for hours, but none of them showed any signs of weakness nor fatigue.


    "Where can you find suchzy spies, tell me if you find some ce that hires them, I''ll quit here and go there. All this girl has been doing this past day is dazing off and doozing off." The one hiding himself behind the tree next to the first manmented.


    "Calim is right. Who would hire suchzy people. Plus, she looks like a twig." The burly man, standing on top of the tree Calim was hiding behind added.


    It was a truly strange sight as this massive man stood there, on top of a thin branch without even letting a leave rustle due to himself.


    "Hey who knows, maybe that''s why she''d make a good spy." Thest of the muscr men gave his opinion before silence fell on them all.

 Chapter 71 - Not A Spy Pt I: (Plan)

    "Should we bring her in then?" Calim, the one who imed to want to quit and join this zy spy''s'' organization, offhandedly asked.


    They had already been there for hours, waiting, and though they were drenched, no one was reallyining. ??


    This was better than their training.


    Still, Calim wasn''t one for waiting or being outside. If he had a choice, he wouldn''t leave his bed ever, much less in this weather and most definitely not with this group of people with him.


    It was a wonder how he became a sniper.


    Someone who had to wait for their target, many times outdoors, and who would dare im they could control the weather during a job, and let''s not even start talking about sniper training.


    Most professionals went to the deserts and the rainforests just to train for hours, most of which wereposed of just staying in the same position without moving an inch, no matter what, while holding a heavy-ass gun.


    In other words, except for the being alone part, Calim pretty much had to do everything he disliked in this job of his, it was no wonder he wanted to quit.


    It''s not like he wasn''t good at incognito work, in fact, he would probably be much, much better than that littless who always hid in her tent.


    At this point, Calim might really consider forgetting everything and just walk up to Emilin to ask for a business card.


    "No, let''s wait and see, we don''t know anything so if we bring her in and she''s not a part of anything, won''t we just be exposing ourselves?" Hunter, another one of the burly men refuted.


    His sharp eyes shone in the dark, like a true hunter waiting for his prey, he was someone with much more patients, someone who wanted to get things right.


    The 5 people didn''t move from their original positions as they spoke to each other.


    Their voices were in fact, so quiet that no one passed the next tree should be able to hear them, but no one in the group would have trouble perceiving what the others said.


    "True, true." Zeek, the third muscr man in the alignment, exaggeratedly nodded his head to show his position, but his movements didn''t affect his surroundings in the slightest, showing his expertise.


    "Then why have we been waiting here for so long? Why don''t we either just waltz up and ask her or go back and report this issue?" Haneo, the person standing on the tree that Zeek hid behind asked in an unperturbed demeanor, not wanting to wait here much longer.


    He was a training maniac after all, why would he want to waste his precious body training time here. He was also the most muscr of the bunch.


    Haneo was someone who didn''t know of the concept that was training one''s mind.


    "How dumb can you get, ask her, oh hey did youe to spy on us? And we clearly can''t bring her back! Maybe that''s what she''s aiming for." Hunter snorted.


    His eyes shining with the gleam of a smart hunter, waiting for the best time to attack his prey.


    "Then why don''t we pretend we were also stuck in the rain? We can go there and probe her, iming that there is space in the cave for all of us." Calim proposed, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible.


    Even the dirty cave was better than out here.


    The more soaked he got, the more the dirt clung on to him


    At least it wouldn''t be as windy nor wet, plus he would be able to rest a bit and simultaneously gain an excuse to stop interacting with these people.


    Actually, he was also somewhat interested in thess, wanting to know if she was truly a spy. At this rate, he might really just quit his current position.


    Not that it would be easy.


    "If we were going to do that, shouldn''t we have done it before it started raining for 2 days straight? If we go now won''t we just seem even more suspicious?"


    Hunter didn''tpletely disagree with this idea, but his reluctance was still shown as he furrowed his brows and pursed his lips.


    "What if she''s staying there because she wants us to approach her? There are just too many things that could or could not be. At this rate, we''ll be here for another day and still get nothing done. Let''s just go." Calim said in a conclusive tone with a sigh.


    "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong, let''s stop worrying about it, it''s just like Calim is saying." Haneo was also swayed and in his world, Murphy was king [1], that''s why he''d rather not use too much of his brainpower on trivial things.


    This was actually a naturally good thing as he wasn''t one to be thwarted by his nerves as he didn''t have any.


    As the others nodded, Zeek was the one to finalize everything.


    "It''s a n then," he said.


    "It seems like I''ve been too easy on you guys, how did that bastard raise such careless fools?" The lean man asked.


    "You call what you just made up a n? How dare you go in without a n!" The man snorted.


    Even though he was the leanest of all of the men here, his ck bodysuit underneath his ck sports jacket didn''t fail to show off his muscr figure.


    On the other hand, his face was quite unsightly, not because he was not handsome, in fact, it was quite the opposite, he was quite the looker with deep blue eyes and a sharp nose, his whole face being chiseled in all the right ces.


    It was his expression that made one unable to look at him.


    Without that expression, most would turn away in embarrassment.


    With that expression, most would turn away in fear.


    On his forehead was a sign that told others he was not in a good mood, as if someone who owed him millions had just passed away with no familiar connections and no property to mortgage and sell.


    Truly unsightly.


    "Howe Brother Onu and Quaint don''t ever have these types of problems?" He muttered in frustration in a voice so soft that even the closest Zeek couldn''t hear.


    The lean man clicked on the Bluetooth in-ear headset, calling for a second opinion.


    His call didn''t even ring once before it was picked up by someone on the other side.


    Just as he was about to exin the situation to whoever picked up his call, a higher-pitched male voice interrupted him.


    "Why Brother Dios it''s you! To whom do I owe the pleasure of having you call me first?" The man on the other side asked.


    "God damn it! Why is it you, Cenci." Dios said through gritted teeth.


    ''I didn''t call you. Fuck I called anyone who would answer, it''s not my fault you have nothing better to do.'' Dios thought.


    His expression became increasingly unsightly, if one didn''t know any better, they would think this man was on his period with level 9 cramps with no painkillers.


    As if he knew what his Brother Dios was thinking, Cenci, on the other side of the call continued talking with his excited voice.


    "Oh don''t worry about me, no matter how busy I am, I''ll always have time to pick up your calls." Cenci winked, even though Dios wouldn''t be able to see him.


    On the other hand, the 4 new trainees that were still with him at the moment couldn''t help but shudder when they heard captain Cenci''s talk with their Captain Dios.


    ''Does captain Cenci not want his life anymore?'' was themon thought going through their minds, clearly, they didn''t understand their group dynamics too well yet.


    ''It''s a love-hate rtionship,'' Cenci would im if he had heard any one of these people''s thoughts. Continuing with, ''Mostly love though! I love him a whole lot, while he hates me just a little,'' he would say, with a sweet smile.


    As for the people on Dios''s side who had joined their group much earlier, they were already used to their two captain''s way of interaction.


    It was nothing new and so they just ignored it, after all, speaking about your superiors behind their backs and talking about them to their face were on twopletely different ballparks.


    They wouldn''t stop themselves fromughing when their captains weren''t there but doing so when they were was just asking for a swift death.


    No.


    Actually, a swift death would already be considered quite merciful, they would be considered lucky if they were not mentally tortured for days.


    "Well then, what does my Big Brother Dios want from me then?" Cenci continued with his honey-sweet voice, which didn''t sound feminine in the least.


    The corner of Dios''s eyebrows twitched.


    Dios had always been someone who was ratherposed, at least to the outsiders he seemed to be, but in front of his people, he did hold himself back at all.


    If it weren''t for the fact that he didn''t want a fight right now, he wouldn''t refrain himself from exposing this brother of his!


    ***


    Mindtools: Murphy''sw- in its simplest form, Murphy''s Law states: If anything can go wrong, it will.


    Author''s note: In this chapter and previous ones, brother is used as a term to show camaraderie and how close their rtionship is, they are not necessarily rted by blood, even if they call each other ''brother''. If they are indeed blood-rted siblings, you will be told.

 Chapter 72 - Not A Spy Pt II: (Giggle)

    Dios briefly exined the situation to Cenci through hisms. He acted reluctant at first, but in the end, it was just that, acting.


    Anyhow, Dios kept it as short as possible, just giving some vague descriptions, so vague that Cenci didn''t even think about thinking about that little underaged girl he had met a couple of days ago.??


    He was just excited to see a show.


    "Oh, I see. Of course, you should go! The kids also need to do some undercover work every now and then, just take this as an opportunity to gain some experience."


    Cenci spoke slightly more seriously when it came to training, but he couldn''t hide the mirth in his voice from his Brother Dios, who had already gained years of experience dealing with him.


    ''Like hell, I don''t know what you''re thinking. This is clearly more trouble than it''s worth.'' Dois thought about it as he spoke.


    It didn''t matter if this girl was a spy or not at this point.


    If she was, then great, but he would end up having to deal with the clean-up of this matter. They followed a finders keepers kind of rule when it came to trouble.


    And if she were not a spy?


    He would have to deal with even more clean-up! Trying to get out of the situation without exposing themselves as well as directing thisss elsewhere, somewhere far far away from their base.


    After all, he finally got a chance toe to the old headquarters. He was going to be stationed here in Spider Eye forest for a while and this was where the Big Boss was currently staying.


    Even if this weren''t the case, the Big Boss would still not forgive him for exposing any information to a random outsider and most definitely not if this person was a spy.


    Dios couldn''t help but sigh as he responded.


    "It seems like it will have to be this way." Quickly turning off hiss before Cenci could say anything else.


    On the other side, Cenci was smirking like a little devil, his emotions pretty much written on his face.


    ''I wonder if they will be bringing someone back to the base... if so I have to quickly get rid of these newbies and head back to watch the show.''


    The four people running in front of Cenci didn''t know that this captain of theirs was already thinking of ways to get rid of them as they nced back, trying to listen in on their superior''s conversation.


    ''Mm, no. Getting rid of them is a no-go.''


    ''It would be so much fricking work to get more people and at that rate, I would have to take care of the newbies again.''


    ''If I can''t get rid of them, then the best way to get back to the base faster is to pick up the pace!''


    ''Ah yes. These guys were going a little too slow for my liking anyways.''


    ''If we triple the pace, we should be able to get back within the next few days.''


    Cenci''s devilish smile quickly turned back into his angelic one as he proceeded to let more sadistic thoughts cloud his not so pure mind.


    The other four, who thought that the conversation Captain Cenci had with Captain Dios was the reason for Cenci''s good mood didn''t know that their death sentence was pretty much already written up and signed with their future blood, sweat, and tears.


    Many of them were even d that this Captain was in a good mood, hoping that this would get him to let them off the hook, just going a little slower would be nice.


    Those who thought this way had reality crash into them really hard.


    "Pick up the pace!" Cenci said, in a jovial tone.


    "If we don''t make it back by the next 3 days then I''ll ask your Captain Dios to triple the punishment." Cenci giggled.


    These four were all new recruits under Dios, so of course, he would be the one who would dish out the punishments, but that didn''t mean that Cenci couldn''t do a thing or two to make their lives harder.


    All in the name of training of course.


    It was in a matter of instances that all the blood drained out of the faces of the four people in this group. There wasn''t one person who wasn''t as white as a sheet and as ghastly as a ghost.


    They all had long days ahead of them... especially since Cenci was in a good mood.


    ***


    Meanwhile, Emilin was in apletely opposing situation.


    There is no need to borate on how well-rested she was right now, she slept like a pig in hibernation.


    *Rustle* *Rustle* *Rustle* *Rustle* *Swish* *Swish* *Rustle*


    Emilin sat in a lotus position when Dios and his crew made their way to the cave.


    She was in one of her sessions of prolonged meditation when she was disturbed, she clearly heard the footsteps and the shifting noises of the leaves on the ground, some of them sounding a little forced.


    Of course, Emilin wouldn''t know that this was due to the fact that all these people were used to walking with no sound, but since that would be suspicious, they had to force themselves to walk ''normally''.


    Emilin slowly opened her eyes and when she saw the four burly men in the front, she just assumed that it was due to their weight, most of which were muscles of course.


    She couldn''t see that lean man in the back as she focused on the one in front of her.


    It was the man with sharp eyes who spoke.


    "Excuse me, Miss." He carefully said in a loud voice through the rain.


    Emilin seemed very calm on the outside, otherworldly even, not moving from her lotus position, but on the inside, she was actually somewhat panicky.


    ''My legs are numb¡­''


    She couldn''t stand up to greet these people even if she wanted to, but she quickly moved on from the situation with her numb legs to a more pressing issue.


    ''What should I do? Should I try talking to these people now? It would be good practice.''


    "Can we hide out here too? The rain is really heavy and we weren''t able to find anywhere else to hide out." He continued despite theck of response from Emilin.


    At that time Emilin finally opened her eyes and looked at the 5 men who were outside the cave, still standing in the rain.


    Emilin, who had been concerned about her talking practice hadn''t let her guard down as she offhandedly nodded.


    ''How suspicious. Would someone who was truly desperate for shelter actually stand in the rain asking if they coulde into this cave? Surely they do not think I own the cave.''


    Emilin had her tent set up pretty far into the cave considering its size so as to not make contact with the rain and minimize the effects of the wind.


    These people could easily make themselvesfortable and chat about their issues once they got inside.


    ''And would they really have only found this far-off ce to seek some shelter after 2 days of nonstop rain? Plus none of the look to be sick or even cold.''


    ''Even if they weren''t outside when the rain started, you still had to consider the question of who the heck woulde all the way out here in the rain!''


    In fact, it would be more suspicious if they hadn''t been out here since the rain started.


    There were just too many suspicious points about this group and of course this was something that Dios knew too.


    Dios had let them be like that for two reasons, one, to probe thess that hid in the cave, and two, to let this group of people practice their adaptation skills.


    This was a win-win, plus, if things went south, he could just call in reinforcements, after all, if nothing else, this was still their territory.


    He wasn''t that careless.


    How could he be?


    Who could let a careless person be a captain of anything?


    Meanwhile, while the other four people got settled, Dios did the same while also inspecting the little girl who was still meditating in front of her tent in the middle of the cave.


    Only he didn''t know, the little girl was doing the same to them.


    Emilin looked like she had her eyes closed, but that wasn''t the fact. She could still see perfectly well even though her eyes were barely open, and she still made it look natural by some miracle.


    She was carefully observing this group.


    There was a chance that she was overreacting, but truth be told, even if they weren''t some suspicious people, she would most likely still be doing the same.


    When she saw thest person, who also seemed to be the leader of the group considering their rapport and actions,e in, she couldn''t help but let a peculiar thought pop into her mind.


    ''Are all the ''leaders'' in this area just this much leanerpared to the other members of the group?''


    She thought back to that other running group, whose leader or coach seemed almost more skinny than lean whenpared to the people around him.


    Emilin almost let out augh without even realizing it.


    In the end, she had let out a soft giggle without even meaning to.


    This action was promptly noticed by nearly everyone else in the cave, except for maybe Haneo, who was more concentrated on fighting with Zeek for one of therger ''seats'' in the cave.


    Which was taken by Haneo in the end while Zeek was actually doing his job of observing their target.

 Chapter 73 - Not A Spy Pt III: (Suspicious For No Reason...)

    She had giggled.


    At this point, most of the people who were paying attention were questioning the littless''s sanity.??


    Besides the rain, there were no other soundsing from within the cave and so that sinister-sounding giggle was especially prominent. Though it was only sinister since it came out of nowhere.


    It was a little abrupt.


    Anyone would find it a little strange if someone just startedughing out of nowhere, especially if it was a suppressedughter.


    It sounded like the girl was concocting some devious ns in her mind, especially since these people were already suspecting her, but this was just because Emilin didn''t have much practiceughing in ufortable environments, meaning anytime it wasn''t just her with her family.


    ''Has this girl gone crazy from the rain or from sleeping too much?''


    Was the thought that ran through the minds of the people who had been observing Emilin for the past two days.


    Well clearly none of them were mind readers here, because if they were, they''d probably be falling off to their sides, rolling inughter. Well maybe everyone except Dios.


    Who would have expected thisss, who didn''t even know of the connection between these two groups, the team she had met previously and now this group of people, to be dissing both of their captains in her pretty little mind?


    Anyways, Emilin didn''t notice the strange atmosphere as she was trying her best not to frown. She felt like she had a bunch of ants crawling on her leg due to the dissipating numbness.


    It wasn''t long before this silence was broken.


    "So what brought you here?" It was the sharp-eyed Hunter who spoke once again, he was the most fluent in English with the exception of Dios.


    The others could also speak in English, but their vocabry wasn''t as expansive.


    Emilin looked to have thought for a bit before responding with her decade-old deadpan expression.


    "The thend, the views, and the scenery I guess." She responded nonchntly.


    While she inwardly nodded, patting herself in the back at her good response.


    Zeek, Hunter, and Haneo were thinking otherwise as they spoke to each other with their facial expressions.


    ''I knew it! Bynd, she must mean out base! How did she know it was located here? Was it an insider who wanted to nt the spy or do we have a mole?'' Zeek threw Hunter a meaningful nce, widening his eyes and raising both eyebrows.


    Hunter returned a meaningful re, slightly squinting his eyes in contemtion.


    Well, with his sharp eyes, everything looked like a re.


    ''And of course, by the view, she must be talking about looking for our base and observing our every movement to report back to her boss or contractor. How devious!''


    ''What a group of dumbasses,'' Calim thought, turning his head while pretending he hadn''t seen anything.


    Hunter continued nodding his head at his own ingenuity, not knowing that one of hisrades was already shaking his head at him on the sidelines.


    ''Otherwise, why the hell would she have to say both thend and the views? What else should there be here other than the views? There''s nothing special about thend here. She must be talking about our base, that''s the only thing special about this location.''


    ''And I don''t even want to know what''s she thinking about when she said the scenery! Oh, the scenery! What other scenery is there to see here other than us and our hunkalishious bodies.''


    Haneo shuddered to think of the possibilities. Just what the hell could scenery mean.


    It had to be said since these people had already gotten used to this scenery, there was really nothing special about it.


    In fact, all they could think about when they stepped into this ce was the monstrous training they did here.


    There was really nothing good about it.


    Calim could only sigh, pursing his lips so as to not instinctively voice out his concerns for his friend''s IQ.


    ''Did too much water get into their heads?'' Calim questioned in his mind.


    They weren''t usually this¡­ idiotic. Or so he thought.


    As for Haneo, he didn''t notice anything as he continued to nod exaggeratedly, which was literally caught by everyone in the cave, including Emilin who had previously not been paying much attention.


    ''There''s no doubt! She''s definitely here to spy on us,'' was what he was trying to express with that exaggerated movement.


    Of course, Emilin didn''t know what they were thinking.


    ''No, no. We have to calm down and gather more information.'' Hunter shook his head as if he had finallye to his good senses.


    Emilin''s thoughts had been so pure.


    Every word she had said was true only in their truest sense, and yet, somehow, every single letter had been misunderstood, forming apletely different picture for those three men who seemed to have serious cases of tunnel vision.


    The type of people who would convince themselves that they had a cold if someone told them they did.


    Dios, on the other hand, could only shake his head when he saw the small gimmicks of the three people he was with.


    He almost wanted to just stand up, grab the only sane one, and say that he wasn''t with the rest of them.


    He watched as the littless looked at them with a terrible expression as if she were being forced to eat dirt, her face was all scrunched up before she finally spoke.


    "How about you guys?" She asked, in rtion to the previous question she had been asked.


    Emilin had finally built some courage, pushing these words out through the gaps of her teeth with good intentions, but her expression was easily misunderstood, and her words even more so by this suspecting bunch.


    ''See! See!'' Haneo looked around, giving everyone an ''I told you so'' expression.


    ''She''s trying to probe us.'' He concluded, mouthing each word.


    Of course, this didn''t escape Emilin''s keen eyes.


    ''What? Did I say something wrong?''


    ''No that''s not right. This is what everyone says with the people they''ve just met.''


    ''If the others say something, you respond before asking about them, right?''


    ''I didn''t seem to have said anything wrong, so what''s with this reaction?'' Emilin tilted her head to the side in confusion.


    Emilin felt her heart sink a little.


    She had tried so hard, so why didn''t it seem to go as she had expected? If the problem didn''t lie in her words...was there something wrong with her?


    Well, it''s true that it was because of Emilin, but not in the way she was thinking.


    Before Haneo could make this even moreplicated than it already was, Calim interrupted, starting to recite the background story they had agreed upon.


    "Please don''t mind my friend. He isn''t used to getting any attention from members of the opposite sex." He exined as if saying that Haneo''s previous reaction was due to being excited from being asked about.


    Haneo threw Calim a re, which Calim promptly ignored in good faith.


    Haneo could only give up on the matter since it was somewhat his fault and Calim was somewhat covering for him at the moment.


    "Well, it''s like this. We live and work together nearby, in the city, and we head into the mountain range on our days off together. That was a couple of days ago. We were jogging around here as usual when the sudden downpour came." Calim was throwing some nces at the people looking at him as he spoke.


    "We were in the middle of the forest when that happened and there were only trees around us, so we did our best to hide underneath those, but soon, we realized that the rain wasn''t going away any time soon." Calim started borating with hand gestures.


    "Our bags were left at a spot quite far back since we didn''t want to run with luggage, but we also left ourpass there identally. And well you see¡­ we couldn''t find our way back."


    "Though I guess it would be more urate to say, we couldn''t agree on a direction. In the end, we had to resort to the most logical method of choosing who would decide the direction we were going to head off to, which is of course rock-paper-scissors." Calim said nonchntly as if it were the most normal thing to say.


    "And that bastard over there won. Though I have to say, I guess he is somewhat lucky to have pointed us to somewhere with coverage." He said while pointing at Haneo.


    "When made our way here, well, we thought that this was the way back. Well, we had some hope. But clearly, that wasn''t the case." Calim said, with a rueful sigh.


    "Thankfully we still had some rations, well enough tost us this long, but it seems like we''re running low on that too." He said while looking at Hunter, who shrugged with a helpless expression as if to agree with the previous statement.


    ''Rations and overall IQ, that seemed to have been left behind too. It seems we''re running low on everything. It''s best we go back and find it.'' Though he did keep thatst part to himself


    After finishing his part, he gave Emilin an expectant look, as if expecting her to praise him for a job well done with the storytelling.


    Well, if he was waiting for a reaction, he would just have to wait till his grave, because it wasn''ting anytime soon¡­


    Though Emilin still found many of the parts of that story suspicious, she didn''t bother asking about them, not as if she could, but that was beside the point.


    A few moments passed in silence before Emilin nodded as if to say she bought the whole story.


    But it was also at that moment that Dios''s group''s n fell through.


    All because of Dios''s stupidms which he forgot to turn off.


    Or as he would like to say, all because of the stupid person who had called him, knowing that he was in the middle of an undercover mission.


    The moment Emilin''s eyes were drawn into thes in Dios''s ears, which were previously hidden neatly behind his hair, a whole lot more suspicious points popped up.


    After all, there wasn''t supposed to be any signal out here and she could clearly hear the faint sounds of the ringing, which echoed throughout the, if not, quiet cave.


    ***


    Mini-theater:


    How conversation goes...


    Hunter: *Eyebrow raise* *wink* *Eyebrow raise*


    Zeek: *wink* *wink* *Eyebrow raise* *wink* *wink*


    Haneo: *Nod* *Nod* *wink* *wink* *Eyebrow raise* *Smile*


    Calim: *head turns around* sorry do you know them?


    Dios: *Shakes head resolutely* No I thought they were with you.


    Calim: No way! How could that be? I thought they were with you.


    Haneo, Zeek, Hunter: ...


    Haneo, Zeek, Hunter: *looks at each other*


    Haneo, Zeek, Hunter: *wink*


    Haneo, Zeek, Hunter: Vote! haha

 Chapter 74 - Bring Her Pt I: (Close Eye)

    Emilin just watched as Dios casually picked up the call.


    He couldn''t do anything else, it''s not as if he could pretend it wasn''t ringing. Emilin was staring, clearly having realized that he was getting a call in this ce that didn''t have a signal.??


    "What do you want?" Dios said into thes, full of smiles so as to not garner more suspicion, but that just made the scene scarier for those other four who knew him well.


    Dios acted as if he didn''t want to murder the person on the other side of the call with 49 stabs to the heart in order to convey his sentiments, instead opting for a gentler approach.


    Dios spoke in Syrin to avoid anything suspicious from leaking, but how could he have known that this would only make his identity more questionable to Emilin, who had previously met another group of around this size with a leader who spoke Syrin.


    The points were connecting at this moment in Emilin''s mind.


    ''You can just imagine. How many people speak Syrin in this continent, in this country, in this city, and then in this mountain range, more specifically, is there really enough of them for me to have met two with questionable identities back to back.''


    ''Both of which were with groups of overly muscr men.''


    ''If this isn''t suspicious, then what is?''


    But Emilin didn''t voice any of her thoughts.


    "What is it that you want!" Dios said again before the other person could even start talking.


    "Brother Dios! What''s the matter? You seem to be in a good mood. Did something good happen?" Cenci asked when he heard how warmly Dios was talking, even if his words didn''t really match the mood.


    ''Good mood my ass youzy bastard who always seems to have nothing better to do.''


    "Yes, very good mood indeed so don''t ruin it because I''m very busy right now." He gritted his teeth in order to not let his true sentiments seep through. Emphasizing ''very busy'' to send the message.


    "Oh, I see how it is. I won''t take too much of your time. I just wanted to catch up a little and ask about how you like the view in front of you. So tell me. How is she?" Cenci had an evil little smirk on his face.


    After finding out that Dios''s mission had already started from his previous speech pattern, he wanted to mess with him even more.


    This was true brotherly love, making each other''s life more interesting.


    In other words, 10 times harder, 20 times more annoying along with theplimentary 30 times more frustrating for the total increase of 6000 times more likely to rage quit.


    [It''s the buy 1 get 2 free kind of deal. Not exactly profitable... but worth every penny lost.]


    "Big beauty, ck hair, hazelish eyes, and absolutely underaged. Now get your ass out of my ears and don''t call until you''re on death''s door or I''ll make sure you''ll wish to have past death''s door by the end of our next unnecessary conversation."


    Emilin lowered her head so that no one could see how her eyes narrowed when she heard herself being described in the call.


    ''This is getting dangerous.''


    ''Suspicious people, this is bad. How could I have forgotten! Grandma Charlotte was telling me to get out of here as soon as possible, but I''ve already gone off track from my schedule ever since the rock slide. Now I''ve stayed here two extra days and I''m still not on my way back.''


    Emilin thought about all this, while also remembering to listen in on the conversation Dios was having over the phone, of course, she couldn''t hear Cenci all that well, but she still caught a word or two with her abnormally superb hearing.


    "No way!" Cenci covered his mouth instinctively as he eximed from shock.


    "Yes way, now get off. I''ll be back at the base within the next day or so. I don''t n on staying any longer." Dios didn''t know what Cenci was thinking and had naturally assumed that he was just in a wacky mood today.


    As for Emilin, she felt like she had heard something she shouldn''t have heard... especially with the word choice. ''I really don''t need to know more, especially about this base.''


    God, these people were looking more and more like the bad guys from some mafia country.


    Even if Syri wasn''t like that, she almost wanted to believe it was...


    "No, that''s not what I mean. What are the chances?" Cenci started exining himself while Dios waited patiently to listen.


    It''s not as if he could throw hiss down now and smash them into pieces with one hard stomp to release frustration since he couldn''t act out of ce now that he had already started acting in front of the stranger in the middle of the cave.


    "I think I know the one you''re talking about! I met someone of a simr description a couple of days ago just lurking around. You know, she was staring at me and my group as we ran by, totally suspicious. And she even said she knew Mlakan when I spoke to her, so be careful! She must be a super well-trained spy. Anyways, good luck! Bring her back ok? Bye~."


    Cenci immediately dropped the call after he finished talking, breaking out into a peal ofughter after his Brother Dios couldn''t hear him anymore.


    Of course, what he said was essentially true, but also not entirely.


    Though there was some exaggeration, the founding information was still urate. He just hoped that there would be enough to cause some trouble. His mischievous side was itching these days.


    Since something was about to happen anyway, he might as well help in the process by taking the show to a bigger stage.


    "I''m sure he''ll do fine," Cenci reassured himself before forgetting about the matter.


    The only thing he remembered to do by the end of the conversation, was to send the fourzy bums in front of him a message with his soothing voice.


    It made up for the fact that his words weren''t soothing at all.


    "Pick up the speed!"


    As for Dios, he had somewhat given up on the whole matter. If the girl in front of him knew some Mlakan, then it wouldn''t be too hard to have understood some of the content of his conversation with Cenci.


    This was because of the simrities between Syrin and Mlakan, they had the same rootnguage from back when there weren''t such firm borders in the M Continent and so there really wasn''t much he could do.


    If he let the girl go now, there may be even more issues cropping up in the future. Young girls at her age normally had an incredibly loose lip, and so even if she wasn''t a suspicious person, he couldn''t let her go run off her mouth.


    This was something that would have to be dealt with sooner orter.


    "Forget it, just bring her back." Dios sighed after sizing up the room, no, cave, once again.


    "Let''s let the Big Boss decide what to do with herter." He said as he waved his hand dismissively.


    "We''re going back to the base in 2 hours, so you better rest up while you have the time," Dios added.


    "Yes, Captain! Can I ask a question?" Hunter asked after he was sure Captain Dios had finished giving his orders.


    Dios threw him a nce and just nodded slightly.


    "What should we do with her before that?"


    Dios tilted his head as if he had not understood, asking for his subordinate to borate.


    "Should we tie her up in case she tries running away? And how about her bags and tent?" Hunter asked.


    "Pack them all up and keep a close eye on her," Dios ordered.


    "If you can''t even keep your eye on a little girl, then when we get back, we''ll have some serious talking to do." Dios''s eyes narrowed dangerously.


    Talking? More like talking with their fists.


    "Everyone will have a watch shift and you can rotate. If someone has something sturdy, then just tie up her wrists and legs."


    "Yes, Captain! I''ll do it immediately," Haneo interrupted Hunter, who was about to open his mouth, eagerly getting to work.


    Emilin who watched the whole scene ur in front of her was dumbfounded.


    ''What should I do?''


    ''Let''s first pretend I didn''t understand anything. I clearly can''t win in a group fight like this.''


    Emilin turned her head to the entrance just to meet the gaze of yet another young man.


    ''They''ve also blocked the entrance too.''


    ''I guess the best I''ve got is to feint ignorance until the right time to get out of here pops up.''


    In situations where she was at this point, she could only sigh at her bad luck.


    They had grabbed her bag before she could grab the needle that would be needed to activate the 4th hole.


    At this point, there was only one thing left to do to make the best out of the situation, and that was acting.


    She had to act like her life depended on it.

 Chapter 75 - Bring Her Pt II: (Scapegoat)

    "So won''t you tell me which organization or person you work for, hm?" The man in front of Emilin, who had already introduced himself as Calim asked with a curious expression on his face.


    Since Emilin was sitting on the floor with her wrists and ankles tied, Calim sat himself down next to her with his legs in the same retracted position and his head resting on his arms, which were on his brought up knees, looking at Emilin.??


    Emilin didn''t respond, just staring at Calim, who was also one of her wardens at the moment.


    If she couldn''t even use her words while talking to people she wanted to talk to, there was really no point in wasting words with someone she didn''t want to talk to.


    And she had quite a lot of experience not talking to people, some might even say she''s really an expert.


    Master of the arts.


    Seeing as Emilin hadn''t responded, Calim just took it as her not wanting to expose any information about her employers.


    ''She''s a loyal one!'' He thought.


    "Hey, you don''t have to be like this you know? Good things should be shared. If your employers are willing to hire someone like you, then I''m sure they would at least consider allowing me to join the fray." Calim persuaded as if he truly wanted to quit working for his own organization to join hers.


    Well, the truth wasn''t entirely like that.


    Calim really just wanted to probe Emilin for any information he could squeeze out of her.


    Later, he realized how shut-lipped she was, but he didn''t give up.


    In the end, it ended up as more of a one-sided conversation, a monologue really, sounding almost as if he were arguing pros and cons with himself about himself.


    "Hey for real. Can''t you give me the contact info or something, maybe just a number? I don''t need to know the address or anything, I mean it''s about time I quit here. There are just too many working hours you know?" Calim sighed as he ranted.


    He was already getting used to just speaking to himself like this, so when Emilin finally gave him a response, he was a little startled.


    "No."


    "No what? No, you don''t want to give me the contact number, no you don''t work for anyone, or no you don''t understand?"


    "The second one." Emilin stoically replied.


    It was her way of speaking that made everything she said sound like lies.


    From the other people''s perspective, Emilin was just acting too calm in general.


    She had been tied up by some strange men, kept in a dark cave, and they were going who knows whereter.


    Yet, here she was, just sitting quietly, and even when she was being questioned, she just calmly answered while iming that she had no affiliations with any groups.


    Even a ghost wouldn''t believe her.


    Well in this aspect, Calim could say that she was quite skilled, and she wouldn''t open her mouth either.


    If she had a solid skill set, it was likely that even he would want to hire her.


    Just because it was hard to find people who didn''t open their mouths when probed by a group of people clearly stronger than themselves, and could still remain calm when cornered.


    As for Emilin, she was neither as calm as she looked nor able to disclose any sort of information like they thought because there was really nothing to disclose.


    "I see, so you want to y the long game. But I must say, even if you don''t tell me now, you can always tell meter when we get to the base, but I don''t think the circumstances we be so good once the boss finds out and decides what to do with you." Calim sighed, though he couldn''t really talk about what the boss would do, he could still specte.


    "Do I have to go?" Emilin''s reluctance was written all over her face in ck.


    "Ah, you don''t want to go I see. But we have no other choice in the matter either. You seem suspicious enough, you''re in our territory and you also know too much."


    "Though if we end up finding out that there''s nothing suspicious about you, we''ll just have Mon hypnotize you and then we''ll most likely let you off." Calim scratched his head.


    He searched through his mind to find what was the mostmon procedure when this happened, and it seemed that that was more or less it.


    Yes, this was most definitely not the first, nor thest time they would find someone suspected of being a spy around here and so this was quite normal.


    Their base had already been around here for centuries, before their current boss''s grandfather was even born, and so the number of people who knew of this ce weren''t few in numbers.


    Even so, the base still held strong. After all, there''s a reason why it was able to survive this long.


    Still, no matter how normal this was, it never improved their acting skills. They really did rely on Mon, their hypnotist, a little too much.


    ''Hypnotist huh.''


    When Emilin heard the word hypnotist, she had thought back to the moments before she had decided to go out and travel.


    Back then, she had also considered getting hypnotized, just enough so that she would be able to talk to people.


    That also wasn''t the first time she had considered it, but in the end, she had discarded that idea every single time.


    There were just too many drawbacks.


    Emilin would much rather have a hard time and strive for improvement rather than trying her best to bury the issue in hand, after all even if a hypnotist masked her problems, they would still be there, and if they were to resurface, she would have already missed the ideal time to treat them.


    That''s why, to her, hypnotists were a no-go.


    In addition to that, it was really just too hard to hypnotize her. It was more likely for her to identally hypnotize the hypnotist subconsciously due to self-defense mechanisms integrated deep within her mind.


    "How long will that take?"


    Calim just answered all of this like it was nothing, even though some of this information should clearly not be disclosed and no one else stopped him.


    Well, it was rare for this girl to be asking questions as she hadn''t opened her mouth in the past one and a half hours, not even when the chatterbox Haneo sat there for 30 minutes talking about everything and nothing.


    Hunter and Zeek also didn''t seem to have much better luck as Emilin just acted as if there weren''t there when they spoke during their shift.


    He might as well indulge her with some well-deserved answers.


    "Um, we''ll set off in about another 10 minutes, get there in another 15, and by the time the leader makes some time for you and we get you to our hypnotist. That will be perhaps a day or two."


    Emilin nodded her head.


    She needed to see through to the meeting because if she didn''t these people might keep looking for her in the future.


    That was just so much more trouble for its worth.


    She had no doubts that she would be able to escape if necessary.


    The only thing that was pressing her mind at the moment was the people that her Big Brother might send and when they would arrive.


    That would greatly affect her future ns, but at the same time, it was something that she could neither predict for certain nor change.


    Chances were, they were going to get here before two more days passed, so the best for her would be for things to speed up a little so that she could get out of here sooner.


    As for just who this group was, she really didn''t want to know.


    It''s not like she was going to get revenge on them for tying her up and basically kidnapping her or anything of the sort.


    It was a fact that she hade to their territory and she had to admit she was somewhat suspicious, but as long as she wasn''t harmed, she didn''t really care about this dy in her travels.


    If someone else trespassed on her territory where her secret base was located, she would have done the same, even if the other person hadn''t done it intentionally.


    Getting revenge for something so petty would really turn the whole world blind [1].


    "Okay," was thest thing Emilin said before going silent once again.


    Calim saw that the littless didn''t want to talk anymore, but he still couldn''t help but keep talking for the remaining 10 minutes.


    It was quite strange since he wasn''t usually the most talkative of the group, but when he started, he also seemed to have trouble stopping.


    ''Who knows, maybe this girl is a good listener,'' Calim thought.


    After catching himself nearly talking for 30 minutes with a dry throat, Calim was already nearing the conclusion that perhaps this was part of the girl''s skill set.


    Making other people open up and talk freely to extract information¡­


    If this was true, then things would truly be a little scary, after all, he was like a trained soldier, yet at the moment, he felt quitefortable talking freely to a person he had just met today.


    He had even shared some information he really shouldn''t have for precautious measures.


    If Emilin could hear his current thoughts, she might very well startughing at just how much this person was overthinking everything.


    He was talking about all this random stuff of his own vition, in fact, she didn''t even want to hear most of it, yet now he was putting the me on her?


    She might very well re up for being used as a scapegoat like this.


    [1] Reference to: an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

 Chapter 76 - Questioning Pt I: (Master, No, Big Boss!)

    "Let''s go," Dios said right on the 2-hour mark.


    Everyone already rested their one and a half hours and done their 30-minute shift. It was about time they started heading out, even if there was still a downpour. ??


    Hunter naturally took charge of carrying the bags while Zeek just stared at him as he grabbed everything.


    Haneo didn''t even bother realizing there was something to carry while Calim was most definitely not carrying anything else other than himself.


    As for Dios, who would let their superior carry anything?


    Well, the bags just naturallynded on Hunter''s shoulders and he didn''t say anything about it since he knew that nothing he could possibly say would change the situation.


    In order to keep his patience as well as mental sanity in check, he just took this as extra practice and weight training, not that the bags weighed much.


    "Blindfold her too, we don''t want her knowing the path," Dios added off-handedly.


    "Captain Dios, we don''t have anything left to blindfold with, we used all the usable cloth to tie her up," Zeek, who had been the one to do the tying, said.


    This was also one of the reasons Emilin didn''t hold much of a grudge.


    They had used soft cloths to restrain her, and they weren''t even tied that strongly, she wouldn''t even have marks around her wrist as long as she was careful enough.


    "Just take off the ones on her ankles and use them as the blindfold, at least like that she can walk by herself." Dios promptly decided, pointing to the white cloth binding Emilin''s ankles.


    Dios had decided so because even if Emilin was lighter than them all, she wouldn''t be able to our run him.


    He was especially confident seeing as Emilin still had her injury on her left leg from before and this weather would not be her ally.


    Zeek didn''t waste any time untying and retying the cloth around Emilin''s eyes and though the cloth was white, once it was tied tightly enough with theyered fabric, Emilin wasn''t able to see anything.


    The 5 people already got used to how cooperative Emilin was about everything, just like how she let herself be tied without making a fuss.


    It was disturbing at first, but then it felt somewhat natural.


    This would be quite a headache for these five in the future when theypared other hostages and enemies they had captured with this littless.


    Comparing is really the root of all evil in the world.


    Previously, they had been thinking of just carrying Emilin over one of their shoulders to get her to their destination, but then the blindfold thing popped up and so they all ended up just walking.


    Well, even if that had not happened, Emilin wouldn''t have easily agreed to have any one of these people carry her, even if she still had her injury.


    "Will you be ok?" Calim asked while ncing at Emilin''s left leg and pointing up at the cloudy grey sky.


    It would be inevitable for the wound to get wet, and things would only get moreplicated from there.


    Emilin nodded gently to indicate that she could walk, notmenting any further on the matter.


    She had to grab onto the person next to her''s arm so to make sure that she wouldn''t trip and so that they could lead her as they walked for the next 20 ish minutes.


    It was slightly longer than expected, but that was most likely due to the fact that Emilin had almost bumped into several trees and tripped on multiple roots due to Zeek''s amazingly poor guiding skills.


    Otherwise, it went quite smoothly despite the heavy rain.


    As for the part about blindfolding Emilin so that she wouldn''t know the path, that was quite useless.


    Perhaps if they had just carried her on someone''s shoulder, she wouldn''t have been able to figure it out, but since Emilin was taking the path with her own two feet, it was pretty much as easy as pie to figure out the path she had taken from the cave to the base.


    "Who''s that?"


    Emilin could vaguely hear another voiceing from up ahead, which made her assume that they had already reached the base.


    "We''ll have to inform the Big Boss, but chances are we''ll need to make an appointment with Mon to figure things out," Dios informed the guard at the front entrance.


    "I see, but the Big Boss isn''t here right now, I''ll contact Sir Liam for you," the guard took out hismunication device as he motioned for the 6 people to head in with a hand gesture.


    They passed multiple detector systems before Emilin was finally unblindfolded after getting inside with the metal door outside closed shut.


    She couldn''t tell just what kind of establishment this was since it was incredibly spacious, looking as if there were multiple floors, but she still had to consider that this was in the middle of a forest.


    ''Considering howrge this is and that I haven''t seen a building all around this parameter, chances are this is underground, but we didn''t go into any elevator or anything of the sorts either.'' She thought as she walked past the censors with no issues.


    These were metal detectors and while the other 5 took off some of their metallic essories, Emilin didn''t have to take off anything, including her shoes.


    ''You''ve done it Big Brother Theo! It works.'' Emilin had a barely noticeable smirk growing on the corner of her lips.


    One of the major advances her Big Brother Theo had when creating these shoes was actually passiveponents.


    The GPS and other systems wouldn''t be caught in either passive nor active metal detectors and x-ray wouldn''t be able to catch the iid contraptions.


    If there was nothing wrong, then none of this would matter, but once something was up, this would make a huge impact on the survivability of the user.


    The user wouldn''t be caught with strange gadgets on enemy territory and the GPS would still be functioning.


    If this was found, then the shoes would probably be tested before being destroyed and then Emilin would have to face some really troublesome questions when questioned on why she had those types of gadgets and where she got them.


    After all, there were no normal devices iid into the shoes.


    "Take her to a waiting room," Dios ordered one of the people standing guard at one side.


    Emilin couldn''t help but notice how bustling the room was as she surveyed her surroundings.


    There were a great number of people walking around at the same time and just as many standing guard, yet everything seemed incredibly orderly.


    The person who was ordered to bring Emilin to a room promptly moved without asking any unnecessary questions.


    Everyone here seemed incredibly respectful as well as well trained, which really beg the question, ''Why did all the people, who seemed to be ranked higher than these guards, act so differently?''


    The people who had brought Emilin thus far seemed so carefree and, well, unrestrained, while these people who were being perfectly respectful to the group of 5, seemed much more like well-trained mercenaries, or even soldiers.


    Emilin once again didn''t make any fuss while quietly following the guard into a room, or better yet, a well-decorated cell, with her wrists still tied.


    The guard saw that there was nothing else and so he also closed and locked the door without any hesitation.


    ''If this girl were a guest, they would have said so,'' was the thought that ran through his mind, and so, he didn''t have to treat her as a guest, and the only other reason she would be escorted here by a captain would be to have her locked up for questioning.


    Since Captian Dios said, waiting room, it was safe to assume that she wouldn''t be taken into the deeper basement levels.


    All of the guard''s analysis was spot on.


    It was indeed as he had calcted. Emilin wasn''t a guest, but she wasn''t an enemy just yet either.


    There was no need to head to the lowest basement levels unless explicitly told to do so.


    While Emilin observed her surroundings, Dios had already sent all the avable information he had on Emilin to Sir Liam, who was also the personal assistant to their Big Boss.


    Since their Big Boss wasn''t here, Sir Liam would be one of the only people who would be able to contact him, being most definitely the most essible one.


    Everyone else who could directly contact the Big Boss was definitely entric on some level.


    Dios sent a photo of Emilin which he had secretly taken like a stalker with the camera iid in hisms while including the short description that Cenci had given him and sent the file to Sir Liam before calling it a day.


    On a different floor of the same establishment, Liam, who already had piles of paperwork and other documents to read, received the message on hismunication device.


    In an attempt to take a rest, he stopped all that he was doing to read this message.


    He was ecstatic when he realized that this wasn''t something that he could deal with without first asking for his master''s input, no, here he should use the term boss.


    He quickly made his way to the separate office the Big Boss was at and knocked twice beforeing in when he heard the voice inside allowing him in.


    "Boss, there''s something for you to take care of. It should be quick." Liam said, looking straight at the man who had his eyes closed with his head leaning back on the couch and his legs resting on the ss table in front.


    ''But hopefully, it won''t be too quick,'' he inwardly thought.


    The man sitting on the brown couch in the office slowly opened his pale green pupils as if he had just woken up from a rest before asking in a husky yet prating voice.


    "What is it?"

 Chapter 77 - Questioning Pt II: (*Knock* *Knock*)

    This was amon urrence.


    Sometimes Elijah had some things to deal with, and so that other people wouldn''te to disturb him, he would say that he had gone off on some important mission.??


    Well, it wasn''t a lie, he did have an ''important matter'' to get to, it was just a little closer than others assumed.


    As in, in the same building close, but others didn''t need to know that.


    He didn''t really have to exin himself.


    He is the boss, yet even if he didn''t exin himself, others always seemed to do it for him.


    Whenever he was gone, people just assumed he went off for important matters, especially since they believed this boss of theirs to be a major workaholic.


    The same boss who had given his loyal assistant major headaches when he threw his biodegradable paperwork into the ocean because he didn''t want to work on it, and even more so when they had to send a team to retrieve theputer withpany documents that this very same boss had tossed into the ocean for the same reasons just months prior.


    Elijah''s subordinates believed that even when their boss looked to be doing something unproductive, he was in fact always working.


    This was mainly due to various previous urrences, that had been firmly itched into these subordinate''s minds.


    Every time that they had thought that their boss was finally going to take a break from work, they would be proven wrong no matter what the circumstances were.


    If he took his vacation to the library to go for some reading, they wouldter find out that that very same library had been a hot spot for drug smuggling.


    If this Big Boss agreed to go on a TV show ''for the heck of it'', they wouldter find out that an expert assassin was hiding as a crew man in the set.


    In other words, even if someone told them that their boss was in his office doing nothing, which wouldn''t be entirely true, no one would believe them


    Only a few select higher-ups and of course his personal assistant would know that he hadn''t gone anywhere at all and some of the truths of the previous matters and how these rumours came to be, but even they wouldn''t know everything.


    Assistant Liam had been silent before he snapped out of his daze due to the cold re from the man in front of him.


    "I didn''t know that my assistant was such a dreamer." Elijahmented with a warm, heartwarming smile.


    All signs of previous annoyance seemed to have melted away in an instant, most would think that that previous expression was an illusion of sorts.


    But Assistant Liam knew better than that.


    That smile simply gave him the chills and what was even scarier was that he couldn''t make himself hate it.


    ''Is this the magic of handsome faces?'' He thought, lightly touching his own face which was adorned with a small frown.


    "Do I not let you sleep enough or is it that you have another job you''re more passionate about? Perhaps a dream you''ve always had since young? So much so that you have time to be daydreaming in front of me. Hm?" Elijah softly asked.


    "NO SIR! I would never disturb you if this weren''t important." Liam started to sweat profusely, activating *perfect assistant* mode.


    "Ha. I see you''ve be better at changing topics now, I wonder who you''ve learned all this from." Elijahmented disdainfully.


    ''They do say what kinds of masters breed what kind of underlings. Who else could I have learned all this from other than you, my holy master? And clearly, it wasn''t good enough if you still called me out on it. F*CK.''


    Liam thought sarcastically, putting up a standard smile, which didn''t seem forced at all, as he replied like a well-trained servant.


    "I would never. Truly."


    "Okay, okay. Now stop cursing me in your mind and tell me what you''vee here for."


    Liam calmly reported the information he was sent, he was already used to his boss''s mind- reading-like abilities.


    There was really no need to hide anything from him, to put it bluntly, it was a futile effort.


    He was incredibly good at discerning when people had ill intent towards him, to the extent as to be able to determine just what kind of ill intent it was.


    He would many times joke around with his assistant, but at the same time, this was also a show of his trust in Liam, and Liam understood this very well.


    Elijah huffed when he saw the image of the suspected spy.


    "Those old fogies have really gone senile." He shook his head and spoke with some amusement which hid the disgust in his voice.


    "As if I would ever be attracted to an adolescent girl, even if they wanted to use a honey trap with a pretty face, shouldn''t they have at least sent someone more developed? Do they really think that just because some of them have those kinds of tastes, they should impose them on everyone else? Disgusting."


    "They''ve been on their high horses for far too long, it''s about time that I deal with them too." Elijah lightly rubbed his chin as he put into motion some of the ns he had put on hold for various reasons.


    He ran them through his mind before stopping when he found the results he had simted eptable.


    "How should I proceed?" Liam asked, silently taking note of his boss''s previous words in order to make some arrangements.


    ''Ha. Another pile of work follows this pile. It seems like the old ancestors were right when they said that there will always be another mountain higher than the one in front of you. I thought that they meant that there would always be people more skilled than you, but it seems like I''ve been mistaken this whole time.'' He inwardly sighed.


    "Of course you''ll do it ording to the regr procedure." Elijah knitted his eyebrows slightly, making the face of one who was talking to a nipoop.


    "Will do Boss. I''ll get it done," Liam responded, ignoring his Master''s gaze, backing off before closing the door behind him.


    Sigh.


    More paperwork to get to after this.


    Why did Ie here?


    It seems like my workload has only increased¡­


    ***


    In the very same day, Emilin had an unexpected visit from someone she had yet to meet.


    She had already been given her meal and so she wasn''t expecting anyone else, after all, Calim had said that it would usually take 1-2 days for her to get ''an appointment''.


    She didn''t know if there was something to be done before that either.


    The person who hade in was a male with long whitish grey hair, tied into a loose pony tail.


    He wore ck rimmed sses, which didn''t seem to fit him very well as he had to constantly push them up his nose bridge.


    His white robe and the stethoscope around his neck told Emilin that this man was either a doctor, or pretending to be one.


    ''Is he the hypnotist they were talking about? Mon was it?''


    "I''m Neo and I''ll be the one taking you to Master Mon''s office where he will be giving you a preliminary examination."


    If Neo had heard Emilin''s previous thoughts, when she was questioning whether he was truly a doctor or not, he would have definitely given her a look of distain before ping Emilin with the piles of his achievements and recognitions.


    ''I guess he isn''t Mon then. But Master Mon? This is getting interesting.''


    Emilin didn''t know that the hypnotist Mon was a master, but now, there were a lot more questions than answers and she was getting curious.


    Questions like just how this organization got the support of a master, or even just what kind of organization this was.


    ''More importantly, now that I think about it, that Calim was quite disrespectful. He misled me to think that Mon was just a normal physician. Isn''t it quite rude to not call a master by his title? Though I guess it worked if his goal was to throw me off to begin with.''


    "Then let''s go." Neo ordered when he saw no responseing from the littless seated at the ''waiting room''s'' guest bed.


    Emilin quietly followed, not forgetting to remember this path to and from the doctor''s office, connecting it to the path that she had taken from the room to the entrance as well as the one from the entrance to the cave.


    They walked past various corridors, all of them looking somewhat simr, it was like walking through aplex maze.


    Emilin was taken 2 floors up after having made it past the maze-like hallways of what she thought to have been the ground floor, which led her straight to a lobby like area with only one door at the end of the corridor area.


    This whole experience made her question the structure of this facility. Howe there was not just one but at least 2 floors above what she thought to be the ground floor?


    There was already no visible facilities in this area¡­


    "I will only be taking you this far, you can make the rest of your distance yourself. It''s at that door, just knock on it twice and wait for someone to respond, don''t knock any more than that or you''ll risk offending the person who will be deciding on your life and death."


    Neo promptly exined before leaving Emilin alone and heading straight for the elevator.


    He didn''t even bother to take another nce at this area, shooting straight like an arrow for the exit, which only made Emilin even more suspicious of the whole situation.


    She made her way to the door and stared down


    "Well, I guess it''s just you and me then," Emilin said while looking at the doorknob.


    *Knock* *Knock*

 Chapter 78 - Questioning Pt III: (Golden Pocket Watch)

    *Knock* *Knock*


    Emilin stared at the door in silence, listening for any sounds that came from the inside.??


    Nothing.


    She was about to knock again when she thought back to what that man with sses, Neo, had said.


    ''So, I''m supposed to just wait here after knocking twice?''


    ''Let''s see who here has more patience. You or me doc.''


    Emilin was already assuming that this was some method used to annoy those who woulde here and well she could always use this time to do her own thing.


    She sat down cross-legged on one of the couches just in the lounge. When she had first arrived here, she hadn''t taken any of her time to observe her surroundings.


    The room had beige walls with a few modern paintings hung here and there so that the walls wouldn''t feel bare. The short ss coffee table in front of her also had a pile of magazines, just like any other waiting room in front of a doctor''s office would.


    Well, more like those waiting rooms for your dentist appointment before phones came to existence.


    There wasn''t much else of interesting to see around here, well at least it seemed to be that way, but there would always be some things that you wouldn''t be able to catch with just a nce or two.


    Cameras, there were cameras all over the ce.


    Some were very well ced, in ces that even experts may find hard to notice, ced in locations that people would already expect some sort of light reflection so that they wouldn''t be identally found out, and others that were ''camouged'' in in sight.


    There were cameras in the lights, the sses, the frames, and even in the moving chandelier.


    From what Emilin counted, there were at least 16 cameras, and this was just from her half-assed counting.


    There was probably double that number.


    She didn''t want to make it obvious that she was looking at the cameras and so she just took note of them in the same passing nce which she looked at everything else with.


    Emilin''s right eye twitched a little when she saw the camera right on top of the shelf to her right, but she could see how one might assume that it was there just for decoration.


    It didn''t look like a camera used for monitoring purposes, but Emilin could tell that it was well and working.


    ''Well, whatever. They didn''t even hide it that well. Maybe they wanted me to see it.'' Emilin didn''t show any changes on her face as she questioned the hypnotist''s motives.


    ''I mean, the people whoe all the way here are all suspected to be spies so the leaders here should at least have these many precautions. Otherwise, I would be questioning whether the person on the other side of the door was a Master hypnotist or a Master loafer.''


    After making these preliminary judgments, Emilin didn''t bother looking anymore less she''d be even more suspected for no reason at all for looking at those cameras subconsciously.


    Is she looked any longer, she might just try to look for every single one of them.


    How would Emilin know that not doing anything would be what would get her suspected for this time...


    ***


    On the other side of the door.


    A youthful man sat behind ayered wooden desk with a ss top. Beneath the ss was the video feed of the lobby room from multiple angles. All of the images concentrated in the center were those who had a youngdy as their focal point.


    "Ah, that bastard Elijah. " Mon sighed, leaning back on his chair.


    "I have to monitor this child on my day off, does he think that I have nothing better to do?" Mon mumbled to himself as he pushed his ck hair back.


    "Ha. This report is such a joke! Liam actually said that thisss is likely to be a spy sent from the side family just because she speaks Mlakan? What a load of bullshit." Mon flipped through the papers that Neo had handed him earlier that day and he was not amused.


    "What''s strange about speaking thenguage used in the trading centre of M continent?" He continued toin, heaving sighs to no one in particr.


    Though the girl could very well be a spy, some of this information sent to him was bs and he knew it well.


    As for the speech meant for the ghost hiding in the corner of the room, that was just him blowing off some steam for being assigned more work on his day off.


    "I bet that Elijah''s nning something again. There''s no way he actually thinks that his uncles sent this little girl with just this much prep." Mon threw the papers to the side again so that they wouldn''t cover his view of the video feed from the cameras installed outside.


    "But why is she here? Was it really just bad timing, or a third party?" Mon muttered as he looked at the youth who was still in the same cross-legged position that she was in 30 minutes ago.


    He was leaning more towards the thoughts of this all just being bad timing, mainly because there would be more work for him if this were to involve another third party.


    Well, no one was really counting, but if they were, this wouldn''t exactly be a third party, but rather like a 5th or 6th party.


    Even if he wanted this all to just be a coincidence, as a famous Fleming quote has it, ''Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action.''


    This girl had already ''coincidentally'' met two separately traveling teams and she was brought in before a third could happen.


    He gave the stream a good stare and couldn''t help but find Emilin strange. She was captured into enemy territory and here she is now. Sitting down and meditating like nothing was happening¡­ it was just, too suspicious.


    Nheless, Mon was never one to jump the gun and he still didn''t have enough information to form an informed hypothesis.


    Mon rested his head on his crossed arms for a bit in contemtion before standing up and opening the door of his office.


    ''I''m toozy for this right now, but I also know that I''ll be evenzier to do itter. Might as well get this over with.''


    He set his eyes on the young girl he had been looking at for the lesser half of 30 minutes.


    "Come on in then." Mon turned right around, sitting down on the consultation couch rather than his work seat this time.


    His open back made Emilin wonder just how he hadn''t died yet, considering his line of work. Well, mainly who he did or did not work for.


    Emilin found herself seated on a three-person couch adjacent to the one-person couch Mon sat on.


    "I''m Mon, your doctor for today." He extended his hand giving Emilin a firm handshake.


    His words were spoken as if to say that he never wanted to be Emilin''s doctor after today, which wouldn''t be wrong.


    Mon gave Emilin a passing nce as he sat down while Emilin just made herselffortable in her seat as if she were in her own home.


    Mon didn''t mind it.


    "I just couldn''t bother waiting for another 4 and a half hours so I called you in first. I see you''ve already made yourselffortable so I''ll be doing the same," Mon off handedly exined


    ''Ah so it was a waiting game after all,'' Emilin lifted one of her eyebrows as she thought.


    "I''ll be straight with you. Though that group brought you in and you were sent here, truth be told, no one actually thinks you are a spy." Mon exined, seeing that Emilin wasn''t going to be talking.


    "You''ve just been brought here so that I can muddle around here and there with some of your recollections so that we won''t bepromised, you understand right?" He paused for a second and waited for Emilin to process a little.


    Emilin lightly nodded, even if she might not buy everythinging out of this Doctor''s mouth.


    "Well, I''m sure you already know that I''m a hypnotist, I heard that little Calim was in the group of people who brought you in. He already told me that he had informed you of the situation," Mon casually spoke.


    He was so fluent that Emilin would have suspected that he had practiced this speech before if it weren''t for how naturaly it came out.


    "By the way, in this conversation, no, monologue I''m having here. I''ll be taking silence as silent agreement to everything I say. Are you ok with that?" Mon yed with the pencil in his hand as he spoke.


    Seeing as Emilin didn''t respond, Mon showed a bright smile.


    "Good. Then I''ll be hypnotizing you to get the information I need to confirm that you had no previous allegiances and that everything else is just false allegations. Will you be ok with that?" Mon still had that calming smile on his face, as if telling Emilin that everything would be okay.


    ''He''s good.'' Emilin couldn''t help but admit that this person was rather skilled.


    He first made sure that Emilin would lower her guard.


    He was the exact opposite of those investigators or officers who needed to extract a confession.


    All he needed was to hypnotize his opponents for those answers.


    Mon lowered her guard while talking, always keeping the same even tone, even when it sounded like it oscited, especially since it was nowhere near monotone.


    The tapping of his feet, spinning of his pencil, and even his even breathing was used as subtle psychological cues, bringing the target into a trance.


    ''Too bad that doesn''t work on me.''


    To begin with, it''s already hard to act on people who know every single detail of every ploy you''re trying to use when ites to hypnotizing and it only goes downhill from there.


    How well do you think things will go when the person you''re trying to take into the trance not only knows what you are doing but also knows what you are doing wrong?


    All Emilin could think about was how slightly offbeat his pencil was spinning and in the end, she couldn''t help but furrow her brows at how unintentionally unsettling it was to her.


    Mon saw every one of Emilin''s minute reactions but seeing as she had yet to call out in objection, he could only hesitantly continue.


    He reached out to the breast pocket of his coat to pull something out and continued to say.


    "Then I will be using this to hypnotize you," pulling out a golden pocket watch.


    Emilin almost couldn''t stop herself from bursting intoughter.

 Chapter 79 - Questioning Pt IV: (Interrogator Becomes Interrogee!)

    "Pfft," Emilin really tried to hold it in¡­ she really did, but seriously.


    The Master hypnotist in front of her really made her want tough. She couldn''t help it when she looked at the man''s serious face as he pulled out this little toy.??


    This wasn''t going to be helping Mon in any shape or form, but Emilin calmed herself down and yed along.


    ''What''s so funny,'' Mon''s eyes squinted a little as he tilted his head.


    He hadn''t wanted to ask at first less it would sound awkward, but he did so anyway.


    "Is there something funny?"


    Emilin simply shook her head with a sigh.


    "Very well then, if you''re okay with it, we''ll be heading to the side room over there so that we can get started," Mon pointed at the door that would lead to yet another room.


    ''An office inside of an office?''


    He already had a waiting room, so why would he need another office after this one? This was clearly the room he worked in.


    "Okay," She replied.


    This was the first time Mon heard Emilin''s clear voice. He was surprised that Emilin was so agreeable considering her position here, but that was also a good thing.


    He wasn''t sure whether this was because she had nothing to hide, or if she wasn''t scared that what she had to hide could be exposed.


    Either way, he would find out soon enough.


    The next room was just as minimalistic as thest. Mon''s office and working room were bothpletely different from the lounge.


    It was like someone had been trying to cover up how minimalistic the lounge had been previously with those paintings, fake potted nts, and everything else. Or maybe it was to hide the presence of the cameras.


    As for the office, they might have just given up.


    There really hadn''t been much there.


    A desk, a few couches, a chair, along with four bare walls.


    Even if there was something else, hidden contraptions or anything else of the sort, Emilin really didn''t stay there long enough to have the time to have noticed.


    This next room wasn''t much better, in fact, she would really say it was worse.


    The walls were once again bare, and the two lounge chairs were the extent of the interior d¨¦cor.


    ''Do they mistreat the Master hypnotist that works with them?'' Emilin found that thoughtughable.


    Maybe this man just didn''t like all the extra furniture and everything else, while the things in the lounge were to cover for the cameras.


    "Okay, so I''ll just need you to stare at this watch," Mon said in a soft yet calming voice, snapping Emilin out of her short daze.


    Emilin did just that.


    The chain that held the golden pocket watched swayed and the clock swayed with it.


    The tick-tock sound synced with the swaying.


    "You''re doing well, just a while longer." Mon continued to speak with his elusive voice.


    Emilin''s hazel pupils shifted from the left to the right, to the left, to the right, to the left, and then to the right again.


    Moulin waited for Emilin''s eyes to haze over, preparing his index finger and thumb for it to happen at any moment and before he even knew it.


    *Snap*


    But it wasn''t Mon''s fingers that created the snapping sound¡­ it was Emilin''s.


    ''Hm¡­ that was easier than I thought. He must have really put his guard down.'' Emilin looked down at the man who had copsed on his lounge chair.


    It was especially easy to get to someone who was both concentrating on something else, in this case, hypnotizing her, and looking down on you, once again quite obvious since he believed he could get to her so easily.


    Emilin stood up to look down at her handy work and had a sudden thought.


    ''Well, talking to a man who''s hypnotized still counts as practice, right?''


    Though she couldn''t practice too well with people who could have their own opinion, this man, who was going to forget all of this would work.


    Emilin convinced herself that this was also a way she could train, but she obviously wasn''t going to do this to all the people she would go on to try and speak to, this was just a special circumstance.


    No.


    This was an opportunity.


    "Okay, so this is how this is going to go." Emilin''s voice was unlike her usual one, it was even clearer than wind chimes, more soothing than being cradled like a baby, and softer than cashmere.


    "Doctor will be your keyword," Emilin spoke with an amused undertone as she spoke in her calming voice.


    It was quite mystical.


    "When I use that keyword, you''ll wake up, and when I say it once again, you''ll forget everything we''ve said thus far, up until the point where you said ''Okay, so I''ll just need you to stare at this watch.''"


    Emilin paused to see the corners of Mon''s closed eyes twitch a little.


    His brows furrowed as he processed the orders he had received from a soothing, yet piercing voice, so piercing that it reached straight for the connections of his neurons in his brain.


    A voice that he found hard to disobey.


    It was as if it was embracing and chaining him at the same time, if he resisted, it would forever be a chain, but when he finally let go, it would embrace him with warmth to spare.


    "You will think that you have determined that I am not a threat and will tell whoever you need to so that I can get out of here as soon as possible, without making any of it suspicious to the best of your capabilities."


    Emilin had been thinking about what she would say while Mon had been messing with his shenanigans a few minutes back and this was what she came up with.


    "If there is a need for me to change my orders, I''ll snap my fingers once again, and you''ll listen to everything I have to say and act ordingly."


    This was just a precaution.


    "Meanwhile, I''ll be asking you a few questions and you''ll answer them as honestly as you can." Emilin got to the main point and gave Moulin some time to process once again.


    Emilin sat back down before getting herself into the right mind space.


    "Doctor."


    The moment Emilin''s quiet voice reached Mon''s ears, he naturally opened his eyes, without any of the previous conflicts.


    So naturally, that one would have assumed he had just woken up from a nap, but he, on the other hand, hadn''t even realized that he had beenying down.


    "What is it?" Mon asked, looking at Emilin with a serious expression on his face.


    Emilin lightly rubbed her chin for a bit in contemtion while Mon just quietly sat there obediently in silence.


    "What do you think of the weather?"


    Emilin''s voice sounded hesitant,cking in the confidence she had while Mon was semi-unconscious.


    Mon tilted his head to the side in confusion, looking around even though he knew there were no windows in this room.


    Mon had a sudden impulse to answer this question the best as he could, even if it was something as simple as the weather as if his life depended on it, but he didn''t question that emotion, in fact, he didn''t even question why she was asking such a strange question.


    While Mon was hesitant for different reasons, Emilin was wondering whether she had messed up in the hypnosis process, after all, he had never tried on a Master hypnotist before.


    It should have been much harder than it actually was, right?


    She had thought that it had gone a little too smoothly.


    "What is it. Didn''t I tell you to answer honestly? Why aren''t you answering?" Emilin''s brows knitted as she clenched her teeth a little.


    "Sorry!"


    Mon''s serious expression as he apologized would have been hrious if anyone else were there to watch.


    "It wasn''t that I didn''t want to respond, I just haven''t been outside in a while and there really aren''t any windows or anything here."


    Emilin: [¡­]


    Mon: [¡­]


    Mon: [Andst time I checked it was still pouring.]


    Emilin: [¡­]


    ''Well god damn, I''m bad at this,'' Emilin had an itch to curse, but promptly shoved it to the side, she didn''t have time to waste.


    Instead of moping, she could get some more practice in.


    Emilin: [FOrGet! foRGeT! Forget!]


    Mon: [Yes Ma''am! ( ©b¦Ø ©b)©g]


    Emilin continued like that with trial and error until her mouth was dry, which was also when he promptly asked Mon to grab her some water.


    Just in case, she had asked Mon what the average time others spent in his office, and seeing as she hadn''t gotten too overboard, she took her sweet time.


    Mon on the other hand wasn''t much better, he was already sweating.


    Even though most of the questions he was answering weren''t very high maintenance or of much relevance, his brain was constantly running at max capacity.


    There were times where he couldn''t process why he was having conflicting feelings, which made his heart clench.


    Overall, even though he wasn''t doing some hardcore exercising, he was still burning calories like crazy with his brain going on overload.


    ''Hm¡­ should I stop here?''


    Emilin thought as she savored her well-deserved water.


    She had most likely spoken more in thest few hours than in thest few years of her life.


    ''I''ll just ask a few more questions, I should probably get to those relevant ones, those concerning my safety before I get out of here.''

 Chapter 80 - Elijahs Interest Pt I: (HOLE DIGGING)

    Mon never thought that he wouldnd himself in such a quagmire.


    He was truly and thoroughly fucked.??


    And not in a good way.


    He currently sat in a modernly designed office. The woodwork on the walls and the furniture was one that surpassed the times. It looked both ancient, modern, and futuristic at the same time, bncing them out well, though leaning more towards the modern side.


    In fact, it looked like it could still be considered modern, yet ssic centuries from now, no matter how the future of interior designed looked like, they would always leave a space for this space.


    "So, what do you want to say for yourself?"


    A clear and imposing voice was heard from right across Mon''s seat.


    "That you''re information was a little too inurate..." Mon mumbled with his head lowered so much that his chin was touching his chest.


    This was just too embarrassing.


    "What do you have to say for yourself as a Master hypnotist huh?"


    The man who sat across from Mon in the dimly lit side of the room hid a smirk behind his mocking voice.


    Mon stayed silent.


    If he could dig a hole for himself right now, he would dig himself one 6ft deep and just bury himself.


    But that wasn''t necessary since the man in front of him was going to do it for him. He just didn''t know that yet.


    "Yes, it''s best you stay silent."


    Elijah huffed from the seat across as he held in the evil smile that would tell others that he was scheming something, even though there was no one to see him except Mon, who was staring a hole into his own chest.


    "Not only did you get yourself hypnotized and tricked out of our trade secrets, you even let the perpetrator off without a scratch. Have you thought about how you''ll make it up to me?"


    Elijah sounded truly angry, his body radiating a fierce aura, even though he was actuallyughing in joy inside.


    At this point, Mon was considering quitting his job to be a junky who lived off his parents in his mother''s basement.


    It didn''t sound too bad.


    Mon nodded to himself as he thought about it.


    It was a sad nod that hit his chest multiple times, but a nod nheless.


    Just as he was about to open his mouth to tell Elijah that he was going to quit being a hypnotist since it seemed like he royally sucked at it, Elijah beat him to it.


    "But it''s good that you are repenting right now. Since that is so, you''ll have to repay me somehow right? Just work for me for another 10 years and we can call it even."


    Elijah pulled out a contract from out of nowhere.


    Mon was speechless.


    He stared at the 10-year contract that was now sitting on the dark wooden desk in front of him.


    "Hey! No way. Why the hell would I sign a 10-year restraining order with an assho--" Mon forgot his embarrassment for a moment as he spoke his frustrated mind.


    He didn''t actually work for Elijah, he was just staying here because he had limited ces that he was willing to go, though that didn''t mean that there weren''t lines of people who wanted him!


    Master''s weren''t that easy to contract, no matter how powerful you are or how many connections you have.


    This was because of a simple fact.


    They were wanted everywhere!


    Even if you threaten them with something, they could very well head up to yourpetitor''s side and ask them for help in exchange for favors.


    And it wasn''t a good idea to threaten masters with people such as family or friends, since cornered dogs bite, cornered lions would too, it''s animal instincts and you can rest assured it would hurt like hell.


    They wouldn''t stop until you lost a limb or two.


    As for why those groups who were approached didn''t give these masters a hard time, well let''s just say you really can''t look down on a master''sworking abilities.


    ''Yeah! I have to have a tight grasp on my confidence! Love you mom, but I can''t just give up like this. What the hell man! I''m one of the youngest and most experienced Master hypnotists in the world. Second to none when ites to both practice and potential.''


    It was like he forgot that he was dancing on Emilin''s palms, even now.


    Heforted himself, determined not to sign the contract. He had a strong distaste for being confined by rules.


    "You wouldn''t impede that from you taking responsibility for your actions and inactions right? Actions as in exposing our secrets and inactions as in theplete and utter inability to do anything about it."


    Elijah was very aware of the circumstances, right now was the best time to hit the iron while it was hot and Mon was not one to be brought down for long.


    This was part of his pride in being a young Master of his arts, being at the top of the pyramid, he simply didn''t know how to act in any other way.


    Mon would be right back up in a few days so he had to use this opportunity well, Elijah wouldn''t purposefully bring down one of his future subordinates and or colleagues.


    Mon hesitated for a bit before reaching out for the contract as if he were trying to film a slow-motion clip without the added effects as he


    There wasn''t anything too restraining, the normal non-disclosure,pensation, and working hours.


    Of course, there were some other details, but in general, it wasn''t too bad, it was just that the duration was a little too long for his liking.


    "I can agree to the contract, but not for this long, it''s too much. Let''s say 5 years."


    Mon was actually hesitant, but his jaw dropped when a new contract appeared out of thin air andnded on top of the one he was looking at previously.


    ''God damn, I thought that he was going to negotiate and that I had already set it pretty low, but he pulled out the contract with no hesitation. I should have lowered it more!''


    ''Fuck.''


    Mon inwardly cursed his new boss when he realized that Elijah had schemed against him just then.


    And he had just cleared out the hole that Elijah had carefully dug for him, not forgetting to bury himself in that hole while he was at it.


    "Go on."


    Elijah said, not hiding his mirth anymore as his lips adopted a devilish smirk.


    Mon had to sign the contract in front of him now.


    This was also part of his pride as a man of his word, one of his basic principles as a human being.


    Elijah snatched the contract up and gave Mon another copy the second he had signed it and then walked off to his desk as Mon contemted life.


    To this point, he still didn''t know what exactly happened.


    Just a few hours ago, Elijah had called him into his office, hours after he had sent Emilin off, having gone through all the necessary procedures.


    There really weren''t that many, he just gave his word, and off she went.


    Of course, she was blindfolded and she had to pretend she didn''t remember a thing, but Elijah had learned from this experience that he really had to tighten his security.


    After getting past Mon, he felt like all other security measures for these specific circumstances wereplete and utter shit.


    Elijah had been tempted to send out a search party for the littless after figuring that something was wrong, but after watching the video clips, he decided against it.


    Elijah had only noticed this muchter, but it could still be considered early when you took into ount that it was on the very same day that Emilin left and that even Mon, the man himself, who sent Emilin away didn''t notice anything.


    What really blew Emilin''s cover was the amount of time she spent in Mon''s office.


    Yes, she had asked Mon what was the average amount of time spent there, but what she didn''t know was that the numbers that made up that average werergely varying.


    There were people who spent less than 10 minutes, those were the least suspected ones because they took the least amount of time to be hypnotized.


    It would take Mon much longer to extract all the necessary information from those who were trained with strong mental capabilities.


    This was one of the reasons why Mon hated the hours that the suspected individuals spent in the lobby, especially if they were innocent.


    He would have to ''observe'' them for hours just toe up with the same conclusions.


    It was aplete waste of time in his opinion and so it wasn''t the first time he had called the person into his office ahead of time.


    Still, he would send out a signal for when he brought one in and so this wouldn''t affect anything and Elijah was already used to Mon''s impatience.


    That wasn''t the issue.


    The real issue presents itself as the following:


    Here we had a girl, who had been in a session for hours, and yet came outpletely clean.


    If Elijah didn''t find something iffy here, then he might as well quit his job.


    Plus he was kind of bored, so he decided to check it out.


    And low and behold.


    He had been in a high position since birth, and with such a position he had seen a lot of things, but he would definitely rank today''s urrence as a solid top 3 and a strong contender for Number ONE most stupifying scene he had evere to witness in his life so far.


    He had written up this contract after he finished watching the video feed from the cameras installed in the office 2 times over, and this was considering its hours in length.

 Chapter 81 - Elijahs Interest Pt II: (Brain Dead?)

    A few hours ago:


    Elijah felt the back of his skull tingling when Liam came in to report to him about the matters concerning Emilin.??


    When Liam informed him that the youngss had already gone off, he immediately felt like something was wrong.


    If she was left off so quickly then that would mean that there was absolutely nothing suspicious about her.


    That was the message Mon was sending him through his actions, especially since Mon would have easily understood his intentions through the report he had told Liam to send.


    It was clear that Elijah had wanted a spark, no matter how small it was, to light the fire that would allow him to go forward with his ns against various of his uncles who had strong ill intent against him.


    Elijah didn''t really have anything against Emilin, but if she were the least bit suspicious, he could use his own methods to ''connect the dots''.


    It just didn''t settle right with him.


    It made no sense.


    If she wasn''t the least bit suspicious, then there would just be no need for Mon to take that long.


    Things didn''t add up.


    Elijah dismissed Liam with a wave of his hand. After hearing the clicking sound of the door, Elijah used one of thenterns that were supposedly fixed to the wall as a lever, which allowed for the bookshelf in front of him to slide into the wall.


    Whoever designed this establishment seemed incredibly fond of office rooms within other office rooms as the passage opened by the sliding bookshelf was that previously (in the future) mentioned office room with the timeless design and fantastic woodwork.


    Walking up to the head of the table carved with Aether Ebony, a priceless piece of ancient history, known for its life span, Elijah started pressing buttons before he even sat down.


    Even if you didn''t use special means to preserve this wood after it was cut, you wouldn''t be seeing it rot even in another two millennia without it having to be kept outdoors.


    The tree was presumed to have gone extinct during the wars in the M continent, and only some of the royal family and higher-ups could find these in bulk.


    As for the merchant families, they had mostly sold their stock at sky-high prices.


    Aether Ebony Wood was not only scarce, durable, and gorgeous, the scent emitted was alsoter found to have calming effects, but that was only once it was toote.


    Though the trees were all presumed to have been destroyed during the multiple wars that had gued the M continent, many were still skeptical about this im.


    Some thought that the royal families wanted to keep it for themselves after finding out their miraculous effects and so they cut off the supply from the source.


    As for the possibility of finding an Aether Ebony tree outside of the M continent, those were nonexistant.


    Before the numerous chains of wars in the M continent, though most of the people who resided there had different ideologies, they all had something inmon.


    They were all incredibly xenophobic.


    At least that was before the wars thatsted longer than anyone would have liked ended.


    Things slowly changed after that.


    Anyways.


    Even though you could find such wood outside of the M continent, it was still quite rare, especially now that it was believed to be slowly disappearing from the face of this.


    "Let''s see what is going on then."


    Elijah''s lips thinned into a line, narrowing his eyes as he clicked to y the video feed from the moment Mon brought Emilin into his second office.


    This was a video feed that even Mon didn''t have ess to, even he, as the ''owner'' of that space didn''t know where the cameras were located at.


    Elijah had a specialist personally install the cameras. No one else would know where they were located. Even though Mon had a strong inkling that there were cameras here and there, he didn''t dare im he knew where exactly they were actually located.


    This was also one of the reasons Mon was adamant about getting this second office. He didn''t want unknown surveince cameras in his personal space and since Elijah insisted on having cameras in the hypnosis room, Mon proposed installing another side room for just those purposes.


    Well, it all worked out in the end.


    Elijah satfortably in his seat, his head supported by his palm with his elbow on the armrest, but he couldn''t sit like that for long.


    Two minutes into the video and he was already on the edge of his seat, his firm butt threatening to slide right off to meet the cold, icy, marble floor.


    "How did she do it?"


    There was no one else in the office and Elijah didn''t bother hiding his surprise.


    He rewinds the video, and then again, and then again.


    "I can''t believe it..." He muttered.


    "She did it with her eyes."


    Elijah hid his shaken pale green pupils with his hands as he thought about the possible repercussions from what he had just seen.


    Elijah had an acute eye. He would normally be able to catch even the smallest details with a nce. But this was a little tricky.


    After Elijah watched it 3 times over, he hadn''t found anything unusual.


    No tapping, no sounds, no signaling. Nothing.


    But there had to be something to initiate the hypnosis, and that''s when Elijah came up with a more probable theory.


    The one thing that could have brought Mon into a daze, something with simr effects to the pocket watch, had to be Emilin''s eyes, which had been following that clock the whole time.


    "No, this isn''t what is really important right now. I have to figure out just how much Mon has said after being hypnotized before I can figure out a n to lessen the impact of this hit."


    Elijah''s face was grim, pursing his lips when he thought about how badly this could go.


    ''Did I overestimate Mon?''


    Elijah watched as Emilin ordered Mon to answer all her questions honestly and his face only got darker by the second.


    By the time Emilin finished the hypnosis, Elijah''s face was already so dark that he could probably squeeze ink out of it if he tried really hard.


    "Just what could she want? What kind of information did she extract? With her caliber, there''s simply no way Mon could have kept his mouth shut for very long."


    Elijah wasn''t being self-deprecating, you could tell just from the fact that thess had run off safely and Mon still had no clue, that he stood no chance whatsoever against Emilin.


    Elijah was being realistic.


    Elijah''s question was answered in the very next minute and it was continued to be answered for the next 3 hours in simr manners.


    Elijah''s face changed so many times throughout the video, no, film that he couldn''t even count the number of times his face went into shock.


    The conversation was so boringly entertaining that Elijah couldn''t make himself skip a second for fear of missing out on something important, but he was really just lying to himself.


    There was absolutely nothing of remote importance spoken about in the first 3 hours.


    Some of the samples of this conversation that Elijah found especially intriguing included...


    ["So what''s your favorite color?"] The girl asked. Her face didn''t suit the type of question she was asking. It was quite grim, but it hid some enthusiasm as well.


    Elijah almost wanted to believe that there was some secret message being transmitted seeing as he couldn''t understand what could make her so serious.


    ["Orange?"] Mon replied in a questioning tone as if he were asking for confirmation.


    Elijah had never seen Mon wear or evene close to the color orange purposefully in his life.


    ["I see."] The girl responded as if she were interviewing someone for a job as the manager of apany and the results were extremely subpar rather than asking for someone''s favorite color.


    ["What about your favorite food?"] She continued. Emilin nearly took a battle stance, as if she were fighting the greatest BOSS monster in a MAX LV. Dungeon.


    Her face grimaced as her be scrunched up.


    ["Oranges."] Mon replied once again, solemnly.


    ["I see."] Emilin said through gritted teeth.


    At this point, she felt like something was seriously off.


    ["Favorite show?"] Emilin didn''t sound reluctant as she kept asking, but she sure as hell looked the part.


    ["Orange."] Mon replied a third time. He was really just looking for a death sentence.


    ["I. See."]


    Seeing as Emilin didn''tpletely understand, he added, ["an anime"], just in case there was a mimunication.


    ["Fuck I suck at this, is this problem with me or this guy? Did the hypnosis fry his brain or something? No way. I would never make such an amateur mistake. It might have affected his ability to form and make connections between opinions and preferences."]


    Emilin just spoke out loud seeing as she believed herself to be the only one who would remember this.


    Well, she was wrong, anyways.


    ["It shouldn''t have affected his ability to transmit facts. For someone of his caliber, some of those neuronic connections should be stronger."]


    ["But what''s up with the obsession with Orange?"]

 Chapter 82 - Elijahs Interest Pt III: (Helicopter Arrives)

    ''Then is his brain going to be impaired for life? I doubt the girl would care too much if that were to be the case...''


    Yet another potential problem popped up out of nowhere.??


    It seemed like this littless was good at that, bringing him annoying problems that is.


    Elijah found the need to question whether the young girl''s hypnosis techniques had just made one of the world''s most promising Master hypnotists mentally handicapped, in the literal sense.


    That would be truly bad for him. A huge loss.


    It was good that Emilin had a tick of talking to herself when she was nervous, Elijah could take a peek into her astoundingly simple mind.


    ["It should be fine. Once I finish here and he snaps out of it, the others shouldn''t notice."] The girl Elijah saw on his screen was unnervingly calm about this part, but the following words came out rather strange.


    ["But what do I do about the conversation I was supposed to be having? Do I keep going? But that wouldn''t exactly be a simtion of a real conversation between normal people."]


    ''There was nothing normal about this, ok?''


    Elijah let out a short chuckle after figuring that Mon would be okay after the session ended.


    "How interesting? Just what is she trying to do with all this? Figuring out Mon''s mentality? But there''s no need. He''s already dancing on the palm of her hands."


    Elijah thought out loud too, infected by Emilin''s little habit.


    There was no way that he could figure Emilin out so easily.


    Elijah quickly attributed all this to the entricities, no, quirks that all geniuses have, after all, it wouldn''t at all be exaggerated to call Emilin one.


    Emilin went on to talk about clothes, shopping, schooling, day-to-day life, habits, and so on.


    "Is she lonely or something? Why does she care so much about this guy? I mean he isn''t bad looking, but he''s not that great either."


    Elijah felt a little sour taste in his mouth for no reason.


    He would chuckle every time he heard Emilin''s frustrated speech as she spoke to herself and he smiled at her little antics.


    He waspletely at ease,ughing around by the end of the footage.


    All he could do was guffaw at howical the situation was.


    If he told this to anyone else, they would probablyugh their asses off thinking he had gone crazy, but at the same time, this wasn''t something that could be made up.


    He watched as Emilin paced around with small steps when things didn''t go right and smile brightly when the conversation was going smoothly.


    "How cute."


    There was one thing that Elijah knew for sure by the end of all this. This girl definitely didn''t want to have anything to do with them.


    After Emilin finally started asking about the ''organization'' and who they were, she limited herself to basic questions, for fear of being in too deep.


    She didn''t ask for their name, who they were, what they did, only getting a general idea of how normal it would be for her to leave at the moment and if Calim was telling the truth about being set free after they determined her as not a threat.


    Elijah closed his screen after he watched the girl wake Mon up from the semi-dazed state he had been in, walking off with him.


    Mon clearly didn''t remember any part of the conversation he just had with the youngdy, but he walked off so naturally as if he had already formed his own story of what had happened in that time.


    Something that in reality urred hours ago.


    Elijah printed out the contracts that he had written up, ranging from a 2-year contract all the way to a 15-year contract, just in case.


    He wanted to be prepared.


    He did this when he realized that Emilin was not a threat, but Mon didn''t know that.


    Elijah was okay, even if they would only end up signing a 2-year contract. He was confident in making Mon give in after that, of course, the longer he had thisst line of defense that was signed papers, the better.


    But he was still confident in making this Master hypnotist his subordinate, something he had been thinking about since Mon had joined the crew.


    "I guess that little girl isn''t all problems after all. There is some merit to be given here."


    Elijah didn''t like having someone as free as Mon so close, as of right now, he could leave at any moment, but by the end of the day, things would be changing.


    Elijah looked around the room, seeing as the center was rather well lit, he moved closer to the sides.


    "I need the ce with the best dark lighting... should I also get a ck cat topletely y my part?"


    Elijah didn''t leave the room as he ordered Liam to invite Quacky Doctor Mon in.


    "Hey, why did you call me over? I seriously need a break you know? You can''t keep increasing, my workload like this. I''ll have to ask for a raise, this is way over my pay grade." Monined before even greeting Elijah, but Elijah didn''t bother refuting.


    "Is that so?" His chuckle was deep, rich, and ominous. Elijah''s dark sharp eyebrows arched slightly as he spoke.


    Mon became wary in an instant as he stopped midway on his way to the seat across from Elijah.


    They weren''t in a boss-subordinate rtionship at the time, and so he wasn''t too wary with his words.


    "Why did you call me here this time you bastard?" Mon''s body was locked into a warry pose, with his hand, held in a fist in front of his face.


    "You can rx now. I just wanted to show you something fun. I''m sure you wouldn''t like to miss out on the show." Elijah joked.


    ''Especially not when you are one of the main characters,'' he inwardly said.


    Seeing Mon hesitantlye closer, taking his seat, Elijah started ying the specific sections of the footage that would work best in his favor.


    Mon wouldn''t be able to figure out the specific situation with just this much and Elijah was fully nning to use that to his advantage. In reality, he knew that Emilin had little to no threat to them.


    Emilin clearly wanted to stay out of it, she was a smart one and so she wouldn''t say more than she should or could.


    Elijah had this inexplicable trust that existed in a realm above material existences.


    Mon watched as he was easily hypnotized at the beginning as well as some of the info about their ''organization'' he had exposed at the end.


    Elijah determined that most of the parts in the middle were inconsequential, and so Mon didn''t need to watch that part¡­


    Mon was at first skeptical.


    Many thoughts and hypotheses were going through his mind.


    ''Is this photoshopped? Cut and edited?''


    But Elijah wasn''t one to joke about such serious things. By the end of the clip, he was already 60% certain that was actually him in the footage.


    "What is this?"


    Mon knew very well the possible effects that could be procured using hypnosis, he was just stunned silly by the level of skill the youngdy had disyed.


    As a master himself, he didn''t want to admit it.


    Mon knew at a nce what Emilin had done, it didn''t take another for him to be certain.


    He had been had and he was still counting money for the person who had sold him.


    Mon covered for her!


    "Shit."


    Even though Mon couldn''t find these events in his memories, he did not doubt that they had happened.


    His head hurt as these scenes shed with his existing memories.


    As Elijah yed the clip again, Mon slowly lowered his head, at first it was on contemtion, and thenter, he couldn''t raise it back up due to embarrassment.


    And the rest is a story that you already know of.


    ***


    On Emilin''s side, though she still had that injury on her leg, it barely affected her anymore.


    Past the insignificant pain, she was walking just fine.


    "They should be arriving around now. We need to add more functions to these shoes, this is quite inconvenient."


    Emilin casually said as she strolled in a certain direction.


    Emilin took note of the fact that she didn''t have a way to get back on track since she had fallen off that cliff.


    Honestly, she just wanted to wait for someone to pick her up, and thankfully that didn''t take too long.


    While Emilin ate some of the rations that she had, borrowed, never to return, from Mon''s group, a helicopter descended into the forest.


    For the people who resided in the base, helicopters weren''t umon seeing as their boss came and went on one and they had even set up a helicopter rental ce in White City. They didn''t give that helicopter any special attention other than a second nce.


    Emilin watched as two men, one in his 20s and the other around his 30s stepped off of the chopper.


    The one in his 30s was looking around before moving his gaze back down at the device he was holding, while the younger man looked over his shoulder.


    A red dot shone from the device along with another blue dot. The red dot signaling Emilin and the blue one signaling the man who held the device, who was closing the distance between the two.


    "Hey yo, Levi! I think it''s her over there."


    The youthful man shouted, turning in the direction where Emilin sat as she ate.


    "That does seem to be the case," Levi said, once again looking down at the device in his hands.

 Chapter 83 - Meeting Xander Pt I: (Master-Disciple)

    "Are you the one? You''re M''s one and only disciple?" Xander, the man in his 20s asked. It wasn''t a contemptuous tone, but rather one of interest and intrigue.


    Though he was supposedly older than Emilin, around a decade older actually, he didn''t act like it. Well, this should actually be med on Emilin who acted well beyond her age rather than the 25-year-old Xander.??


    Xander''s gaze shifted up and down, giving Emilin a one-over.


    "I''m so jealous! You must be really amazing if Master M is willing to take you in as a disciple, I''ve been asking him for ages now and he''s only ignored me."


    Xander pouted.


    It was more urate to say that he had begged M for ages, rather than asked.


    When he was still in his teens, he was too prideful. He acted high and mighty as if he would only reluctantly ept M''s offer if M asked nicely to let him take Xander as a disciple, but after a good few years working together, with a lot of hints dropped from Xander''s side, he realized that it wasn''t happening.


    Later on, even when he, not-so-subtly, brought it up, he could only be shot down before he could even finish his sentence.


    Now, out of nowhere, TWO suddenly informs him that this big Master M actually already has a disciple! Shock was the first emotion that came to him, and he''d be lying if he said he wasn''t incredibly jealous.


    But this was the thing about Xander when it came to people he trusted or at least ones that he wanted to open up to, he was exceedingly candid about his emotions.


    He didn''t hide and scheme, though sometimes he beat around the bush when he was too embarrassed to say or ask something directly.


    Many others in his same position would most likely look down upon a girl as young as Emilin, questioning her qualifications to be able to hold such a lofty position, one that even he, as the youngest head of a department in the international medical organization would fight to vie for.


    Emilin had a rather good impression of him for this, and many other reasons as they worked together, mainly since Xander knew well that M didn''t like troublesome things.


    Though M was thought of by many as to be around the beginning nearing the middle of the Master level, Xander had a different opinion as someone who worked closely with him.


    He believed that M was nearing the Grandmaster level if he had not reached there already.


    The number of Grandmasters in a field had never exceeded 3, no matter what field it is that you looked into, and there were always instances where a field of study simply didn''t have a Grandmaster.


    Not one in the world.


    Though normal people didn''t know much about masters, much less grandmasters, you would naturally acquire more information on such matters when you slowly climbed up the ranks.


    Xander was already head of a department in an international organization, and so it would only be strange if he didn''t have a strongwork.


    If there were to ever be over three grandmasters in a field, even if it was business, it would be something that every grandmaster would be aware of, even ones in art. And at that point, the news would spread down.


    It just wasn''t something that could be kept in the dark for long.


    The requirements to be acknowledged as a Grandmaster were stringent, but also mysterious. So much so that Xander, someone who was slowly bordering the Master level, didn''t even have an inkling of what they were.


    Xander had never bothered to ask M since he knew that he was still far away from that level, but at times he was tempted.


    He was certain that even if M wasn''t there yet, he was either already working on it, or already on his way there. Either way, M would most likely know what the requirements that are necessary are.


    Xander was sure that what M was showing the world was just the mere tip of the iceberg. If he wanted to, M would be able to shake the medical world whenever he willed it.


    Just the number of lives he could save would not be counted in the millions anymore, especially if you count both how this would affect future generations as well as the future development of medicine and procedural medicine as a whole.


    As for why M wasn''t doing so already, Xander didn''t question it. From the perspective of someone who had been near M since his teens, M was akin to the God of Medicine, his god, as someone who practiced medicine.


    Xander had no right or ability to question a God with morals or societal roles, neither did he want to.


    The truth of human greed was that nothing was ever enough, if M were to suddenlye out with dozens upon dozens of forms and formtions, it could only bring negative results to the medical ecosystem, after all, human greed knew no bounds, not even between doctors.


    Not only that, but if loads of information were to be dumped on these doctors like the garbage dumped in thendfills, they would be at least centuries behind, the decline of the industry would start there. Rather than fertilizing the soil, they would only be making piles of trash.


    No one would be able to keep up with the ''research done by M'' and it would only get worse from there.


    Xander believed that it was a good idea for them to slowly inject this information into the market, so do not create a wave that would end up crashing on the people.


    Plus, everyone had their own circumstances. M clearly didn''t want to make such waves and he knew what he was doing.


    And if such a figure had chosen this young girl to be the heir of everything he had, then so be it.


    Rather than try and test her like a dumbass, questioning M''s judgment, he would much rather spend his time getting a grasp on what he could learn from this youngdy while developing a mutually beneficial and nurturing rtionship.


    "Hello," Emilin said with her stoic face, while inwardly ecstatic. She was making noticeable improvements.


    "Hello youngdy, I''m Xander''s assistant Levi Stanley and this is Xander, you should know him as one of your Master''s closely working associates." Levi took a step up when he keenly noticed that Xander may be overwhelming the youngdy.


    "Ah yes, I''m Xander and you can just call me Big Brother Xander since I''m older than you," Xander said, taking Levi''s hint as he shamelessly asked Emilin to just treat him like family, even though they had just met.


    "I see," Emilin said right before she bit her tongue.


    ''It seems like I''ve developed a bad habit.''


    "Well then let''s head off then, it''s not early anymore, I''ll grab your bags for you," Levi didn''t allow for any awkward silences as he reaches out for the bags.


    Emilin allowed him to do so as she too headed for her ride.


    "Is there anywhere you need to head to first?" Levi asked, walking behind the two people who were both younger and in higher positions than him.


    "White City," Emilin said after pondering for a bit.


    She wanted to grab her bags and head out of here and head off to somewhere where she could rest in peace, preferably hitching a ride from Xander.


    It would be a win-win if she could both practice her conversational skills and learn a little more about Xander.


    She didn''t dislike his candid personality and seeing his reactions to diverse situations, she was considering handing some troublesome things off to him in the future.


    It was a good investment, even if it was more work now, in the future, she could get herself rid of something as troublesome as the medical organization while reaping the same amount of rewards, or even more if she did things right.


    ''Yes, It''s about time I take in a disciple anyways.''


    Thising from a 15-year-old youth.


    They rode off on the helicopter, and surprisingly, Levi was the one on the driver''s seat.


    Without even being asked, Xander informed Emilin that they had not wanted others to know who they were meeting and so they took extra precautions and that Levi did indeed have a license.


    He had got one once he became determined to be a good assistant, in fact, he had done his best to diversify all of his skill set so that he would never be unprepared.


    Especially since he was acting as the assistant to the ''main character of the story''.


    Anyways, he was sure that he would need most of these seemingly random skills at some point in time, and see how he had been right?


    "Everyone, get ready for take-off, fasten your seat belts and hold on to the rail to the side," Levi said into the mic, which was heard on each of the other two''s headset.


    "First stop, White City."

 Chapter 84 - Blooper+ Meeting Xander Pt II: (Useless)

    Mon prepared to leave the office room so that he could go contemte his life decisions, but Elijah stopped him right before he stood up.


    "Don''t you want to see what you did in the rest of the time you spent with thatss?" Elijah asked slyly after securing the signed contract.??


    Mon: ???


    Mon: [Maybe I can get some insight into how to improve. This may be my key to getting one step closer to the advanced realms of a Master hypnotist.]


    Though Mon didn''t think that Emilin was at the advanced master realm level just yet, he was sure she was at least closer to that than he was.


    "Show me, show me!" Mon nearly grabbed right onto Elijah''s hands in excitement.


    "Sure, it''s right here," Elijahughed joyously at Mon''s eager response.


    Hisughter clearly held no good intentions, but Mon wasn''t paying enough attention as he thought about what could have happened while he was with the youngss.


    Elijah had cut off the parts where Emilin was pacing around, only leaving the interrogation part, if you could even call it that.


    *Click*


    And so the long film started.


    While Elijahughed as he watched the same film for the third time, Mon watched for the first, his reaction not being in any way inferior to Elijah''s, just not in the same way.


    THREE LONG HOURS LATER


    Mon: ?o¡¤(? ????????? )?o¡¤?


    Mon: How did I get trapped by this bastard, 10 fucking years! This is a scam! A scam I tell you.


    Mon: Not only was I tricked by that little girl, but I was also even scammed by this scum right after? Can''t you let a man off?


    Mon: Where''s the basic trust between human beings huh!?


    Mon: Where''s the love and care?


    TRUST: "I WAS EATEN BY THE MAN SEATED ACROSS FROM YOU"


    LOVE JUMPING OUT THE NON-EXISTENT WINDOW IN THE UNDERGROUND ROOM. "SAYONARA BABY."


    CARE: "THERE, THERE. IT''S NOT THAT BAD. SHOULD I LEAVE SO THAT YOU WON''T CARE TOO MUCH ABOUT THIS MATTER? OH, YOU MEANT THE CARE BETWEEN HUMANS? WHAT CARE? WHY HAVEN''T I HEARD OF SUCH A THING?"


    "Fuck fuck fuck. What did I do to deserve this?" Mon swore as the sailor within him surfaced after he met some turbulent waters.


    Elijah just silently watched as Mon vented out his anger. The least he could do at this point was give the man some peace.


    " I can''t argue with Orange being a pretty decent anime, but I hate the color orange!" He said, mostly out of spite for his previous actions rather than the actual color.


    "If I see anyone eat an orange, or wear orange, I swear they''re dead to me!" He continued.


    "Now, now. Don''t make that wronged face, why don''t you take a look at yourself first?" Elijah couldn''t stay silent as he looked at Mon make a joke out of himself knowing that there were also cameras in this room.


    Mon looked down at where Elijah was pointing.


    *sniffle* *sniffle*


    "FUck I Don''T... nO... GeT tHis off oF mE," Mon said as he slowly strangled himself with his orange tie.


    Elijah: [... I guess that youngss was mistaken. His brain did get fried after all.]


    [Authors Note: Fried by Emilin and then roasted by you baby. That''s what I call a power couple.]


    *Huff*


    *Huff*


    "Why didn''t you tell me earlier that I had this morbid thing on me?" Mon asked in frustration, throwing his tie to the ground.


    Elijah just shrugged.


    "How was I supposed to know you were going to react like that?"


    "Humph! Whatever. Now delete that stupid clip."


    Mon fumed, but Elijah could only shake his head in response.


    "Before you jump on me, and question why I won''t delete it to save what is left of your dignity, shouldn''t you first question all the reasons why you shouldn''t have this deleted?" Elijah prompted.


    "What gibberish are you talking about! Nothing you will say can convince me. I won''t be leaving this ce before you delete it," he imed haughtily.


    *Sigh*


    "Don''t you think it''s a little too wasteful to delete such an amazing resource? After all, this is the hypnosis process of someone even better than you." Elijah persuaded.


    "This is some first-hand experience you are deleting along with any chances of recalling your residue memories," Elijah''s face showed his reluctance.


    "But seeing as you insist, as someone who cherishes their subordinates, it seems like I have no other choice..."


    His finger hovered over the delete button while his mouth showed a smile that told Mon that everything before that moment was just an act.


    Even so, he had no choice but to give in.


    "Stop!"


    "Ok, ok, I''mpletely convinced now pass me a damn copy! I''ll analyze the shit out of this piece of crap before reaching her level and then surpassing the young miss."


    Elijah lifted an eyebrow.


    "Young miss?"


    "Of course, how rude is it to call a fellow master hypnotist youngss? No matter how young or entric she is, she''s at least my equal!" Mon announced proudly.


    "Equal?" He asked.


    ''More like superior.'' Elijah inwardly thought.


    Mon left in a huff when he saw where this conversation was going. There was really no point in staying any longer, after all, it seemed like the longer he stayed, the worse off he would be.


    Not to mention he had a long-ass film to study.


    ***


    Xander had been nervous on his whole trip picking Emilin up and now that he had finally met her, the atmosphere was surprisingly rxed.


    He sat in the living room of the apartment that Emilin had rented ying around on his phone while Levi came with some tea.


    As for the young girl Emilin, she was taking a much-needed shower apanied by a rxing bubble bath.


    Xander quietly waited in the living room, sipping on his tea. He was fine even if there was nothing else in this apartment. Levi had made sure to bring all the refreshments necessary.


    He had even done some grocery shopping to buy the ingredients to bake a fresh batch of chocte chip cookies, which he was also surprisingly good at.


    Knowing how to makefort food was a must in Levi''s books to be qualified enough to be called half-decent as an assistant, not to mention a perfect one.


    "Ha."


    Xander was on ANSWERASAP for some quick answers on: "How do you interact with youngdies in a friendly, but not courting manner to establish a good business rtionship, and yes I mean that in the literal sense, not in any metaphorical, creepy, deprived way."


    Just from how long, borate, and detailed the question had to be, I''m sure you can tell how many answers that were not so rted to his issue had been given.


    He still got responses from people who took him for a deprived young, and or old,d.


    Those just had to be ignored.


    As for thisst one, it finally made him realize something.


    LOLIRESPONDTHEFASTEST:


    [lol what do you even mean, just make small talk you know? You just need three things in order to seed in having a productive conversation with ady.


    1) Be handsome


    2) Have a brain bigger than the size of a pea


    3) Be handsome


    If you have all three, then you''re set, if you don''t then lol, you can just give it a break and try hitting the gym. If that doesn''t work, then you better get off the inte before you get depressed. Do you''re best now, good luck.]


    Something in Xander''s brain just clicked.


    The first revtion he had had after 20 minutes of searching.


    ANSWERASAP was useless.


    Absolutely useless.


    Xander threw his phone to the side. He instead grabbed a cookie that had just popped out of the oven onto the te that his assistant Levi had brought to him.


    Levi had made sure to only bring the cookies over after they cooled down enough and sure enough when Xander took a bite off of the deliciously warm chocte chip cookie, his mouth was filled with the msses goodness, the same one that now permeated the air.


    They were simply divine.


    Sometimes Xander felt like this assistant of his, whom he saw more as an equal, was just too fit for his role.


    So much so that he nearly couldn''t believe it when he recalled that Levi had previously been his supervisor when Xander was still in his teens.


    While Xander thought of this, the door of the bathroom opened and Emilin came out with wet hair, another sports outfit, and a towel around her neck,


    "I smell food." She said, taking a cookie off the te that Xander was eating from.


    The moment they dissolved into her mouth, she knew that she had made the right decision to let them in and take them under her wing.


    Xander didn''t know this, but this cookie had just given Emilin a better impression of him, making her slightly more willing to take him in as her disciple in the future, but truth be told, he probably wouldn''t want to know.


    "You''re done?" Xander asked.


    Emilin just stared at him silently as she went in for her second cookie.


    In retrospect, it probably wasn''t the best idea to ask someone who already didn''t talk much a yes or no question, and what was worse was that it was even a rhetorical one.


    "Then what do you want to do next?" He asked.


    He still hadn''t given up on the n of learning as much as he could from the great master''s disciple.

 Chapter 85 - Phone Call Pt I: (Yes, I Like It!)

    Emilin had been doing more than just bathing in the bathroom, after all, she had been there for quite a while.


    Emilin cleaned herself up, and it was only then that she could finally give her family a call and that''s exactly what she had been doing before heading out to the living room to meet up with Xander and Levi again.??


    Texting wouldn''t be enough after such a long time without contact.


    Even though it had been only a few days, it felt like much longer for Emilin. Thankfully she hadn''t let her parents worry as she had given a good estimate for the length of the trip, extending it by a few more days before she departed.


    As for her brothers, after using the features of the shoes, there was no chance that they would let her off without a video call to see if she was truly okay, but that was also good, she also wanted to talk to them.


    She first called her parents so that she could talk to her brothers separately.


    "Mom, Dad."


    Emilin smiled brightly just seeing the faces of her parents from the screen of her cell phone.


    "Aiya, you still remember that you have parents?"


    "You haven''t contacted us for so long that your dad and I were debating whether you had gotten a boyfriend behind our backs! How could you cheat on us like that? Tell us which man stole my little baby''s love, I''ll make sure to go teach him a good lesson."


    Gabriel, who sat beside his wife Elena had a sour face for a second there.


    ''If I didn''t know that you were talking about our daughter...''


    Even knowing that it was their daughter Elena was talking to, Gabriel was still eating some vinegar, as for anyone else who would like to join the fray in the fight for his wife''s love, they better first consider if they are willing to put their lives at risk.


    Three children were already more than enoughpetition for him, especially when he had a hard time winning against any one of them.


    He couldn''t help but sigh ruefully at the thought. He loved all his children very much, but he wasn''t even considering having another one.


    As for Emilin, she couldn''t detect any of these sentimentsing from her father.


    "Haha, what do you mean?"


    Emilin could only imagine what kind of social skills would be necessary to get a boyfriend. Even if she wanted to, as life would have it, she simply didn''t have those capabilities.


    "Honey, don''t be silly, if our daughter got a boyfriend, I''m sure we would be the first to know, right?"


    That question was more directed at the person from the other side of the screen rather than the wife who sat beside him.


    Gabriel made his intentions and insinuations clear as he shifted his gaze to the screen.


    "Mom, Dad, I''m not here to talk about my nonexistent love life..." Emilin said poutingly.


    She could only act like this in front of her family, but the truth was, even then, she was still putting up a front so that she could protect her loved ones.


    Just like how she wasn''t telling them how she had gotten injured or ''kidnapped''.


    "That''s too bad, then I guess we''ll just leave it at that then." Elena poorly faked a sad tone while putting her pearly white teeth on full disy.


    ''Yes, I can just tell how sad you are mom. Oh, so sad'' Emilin inwardly thought.


    "I wanted to be the first to tell you, and also to tell you first, that I want to get into photography," Emilin announced with a serious face.


    This was something that she truly wanted to take seriously and so she definitely had to inform her parents first, no matter how the final oue may be.


    Previously, she had been just like her Big Brother Theo. She had many things she was supposedly good at, but none of which she was passionate about, which is currently still an issue that gued Theo.


    This is why he had so readily agreed when his little sister had pointed him in a direction, which just happened to be acting, and also why Emilin had done so in the first ce.


    Learning acting and at times interacting with people who hid their true nature was a good method of self-discovery as her Big Brother Theo developed some of his other skills.


    If he had already had something he liked to do, there was no way that Emilin could possibly impose any of her designs onto his path.


    She wouldn''t be able to live with herself if that were the case.


    Elena and Gabriel were silent for a bit as they processed what their youngest daughter had just said.


    Emilin''s caring mother, Elena, was the first to react.


    "Do you like it?"


    She asked.


    Four words were enough to showcase just what kind of family Emilin was a part of.


    Their questions were never rted to anything superficial. It wasn''t about whether they had the finances, the connections, or even the skills. They didn''t even bother asking if Emilin had been considering this for very long, why she was considering it, or if she was any good.


    All that couldeter.


    When push came to shove, they only ever really cared about their children''s well-being and happiness.


    As long as Emilin was happy with her decision, everything else was rather superfluous.


    After all, what were parents for?


    Even if Emilin were to disregard all her other assets and only concentrate on photography, if that made her happy, what else was important?


    But it is not to be forgotten that some part of this mindset is too privileged for many.


    As for many of those in the middle, who was neither too rich nor poor, there was only one question left to ask.


    [Proceeds to ask a dozen more questions.]


    Do you really think how good you are as a parent is based on how sessful your child is? Or how prestigious the school they attend is? Or even their sry?


    It was truly a wonder why people went on to unt to other parents what kind of school their child attends, especially if that child had to disregard everything they liked to do to get there.


    Of course, it was fine if their child liked studying and was incredibly happy at where they were, but if they were not, if they were regretting their every day at the most prestigious school in the nation, could you really say you did your job as a parent?


    To some extent, money is always necessary, and many times good, but what happens when it''s not?


    When you be so blinded by it that you forget what''s important.


    Honestly, what''s more important?


    Working your ass off, tiring your body and mind in an unhealthy manner for some more cash lying around, or spending some more quality time with the people you love doing the things you enjoy?


    There had to be some bnce, some sense of measure, right?


    At some point, you must realize that that time will never be bought back. There are some things called priorities, though many times, they are not set straight.


    Of course, your job and cash flow are important, but at different times, different priorities should be set.


    What about all those crazy novels, where the billionaire parents disregard their child so much that they are traumatized for life, just so that they can keep their business empire. Have they ever considered why they need so much money and influence?


    To keep their family happy? I call bullshit.


    "Yes, I like it."


    Emilin responded in regards to the question her mother had previously posed to her.


    Emilin was d that she wasn''t born into some rich or royal family with multiple branches and dozens of people fighting to be sessor because she knew very well that those existed in this world.


    In fact, they weren''t low in numbers either.


    Well, now was not the time to think about it.


    "Then that''s good, as long as you like it." Elena''s smile brightened once again if that was even possible.


    At this point, the light was already emitting from her back.


    "Dear, I don''t mean to be a party pooper, but have you already figured things out?" Gabriel wasn''t asking about anything specific, only trying his best to get such thoughts in his daughter''s minds so that she could be more prepared with whatever would hit him next.


    "I was about to tell you that next. I''ve got some of my general course mapped out, but there are some parts that even I am not 100% sure about yet."


    And so, the conversation went on for another 15 minutes.


    They spoke about Emilin''s experience, her next route, and trips with some idle chat mixed in the middle.


    And right after hanging up and getting her act together, Emilin clicked on the button that would contact her two older brothers.

 Chapter 86 - Phone Call Pt II: (The Difference Between Ranks)

    "So tell me what happened," Nathan said, in a serious, but not imposing tone.


    Theodore, who shared half of Emilin''s screen with Nathan didn''t say anything, but his eyes were enough to tell Emilin that he also wanted to know.??


    Emilin gave them both a brief summary of how she had met some suspicious people, which was the reason behind the first rm that was set off before she continued to exin how she had gotten lost, getting her stuck in a cave due to the downpour.


    "Thankfully nothing big happened with those suspicious people," Emilin added, trying her best not to ovepensate.


    She didn''t tell them the full extent of the incident, but it was enough for them to get the gist of it.


    "Do you want me to do a thorough investigation?"


    Theo had already been nning to do so before asking, but seeing as the main person involved was his little sister and not himself, it was only right that he asks for her opinion.


    However, the response he got was quite unexpected.


    "There will be no need. Don''t bother with them, even though we didn''t interact for long, I can tell they are more trouble than they are worth. There is no need for us to get involved in some mess just to satiate our curiosity."


    Emilin was informing her brothers that the other party wouldn''t get involved with them if they didn''t stick their nose into the matter.


    Both Nathan and Theo furrowed their brows slightly, but they ended upplying with their baby sister''s wishes in the end.


    "I guess we''ll just leave it at that, but if there are any signs of trouble, don''t hold back." Nathan left no room for negotiations and since Emilin wasn''t particrly against it, sheplied while Theo nodded.


    "What''s going on on your sides?" Emilin asked, shifting the focus on her big brothers who hadn''t given her any updates on themselves for a while.


    "Well, you remember that game I was talking about around a week ago?" Theo scrunched up his face slightly when he started speaking, which didn''t go unnoticed by any of his siblings.


    "Mhm, was it 200 something deaths you were on? How many did you end up with?" Emilin asked jokingly when she noticed the oddly tense mood that seemed to stem from nowhere.


    Theo: [... do I have to say?]


    Nathan: [*raise eyebrows* Now you do. I''m curious, you have me hooked.]


    Emilin: [*Small nodding that simply expressed: Go on then, don''t keep us waiting here.*]


    "Well, just you know. Around 900ish. You know, around that area."


    Nathan nearly burst out into a peal ofughter when he saw the blush that crept up on his genius little brother''s face.


    ''I guess even natural geniuses like him have these moments.'' Nathan thought as if he were not someone who had also been admitted to a university ranked top 5 in the world.


    Emilin also giggled a bit, thest straw before Theo''s entire face became a nice shade of red (?////?).


    "Well anyways! I finished the game ok. Well, I don''t know how urate it is to say that I finished the game, but it was enough to pass the test apparently."


    Theo''s sheepish face went back to his previous solemn and contemtive one once he reached this point.


    "That''s the thing, so that Master that I was talking about, he made me an offer... but I didn''t really know how I wanted to respond so I pushed it off to after I spoke with you guys so that I could ask for a second opinion."


    ***


    It was a few hours ago. Exactly one week after the first ss Theodore and Kayden had in which Master Sungcha had made a guest appearance.


    The atmosphere in the lecture room was strangely both eerie and lively.


    Practically half of the ss wasposed of panda zombies, while the other halfughed at the panda zombies so as to feel better about themselves.


    If you didn''t understand that amazingly perfect analogy, well that''s understandable, since not everyone can understand this inspirationally poetic passage.


    Inyman''s terms, half of this ss was severely sleep-deprived due to the test assigned to them by Master Sungcha. Both Theodore and Kayden were members of this group.


    While the other half had long given up on that seemingly impossible and incredibly tedious task. Those were the ones who were well-rested, but that didn''t mean that they were necessarily better off as they had lost a chance to work with a Master, which is why they found the need tofort themselves byughing at the others.


    Theodore didn''t pay attention to any of this as he nearly dozes off, just waiting for the honorary professor to arrive.


    "I can see from your faces just how energetic all of you are. Everyone must have liked my little game quite a bit."


    Even though Master Sungcha said this the moment he came in, it was clear to all that this man was the most energetic of all.


    Some of the people who were tortured by his game day and night, yet couldn''t make themselves put their devices down secretly cursed him.


    ''How can you live with yourself knowing that the sleep-deprived children in front of you are only like this because of you?'' They thought.


    It already said something that half of the ss didn''t give up despite them not even knowing just what Master Sungcha studied or even what his criteria were for this test.


    Everyone was quite determined, after all, if they were to have a ss reunion in the future and one of them didn''t make it anywhere while the others became billionaire software developers, well that would be awkward.


    No one wanted to be the one.


    "Then let''s see, I''ll be projecting everyone''s progress here on the projector. I won''t use all of your real names so as to not embarrass you to death, but do be prepared if you used your real name as your user name in-game."


    Grunts could be heard throughout the room.


    "I''m excited to see how it went, even I haven''t gotten a chance to see the results." Contrary to his words, Master Sungcha didn''t seem all that excited at all.


    Master Sungcha could be seen to have clicked a button to start some system and rows could be seen to be popping from the bottom to the top of the screen.


    It was slow enough for everyone to have enough time to read each row before the next one popped up.


    There were 4 columns and numerous rows. The columns were as follows: Ranking, Username, Stage, Deaths.


    [60th ce, On, 2.2, 407]


    [59th ce, Choi, 2.3, 450]


    [58th ce, Hong, 2.3, 428]


    ¡­


    ..


    .


    The room instantly got heated as the people started recognizing some of the names up there.


    "Hey! Did you say you didn''t y much? If over 400 deaths aren''t much then I don''t know what is."


    "And youughed your ass off when I told you that I had already died over 250 times, but at least I reached the halfway mark of the second stage."


    "What the hell man?"


    Those who had been previously mocked threw the words they had heard back at the people who had said them, while those whose usernames were easily recognized could only curse with their heads hung low.


    How were they supposed to know that this was how things would have progressed?


    It was too embarrassing.


    The rows kept popping up and after the first few rows popped up, most people could already tell how they were being ranked.


    It was first dependent on which stage they had reached, followed by the number of deaths, meaning that they would first be ranked on the furthest stage they had reached, but if two or multiple people had received the same ranking based on progression, they would then be ranked based on their number of deaths, of course, the one with fewer deaths would rank higher.


    However, that wasn''t all.


    There were also a number of names that were in red, in fact, most of the people in the lower ranks had their data shown in that color.


    At first one may think it is because they were eliminated due to low ranking, but even the people upying thest three ces had their data in normal ck.


    It was a strange phenomenon and so it was discussed by various groups, none of which coulde to a consensus.


    Nevertheless, that chatter slowly died down once they reached thest 5 rows.


    [5th ce, Samsel, 5.7, 1402]


    [4th ce, Reed, 5.7, 1390]


    These were the people who were seriously sleep-deprived¡­ well, how they got there went without saying.


    [3ed ce, Jenna, 9.5, 1170]


    The difference between the progression of the 4th cer and the 3ed cer was shocking, nearly 4 whole stages, however, that couldn''tpare with the shock that came from the realization of the gap between the third cer and the scores of the people in the second and first ce.


    [2ed ce, DanK, 18.9, 1072]


    [1st ce, Dorii, 20.4, 999]


    The whole room fell silent before amotion broke out.

 Chapter 87 - Phone Call Pt III: (Lazy Bum)

    "Is this even real?"


    "It can''t be, right?"??


    "I was suspicious when someone said that there was a stage 9, but hell, this is just absurd! This is stage 20 we are talking about! Is that even a thing?"


    "Hey, isn''t there a more pressing question here? Just who are these top rankers?"


    "I''ve seen Jenna, but the other two don''t seem to have used their real names."


    "Yeah, there''s definitely no one by those names here or I would have already gotten some first-hand information."


    "These people reached such a stage with around the same number and even lower number of deaths whenpared to the other people in top 5. Do you think they could have cheated?"


    While everyone was conversing freely on their own seats, causing a loudmotion, thergely statured man stood shocked at the podium.


    His eyes shook as he looked at the disyed screen.


    After doing some double checks on the system while the others spoke, he was finally certain that there was no mistake here.


    ''Those two have already surpassed the threshold by a long shot... what a group of monsters.''


    Master Sungcha had already set the threshold for passing and someone else was already going to be holding him ountable for that. There was no running away from it anymore, unless all three of the top candidates rejected his offer, after all, to humor that old pal of his, he had set the threshold at stage 9.


    Even so, he hadn''t expected someone to actually reach that mark.


    He had previously thought this to be a win-win situation, seeing finally shrug his old friend''s constantly nagging about him not having an heir to his everything. And even if he did indeed find someone that met his requirements, that would still be a win for him.


    However, now that he had found three people who met his requirements, he was doubting whether he had set them too low.


    It would be quite embarrassing when his friend found out about this, and he was sure that that time was going to be arriving pretty soon.


    William''s informationwork was truly scary.


    Though he loved this friend of his, William wasn''t the type to say ''I told you so'', which only made it worse for him, because he didn''t need anyone to tell him that his buddy William was right.


    He was always right.


    ''I should avoid meeting with William for the time being.''


    "Everyone can settle down now. I will be talking to the people ranked third through first. Those three can stay in the lecture room after ss. If there are any questions, ask now or forever hold your peace, if not, then I will be handing the ss back to Professor Smander."


    Two eager hands shot up, while the others on the sidelines just watched curiously.


    Master Sungcha, who hadn''t really wanted to answer any questions, still patiently pointed out one of the students, the one who had first risen her hand.


    "Master Suncha, I don''t mean to question your capabilities or judgment, but how do know that these three people did not cheat on their assessment?"


    Contrary to the girl''s eager hand, her tone was not as steady.


    Everyone''s gaze shifted from that girl to Jenna, who at the same time gave the girl who asked the question a re when she noticed this girl''s ill intent.


    It was a perfectly normal question to ask, after all, this girl sounded as if she didn''t know any better, which no one really did, but the way she phrased it directly pushed any and all possible me to the top 3, with two of them being anonymous leaving only her for others to direct their intense gazes at.


    "It''s quite simple."


    "All the people who attempted to cheat have their names and data in red, as for these three, well they don''t."


    Master Sungcha dropped such a big bomb on everyone with no prior notice.


    He said it in such a straightforward manner that the people who indeed had tried hacking their way through the game yet failed didn''t even have the time to blush.


    Another uproar ensued and the other person who seemed to have had a question also lowered their hand as if to say that they had the same doubt.


    Master Sungcha didn''t make the mistake of amodating these students any longer as he passed the stage directly to Professor Smander.


    "Silence everyone, I know that you are all excited and have a lot to say, but the ss must go on. There will be a quiz next week on the following content and I don''t n on allowing for a review ss just because you are all texting each other underneath your desks, not feeling like paying attention."


    "If you are going to do that, then I''ll assure you that your phones will not be the only ones in danger of slipping through the cracks of your hands. Your grades will likely go down with it."


    It was at this time, a voice at the back of the lecture room could be heard.


    "Professor! It''s not underneath our table, it''s in the textbooks that we pretend to be reading."


    While heughed, all the other students who had been looking at their thick textbooks gave him a re.


    Professor Smander was not one to coddle his students and so the ones who would like to be on their phones doing something else could very well do so.


    With his years of experience, he could tell at a nce whether or not a student was paying attention, but he wouldn''tment.


    When students came to him for help on the content in the future, he would take this information into ount.


    Besides all this, the ss seemed to have gone smoothly enough as the others shut up after being threatened with missed content.


    Though most didn''t worry too much about their grade, if they were truly that bad, they would still run risks of expulsion.


    Then again, not many could truly concentrate when there was so much more big news looming over their heads.


    All of the people who had to leave after ss were trying their best to go through the exitst so that they could get a glimpse of who stayed behind, but it was all for not as Professor Smander saw right through them and started herding them like a dog did and so the students could only move orderly like sheep.


    They couldn''t even catch a glimpse of the second cer, much less the first.


    Many thought about confirming with the process of elimination, but then they realized that they didn''t know their fellow ssmates well enough to do that and since all of the people who cared had tried staying behind to check, they also weren''t sure of who had left first.


    In the end, the room was left with just Theodore, Kayden, and Jenna.


    "So, it was you two. Quite unexpected. If I may say." Jenna expressed her thoughts out loud.


    "Though I believed that that one was a good student, to me you looked like a delinquent or something." Jenna pointed at Kayden before moving her gaze onto Theodore when she spoke.


    "How so?" Theodore asked with his head resting on his desk on top of his folded arms.


    He didn''t seem offended in the least.


    "You know, whenever I nce around, I see you either sleeping or dozing off with that book standing up on your desk as if that would cover for the fact that you aren''t paying attention. I''ve only ever seen middle schoolers do that you know? And they always get in trouble, but it seems like this professor of ours doesn''t care too much."


    Jenna looked at Theodore curiously, tilting her head as she observed this stunning man, who she had believed to be just that. A handsome face.


    It seems like her first judgment was off, and by quite a bit too.


    Jenna was someone who had to work hard to get to where she was today, believing that talent had to be supported by hard work. She had just never met someone like Theodore until today.


    "Well, that sounds about right. It does seem like I''m azy bum." Theodore nodded in agreement.


    Jenna didn''t even have time to be stunned or to retort as Master Sungcha made his way in the lecture room once again.


    "Come on then, gather up around here."


    The three of them made their way to the front of the room under Master Sungcha''s dissecting gaze.


    Both Kayden and Theodore didn''t mind it too much, but Jenna looked visibly ufortable.


    "Very well then, seeing as I had set the limit to 2 disciples and there are now three of you here, I will allow of the first cer and the second cer to choose whether they will ept my offer first."


    Though he said this, Master Sungcha didn''t really expect them to reject.


    "Master Sungcha, seeing as we have reached this point, won''t you tell us what it is you specialize in?"


    Jenna was the first to ask.


    Master Sungcha nodded contemtively.


    "Ah yes, that''s right. I can''t quite tell if you guys already have an inkling or not, but it should be rather clear from theter stages of the game I made."


    "Clear that I study in the fields of Artificial Intelligence."


    "Well then, what do you say?" Master Sungcha asked offhandedly.


    It wasn''t long before someone started to talk. Jenna clearly didn''t have any say in this current situation, as for the other two...


    "Sadly, I''ll have to reject this offer." Kayden shook his head.

 Chapter 88 - Phone Call Pt IV: (Last Phone Call To...)

    "Really? That roommate of yours seems quite interesting," Nathanmented.


    "He quite readily rejected it seems," Emilin nodded in agreement with her Big Brother Nathan.??


    "Yeah, it was quite unexpected. I was startled and I think Master Sungcha was too, but the person who was most shocked seemed to be Jenna," Theo thought back to that moment.


    "The third cer?" Nathan rified.


    Theo nodded.


    "But I guess it was to be expected, this should be an opportunity cherished by most, even the wealthy and powerful, yet it was discarded just like that."


    Emilin thought from the perspective of an ordinary student in Theo''s school. Even if they were all geniuses, there still existed an invisible, yet distinguishable hierarchy. There were bound to be varying standards.


    "So then what?" Nathan wanted to hear that rest first before giving his opinion on the matter.


    "Well..."


    ***


    Jenna had indeed been quite shocked. She almost didn''t prevent herself from going straight up the Kayden to shake some sense into his mind then and there.


    But of course, in the end, this would ultimately be a good thing for her seeing as the spot that would then be opened up would be given to her.


    The good news just came too sudden and so she wasn''t able to react promptly.


    After all, she had already prepared her mind for the most likely oue, which had been getting nothing out of all this. You couldn''t always expect a reward for your hard work, she had already told herself that the experience gained would be enough to satisfy her.


    But deep in her heart, she knew that she was still hoping for something, and now this something was right in front of her.


    "Could you tell me why?"


    Master Sungcha calmly asked.


    Kayden looked to have pondered for a bit before responding.


    "Well truth be told, I''m really just riding on this guy''s coattails. It should be fine since I''m only the second cer, not to mention my death count is also significantly higher than his." Kayden said, pointing at the Theodore who had returned to hiszy bum seating position after greeting Master Sungcha.


    Jenna was once again stunned silent.


    Even if someone rode on someone else''s coattails, which wasn''t exactly against the rules per se. She would still have assumed that it was Theodore, who looked much more like a tall sports jockey doing the coattail ridding, even if Theodore wasn''t as well-toned as his brother Nathan.


    Without his Big Brother Nathan forparison, he was a prime example of a sports jocky after all. Swimming, running, track, and practically any other sport, seemed strangely fit for him, after all, he was nearing 190 cm in height, packed with a lean, yet muscr figure.


    Still, now that Kayden had said it, she had no choice but to believe it.


    "Not to mention, artificial intelligence is not exactly my thing, I''m the type to believe that AI will take over the world someday. I don''t want to live till that day so it should be best that I don''t speed up the process." Kayden sheepishlyughed.


    "As if you could speed up the process," Theodore taunted from the sidelines, which only elicited even harderughter from Kayden.


    As for the other two, they weren''t particrly amused (.___.).


    Jenna: [Please. I swear I don''t know these guys. I really don''t! AI is great! AI is amazing! I won''t believe them even if 20 of theme running towards me telling me that they will try and take over the world!]


    Master Sungcha who had previously stayed silent suddenly started chortling.


    "Haha! Yes! Yes!"


    "Indeed, my babies will take over the world someday. I can respect that you may not want to be in this world when they rule over us all."


    Theodore on the side-lines: [...]


    Kayden who was semi-joking : [...]


    Jenna who had just imed (in her mind) that AI would never take over the world when trying to suck up to the great buddha in front of her: [........]


    Master Sungcha didn''t seem to notice the sudden change in the atmosphere, or perhaps he noticed but simply did not care.


    "So how about you two?"


    Jenna, who was previously 100% on board hesitated after thatst interaction.


    Jenna: [Fuck, am I going to sell mybor to a madman?]


    Still, her human greed was unable to let go of this golden opportunity.


    As someone who trusted her handyputer as a reliablepanion throughout her life, artificial intelligence was incredibly intriguing.


    "I''ll do it!"


    Hearing Jenna''s response, Master Sungcha shifted his gaze to the hesitant Theodore, who had sat up straight in order to think properly.


    "I''ll need some time to consider it."


    Needless to say, Master Sungcha was already getting somewhat impatient. His brows furrowed when he thought of these statistics.


    One eptance, one waitlist, and one rejection.


    Why did he feel like he was the one applying for something when it was clearly them who were supposed to be vying for the positions...


    "I''ll give you three days, after that, we''ll be having the Master-disciple inauguration ceremony. As for you, you should get ready, I''ll contact you within the next two days." Master Sungcha moved his gaze from Theodore to Jenna as he spoke.


    ***


    "Yeah, so it was something like that," Theodore concluded.


    "Well, truth be told, you probably don''t really need to be this man''s disciple just from the other connections you can ess," Nathan, knowing his brother well,mented.


    "However, if you do decide to take him as your master, you will finally have something under the identity of Theodore Wei."


    Nathan''s implied meaning was clear to his two siblings.


    Theodore had a giantwork, but none of it were things that he could openly use as Theodore Wei, as such, if he ever got into some small troubles, he would have to waste a lot of time just solving them.


    It wasn''t easy using resources that were currently hard to ess while hiding his identity. Theodore was bound to face some troubles in the future, and they would be much easier to solve if he was able to use the title of ''Master''s disciple'' for efficiency''s sake.


    Seeing as Emilin also nodded in agreement with her Eldest Brother''s analysis, Theodore had already pretty much made up his mind.


    "Not to mention, this is also a good experience. Didn''t you want to experience college life? This should be part of that," Emilin added.


    If all the other students at Theo''s university heard this little girl speaking, they would most likely think she was an idiot or just way too na?ve.


    How was bing a Master''s disciple something that was a part of every student''s campus life? If it were like that, then the world would have to be littered with Masters who had nothing better to do.


    "Mm... then I''ll get going, It''s best that I inform Master Sungcha as soon as possible."


    Theodore and Nathan both had business to attend to and so after they had said their goodbyes and well wishes, they all went off to do their own stuff.


    "Onest call," Emilin said to no one in particr.


    She had memorized this number even though she didn''t have it in her contacts just yet. But that was good since the business card from which she sourced the number was still in her suitcase in her room.


    The phone ringed once before it was picked up by the person on the other side.


    "Hello, may I ask who this may be?" A female voice sounded from the other side of Emilin''s phone call.


    "I have previously agreed with Mr. Mason to contact him when the time was right, may I ask you to get him on the phone?"


    Emilin was currently sitting on the toilet seat in the bathroom, but she still spoke casually enough to make others imagine her in formal attire in a casual setting.


    "I see, I am Sir Mason''s assistant, you can call me Lisa. I will inform him right this moment, but I am unsure if he will be able to pick up now seeing as he is currently in the middle of a photo shoot. As you may know, he doesn''t like to interrupt his photoshoots unless it is a pressing matter, but seeing as the both of you have already made prior engagements, I will inform him of this call."


    Emilin didn''t know, but she didn''t say that either.


    This assistant, Lisa, was on the move while she talked and so she was being a little more wordy than usual so that she wouldn''t keep the person on the other side waiting for too long in silence.


    Still, she carried herself well and so if Emilin didn''t have a rather acute hearing, she wouldn''t have been able to notice the slightly heavier breathing that Lisa sported.


    "I see, take your time, I am not in a rush as of this moment," Emilin spoke as if she would be in a rush a moment from now which only made Lisa pick up her pace even more.


    That was not Emilin''s original intention.


    Seeing as she was the one asking for the favor, and in such an impromptu fashion too, it wasn''t unreasonable to have her wait for a bit.


    Even so, Emilin didn''tment when she realized that the assistant on the other side of the phone call had misunderstood and picked up her speed, thus having her rhythmic breathing deepen once again.


    "Is there any name by which I can refer to when talking to Sir Mason when speaking of you?" Lisa asked.


    Emilin pondered for a bit with her chin resting on her palm before responding.


    "If he asks, just tell him it''s the youngdy who bought the camera in Mlakan."


    "Very well."

 Chapter 89 - Ill Be There In A Week...

    There was a moment of silence there, in which Emilin assumed that Lisa was speaking to her Boss, the man she was meaning to contact in order to finalize her next ns.


    "Sir Mason has agreed to talk, I will be passing his phone back now," Lisa articted clearly and steadily.??


    She was very well versed in talking to every kind of people, especially since, as a photographer, Sir Mason was in contact with all kinds of crowds, people who walked varying paths.


    Even so, it would always be more enjoyable dealing with agreeable people.


    Though she knew that there were many two-faced people in the world, and Lisa had a habit of not making judgments before meeting and talking with someone in person in addition to some interactions, she didn''t know why, but she had a very good impression of Emilin.


    ''Perhaps it''s her calming and soft yet honey-sweet voice, even when she speaks rather monotonously,'' Lisa pondered as she passed the phone over, back to its original owner.


    Emilin waited patently, and the next voice was no longer Lisa''s, but rather a somewhat familiar, yet not quite, male voice, which Emilin had only heard once before.


    "So you''ve finally contacted me. And here I thought I had been forgotten by you youngss."


    ***


    5 minutes ago, in Phashi Country in E continent, the very same continent that Emilin was currently at, just 2 countries and around 5 hours away, in the stage of a photoshoot.


    There was a man moving around the area set up with the strongest lighting. He held a camera that always pointed at the man on the couch who sat with his body in a rather, open, pose, with a frown on his face.


    The people around them did their jobs without making a sound, at least not for as long as the photographer stayed silent.


    "Change the pose. The concept is serious businessman, not slutty yboy. You wouldn''t even have to pose for that, just sitting there would be enough," a bone-chilling voice could be heard, even though it was rtively soft, it didn''t go unnoticed by anyone in the studio.


    He was clearly talking to the man sitting on the couch, yet everyone felt the temperature drop.


    "Sir Nosa, our young master is just a little inexperienced, please help him with the magazine photoshoot so that we can change his image, even if it''s just a little."


    The young master''s assistant was sweating bullets after his yboy young master had already changed poses and clothes over half a dozen times, begging the heavens for the shoot to just go right for a second.


    That''s all they needed, a second.


    ''Nosa'' was known for his ''feeling'' photos. It was hard to describe, but once he got serious there was nothing that could stop him, not until he got things right.


    Mason''s patience was stretched thin when he was being questioned in such a manner.


    "What do you think I''m doing?" Mason''s tone only worsened.


    ''If I didn''t owe that old man a favor, like hell I would waste my time with this guy.''


    Though Owen had a good figure and all, he was even very photogenic, Mason was asked to take photos that would portray Owen as a serious businessman while being given an incredibly uncooperative model.


    Mason couldn''t wrap his head around how Old Man Zenon, a famous poetry genius, who his mother admired very much, gave birth to this yboy punk.


    Mason''s mother''s birthday had been around the corner and Mason, who was enthralled with his work had forgotten about this exceptionally important asion, something that his father may very well kill him for.


    As such, he had forgotten about the gift he promised his mother. As it was the case, he had no choice but to call in a favor, but even after that, it was just to get him connected to Old Man Zenon, after receiving his help on the matter, Mason still ended up owing him a favor.


    Mason instantly connected with the Old Man, who had insisted on forgetting all about the matter, but Mason naively insisted.


    Now he regretted it.


    He had to waste his precious time with Old Man Zenon''s son, who had inherited his mother''s business brain, nothing but that.


    Somehow, the Old Man Zenon and his wife, Ainsel, a famous businesswoman, two people who were well known to have been each other''s first love, being each other''s first and also only partner, had given birth to a son who was a well-known yboy in the upper society.


    "Why do I have to listen to you? I''m fed up with this. Fed up I tell you." Owen, the young master in the business suit sitting on the prop couch finally burst out.


    Owen could remain calm in any business setting, even known for how he used this calmness of his in a negotiation, but when it came to things that wasted his precious time, he had 0 tolerance for them.


    Things like shopping, wandering around, or even sitting around aimlessly and definitely photoshoots like this.


    It was a miracle that he hadsted this long.


    He had promised his dad, who he greatly respected, that he would do this photoshoot properly and he had done his best toply, but Owen had already ''wasted'' hours just doing nothing but change his seating position and clothes all day long.


    At that moment, he stood up with a stern face, pointing at his assistant, ready to say that he was going to leave right that instant.


    *Click*


    Mason snapped a photo right before turning around with a self-satisfied smile as he looked at his camera screen.


    He didn''t say anything else, but the people who had already worked with him for a prolonged period of time knew that the photo shoot was over.


    That satisfied smile was stered on his face, opposing the image of that ''angry director'' that filled the minds of everyone in the studio just moments previous to that instant.


    People started wrapping everything up without even being asked while Owen stood there stupified.


    It was then that Mason''s assistant Lisa came in.


    She had left after realizing that the shoot would go on for a prolonged period of time and so she had to go deal with some other things, including the various callsing to her boss.


    Lisa came into the studio and reached Mason''s side before realizing what kind of face he was doing. Since others knew what he meant with that smile, there was no way that Lisa wouldn''t realize it.


    "Sir, there is a call for you," Lisa informed with her hand covering the microphone.


    "Who is it?" Mason asked, not paying much mind.


    "She says that she''s someone you met in Mlakan, the one who bought the camera she added."


    It took Mason a bit before he was able to process who Lisa was talking about.


    "Ah, I see! Hand it over to me." Mason''s eyes shone when he thought of thatdy, who would make a great model. He had forgotten her for a bit, but it hadn''t been that long since they had met.


    Even so, when he spoke, his words made it sound like he had been waiting for her the whole time, and for quite a while too.


    After the initial greeting, they both got right to business.


    "So why have you called littledy?" Mason asked as if he were not very interested.


    "Did you not offer me a chance? I want to take you up on that by asking where you are right now." Emilin calmly expressed her interest.


    "Hmm, does that mean you will head to wherever I currently am?" Mason questioned suspiciously.


    He had previously thought that Emilin was native to Mlakan considering her fluent Makin and seeing as she was just a teen, he was expecting her to talk to her parent before making her decision.


    Hearing her so easily make such a big decision, Mason suddenly questioned just what kind of person he was currently talking to, but he didn''t question it for long, after all, she was just a youngss. There wasn''t much to question.


    "Yes, that is so," Mason heard the answer from the other side of his phone.


    Humoring her a little, he responded with an amused tone.


    "Well, I''m all the way in Phashi, Opaque city. Are you sure you''ll be able to make it without getting lost on the way, youngdy?"


    But the response he got was unexpected.


    "Oh, I see, that''s actually quite close, but I have some other matters to attend to at the moment, do you know how long you will be staying there?" Emilin asked.


    She was nning to finish up some things with Xander and get a good rest before heading out, but she also wanted to get her ns going and so she didn''t wait nor hesitate to make this call.


    Mason on the other side was now questioning Emilin''s knowledge of geography.


    ''Well, it''s not like I can call her out like this.''


    "Is that right? Well, I''ll be staying here for the next month or so. I have quite a clientele lined up here."


    Mason was insinuating how busy he always was so that the young girl would cherish the attention he was giving her, but that hint seemed to have flown over her head just like that.


    "Then I''ll contact you in another week or so when I get there." Emilin decisively said.


    "Very well then?"


    Mason was a little dumbfounded at how quickly everything was being decided, but he didn''t mind, even if he felt like his opinion wasn''t quite taken into ount.


    If he had an appointment on the day that Emilin arrived, he could always get Lisa to go pick her up.


    In this aspect, the two of them had quite a bit of rapport.


    They both didn''t ask any extra questions, getting straight to the matter at hand and the facts were that they both wanted to work with each other.


    Mason wanting Emilin to be a part of his work portfolio and Emilin wanting professional advice from a professional photographer.


    "Aren''t you afraid that I''ll kidnap you or something when you arrive here?" Mason asked jokingly, but Emilin just responded in her casual tone.


    It made Mason think of her as much stiffer than he had originally imagined.


    "Are you?"


    "Well I guess not," Mason awkwardly responded...


    "Then it''s all settled," Emilin concluded with a resolute tone before hanging up on this short call. Everything had been handled in a matter of minutes and decided in a matter of seconds.


    After Mason thought of what had just transpired, he actually found it quite novel.


    ''Ah, there are people here lining up just to get a minute of my time, yet this youngss acts as if it''s nothing, having me work around her schedule!'' He sighed exaggeratedly with a drooping face.


    ''But why do I not mind?''


    A bright smile bloomed on his face when he thought of the photos he could extract from the youngdy.


    Emilin had used such a resolute voice, such that Mason was simply unable to oppose it, nor did he really want to.


    A novel experience indeed.

 Chapter 90 - Are You Going To Die?

    Back to Emilin, who is now sitting in the lotus position as she stuffed her third cookie into her cookie hole.


    It was a wonder how she could eat faster than Xander, who now picked up his speed to eat more of those delicious cookies, with her small mouth.??


    She had brought herputer over and was typing rapidly with herptop on her legs.


    Xander and Levi didn''t know what she was doing, but they didn''t interrupt her, just silently watching from the sidelines, staring at the rapid movements of her long fingers that one would say were fit for ying the piano.


    "Here, answer this questionary." Emilin handed herptop over after she finished.


    Xander didn''t question anything at first, but after he scanned the questions a bit, he couldn''t help himself.


    "What is this for?"


    "Master told you to fill it in." Emilin simply replied with azy voice as she went into ''meditation'' on the couch in the same position.


    Xander nodded despite not quite buying it, after all, he had just watched Emilin type this questionary up.


    ''But I guess it''s possible that Master M gave her the questions beforehand so that they wouldn''t leak.''


    Or so he thought before he started answering some of these.


    [Please write down your full name]


    ''Xander Chavaris''


    [How much do you like to work hard from 1 to 10.]


    ''Is 0 an option? Who likes to work hard?'' Xander questioned as he clicked 6.


    [How much would you like to work hard for M from 1 to 10]


    ''Is this a trick question? Well...'' *Clicks 10*


    [How organized are you from 1 to 10]


    ''Um... I don''t know. Ask Levi. He''s organized for the both of us,'' he thought as he clicked a solid 9.


    [How organized can you be if it''s for M?]


    ''From 1 to 10, I guess over 9000 right?''


    [How much do you like your job as a doctor from 1 to 10.]


    ''Easy 10, except when it''s like... you know. Hard. Why is this one a multiple-choice?''


    [How much would you like your job as a doctor if you worked under M from 1 to 10.]


    ''Don''t I already work under M?'' Xander thought.


    *Clicks 10*


    [How full is your current schedule?]


    ''Well, I guess I have a few more seminars to attend to, as well as a couple of patients lined up, but nothing too urgent.'' *Clicks 8*, pretty full


    [How free can you make yourself for M?]


    ''100% Free. So free you might mistake me for a lonely, single, teen who is third-wheeling with his friends who just became a couple and still wanted to ''include him'', that is, too free!''


    Not from personal experience...


    This was followed by around 20 more simr questions, as for how you could possibly have more of these, well who knows, it just happened like that.


    Xander''s expectations were brought up to the skies with every other question. He was still slightly skeptical all the way until thest question, but he answered it ''honestly'' nheless, just as he had with the rest of the questions.


    [What would you do to be M''s disciple?]


    ''Everything, anything.'' Xander promptly typed into the questionary without any hesitation. This could already be counted as a childhood dream, no, more like a lifelong dream.


    He had no doubts about Master M''s character.


    Even if Xander wrote everything and anything, he didn''t believe that Master M would do anything unbing of his name, he had at least that much trust in this powerful figure. What he didn''t know was that his morals were rather flexible when it came to this person whom he had worked for since young.


    Not to mention, in some ways, his values and morals had been molded by M himself, after all, most of his actions took Master M''s will into ount.


    [Sign here]


    The digital signing had already been legal back when there was a worldwide pandemic and people were unable to sign contracts in person anymore, as for whether it was legal before that, well no one was really paying attention.


    Xander thought that this was just for the validity of the questionary which wouldter be handed to Master M, but clearly, he didn''t think it through very much.


    He then passed theptop back to Emilin after having already clicked the ''submit'' button at the end.


    Emilin opened her eyes to take theptop and scan through the answers and Xander looked at her with expectant puppy eyes the whole time, which Emilin promptly ignored.


    Levi who watched by the sidelines and had taken a simple nce at the questions held his breath.


    Unbeknownst to him, his palms were already sweaty from the nerves and this event wasn''t even directly rted to him, only affecting him indirectly, not that it would be any less impactful.


    ''What is this?''


    ''Is this a turning point for my dear MC Xander''s plot?''


    The fanatic within Levi Stanley couldn''t hold himself back as he let his imagination run wild.


    Levi had already lived years believing this day woulde one day or another, the day that M, the ''main character''s backer'', would finally show ''himself'' in Xander''s life to make big waves and bring Xander to bigger heights from which Xander could p more people''s faces and be even more OP.


    ''Is this it?''


    Was this the moment he had been waiting for?


    "Very well, will it be okay with you if I ask you a few more questions in person?" Emilin was in business mode currently.


    She had just calmed her mind and ascertained herself that this was for work purposes, but when she had that mindset, it also wouldn''t exactly help with her circumstances in making friends and talking freely.


    A slightly depressing thought that Emilin discarded right then and there.


    "Sure thing!" Xander eagerly eximed, even if he was already with sweaty palms.


    Emilin nodded without looking up as if she were reading questions off of herptop.


    "What do you have nned for the next week?"


    Xander didn''t know why, but he found the youngdy in front of him''s voice slightly different from usual, not that he had heard much of it, to begin with.


    It was more, captivating, hard to turn around from, hard to describe.


    It was hypnotizing, but not quite at the same time.


    If he could process his thoughts properly, he would realize just what he was feeling right now, but sadly that was not the case.


    "Nothing I can''t push back!"


    Xander didn''t realize what he was saying until it already came out of his mouth. It was like he had lost the ability to think twice before talking.


    Emilin nodded at the answer.


    "What do you think it means to be someone''s disciple?"


    She was rhythmically tapping her cheek as she spoke as if she were contemting something while she questioned Xander.


    Xander''s eyes darted around a bit as he thought.


    "A disciple is one that learns from their teacher, learning their everything, and if the teacher has no one more fit, they are to inherit and pass down the knowledge that their teacher has acquired in their lifetime."


    "And when the timees, the disciple will be the one to bring glory to their teacher when they are no longer able or willing to do so for themselves."


    "Of course we shouldn''t forget the legacy that they will inherit to help them with everything they wish to learn. The knowledge thates with that responsibility will have to be amazingly luring."


    Xander felt like he was experiencing what it was like to have no filter, it was painful to listen to himself.


    He wanted to smack himself on the lips to keep them shut, but he wasn''t going to do that during an interview.


    Especially not one of this scale.


    At least he didn''t straight up say Master, after all, if that were not the goal of all this, it would be quite embarrassing. He limited himself to use the word teacher as a substitute, in the end, it was simr enough.


    As the saying went, ''All masters are teachers, but not all teachers are masters''.


    It was appropriate to use such terminology. He too was getting sweaty palms as he thought of these matters.


    Xander had already forgotten or at least put in the back of his mind, that Emilin was but ady younger than himself.


    The only identity of hers that was relevant to him right now was that of Master M''s only disciple, who most likely carried his will.


    Emilin wasn''t concerned.


    She knew that Xander could only speak his mind at the moment, and she didn''t mind the thoughts he was having, even if he himself found it embarrassing.


    In fact, she was d he was having such thoughts, especially that second point. She really couldn''t be bothered with this anymore.


    All this work involving the medical association. It would be good if she didn''t change things in this world too much, at some point, it would only bring her more troubles than benefits.


    Xander could serve as a good meat shield that also did all the work for her, in fact, he was already doing that.


    It was about time that she rewarded him for his hard work.


    "That''s good, that''s good. You are right. I''m sure you recall my master asking you a pressing question, a few weeks back."


    Xander thought back and nodded.


    It was the point about PTSD.


    "Yes, he was asking that question for me. If you consider that, I''m sure you will be able toe to the conclusion that I am unfit to inherit all of my master''s knowledge as I will not be able to pass it down any longer."


    ''I won''t be able to do it, I just really won''t have the brainpower left. It''s really best I get this done and over with. I have other things in life I want to do. It''s best I leave this for the people who really love medicine''


    "Are you going to die?"


    ***


    Mini- Theater


    Emilin: This is a little too unfair isn''t it?


    Emilin: Why is my goodwill always forsaken like this, huh?


    Emilin: I was being so kind, I was finally going to take you under my wing, yet this is what you do to me? Curse me to death?


    Emilin: How did PTSD be death eh? What''s wrong with your brain ah? Should I reconsider taking someone like you?


    Levi: (?§Õ?) Eh, I''ve been waiting for this moment my whole life, Aiyo Young Master Xander, where did your brain cells run off to?


    Xander: SMH. How is it my fault you made it sound so morbid youngdy?


    Emilin: So it''s my fault you misunderstood? Sorry for not being good enough at conveying my intentions! Humph! (¨i¨s¡Ä ¨t¨i)


    Xander: No, no. My fault, all my fault.


    Xander: Big Boss''s little disciple, please just spare me and voice your imperial edict already! This cliff that I am hanging from is killing me. (¨i©n¨i)

 Chapter 91 - Word Game Pt I: (Small Talk 101)

    A small frown grew on Emilin''s face as her eyebrows scrunched up as if trying to meet in the middle.


    She was superstitious, especially considering the fact that she had lived a previous life.??


    Emilin believed that it was simply not possible that she was the only person on this great who experience such an out-of-body experience, maybe there were even people who had supernatural powers in this world.


    After all, the poption was great, and the number of smart people was also not of small numbers.


    Emilin believed that there were bound to be people who were more unique than others.


    Those who could not hide would duly die, and those who could, they would not get themselves caught.


    It was as simple as that.


    Even if Emilin were to never find another like her, she would still believe that they existed.


    Her superstitious nature, especially in some cases with Karma and words, made her prone to be more sensitive than others on such matters.


    This was directed at people who were either already a part of her life, going to be a part of her life, or people who had very good karma.


    Xander fit the bill to a T, perfectly.


    Emilin couldn''t simply stop interacting with him, and like a good doctor who did his job without cutting corners, Xander''s good Karma wasn''t insignificant at all.


    She had to set this straight before they continued with their business.


    Emilin stared straight at Xander, who paled in an instant.


    "Let us make clear boundaries on what you can and can not say."


    Emilin waspletely serious when it came to matters such as setting boundaries.


    Even when she hadn''t been in many rtionships in person, her business expeditions had taught her a lot, and one of the most important lessons she had learned was that setting boundaries early in a rtionship was good for longsting interactions while avoiding all the avoidable misunderstandings.


    This gave the opposing party a good idea of what kind of values she had, and she could also probe the other party''s position and character at the same time.


    Two birds with one stone.


    Emilin always found it rather absurd when she watched shows where the female character got upset with the male lead for a reason that she wouldn''t tell the male lead for no reason whatsoever, or vice versa, thus extending the show for another 1 or 2 useless episodes, filled with moments in which the audience simply wanted to pull their hairs out or maybe just self-harm with the pillow they had in hand, more so with every passing second.


    Well, at least there would be some development in the rtionship.


    It was good that they had at least learned how importantmunication was in a rtionship in the end, but not so much when it took them 80 minutes worth of showtime.


    And if they didn''t learn that fact, well Emilin could only say bye-bye, by the second time they made the same y with the same misunderstandings, in the same scenario.


    "What you just said, and don''t repeat it, is uneptable. That along with any curse words that swear at my parents or family-like son of a *****, bast*rd, etc will also not be tolerated. I won''t care what you say otherwise, but careful with whom your words are directed. Capiche?"


    Emilin was no longer using her hypnotic voice, but rather her usual one, the one that reached out to talk with Xander''s reason, after all, she wanted human interactions, not interactions with someone who was not thinking properly.


    She didn''t want to always hear what exactly was on the other person''s mind either.


    It just didn''t feel right.


    As for why she used her own methods to make Xander speak his mind despite having interacted with him for prolonged periods of time since the age of around 5, well everyone was somewhat different across the screen.


    Just like how Xander was much more shameless on the phone, people tended to portray themselves differently when talking face to face, or maybe that was just because he had yet to discover that she was actually M.


    Xander, who was a genius in his own right, didn''t need to be told twice to know just how serious this youngdy in front of him was.


    Dead serious was the answer to that prompt, no questioning it.


    "I''m sorry. It won''t happen again."


    Xander said, returning the seriousness right back while also making a mental note.


    It was actually a good thing for Xander to have discovered one of Emilin''s bottom lines early on. At least he wouldn''t make the same mistake again, and thankfully also not in an even more offensive way.


    He was offended at all by the way she was speaking nor how big she had blown up his ''joke''. After all, everyone had different taboos and bottom lines.


    Something casual for you may be serious for someone else. You don''t really get to decide what is or is not ''just'' a joke when you are in a conversation with someone else, after all, it''s a conversation, not a monologue.


    If it''s offensive to the person you are talking to, then you apologize. You don''t make excuses while undermining the other person''s views!


    This isn''t about who is in a higher position in society, nor who is older, who has lived longer, nor who has more power.


    This is a matter of principles, people, and rtions.


    And Xander really didn''t have to be embarrassed to have made such a mistake or to have apologized.


    He didn''t know, and now he does.


    "Good. Since you are free, we will head to Phashi Country, Opaque city tomorrow." Emilin informed Xander of their traveling ns.


    Xander had already decided to follow Emilin for now, determined to learn more from her, and he could already tell from the conversation so far that she was definitely more mature than the number that represented her age.


    "Get a good night''s rest and I''ll inform you of everything else after I finish informing Master of the results."


    Xander limited himself to a nod, trying his best to hide his excitement.


    Though on the outside he was acting stern and serious, whenever it came to a matter rted to M, he was actually much more like a child.


    ''God damn it, I''m so excited, how the hell am I supposed to sleep without knowing?''


    Xander''s prediction was about toe true, he really had no hopes of sleeping this evening.


    Emilin didn''t know that her simple decision to practice what she was going to say to Xander the next day had led both of them to go without much sleep that night.


    The next morning, around 6 AM, Emilin stepped out of her room, not expecting to find anyone else awake at the moment.


    "Miss Emilin, you are already awake. Do you want to join us for breakfast?"


    Emilin looked from Levi who was cooking to Xander who sat at the counter stuffing his mouth as if he were stress eating at the moment.


    Well, not as if.


    He was doing exactly that.


    "There are pancakes and omelets since there aren''t any waffle makers here." Levi clearly insinuated which form on breakfast was superior and Emilin didn''tment.


    "Howe you have woken up so early?" Emilin asked to make some small talk.


    However, the moment her words dropped, both of the men''s faces contorted, especially Levi.


    This scene was strangely familiar to Emilin, who had only tried small talk with a handful of people, all of whom had simr reactions.


    She really didn''t know what she was doing wrong!


    Why was it always like this? He wasn''t hypnotized, nor a possible criminal.


    All the small talk 101 videos were clearly lying to her!


    "You see it seems we had trouble sleeping," Levi said as he gave his boss a re.


    Xander couldn''t sleep and didn''t allow Levi to get any rest, not because Xander kept him up, but rather because Levi was too worried for him.


    He wasn''t worried that Master M wouldn''t ept Xander, after all, all main characters simply could not fail in this category, rather he was worried that Xander would kill himself from anxiety before anything could even start.


    "Has Master M said anything yet?" Levi asked for the sanity of both men.


    At that question, Xander perked up his ears and sat on the edge of his seat, his hands moving away from the utensils that had been moving nonstop.


    Emilin nodded in response.


    "Yes, we will head out in the afternoon if that''s okay with the both of you."


    "Sure, sure!" This time it was Xander who spoke.


    He restarted eating to stop his hands from fiddling.


    "That''s good. Now that you have agreed, I will teach you everything I know, starting this week. We will head to Phashi immediately for the matters I have to attend to. We will do a simple Master-Disciple eptance ceremony when we get there. If there is a need for a moreplex ceremony in the future on your side, we will deal with it then. Do you have any suggestions?"


    "Sorry what?"


    Xander had no clue what was going on.


    ''Weren''t they just talking about Master M''s response? Did Master M ask her to teach him first? Am I finally going to meet him at Phashi?''


    Even Emilin felt like she was being too forceful, but when she had been talking to the hypnotized Mon, she could only really talk to him like that, or Mon wouldn''t be able to process in the right context.


    Knowing that she wasn''t able to converse that way, she just made do. Nheless, even though she was serious on the outside, she was really facepalming as she drew circles on the inside.


    These were the moments where being socially awkward was really depressing.


    As for Xander, he didn''t want to sound deprecating, but he really didn''t understand just what was happening.


    He was really being taken in for an emotional roller-coaster, especially considering he was slightly sleep-deprived.


    ***


    Mini-Theater


    Simple tips for small talk 101 that will prevent all awkward silences!


    *15 minutester*


    Emilin: Okay! I got this.


    Emilin: I''ll just watch it one more time!


    *15 minutester*


    Emilin: I should get another video for reference!


    *20 minutester*


    Emilin: More sources= make sure of the uracy


    **** hourster


    Emilin: Oh it''s already morning?


    Emilin: I should go practice! *Smiley*


    Levi and Xander: *Scrunched up face*


    Emilin: What the hell? They''re liars! Liars I tell you!


    Emilin: Just you watch!


    Random person: Oooo, this video looks cool. *clicks: learning how to do small talk 103*


    Random person: ehhhh? why is this banned?


    *20 minutester*


    Random person: Wtf? All the videos on this channel are banned? Why don''t you just ban the whole channel then?


    *5 seconds and refreshter*


    [The channel you are looking for no longer exists...]


    Random person: ???


    Channel owner: (?©n? )


    *** ***


    Words are very powerful.


    They are a tool you start learning to use from birth, but not one that you can master no matter how much you try.


    At times, you will be wielding the weapon against someone without even knowing it or meaning to, there will always be blunders, yet humans live and learn.


    So let''s all live, learn, and grow together.


    -You_li_er <3

 Chapter 92 - Word Game Pt II: (Acting Cute As The Big Bad Wolf)

    "What part do you not understand?" Emilin wanted him to rify properly.


    "Are we going to meet Master M in Phashi?" Xander was clearly puzzled, tilting his head to the side while looking at Emilin.??


    "Of course not." Emilin looked at Xander as if she were looking at a moron.


    ''You''ve already met me here. What do you even mean by meeting me again in Phashi?''


    Not that Xander would know that...


    "Then when are we doing the Master-disciple ceremony?"


    "As soon as possible, within the week would be the best." Emilin nodded a little as if to agree with herself.


    "But didn''t you just say that Master M wasn''ting to Phashi?" Xander felt like he wasn''t catching something here. A small frown appearing on his face when he realized that he was out of the loop.


    "So what? I also said that I would be teaching you. And who said M wasn''t going to Phashi?" Emilin felt like she was talking to a wall.


    She took a deep breath.


    "Eh, you''ll get it when we get there."


    Xander pouted a little when he realized that there was no more room for discussion nor questions.


    As for Emilin, she was quite sad too.


    ''I wasn''t prepared for your questions, ah!''


    ''You shouldn''t catch me off guard like this. At least give me some more time to prepare if you are going to ask questions like these. It''s basic courtesy, no?''


    Emilin finished her thick and fluffy stack of pancakes with store-bought whip cream and fresh strawberries, all of which Levi had bought earlier in the grocery stores that catered to those who woke up this early.


    It wasn''t too umon in these areas closer to the mountain range in White City.


    They spent some more time coordinating their travels, finally deciding to go by ne after noting that there were tickets.


    As for the visa, it was no trouble for Emilin, who had long applied for long term visas with just about every country avable on Earth and much less for Xander, who had a special visa as a department head of an international medical organization


    He had long gotten ess to all nations that he may or may not have to head off to at a moment''s notice.


    It was part of the job.


    Even if it was a nation that he truly had neglected, as long as he informed the country beforehand, even if it was an hour before he entered their borders, it was fine.


    After all, this young department head was wildly known in the circles as unreliable when it came to such things. Those who knew him wouldn''t find it too strange and Xander had a number of people from whom he could call in favours from.


    That part he had learnt from M.


    ***


    Back in the depths of the Hemafuji Mountain Range.


    A blond man who was rtively short, and rtively of short stature made his way into the underground base.


    He seemed rather bored, walkingzily into the base as four tired souls followed him from behind.


    These four had just done a week''s worth of monster training in 2 days and survived, it was no wonder they were so bulky.


    As for the blond man, though his countenance was rather white, it was by no means pale, at least not in the same way the others were.


    As for his physical appearance, he was only rtively short and rather lean as he was next to people who were nearly double his width and about half a head taller.


    His bored eyes andzy attitude changed in an instant the moment he met someone''s gaze from across the room, his eyes widened and brightened at the same time, his back straightened and even his face flushed a little.


    It was as if he had been brought to life all of a sudden.


    "Brother Dios!"


    Cenci made a B-line towards his Big Brother Dios running so quickly that the nearby people couldn''t even make out his figure before he had already jumped on Dios, wrapping his legs around his waist and his arms around his neck.


    Dios, who was already used to such behavior kept his deadpan face even after being embraced.


    No, it was more like Cenci was hanging from Dios''s neck, clinging on to him while fighting against gravity.


    Dios was at least a head taller than Cenci, being muscr, but not in a bulky way that would affect his mobility. His dark hair perfectly contrasting against Cenci''s blond hair.


    Any bystander would find this scene rather picturesque.


    As for all the people in this establishment... they knew better than to have such naive thoughts.


    No, actually, there was one group that was rather shook.


    It was precisely the four people who had followed behind Cenci.


    They previously pale faces had be even paler, as if they had just seen a ghost. But they would im otherwise. It was worse than simply seeing a ghost.


    They had just seen their cold face Captain Dios being embraced by that demon in disguise Captain Cenci. A horrifying scene indeed.


    "Get off of me Cenci," Dios ordered in an ice-cold tone, befitting his nicely sculptured face.


    "Don''t wanna!" Cenci spoke in a stickily sweet voice as he lightly hit Dios''s back with his fists.


    "Stop acting cute and get a grip of yourself." Dios''s voice didn''t undte as he ced his big cold hands under Cenci''s armpits to lift him up into the air and off of him.


    "What about that spy girl? What''s the situation?" Cenci asked excitedly despite having been just treated like a kid.


    "So you came here so quickly to ask about her?"


    For the first time in the interaction, Dio''s face soured by a degree.


    Cenci, a self-proimed expert in Dios''s face reading as of that instance, didn''t fail to notice.


    "Of course not, of course not! She''s a side character, a side character. But I have to start the conversation somewhere right? Right?"


    Cenci had a tendency to repeat himself when he was slightly nervous.


    Dios coldly humphed.


    "There is no situation," Dios replied, leading Cenci to the meeting room before taking his seat.


    Meanwhile, Cenci also sat on his own, rolling his chair in circles.


    "Hm? How so." Cenci was hooked.


    "She already left. Master Mon has made his verdict. She''s just an unlucky passerby he says," Dios was rather concise about the matter.


    "He says? But that''s not right. I couldn''t have calcted the day''s wrong." Cenci pondered.


    "Is that why you arrived so early? To meet a stranger girl?" Dios''s cross arms tightened their hold on each other.


    "Oh, sweety don''t be jealous now! I was just counting so that I coulde back and see you sooner," Cenci pacified with his honey-sweet voice, but on his lips, a yful little smirk grew.


    He smiled like the big bad wolf trying to convince little red riding hood that he was a good boy. Even if out of the two, he looked much more fitting to y the other part.


    Dios gave him a cold stare as if to reject the notion of being sour, but his knitted brows didn''t loosen.


    "But this was out of my expectations... I missed the show." Cenci sighed and settled down on his seat, no longer spinning.


    "You really didn''t miss anything," Dios appeased when he saw Cenci''s face, which simply shouted that he was down in the dumps.


    "How about those new trainees?" Dios asked in a poor attempt to change the subject, but Cenciplied even after seeing through his intentions.


    That was because he really wanted to vent about his pains.


    "Where did you pick those people up from? The dumps?" Cenci pouted so much Dios thought that there was probably a bun stuffed in his mouth in order to keep that perfect form.


    Dios didn''t mind that Cenci had just insulted all of his new trainees, it was probably their fault anyway.


    "I mean it''s just terrible!" Cenci dramatically put the back of his palm to his forehead as he eximed.


    "They aren''t any better than a bundle of muscles, from top to bottom and their glutes are really nothing to look at either. Do you know how bored I was?"


    "Whenever I tried small talk to alleviate the mood and the boredom, do you know what they did? They just sighed and panted at me! Aiyo, after a while they didn''t even try to talk to me anymore. They clearly don''t see me as their superior."


    Cenci put the story into a spindle, he spun and spun until even the people who were originally characters of that story wouldn''t realize that it was an event they took part in.


    Even if they used the same materials to make the story, they would have gotten 2 varying products.


    If those other four were here... they would definitely curse their Captain Cenci for defamation.


    Only in their minds though.


    They wouldn''t dare do it out loud for fear of what could be.


    "Is that so?" Dios asked as he lightly tapped his chin as if contemting the matter, even though he clearly noticed the scheming glint in Cenci''s eyes.


    "Then how would you like to punish them?"


    Dios threw the bait.


    "Brother Dios, since they are under your care, shouldn''t you be the one to decide?" Cenci asked as if that were actually his will, but his eyes, the windows to his soul, betrayed his intentions perfectly.


    His eyes were clearly smiling much more than just moments ago.


    "Well I do have some ideas," Cenci softly said, as if he had just thought something up, after realizing that Dios wasn''t saying anything else, even though he had been concocting such thoughts for days.


    And so, Cenci dly took the bait.

 Chapter 93 - Word Game Pt III: (Grandma)

    There''s a little Easter egg here... can anyone catch it? <3


    ***??


    "I just thought of this, so Brother Dios won''t be contemptuous of me if this idea is with w right?"


    ''What a little lier.''


    Dios knew Cenci''s meticulous personality very well, if he didn''t think his words very thoroughly he just wouldn''t bother saying anything at all.


    Dios let out a soft grunt as if telling Cenci to just spit it out.


    "Ah well I was thinking, seeing as they are so ipetent, and so unaware of it too, it was about time that we upped the amount of time they spent in the mental training chamber."


    Cenci had a face full of smiles as he did his best to send the newbies into the death chamber, no, the Trials of Reincarnation they called it.


    There were already too many names for these trials, but as of now, they found Trials of Reincarnation to be the most urate, though the others were still used depending on the asion.


    Mental training sold it short while death chamber wasn''t really the most pleasant to hear.


    No one really dies there either. (??? )


    Neither Dios nor Cenci had been here when the name Trials of Reincarnation caught on, but after they experienced it for themselves, they couldn''t help but agree with such a name.


    Bystanders who didn''t experience it for themselves may find it a tad exaggerated, but for the people who did. They almost felt like it wasn''t exaggerated enough. (TT__TT)


    The newbies wouldn''t know, but the trials became exponentially harder as you went on.


    And if you wanted to rise in the ranks, the numbers of trials you had to go through were by no means trifling.


    As for the newbies that Dios was adding to his numbers, they would at least have to go through the first three levels before even being considered, or recognized, as members.


    This was another reason why people were discouraged to send their spies into Elijah''s organization.


    Even Elijah''s uncles found it troublesome to find people who could pass the trials without having their loyalty waver.


    It was near impossible to push someone even higher in the ranks while keeping their identities as a spy.


    Dios knew they weren''t ready for the second level, having just done the first months prior, but he pondered on the thought.


    "The trials huh? If they are as ipetent as you say, how are you sure they will be able to survive?" Dios queried.


    "Well, we can''t take them by the hand when ites to such things right? This is a good opportunity. Though I say that this is a punishment, you should know better than anyone that this is truly a blessing in disguise (not that those 4 would appreciate such good intentions)."


    Cenci covered his mouth after he finished embellishing his every word and action.


    If one didn''t know better, they would think he was some kind of paragon, a saint for his people!


    His face was screaming ''Ah, my noble intentions may be misinterpreted by those who receive my goodwill, but that''s okay! If it''s for the people, then it doesn''t matter if my reputation suffers.''


    Followed by a nce at his Brother Dios, which said, ''But you''ll understand me right? Even if it''s just a little, you should realize that this is all for their good, right?'' As he fluttered his thick eyshes.


    Dios promptly ignored all the garnish that littered Cenci''s words, focusing solely on the heart of the matter.


    After Dios contemted for a bit with Cenci''s talking as background music, he couldn''t help but agree.


    It was clear that Cenci had thought it through.


    It was the most painful, yet reasonably good punishment.


    At the end of the day, as long as those 4 were willing to continue down this path, this event would eventually give them one leg up against theirpetitors.


    "Then let''s do it as you say."


    Dios also wanted to know just where these people''s determinations were. In their heart, in their mind, or their soul.


    If it were in their heart, it would be crushed early and if it were in their minds, it would be shattered without a second care.


    [Author''s Note: No organisms were physically harmed nor killed in the process of the making of this chapter]


    In the end, only the resolute would survive to be reborn anew.


    "That''s great Brother Dios! I''m sure they will one daye to appreciate your goodwill and if they don''t then they don''t deserve it." Cenci said thest four words with a cold glint in his eyes before returning to his original saint-like disposition.


    ''So it''s my goodwill huh, just a second ago you were just acting as if you could take on any misunderstandings, how did it suddenly be my goodwill ah? This little one has finally shown his small, sharp fangs eh?'' Dios inwardly chuckled.


    Cenci had clearly taken advantage of his agreeing to push all the responsibility onto himself without a second care.


    ''What a cold-hearted child.''


    Even knowing this much, Dios didn''t do anything to stop Cenci''s scheming ways. He found it cute that Cenci thought that this could go under Dios''s radar, but on the outside, he frowned a little as if not understanding the implications of Cenci''s words.


    "Don''t worry Brother Dios, even if they don''t understand, I''ll engrave it in my heart what a good person you are," Cenci finallyforted, to which Dios simply snorted.


    ***


    In another section of the building, at Elijah''s office, two young men sat around the coffee table along with an ageddy.


    An equally old man stood behind the ageddy, despite having been asked to sit down on multiple asions by the others in the room.


    Meanwhile, Liam brought in some tea, cing a cup in front of everyone in the office, including the man who stood behind the elder.


    "Howe you''vee so early?" Elijah questioned casually.


    "Aiyo, this grand nephew of mine really doesn''t know how to talk. Won''t you at least greet this elder of yours first?" The elder took a sip of her tea and ced her teacup down with a ck that resounded throughout the room.


    "Grandma, you tell him! He''s been bullying metely, if you don''t bring me justice, no one here will." Mon quickly moved to his grandmother''s side, swaying her arm gently like a child asking for candy.


    "Don''t even get me started on you boy. You''ve been here how long now and you haven''t even sent me a single message to inform me of your safety. Making me move my old bones all the way here, to the middle of nowhere, just to check up on you," she humphed indignantly.


    "Grandma, it''s just that I know how much you love going for walks and the fresh air here. I missed you so much that I just felt like talking through a screen simply wasn''t enough. I really wanted to see you and Elijah has me trapped here so I can''t go out to meet with you." Mon''s eyes drooped as he spoke in the most pitiful tone he could muster.


    "I''m sorry. This grandson of yours was too greedy," Mon lifted his head again, which was now under the woman''s eye level, pattering his glistening eyes, which seemed to be ready to shed some tears to cate the elder.


    "Aiyo, what should I do with you now. Did you just eat a spoonful of honey or what? Grandma wants to forgive you, but I don''t know if my heart could take it if I did." The old woman clutched her chest exaggeratedly as if telling her grandson that ''two could y this game''.


    Mon sighed in resignation, knowing that he could never win against this grandmother of his.


    Before Mon''s grandmother could even go on to voice her true intentions in this debacle, Elijah smirked and joined in the conversation smoothly.


    "Grand Aunt, how about this; I''ll make sure that Mon contacts you every single day so could you find it in your big heart to forgive this grand-nephew (he''s speaking about himself in the third person) for his earlier blunder?"


    The elder''s eyes shone when her matters were brought on to the table, signaling to everyone in the room just who had won in this small quarrel of words.


    "Oh, just what do they serve in this cafeteria of yours? Do you eat dessert from breakfast to dinner, 3 meals a day?"


    This was the elder''s subtle way to ask her grandson and grand-nephew how they were eating.


    "It does seem that Mon has been eating too many sweets these days, but as for me, I can assuredly tell Grand Aunt that everything I have was inherited gically."


    Elijah went on to praise her Grand Aunt while down putting his efforts, but not his skills, not only that, but he didn''t even forget to throw Mon down the bus a little.


    Mon threw a re at Elijah before turning her head back at his grandma, changing his face along the way.


    He really changed faces at a speed faster than any professional actor could when his grandmother was in front of him.


    "Grandma, you don''t know, but it''s true. I''ve really been unable to eat properly because of all the work Elijah has me doing! He doesn''t respect me, his elder cousin at all!"


    Mon whined, while Elijah just watched as Mon dug a hole for himself.


    ***


    Have you caught the easter egg?


    Was it too hard?


    Well here''s a hint!


    It''s a wordy in the first half (with Cenci and Dios) of the chapter.


    Shout out in chapter 94, to the first person to get it correctly in thements!

 Chapter 94 - Word Play Pt IV: (Promise To Work Hard)

    "I say, Grand Aunt, are you not curious as to why that grandson of yours hasn''t been sleeping and eating well? It''s quite the interesting story."


    Elijah''s question instantly caught the elder''s attention.??


    Lady Charlotte''s gaze shifted to her Grand nephew, pointing her chin in order to signal him to start talking.


    Mon, who had still been embracing his grandmother''s arm up to this point was instantly shocked into sitting up straight.


    "What are you even suggesting Elijah! You shouldn''t be worrying grandma with such vague words. Grandmother knows how hardworking I am, very, very hard working! She wouldn''t believe your ndero---¡­ misleading words!"


    Mon quickly changed the wording of his phrase after realizing that his future pride as a genius grandson that his grandmother could be proud of was on the line.


    The secret message that was sessfully delivered to Elijah from Mon: [I will work very, very hard, so pretty please don''t tell grandma about the video. ( ¡ä ?£à)]


    "Very hard huh?" Elijah bemusedly threw his words right back at him.


    Message: [How hard are you willing to work to keep this between us?]


    "Yes, of course. Hardworking is my middle name!" Mon jumped right in the hole he dug himself and he didn''t forget to fill the hole back in, just in case he wasn''t doing enough work for this younger cousin of his.


    "Since when did those two freeloaders give you such a middle name and howe I did not hear of it until now?" Madame Charlotte suddenly interjected.


    She was talking about Mon''s parents, who were constantly traveling, leaving their children to fend for themselves.


    Charlotte greatly cared for her grandchildren, not sparing any reprimanding words on her son and daughter-inw, Mon''s parents.


    I guess it is a universalw that love tends to skip a generation.


    "Madame Charlotte, they have done no such thing. The Lady and the Sir are still traveling, I believe they are currently in M Continent, they wouldn''t have the registers to change the young master''s name, even if they wanted to," Edwin, Charlotte''s right-hand man informed from behind her in a serious tone.


    "Oh Edwin, there''s this thing called a rhetorical question these days. It''s really trending and everything. I checked. You should check it out too when you have some free time."


    Charlotte spoke so confidently that the others really couldn''t tell if she was jesting or not, but to be safe, none of themmented.


    "Oh is that so? Then it seems like I spoke too much and out of ce too," Edwin gave her a light bow and went back to his previous position, no longer opening his mouth.


    "Elijah dear, won''t you tell me what can make this grandson of mine work oh so hard?" Charlotte asked, putting emphasis on thosest 3 words.


    "What do you mean grandmother? Don''t I always work this hard?" Mon was very clear of his position in his cousin''s heart.


    Elijah would sell him out in less than a heartbeat whenever a chance presented itself.


    After all, this was the same cousin who had just forced, no, threatened, ckmailed even, him just days ago. Coercing him to sign a 5-year ve contract.


    "Oh dear me! Of course, I know my grandson best, how could I not know that this level of enthusiasm when speaking of all things favorable to that kid Elijah is anything but normal. Don''t I know my two juniors quite well?"


    Charlotte chuckled at this ditzy grandson of hers.


    "Grand Aunt, I''d be happy to show you," Elijah said with a grin stered on his face, he didn''t take his Grand Aunt''s previous words to heart.


    It was just as Mon had thought.


    Sold out in less time than it would take one to snap one''s fingers.


    "You see, it''s like this," Elijah tapped his fingers as he thought of his wording.


    Mon could only sulk when he realized that there was no more getting out of this, his grandmother was in too deep.


    "Mon here was hypnotizing this girl that Dios, Calim, and the others brought in around 2 days ago and he just couldn''t get over it even after having let her go, figuring that she had nothing to do with the others."


    Mon couldn''t help but frown when Elijah''s words dropped.


    Though there were clearly many words emitted from Elijah''s exnation, it wasn''t anything that Charlotte couldn''t figure out herself.


    She nodded lightly as she thought about it.


    Charlotte didn''t know why, but at that moment, she thought about that youngss she had met back in the mountains.


    Charlotte had warned the youngss Emilin to get out of this area as soon as possible since she didn''t want her to get into any of the mess here.


    Even if the chances were low, she couldn''t help but worry a little when she heard that the person brought in by Dios''s team was a youngdy.


    "My, what kind of charms does this youngdy have, to still linger on my grandson''s mind even after having left for so long."


    Charlotte wanted to check that it wasn''t the youngss Emilin, just to bring some peace of heart.


    Who knew she woulde to care for a youngss she had only met days prior and only once too.


    Was this what they meant by fated allies?


    Elijah had already pulled the video up by the time Charlotte finished her thoughts.


    "This one''s the one," Elijah pulled up the video and disyed a shot where they could more or less make out Emilin''s face.


    Charlotte couldn''t help but let out a soft sigh, one barely audible, one that no one but Edwin, who stood right behind Charlotte''s seat and was constantly paying attention to her every action as her butler, noticed.


    He also didn''t fail to notice that this youngdy in the film was the very same one who he had seen from a distance, the one who spoke to Madame Charlotte a few days back.


    "Madame Charlotte, is she not the one?" Edwin spoke under his breath so that only Charlotte could hear him.


    "Indeed! She''s quite a beauty, but her age doesn''t quite seem to fit you Mon."


    Charlotte spoke with a small frown, talking to the two boys in front of her while also discreetly, well, not so discreetly, responding to Edwin''s questioning.


    Seeing as his grandmother had misunderstood to some degree, he really had to exin himself before this misinformation got to his parent''s side.


    If that were to happen¡­ he wasn''t going to get another peaceful day in his life.


    His parents were really a strange species of parents. They both loved their children, but it seemed like it wasn''t more than they loved each other since they were constantly traveling together without them. Even from a young age, Mon recalled his parents constantly leaving to go travel and sightsee.


    Yet whenever they took the time toe back, Mon always felt like his parents loved him the most in the world, second to no one, but perhaps tied with his sister.


    He had never been able to figure this point out.


    Anyways, he had to clean himself of the image of someone who would like an underaged girl.


    "It''s not like that grandma, don''t listen to Elijah''s bbering. It just that..."


    Mon hesitated to continue.


    He didn''t want to lose face, admitting that this youngdy had one-upped him. More like 20-upped him, but that was beside the point.


    Mon could openly say that she was better than him when it came to his studies to anyone but his grandmother.


    He could admit it to Elijah, or to anyone else for that matter without feeling embarrassed after having watched the videos over a dozen times, and processed everything that needed to be processed.


    It was a fact that she was better, there was really just no need to be embarrassed.


    But his Grandma Charlotte had pretty much raised him, having seen him as he went through his various growth phases, including his 8th-grade syndrome as well as the narcissistic phase that followed being officially recognized as a Master hypnotist, as well as the...


    Well, the point is there were a lot of embarrassing phases which he would like to think were past him.


    He knew that his grandmother wouldn''t disdain him at all, perhaps evenforting him, but he just couldn''t help it, wanting to keep a strong front in front of his grandmother.


    "It''splicated, but you can rest assured, you should know that I have a preference for older women," Mon weakly argued.


    Aiyo, the stage was set against him, and the world was too, he could only hope that his grandmother wasn''t.


    "Is that so? Well since you have already determined that she is not a threat and she seems like a nice girl too, there will be no more point in thinking of it any longer, right?"


    Charlotte confirmed.


    She took another sip of her now lukewarm tea.


    "Well¡­" Mon thought about it for a second before deciding that it was not worth it to talk about it any longer.


    "Sure grandmother, there''s really nothing special about her, I don''t know why, but I just found something off about it at the time. It must have been my mistake," Mon showed his original smile as if forgetting everything else that had just transpired a few minutes ago.


    What he didn''t know was that this further solidified Madame Charlotte''s image of Emilin.


    A simple, mature, honest, and kind girl, nothing to hide, nothing to learn, and definitely nothing too noteworthy when it came to societal value, which didn''t affect her impression of Emilin.


    In the end, they didn''t go on to watch the video and Elijah didn''t pursue it any longer.


    He was just disying his leverage to his cousin, plus, it was better if he didn''t show the clips. Like this, he could hold his elder cousin up on the promise of working hard.

 Chapter 95 - Phashi Country Pt I: (Cat Cafe <3)

    7 dayster, Emilin and Xander sat across from each other in a cat cafe.


    Their table was near a ceiling to floor window on the third floor of this establishment and cats roamed free in the private room.??


    A ginger cat and a brown cat were on either side of Emilin, rubbing her ankle and feet as if trying to push her with their cute little heads.


    After Emilin properly settled down on her seat the rubbing only intensified, as if the cats wanted to bury their heads into Emilin''s body, they nudged and rubbed, sitting on the floor beside her in an attentive manner.


    "These cats seem to really love you," Xandermented.


    Even after seeing this scene many times in thest week or so, he still couldn''t understand it. Why did these cats seem to love Emilin so much more than everyone else?


    "Yes, that does seem to be the case." Emilin was rubbing the head of the agouti, ck and white cat who restedfortably on herp.


    The waitress who was to take their order walked up to the two of them with the menu when she saw that they hade. They were pretty much regrs, even though the first time they hade was less than a week ago.


    They hade every day since and the two of them drew a lot of attention from all the workers here, most of which were part-timers.


    This was especially true for the youngdy (Emilin) in front of her. For some reason, the cats and their cat cafe seemed to maically attracted to her.


    On the first day that Emilin visited this establishment, nearly a quarter of the dozens of cats on the expanse of the second floor somehow moved to surround her table.


    The workers didn''t know what to do when that urred, especially when all the other customers were also here for the cats and the food.


    There were young women and girls who came together and or alone as well as couples, who were attracted to this ce due to its inte fame.


    "Hey what''s up with that. I also came here for the cats but howe they are all headed that way?"


    "Do they have some special cat feed there or something?"


    "Hey babe, do something about this, we were supposed to have fun with the cats on this date, but if there are no cats here then what''s the point?"


    "Hey, waiter, what''s up with those cats? How does your establishment even work! We''re paying by the hour so why is that table getting so much more attention?"


    The ones who sat closer to Emilin''s table were interested, but they were also rather happy with the influx of the cats around them, as for those in tables further away, they were pissed.


    The workers who were on shift at the time couldn''t do much about the movements of the cats. In the end, the boss, a young female, came and took Emilin and Xander both to the third floor where there were separate rooms, each one separated by soundproof ss.


    They were pretty much private rooms and so the cats wouldn''t be able to go in even if they wanted to. Ever since that first day, Emilin and Xander would simply head straight to the third floor whenever they arrived.


    The woman, Margaret (Going by the nickname Margo), who looked like a proper businesswoman, and also the boss of this cat cafe, greeted the two of them every time they came over.


    She was at the shop every day and so it was kinda on the way.


    Margaret (Margo) Lenin, a 23-year-old entrepreneur, and in 3 words, she was and always will be, an Avid Cat Lover.


    "What will you be getting?" The waitress asked, looking down at her notepad, ready to write something down.


    Xander looked at Emilin before responding, "the usual."


    The waitress, a part-timer who had been off the job for the past few days wasn''t sure what exactly ''the usual'' was, but seeing as these clients could say it so casually, there were bound to be people downstairs who would know.


    Not only that, but the third floor was also for the VIP and so it wasn''t good for her to make the people repeat here repeat themselves, she really didn''t know what kind of people were here.


    In truth, the usual for Xander and Emilin was simply to get whatever the waiter or waitress rmended, after all, the options were in the dozens and the employees here were bound to know which ones were better received, at least much better than Xander and Emilin alike.


    "Then I will go see what I can get you," the waitress responded with a shallow bow before excusing herself.


    "There will be no need. I''ve already brought up their refreshments, you can go now Diane."


    A brown-haired woman who had her hair in a loose bun wearingfortable clothing came in with a ck serving tray that held cakes and drinks alike.


    "Lady Margaret, what do you have there?" Emilin asked, cranking her neck to get a better look.


    "Ah, ah, ah. You don''t get any of it before you change your form of greeting!" Margaret (Margo) chuckled when looking at how cute this little girl was, Emilin''s expectant gaze on the tray she held.


    "Lady is too old sounding and Margaret is so old-fashioned. Didn''t I already tell you to call me Sister Margo?"


    ''Your parents would be so sad to hear that.''


    Seeing Emilin hesitant, she added while holding her cheek using her free hand, "well as for these cakes, I was going to let the other VIP guests test them out, but seeing as little sister Emilin came here today, and right in time too if I may add, I thought I would bring them to you first. I just don''t know if this piece of sincerity from me is rather unwanted."


    "Sister Margo," Emilin imed rtions without another second of hesitation as she stared a hole into the rainbow milkshake.


    ''Me want,'' was written on her face in imaginary ck ink.


    As for Xander, who was watching this whole event unfold, he was rather seriously questioning his manly charms.


    ''Howe when I ask her to call me Brother Xander, she ignores me, but when Margo asks her to call her sister, she ims rtions just like that.''


    There was really an innate difference between Margo, a businesswoman who knew well the heart of a teenage girl, and Xander, a doctor who had close to no rtions ormunications with other girls or women other than his patience.


    Not only that, but you really couldn''t look down on the power of food.


    Xander humphed indignantly, biting into the pentachocte brownie sundae cake, Margo''s newest creation, before releasing all the indignation he had previously held in his heart.


    The cake was simply divine. The sundae melted in his mouth leaving behind chunks of brownies made of 5 different forms and vors of chocte, leaving a superb and fragrant after taste while also shrouding the next bite''s vors in a veil of mystery.


    ''Now I see why.''


    "Sister Margo this is delicious!" Xander didn''t hesitate topliment, kissing up to the owner of the dopamine factory that was this cat cafe.


    "How shameless! Who are you to im rtionships so audaciously." Margo hissed at the man 3 years her elder, but there was nothing Xander could do about it.


    At least not for as long as he wanted to leech off some more of the national treasures that melted in his mouth and became one with his being, which was really until he was diagnosed with terminal diabetes and was no longer allowed to eat sweets, that or he forever lost his taste buds.


    Xander: ''...''


    Xander: ''If I''m shameless, then what are you?''


    He thought while looking at the one who had cornered his little master into sisterhood with just some food.


    To be fair, it was some he delicious food.


    "Do you like it?" Margo asked, turning back to Emilin,pletely dismissing the fact that there was someone else in the room.


    "Mm," Emilin nodded excitedly with both her cheeks full of milkshake, like a chipmunk.


    ''How adorable, I wish I had a sister like her,'' Margo thought.


    To her, Emilin was just some perfect sister material.


    Emilin is cute, adorable, lovable, pretty, sincere, she eats well and most importantly, she has some crazy affinity with cats!


    "I''m d you like it! I''ll make more for you the next time youe, but I''ll only bring it to you if you remember to call Sister Margo, okay?" Margo asked.


    Margo may be seen as a psychody for wanting this little girl to call her big sister, but she didn''t care. She had already obtained qualifications to be called psycho catdy, psycho cat woman, and a whole lot of other titles, what''s one more?


    [Peanut Gallery: Does this girl have to sound so proud of being called a psycho?]


    [Author: If you could get Emilin to call you big sister or big brother, wouldn''t you be okay with just that much too? (/£þ©`£þ)/¨E¡ß:*:¡î*©b¡ï.::£ª¡î]


    [Peanut Gallery: ¡­]


    [Peanut Gallery: Fair.]


    In the end, Emilin just nodded, responding with a simple, "okay."


    "Mm, you have to remember, you promised!" Margo''s eyes shone brightly as she rubbed Emilin''s, who was still slurping on the milkshake, head.


    "Then I won''t bother you any longer, enjoy the food, it''s on the house!" Margo said as she left through the same door from which she came with a bright smile.


    After she left, heading for her office, a screech, that of a fangirl, could be heard from that direction by the other employees.

 Chapter 96 - Phashi Country Pt II: (The Goal She Set...)

    Emilin ate her own slice of pentachocte brownie sundae cake while sipping on her sugary drink, of which eachyer had a differing vor. The smell was practically integrating into its surroundings as it wafted through the air. Anyone who just stood there would most likely drool, especially if they weren''t given a taste.


    Emilin was doing some basic research on what kind of personage ''Nosa'' was and what kind of work he did on herptop while asionally diverting some of her attention to the cats around her as well as Xander if need be. ??


    The cats, which were supposed to hunger for food and rest were instead hungering for Emilin''s affection.


    Xander on the other hand had already finished his piece. He had long given up on the cats here, all of which ignored him for Emilin.


    Xander was currently flipping through a pile of papers which extended from the ones on the table all the way to the ones on the extra seat to the side.


    For the next hour or so, his expression while flipping through the papers contorted and morphed, from one of tion, shock, surprise, to one of disbelief and skepticism.


    "Logically speaking this should theoretically be impossible. There shouldn''t be any such thing on this with such properties," Xander rubbed his chin as he mumbled.


    If anyone else had handed him these papers, there would no longer be any room for ''shouldn''t'', ''should'', and ''logically speaking''.


    Xander would think that the other party was shitting him.


    Of course, he wouldn''t say that out loud now.


    Emilin lifted her head to check which part of the papers Xander was reading.


    "Oh, you''re already on sector 3 of internal injuries?" Emilin was quite surprised, it had only been a week, but the speed at which Xander started processing information was already beyond her original expectations.


    She thought that he would only be able to finish one sector this week, but he was already on the third.


    It wasn''t that the sectors were particrly long, the theoretical principles being only about 2 pages each, but there were dozens of pages of examples and special circumstances as well as how to deal with them, why, and other descriptions.


    They wouldn''t be particrly useful in the small frame of things, but they still had to be internalized in the big picture.


    It was simr to when you learned anguage, and there is one specific ''rule'' and then dozens of exceptions.


    Just because they are exceptions, doesn''t mean that you don''t have to learn them since they won''t be used for most words, you still have to learn it for your sentences to make sense.


    Does that make sense?


    The difficulties really lied in theplexity of these ideas and not in the memorizing of the facts, which was also why Emilin was rather surprised, but it was a happy surprise since it also meant that she could get rid of this little burden faster than anticipated.


    "Such substances and creams currently don''t exist anywhere on the face of this earth, which is also why there is the word ''theoretical'' and ''hypothetically on all the papers, none of these things have been aplished as of this moment."


    Emilin exined crushing Xander''s heart, in the process.


    No matter how absurd these ideas sounded, his heart had still held the slim hope for the sess of the projects written on these papers.


    "But you should alsoe to understand that these are all projects that can be set into motion at any moment."


    Xander''s eyes widened in an instant.


    "Do you mean it?" Xander couldn''t hold his curiosity back, nor did he try very hard on the matter.


    "Do I ever say anything I don''t mean on such matters?" Emilin retorted.


    The anticlimactic response didn''t bother Xander.


    "Then why haven''t we started yet?"


    Xander was already on the edge of his seat, leaning in on the coffee table.


    "You have to understand now, all the substitute materials to start most of these projects are out of our reach, mostly unattainable, even with money."


    "But there still isn''t acking in projects that we could start with the resources we have, but in reality, they would only bring us more trouble than its worth."


    Xander understood this notion since he had been thinking about it too.


    "I''m letting you read these not because I want you to work on them, but rather to help you build a foundation," Emilin tapped her finger on the table regrly. There was no specific meaning to this tapping, just, supposedly a habit.


    "Foundation?" Xander was dumbfounded.


    ''Who the hell has this kind of foundation?''


    These were files of paper centuries ahead of their times, yet this was but foundational work?


    "It is indeed foundation, but don''t expect me to give you anything moreplicated even after you finish these. When you finish, your job will be to reverse engineer what you have learned."


    Xander suddenly frowned a little, not due to the work he would have to do, but rather something else.


    He felt like he would have to properly cherish this learning opportunity seeing as after he finished, there would be no more. It was quite disappointing. At the same time, some more thoughts popped into his head.


    "Does that mean..."


    Xander''s thoughts couldn''t help but wonder. Even reverse engineering at a snail''s pace with such a foundation could bring would bring more advancements than 10 years of research with their current information and technology.


    "Yes, I want you to lead the development of the medical world in the future, but nothing too excessive," Emilin finally revealed her intentions seeing as Xander had caught on to something.


    ''But there are just too many things wrong with that sentence...''


    ''Nothing too excessive?''


    ''Lead the development of the medical world?''


    These two seemingly contradictory ideas didn''t seem to sh when they came from Emilin.


    Seeing Xander''s confused expression, Emilin didn''t linger on the subject.


    "Don''t think too much about it right now."


    "Just take this time to familiarize yourself with this material first."


    Xander nodded and dove headfirst back to the material. They had developed an efficient system in which Xander would do his best not to ask any questions unless necessary in efforts to develop more independent learning skills.


    That and so to not bother Emilin more than he already was.


    As for Emilin, even though she still wanted to practice and she didn''t really mind the talking (a message not conveyed to Xander), she also liked having some of her own time to work on her matters, so she didn''t bother too much.


    The cats were keeping herpany as she did her research.


    It was also around this time that the inte exploded with shocking news.


    The trending topics as of that moment were as followed.


    "yboy Owen Zekan Turns a New Page?"


    "Serious Businessman Mr. Zekan VS. yboy Owen: Which One is The Real Him? Or Are They Both Real?"


    "Who is This Man on The Cover of The Business Magazine?"


    "Mr. Nosa Strikes Again."


    The first three trending topics in the news at the moment are mostly about the famous businessman Owen Zekan, son of even more famous businesswoman Ainsel Zekan st name obtained after marriage), both of whom worked in the fashion industry.


    And at the end of the list of trending topics, there was a name that was unfamiliar to theymen and general public, but even so, was pushed up to the number 4 trending news by the people who paid enough attention to care.


    That was already quite a feat in itself.


    It was also the topic that popped out to Emilin the most.


    Emilin clicked to open the online magazine which redirected her straight to the front page which was now trending.


    Emilin''s eyes widened a little.


    There was a hint of admiration and shock, but it was not for the handsome youth on the front cover, but rather an admiration for the expertise taken in order to perfect such an angle as well as a shock due to the rity of the photo.


    Even if Emilin''s standards were quite low due to personal skills, she still knew when topare and when to stop the birth of self-deprecation.


    This was miles away from any one of the photos she had ever taken, in fact, it wouldn''t be an overstatement to say that they were really worlds apart.


    Mason''s shot focused on the model''s sharp jawline which blended and emphasized his deep eyes and tall nose. His height was indiscernible as the shot was not a full-body one, yet from this angle paired with his serious facial expression of a hardworking serious businessman, he looked mountains tall and incredibly reliable.


    It didn''t matter what kind of person he truly was, Emilin felt like anyone who looked at this would have an instantly good impression of him.


    She just felt this aura of calm rage, yet sturdiness and determination emitting from this screen. And she wouldn''t be wrong if she were to say that those were most likely the emotions Owen had been feeling when this shot was taken.


    It gave people the mirage that this was how he usually was, when in reality, that fierce determination, was in fact that determination that Owen had felt when he solidified his will to leave.


    And Mason had captured that moment perfectly while impably putting that shot into another context in the business magazine, which then extended to the celebrity magazine after bing a hot topic.


    The point was, it didn''t matter just what kind of model was used for this photo, the skills were there, and they were undeniable.


    This was what Emilin was striving for, what she wanted to strive to be.


    Emilin had now set a goal for herself.

 Chapter 97 - Photoshoot Pt I: (Noah)

    Meanwhile, in the northern parts of Opaque city:


    "I guess the old man was right, after all, there''s no denying that annoying guy has some skills."??


    Owen crossed his legs elegantly as he sipped on his coffee,pletely short of his usual yboy style.


    Perhaps if he had operated with Mason like thisst week they would have gotten their work done much sooner, without all the dilly-dallying in between.


    Still, that wouldn''t have been possible considering Owen''s nature.


    The old man he was talking about was of course his father, Zenon Zekan, from whom he inherited hisst name. As for the title of annoying guy, that was heaped on Mason, who had made him change poses for hours without end.


    Every time Owen thought about it, he couldn''t help but sigh.


    The photo had been clearly taken in less than a second, yet the process had taken him half a day. There was no efficiency there, not to mention how tedious it was to do nothing but sit while being yelled at for how sloppy he looked, no matter how poised he presented himself.


    He had held himself back from swearing on so many asions that he would have trouble counting, but maybe it was also that restraint that prevented Mason from taking a single presentable photo, at least ording to his standards.


    Owen couldn''t help but show some admiration for the models whom he worked with as a businessman in the fashion industry, an appreciation differing from his usual regard. ?©f?? )¥Î?


    This was yet another reason why he wouldn''t be able to follow in his father''s footsteps, instead of learning from his mother, working to build on her business.


    Owen simply didn''t have the patience for such a form of artistry, he was the type of person who needed to see physical evidence for his every action. This is also why he couldn''t follow his parent''s examples when it came to their love story.


    Owen simply couldn''t fathom how someone could love another, who had absolutely no blood ties with them, to the point of wanting to live with them for the rest of their lives, willing to do anything and everything for them.


    He loved his parents and his parents loved him.


    To him, blood would always be thicker than water.


    Owen had exined his thoughts to his parents, which was also why they didn''t do anything to try and change his habits.


    Both Zenon and Ainsel knew well that despite their son''s bad reputation, Owen still knew well where the boundaries of his rtionships stood.


    He wouldn''t do anything that could bring harm to his future nor influence his goals.


    Still, on this asion, when his father asked him to do his best to change his reputation to some degree with his father''s help, he agreed without much resistance.


    It couldn''t bring him much harm, and it was also best for him if his poor reputation didn''t affect his business too much.


    The same way a bad reputation would bring negative influence, a good one would end up helping him.


    Owen could see the value in such a transaction, even if this one photo wasn''t going to make it or break it, it was a good start.


    After seeing the satisfactory result, Owen couldn''t help but see a business opportunity there.


    He had also seen the threads that had been created due to this simple photo.


    Owen was a businessman in the fashion industry, closely tied with the entertainment and the modeling industries. Media was also closely rted to all of these, affecting the rise and fall of all the personages taking part, and something that could make such waves was bound to be of significant importance.


    "What appointments do we have for today?" Owen spoke to his assistant.


    "You have 2 appointments that can be moved to another date and a dinner appointment at 7 PM with Miss Lenin."


    "Then push those two back and I''ll be there at 7."


    *** ***


    Mason: I''m the annoying guy? These kids really don''t know how to show gratitude these days.


    Owen: Don''t take it too hard, you have anyone make you sit there for hours on end with no visible progress and I promise you a title much worse than that one would be promptly bestowed on you.


    Owen: Most likely behind your back too.


    Mason: Oh so we''re acting all benevolent now? Modest too?


    Owen: If you say so, I won''t be the one to refute.


    Mason: ...


    Mason: Then why don''t we consider that I wasted the same amount of time just to get you to look decent enough for a shot?


    Owen: *Touches face in contemtion*


    Mason: This is what I mean. You all want tangible benefits, if you can''t see them right then and there, then you think that there''s nothing there. You''re just too young and inexperienced to understand just yet, look at how amazingly effective my photo was.


    Owen: *Can''t even refute*


    Mason: Yet to see the big picture indeed.


    Owen: If I didn''t know any better I would have assumed you were 100 years older than me when we''re from the same generation.


    Mason: *Rubs nonexistent long beard*


    Mason: Then just call me grandfather. (¡¡£þ??£þ? ¡¡).


    Owen: ...


    Owen: Can you afford to be my father and my mother''s senior? *Smug Smug* (???? ?)


    Mason: ...


    *** ***


    On Mason''s side:


    "Move down," Mason ordered with a wave of his hand towards the person under the limelight.


    The man to whom Mason''s camera was pointed at shifted his body weight.


    He had previously had his legs crossed with his arms open wide to cover the lining of the long couch prop, now sliding slightly off so that his back was sliding down the couch with his legs wide apart and his arms using the seat as support.


    *Click*


    "Yes, now change to your right side," Mason continued.


    The model changed his pose once again and Mason moved in order to get the best shot.


    They moved in sync along with Mason''s every order, as if this had already been previously nned and rehearsed numerous times, over and over, until it was almost like a dance.


    *Click* *Click*


    "Calm your facial muscles down a little more"


    *Click* *Click*


    "Tilt to the right from the armrest."


    *Click*


    Everything went so smoothly that others couldn''t possibly have believed that Mason was one of the hardest photographers to work with, never wasting a single film if he found it not worth it, even if he could simply delete it at ater date.


    Mason had some light precipitation by the time he was satisfied with everything he got from this wardrobe change.


    "Okay everyone, take a rest. Good job Noah, we''ll be continuing in another 40 minutes. Change to set 4 while you are at it."


    Mason then turned back from looking at his model and the crew who was handing him refreshments.


    Some of the others, such as the makeup artist and the ones in charge of the clothing had already been on the move despite being on a break as of just 3 seconds ago, this was because even the model had been moving.


    Noah didn''t even rest, who were they to do so?


    "We''ll be using shots number 3, 4, and 6. Get rid of the other ones," Mason ordered the people to the side, who worked on the screening.


    In his studio, Mason gave out the orders and everyone else followed.


    When he was working, there was only his voice and the clicking sounds echoing. It was only after he gave them all a break that the others broke out into their usual worker''s gossip.


    "Kyaaa~ How can he be so hot?"


    "You can''t say that right? Isn''t that sexual harassment? Noah''s still a minor right?"


    "Please look at him before you say that! If that''s the case, then I feel like this whole photoshoot is sexual harassment, after all, the CXC clothing brand is aiming for the seductive shots with this line of clothing."


    "Yeah, but that doesn''t change the fact that the boy''s only 16 years old. We shouldn''t get ahead of ourselves here."


    "Yeah, but who can say that he''s a 16-year-old when they look at the photos he just took?"


    It was true. Whenever they looked at Noah through that screen over there, they couldn''t help but question his true age, especially with the extra help from the makeup.


    "I didn''t think that he would be able to do it considering his usual style, this should bepletely out of hisfort zone, yet somehow I feel like he must have been like this all along¡­"


    "I was shocked too."


    They had always known that Noah was one who could make it work with all kinds of styles, but this was truthfully the first time they had gone for the sexy style, mainly because of his age, even though he didn''t look like a minor, it didn''t change the fact that he was one.


    Limiting some of his work range.


    "Well, what did you expect from one of Mason''s favored models?"

 Chapter 98 - Photoshoot Pt II: (Conflicted But Cold)

    "Do you want me toe with you?" Xander tidied up the papers that he had finished reading, putting them in separate files, while holding on to those he had yet to start.


    "There won''t be a need, I can go by myself," Emilin replied as she passed thest folder on the table to the man, telling Xander to put the files that he was still holding onto into the folder.??


    There was no need to borate on why it would be a bad idea to have any one of those papers out in the open.


    Xander just nodded at Emilin''s response.


    Having spent but a week with Emilin, he still felt like he understood her quite a bit. She definitely wasn''t as simple as he had originally thought.


    ''Then again, what kind of simple person would be able to be Master M''s disciple?''


    After all, this was a man who he idolized, despite having never met.


    Xander had been previously skeptical about what Emilin had said, but now, after having been under her tutge, he was sure that she was more than qualified to have him take her as his Master.


    It wasn''t a matter of age or gender, to begin with.


    Xander had alreadye up with such a thought two days ago, but seeing as Emilin had yet to say anything, he didn''t either.


    "Then I''ll go back home first to review what you''ve taught me today." Xander had gotten into the habit of giving Emilin a 15-degree bow before leaving as he did today.


    "Bye," Emilin returned the short bow before turning around.


    ''I guess she doesn''t disdain me as much as I thought,'' Xander smiled as he looked at Emilin''s receding back.


    In the first two days they hade to Phashi country together, Emilin hadn''t even greeted him unnecessarily. Now, looking at how far he hade, it was pretty satisfactory.


    However, when Xander thought about Margo and how she had gotten Emilin to open up so much quicker, his smile couldn''t help but wilt.


    Comparison at this rate would only lead to the deterioration of his health and exponential growth of anxiety, well that was also true for any kind ofparison really, but still, it was quite sad.


    A small rain cloud could almost be seen growing out from Xander''s head, but he quickly dispersed it as he shook his head.


    Xander made his way back to his home, the one he had rented out here.


    Emilin actually found it quite perplexing how Xander could call this rented-out t his home having been there for less than a dozen days.


    In her over 15 years of life + however long she had lived in her past life, she only had one ce she could call her home.


    Of course, she wouldn''t be able to understand.


    Xander departed from the cat cafe, walking across the street, before making his way into the building directly opposite to the cat cafe they usually hung out at.


    Right before he entered, he turned around onest time to check on Emilin, who had already entered a taxi and departed.


    ***


    Emilin gave the driver the address that Lisa had sent her previously.


    Lisa had offered to go pick her up a the airport, thinking that Emilin had justnded in Opaque city''s main airport, but Emilin rejected the notion considering she was a 30-minute ride from the named upon location.


    There was no need for the other party to go through that much trouble.


    "Hello, do you have an appointment?" The desk clerk at the front desk of the studio asked in Phain, the localnguage.


    He had never seen Emilin before and considering there was already someone else doing a photoshoot with Sir Nosa at the moment, this desk clerk highly doubted that this youngdy had an appointment, but it was courtesy to ask, and so he did.


    He also read novels, okay? He knew well what would happen to cannon folders who didn''t know their ce. Even if he worked for Sir Nosa, he was still just a desk clerk. If he faced any big troubles, the best and only option was to ask higher-ups.


    He didn''t even think about taking his own actions, after all, he was getting paid. No matter how nice his employers were, he would never forget his job.


    Emilin nodded a little before moving her gaze to her phone, clicking some icons before bringing her phone to her ear.


    The desk clerk, who still didn''t quite believe Emilin simply smiled and waited.


    This wouldn''t be the first time some random nobody came here imed to have an appointment here, he had to keep his cool in order to protect their studio''s prestige, or so he thought.


    He knew how to do his job, but he wasn''t a coward or a fraud who would let unknown people into the building. This was why he was able to keep his job here, he would never allow himself to be bribed or anything of the sort.


    Though Emilin was quite pretty, there were really a lot of beautiful people who came around trying to get a photoshoot with Mr. Nosa, and the front clerk already believed himself to be immune to all beautiful people after having seen Noah and some others walking in and out of this ce all the time.


    But it was also then that the clerk heard the young girl voice out a familiar name. He could only vaguely understand as Emilin spoke in English, but the boss''s assistant''s name wasn''t one that he could miss.


    "Hello, Miss Lisa."


    "Yes, I''m already here."


    "Mm, at the front desk."


    "Okay, then I''ll wait here."


    He could only hear Emilin''s side of the conversation, but that was enough for him to get the gist of it.


    The clerk instantly adopted a slightly more polite smile, though he wasn''t particrly impolite, to begin with.


    "Miss Emilin, you''vee. It''s so nice to finally meet you," Lisa had quickly made her way over, but not enough to break a sweat.


    She was quite close, after all, she already knew that Emilin wasing sometime soon.


    Emilin gave Lisa a short bow as a greeting and though Lisa didn''t have such a habit, she wasn''t flustered and returned the greeting.


    "Sir. Nosa is currently working on a photoshoot with one of our models, would you like toe to the lounge first?"


    Emilin thought for a moment before responding with a question of her own.


    "Can I watch?"


    She was quite interested in this matter.


    Lisa seemed stifled for a bit, but not for long.


    "It should be fine, as long as you leave all your devices, phones, and otherwise, outside."


    That much was understandable, after all, they wouldn''t want anything leaking.


    Emilin hummed and followed Lisa as she guided the way.


    After walking past a few corridors and dressing rooms along the way, they reached the end of the hallway after which they could hear the muffled sounds of a particrly strict photographer shouting.


    Lisa gave Emilin an awkward smile and slowly opened the door.


    "What are you trying to pull here? It''s an icy face! Not a dead one. Can''t you tell the difference? If I wanted to take pictures of the dead, I would go look for a corpse, at least he would do better than you."


    There was none of the harmony that previously filled this studio was gone.


    Vanished into thin air.


    It was instead all reced by the frustration that stemmed from being unable to meet Mason''s standards.


    "You''re conflicted, be more conflicted, conflicted but cold!" Mason demanded.


    They were finally on theirst set of clothing in the Four Season''s men''s clothing line, but it wasn''t going too well, as one could tell.


    The people around Mason and Noah were already sweating bullets.


    It wasn''t only because of how poorly it was going, but rather how impossible Mason''s current demands were.


    When it came to working with Noah, Mason tended to just tell him outright what he wanted, unlike with some others, and there was one thing that should be known.


    Mason never changed his mind, no matter how absurd his demands sounded.


    Since he had already been clear, this meant that he already had a vision of what he wanted, and he wasn''t going topromise for anything less.


    And since he was already telling Noah, Mason had determined that Noah had the potential to meet his standards, it was just about the question of whether he was going to be able to do it in the given time frame, be it this day, this week, this month, or even this year. Mason wouldn''t stop for as long as they had the time, for as long as Mason knew that Noah could do it.


    However, there was a deadline for this specific photo, and so they didn''t have that kind of luxury.


    There were many discarded works for this very reason.


    Mason would never submit something substandard, even if that meant that he would have to pay thepensation.


    Many people who worked with him knew that, and so they made sure to have someone else ready just in case.


    Multiplepanies had demanded Mason just give them what he had, after all, to them, it was good enough, better than their substitute''s work, but Mason always rejected, this gave manypanies a great headache.


    Mason was both a pain in the ass to work with as well as the best partner you could ask for at the same time for many reasons, many times depending on the situation as well as the mood, yet even so people still lined up to partner together, this just went to show how valuable his skills were.

 Chapter 99 - Photoshoot Pt III: (Bashful Frost!)

    Noah, the model, was currently with his back against a background that resembled the starry sky in the north pole at night, while the suit that decorated his body was of a pale white color.


    Light blue hexagon patterns gave the image some color, following a gradient from the bottom up. This was true for both the jacket and the pants, as their colors met and melded in the middle.??


    The collection that Noah was modeling to advertise for had a theme of how the clothes changed the people and their image. Because of such a theme, they needed a single person to model for all four sets and this opportunity had been given to Noah.


    Now the Friendly Spring, Hot Summer, and Distant Fall were all done, but they had been stuck at the Cold Winter due to Mason''s vision of what this could be.


    He couldn''t be satisfied otherwise.


    "What part do you not understand?" Mason asked in a frustrated manner.


    "Cold but conflicted, quite simple no?"


    Mason was pacing around. He had this image in his mind and he couldn''t think about anything other than that one picture.


    No.


    He simply wouldn''t. He was too scared that if he were not thinking about it for even a second, he might lose it.


    Forget it and lose it to the realms of the unknown, the memories that would never be retrieved again.


    Amon urrence.


    It''s simr to when you have a shower thought, something amazing, or so you think because by the time you go get your phone to record the idea, you''ve already forgotten it.


    By then, even if you sit there for another hour, you won''t be able to steal it back from the tight grasp of forgetfulness and the curse of short-term memory loss, sometimes even long-term memory loss.


    And so, the thoughts going through Mason''s mind currently went something like this:


    [Yes, it has to be cold, after all, that''s the theme for this set.]


    [But I can''t just have it be cold, there''s no dimension to it whatsoever, howme!]


    [Not to mention, who the hell would want to buy something as unapproachable as cold? They would probably believe that only a certain type is fit to wear such a thing. Opposing the whole goal.]


    Mason still took into ount who he was partnering up with, a fashion line. It was only right for him to take note of what they would want.


    [Not to mention I have to give this Noah kid a hard time so that he''ll finally fold.]


    Mason had a cold smirk hidden behind his scrunched-up face. He was determined to squeeze that kid for every penny of his worth.


    [Yes, the conflicted imperfection of a flustered man, paired with the cold exterior shield, used to protect rather than attack.]


    [''Noah'' doesn''t want to harm everyone thates near, but rather protect himself from those who will melt his wall, not knowing what wille afterward.]


    [Conflicted by the unknown and shielded by the ice, not knowing that that frail ice is what will melt the quickest.]


    [A bashful frost.]


    [That is my theme.]


    The more Mason thought about it, the more he obsessed over it, feeling like he simply had to aplish this today, knowing that the first samples would have to be sent the very next morning.


    Emilin, who watched from the sidelines, couldn''t help but muse a little.


    She had never photographed anything other than scenery, but she knew that she wanted to learn. In the future, she wanted to be able to take beautiful pictures of the people around her and herself with them.


    Mason kept on going and going, while Noah simply quietly listened.


    One might even think that he was either mute or simply had no temper, but that was not the case at all.


    It was at that moment, the moment when he finally snapped.


    "Ah, old man, I''m so done with this. What is this bs about cold and this and that! I''ve been following your whims all day, you did this on purpose, right? Even if you want to win that stupid bet you don''t have to go so far as to severe rtionships like this, right?"


    Noah''s imagepletely changed at that moment, from an obedient model who listened to the photographer to a fed-up kid with a temper. No, it would be more urate to say that he returned to his original form.


    "What is this huh? I found it suspicious right away when a shooting day with you came up on my schedule like this out of nowhere. Did you offer them to do it? It can''t be a coincidence. I don''t buy it. You''re really pushing your luck this time. I might really go right out and quit."


    While Noah fumed about the unfair terms, every single person in the entirety of the studio, with the exceptions of Lisa, Mason, and Emilin, let out a short sigh.


    It seemed like they had been waiting for this moment all day, having been tensed up beforehand.


    They all knew the terms of the bet.


    "You heard the boy! Dinner is on him tonight, get ready to eat a big feast. We''re going for seafood at Carlson''s," Mason said, in a rtively loud voice. He didn''t scream, and he didn''t have to either to have everyone hear.


    "But Sir, you have to reserve a spot at least a week prior. There shouldn''t be any tables for a group asrge as ours," one of the workers on the sidelinesmented.


    "I already reserved the tables the day we made the bet," Mason calmly responded to the expected question as Noah''s veins bulged.


    Noah didn''t mind spending the money, he could afford it, but at that point, he''d have to be a moron not to know that he had been yed.


    As for Mason, he wasn''t provoking Noah for no reason, Mason had the tendency to push towards the mood that he wanted for the photo he wanted without telling anyone, it was second nature to him.


    In the end, he didn''t care whether he annoyed the other party to death or offended someone, as long as he got the job done, he would let his results make up for the rest.


    That was exactly what had happened with Owen.


    Mason did notck people who disliked him, in fact, even the people who liked him didn''t like him.


    Mason was gifted in that department.


    It was a skill, he would say.


    Yes, indeed, skilled. Very, very skilled.


    Anyways, the people who had been working overtime were d to have an affirmative that they would get off work before dinner time and so they were happy too.


    Mason saw how Noah was fuming while doing his best not to burst once again and instinctively knew that it was time to cate the boy.


    "Now, now. We''ll have to get back to the mood. Try cold now," Mason ordered.


    Noah''s brows couldn''t unfurrow no matter how hard he tried, and his lips tightened a little as he tried to get his facial muscles to move back to how they were previously, or at least something simr.


    Mason''s camera clicked, but his face still showed his dissatisfaction as he looked at the final product.


    Lisa shook her head, having let their guest, Emilin, witness such an unsightly scene with this whole bet and outburst thing. But now that it had already urred, there was nothing left to do about it.


    Lisa turned her head to look at the youngdy standing next to her.


    Emilin was staring intently at Noah.


    ''I guess it''s to be expected, after all, Noah is quite the looker and the youngdy should be around the same age,'' Lisa thought.


    But then, somethingpletely unexpected urred.


    Emilin, who had been standing quietly throughout the shoot suddenly started moving over.


    Her eyes were slightly murkier than usual as if she were recalling something. She wasn''t even thinking all that properly as she took steps towards the young model.


    Her shoes cked and echoed throughout the studio.


    Emilin felt like she had heard something in the background, perhaps someone talking, but she couldn''t concentrate enough to hear what was said.


    *Grab*


    Out of nowhere.


    Emilin had already made her way right in front of Noah and grabbed his face lightly. Rubbing a little and pinching his cheek as if musing his looks, but that was not truly the case.


    ''He looks like me,'' Emilin thought.


    It wasn''t about his physical appearance, but rather that look. The one that he had on his face just seconds ago.


    It reminded her of herself.


    All those times back in high school when she would stare into the mirror all day long, trying her best to look natural. Back then she had thought that employing the poker face would be good enough for her, but every time she thought about how everyone else could easily talk to others of their age and make friends, her face couldn''t help but scrunch up.


    She also wanted to make friends.


    It was an expression she had stared at for hours on end, truly unsightly. She didn''t like it, yet she was also eerily familiar with the look.


    And now, she had found that look in Noah.


    Perhaps Emilin was trying to squeeze it out of him, or maybe just trying to make sure it was real, but she simply couldn''t help but pinch Noah''s face at that moment.


    ***


    Theodore: WTF get away from my sister right this instant!


    Noah: Wh-what¡­ Sh-she was the one that came onto me! ( ? ¡ã - ¡ã ? )


    Theodore: Like hell she would! Who do you think you are eh? Who are you to defame my sister like this?


    Nathen: Now, now, Theo. I''m sure we can all talk this out like men. (¨°_¨®)


    Noah: ¡­ You mean with words, right?


    Nathen: Sure. Words, I love words. What else could we possibly use other than words?


    Noah: I think you used the word words one too many times¡­


    Nathen: Did I now?

 Chapter 100 - Photoshoot Pt IV: (Where Is She?)

    Emilin POV:


    I really don''t know what got into me. But by the time I snapped out of it, I could well and go dig a hole for myself to jump into.??


    I was so embarrassed I could just actually go jump in a hole and bury myself into it, though I''m pretty sure my facial paralysis didn''t change. At least that aspect was quite reliable at times like these.


    Even so, I didn''t practice for this!


    I mean how the heck was I supposed to practice for this anyways? It wasn''t as if I was some all-knowing god okay?


    I discretely moved my hands away from the guy''s face, well, just how discrete can you really be when everyone''s gaze is on your back anyway?


    Let''s just say that I was being as discrete as I could be.


    "I''m sorry, I won''t disturb you any longer."


    I cleared my voice before I did the 45-degree bow that I had practiced to hide my face that probably said ''Can someone just punch me already?''


    I couldn''t exactly just leave since I made an appointment, but I could do my best to stand in the corner and make everyone forget my presence.


    That much was rather easy once I cleared my mind.


    As for the rest, I made sure to not get noticed until it was my turn to talk.


    ***


    What the hell.


    Mason waspletely befuddled at that moment. Mason had heard his assistant Lisae in with Emilin when they first entered, but it was no big deal, so he didn''t bothermenting.


    If there was anything, he was sure that Lisa would take care of it. There were more important things in front of him at this moment, such as getting this photoshoot done before dinner time.


    Mason felt it. It was close, he was close. Close to his vision.


    Then, thedy, who even now he didn''t know the name of, went straight for his model. At first, Mason was yelling at her in his mind, not in person since plenty of other workers did that.


    "What the hell is she doing," Mason muttered under his breath.


    While the others were thinking about how they would have to reapply the makeup and everything else as well as the overtime, all Mason could think about was how this was going to affect the mood of his model.


    At first, his expression wasn''t the most sightly, but after observing Emilin pinching Noah for another second or two as well as Noah''s reaction, his face brightened up and a thought came up.


    There was a lot of doubt, but Mason''s spections ended up being right.


    This was a blessing in disguise.


    *Click*


    Mason didn''t waste a single second and just like that, the photo that was going to spread throughout the world in just a few more weeks after the debut of this new clothing collection was taken.


    Noah, who had been working hard on his cold face, was still standing there stunned even after having his picture taken. As someone who was around cameras a number of hours every day, it was truly umon for him to simply daze off like that.


    His mind was nk and his facial expression didn''t change, it remained that cold poker face, but his whole face was flushed from neck up in a pale pink color.


    Mason pped his hands together to signal the end of the photoshoot.


    "A bashful frost indeed," he continued to mutter in a voice that was inaudible to anyone else other than himself.


    "Wrap it up, everyone, lets take a rest and then go out for our big feast!"


    It was only then that the makeup artists, the people who were on the lights, and the ones at the screens snapped out of it.


    They immediately started dismantling the stage after Mason took a few more shots from different angles while Noah was simply frozen there like a sculpture.


    An ice sculpture... tainted with a warm pink.


    "What should we do with Noah?" One of the people who worked on the clothing asked.


    Even if they could keep the outfits given to them and Noah was allowed to keep them, he still had to take it off since it wasn''t too suitable for eating out, especially when the clothing line had yet toe out to the market.


    Yet Noah had to move an inch since the end of the photoshoot.


    "Just leave him be. He''ll snap out of it when he wants to."


    "Okay, then should we clean off the makeup and everything else first," the makeup artist beside the other asked.


    "Go ahead," Mason saw no reason to reject.


    Mason went on to check on everyone else''s progress, but after he finished deciding on the final 4 photos to send it thepany, a thought urred to him.


    ''Am I not forgetting something?''


    But no matter how much he thought about it. Nothing came up. It was on the tip of his tongue too.


    "Sir, are you sure you want to send this one to CXC?" a male worker asked as he pointed to thest one, the bashful frost one.


    The thing was, the other side didn''t ask for such a theme, and they hadn''t confirmed it with Noah yet.


    It didn''t seem right to just send it like that.


    "Yes, it will be fine. Noah lost the bet, after all, this much is fine, plus, if those dumbasses in CXC don''t understand the value of this piece of art, so be it. Let them cancel the contract," Mason fully disyed the disagreeableness of a man with skills to back him up.


    "Plus, we can''t let that youngdy''s efforts go to waste," Mason continued, thinking that there may have been some deliberateness in Emilin''s actions.


    "That''s it!"


    Mason suddenly remembered what he had forgotten.


    "Where is she?"


    It was almost as if she had vanished from his memory. He had thought about talking to her even before she walked up to Noah, but after that event, it was as if his mind didn''t allow him to think about her at all.


    But Mason didn''t think too much about it, assuming that he had simply been too immersed in his work, which wasn''t umon.


    ***


    **


    *


    The man who worked the front desk at Mason''s studio, Lico, didn''t have much to do after Emilin went in.


    His job was rather mundane seeing as there weren''t too many peopleing in and out who needed introducing. Most of those who came were people who came on a regr basis and there was only one Mason so there were only so many peopleing over at a time.


    And honestly, those who were good enough to even get an appointment were mostly people who Lisa would have to wee in herself.


    There really wasn''t much for Lico to do, but he didn''t mind that either.


    This was also where he got the time to read some of those novels with all those pitiful cannon folders.


    On that note, Lico thought back to the person he had weed in just a while ago. It had been around 2- 3 hours already.


    As someone who truly had nothing better to do, Lico let his mind wander a little.


    ''But then again, just who was she?''


    ''She couldn''t have been a model right? I mean she isn''t ugly, but she isn''t particrly pretty either... not to mention Noah is already in there.''


    ''I wonder what is taking so long. Maybe if Lisa hadn''t boughten her in I would have assumed they were just letting her wait in one of the lobby areas or something.''


    ''Yeah, there''s no way she couldpare to Noah.''


    But.


    When Lico''s thoughts reached that point, something seemed to block his thought process.


    Lico''s eyes became hazy as his eyebrows scrunched up and his lips pursed.


    "Just what did she look like again?" He cursed under his breath, realizing that no matter how he thought about it, he simply couldn''t recall just how that youngdy looked like.


    ***


    Lico: Am I going crazy?


    Lico: Finally going crazy?


    Mason: *Munching on sunflower seeds*


    Mason: Nah, this guy over here is much more likely to have gone crazy. *Points at Noah*


    Mason: *Chuckle* Well wouldn''t it be more urate to say that his brain was fried?


    Noah: ... *Receiver not epting signal*


    Mason: See?


    Lico: *Sigh* (totally feeling better about himself)


    Lico: Then what does it mean to not remember something you saw just a few hours ago?


    Mason: That you''re growing old? *snicker*


    Lico: ...


    Lico: If I''m old then what are you? A fossil?


    Mason: I agree with you.


    Mason: You have indeed gone crazy this time.


    Lico: At least it''s better than being dead and fossilized right? (WARNING: Crazy talk right here, don''t try this at home nor at work, much less towards your boss, and please not to his face.)


    Mason: ...


    Mason: I see, so that''s how you truly feel. *Rubs chin*


    Mason: Come on then,e over here. *hand signal*


    Mason: I promise I won''t hit you.


    Lico: This is abuse!


    Everyone else: *Munching on the rest of the sunflower seeds...*


    Lisa: *smh* Thank god Miss Emilin isn''t here to witness yet another unpresentable event. Why don''t we just throw our face down the drain already?

 Chapter 101 - Dinner Pt I: (Cheap Ass)

    Others may not have noticed, but there was no way that Noah didn''t, because when he saw Emilin, he waspletely spellbound.


    Emilin was beautiful. A beauty indescribable with one or two words.??


    When she first came into the studio, Noah had already paid her some attention. It wasn''t every day that someone he didn''t know came in, after all, the modeling industry wasn''t the vastest, at least not at his level.


    Of course, there were many people he didn''t know in the industry, but none of them were particrly notable.


    But after giving her a good look, he determined that she wasn''t anything special. Assuming that she was a model, he wouldn''t have expected her anywhere near Mason''s studio, well at least not inside it.


    That is until she was standing right in front of him.


    Besides having his face pinched and contorted, it was also pped, just not in the literal sense for thetter, as for the former, ouch.


    He hadn''t reacted properly precisely because he was shocked. Others may have thought that that was due to Emilin''s audacious actions, and that was a part of it, but not entirely the case.


    It was as if a ghost hade, one second that girl was nothing he hadn''t seen before, and the very next he couldn''t peel his eyes away.


    It was as if in that split second she had taken off a face mask or something.


    Instead of the unmemorable female, which had been forgotten among a sea of pretty faces, another one was in front of him right then and there.


    That moment would be engraved in his heart, one that he would be able to look back to in the future with a sigh.


    The day and the moment he had first met his most precious¡­ friend.


    Her dark hair shone among the various lights, enhancing her natural skin color, her eyes seemingly staring into his soul through his very own eyes. Her pupils were slightly distorted, but that was unnotable when Noah peered at the rest of Emilin''s features.


    When she was young, her features were rather cute and angelic, and even now, that angelic part didn''t change.


    Yet now, it no longer meant an angelic in a cute innocent way, but more like the representation of an actual angel that had descended to the mortal world.


    A chilly, indifferent-looking angel.


    Her face told him that she was indifferent on various levels, but her eyes. Her eyes seemed sympathetic.


    That left Noah with a sour aftertaste in his mouth.


    ''Does she sympathize with me? I don''t seem to have anything worthy of garnering sympathy...''


    As for the rest of the story... well you''ve already read it so there is really no need to be repetitive. You can simply imagine Noah''s POV and thoughts...


    Noah: Actually scratch that.


    Noah: Forget it. Every moment. Don''t remember, don''t recall, don''t think!


    Noah: Just stop and move on.


    [Yes Sir!]


    ***


    Noah finished changing out of his clothes with a group of giggly people, males, and females alike.


    Noah calmed himself down, but whenever he nced at one of the people around him, all of whom started smiling meaningfully, he couldn''t help but blush a little again.


    That is before Mason came along.


    Then again, it couldn''t be fully med on him, it was bound to get quite annoying at one point or another, even if Mason hadn''t made his entrance.


    "What the fuck! No way, you didn''t actually use that did you?"


    Noah shouted when Mason told him that the photos were already sent.


    "Well, you have to admit though, it was pretty good, and you can''t do anything about it anymore anyway," Mason one-sidedly argued.


    "Of course I can! Did that girl, what''s her name agree to that?"


    Mason was slightly puzzled. He thought that Noah would be the first toin about how it couldn''t have been better than all the other photos or something else.


    But this was unexpected, he was instead asking about that littless? And her consent no less.


    "Why does that matter?" Mason asked.


    "How does it not matter? If you''re going to take a picture involving her then shouldn''t you ask her first?"


    "Well I won''t say that she''s not involved, I mean she did help a great deal, but consent? I don''t think that will be necessary." Mason contemted.


    "Well, if you''re taking and publishing a photo of her, then how the hell can you do it without asking her first?"


    Mason only got more confused.


    "What made you think that she was in the shot?"


    "Hm? She''s not?" Noah asked, dumbfounded.


    The blush that had been dispelled crept back up.


    "Of course not. CXC would have definitelyined if she was. But don''t avoid the question now. Come on, tell me why you thought she would be in the shot." Mason smirked bemusedly.


    "No- no reason. Why would she be in the shot..." Noah muttered thatst part, stuttering in the first.


    Mason''s smirk grew wider.


    "No reason huh?"


    Noah''s big hands reached for his neck, embarrassed.


    "Come on then, I won''t tell, why don''t youe to see the photo then." Mason found the need to strike the iron while it was still hot.


    He had a strange feeling, intuition if you may, that Noah would be more receptive at this moment. Well, he wasn''t wrong.


    "Mm." Noah hummed, this was a god sent considering he wanted to stop talking about it.


    Though it wasn''t as if he was oblivious to the fact that Mason was using this moment of weakness against him.


    Anyways, he didn''t mind too much since he wanted to see the photo.


    "It''s great, isn''t it? This is going into my portfolio just so you know. Be proud." Mason added.


    Noah''s eyes widened.


    He had to admit that it was pretty great, no doubt. He could feel the emotions that Mason had described throughout the photoshoot from that shot, but it was also strange.


    The person on the screen was unfamiliar, his face was the one and only, the one he woke up to, the one he saw when he looked at the mirror, yet that expression was not.


    That expression waspletely new to him.


    Very distant.


    "What is there to be proud of? It''s not as if I got there on my own," Noah huffed.


    "You should be proud just from the fact that your face made its way to my portfolio," Mason retorted.


    That much was actually rather true.


    Noah had been working with Mason for a long time now, and the truth of the matter at hand was that even now, not counting this piece, he only had 2 other pictures featured in Mason''s portfolio, which could already be considered quite good, especially if you took into ount just who else was there.


    "Fine, I''ll forgive you this one time considering I lost the bet." Noah snorted.


    "Not like you have a choice," Mason wanted thest word on this one.


    "Whatever," Noah turned his back on this matter right then and there. He knew that he wasn''t going to be winning anything, especially if he spoke with Mason for any longer.


    "Then let get going, everyone else must be waiting for us so that we can get the dinner that you''re paying for." Mason teased.


    He just had to mention the meal again.


    "Why are you so happy eh? You cheap stake."


    "Well don''t you have your answer right there? From what you''ve said it''s pretty clear right? I''m excited since I''m a cheap stake."


    "Fuck you, you and your millionaire cheap ass."


    "On the contrary, this ass is pretty damn expensive," Mason said with a serious face.


    Well on that note, Noah was speechless.


    They started making their way out to the lobby, where everyone else was gathered, getting ready to leave and it was then, right before they got back with the others that Noah asked.


    "So what''s her name?"


    Mason didn''t get it at first, but when he did, he replied.


    "I don''t know either," Mason admitted, not at all embarrassed that he didn''t know the name of the person he had invited.


    Shamelessness is a quirk.


    ***


    Owen had gotten to the lobby of Mason''s studio, a ce he had been to before. Just once.


    By the time he made his way through the entrance, there were already groups and waves of people gathered there.


    "Why are you all gathered here," he asked Lisa, the person he was most familiar with around here. He didn''t bother trying to ask the others since they may be ufortable talking to someone who was closer in status to their boss.


    "Well, we''re going for dinner together today," Lisa promptly responded.


    "Is that so? Well, that''s a shame. I was going to ask you and your boss if you wanted to have a chat, but seeing as you are busy, I won''t bother you any longer," Owen got ready to leave.


    "Why don''t you join us then, if you have the spare time that is."


    Owen considered it for a bit before responding.


    "I would be honored."


    Lisa still found it strange, associating this man in front of him with the same man who had the title of a g yboy, but she didn''t pay it too much mind.


    It wasn''t her ce toment either.


    "Great, then we''ll add two extra seats."


    "Oh? Two?" Owenmented on the even number.

 Chapter 102 - Dinner Pt II: (Three Of The Whole Menu!)

    "Yes, thisdy over here will be joining us too." Lisa indicated, pointing at Emilin who stood right beside her.


    Owen was slightly stunned at that moment. He hadn''t noticed her right then even though she was clearly standing right in front of him. How strange...??


    Emilin, on the side, nodded in greeting.


    "It''s nice to meet you, I''m Owen," he introduced himself.


    Even though the female wasn''t particrly noticeable, she was interesting enough.


    "Emilin. Likewise."


    It was then that 2 more presences made their way into the lobby room, which was by now,pletely overcrowded.


    "What are you all doing crowding here? Can''t some of you wait outside?" Noah''s eyes twitched when he saw the sheer number of people waiting here.


    There should be over 20 people gathered around, and this lobby wasn''t particrly big. It didn''t have to be, after all, the studio was only that expanse and as previously mentioned, they didn''t really even have a need for this lobby.


    They weren''t going to be going easy on his wallet.


    "We can''t let your wallet run off without us."


    Someone in the midst of the crowd shouted before the person standing beside him covered his mouth.


    The second guy smiled and said, "This guy means that we were just too excited to eat a meal that the great Noah is offering to pay for."


    To be fair, that wasn''t much better... still better, just not by a great margin.


    Still, the mood was good and everyone chucked as people started teasing Noah one by one.


    Emilin couldn''t help but marvel at how great the atmosphere was, somewhat amazed at how everyone interacted with Noah.


    The conversation just naturally seemed to revolve around him, and even when it didn''t, people still gave Noah nces as if to ask him whether there was anything he would like to input into the conversation.


    They were all at ease.


    This went way beyond just his good looks, though it probably had some level of influence on his likability. Just the atmosphere around him seemed to allow for others to open up to him.


    "All right, all right. Let''s stop with these small games and get to the big tables. You can keep talking while we are eating, the sooner we get there the more time we have to take bites off of Noah''s credit reserves."


    Masonughed.


    He was the one who knew how to really get on Noah''s nerves, and the results were clear just from the nasty re Noah shot at Mason, signally that he was ready to just bite Mason''s head right off.


    Mason ignored it all and promptly made his way outside, and the others followed suit as they all got into their vehicles to get to Carlson''s, the seafood restaurant they were splurging at.


    Owen, Noah, Emilin, Mason, and Lisa all got off a grey Rolls Royce in front of an inviting restaurant. From the outside, you could tell that there were two floors and the entirety of the filled up first floor could be seen through the window panels that doubled as walls.


    As for the second floor, there were balconies and a proper wall and so the people from the outside couldn''t really tell what was going on inside. However, despite there being quite a few of those balconies open, there wasn''t much noise traveling to the outside.


    Then again, it was quite early.


    "How long will you be able to keep uspany?" Mason asked Owen, who hade out of the car right before him as they had been sitting together.


    "I won''t stay too long, I have another appointment in around an hour, but thankfully it''s close by," Owen replied as he nced at his watch.


    Unlike others, who mainly used their expensive watches as decoration, Owen used it to tell the time.


    It was quite convenient if he may say so himself, highly rmended.


    Owen didn''t want toment on the number of times he had seen business partners who simply used their watches as decorations or a sign of prestige.


    And how could he tell?


    Well simply from the fact that the time on the watch waspletely off. And let''s not even talk about how the minute was so off that they wouldn''t even be able to me it on time zones if it were pointed out.


    Which at some point Owen stopped doing. He realized it was just embarrassing for the other party if he said it out loud, and that even if he said it, it probably wasn''t going to change their habits of reaching out for their phones to look at the time, and so he stopped bothering.


    "Then you must eat as much as possible before leaving," Mason ecstatically said.


    Owen was bbergasted as he looked at this person,pletely unlike the photographer he had met a few days back.


    Mason acted like a friendly pauper and though Owen didn''t know the exacts of his true wealth, Owen could estimate.


    And let''s just be frank here, no matter how low his estimate was, it was still in the millions, perhaps more.


    If he were topare they would be like 2 different species, the friendly pauper vs the rude, obnoxious, annoying, strict demon with a camera.


    Though to be honest, Owen didn''t really have the right to say that.


    If any one of the workers during that photoshoot could read Owen''s thoughts, they would probably say he was the pot calling the kettle ck.


    He shifted his gaze to Noah, who seemed to have finally gone numb from having all these money suckers around him and so when he saw Owen looking at him as if to ask for his opinion on the matter, Noah just lightly shrugged.


    "Well, I would really love to, but it just so happens that my next appointment is a dinner appointment, so I will have to reject your kind offer."


    "That''s a shame."


    "Well what did you expect old man, it''s an appointment at 7 PM, if it''s not to eat then what else is he going to do?" Noah scoffed.


    "It''s you who''s abnormal,ing to eat at six," he continued toin.


    "Well the saying does go, the early bird gets the worm."


    Emilin nearly staggered when she heard Mason talking.


    ''I don''t think that''s how you use that saying...'' she thought, ''and this isn''t really early per se either.''


    "Let''s go then, we should get in there as soon as possible so that we can get started sooner, eat more, and then get home before tomorrowes!"


    Emilin could see a small skip in Mason''s steps, it seemed like he was truly quite happy.


    As for Noah, he didn''t believe a farting from Mason''s mouth.


    ''Ha. Getting home before 12? I''d be lucky if you all stopped eating after closing hours at 4 AM!'' Noah snorted at the thought.


    "You''ve finallye! Let''s go, let''s go in then! Do you know how long we''ve been waiting here?"


    Apparently, everyone else had already gotten here much earlier as they were all crowding at the entrance of the restaurant waiting for their boss''s arrival, seeing as he was the one with the reservation.


    "Sorry guys, we made you all wait," Mason smiled amicably.


    "Since Mr. Noah and Mr. Owen were in our car, we weren''t able to drive over the speed limit as you have. After all, we have an image to uphold do we not?" Mason continued in a polite tone.


    "No problem boss, we could wait another 10 minutes!"


    Everyone else burst intoughter, well with the exception of the group of 4 who hade with Mason.


    "What do you mean ''our car'', that''s clearly my car," Noah jokinglyined, loud enough for everyone else to hear.


    "Now now, don''t say that." Mason waved his hand as if talking with Noah.


    But that was not the case, in fact, he hadpletely ignored Noah, instead of waving at that employee who had previously shouted enthusiastically that they could wait.


    "Of course you can''t wait! You''ve all worked hard and you''ve all earned this meal, so how could we make you wait?" Mason smirked.


    "That''s why you should all eat till your heart''s content!" Mason said as he led the way, moving through the crowd.


    Emilin was impressed.


    This man was a whole deal more shameless than her previous image of him, after all, he was able to talk as if he was the one paying for the whole meal, acting all generous when everyone knew that that was clearly not the case.


    Thumbs up to him.


    Mason told the waiter his name, which was also the one that he used for the reservation and a designated waiter directed the whole group to their table.


    The tables were actually just tables for 4 all ced one after another, but they could hardly tell considering the great craftsmanship. It was as if the tables simply became one. It was good that there wasn''t any leg that was too long or short.


    Once everyone sat themselves down, upying 3 tables, each seated with 8 people, the waiter immediately took their order. One would think that it would take long considering how much Mason had pushed them all to order more, but in fact, it really didn''t.


    That was because when the waiter came, he was given just one order.


    "Just get 3 sets of the whole menu please."


    Everyone was stunned, including the waiter who had been working at the restaurant for years now.


    "Sir are you sure?"


    "Yes, I''m sure, I''m paying after all, right?"

 Chapter 103 - Dinner Pt III: (Eat It All Okay?~)

    Everyone was stunned silent.


    That was right. It was Noah who made this order, not Mason, not the employees, not anyone else, but Noah himself. The one and only.??


    Once the waiter left their table, still confounded, everyone started cheering as they chattered.


    "Wow! Too cool!" One of the females on the second table said, clearly astonished.


    "This check is really no longer in the 10 thousand range, what the heck?" Someone said as he flipped through the thick menu that the waiter had left there.


    "Suave, really, suave."


    Honestly, who even uses the word suave anymore?


    "Hey, just who is he trying to impress here?"


    One of the male staff members (Mason''s employee not the restaurant''s employee) gave Noah''s table a repulsed re, but his smile, which just couldn''t be rubbed off his face betrayed him.


    "But still, isn''t this a little too much?"


    "Yeah just look at these dishes, I don''t think there''s one that isn''t in the 3 digits with the exception of the bread, he''s really splurging today."


    Noah didn''t pay the others any mind as he was busy hiding his little smirk, one that you would usually find in a 7-year old that just pulled a prank thinking it was the funniest thing in the world.


    He shifted his gaze around, making eye contact with everyone around before opening his mouth again to kill the frenzied chatter.


    "You guys wanted a feast right?"


    "Then you''ll have to make sure that you finish it all okay?~"


    Noah smiled brightly as everyone else staggered in their seats.


    ''This guy is too revengeful!'' They all thought.


    But they soon forgot all about it after the dishes were brought in.


    They all had their own little ns and ideas to deal with that matter.


    "No problem!"


    "I could eat the whole menu by myself, how could this faze me?"


    They said...


    "That''s great! Then you won''t be able to package any of it to take home. Though I''m sure none of you will have to resort to that since you can each eat a whole menu worth of this food. Don''t be polite now! I can always order more if need be." Noah directly broke through all of their happy dreams of finding loopholes.


    Suddenly, the food in their mouths seemed to taste a little less delicious.


    Especially as they watched the tes the waiters were bringing in pile up.


    Don''t get it wrong, it''s still one of the most delicious meals they ever had, after all, the most delicious foods are the free ones, but just thinking about the amount of fooding in made some of these people nauseous.


    Half an hourter.


    Stomaches were stuffed, tes were emptied, and drinks were drunk.


    Noah had a satisfied smile on his face as he looked at the bloated people. It was somewhat sadistic, and he also realized that much, but he didn''t mind.


    However, what did surprise him was that one of the people to have emptied out the most tes in their whole group was actually Emilin, whose name he had finally gotten.


    She herself had finished what Noah estimated to be over a quarter of the menu, enough food for around 3 adult males.


    Considering her figure, Noah had assumed Emilin to be much like many of his other model acquaintances and friends.


    People who were on strict diets of low carb, low sugar, low fat, and really, low everything, but that was now clearly not the case. I mean, Emilin had eaten a basket of that buttery bread that even Noah didn''t dare touch.


    He was impressed by her appetite, even now she wasn''t slowing down, keeping a steady pace while eating.


    At her rate, Noah wouldn''t bepletely surprised if she could truly finish the whole menu, not that they had ordered enough for her to eat the whole thing.


    Noah wasn''t the only one who had noticed.


    Lisa, Mason, and Owen didn''t fail to catch this detail either.


    They were all people who interacted closely with models and so not a single one of them wasn''t shocked to some level.


    Lisa was jealous like most women would be if they were to see another female, or even male, eat food in such proportions while keeping such a desirable figure, or really just not inting like a balloon.


    Mason simply didn''t understand how it was possible for such a littledy to eat so much. Questions like, ''Where is she hiding all this food?'' and ''Does she just eat and then shit it out right after?'' were ones that made him question how physics really worked.


    As for Owen, he found it quite novel that a female wasn''t counting the number of bites they were eating or the number of calories.


    He didn''t mind it at all, after all, he found it quite distasteful at times when thedy he was spending time with stopped eating in the middle of dinner or something of the sorts saying, ''Welp, that''s my daily intake of calories now.''


    Like, what was he supposed to do then?


    Stop eating? No way.


    Since he hadn''t finished his meal, he would of course continue consuming his food, yet somehow, they would always find a way to scold him for it.


    How absurd was that? Saying that he was being insensitive since he was eating when the other party already stopped.


    Was it his fault? No.


    It wasn''t his fault that this person who he wasn''t even in a rtionship with, and who had demanded from him at least 1 proper ''date'', couldn''t eat since they didn''t want to and then simply assumed that he wouldn''t be eating anymore either.


    To hell with that.


    By the time Mason and some of the others stopped eating, Emilin also realized the amount she had consumed. Even for her, it was quite a bit, and there was some level of stress eating influencing that amount.


    ''Well, crap.''


    Emilin put down her utensils with a ck at that point and was a little embarrassed to lift up her head.


    It was fine if she were eating like that in front of her family (happens all the time) and friends (not that she had any), but in front of a bunch of people who could be considered strangers, acquaintances at best, this wasn''t exactly appropriate, especially when she wasn''t even the one paying.


    Thinking to that point, Emilin stood up to excuse herself so that she could ''go to the bathroom''.


    ''So does she really just eat and then shit it out?'' Mason rubbed his chin as he thought.


    Then thinking that it wasn''t exactly the best thing to think about while eating, he stopped.


    "So what is it you wanted to talk about Mr. Owen?" Mason asked.


    Owen sighed seeing that this old annoying man finally took the time out of his busy, busy day to stop eating and talk to him.


    Though Owen knew clearly that it wasn''t because the man didn''t want to continue eating but rather because Mason couldn''t anymore.


    "Further cooperation of course." Owen went straight to the point.


    "Queue up kiddo," Mason truly didn''t give him the time of the day.


    "What would cooperation with you take?" Owen wasn''t discouraged at all.


    "My interest of course," Mason didn''t hesitate to answer as he grabbed another m to rece the one he just ate.


    "Then as long as you''re interested, all terms are negotiable," Owen asked for confirmation, though it sounded much more like a statement.


    "You could put it like that, though I''ll tell you now kid, that''s no easy task you have there." Mason pointed his empty mshell at Owen as if talking to a child, or a junior.


    Owen nodded as if agreeing. It was clear to him that the things Mason had seen and taken pictures of as of today were in no way insignificant.


    For a private request, it indeed would have to be something of some significance for Mason to agree to cooperate.


    "So what if I have something that is of interest to you?"


    Owen decided that now was as good as a time as any to open up the topic and finally start the negotiations, after all, the other party seemed to be in a particrly good mood right now, which was advantageous to him.


    Mason''s attention shifted a little from his food to Owen, but just a little.


    "Do tell."


    Though Mason said that, it was obvious he wasn''t particrly interested.


    He had a good impression of Owen due to his father, but as for the man himself, Mason wasn''t all too interested in getting involved.


    As for the way he had spoken to Owen during the shoot, that was just to get to his nerves for the sess of the shoot. He didn''t actually really care about the man''s private life.


    "I have a big project I want tounch by next year and you are my best choice for a photographer," Owen said as he pulled out a small stack of papers which he then pressed under his fingers on the table.


    "Please do keep some discretion," He added.


    Mason rolled his eyes.


    That much was necessary for his line of work. It wasn''t something that really needed to be asked of. It was a silent rule, something that is expected.


    Mason wiped his hands clean and reached for the papers. 2 sentences that made Mason''s eyes widen were written on the cover page.


    It wasn''t discrete at all, but he hadn''t been able to read it previously since Owen''s hand was covering it.


    [Authenic Fur Fashion Line]


    Under which it said.


    [20 different pieces made of Elise Fox Fur, Lull Bear Fur, Indiana Snakeskin, and more...]


    It was absurd.


    Absolutely crazy.


    Did this guy not fear? After all, some of these animals were going near-extinct and were absolutely illegal to hunt, and even if they weren''t illegal to hunt, people would be crazy to do so.


    "Are you mad?" Mason finally expressed his shock.

 Chapter 104 - Dinner Pt IV: (New Business Partner)

    "Are you mad?"


    "Not quite, I''m quite sane as of this moment, thank you," Owen replied with a yful smirk.??


    Mason rolled his eyes in response.


    "Kid, this is illegal," his brows furrowed, thinking about how such a nice man like Zenon would be pulled into his son''s mess if this got out of hand.


    Mason wouldn''t care about Owen''s private love affairs, but if it stepped into illegal territory, he wasn''t going to just sit back and watch either.


    "Rx," Owen gestured for Mason to flip the page, which he did skeptically.


    Mason casually read at first, that is until he had to reread the first paragraph 3 times just to make sure he was reading it correctly.


    He hadn''t expected this one.


    Mason''s eyes shone thinking about the possibilities, thinking of the possible ways to use such valuable resources.


    "How long will it take you to get real products on the table?" Mason couldn''t hide his excitement, no matter how much he tried and Owen was d to see that he had Mason good.


    He had the big fish on the line, now he only had to reel him in.


    "I''m talking to their representative today about exactly that, but I''ve estimated that we should have at least 5 to 6 products on the table by the end of the next month if we start immediately."


    ''That''s faster than I thought. Is he nning to make everyone on his side work overtime?''


    It was currently nearing the end of September and so the end of the next month would be around Halloween, the end of October.


    Now Mason was in a dilemma.


    Did he want to keep on eating here, or did he want to go with Owen to find out more about the project?


    Ah, the struggle.


    The problems Mason had to deal with could trulypare with rocket science.


    "So what do you think?" Owen asked when he saw Mason considering it seriously.


    Mason shook his head, making Owen think that he was about to reject the offer, not knowing that Mason had long decided to take the job and was just thinking about what he should do with dinner.


    "I''m still considering..." whether I should keep eating and join youter or to go with you and skip out on eating more.


    ''I did eat quite a bit already, maybe I should give Noah a break on this one.'' Mason nodded at his own thoughts.


    He was feeling benevolent today.


    "Well, I''ll have to go receive my guest right now, so we can speak together when she arrives," Owen said, ncing at the time on his watch.


    "Hm?"


    "Well, I''ll tell you. I was quite shocked when I found out that you guys were eating here since I also made my appointment here today," Owen pushed his hair back as he let out a short chuckle.


    "Then I must say that you were quite urate when saying that your appointment was made quite close," Mason replied with a smile.


    This was perfect for him!


    He didn''t have to give up on either one of his choices, eating here while discussing this project, two birds with one stone.


    Not to mention he could also invite the guest to eat with them to fatten up the checkter.


    Owen soon made his way back up with a beautiful woman. Her light chestnut hair swayed as she walked in with her hand holding on to Owen''s arm.


    It gave others the illusion that Owen was a kind gentleman and if Mason didn''t know this man''s reputation as a womanizer to be a fact, he would have likely assumed those to be lies told by someone jealous.


    However knowing his reputation, Mason had a little inkling. Thinking that this woman of light hair, wearing a beautiful blouse and a ck skirt may have rtions with Owen other than the work-rted ones.


    "Let me introduce you, this is Miss Lenin, the businesswoman we will be partnering with as well as our supplier. Great beauty and has the skills to back her up, a pleasure to work with." Owen signaled to his side.


    "And this is the photographer who I wanted to introduce you to, Mason, better known as Nosa. Very skilled."


    Miss Lenin moved his gaze to Mason, who was, for better or for worse, presentable.


    Mason''s hands were still somewhat oily from the food he was eating, his clothes somewhat messy from reaching out for food as well as stuffing the napkins to make sure his clothes didn''t get dirty, well, at least it wasn''t dirty and his hair wasn''t neat, but it wasn''t too bad either. He didn''t have the time or patience to brush or anything of the sort before leaving.


    "Pleasure to meet you, Mister Mason, It''s an honor to meet someone who can make Owen look even slightly serious in a photo, quitemendable," Miss Lenin (Lenin is herst name FYI) smiled as he mocked Owen, who''s arm she was still holding.


    Her sentiments were incredibly sincere, but Owen didn''t mind too much.


    Mason shifted his gaze from Owen to his partner and then back with a questioning expression.


    "Oh, please, no," Miss Lenin shook her free hand at Mason.


    "The two of us are in a purely business rtionship so don''t let your imagination run wild," Miss Lenin shook her head with a smile as if already used to such a reaction from others.


    Owen, on the side also had a weak smile on his face.


    "What do you mean purely business-orientated rtionship? You could at least address me as a friend." Owen said weakly.


    "This is a business setting so we should act like it, rest assured that no friendship could affect our partnership in this project," Miss Lenin properly addressed the issue like a strong businesswoman.


    "So you guys aren''t having sex?"


    "Not at all."


    Miss Lenin once again shook her head gently, not at all embarrassed due to the misunderstanding.


    On the other hand, it was Owen that had a somewhat sour expression on his face, though he still concorded with Miss Lenin.


    "I see, then I''ll stop thinking unnecessary thoughts," admitting to having misunderstood.


    "I would shake your hand, but I''m sure you''d rather not. Can I invite you toe to eat at our table as we chat?" Mason moved on from that topic promptly as he showed off his oily hands to reject the handshake offered to him.


    "Very well then, I''ll be joining you." She nodded.


    Owen asked a waiter to pull up an extra chair on one of the tables and one of the employees on Mason''s table moved over to empty out the seat next to Owen and across from Mason to Miss Lenin.


    "Then let''s get straight to business." Mason started, to which Miss Lenin simply nodded.


    She was also hungry so it was best not to drag anything out for too long.


    "Then I''ll give you a brief exnation of the project. Some of this information you will be able to find in the folder handed to you by Owen, and other details you won''t be able to find anywhere on paper. Though I''m telling you all this assuming that you will be taking up this job, so if you do not have such ns, I suggest you tell me now. And I will add that I require you to be 100% certain."


    Owen was already used to Miss Lenin''s straightforward approach, which both showed how steady and confident she was.


    He didn''tment on her words which showed his position on the matter. It seemed like Miss Lenin had quite the big say here.


    Mason simply nodded, having long decided to participate.


    "Very well, I''ll warn you once again. There''s no backing out anymore."


    She sounded so confident that it almost made Mason believe that there would be repercussions he couldn''t possibly face if he were to back out now.


    It gave him the chills, still, he didn''t regret the impromptu decision he had made.


    "The truth is, I am not the one who is providing these resources, but rather my brother. This farm mentioned on the second page is one of a kind and it belongs to my brother. My father was, and still is, an avid collector of animals of all species and subspecies and you can rest assured that he has the legal documents to do so."


    The young woman, around 23-4 years of age, revealed this shocking news.


    Animals were going extinct left and right and many of these animals listed below were ones protected by nations. Various different ones at that.


    This could only mean one thing.


    This father of hers was powerful, likable, or influential enough to have all of these national figures concede.


    Allowing him to collect and nurture such animals. He would also have to be skilled or at least possessor of enough money to be able to provide living conditions as well as food for animals of such varying species.


    Not to mention that if others knew this to be true, it would be more than just one or two powerful people who would be unsatisfied.


    Even though Mason didn''t know much, he had still watched some national geographics when he was younger.


    He knew that some of these animals had already been in danger of going extinct for decades, most of them due to the environment they could grow in as well as climate change, etc.


    Their habitats were being destroyed and most of the animals on this list had desirable features for which they would be hunted for.


    Some lived in expanse rainforests, others in the freezing antarctic, others only being able to survive in certain temperatures while even more required changes in terrain.


    There was more than one reason why they were in danger of going extinct, which only made them rarer and more valuable.


    The number of things that prevented them from being nurtured, and much less nurtured together piled up, which only made this even more unbelievable to Mason, and to anyone else really.

 Chapter 105 - Dinner Pt V: (Sister Margo~)

    "I''m assuming that this ce is not open for visitations?" Mason hesitantly asked. He was currently hoping for the best but preparing his heart for the worse, he didn''t want to get his hopes up too high.


    The chances that he would be able to visit the farm were abysmally low, and let''s not talk about taking photos, photographic evidence of the existence of such a ce, even just knowing the location and going there would be risky for the first party.??


    Still, if Mason didn''t try, the chances would be 0.


    Miss Lenin gave Mason a bitter smile, but her response was actually rather unexpected.


    "It''s not impossible."


    That sounded eerily close to impossible, but it still gave Mason some level of expectation.


    Owen also had question marks written all over his face as he looked at Miss Lenin, which was in full view for Mason to see. It was clear that Owen hadn''t expected this either.


    "Don''t get your hopes up though. It''ll depend on your performance," she smiled as she threw the little carrot on a stick in front of the donkey.


    "Did Lennie agree?" Owen asked in a whisper.


    "Do you think I need his approval?" Miss Lenin lifted an eyebrow at him, to which Owen immediately lifted his hands in resignation.


    ''But it is his farm after all,'' Owen inwardly thought.


    ''Not that Lennie would be able to do anything if she (Miss Lenin) decided to bring someone over.''


    ''Well, she has her own measures.''


    In the end, Lennie Lenin was still Miss Margo''s older brother. The one who inherited his father''s great farm and went on to build on it, expanding it to this extent.


    Yet it seemed like his sister still had an upper hand to some extent. Not that she would do anything that would prejudice the farm.


    "But how do you guys want to make a business out of this? It doesn''t seem stable, no matter how great it is." Mason questioned as he pointed towards a graph on the 3ed page with the data on the avable resources.


    "I see your worries and they are found. However, the goal is not to insert a great number of these products into the market in the first ce, that much is simply impossible."


    Miss Lenin first acknowledged the other person''s views before proposing her own to increase her persuasion to another level.


    "To begin with, we will only be using the resources obtained from the animals who die of a natural cause."


    "Though at some point, we won''t have anything tounch for years, but we will never resort to killing."


    "We have a warehouse which we can use from, that will have to be in moderation considering that our stock will only decrease from here until there will only be one or two products produced per year or even less."


    Mason nodded in agreement.


    If this were to be long-term, every product would have to be marketed and packaged as an exclusive and one-of-a-kind product.


    Not to mention extremely limited.


    "This part is not in the files, but the final goal afterunching the products is to auction them off, of which 50% of the profit will be donated to an organization that will continue to provide for these endangered species in a safe locale."


    "This can be used as an advertisement point, which is also why I am considering allowing you toe and take photos of the animals."


    It took Mason a second, but he finally realized the meaning behind those words as his eyes widened.


    "You mean..."


    Miss Lenin nodded.


    "That''s so misleading," Masonmented with a sigh, still, a weak smile couldn''t help but reach for his eyes.


    The organization these donations were going to? Well, it was clear that it was going straight back into Miss Lenin''s own pockets.


    Endangered species? The animals they were raising.


    Safe locale? Their farm.


    50% of all profits? Her cut? Or at least the minimum of her cut.


    Still, she made them sound like some saints who didn''t want profits.


    "There isn''t a lie in my words. All of those funds will be used to continue the development of the farm, a safe ce for these poor animals," she admitted, telling him the truth and nothing but the truth.


    "Very well then, what''s my cut?" Mason asked.


    He wasn''t too bothered about the money he was going to earn, but he was interested in learning a little more about this businesswoman.


    Her offer would tell him a lot about her as well as how sincere she was about this project, it was clear that this was going to be a long-term project after all. They would be interacting quite a bit from now on.


    Miss Lenin slowly lifted her hand with 4 fingers.


    How was Mason supposed to take this?


    40 grand? 4 thousand per photo? 4 million or 400 thousand for a long-term contract? 4 fingers was way too vague, especially since Mason didn''t even know where this woman was from, thus not knowing the gesturings from her country.


    Seeing as Mason didn''t understand, Miss Lenin rified.


    "Four percent."


    Mason''s eyes instantly widened.


    He knew his own worth, which was way beyond the numbers he had been previously estimating, but he also knew how fox-like these business people could be.


    And Miss Lenin definitely didn''t seem like the naive type, nor did she seem like someone who would be tricked out of her money.


    "And the catch?"


    Mason warily asked.


    This was just way too big of a project. Each piece would go for hundreds of thousands, millions, even tens or hundreds of millions of dors per piece depending on the piece.


    Considering the numbers as well as the long-term aspects 4 percent was no small amount. Not to mention Mason was very willing to work on this without such a remuneration.


    "You''re full cooperation of course," she said as if it were the most obvious thing on Earth.


    That much Mason could understand.


    If he were more involved, caring more for the sess of the projects, one would assume he would work harder and produce better results.


    But this was useless on Mason, he would work just as hard with or without such a remuneration, it was a matter of principles to him.


    In this matter, one truly had to know the opponent and themselves well before they entered the battlefield called negotiations.


    If Miss Lenin and Owen had known Mason better, they may have been able to make a much more profitable deal.


    But that was no longer Mason''s concern.


    He wasn''t particrly greedy, but when a pie fell from the sky, he would eat it. However, after he finished his pie, he wouldn''t go on to pray for another one.


    "Then let us sign the contract."


    Owen was slightly surprised that Mason didn''t negotiate, but he hid it well, as for Miss Lenin, even this author can''t tell.


    Miss Lenin pulled out a contract she had in her bag, that was otherwise empty and Mason signed it immediately after skimming through the papers.


    It was filled with the generic information that one would find in the "Terms of Contract", that was there for every contract, but it was also well known that no one would read it before agreeing.


    Mason wasn''t any different.


    He slightly peeked in Miss Lenin''s bag, and when he realized that there were no more papers there, he had the thought, ''did she know I wasn''t going to negotiate after all? Or was she simply not going to wield no matter what?''


    It was slightly puzzling, but Mason didn''t think too much about it either.


    They kept chatting for a while longer before another figure appeared at their table.


    It was Emilin, who hade back from ''going to the bathroom'', unscathed.


    She sat down on her seat next to Mason and Noah and across from Owen with her head once again down, but when she lifted it up, she was thoroughly surprised to see an acquaintance.


    Before Emilin could even open her mouth, Miss Lenin opened her mouth first.


    "Emilin dear! Why are you here with these people?"


    The businesswoman was officially offline as of this moment and everyone who had been on this table so far was ckjawed to see this sudden change in character, even Owen, who had known Miss Lenin the longest.


    "Eating."


    Emilin was as concise as ever, but the young businesswoman was already used to it after having gotten acquainted with her a week ago.


    "Why didn''t you tell me. Oh gosh, it must be fate that I met you here today." She squealed, not at all minding Emilin''s short responses.


    If Owen didn''t know any better, he would have thought that this youngdy, Emilin, was in fact his long-time friend''s secret sister or daughter...


    There was clearly something wrong here.


    "Now, now, what should you be calling me?" The young woman next to Owen had her head resting on her hands in a cute manner, awaiting Emilin.


    Emilin seemed to think about it for a bit with a small frown and so Miss Lenin gave her a small nudge in the right direction.


    "Rainbow Milkshakes! 5 of them." She bargained like the businesswoman that she was.


    "Sister Margo~," Emilin greeted in a hesitant voice, but it was clear and loud enough for everyone who was supposed to hear her.


    It was both cute, sweet, and sticky. Her voice shot the sharpest arrows into Margo Lenin''s heart.


    ''I can die happy now!'' (? ?>?¦Ø?<? ?)?(? ?>?¦Ø?<? ?) She thought.


    As for everyone else on the sidelines, they had no clue what was going on right now. Why did they have the slight feeling of having been fed dog food?


    ***


    Margo: I don''t give out dog food... only cat food for you all! (? ¦Ø ?)


    ***


    Current seating chart!


    [Mason. Emilin. Noah. #######]


    TableTableTableTableTableTable


    [Miss Lenin. Owen. Lisa. ######]


    ##### = characters that have yet to be introduced.

 Chapter 106 - Bros Before Hoes Pt I: (Cats? More Like Lions!)

    "Kyaa~ that''s my girl!" Margo was ecstatic.


    She suddenly grabbed Owen''s arm and shook it in a coquettish way while pleading.??


    "Come on, switch seats with her, pretty please~"


    -1000 HP


    Owen was suddenly hurt.


    What was this?


    Howe he didn''t know that things could be like this?


    Owen looked reluctant at first, wanting to ask for an exnation, wanting to know how Margo knew Emilin, or even why the sudden change of heart, but Margo didn''t wait for Owen to open his mouth.


    She looked back at Emilin while pushing Owen off of his seat and patting the empty chair to signal Emilin.


    "Come on over here. <3 ~"


    Owen, who had just stumbled a little off of his seat looked at this woman incredulously.


    ''Who are you? Where am I? Do I even know you anymore?'' Owen''s eyes widened like saucers.


    Well, to be honest, he was exaggerating quite a bit considering it wasn''t the first time he had been ignored like that by Margo.


    It happened all the time when she was too busy spending time with her cats. He just didn''t know that this could happen because of humans too.


    Meanwhile, Emilin looked at the empty seat across from her and stood up, sitting down next to Margo.


    Owen could only move to sit down next to Mason and Noah with his head drooped down low, reminiscent of an abandoned puppy.


    Noah, who didn''t know Owen nor his reputation very well only looked at the older man with pitiful eyes as if havinge to some kind of realization.


    Noah didn''t hesitate to give Owen a pat on the back when Owen sat down next to him as if to say, ''I feel you''.


    Owen looked at the teenager with a confused expression but didn''t do anything about being patted like a kid.


    Who cared if Noah was being sympathetic for no reason.


    At least there was someone who tried to understand him.


    Did it matter if he was misunderstanding? No.


    The atmosphere was somewhat strange now, it was as if half of the table had flowers blooming, solely from being next to Margo, while the other half was too awkward to say anything.


    Well, it was more like they didn''t know what to say.


    "So this is what you came to Opaque City for. Then I guess I still have to thank Mr. Mason for allowing me to get acquainted with a cutie like you by having youe all the way over here."


    Margo briefly gave Mason a thankful look before looking straight back at Emilin.


    Mason: [Your wee?]


    Mason: [Wait what am I being thanked for again? *Looks at Lisa in order to ask what he''s done*]


    Lisa: [*shrug* If you ask me, who should I ask?]


    Owen: [Wait, so you''ve only met a week ago and somehow your rtionship with this Emilin girl seems to be rooted deeper than our years-long friendship?]


    Owen: [So much so that you can simply push me away like it''s nothing???]


    Owen: [What happened to bros before hoes? (;¡ä ??   ??`)?]


    "So why are you here?" Emilin asked curiously.


    "Oh, we were just talking about my farm! It''s a beautiful ce, the animals you can find there are even cuter than Buttercup and Peanutbutter. But don''t tell them that I told you that okay?~" Margo winked at the oblivious Emilin.


    [Buttercup and Peanutbutter are the 2 generic names for 2 of the cats that spent more time with Emilin in her private room.]


    "Anyways, I don''t know what kinds of animals you like best, but I''m sure that whatever it is, you''ll be able to find it there! And I''m sure that those cuties would be d to wee you too!" Margo sold it like a professional salesperson trying to hike up the price.


    If someone didn''t know any better; they may think that she was in fact trying to scam someone here.


    "Mm, I like cats¡­" Emilin nodded softly, slowly getting swayed by this businesswoman.


    "That''s great! I have some really big, fluffy cats there too, you can go there and meet Snowy and Manny. I''m sure you would love it there, do you want to go?"


    Honesty, it sounded even more like Margo was trying to kidnap the girl.


    Owen was dumbfounded.


    ''Snowy and Manny¡­ huh. Cats? More like Lions! She''s really scamming the girl!? I knew that those two were really too illy named. I should talk to Lennie about thister.''


    ''But then again, would he be able to do anything about it? I''m pretty sure Margo''s already taken all ims to the felines of the farm.''


    "So, you''lle right?" Margo went on to shake Emilin''s arm in a cutesy way while blinking her erged eyes.


    At that point, all Emilin could do was nod with a sigh.


    One more thing added to her to-do list, not that she minded, she was quite fond of Margo too. Emilin wasn''t scared of being kidnapped by this woman.


    Mason: [Huh?]


    Mason: [What''s this difference in treatment.]


    Mason: [Howe I had to practically beg to go with a response of ''it''s not impossible'' while this girl just sits there and is simply handed the opportunity to go? (-_-;)]


    He was slightly dumbfounded, just like everyone else at the table.


    Margo went on to talk a little more about the farm. By the time she was done, Emilin was pretty much caught up on her whole n with Owen and Mason.


    In fact, if Mason weren''t sitting there to hear it all, Emilin would know more about their ns as well as the farm than he would. Someone who was contracted to take a part in the operations.


    It seemed like Margo simply couldn''t keep a tight lip when it came to Emilin, or maybe she simply didn''t want to, though the spread of any of this information wouldn''t be particrly detrimental either way.


    After all who would believe a little girl like Emilin.


    Though if the news did spread, it would put a clog in their ns.


    Even so, Owen didn''t stop Margo, he had the confidence that they would have ways to prevent anything from spreading through all kinds of social media or news tforms.


    "Have you already chosen which auction you will be using?" Emilin asked after getting a better understanding of everything.


    "Well, we have two targets," Owen was the one to exin.


    "Our best-case scenario would be the main branch of the Diamond Pce Auction House located in H¨¦ Continent''s Polo Country, while our back up has been chosen as the main branch of the Golden Cinnabar Auction House in the M Continent''s Mlakan Country."


    Emilin could see how high their bar was set directly from their chosen locations.


    Just their second choice, the Golden Cinnabar Auction House in Mlakan Country, was already thergest auction house in the world.


    It was at the center of trade in the country of merchants.


    Their eyes were truly set high.


    As for the Diamond Pce Auction House, though it wasn''t thergest auction house globally, it was the most renowned.


    There was really no need to exin why.


    First of all, just being located in the H¨¦ Continent and surviving there was already a great achievement.


    Well, to begin with, if the people wanting to attend the auction weren''t from the H¨¦ Continent, they would already have to spend a pretty penny along with a couple of favors just to get in. So that guaranteed that the people participating wouldn''t be of low status either.


    This auction house was known for only putting upmodities that they found worthy enough. It was needless to say that just the people who could enter the auction house wouldn''t be low on cash.


    And the best part of it all, if there was indeed something put up for auction, the auction house would spare no expenses to advertise it, which would also be of help to Margo and the others.


    In other words, if they were to be able to get it in with this auction house, they would be guaranteed to hit it big this time.


    The Diamond Pce Auction House was also able to make a name for itself for this very reason. It made a sticker for itself saying "Prestigious" and thus it lifted its own name and title along with everything they auctioned off.


    They didn''t lose in any of their transactions either.


    That was also how it could go for days without ever auctioning or selling much, and years without ever holding a big auction. And all this while paying for the expenses of being located at prime real estate in the H¨¦ Continent.


    "Have you gotten into contact with any of the auction houses?" Emilin asked curiously.


    "Not quite, we''ve been trying to contact one of the managers from the Diamond Pce, but we have yet to get a positive response, or really any response at all. But that is to be expected considering we have yet to show any results for any of our ims. We don''t want to contact the Golden Cinnabar until we know for sure that we have no more options left, less we leave a poor impression," Owen exined.


    After he finished, however, he had an instant where he wanted to double back.


    ''Why was he exining this to this random stranger?''


    In the end, he could only me it on Emilin being Margo''s friend, well if he could call her that at all.


    "Well... maybe I can help you with that a little," Emilin softly said.


    ***


    Current seating chart!


    [Mason. Owen. Noah. #######]


    TableTableTableTableTableTable


    [Margo. Emilin. Lisa. ######]


    ##### = characters that have yet to be introduced.


    ***


    Owen: Crying in a corner because he was abandoned by his ''bro'' for another hoe.


    Mason: Joined him crying in a corner because of the farm thing.


    Noah: ???


    Emilin: *Doing her best to keep up with the conversation*


    Margo: Doing her best to kidnap Emilin without anyone else noticing. <3

 Chapter 107 - Hoes Before Bros Pt II: (Meaningful)

    "Well... maybe I can help you with that a little," Emilin softly said, twiddling her thumbs under the table.


    "Oh?" Owen and the other''s attentions were entirely on thess who hadn''t really spoken much until now, despite having been the center of the conversation along with Margo for quite a while now.??


    "Well, it won''t be much since I don''t personally know anyone from the Diamond Pce, but I do know someone who does," Emilin downyed it a little so the others wouldn''t get their hopes up and then get disappointed.


    Which wasn''t really necessary since they didn''t expect much to begin with, even after she said she could help.


    "Really?" Owen skeptically questioned before Margo could start blindly praising Emilin.


    Now was not the time for that, this was a pressing matter.


    [Margo: What do you even mean by that? It''s always time to praise Emilin. I take offense! Let''s fight. Humph!]


    Truth be told, in Margo''s mind, Emilin was a rather shy girl, who didn''t seem to have much confidence despite being so pretty and all around adorable.


    Well, this wasn''t exactly wrong, but it wasn''t necessarily right either.


    [Owen: This is what I get for believing you *sigh that epasses all the sadness in life*. Didn''t we say bros before hoes?]


    [Margo: *flip the birdy* She''s no hoe! And if you can''t tell, then you are no brother of mine either.]


    [Owen: Fine. *Draws circles in a corner.*]


    Emilin meekly nodded in front of these piercing gazes.


    "I''ll just be 4 minutes," she said as she pointed in the direction of the door while shaking her phone on her other hand to signal that she was going to make a quick call.


    Everyone watched as Emilin left the room and she could feel their eyes searing a hole on her back.


    As soon as Emilin left their sights, the group restarted their conversation.


    "Do you think she means it?" Owen asked.


    "What does that matter? As long as she says she can then she has to be able to. And if she can''t do anything about it, then nothing has changed and that doesn''t matter either. Either way, Emilin dear is trying her best to help us when she doesn''t even have to, so feel thankful," Margo argued with a business-like voice.


    Owen had had thoughts that this Emilin may be an attention seeker, but he cut off those thoughts after a bit.


    It was clearly unnecessary for her to seek attention!


    After all, Emilin wouldn''t even have to turn around to find it.


    In fact, Margo may as well serve all of her devotion up on a tter.


    Still, Owen found it somewhat stifling seeing Margo like this, so concerned about someone she barely knew.


    After all, what if Emilin was some kind of scammer right?


    What would happen then?


    And wasn''t Margo warming up to this Emilin a little, no, a he too quick?


    Owen had never seen this happen before.


    Of course, that was what Owen was worried about, despite being most clear about Margo''s feline-like instincts.


    He was worried about her safety.


    Not anything else.


    Nothing.


    That''s all he was worried about, his long-time friend''s safety.


    "No need to be so defensive, I wasn''t trying to insinuate anything."


    "And I should just believe you if you say so?" Margo crossed her legs and lifted an eyebrow at Owen.


    It seemed like the effects of having Emilin around had expired.


    Margo was back in her serious business mode.


    Her obvious preferential treatment could make one go wild and crazy at the same time.


    "Well, I don''t know, I might have believed it if she said that she had some connections to the Golden Cinnabar since I met her in Mlakan, but the Diamond Pce? I think we best not get our hopes up."


    One really couldn''t understand if Mason was here to diffuse the situation or to fuel the fire, because if it was thetter, then it was working, and if it were the former, then he was really a failure of a human being.


    "Well, we should just wait and see no? There''s really no point in making spections here on the sidelines, after all, we''ll be finding out the truth in a few more minutes, not to mention it''s not good to talk about people behind their backs," Noah butted in.


    He didn''t want to cross in this conversation since he wasn''t officially a part of it, but he couldn''t help but lend a helping hand when Noah realized that Margo was going to burst on Mason as she had with Owen.


    Then this would really go on to be an all-on fight, which was no good at all.


    Protecting Emilin had nothing to do with this.


    Nothing at all...


    After all, Noah couldn''t care less about her, someone who had been messing with him earlier.


    They didn''t have to wait long either as Emilin came back less than 2 minutester.


    "Wow, you don''t say, you really came back right on the 4-minute mark," Lisa mumbled. As a professional assistant, Lisa was rather sensitive with time.


    It was quite interesting meeting someone who could estimate the length of a phone call so on the mark.


    This wasn''t exactly good news though, after all, a short call or a short time used to make a call could very well mean that Emilin had been quickly rejected, or perhaps the call hadn''t even made it through.


    "Is there any news?" Owen was once again the first to ask, which made him seem the most eager.


    Emilin gave Margo a small nce before looking back down when she heard the question.


    "Yes. They agreed to check your products and I told them that you would contact them within the next 3 months since I don''t really know when you will be prepared. You can just send them the things whenever you can," Emilin shyly said after she sat herself down.


    She hadn''t even realized that she had spoken as if she had spoken to the people of the Diamond Pce directly rather than through an acquaintance as she had initially imed.


    But the others didn''t notice either.


    Knowing that they might not believe her at first, Emilin passed a tissue paper with a few numbers written on it.


    "This is his phone number, you can message him first to confirm everything if you''d like."


    Emilin said passing the tissue to Margo, whom she sat next to.


    "I''ve received your sincerity~<3," Margo said with a wink, to which Emlin just nodded slightly.


    But to Noah, who was observing her closely, he could see that a slight blush was crawling up Emilin''s neck, and even her lowered face seemed to be more excited than usual.


    Noah: [What is this???]


    Noah: [A love rival I never expected! Wait what?]


    Noah: [What love rival trash. I didn''t say that.]


    Noah: [Miss Lier-nim can you take that off the script please?]


    Author (you-lier): [I don''t know what you are talking about...]


    Noah: [*Cries on one side about how unreliable this author is*]


    Owen stood up slightly from his seat to see the paper that Margo held tightly in her hands.


    Margo typed the numbers into her contact as Owen turned his head to the side in an attempt to see what was written down there.


    ''It''s indeed a number from Polo Country!'' He thought.


    Mason on the other hand, though interested, didn''t make such a big fuss.


    He also wanted to know what was on that tissue, but he wasn''t going to stand up and make more of a mess. He was better off eating while those two dealt with it.


    It was just as Noah had said. He was going to find out sooner orter anyway, there was no point in making a fuss.


    Margo, who had already added the contact sent the other side a message through What''s up, an internationalmunications app used by the general public.


    While Margo thought of what to send to this person whose contact Emilin had given her, Emilin had some thoughts of her own.


    ''I should probably thank Mister Abelter,'' Emilin thought.


    Abel, her acquaintance from the Diamond Pce instantly rose in ranks when it came to her impression of him.


    If Abel had known that everything he had done previously, including all the discounts and a lowered fees, as well as all those gifts, send to Emilin monthly had done less than this one time he agreed to lend a helping hand, he would probably cry.


    Well, it wasn''t truly lending Emilin a helping hand, but the idea was there.


    In the end, though, Abel would have to thank Margo, the first person that Emilin didn''t know through any other means that she had been able to talk to properly, as well as the most friendly person she had ever met.


    To be honest, that was the reason she had agreed to call her sister Margo.


    After all, she wouldn''t really sell rtions for some simple cakes and drinks and cats. Well, at least not easily.


    *wink* *wink*


    But Emilin was determined to take these steps, no matter what they were to make closer andsting rtions with others.


    After all, one of her other end goals was to make lots of lots of friends in this life.


    Perhaps Emilin also knew, but deep down, she still had a little demon.


    A fear of dying alone, with no one who cared for her.


    Now, even if Emilin didn''t know it, she had already set herself on the path of people.


    A road in which she would surround herself with people that she loved and who loved and cared for her too.


    To live happily.


    To live a meaningful life.

 Chapter 108 - Hoes Before Bros Pt III: (Reputation)

    5 minutes ago:


    Emilin activated the voice modtor previously installed on her phone with the click of a button. Well, a click and a press and a turn and a push. A this and a that and what else, who knows? ^?^??


    It was aplicated process and it was made like that so that people wouldn''t be able to simply activate it by ident.


    One not to be disclosed, even to the dear readers. <3


    There were no unlucky people, just unprepared ones.


    Still, Emilin did it with much fluency.


    Emilin dialed the right number after finding it in her contacts under the name of [Sell Cream Here~]


    "Eh who is this calling at the middle of the damned night. It''s not even daybre--. Oh, it''s Master Lin, I apologize for my rude tone."


    Abel on the other side was facepalming himself with his fist so hard his if forehead was about to start bruising. The way his face dropped at the moment he took the time to take a nce at the caller ID, his face was truly as pale as a ghost''s


    But Able didn''t idle on his failure, he didn''t have the time for that.


    Abel couldn''t waste this big buddha''s time.


    "Is there something that I can help you with Master Lin?" Abel asked in a polite, yet alert tone.


    Then, he secretly facepalmed himself again, ''of course there''s something I can help him with, or he wouldn''t be calling me.''


    "Yes, there is someone who has asked a favor of me and so I would hope you could help them out," Emilin said on the other side of the phone.


    She wasn''t nearly as nervous, nor as shy as she had been with Margo and the others, speaking with an even tone.


    Not that it mattered much, even if her voice had been uneven or even agitated, the person on the other side, in this case, Abel, wouldn''t be able to tell with the various functions of the voice modtor.


    "Please do tell, if it''s anything I can help you with, I''ll do it to the best of my capabilities," Abel voiced energetically,pletely unlike someone who had just woken up.


    He was always eager to help these big bosses, after all, that''s how he made a living. And Abel was especially sincere with those who earned him big bucks.


    Even if he wasn''t true to the customers, he had to be true to his suppliers, after all, his suppliers were people from whom he would earn money, while his customers were the people he would earn money from.


    Dying and strategizing to raise prices with these people was the norm, however, the suppliers who helped the Diamond Pce make their name weren''t people he could even try to bargain with.


    There was much more to gain with if they were to have good cooperation, so much more than simple money. Even if money was good, power was better.


    A monopoly.


    That was what was at stake here.


    Especially so with Emilin.


    Though in most other ces, customers were always first, that wasn''t necessarily the case here. Though great importance was put on the customers, just like anywhere else, the truth of the matter was that the Diamond Pce auction house could survive even without making any transactions, while their products were things that everyone would be vying for.


    They didn''t need to make customers, people woulde swarming.


    And yet another difference between an auction house, the Diamond Pce auction house, in this case, was that they didn''t really produce products themselves.


    Well, they did, but only on a small scale, iparable to the amount of things they procured.


    Their suppliers, which, if you think about it, are also their customers, whom they help sell things, were the people who provided the products to sell.


    And now here Abel had, one of their big ''customers'' (suppliers), who they simply couldn''t get under a contract no matter what, was asking for help.


    Of course, Abel had to do his best, after all, in truth, Emilin could leave and go sell her things anywhere else at the drop of a hat.


    (And if you think these people from Diamond Pce are dumb and could have just forced her into a contract considering they were the middlemen, the big business etc, and that they could have just rejected doing business with Emilin without a long term contract, you should drop that thought.)


    Emilin had long made it clear that she could sell her products through other channels, only going through the trouble of auctioning them at the Diamond Pce to extend an olive branch to make an acquaintance.


    Or so she told them.


    Well, it didn''t really matter since they believed it. They had to believe it after seeing her products.


    In reality, this was really just one more case in which Emilin simply didn''t want to deal with one of her projects anymore after starting.


    It was a perplexing situation, she had started this project when she was much younger thinking it would be fun, and it was for a while, but then she had gotten tired of it, yet she couldn''t simply drop everything and leave just like that, after all, she had made agreements with other people during the time the projects were ongoing.


    And just like that, she would have to add another thing she would have to do for prolonged periods of time, even when she was tired of it.


    And so she just pushed it off, instead making her creams a premium product and having the Diamond Pce deal with everything else.


    Thankfully, since she hadn''t signed any contracts or made any promises, she coulde and go as she liked.


    That was why she could go for months, even years without contacting the auction house and they still wouldn''t be able to do anything about it.


    "I willter pass your contacts to someone else, they will soon send you a message. Respond to it when she does," Emilin thought up a n.


    "That will be my little disciple''s acquaintance. She will be the one to borate on what kind of help they need, but the general idea is that they have something they would like to auction off at your auction house and I believe that it will be a long-term partnership," Emilin gave a brief exnation.


    Emilin spoke truly like a big boss, her voice, heard from the other side sounded stable, reliable, with a tinge of being domineering.


    "Master Lin, I would be d to help, but I can''t let anything simply pass through without thorough inspections as you may know, or it may affect the Diamond Pces reputation..."


    Abel simply went through normal procedures, plus, this was something that Emilin already knew anyways since she had to go through it too.


    Still Abel had to say it.


    Theirpany motto was that reputation was all, money was nothing in front of their reputation.


    In fact, someone who embezzled from thepany may have a better end than someone who brought a subpar item into the auction.


    The reputation stain from embezzling could be solved and the me put on something unrted to their business and trade, however, a bad or faulty product could not be excused.


    There was nothing Abel could do about this point.


    "I won''t let you take a loss," Emilin interrupted, but not in a rushed way.


    She had waited for Abel to let her talk, and now that she started again, Abel didn''t interrupt until Emilin was finished.


    "You can still check the products ording to normal procedures, but remember to lend your helping hand whenever possible, as for the auction date. Whenever they are ready, set the time for a big auction, and I mean a big auction," Emilin spoke as if she owned the Diamond Pce auction house, which was not the case.


    Well, Abel didn''t take offense to that tone, so it didn''t really matter.


    "If there aren''t enough products to auction off by that time, then I''ll make up for whatever is missing."


    Abel''s eyes shone at that, anticipation filling his pupils like never before.


    If it was as Emilin had said, Abel would almost prefer if no one put anything up for auction so that they could extort more products from Emilin.


    Just thinking of having more of Master Lin''s cream go up for auction, Abel could only imagine piles of gold.


    It had been at least 10 months since thest one was auctioned off, and that was only 5 palm-sized bottles, all of which had been sold at sky-high prices.


    That wasn''t nearly enough to even dribble on the market''s demand.


    There wasn''t acking in people who woulde swear at their auction house for being ck-hearted, only selling so many when there were so many people demanding it, willing to pay for them with prices in the millions for just a b of that damn thing, yet they still weren''t willing to sell it, they said.


    That was the only time Abel was happy to be sworn at.


    Just as Abel was about to open his mouth to do a little negotiation, Emilin did so first.


    "I''ll also mail you a box of my creams so auction it off then too."


    That was what he was waiting for.


    Abel''s eyes widened a little nheless.


    A whole box!


    "You''re too kind, Master Lin, I''ll make sure to take good care of your disciple''s acquaintance," Abel had the brightest smile at that moment, even if others couldn''t see it.


    His polite tone couldn''t even hide that much from Emilin who was listening from across the phone.


    Emilin also smiled at that moment.


    ''Ah, yet another sly little fox,'' she thought.


    Emilin''s thoughts lingered a little on Abel''s wording. He was polite, but he didn''t say any bs like, ''you didn''t have to'', or ''how could I ept this, etc, etc'', limiting himself to, ''you''re too kind.''


    It was clear that he both knew how to draw the line as well as how to skip on the bs while ttering another.


    How great.

 Chapter 109 - Hoes Before Bros Pt IV: (VIP Treatment)

    Margo fiddled with her phone for a bit before finally sending the other side a message.


    Margo: [Hello, good evening, I am Margrete Lenin, the one in charge on this side of the project.]??


    Diamond Pce Person: [A pleasure to meet you, though I must say, it is still quite early on my side, but good evening to you too. This is my name card, I''ll be in your care.]


    Margo was a little surprised by this message, it was a little too polite and the other person even spoke as if they were familiar, having the mood to crack a joke.


    This made Margo suspect whether he was the real deal or some kind of imposter.


    What if Emilin dear was tricked?


    As for Abel, from his perspective, it was only right for him to be polite, and if he could, build stronger rtions here.


    After all, even if he messaged Master Lin every day, which he would never do for fear of annoying him to death, Master Lin wouldn''t give him a second nce, perhaps even cklisting his number.


    Yet here he had finally obtained a chance to solidify his rtions with Master Lin.


    Master Lin had previously said that this woman, Margrete Lenin, was simply an acquaintance of his disciple, but no matter what, that was simply a little too hard to believe.


    After all, would someone of Master Lin''s caliber, someone who had never, to this date, asked for a favor from them, go to such lengths for a simple acquaintance?


    I think not.


    Much less a disciple''s acquaintance.


    In Abel''s mind, the chances of this woman being a simple character were as close to 0 as winning 10, million-dor lottos in a row.


    Anyways, Abel sent Margo his business card.


    Making up his mind to at least do this right, after all, he didn''t know if he had offended Master Lin with his words at the beginning of the call a bit ago. He should at least try and make some amends.


    It was a digital version of the card he would have handed Margo if they were to have met in person.


    The design was elegant, yet striking, using simple lines to form aplete and memorable image. The card was predominantly ck, with light bluish linesing in from all sides to finally form a brilliant diamond that couldn''t be seen at first.


    One might not have noticed at first nce, but when they did notice, it was simply too hard to forget, just like an optical illusion.


    Diamond Pce Person:


    [Abel Seth]


    [General Manager of the Procurement Department]


    [Diamond Pce Main Branch]


    Margo was at a loss.


    This was, without a doubt, a real business card. The watermark on the [Diamond Pce Main Branch] couldn''t be forged nor faked.


    But general manager Abel Seth... Abel...Seth.


    Margo had thought that they would be pretty lucky getting into contact with a small employee, a supervisor at best, a manager was already pushing it a little, but a general manager?


    That never crossed her mind, no matter how much Margo believed in Emilin.


    ''Wow! Emilin dear is more amazing than I thought.''


    However, even after finding out how amazing Emilin was, Margo''s initial impression didn''t change by much, one or two degrees at most.


    There was something else about Emilin that attracted Margo to her, simr to how Emilin attracted those other felines, something other than her personality, her looks, or anything of the sorts.


    It was like a natural attraction, attracted to the air around Emilin, maybe her smell, or more likely her aura.


    It was somewhat inexplicable, but there were just some people you would look at and naturally have an attraction or repulsion towards, it was nothing physical or romantic. It was more... spiritual.


    Simr to people ofpatible signs.


    Anyways, Margo didn''t idle, since the opportunity came knocking on her door, Margo didn''t back down, despite talking to someone that she should really be d to even be able to contact at this point in time.


    Margo: [Then I will be in your care as well. I would like to ask if it would be convenient for me to procure some Siena Silk from your auction house.]


    Siena Silk was one level higher than lotus silk, much higher to get, especially in high quantities, but its highlighting point wasn''t just its low quantities, but rather its colors.


    This was Margo''s way of both probing the other side''s bottom line as well as procuring some good materials.


    On the other side, Abel was unsure of what to do.


    Of course, he also realized that he was being probed, after all, it wasn''t once or twice that this had happened to him. It was rather something that urred at a daily basis.


    Abel''s issue was that he didn''t know where his bottom line lied either, and since he didn''t know, he asked.


    (From Abel''s perspective and so his contact is his own number, rather than the name Emilin gave him.)


    Abel: [Master Lin, I want to ask you to what extent I am to lend a hand to this acquaintance of your disciple.]


    On this matter he was rather straightforward and concise, after all, the other side (Margo) was still waiting for his response.


    And right after hitting the send message, he received a response from Emilin not 2 secondster.


    ''Does that mean that he is rather quick on his feet when ites to people he cares about? Then does that mean that there''s another reason why he never responds to me?'' Abel thought about how the reply was instant.


    If it had been some other matter, Master Lin would probably respond a couple of monthster with nothing of substance.


    It was to the point that Abel would question whether Master Lin was a monk who was restricted of ess to his phone for long periods due to seclusion.


    Master Lin: [As you would treat me.]


    Abel: [I see, then I won''t bother you any longer.]


    Abel immediately switched the screen to go back to her chat with Miss Lenin and Margo was rather shocked by his response.


    Margo had taken the time to change Abel''s name on her disy screen from [Diamond Pce Person] to [GPM of Diamond] with GPM standing for the general procurement manager.


    GPM of Diamond: [Please do inform me of the quantity you would like, I''ll make sure that you receive it all within the market price.]


    What generosity.


    With such an impromptu request, if one was in a rush, they may have to pay 3, 4 times the market price, which was already considering friendships and that other whatnot.


    The truth was, even if Abel had not agreed to help, which was something that she was very much willing to ept, she would still be able to probe his attitude from his words.


    In general, it was rather much easier to reject people through a screen and so it wasn''t wrong to say that you would get even more information if done so online, just from the way the other person spoke.


    If they had rejected with lines such as ''we currently don''t have stock'', it''d showed just how far their sincerity went, after all, even if they didn''t have stock, for a partner the Diamond Pce put some level of importance with, they would find the wanted product even if they didn''t have any at hand


    And even if they had to take a loss for it, they would get it within the right time frame.


    This much Margo understood.


    And if it was responded with even more fluff than simply saying that they didn''t have any to sell, then Margo would seriously consider simply not coborating, no matter how great an auction house they were.


    On this point, she was determined. She would rather have a second option that put importance to their coboration than a first option that had the heart to throw her project away at any moment.


    Anyways, if that were the case, she would just go to another auction house and p the Diamond Pce''s face in 3 months'' time.


    Margo had at least that much confidence in herself.


    However, now that the other side had agreed, too many options had to be discounted, which tranted to Margo needing time to figure out which ones have opened my that move.


    This was a good thing.


    They were taking her more seriously than she had thought.


    Margo: [Then please get me¡­.]


    ***


    Abel: *Sweating bullets as he reads the list of things Margo is asking him to get for her*


    Abel: Is that all?


    Abel: ''As if this isn''t enough¡­ why do I have the feeling I''ll be getting cramps from too much scrolling?? Can you be more shameless than this? Do you know how long it will take me, aka my subordinates, to get all this?''


    Margo: Yes, that will be all. *Calmly with no fluctuations in her voice*


    Abel: Then should I be thanking you? ?_?


    Margo: No need, it''s just business.


    Abel: *calcting losses* ?_?


    Margo: I''ll buy it all at 10 percent of whatever you pay to procure it.


    Abel: ??? Happy to do busines¡ª


    Emilin (Master Lin): ? _ ? Hm?


    Abel: There is no need Miss Lenin, you are our precious business partner, it''s our honor to do business with you. You don''t have to be polite to us. ?_?


    Abel: But I should have earned a shameless plug with this work I''m doing right?


    Abel: Leave ament, vote, write a review, and everything else to support the author! <3


    Abel: Also consider joining premium to get early ess to chapters!

 Chapter 110 - Only Human Pt I: (Pregnant With Food Babies)

    Wherever you turned, you could find people who looked to be pregnant.


    Pregnant with food babies.??


    Many people were rubbing their bellies to digest, and another group had gone outside for walks beforeing back in to eat some more.


    In the end, it was already well into the night and everyone was stuffed full like turkeys, ready to just stand up and go back home. In fact, many of them had already wanted to leave a few hours ago before being persuaded to stay by our good old Mason.


    The ones who had been thinking of their diets while eating were already ready to sent assassins to get rid of Mason, who kept enticing them intomitting the sin of gluttony.


    It was a real pain when every bite was a mixture of a hint of pain from their stretching stomachs, a whole bucket of dopamine that made them want to go in for more, and an aftertaste of regret.


    At Emilin''s table, there were varying thoughts going on.


    There was Mason, who was around 6 months pregnant.


    And everyone else, who wanted to leave but found it a little too awkward to say so.


    Owen had been trying to get Margo to tell him just what she was doing on her phone while Margo was ignoring him, still typing her long list while nning her next steps.


    Noah failed to notice all this as his attention was caught up somewhere else.


    Or more urately speaking, someone else.


    Emilin, who had already consumed the daily intake of calories for 2 adult men seemed to be the only one who was not bloated. Fascinating.


    Noah somehow found himself enjoying watching Emilin eat delicious food. She seemed so concentrated that she wasn''t paying any attention elsewhere, seemingly not having noticed Noah''s nces, no, stares.


    Noah caught himself every once in a while, thinking ''wait, what''s so interesting about watching someone else eat?'' but in vain.


    He gave up trying to convince himself to stop or even to find a reliable reason why he was even doing so to begin with, once again back at observing the girl who was just one year younger than him.


    Emilin however, was not at all oblivious to Noah''s gaze as he had thought.


    In fact, she was very conscious of it, a little too conscious if she were to judge.


    There were thoughts running around her pretty little head that only stressed her out even more than earlier.


    ''Am I doing something?''


    ''Does he want something?''


    ''Can I help him?''


    ''Should I ask?''


    ''Was it because of earlier?''


    Not exactly wrong.


    ''What if it was? I can''t do anything about it anymore except for apologizing, which I already did. Was he offended?''


    ''Should I apologize more sincerelyter?''


    ''No, I should ask him what''s wrong first. I shouldn''t go off on a limb here.''


    And so on.


    In other words, there was really quite a lot going on. When everyone else was off in their own worlds, Lisa was having her own thoughts too.


    She was considering calling a few ambnces.


    As a responsible person with willpower, unlike what seemed like everyone else here, she was one of the only people in their whole group who hadn''t overeaten.


    She was currently estimating the number of people she would have to call ambnces for when they started getting cramps.


    She reckoned that it would be in the two digits if this kept going on and by then Carlson, the owner of this restaurant and Mason''s acquaintance, would most likely kill her (Lisa''s) boss (Mason) for causing trouble.


    She wouldn''t be shocked if Carlson simply banned them when tomorrow''s tabloid titles became [SHOCKING NEWS: Over A Dozen People Sent Straight to the Hospital After Eating at Carlson''s Seafood!][Just what are they serving?], or something like that.


    Lisa wanted to prevent that at all costs.


    "Sir, I think we should strongly consider finishing up now," Lisa whispered to Mason after walking over.


    Mason, who had cleaned up after seeing that his assistant came over with a stern expression, telling him she had something important to say, simply looked up at Lisa, who stood next to him.


    He waited for her to borate, after all, she never spoke without reason.


    "It''s already quitete and I don''t think Mr. Carlson would appreciate it if we stayed past our wee, especially not in our current states," Lisa spoke with tact while pointing at some of the people who were more bloated than the rest and then at her phone which presented the number for calling emergency ambnces.


    Mason finally took the time to look around and in the end, he could only sigh before agreeing.


    Everyone was already more or less done, and the people who weren''t could stop at any moment, they had already eaten their fill, only staying to eat for reasons such as, being bored or having nothing else to do other than eat.


    Either way, it was about time to stop, even Emilin had already slowed down noticeably, seemingly full.


    Mason let out another long sigh, standing up and making a pping sound by sping his hands to catch everyone else''s attention.


    "I know that everyone would like to stay and enjoy for a while longer, but if everyone else has had their fill and if no one has any objections, let us consider taking our leave," Mason proposed ruefully.


    He was clearly the one most unwilling to leave okay?


    Mason looked like he was about to part with a couple of thousands of dors.


    "Though I know that we set out with the goal of emptying Mr. Noah''s pockets, that still wouldn''t be the right thing to do as fellow coborators," Mason ended his short speech, not in the mood to speak anymore as he sat down to take onest bit.


    Truly, If one didn''t know better they would think that this clean-cut man was some kind of homeless person who hadn''t had a proper meal in his whole damned life.


    Everyone started packing up and leaving to go outside as if havinge to a silent agreement in the short few seconds in which Mason''s words were voiced, or perhaps they had simply been waiting for this moment and so they had preparations.


    It wasn''t exactly orderly, but everyone started leaving without making a fuss.


    Emilin also stopped eating, she had her own measures, and she felt like she had already overeaten a little anyways.


    ''Then should I go home now?''


    ''Should Ie back tomorrow to talk about the coboration?'' She thought.


    ''Well I''m not exactly in a rush,'' Emilin concluded.


    She didn''t n to live this life in a rushed manner, wanting to simply enjoy herself and do things as they came.


    In the end, she stood up getting ready to go downstairs in a happy mood.


    She had aplished quite a lot today.


    Emilin had met and spoken to Margo again, met a few new faces who were good candidates for friendship, and even gotten a free meal.


    But the meal wasn''t the main point, the main point was that someone had asked her to eat with them.


    Even if this were just apany meal and she hadn''t exactly been on the guest list, when she was in high school, she had never gone out to eat with friends, since she didn''t have any, or anyone other than her family for that matter.


    This was a small momentous asion for her, and so she was quite happy, even if she may have ruined something earlier in the day during the photo shoot.


    At least she was able to help with the auction house!


    And so, Emilin happily made her way down the stairs, with a small skip on her steps, which didn''t go unnoticed by Noah.


    ''Did she like the food that much?''


    Thest ones going down ended up being Mason, Noah, and Lisa.


    Margo quickly caught up with Emilin who was also at the back of the pack and Mason followed suit.


    Mason and Lisa apanied Noah as he went to pay the check at the front desk on the second floor, next to the bathroom.


    "Hm, normally they would just bring the receipt to our table, should I file aint to Carlson?" Mason offhandedly asked.


    "I do believe we should at least inform Mr. Carlson if that is the case," Lisa nodded, not using the wordint since she wasn''t that familiar with the man in question.


    Noah ignored them and went straight for his credit card.


    He wasn''t as sad as he had thought he would be, in fact, he had almost hoped that they could have stayed a while longer to let the others eat some more.


    ''Why is that?'' Noah questioned his own thoughts.


    He clearly didn''t want to watch "everyone" eat some more... just a certain someone who looked particrly cute with her pink lips and small curved mouth chewing on shrimp, crab legs, and whatnot.


    Shockingly enough, Noah was probably the person who didn''t want to have had to end the dinner right then and there the most, second only to Mason.


    He snapped out of it when the waitress/cashier spoke to him.


    "Are you not from table numbers 4 through 8?" She asked with patience and politeness, as one would with a big customer.


    Noah looked around in a short daze before responding.


    "Yes, that''s right, I''m the one settling the bill."


    The waitress had a strange expression when he said that, looking back at her monitor once again before clicking a few buttons as if to confirm something and then looking back at Noah.


    "Sir, your table''s bill has already been footed a few hours ago," she said, to the clearly oblivious Noah.


    "Huh? Who settled the bill?" Noah asked in confusion.

 Chapter 111 - Only Human Pt II: (Supposed To Be)

    Huh? Who settled the bill?" Noah asked in confusion.


    Noah knew clearly that Mason wouldn''t do so, which meant that Lisa wouldn''t either.??


    There was also simply no way that Mason''s employees could afford such a meal, nor would they do so even if they could spare a few extra thousand dors, which left Noah with only Owen, Margo, and Emilin.


    Noah didn''t think it was Emilin considering this had nothing to do with her and Owen didn''t seem to be the type, but then again, the waitress did say it was settled hours ago, maybe they had done it when Owen first came in with Margo.


    "Oh, table 4? I know who it was," one of the waiters next to the waitress that had been previously speaking to Noah said.


    "It was that girl, I think she was going to the bathroom," the waiter said.


    ''Was it really Lady Margo?'' Noah thought contemtively.


    After having eaten a meal with her, Noah realized that Ms. Lenin wasn''t as business-like as he had originally thought, at least not all the time. It was too serious to call her Miss Lenin and she didn''t like being called Margrette.


    Lady Margo would have to do.


    "I was really shocked you know?" He said with a rueful sigh.


    "She looked to be in her teens but then she pulled out her credit card and straight-up paid for double of what the tab was then, saying that if the price went to that point then so be it, and if not, we could just keep the rest as a tip." The waiter clearly sighed, as if reminiscing the good old days.


    "I say, are rich kids all like this these days?" The waiter couldn''t help but be someone jealous, but not envious.


    Inwardly he thought Emilin looked super cool at that instant in time.


    The waiter spoke in passing, not knowing that his simple words would be making big waves in Noah''s heart.


    The waitress/cashier standing beside him suddenly elbowed him. It wasn''t good to talk bad about good customers in front of them. This was the basics of the basics, which the waiter may have forgotten considering how nice Emilin was, or at least her image when giving them this huge tip.


    Well, to be fair, Emilin wouldn''t have cared.


    It was also then that Noah realized that it wasn''t Margo.


    No matter how young she looked, Margo wouldn''t be mistaken for a teenager, she had a mature charm to her that wouldn''t have allowed for such a misunderstanding to develop.


    "So it was her after all," Noah muttered as if he had thought so all along, which was not the case, but forgive him. We all have moments like that.


    Noah didn''t know what to think.


    His bill was just paid by a young girl. Why did she do it?


    Noah suddenly lifted his chin with a little jump. He looked around to realize that the others had already left, including Emilin, something that he had already known, but had only processed at this moment.


    Noah didn''t hesitate to ditch Mason and Lisa, who stayed behind, seemingly with other matters to deal with at the restaurant other than the bill.


    Noah moved and hopped like a rabbit, straight down the staircase, which thankfully no one was currently at.


    ''Please let her still be here,'' he thought.


    It was clear that most people had already left.


    Noah could see that the outside of the restaurant wasn''t particrly crowded anymore. Most of Mason''s employees were already dying to leave and so they did.


    It was quitete anyway, right around midnight, and considering they had been eating since 6 PM, that was already quite an aplishment.


    Spending a fourth of the day eating that is.


    Noah opened the door to the outside, and to his right, he saw the familiar, yet unfamiliar silhouette of a femme fatale.


    Despite not havingpletely matured yet, she stood tall and beautiful. But what was more striking about her was her aura and her face.


    It wasn''t an exaggeration to say that when she became an adult, she would likely be able to ruin nations with her beauty alone.


    Noah simply couldn''t understand how he hadn''t noticed before, but now, he couldn''t look away anymore.


    Emilin noticed Noah''s arrival and turned her head to look at him.


    "Why did you pay the bill?" Noah blurted out before anything else.


    That definitely wasn''t the question he wanted to ask the most at the moment, but it was the only one he could safely ask without the fear ofpletely embarrassing himself.


    He didn''t know why, but he just had that feeling, plus he was feeling somewhat impulsive at the moment.


    The mood was strange, the lights outside were dim and amp post was not too far away, but not too close either. Behind them, through the clear windows, they could still see the light from the insideing out, but that was also a distance away.


    "I ate the most did I not?" Emilin questioned as if that were her answer.


    An answer that Noah hadn''t quite expected.


    "I guess?" Noah answers sheepishly with a question of his own.


    "But I was supposed to pay the bill you know?"


    It wasn''t even about the bill anymore as Noah''s frustration extended way past that.


    He had too many questions to ask, and not enough courage to ask a single one besides the only one that didn''t even matter to him that much.


    So he could only beat around the bush like this, it was quite a sad moment for his ego.


    "I know." Emilin threw yet another concise answer.


    "But I wanted to pay. Is that not okay?" Emilin innocentlymented.


    She really did want to pay for this meal, quite a lot at that. Even if this were nothing but yet another passing day for anyone else, this day, this dinner, it was important to Emilin.


    She wanted to remember it.


    Noah once again didn''t know what would be the appropriate way to respond.


    How could he face Emilin, who so purely asked such a simple question, while he thought of all this and all that and everything in between?


    It struck his heartstrings.


    It was like someone asking him, ''Can''t I do something just because I want to?'', no, it was more like a statement, a statement in a form of a question, like all the ones before it, she was saying, ''I''m doing it because I want to. I do everything and anything I want to as long as I like it.''


    And that pulled at Noah''s heartstrings.


    "Okay."


    Noah replied.


    "It''s. Okay."


    Emilin could tell if Noah was in a daze, or simply processing something, but either way, she gave him his necessary space.


    "Then are we okay?" Emilin asked hesitantly. She was talking about the photo shoot thing.


    "No, we''re not okay," Noah said seriously.


    "Wh-why are we not okay?" Emilin calmed herself down to cate her emotions.


    Though she found it a silly hope, she had hoped to be Noah''s friend someday.


    Emilin had done her research.


    He was around her age and that photoshoot had led her to believe that they were simr, at least to some extent.


    And they always did say, if you''re simr, you havemon topics, and if you havemon topics, you have things to talk about to each other and that was somewhat of an ''end all be all'' for Emilin.


    But now she felt somewhat delusional.


    She felt like she may have been delusional.


    Truly delusional.


    Clearly, they were very different. Noah got along well with people, he could talk to whoever he wanted to! Why the hell would he want to be friends with a loner like her.


    "Of course we''re not okay? How could we possibly be okay?" Noah questioned, one after another, sending spears to stab at Emilin''s weak heart.


    Sending her brain, the signals that told her that she needed to rebuild and strengthen the walls around her fragile heart.


    The ones that had taken her years to chip around.


    At this point, she was already questioning herself.


    If she could really do it.


    If she could really make friends with how she was, and if she could, should she really make friends, and make them suffer by being with her?


    After all, she was a nobody who was probably not even supposed to be here.


    She didn''t belong in this world, she didn''t belong in this ne, she didn''t belong with other people.


    Emilin wasn''t supposed to be someone whom others would care about.


    She was someone who was supposed to fade into the background, into the scenery.


    Someone who you would forget after passing the streets, someone who could have sat on the sidewalk as a homeless child for months, and yet someone who you could still forget after having seen a thousand times and walked past another two thousand.


    That''s what she was, someone to be forgotten.


    Someone to be dismissed.


    She almost felt bad for her parents, her god damn loving family who was stuck with someone as messed up inside as her.


    Feeling bad for them because she was way too selfish to even have the thoughts of letting them go.


    Emilin clutched her hands into a fist so hard her palm started to bleed and her eyes even harder to prevent herself from tearing up.


    She was a mess.


    Emilin Wei, cold ice princess of the overworld, poker face supreme, Master of those who didn''t know her, and coward among cowards, was a ditzy girl, who was a mess.


    Noah seemed to have said something else after that, but Emilin, with her lowered head and eyes, shut closed to prevent her tears from falling hadn''t heard a thing.


    That is until Noah couldn''t take it anymore and shook her arms to get her to listen.


    "Why can''t I get you out of my god damn mind!" He shouted.


    And so Emilin was blown out of her cycle of self-depreciation and into a tsunami of confusion.

 Chapter 112 - Only Human Pt III: (Gritted Teeth)

    "I''m asking you, why?"


    "Why can''t I stop thinking about it?" Noah struggled to say these words, but he still spat them out in the end.??


    He asked himself that very question too, just as much as he was asking Emilin.


    It wasn''t rushed, his voice didn''t seem particrly agitated, as if he wasn''t really in need of an answer, but his tone betrayed him.


    He sounded down in the dumps, desperate for something, for Emilin to give him a reason, despite having an inkling of what it was.


    Noah found it absurd.


    He was never one to believe in the love at first sight bullshit, it was the most superficial thing he could conjure up, and yet somehow, that bs was being fed to little kids who didn''t know any better.


    Letting children believe that there was a happily ever after just because you are a pretty pink princess.


    He had always believed that only the shallowest of people would fall for this crap.


    Now it seemed like he was exactly that type of person because he waspletely mesmerized by this stranger, acquaintance at best.


    He knew near nothing about her personality, habits, much less her morals and everything else, yet he couldn''t help but be captivated by her appearance alone.


    How despicable.


    As a prideful man in his teens, Noah felt somewhat disgusted at his own thoughts and his current situation.


    Though it wasn''t as if he could help himself on this matter, in fact, if he could, he wouldn''t be in this situation at all.


    Still, looking at the youngdy in front of him, who seemed ordinary at first nce and then anything but, at second, Noah knew that he had already been firmly trapped.


    The longer he looked, the less he felt like he would have the willpower to turn away.


    Then, a small voice came from the person in front of Noah.


    "I''m sorry," Emilin looked up at Noah, who was significantly taller than her. Though he didn''t reach Emilin''s brother Theo''s staggering height, Noah wasn''t too far off.


    He was at least around her Big Brother Nathen''s height.


    And from Noah''s point of view, looking at Emilin from above, he couldn''t help but sigh, feeling almost out of it as he inhaled after losing his breath.


    Emilin looked like the most adorable doe.


    She looked up at hunter Noah innocently not knowing that he was a big bad wolf who had approached her as a predator.


    Looking up at him with those clear sslike hazel eyes, that didn''t allow for Noah to take another step.


    Any other hunter trying to hunt this adorable doe might have already shot her to add her fur to their collection, but Noah wouldn''t be able to do that for as long as she looked at him like that.


    "What are you sorry for?" He asked impatiently as if Emilin owed him a million bucks.


    There was a short pause before Emilin spoke up once again.


    "Are you angry about the photoshoot? I didn''t mean anything by it I swear! It was too impulsive of me," Emilin voice seemed to be smaller with each passing second.


    It had at least been as loud as a mouse at first, but now it sounded much more like a lone cicada.


    But as the surroundings were rather silent, Noah was able to hear every word, after all, Emilin wasn''t mumbling.


    Noah suddenly covered his face with one of his hands, while that looked to be an annoying gesture to Emilin, only Noah knew that it was to cover up the blush that he believed to be creeping up his neck.


    It wasn''t his first time, after all, it still happened once in a while when the photoshoot was brought up.


    "Did you cast some spell on me or something?" Noah asked, even more, frustrated than before, which Emilin duly noted.


    Her face became even more pitifully looking as she thought about how she was doing everything wrong.


    This happened with every single conversation she had, Emilin really had no other choice other than to believe that she was no good at this.


    "I didn''t use any spell though..." Emilin mumbled a little and slurred her words at the end.


    ''If I had something as magical as that, I would have friends already.'' She inwardly thought.


    It had never, not once, crossed Emilin''s mind to hypnotize or manipte, much less trick other people so that she could get friends.


    After all, she had already been feeling slightly guilty with her parents being stuck with someone as broken as her, there was no way that she would force someone else into the same situation.


    However, that didn''t mean that she wasn''t serious about this matter.


    If one day, she did indeed find an unlucky soul who would be willing to be her friend, she wouldn''t let them go, no matter what.


    "Then how do you exin how you look like?" Noah asked with gritted teeth, this simply didn''t make any sense to him.


    He also made it a point to be somewhat vague in order to probe Emilin for a satisfactory response.


    Emilin subconsciously touched her bare face, ignoring everything else at the moment.


    "Wh-what d-do you mean?" Emilin hesitantly asked.


    She herself wouldn''t know when someone snapped out of the hypnosis that hid her face from other''s memories, though she did recognize it to be possible.


    Emilin used this skill purely for convenience purposes, but now there seemed to be some problems.


    Seeing Emilin touch her face subconsciously, Noah was sure that there was something up with her.


    He wasn''t going crazy, or so he hoped.


    "I think you know exactly what I mean, your face, your aura, your everything. It simply changed just like that in an instant."


    "I don''t understand. Do you have a twin sister or something? What about why you came here?" Noah suddenly burst. All of his questions simply flying around everywhere.


    Once again, Emilin hadn''t beenpletely prepared for such specific questions, thus having trouble answering.


    However, she had gained an essential clue.


    Noah, the boy in front of her, had indeed been able to see her real face. That exined quite a bit, but not everything, Emilin thought.


    She didn''t know when exactly that had happened, but Emilin had a guess or two.


    It was most likely when she had been distracted looking at Noah''s familiar expression, one simr to her own, thus failing to control herself perfectly.


    In hindsight, this was most likely not the best idea, to use hypnosis as a shield that is, after all, this could very well be a double-edged sword.


    There were a few loopholes, one being that once you realized you were being sent subconscious signals, they would be much. much less potent.


    The second point was the need for an exnation after being discovered, and the third, also the most pressing one, her skills may very well be leaked, something she wanted to avoid at all costs, and so, due to her flustered nature, she responded in haste to change the topic.


    "I''m sorry I tricked you, it wasn''t my attention to approach you at all," Emilin honestly responded, but she didn''t know that her words were in fact doing more harm than good.


    It was true, Emilin didn''t have the intention to have approached Noah in such a manner, it just happened like that.


    This had nothing to do with approaching him as a potential friend.


    It wasn''t as if she didn''t want to approach this boy, who was close to her in age. It was just that the way it happened wasn''t to her liking at all.


    Not one bit.


    As for Noah, he felt a hit to both his ego and to his heart whenever Emilin denied wanting to have anything to do with him in such a sincere manner.


    But at the same time, a part of him wanted her to be even harsher, more ruthless. Hoping that Emilin had a disgusting and intolerable personality so that maybe, just maybe he would be able to wake himself up from this illusion.


    This delusional feeling, this so-called love at first sight.


    Noah had this hope that maybe if she was terrible enough to him, he could stop his heart from skipping a beat every time he heard Emilin open her mouth.


    A small hope that could be overshadowed by the sound of his beating heart at any moment.


    Everything felt out of ce.


    Noah felt like he was having thoughts and emotions that he never would have imagined to stem from a person he had just met.


    Of course, he imagined falling in love one day or another and being in a rtionship with someone, but this wasn''t right at all.


    This wasn''t the way he wanted to fall in love.


    Not in this shallow disgusting way.


    Noah felt like his thoughts were sickening, but maybe it was he who was the disgusting one.


    Either way, he couldn''t stop anymore.


    He could only struggle. There was no more fighting, he needed Emilin to be the one to push him away, or he seriously doubted that he would be able to aplish such a feat by himself.


    ''I need to be ruder,'' he thought.


    Another thought that he never thought he would have until today. Until he met Emilin.


    "Then what was your intention?" Noah wanted answers, he wanted a rification and he felt like he deserved one at that.


    "I don''t know either..." Emilin responded in doubt.


    But in fact, what she really wanted to say was: ''My intention. I want to be your friend.''


    Yet just as Emilin was about to voice her thoughts, struggling internally, Noah''s words went on to crush that idea.


    "If you don''t know, then just stay further away from me," Noah said through gritted teeth.

 Chapter 113 - Only Human Pt IV: (Greedy, Selfish, Cowardly, And Weak)

    "If you don''t know, then just stay further away from me."


    One could tell that Noah was really pushing himself to say those words at that moment. ??


    Noah was struggling.


    He wanted to uphold his morals which was only getting increasingly hard the longer he stayed here, but his feet were rooted to the ground.


    Now, he could only hope that Emilin would leave, storm off even, first.


    He needed her to throw him away so that he could finally leave, while also attempting to leave this useless feeling behind.


    Hoping it had been a mirage all along so that he wouldn''t truly have to admit to having be the shallow person that he was now questioning himself to be.


    On the other hand, this was actually rather favorable for Emilin, who was still trying to process.


    She was crushed.


    If this were a manhwa, there would be a loading bar moving at a snail''s pace on her face, or right above it while another 4 tons of rocks with the words *stay further away from me* written down on them as blood dripped down one side of her mouth.


    That was the kind of scene it would be, or at least that would be true for a second there.


    Because in the very next, things would get serious again. After all, this was a serious matter.


    "Why?"


    This time it was Emilin''s turn to ask why.


    Her throat was dry and her voice cracked a little, still, it was noticeable that she wasn''t feeling well, her whole mood was off.


    There was another dreadful silence as Noah didn''t know what they were talking about anymore and Emilin was still in a midst of half a mental breakdown.


    For the past two weeks, Emilin had done so much to build up just this much courage, yet she was crushed one time after another.


    Her string was just that close to snapping and all the friction wasn''t helping.


    And this wasn''t entirely about Noah, but rather Noah and everyone else before him. All those failed attempts were getting to her and she had no one she could talk to about it, so it was umted stress.


    Her nerves were at their limits as Emilin felt like her mind could burst at any moment.


    She had this impulse, wanting to just cover her head, her ears, her eyes, and every other signal receptor so that her nerves wouldn''t get overloaded, yet at the same time, not wanting to look conspicuous


    It just so happened that Noah was the one in front of her when it all snapped.


    Nothing more, nothing less.


    Before this very moment, Emilin had no way to vent, not in front of others nor her family, and in the end, that emotional burden was what brought her to this instance.


    And even if she had thought of venting before, it wasn''t anything she would resort to, since oftentimes, venting would affect the other person''s mood, something that Emilin couldn''t possibly do.


    Emilin could feel her eyes searing hot, ready to produce tears at a moment''s notice, but Emilin held it in with a sniff.


    "Wh-why does this always happen to me? What did I do wrong? Di-did I ask to be like this? No."


    Emilin''s voice trembled as she sniffed all her tears back where they came from.


    Emilin had these thoughts countless times, more than she could care to remember, yet this was, in fact, the first time she had voiced them out like this, with someone else in front of her.


    Of course, she didn''t want to be like this, and Emilin had always believed that she would be able to make friends at some point in time, after all, humans weren''t made to live alone.


    No.


    They simply couldn''t survive in solitude, it wasn''t that they weren''t made for it, it was that they simply couldn''t live without social interactions.


    After all, those were often times what made people human.


    Anyone would break down when they felt like they were alone in this world, and no one was an exception.


    If someone could live alone in this world, chances are they were already broken down. Dismantled by society or by gics.


    And in Emilin''s heart, she felt all kinds of unfairness about this.


    She had already lived one life in solitude, so why couldn''t it be different this time?


    Why is it so hard?


    Frustration umted throughout her 15 years of this life, 12 of which she had spent trying to talk to other people and failing miserably, was now hitting her hard.


    There was a point in time when Emilin had thought, no, had convinced herself that she would be fine with just her family. The ones who loved her, who would stay with her no matter what.


    When she first found her heart clench at every instance she tried to talk to others, she had told herself that it would be okay, after all, she had already obtained more warmth than all of her past life in those few years.


    Yet she was only human.


    A greedy, greedy human.


    She had thought that she would be okay with what she had, yet she couldn''t help but reach for something more.


    A friendship that was created by her and someone else, and not just something handed to her due to blood rtions.


    Emilin was always seeking more, even if she pretended to be okay in front of others, including her family, including Theodore, including herself.


    Emilin would oftentimes bush things off as a joke, insinuating discreetly to her brothers that her not being able to hold a conversation with others wasn''t that big of a deal to her, or to anyone in general.


    As if anyone would be okay not being able tomunicate with people of their age.


    It wasn''t normal, or healthy, but because she didn''t want her family to worry, she had secretly convinced them that it was, before they even asked.


    Not hypnosis, just psychological hints.


    But even that much was not okay.


    As time passed, Emilin started to doubt.


    She started to doubt her worth. She wasn''t confident in herself.


    When she was alone, Emilin often questioned whether she was being a bother to the people around her, whether she was wanted.


    Emilin loved the warmth from her parents and brothers, but it was also that very warmth that made her question herself.


    Whether she deserved such an amazing feeling.


    Whether she was simply a burden to her family, who always cared for her.


    Yet she was only human.


    A selfish, selfish human.


    Even if she didn''t deserve it, she would take it all for herself.


    This had nothing to do with her other skills, the ones that she hadn''t worked for, the ones that she had obtained simply from having suffered in her past life.


    This had to do with whether her family would still care for her in the same way if they knew everything.


    Everything that Emilin would never tell them because she was only human.


    A cowardly human.


    She was weak.


    And she was especially weak because she didn''t show it.


    The strong people have always been those who were able to be candid with the emotions that they felt, to acknowledge them, to be true to them, and then to express them. Not the ones who suppressed them, hoping they would disappear, cowering in fear of what they could produce.


    Of what they could be.


    Emilin wasn''t strong.


    People who had friends could vent, vent to their friends about their troubles, but Emilin had no such privilege.


    The leading cause of all her suppressed emotions.


    People often take it for granted that they have people they can talk to, people who support them, people who are willing to listen.


    Many people took their friends for granted.


    That was one thing that Emilin would never, ever, not in this lifetime, not in herst, and not in her next, ever do.


    And now here she was, about to shed tears of sorrow because she was too weak to do anything else about it.


    And yet somehow, these tears were also the bravest things she had ever shed.


    These were the tears used to express her emotions. The ones that she had held in for years, a physical expression of her weakness and her suffering.


    These were tears of frustration, sadness, loneliness, depression, and finally, they were tears of joy.


    Because they were tears of liberation.


    Liberation of the emotions that she had sealed for years, the very ones that she had desperately suppressed while pretending to be the strongest, most unfazed person on earth.


    Suppressed while deluding herself to believe that they weren''t there.


    They were very much present, eating at her, bite after bite.


    And now, she was free of them all.


    These tears symbolized her weakness, disying it for anyone who wanted to see.


    But so what?


    She was only human.


    A simple human, like anyone, and everyone else.


    ***


    Today, let us all be more epting of others so that tomorrow, we can all be more epting of ourselves.


    - Youlier

 Chapter 114 - Only Human Pt V: (Coming To Terms)

    There was absolutely nothing wrong with her expressing her sorrow, in fact, it would only be unhealthy if she were not to do so. So why should she be criticized for crying?


    Why should anyone be criticized for crying? ??


    Be it if they are a child, a baby, an adolescent, an adult, an elderly, a man, or a woman, an orphan, or a rich kid.


    Why would there ever be a restriction, a stigma on people who were able to show how weak they are?


    Emilin was not endorsing people who only knew how to cry, without the will to solve anything, waiting for others to do so for them, in fact, she didn''t believe people needed to cry to express themselves, but for Emilin, who had been suppressing it for so long, this was a breath of fresh air.


    Why should those who are able to admit that they are weak be ostracized when in reality, they are the ones who are truly strong?


    The ones who are able toe to terms with themselves.


    That was the key point, right there.


    When Emilin thought abouting to terms with herself, her previously tense shoulders and face naturally rxed.


    "Ha..." Emilin smiled, her residue tears still sliding smoothly across her face.


    With this oddly familiar scene, Emilin was reminded of a scene that urred around the time she was born, after her parents took her back to their house at that time, something simr had happened.


    Emilin''s memories of that time were somewhat fuzzy and so she couldn''t remember why she had smiled and cried like that, but truthfully speaking, even now she didn''t know why she was crying and them smiling like this.


    Still, she liked it, quite a bit at that.


    Emilin wiped the tears streaming down with the back of her hand and chucked at herself, not in a self-deprecating way, but rather one simr to that of a sigh of relief.


    Emilin looked up at Noah, who was looking back at her strangely as if he had been looking at the most wondrously peculiar creature that had presented herself on earth.


    Then she leaned forward into a bow, introducing herself again.


    "I''m Emilin."


    "I know," Noah responded as if unfazed yet his heart was in turmoil.


    Everything he had done today felt out of character, in fact, if Noah didn''t know any better, he may have very well assumed that someone else had possessed his body.


    He was going crazy.


    "I''m introducing myself again so I hope we can start off on a new nk page."


    Emilin''s stomach churned, but she didn''t allow herself to sound unnatural, yet even so, she felt like her voice was somewhat foreign.


    ''Is this my natural voice?'' She questioned herself.


    Yet such a doubt hadn''t been able to stop Emilin from continuing. She was going all in here, double or nothing.


    It wasn''t as if she had anything to lose, because as previously mentioned, she was at terms with herself at the moment.


    Noah didn''t know if Emilin was just a bluff or if she had a truly big hand, but he could only see himself go all in at this point.


    There was no need to ask any more questions seeing as Emilin had already made up her mind.


    And he couldn''t hold back either, he could only go all in, or forfeit for life.


    Yet her next question was unexpected, to say the least.


    "Can you consider being my friend?"


    Emilin struggled to string even just those words into seamless lines, yet despite how tense she was once again, she actually hadn''t felt this alleviated in a long time.


    Noah could feel the sincerity in her words as if she would be most honored to have him as her friend, which only made him even more confused.


    "What? Your what?" Noah frowned, genuinely this time.


    Was he just friend-zoned before even saying anything.


    Was he supposed to be relieved or sad?


    Was it okay that he seemed to be feeling both at the same time?


    It wasn''t weird, right?


    However, even if he were to have all those aforementioned questions answered, Noah still wouldn''t know how to respond to Emilin''s seemingly simple question.


    It was then, a honking sound sounded from behind Noah from a point of view that Emilin would be able to notice.


    She knew exactly who it was, after all, it was the person she had been waiting for before Noah came up to her.


    *Honk* *Honk*


    "Well my ride is here, so consider it okay? Pretty please?" Emilin said before she promptly turned around, hiding her nervousness and embarrassment.


    Still, she wouldn''t hide it for too long.


    After all, after this event, Emilin had learned her lesson, suppressing her emotions was too tiresome.


    She needed the right outlet to express them.


    Breaking down crying wasn''t going to solve anything, so Emilin needed another creative outlet to express herself with.


    Emilin would let it all out when she got back home, as for now, she got into the car.


    It was a dark SUV that had stopped right in front of Carlson''s restaurant.


    The person on the driving seat, after having made sure that there was no one moving around and that he could park there for the moment stepped off.


    The man in his early-mid 20s with a handsome countenance came out of the vehicle.


    He walked to the shotgun, opening the door, before signaling at the youngdy who had just started approaching him.


    "You guys are finally done, you sure ate for quite a while," Xandermented offhandedly.


    He didn''t mind too much, after all, his sleep schedule had already been screwed up with the project he was currently working on, a little more wouldn''t change much in the long run.


    Emilin had contacted him, telling him to eat first since she wasn''ting back to eat that day.


    Xander didn''t find that strange at all since Emilin had already made it clear that she hade to Opaque City for a whole other reason of her own,pletely unrted to him, and if it was important enough to make her travel, then Xander was sure that it would be important enough to warrant a few meals.


    Then Emilin had contacted him once again to tell him that he could go rest first too since she wasn''t going to be done here any time soon. They really were eating for quite a while.


    In truth, Emilin had only sent that second message since Xander had asked her to tell him when she was getting home, to her apartment that was across from him.


    He was scared that she would get into some trouble or get lost, so this was just precautionary.


    She hadn''t expected him to offer to drive her home, in fact, she had wanted to reject at first, after all, there was simply no need for all that trouble, to have him drive all the way here and then all the way back for no apparent reason.


    Well, it was safer than a cab, though Xander had given her some poor excuse, saying that he had toe out to digest anyway, saying that it was on the way, which Emilin knew clearly was not the truth.


    This ce was not on the way of anything, at least not anything that this young doctor could ever want to go to or even walk to, much less driving.


    In fact, once you were driving somewhere you had no ns to drive to in the first ce, it was already clear as day that it wasn''t on the way. Not to mention not once had Emilin ever seen Xander go for digestive walks before.


    He had always eaten and then hit the books right after, so much so that Emilin worried that Xander was a little too enthusiastic.


    She didn''t worry for long though since that aspect was rather good for her.


    Well, Emilin was hitching a ride, so she didn''t mind too much, Xander was offering, after all, it''s not as if she had woken him up in the middle of the night toe to pick her up, that she wouldn''t do.


    Emilin then stepped in the car, and Xander closed the door behind her, heading back to his own seat, but not before giving Noah a nce, wondering who this person, who his little master was with could be.


    ***


    Noah was at a loss once again.


    Emilin had just left with another man, who though was good-looking just like her, clearly looked nothing like her!


    In the middle of the night too.


    He didn''t know how he wanted to interpret this.


    Well, no. He knew exactly how he WANTED TO interpret this, just not how he should interpret it.


    She had droped a bomb on him before leaving on her mary old way, not even giving him a nce, not looking back once.


    What was he? A bomb testing site?


    Instead, it was the older man, whom Noah didn''t know the exact rtions when it came to Emilin who gave him a nce, but even then, it could only really count as a passing nce at most.


    That man had this arrogance about him.


    Noah could just feel it.


    After all, he wasn''tcking in arrogance himself.


    That man, whom Emilin left with had a deep-seeped arrogance, one he could associate with.


    He didn''t show it at face value, he wouldn''t look arrogant to normal people, but to Noah, it couldn''t be more prominent.


    It was something seeped into his bone marrows as if he had been born, knowing he was better than others.


    ''How peculiar,'' Noah thought, before finally taking a step away from the position he had been previously rooted in.

 Chapter 115 - Lost Memories Pt I: (Bring Them To My Office...)

    "May I ask who that was?" Xander asked out of pure curiosity after noticing the silence that had engulfed the car.


    The trip wasn''t necessarily short and though he wouldn''t have minded it if it had been anyone else, with Emilin, Xander always found the silence quite unbearable.??


    It was as if there were always lingering words, drifting around, left unspoken, yet still making their presence known in the air around them.


    It was somewhat stifling, at least that was true when they weren''t either both working on something or at the cat cafe.


    "Mm, I''ll tell you when I find out," Emilin calmly responded as if reporting to a higher up, or more urately speaking, dismissively responding to a subordinate.


    "Is that a riddle?" Xander brushed it off as a joke, not knowing what else he could say.


    After all, she either truly didn''t know him that well or she simply didn''t want to tell him, either way, there was nothing left to say.


    As for which one of the two was more probable, surely everyone would have their own thoughts on the matter, though Xander doubted his thoughts would vary much from everyone else''s.


    "Not at all," Emilin seamlessly spoke, dismissing Xander''s unfounded ims.


    She didn''t respond not because she didn''t want to, nor because of some riddle, but rather simply because Emilin didn''t know if she should introduce him as her future friend, simple acquaintance, or some random stranger.


    None of them seemed quite fitting, with most of them sounding quite strange if spoken out loud.


    As for his name, it was barely of any use to epass him as a person seeing as she barely knew anything else about him.


    Noah was a mystery to her.


    Though there was a familiarity about him that Emilin found indescribable, there was also this estrangement present at the same time.


    It was both contradictory, yet not rough to digest.


    There was something mystical about it, mystical and fleeting.


    Sometimes it was there, and at other times, Emilin found herself questioning whether it was simply a figment of her imagination, used to convince herself that this was the one.


    The one who would be her first friend. It also wasn''t wrong to say that there was some level of delusion and hope mixed in there.


    Emilin acknowledged that there was something there, noting it down for future reference, but as for that very instance, Emilin would be better off believing that that feeling of familiarity was because of that expression he had made previously.


    The one that she associated with one of her own, one that she would be happy to never see again for the rest of her life, one that she rather disdained.


    Yet there was still something charming about the way Noah had portrayed it, something that made him different from her, something Emilin couldn''t quite identify.


    It was something that had made him much more approachable whenpared to herself.


    "I do believe he''s a small-time model if that is of any interest to you," Emlin had reached this conclusion after thinking about it for a while, after all, there was no need to leave Xander hanging, even if he didn''t really care that much.


    Xander simply nodded at Emilin''s response. Thinking back, Noah had been truly quite handsome, fitting for his job.


    In fact, it wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that it would have been a waste of his good looks if he hadn''t be one.


    Though not clear at first, Xander had a feeling that Noah may be of the same kind as him.


    That being their subtle arrogance that others weren''t able to notice.


    It was there as in as day for Xander to see, arrogance that seeped into one''s bone marrows wasn''t something that could be necessarily hidden, but not something that everyone could discern either, after all, it was a part of their nature, but it was also a part of their nature not to cause a scene simply due to arrogance.


    But it wasn''t something Xander preupied himself with.


    It wasn''t at all strange that Emilin had some arrogant friends, after all, one could probably be quite arrogant just being Emilin''s friend.


    To Xander, who knew quite a bit, he didn''t find that part strange, in fact, what he did find strange was Emilin''sck of arrogance.


    She didn''t appreciate her own talents, which were something that Xander found increasingly apparent, in fact, at times, Xander felt a strong sense of disdain when Emilin looked at her own work in the medical field and in the papers, she had given him.


    But that wasn''t something he wasfortable asking about just yet.


    Seeing as some words had been exchanged, the atmosphere in the car had visibly lightened, which was a good thing.


    The rest of the trip was made in peace, with two people, each of whom wanted to speak some more to the other, but unable to find the right words.


    One because they couldn''t muster up the courage, and the other because there were at a loss for words.


    ***


    The car had been parked just in themunity basement of the apartment and as they made their way up, they also parted ways.


    Emilin said her goodbyes and goodnights as she made her way in, closing the door behind her with a ck.


    She then took off her shoes when stepping in as it was customary.


    Emilin immediately hit the bed after taking off her shoes, washing her face, and quickly brushing her teeth.


    Staring nkly at the ceiling above her, Emilin didn''t think of anything in particr.


    There was nothing much on her mind, which was quite rare.


    In the end, after staring for long enough, her eyes had grown weaker. Emilin''s eyes fluttered as she tried to keep them open but to no avail.


    "Good night to me too," was Emilin''sst thought, before she really hit the pillow, joining the others in the dream world.


    Unknowing of what she was going to find there. Would it be a peaceful night? Or a rowdy one? Dreamless or chaotic?


    Emilin closed her eyes to find out.


    ***


    WARNING: Proceed with this part with caution.


    "Good, yes, this is how it''s done!" A man with a crooked back eximed in excitement as if wanting the whole world to know if his aplishments, but sadly that would not be the case.


    "Professor, it was impably done, though the chances are low, the products are in no way inferior, I think as long as you keep working on this project, it will only be a matter of time before you can bring our to a new era, bringing our nation to new heights," the person behind that man of greyish hair and a crooked back said.


    His words were sweet, but behind them hidyers andyers of jealousy, hatred, disgust, and disdain.


    He was significantly younger-looking than the first man, perhaps still in his early teens even, but the dark eye circles simply didn''t help in the matter.


    He looked half-dead, wearing the dirtyb coat that seemed to have been used a couple of hundred times.


    He was clearly treated poorly, but he was desperate enough to do whatever it took to live.


    Surprisingly enough he was one who had yet to lose hope, clutching on to any opportunity that came his way.


    The younger man seemed to be trying to kiss up to the elder male, who could to some extent bepared to a homeless man with how little he cared for himself.


    But the skinny young teen wasn''t too much better, in fact, he was likely worse as clear signs of mental trauma could be spotted from this youth.


    His arms shook unnaturally at times and so did his voice. His dark eyes were also diluted unnaturally despite being in the light.


    He knew exactly what may happen if he lost his use, something he wouldn''t want to happen to him even dead, the thoughts of it haunted him well into the night, not sparing him even when he was awake.


    Imagining the dismantled parts of his body after he had died, stuffed in jars,beled with numbers and names made his seizure-like movements even more extreme.


    "I haven''t raised you for nothing, after all, you know what you are talking about, despite being a defective product," the old man said with a huff showing his disdain as clear as day.


    Even knowing that this little kid''s word wasced with insincerity, getting apliment every once in a while, didn''t hurt.


    In this aspect, they were in much less of the aforementioned boss-assistant rtionship, closer to a servant master rtionship.


    But not in a good way.


    If there is a good way that is.


    The servant-looking teenage male could be seen to be giving his professor sneaky nces as if trying to make sure that he hadn''t offended him in any way, his whole body seemingly shrinking so that his presence would be diminished with it.


    His arms still shuddered as they shook in irregr intervals. His gaze making him seem smaller and weaker than a mouse.


    It made one wonder how he had the guts to kiss up to the elder in such a way just moments prior when now, it seemed more like he wouldn''t be able to open his mouth to speak, even if you begged him to.


    The elder man, being who he was, didn''t fail to notice.


    But even if he did in fact notice, all he did was scoff.


    "Stop dilly-dallying and get the ones who just failed to my office right this moment."

 Chapter 116 - Lost Memories Pt II: (Identification Tag.)

    "Stop dilly-dallying and get the ones who just failed to my office right this moment."


    The young man''s eyes widened from the unexpected order.??


    The professor had always simply disposed of the failed products, never giving them a second nce unless his goal was to dissect them, not that there was much to dissect, and even then, it would be at the basement rather than his office.


    Not to mention that if it were indeed for dissection and preservation, it was done mostly by another person other than the professor himself.


    But after only a moment of hesitation, he nodded his head saying "I''ll do it immediately" before going on his way.


    The young boy turned around right after he finished talking and so he just barely missed the professor''s sinister smirk, the old man''s whole body exuding a dark aura as he left for his own office in a great mood.


    ***


    The young man, who went by F8, having no other name, entered the ss room adjacent to the room where he had been talking to the professor.


    But even his so-called name was barely used, so rare that even he himself went on to forget it as time went on.


    Yet at other times, even if he wanted to forget it, he was not able to do as he wished. This name haunted him as much as it identified him.


    F stood for failure.


    His name was quite straightforward, it wasn''t as if the professors here could bother with actual names, they were simply easier to identify in such away.


    In fact, it wasn''t really a name, it was much more like a tag of sorts.


    F8 was his identification tag.


    He was the 8th person to fail to pass the second trial after having passed the first.


    As for the people who couldn''t pass the first trial, the dead people who numbered in the thousands, no one would have known their names.


    [Chapter 32 for reference]


    The professors working on this case had wanted at least 100 sessful trials moving from the 1st phase to testing for the second, but that had proved to be much more challenging than what had been initially anticipated.


    What had originally been around 1 sessful subject passing the first phase for every 50 people, who had ultimately died, had soone to be 1 in 100 and then 1 in 120 and then 1 in 140 and not long after, 1 in 150.


    The sess ratio only decreased, dwindling like sand from there on out.


    And nothing could have been done about it. They didn''t know why either.


    But the truth of the matter was that they originally asked the higher-ups for extra 1000 participants, saying that that was just around what they needed.


    And yet that number had somehow multiplied with the results being only a fraction of what had originally been anticipated.


    And there was also an exponential increase in the difficultly as they moved forward in the experiments, which could be seen clearly from the fact that there were only so many people who passed the 1st phase, represented by the number of people who had failed in the second.


    As for the number of people who were able to pass the second phase, they could be counted with just one hand.


    This was already quite good considering that there hadn''t been that many attempts as of yet.


    Currently, the ratio of the people who had passed the second trial way surpassed the ratio of sess to the failure of the first trial.


    But considering what little data they had, all of this was circumstantial.


    The ss room was see-through from both sides with a mechanism that could make it a one-way mirror if necessary, but that mechanism had been turned off after the experiments for that day had ended.


    On the floor, next to the ss, 4 young childrenid.


    If F8 didn''t know any better, he would have thought them all to have been dead, not a single one of them moving a muscle, with their breaths so faint that it was barely audible even though the room was otherwise silent.


    "I wish they would just wake up ordingly," F8 sighed.


    "And without the fuss either," he continued toin to himself, but rather than annoyed, he sounded much more helpless, unlike someone else, who would have looked at these pale kids with disgust.


    Not because of their thin and pale countenance, which made them seem more like corpses and ghastly than human, but simply because they were failures, or so the professor said.


    And of course, all failures had to be disposed of.


    These children were only around 6-9 years old.


    F8 reached out for the first child, the one closest to the entrance.


    He immediately went for one of the child''s vital points as if about to attack him, a killing move.


    The first child F72, who had been lying in a defensive pose despite having been knocked out,pletely unconscious, suddenly swung his arms from below and stood up like a ragged doll controlled by strings, avoiding F8''s attack.


    His eyes were now wide open, disying in full view his red pupils which were made especially prominent under the dim lighting and behind his messy dark hair.


    Those very pair of eyes slowly lightened as the murkiness from within dissipated, showing how his consciousness slowly returned to him, which only made him even more on alert.


    The boy F72 swallowed some dry saliva, trying to assess his own situation, which didn''t look pretty. Rage burning in his pupils as he thought of the events prior to his fainting.


    He didn''t know whether he had failed or not, but he knew that he hadn''t passed, that much was for sure.


    And not passing meant danger, more dangerous than anything the trials could ever put them through.


    F8 didn''t seem surprised by his actions at all, having expected such a reaction from the boy.


    "You know that you can''t resist, so calm yourself down and settle that anger of yours. You should know clearly by now that it won''t help increase your survivability," F8 sincerely said.


    Despite having said such words dozens of times, they never lost their sincerity. But that was the extent to which F8 could help the kid, the rest would be up to him.


    A simr scene urred 4 more times until F8 reached the final corner of the room, the one furthest away from the entrance.


    He had already woken up F72 through F76, with 3 of them being boys and the other 2 being female.


    And finally, thest one, S3, the child who passed, a young girl, likely around 6 of age.


    Though there weren''t major indicators of age to go off by, F8 made his assessments through height, even if it wasn''t the most urate seeing as just months prior, these children were greatly malnourished.


    Though that wasn''t the case now.


    Now there were all well-fed, able to eat till their heart''s content, yet not one of them had a better countenance than when they had first arrived, in fact, one could very well argue that it was levels worse.


    "And you should wake up now too," F8 directed his voice at thest girl, one of dark brown hair and yellow eyes tinted with a shade of green that could only be seen after she ''woke up'' as F8 had told her to.


    "I have to say, I thought that even if one passed, it wouldn''t have been you," F8 directed his words at the female who slowly stood up.


    He sounded as if he were talking nonchntly, making small talk, but he was in fact observing the girl closely.


    F8 had met both of this girl''s predecessors and found the need to make some observations on her as soon as possible.


    The 6-year-old girl, despite her seemingly slow movements, didn''t leave a single opening for F8, at least none that F8 could catch on to, despite being more than double her age.


    Her movements were also natural as if it was engraved into her cells to not let her guard down, making every move subconsciously.


    ''Those two were the same,'' F8 thought.


    "Not in a million years did I think it would have been you. No offense or anything, but thest two people who passed phase 2 were both much older than you."


    F8''s words were worth nearly nothing, after all, there were only 2 data points, not nearly enough to make such a conclusion.


    In F8 were to truly be a person who could believe that age mattered in this matter with only 2 previous cases, then he wouldn''t have survived until this point.


    At least not with such a presumptuous attitude, and hisck of ability didn''t help either.


    What F8 truly wanted to do, was to probe this little girl.


    S3 looked at F8 with calmness, the maturity in her eyes were not ones that could usually be found in a child of her age, but no one in that room would have realized this, after all, they were all the same.


    Not a single child here could im to be able to act their age in the outside world, the world outside of the cage that they were entrapped in.


    The young girl nodded her head absentmindedly, ignoring F8''sment about her age and her achievement as if none of it mattered, none of it bothered her at all.


    ''I guess they really can be different,'' F8 thought.


    This child was different from the other two.

 Chapter 117 - Lost Memories Pt III: (Failure.)

    As previously mentioned, those who failed were naturally disposed of.


    The ones who had failed in phase one, otherwise known as the first trial didn''t have to be disposed of in any particr manner seeing as the sole requirement for the first trial was survival.??


    All the subject had to do was survive the process of having a serum with the information from their respective chips injected into their bodies, which would slowly, but surely alter the subject''s reaction speed and 5 senses.


    They didn''t go through the trouble of teaching the children martial arts orbat techniques much less the usage of various weapons at that point, but when they started inserting brain chips on anything that required the body, the children were able to absorb it all like sponges that had been dried in the desert.


    After a few more trials, an additional side effect was exposed.


    The emergence of the subject''s 6th sense, allowing these children to feel something, something close to precognition. It was unimaginable, to say the least, and the skeptics weren''t numbered in the single digits.


    Though urate data on the matter was hard to collect, after a while, the evidence was undeniable.


    It was first noticed when a young child came out with a 41 degree Celcius fever out of nowhere. Still, he wasn''t willing to stay in bed in the doctor''s office, a side building of the institution.


    Then, shocking the doctor in charge at the time, the boy forced himself out of the patience''s bed with a head full of sweat and clothes soaked through just to barely reach the door before the whole office copsed in on itself.


    He survived the copsing walls, not a scratch on his body, but not before he died of a fever so high it fried his brain, or maybe it was his overused brain that caused that fever.


    That much could be simply counted as a coincidence, but when simr, inexplicable events urred, coincidence was no longer at y.


    And not long after, just a weekter, another child suddenly stood up and flipped over her tray during mealtime.


    They hadter found out that those rations that the child was eating at the time had been expired after some testing.


    And of course, the ounts piled up.


    It happened in unnatural sequences with urrences of varying danger levels.


    It was then that the professors had to start taking the supernatural into ount.


    Either that or a kind of wave fluctuation, that sent signals to the children''s enhanced bodies, that had yet to be discovered by mankind.


    Either way, this sixth sense, which could predict things from copsing buildings to overcooked rations was a whole new ying field.


    Something that these professors still had to take and study at their own discretion, exploring their new findings step by step.


    Moving on from that subject, a more pressing matter at hand.


    The trials for passing the second phase started not long after, right around when they already had 40 subjects that had passed the first trial.


    They had to make do with only that many children due to their own miscalctions.


    Even then, these kids didn''t even have a name or a form of identification. The first ones only obtaining their tag after attempting the second trial.


    They send the children in batches of 8, wanting to get enough information to proceed and make changes for the following attempts while taking into ount their abysmally low number of human resources.


    F8 had been part of that first batch, where everyone with the exception of himself, died, but that didn''t mean that he had passed.


    Passing the first trial meant that your body was able to adapt to the serum, but it wasn''t that simple for the second trial.


    Though it was previously mentioned that the sess ratio was higher in this second trial, with them already having obtained 3 sessful subjects, you really had to take into ount that those 3 had also passed the first trial, and so, in retrospect, what was really abysmally low was the sess ratio for those who passed both the first and the second trial.


    And since you had to pass the first trial to even attempt the second, the true sess rate of those who passed the second phase wasn''t as high as what one had originally imagined.


    And this was to be expected.


    While the first trial modified the body, the second modified the mind.


    The experiment requiredrge amounts of information to be absorbed in incredibly tense situations.


    There were impairments on the 5 senses while the trial was ongoing and the mental fortitude had to be constantly attacked before outside information could be instilled.


    It sounded a lot more simple than it actually was.


    Attacking these children''s mental barriers to open up unused parts of the brain so that more information could be unloaded at high speeds actually took days of torture using unthinkable and unspeakable methods while they were strapped up so that they wouldn''t kill themselves instinctively.


    A pain that was able to overpower the human''s natural survival instinct.


    Either way, the information would be loaded into the children''s brain, however, how much they absorbed depended on them.


    As for the ones who failed, they were the ones who failed to absorb more than 10 percent of the data injected between their mental barriers.


    They wouldn''t die immediately, but the rest of the data that was not properly absorbed would sooner orter start attacking their own bodies, leading to inevitable death.


    F8 had absorbed 9.99% of the data injected into him making himself, a failure.


    But don''t look down on that 0.01%.


    Many children had been stuck on that 0.01% and even more in the 9.00 range.


    In the first trial, the other, F1-F7, hadn''t been able to absorb more than 9%, a rough estimate that was made after their brains were opened and picked, quite literally.


    The ones that had absorbed less than 5% had died instantly while those who had absorbed from 5-6% died within a week after the trial ended.


    The ones who absorbed from 6-8 died within half a year and those from 8-9 within a year.


    And then there was F8, who was still alive but dying from the inside with every passing day.


    Still, at least he was the first one.


    The first one to have absorbed 9.99% of the data, making himself more useful than the others.


    The others who had absorbed 9.99% in the following batches were taken and dissected, but he wasn''t, because he was the first one, the standard to which the others would bepared.


    As for those under that 9.99%, they were naturally locked up and left to die in various ways to test how they would react in varying scenarios.


    This was also why F8 was so shocked when the professor asked him to bring them all to his office.


    Though he must be in a good mood because everyone has survived, absorbing more than 5% unlike in the first batch, there was only 1 of them that passed.


    There was no need to bring everyone else in as well.


    F8 didn''t understand the professor''s ns, but seeing as things were like this, he was in no position to ask questions.


    He continued to observe S3, who was now looking around in the enclosed space.


    Her eyes were fierce whenever she looked at the unfamiliar faces, that is until her gazended on a specific individual.


    Another child who looked around 6 to 7 of age, S3''s eyes were stered on her.


    And F8 hadn''t failed to notice all of this, including the following interactions.


    The second child, another young girl, F76, was one of the hazel-colored eyes. F76''s eyes were bright when they saw that S3 was all right, but they dimmed in the very next second when she realized her current situation.


    F76 didn''t know much, but she knew that she would be punished with no food if they didn''t pass, whatever that even meant. (As in the children didn''t really know what the requirements for passing were, but once their names were mentioned to them, they would know whether they had passed or not.)


    Her hazel eyes moved on to S3''s yellow-green eyes, which didn''t budge once they found their target.


    S3 hesitated for a second, which could be seen from her stiff movements, which even then, didn''t allow for any openings.


    It was then, it seemed like she wasn''t able to hold it in anymore, running in the direction of F76 at speeds inconceivable to children of her age or size, but not all too rare among these kids.


    What really stunned them in the end, was her actions, not her speed.


    ''What is she doing?''


    ''Was she attacking her?'' F8 entertained the idea, but not for long.


    It was then S3 jumped on F76, but F76 didn''t dodge in any way as one would have imagined she would have in this situation and atmosphere.


    Instead, she weed her with open arms, with a helpless expression on her face.


    In front of F76, S3, the only person who passed in this batch, actedpletely defenseless, like an adorable little kitten. One may have even thought that she was just a regr child to be doted on at this rate.


    "Sister¡­" S3 called, in a voice only audible to F76 and no one else.


    F76 released a small sigh with unknown significance before patting S3''s head, which was nudging at F76, truly like a baby kitten.

 Chapter 118 - Lost Memories Pt IV: (This Insanity...)

    The other children were shocked at first, but they all quickly got over it.


    In the end, the 7 of them, F8, F72, F73, F74, F75, F76, and S3 made their way to the professor''s office under F8''s lead, with S3 still in F76''s embrace.??


    Towards F76, she was like a pampered obedient little kitten, however, whenever S3 felt another''s ncend on herself, she gave them a re, showing her dangerous ws.


    ''How could such a young child be so two-faced?'' One would have thought if it weren''t for the fact that the other 6''s EQ was just as twisted.


    To be fair, it wasn''t as if S3 wanted to be twisted in any way, it was part of her instincts. That F76, her ''sister'', was safe, and everyone else was not. In fact, chances were, she didn''t even know what two-faced meant.


    Either way, they made their way to the office in no time under F8''s lead.


    The other children barely had any time to make emotional preparations, they didn''t know what to expect at this point, though it was doubtful more time would have helped them.


    F8 knocked on the thick metal door, making loud nging noises that resounded in the silent room.


    From the other side of the soundproof wall, no sounds could be heard, because well, it was soundproof...


    Then, the door suddenly swung open with no one behind the metal object to be seen to have opened it.


    Further inside was the professor casually seated on the only seat in the room.


    That was somewhat to be expected considering that there would be no one else entering his office other than himself anyways, and even if there was, they would have to remain standing, like now.


    The office room was much brighter than the outside, but it was also much more cramped.


    There were piles of papers, manuscripts, and folders ced all over the ce, littering the floor.


    Maybe that was the real reason there wasn''t another couch or something there, there really wasn''t that much space for it. :P


    "Well then,e on all in," the professor said nonchntly, gesturing them with his free hand while the other put down a controller.


    It was most likely for the door that he had just opened. Well, like most scientists, engineers, and mathematicians, the professor was also like that.


    Making a superplicated device to solve a simple problem while indulging in their ownziness, creativity, and ingenuity.


    The norm.


    Having also heard the professor, the other 6 naturally made their way in. Not hiding their hesitation.


    Still, they didn''t cower in fear as they did not know the true consequences of failure just yet. Unlike F8 who had already witnessed the ends of kids like them multiple times.


    "Which one is the one who passed?" The professor asked nonchntly, but his eyes couldn''t hide the excitement and anticipation exuding from within.


    F8, who knew not to talk unless the professor spoke to him directed his gaze to S3.


    "Bring her over here." He hooked his fingers gesturing at S3.


    A single nce had been enough for the professor to understand what F8 had meant.


    As for S3, she hooked her short arms around F76 even tighter. Not wanting to let go of her grasp.


    "Release," F76 said softly to S3.


    S3 looked back up at F76, whose arms were lowering by the second as if she couldn''t hold on to S3''s weight anymore with puppy eyes.


    Then, seeing how serious F76 looked, S3 reluctantly let go of her tight grasp, turning around from F76 with a huff and a pout.


    Not forgetting to give F8 a re before turning to the most dangerous person in this room.


    The professor, who was observing S3''s every move.


    "So you are the one huh? Our best product as of yet!" The professor rolled those two words in his mouth for a while with pleasure, ''best product''.


    He liked the sound of it quite a bit.


    The professor was looking at S3 with scary eyes, disying his obsession as in as day.


    It wasn''t in a romantic nor sexual way, after all, the professor was a lot of things, but a pedophile he was not.


    It was more like an obsession for an object.


    But just dted to the extreme.


    "S1 started off at 19% and now, after some training, he finally reached the 25% mark. S2 started off at 22%, with him havinge after S1, he''s still stuck at 24.99%, the mark that S1 had been stuck on for months, but you! You''re clearly different," The professors'' eyes, brown in color, shone with a red craze.


    A madness like no other.


    And the ominousness in his voice only intensified with every following word, so much so that it even gave F8, who had known him the longest here, the one that had seen what he had thought to be the true form of the professor, the chills.


    F8 had always thought that the professor was an unfeeling person, he watched children be tortured, killed, and dissected with a face that clearly told everyone around that he was bored.


    Every once in a while, he would smile or frown, his voice would fluctuate a little, he would show some disdain or disgust, but in the end, behind all that, he was just as bored as he had been from the very beginning of it all.


    This was the first time that F8 had seen something like this from the professor.


    Something much scarier than the indifference that F8 had originally feared.


    So much emotion, and raw emotions at that.


    There was no pretense nor boredom.


    It was all too real.


    Borderline scary. No. It had passed that mark a long time ago.


    "Yes, you... you are different. You will be different...."


    It was unknown if he was talking to himself or one of the other 7 people in the room, either way, it didn''t matter much seeing as everyone else was just a wallflower in front of him in this scene.


    Out of nowhere, the professor started aughing craze.


    It started as a chuckle, then a giggle, followed by a full-blownugh-fest, the type that one would have to hold their stomachs too.


    Insane, that was the only word to describe it. He had gone senile.


    "Someone whoes out of the trial with 61.27 percent of the data processed! I couldn''t have imagined it even in my wildest wet dreams!"


    A strangeparison, but okay.


    "Haha!"


    "And here I thought I would have to go another decade just to start the next trial properly, but it seems like that won''t be necessary anymore since we have you here."


    "You don''t know how torturous it was to get S1 to that 25%, I could only imagine the barrier imposed on the 50% mark, but here we have you! S3, you who easily surpassed all of your predecessors, there is quite literally no precedent."


    The professor was practically drooling.


    S3 didn''t know that her own tag name had been called out amidst the professor''s words, but her instincts told her that there was nothing good about it, especially sensing the strong emotions from the professor towards herself.


    Emotions that S3 didn''t know quite well how to describe.


    It was like greed, but not quite the one that she was familiar with, the one that she had felt towards other people who had food to eat when she was on the streets.


    She could feel that the professor did not greed for what she had, instead, it was more like that greed was directed to herself as a whole, which only made her even more on alert.


    "With you, we''ll be able to start testing for phase 3 right this moment!" The professor continued to speak, despite having realized the young girl''s defensiveness.


    This was just too much of a shock, a pie falling from the sky on a clear blue sky. A good surprise.


    The greatest of good news.


    He had even pinched himself a couple of times where he knew it would hurt to make sure he truly wasn''t in a wet dream.


    As for how S3 felt about all this¡­ that didn''t matter to him, her emotions didn''t matter to him at all.


    There was no need to care for how she felt, after all, the experiments would proceed ordingly either way.


    Or so he thought.


    How was he to know that soon, the wholeboratory would be turned upside down, their previously meticulously mapped out ns overthrown, and their methods changed due to this simple encounter.


    No, it would be more urate to say that their ns would have been overthrown either way. It just would have urred at a muchter date and at that point, they might have even entered a slump in their research, like a writer''s block for authors.


    They should really have been thankful towards S3, but they wouldn''t have known that. That was because the chaos created by the issues that arose due to the 3ed trial was of no small scale.


    As for the problems with S3, they were out of their expectations.


    The following events were not at all as jovial as the professor was at this moment.


    The ns that the researchers came up with to deal with S3 were not to either side''s liking.


    It soon became a lose-lose situation where both sides suffered both physically and mentally.


    And at the very end of it all, all hell broke loose with no forewarning whatsoever.


    The results of this madness.


    This insanity.

 Chapter 119 - Lost Memories Pt V: (Unknown)

    Author''s Note: I love reading yourments, please feel free to leave more <3 *wink* *wink*


    ***??


    The professor cooled down after a bit, but the fire in his eyes never died.


    His passion for his work would have been admirable if his job were not so... tricky tobel, a job of various aspects, both bad and horrific.


    "Lock the other six in the dungeon and bring this one to myboratory."


    The professor spoke to F8, casually pointing at who he meant, but even if he didn''t do so, F8 would also be able to guess the professor''s intentions.


    They were pretty obvious.


    F8 nodded and went to work.


    If the professor didn''t specify a time, he meant that it had to be done instantly.


    In the end, each one of the failed subjects was locked into a separate cell with their arms and legs tied up and mouth gagged to prevent suicide.


    The cell waspletely devoid of anything that they could hurt themselves with or use to break out, just 4 bare walls, no bathroom, toilet, holes, nothing.


    There was but a slit under the door from which the tray with their small rations would be passing through.


    If that slit didn''t exist, the people from the inside wouldn''t be able to tell which bare wall was the door from which they entered anymore.


    F8 did all this as if he had done it hundreds of times, a little monotonously, a little mncholically and a little tiredly.


    But he showed nothing on his face, he pitied them, but he didn''t say anything.


    The others didn''t resist either, they knew that they were in no position to do so, and even if they did, they wouldn''t be able to escape, only attracting the eerie and wariness from those who would go on to control their fate.


    Even if they had a chance to escape, something with the probability 20 times lower than winning a billion-dor lottery, it was higher than 0.


    Their survival instincts told them to lie low, even though both ends of the road were dead ends.


    As for S3, F8 couldn''t help but give her a pitiful nce, taking her by hand to the right room.


    S3 thought of hitting his hand away, but it was good to keep a close watch on her enemy, if there was some sort of trap, she would have a meat shield to protect herself with.


    If F8 knew what this little girl was thinking.... well, he would probably agree with her, thinking to himself that he would have done the same in her position.


    Though she was looking down on him a little too much.


    The professor''sboratory was much smaller in size whenpared to the one they had been in previously, however, the instruments here were much more in variation, quantity, and quality.


    "What are they going to do to me?" S3 spoke for the first time since separating from F76, but she spoke as if this had nothing to do with her.


    "You''ll be okay..." F8 wasn''t even hesitant, lying so tantly.


    It was both embarrassing and shameful, but he didn''t show it on his face and he still said his words seamlessly, though he trailed off at the end a little when he noticed S3''s re.


    It wasn''tpletely wrong though, they would go to the ends of the world to keep S3 alive, that was for sure, at least for as long as there wasn''t a better, more perfect specimen other than herself.


    However, just because she was going to be kept alive to the best of their abilities, it didn''t mean that she was going to be okay.


    She was going to be far from okay.


    "Heh, what do you take me for? A child? You should know better than that." S3 scoffed, which looked adorably out of character for this cute young girl.


    Under her murderous re, something that even S3 didn''t know she was emitting, F8 could only give in.


    "You''ll be tortured out of your mind," F8 confessed honestly with a straight face.


    "Mm," S3 nodded lightly.


    "That seems about right."


    Once again, it didn''t feel like she was agreeing that she was most likely going to be tortured in this room any moment now, it sounded much more like 2 people agreeing on what was better, pancakes or waffles.


    In fact, the pancake waffle argument may very well have been more bloody and violent than this one.


    S3 had recognized multiple devices in this room, things that she had never seen nor heard of before in her life, yet she still somehow knew about.


    Knowing both theirposition, usage, and dangers.


    And none of the things here were particrly to her liking.


    "Then what are you going to do?" F8 probed, hiding his dark eyes, simr to a pool of deep water, behind his unkempt curly hair.


    "Well, I won''t be like you," S3 could only speak with her adorable baby voice, but her seriousness was anything but childlike.


    "I won''t let myself be tortured here while watching others have the same done to them, even if I have to die."


    Though the young kid, S3, sounded particrly heroic at that moment, F8 felt that those words were a stab at himself.


    She was clearly distaining him, though she had good reason for it.


    "You won''t be able to escape their grasps. You''ll die without what they have to offer you, your data will eat you alive," F8 sounded as if he was exining things to a junior, but to both S3 and himself, all it sounded like was excuses.


    As if he were trying to exin his own actions.


    "Not to mention, even if you die, they''ll just find a recement, sooner orter. In this case, sooner if it is to be me, andter if it is to be you."


    F8 continued, with a bitter smile on his face.


    "Now that''s where you are wrong." S3 rebutted.


    "Hm?"


    "They''ll never be able to find another like me again, not in this lifetime, and not in the next either."


    F8 didn''t understand, simply waiting for S3 to give him an exnation, but she didn''t open her mouth so he could only ask for himself.


    It was better than to be rejected without even having tried.


    "What do you mean?" F8 asked curiously.


    He wasn''t necessarily probing anymore, he was asking purely out of his own curiosity.


    S3 didn''t know why she was talking so much either, like a viin in his or herst moments when they thought they had the hero in the bag, exining their ns.


    But she felt like she could understand that feeling just a little.


    The one that would make all those viins confess everything they had done as well as their following ns.


    Loneliness, that was the answer.


    When they finally came across someone they could talk their hearts out to, how could they not?


    You really couldn''t me it all on the viin''s stupidity...


    Nothing in this world was that simple.


    "Exactly what I said, they can''t rece me, no matter how much they try, how long they try for, they will never be able to find another one like me," S3 said with confidence and conviction, something that F8 couldn''t find the reason for.


    "With time they should be----" Just as F8 was about to say that they would probably be able to do it, find another one like her in his lifetime, which wasn''t all that long, to begin with.


    He was definitely going to die soon, he had a few more years at most and perhaps a couple of months on the lower side.


    "Are you deaf? I already told you, they won''t ever be able to get another one like me."


    "Why?" F8 immediately followed up, he still didn''t understand where this statement wasing from.


    "Because, I know more about this data than they do, a lot more. Or they wouldn''t have been going around in circles all this time, they wouldn''t have brought in all these useless subjects," S3 thought back as if having remembered something, a dizzy spell hitting her hard.


    "Either way, it''s none of your business," S3 stoped there.


    She had already spoken too much.


    There were some things that she had only found out after the trial, things that she had pieced together after she been forced to digest all that information.


    And she was better of not saying what, after all, it would be of no use to her.


    Suddenly, rm bells rang in her head.


    At this moment, the professor slid the door open to allow himself inside his ownb.


    ''How long was he here?''


    ''How much did he hear?''


    S3''s body trembled a little, but she quickly calmed down and shut up, another part of her survival instincts.


    "Then let''s have you all strapped up and let''s get started shall we?" The professor asked rhetorically, with a smile a little more genuine than usual.


    S3 gave him a ''do I have a choice'' kind of face before going on and strapping herself without a hint of reluctance or hesitation.


    There was no avoiding this, but even so, there was no way that she couldpletely get rid of her innate fear of pain.


    "Why don''t we get started by seeing if I can extract some good information from you? You sure sounded confident that you had some insights that we don''t..." the professor''s voice trailed off a little in suspicion and fear.


    If what she said was true, then things could be truly quite bad for them, as for the uracy of her information...

 Chapter 120 - Lost Memories Pt VI: (Moron.)

    If what S3 said was true, then things wouldn''t be looking all too good for them, as for the uracy of her information, it wasn''t a reliable source, no matter how you looked at it.


    Though there were a lot of suspicious and mysterious things about the serum, which was also why it was not to be used on humans, the information from within should still have been from their data bass.??


    There was no way, or so he thought, that information could simply pop out of nowhere.


    He was even more confused as to why this little girl was so confident about knowing something they didn''t.


    Yes, he had been listening in the whole time, and this was also why he had let F8 take the children, for an opportunity like this.


    People naturally let their guards down around people like them.


    If you were kidnapped and someone else was kidnapped with you, you are much more likely to open up to them in a short amount of time.


    And this was exactly what happened here.


    This was why he was all the more confused.


    The professor could tell from S3''s initial shock that she had not expected him to have been there eavesdropping, but then why did she say such words?


    Did she think they were true? Or did she take F8 into ount, thinking that even if he weren''t here to listen in, F8 would end up telling him either way?


    But then it wouldn''t make sense for S3 to try to persuade F8 earlier about the watching as others were tortured.


    Then, there was the other option.


    The serum had a number of unknown side effects, and it may have very well been that hallucination was one of them, despite there being no hallucinogens. Don''t do drugs kids.


    It could also be that everything that S3 had said was just bullshit, that she was just messing with them, and so the professor had already made up his mind to extract the information from her using the most effective way he knew.


    If worse came to worse, S3 was either telling the truth or she thought that she was.


    Then, they would always have to have their guards up, because he couldn''t run the other risk.


    He couldn''t run the risk of losing what could possibly be the only specimen as magnificent as S3 as he would find in his lifetime.


    This wasn''t something that could be done without careful consideration.


    And the professor had thought it all through. Even if he died here today, he would at least have to torture S3 first.


    He could simply imagine the look on her childish face, now that was something he was willing to die for.


    There was no point dilly-dallying in this matter, with that time, the professor could already go to work, which was exactly what he did.


    High pitched grunts, that of a young child''s, echoed in the room and throughout.


    On the other side of the table, S3 was strapped up on there was a monitor.


    One that disyed the percentage of sync with the information injected and another with the brain activity of the subject at hand as well as the condition of every part of her body in both macro and microscopic levels.


    Though the torture was painful, it didn''t leave any physical marks, and though the level could be controlled, the monitors wouldn''t let it get past a point at which the specimen would die from pain, heart attack, seizures, etc.


    Monitoring all this through straps stuck throughout the patient''s body.


    These were high-tech devices that had been invented and constructed just in thisboratory, having yet to be released to the outside, even in this timeline.


    If they were to bepared with what was avable outside, they should be at least 3 to 4 generations ahead of their times.


    As forparing this to Emilin''s timeline... even the bestboratories in H¨¦ Continent wouldn''t be able to touch upon this technology.


    It would be likely that without Emilin''s interference, they wouldn''t be able to make prototypes in another 7 to 8 generations.


    In other words, nothing could go wrong, right?


    Well, that''s what they had believed before the monitor started blinking in a red light that the professor was all too familiar with, yet that familiarity was also what scared the crap out of him.


    That was the light he would only see once for every subject he worked with, the one that he would normally be looking at on the sidelines.


    He was all too familiar with this light, so much so that he had thought that it wouldn''t be able to squeeze another ounce of emotions from him.


    Be it anger, pity, or even joy.


    Yet here he was, now panicking because of the gleaming hue of the screen of the monitor.


    "What is going on!"


    "You can''t die on me, I won''t allow it!"


    F8, who was on the sidelines watching the professor scream like a madman was also baffled.


    He hadn''t been able to leave since the professor hadn''t told him to, and though he was slightly ufortable watching, he had no choice.


    Still, he couldn''t do anything he wasn''t ordered to, he also didn''t want to get into trouble for something he had nothing to do with.


    And so, he just continued being the bystander that he had always been, the one that had been scolded by a young girl half his age, the one he was watching die right now.


    F8 clenched his fists tightly.


    How pathetically powerless he was, and yet he still dared to care about someone else when he himself was just barely getting by.


    "Come on now!"


    The professor had been frantically pulling cords while changing the plug of others. At the same time, he didn''t turn his eyes away from the monitor that had been ring at him this whole time, like a ticking timebomb.


    The time went by, seconds felt like minutes and minutes felt like hours, for everyone except S3 herself, who was already expelling cold sweat, some of which was dripping down the table.


    1 hourter.


    The professor was on the soaked floor, his ass unable to move from that very spot.


    The pool of sweat was not only the one that the professor had umted under his feet but also the one that had been dripping down from the table.


    At that time, the F8 who had yet to do a thing since the professor came, notmunicating, not moving, finally came to give the professor a hand, but not before giving S3 a second nce.


    Nothing.


    Her breathing was normal and so was herplexion, just slightly paler than usual.


    So why did she almost die just there?


    "There was no cardiac arrest, seizure, or any other problem with her physically, which means that it could have only been mental."


    "And since our devices couldn''t have done it, it has to be someone else..."


    The professor had a tendency to talk out loud when he had to think things through.


    It was speaking to himself as if there were another him there so that he would be able to bounce ideas around with himself, or more urately speaking, to himself.


    It was then that S3 suddenly slowly sat up.


    The little girl was just as calm as she was before she hade inside the room, just as calm as when she had first confirmed that she would be tortured out of her mind here.


    ''Did it raise her percentage point?'' F8 thought to himself, looking back at the monitor that had stopped blinking.


    Looking at the score that had changed, F8 waspletely stunned.


    ''What is this trash?'' he thought, but he didn''t say a word, realizing that the professor had yet to notice.


    Instead, the professor''s eyes were locked on S3, squinting as if assessing the situation.


    "You knew, didn''t you? You knew this was going to happen all along!"


    The professor said incredulously.


    S3 scoffed at the old man in front of her and his delusions.


    Though she had looked exactly as she had before the torture used to stimte her data assimtion, the moment she opened her mouth, both F8 and the professor knew that that was no longer the case.


    "Do I look like a prophet to you? I hate to break that little thing in your head you call a brain withplicated words like these, but I''ll tell you now."


    "I. AM. NO. PROPHET."


    "Did you get that?" S3 spoke as if she were talking to a 3-year-old.


    ''I knew that digesting more of this data may change your personality as a side effect... but isn''t this a little too much? The old man was just skinned and roasted for being a moron...''


    ''I never thought I would think this, but I don''t even feel like it''s too out of ce if S3''s the one to say it either.''


    F8 shook his head, that was not the point here.


    The professor''s face visibly darkened hearing S3''s mocking words and just as he was going to retort, S3 beat him to it once again.


    "I guess you would be too dumb to understand anyways. Humph!"


    "I didn''t predict anything, I''m the one that made my brain cells attack each other do you understand what that means?"


    No... in fact, he really didn''t understand what that meant, was he supposed to know what that meant?


    Why did he suddenly feel this wave of inferiority... was he really just too young to get it?


    ''Am I really a moron as she said?''


    He questioned himself while speaking to this young girl, whose age had yet to exceed the 2 digit mark...


    ***


    Author''s note: This is really getting longer than I had anticipated, I just can''t help it since ideas keep flooding out, and I think if I leave you hanging on where the connections are, things may get more confusing than I would like them to be. So I guess just sit tight and enjoy. It won''t be too long <3

 Chapter 121 - Lost Memories Pt VII: (Dumbass.)

    "I didn''t predict anything, I''m the one that made my brain cells attack each other. Do you even understand what that means?"


    It seemed like this side effect made S3 incredibly arrogant, so much so that she didn''t put the professor in her eyes at all.??


    The professor understood this well, having done countless experiments with S1 and S2.


    The side effects for each person were distinct, but at some point, they had also been inflicted with a split personality.


    It wasn''tpletely umon, though it would be troublesome if the ego that had taken control of S3 were something else, like that of a bloodthirsty madman.


    S3''s arrogant ego could actually be rated as good for the professor, there were many better ones, but also just as many, or even more, worse ones.


    Though he disliked being looked down upon like this, the professor simply couldn''t let go of such an opportunity.


    Since S3 didn''t put him in her eyes, then obviously she wouldn''t care if she were to tell them her ns, after all, if this ego were strong enough, it wouldn''t believe that others would be a threat even if they found out about everything.


    In fact, it might even want to tell others to prove how much more superior it was, disying its pride.


    [It, as in the ego.]


    [Though it is also a part of the person, it is a separate thing, as if a part of the brain was cornered off and then was allowed control due to the weakness induced during the torture that disabled many of the body''s functions. S3''s current actions are things she could have done if she only had her cocky arrogant ego. The stronger the ego either active or dormant within the person, the longer it would take for all other functions of the brain to recover and for the main ego to take control.]


    [Just to make this clear, they don''t fight for control, it is simply naturally handed to whichever is stronger, the others are also always active, influencing their every action, just ying a lesser role whenpared to the whole. There is no internal conflict when ites to this matter. These egos are all a part of the person, not something that appeared out of thin air.]


    And so, the professor got to work.


    "Yes, yes. This one is truly slightly slow when ites to this topic, could you exin it?" Though the professor was asking for a ''favor'', he sounded impatient to some extent.


    Still, he felt like he was giving in quite a bit already, after all, who else could make this professor say he was slow, not to mention to talk about himself in the third person.


    F8''s eyes widened.


    What did he just hear the professor say?


    ''Do I need to go fill an application to get my ears checked???''


    "What a dumbass," S3 looked at him disdainfully.


    ''Hold it in. HOLD IT IN!''


    The professor could say that about himself, shrugging it off as a joke, but when this child who was only 1 /nth of his age said that in such a tone, the professor couldn''t help but want to strangle her all over again, even if what she said wasn''tpletely inurate.


    He prided himself for being this generation''s greatest genius, okay?


    ''What was with this vocabry?''


    Dumbass was a little too uncouth for his tastes, not that they mattered. Either way, he didn''t find that term appropriate to describe himself.


    "But it''s good that you know," S3 nodded in satisfaction on that point.


    "Changees from realization, first you have to realize your faults before you can go on to ept them and then try to change them..."


    ''Wait where is this going?''


    ''I don''t think I like where this is going.''


    "... So make sure to recognize and embrace your faults more often okay?"


    ''Why is S3''s arrogant ego so philosophical?''


    Both of the other people in the room had the same question in their minds.


    But the professor didn''t have that much spare time.


    Looking at S3''s arrogant smirk *never happened* that ovepped with her calm disposition, his veins popped.


    The professor didn''t know if he was overthinking, but this arrogant ego seemed at least 10 times more arrogant than he had initially imagined.


    She was clearly telling him to ''admit his faults'', recognizing that he was an ipetent dunce, just to get the answers he wanted from S3! *Also never happen*


    What a conceited and gutsy kid!


    Gritting his teeth, the professor spit out his words before he could swallow them back down.


    "This ''dumbass'' would love to know just what makes you different from the others, and how you even know about the others."


    The professor lifted his head, standing up straight and trying to put up his haughty uncaring facade, though it wasn''t doing him much justice.


    At the same time, F8''s jaw dropped to the floor.


    He had just heard the professor call himself a dumbass, now he knew for sure that he was hallucinating, or he had simply had his ears cut off.


    Either that or he was reaching the end of his life and he had simply imagined what he wanted to see the most before death.


    "Why should I tell you?" S3 asked as if she were above talking to the two of them.


    This was seriously frustrating.


    "Because this dumbass still can understand things clearly."


    The professor said through gritted teeth once again.


    "You know, I don''t seem to understand something as well. The wiring of brains of significantly different sizes is different after all¡­"


    S3 continued roasting the old man with her 6-year-old voice.


    "Why do you keep calling yourself a dumbass with every sentence?" She finally asked.


    "Huh?"


    "Isn''t that what you asked me to do? You told me, to recognize and embrace my faults a little more." The professor''s lid was about to pop.


    "Yes, that is what I said, but how does that exin anything? I rmended you ept your own faults. All you need is your own recognition and no one else''s, not to mentation I don''t care about how your progress is going, nor do I want to know.


    "It''s distracting you know?"


    The professor was dumbfounded and furious.


    This was too absurd, who was talking about philosophy and mental health at a time like this¡­


    He was totally yed!


    This girl had done it on purpose! Was there a need to act like a white lotus here? *Never happened*.


    *He was really just overthinking things here on his own, this is why there is a saying that smart people are often destroyed by themselves. *


    "It seems like I was too superficial about things, then could you please enlighten me about your previous statements?"


    The professor tried onest time with this direct approach before he started thinking about other ways to make S3 talk, though none of them would be put to use since S3 started exining after mocking the professor onest time (probably not really thest time).


    "Haha, do you still not get it?"


    "This means that, unlike the other little bimbos and bimboets you are experimenting on, I can actually kill myself whenever I want to. Not to mention, after I die, you''ll never be able to pass phase 4."


    Just as the professor was about to ask her if she even knew what the 4th trial epassed, S3 spoke first.


    "Never will you be able to fully control the children that you have brought to the pinnacle of the world, that is if you are even able to finish trial 3. And I assure you, without passing phase 4, there won''t be a single one of them that won''t backstab you at a moment''s notice."


    A hint of anger could be heard from her voice, but it disappeared, as if suppressed, the very next.


    "The power that you have all hungered for, the sesses, the ns... they will all fall through."


    "Thatst serum, the serum of absolute loyalty you called it? Not one child you test it on will be able to survive it. Not one. No matter how long you test it for, or how many subjects you inject it into... if you inject it once, then one will die, if you inject it a thousand times, a thousand will die."


    The professor nearly choked. His face paled and his eyes contracted.


    "How do I know you are not bluffing! You must be bluffing," he imed in denial.


    "Haha, as if I need to bluff an existence like you!" S3 looked down on the professor, even though he was both standing up and taller than her.


    There was a sense of lingering oppression.


    "Either way, the moment I want to die, you won''t be able to do a thing about it, and by then, your wholeb will be doomed to fail."


    After thest wordnded, S3 clutched her own head as her whole body curled up in pain.


    The side effect was wearing off already.


    ''I guess her arrogant ego was pretty weak,'' F8 inwardly sighed.


    He thought back to S2, who had an encounter with his blood-thirsty ego, which had stayed strong for 2 whole weeks. That was an unfortunate incident.


    When the professor saw S3 faint in a cold sweat, he knew that his chance of further questioning was lost.


    Still, he got something good, even though he still hadn''t been able to figure out where that information hade from, how it was leaked, or even if it was true, at least he had something to go off of.


    He could start making preparations and precautions¡­

 Chapter 122 - Agreement Pt I: (I Want Milk Tea... )

    The next morning, Emilin woke up with a headache.


    After washing up and taking some medicine to prevent a fever from cropping up, she made her way to the living room of the apartment, which she wasn''t all too familiar with just yet.??


    She was scrolling through her phone when someone knocked on the door.


    Without even having to look at the peeping hole, she opened the door to wee Xander, who came in with fresh bread from the cat cafe across the street, which worked as half a bakery, Emilin''s preferred caramel mhiato, and another bag filled with papers.


    As per usual, they spent a few hours reviewing and revising a few details here and there with Xander asking questions about the sector he was working on.


    "I''m going to start getting slightly busier now, so I probably won''t be avable 24/7 anymore," Emilin sipped on her coffee, which now that she thought about it, she shouldn''t be drinking.


    It wasn''t the healthiest thing to drink coffee at her young age, but nor was ingesting as much sugar as she did per day, so Emilin made do.


    There were a number of supplements and medications she could concoct to deal with this much.


    To be fair, she preferred milk tea, or bubble tea, whatever you would like to call it, not that it was any better for her health, but it wasn''t widely avable here in Opaque city.


    She yed around with the pen she was using to write on her journal while Xander was working when out of nowhere, she said, "Maybe I should rmend sister Margo go into the bubble tea industry."


    Well, it wasn''t out of nowhere for Emilin who was thinking about it, but for Xander who was currently looking at the basic studies about cancer cells, which weren''t all that basic at all, he needed to make sure he heard correctly.


    "What if she doesn''t want to go into that industry?" Xander threw out the question.


    "Well, if she isn''t interested, maybe I should open up a chain store myself so that I can drink milk tea wherever I go."


    Looking at Emilin sipping her caramel mhiato, he finally realized what this was about.


    After all, Emilin was a free spirit, she did whatever she liked, whenever she liked, with barely any regard.


    It wasn''t about her care for the industry nor Margo, clearly, it wasn''t about the money either.


    She just wanted to drink some milk tea at that moment, yet somehow, that rounded up to making an international chain store.


    [This was totally how she ended up with all the troubles she has today :P]


    Xander watched as Emilin wrote something down on her notebook just to cross it off right after, writing something else underneath.


    "What are you writing?" Xander didn''t usually ask about this notebook that Emilin carried around, it seemed rather private since she carried it everywhere, writing on it whenever she had the chance, but since she was writing on it right now as she spoke to him, he couldn''t restrain his curiosity.


    "Brainstorming a good name for the shop," Emilin said nonchntly.


    ''Sorry, what?''


    "Aren''t you nning a little too ahead?"


    "Not at all, to seed in something, you always have to be a step ahead."


    Xander showed his pearly white teeth through his weary smile.


    ''Isn''t she a little too entric?''


    ''I don''t think that this is what is meant by a step ahead... will thinking about the name now really help?''


    "Don''t you think that you should be asking Margo whether she wants to do it or not first?"


    Without even realizing it, Lady Margo had gone to Margo, simply because that was what Emilin called her


    Emilin thought about it for a bit before shaking her head.


    "There is no need for that anymore, she will be quite busy for this next while, there is no need to involve her in such matters when she already has a lot on her te."


    Emilin was surprisingly considerate.


    Actually, she just didn''t even know whether Margo would have the international reach. She wanted milk tea to be avable everywhere, wherever she went, it was even better if she didn''t have to pay for it.


    "Are you sure you want to decide in such haste?" Xander appealed to her rationality, but that didn''t work very well in the face of a bull.


    "This is just a thought, nothing has been determined yet."


    ''WTF do you even mean, you are already deciding on the name of the shop, what do you mean nothing has been determined yet? I bet if I turn around, next thing I know, you''ll already be trying to figure the names of the children for these shops.''


    She was clearly quite determined, where was this indecisiveness she was talking about?


    ''Why don''t I see it?''


    "So what are the names you thought of?"


    Xander probed.


    Meanwhile, what he was really thinking about, was how to best persuade Emilin not to venture into such a business! Or into any business for that matter!


    Emilin here was already telling him that she would be quite busy for a while with something else, yet on the other hand, she was still nning on opening an international chain store¡­ which hand would be the one helping him?


    There would be none left!


    He couldn''t let that happen, he couldn''t let this youngdy, who he was willing to take in as his master, have her attention divided even further!


    ''If you are so good at medicine, can you please not deviate to something else entirely!'' He wanted to scream.


    Since Emilin was saying that she was nning to do it and that she could do it, Xander didn''t question that part at all.


    After getting to know Emilin, Xander knew well that she wasn''t one to bullshit.


    (If he knew the number of businesses Emilin was handling in name, Xander would surely faint in frustration.)


    The truth of the matter was that Xander knew that Master M was quite the special existence, however, Emilin was no less interesting.


    Though Master M was well known for his feats in the medical field, even a shadow of his real identity couldn''t be found.


    Who knew if, in real life, he was a businessman or a cor worker? Though that second one was highly unlikely.


    Anyways, Xander was sure that medicine was not what he did for a living, and he was now even more sure with Emilin''s subtle hints.


    She was clearly saying that she could do the business herself¡­ at a moment''s notice too.


    Then did that mean that Master M could do so as well? Or even better? Or maybe he had already done so somewhere in this world.


    First with her being M''s disciple, and second, her age, and now this, not to mention he had yet to figure out what she was doing in Opaque city.


    Though Xander had met Emilin in person, he felt like this young woman, Master M''s disciple, was no less mysterious than the ''man'' himself.


    And what was even more peculiar than anything else was the fact that she never really did anything all day.


    She seemed to have so much free time in her hands it was mind-boggling.


    She would pet cats, y on her phone all day, sleep like there was no tomorrow, even having the time to meditate for hours on end¡­


    Never in a rush to do anything in particr.


    Xander imagined all geniuses such as himself rushing to study all the time to not fall back, behind the others.


    Though he was young, it was as if he were always in a race against time, and Xander had assumed that others were the same.


    But clearly, that was not the case.


    In fact, Xander had never once seen her pick up a book or study medicine other than when she was answering his questions, not once.


    It was hard to imagine that someone who lives like that actually had PTSD, yet at the same time, it wasn''t all that strange either when considering her personality.


    After all, there were only a handful of reasons why someone as young as her would have to mature as quickly as she had, not to mention none of them were particrly good in nature.


    Just as Emilin was about to respond, she got a message from her phone.


    After she finished reading the message, she closed her notebook, standing up with it under her arms.


    "I have to get going, let''s talk when you finish this file and I finish my business. " She suddenly stood up and said.


    "I won''t being back for lunch; I''ll message you about dinnerter."


    "Okay, then have a safe trip," Xander dove into the files, pushing the other thoughts in his mind to the back of his head, getting back to work as Emilin left.


    Still, he didn''t forget to note down in his mind that he had to find out the best way to persuade Emilin out of working on another business, or else, he might really never get through these files.


    They weren''t something he could read without professional help after all.

 Chapter 123 - Agreement Pt II: (Eyesore)

    Not long after, Emilin was back at the studio she had been at just yesterday.


    The lobby was the same as yesterday''s, yet it felt somewhat different.??


    Perhaps it was because it had been packed full the previous night, but it left Emilin the impression that it was missing something.


    It was more spacious, more deste.


    Emptier.


    Even the walls felt whiter.


    There was just Lico, still at the front desk.


    Lico was looking at Emilin intently as if trying to figure something out with no results before putting up his polite receptionist smile.


    "You''re here early! The boss has already told me that you would being, asking me to inform you to head to the second room on the right side of that corridor," Lico had a smile brighter than usual, probably due to the amazing meal they had just eaten the night before.


    Or perhaps something else entirely.


    Emilin hummed, going in the direction she had been told, knocking on the designated door.


    "Come in!"


    A male voice sounded.


    And so she did.


    Inside was Mason''s office.


    Each wall was filled with various clippings of varying magazines, photos of different models in differing scenes wearing different clothes and even with a simple nce, there wasn''t one that failed to amaze the greenhorn novice.


    Emilin''s eyes widened, finding each photo more stunning and captivating than the previous.


    She walked into the office, looking around without making a sound, but Mason could tell what she was thinking just from her reactions, especially when her gazended on his disy case.


    That was where he kept both his awards and the photos that got him those prizes.


    There were trophies, both big and small, awards that ranged from the regional level all the way to some internationally recognizedpetitions, with each shelf holding a different picture.


    All in all, there were just around a dozen.


    This was his office in Opaque city after all, though he came here quite often, this wasn''t his main studio.


    "I have these here to remind myself of how amazing I am," Mason said from behind Emilin, who was staring at the contents of one shelf in particr.


    A small, palm-sized trophy next to a photo of a woman of pitch-ck skin, and no hair in sight. There was not a w on her smooth skin and the light entuated her dark full lips and pretty nose.


    The background was blurred, and in the end, there was a single thing that popped out more than anything, even the woman''s outer countenance, which was already shockingly beautiful enough in itself.


    And that was her amber eyes that shone like gold.


    They looked like they could see through you, peer into your mind, and look into your heart through the photo.


    Absolutely stunning!


    Amidst all others, this one caught Emilin''s eyes instantly.


    It was onlyter, that she noted some other details, such as the white greek chiton that adorned her body, used as just that, adornment.


    It was clearly not the focus of the photo, nor was it meant to be, nor would it ever be able to be the focus, at least not with the presence of this woman in it.


    That piece of cloth clearly looked like silk, as valuable as any other garment found in ancient times used to dress the most beautiful of the emperor''s women, yet somehow, in this photo, Emilin couldn''t help but feel like it was an eyesore.


    Not in an inappropriate way, but rather as if this piece of cloth, or any other piece of cloth for that matter, wouldn''t ever be able to do her any justice.


    Instead, Emilin imagined this very same woman, with these piercing amber eyes that peered into one''s soul, d in heavy metal armor.


    The most beautiful piece of armor that would shine with her brilliance, contrasting against her at the same time to entuate all of her beautiful ws.


    The more she thought about it, the more Emilin felt this photo to be unsightly, yet she wasn''t able to peer away from it.


    Suddenly, she felt as if this single adornment ruined the whole ascetic of the photo in question.


    "What do you think?"


    Emilin had been staring for an abnormally long time, at least in Mason''s eyes.


    He wanted to know just what she thought about it, though he had heard manypliments over the time, so much so that it became a little repetitive, having lost its original taste, it still wouldn''t feel bad to hear some praise once in a while.


    "An eyesore," her clothing was an eyesore.


    "Hah?"


    ''You seemed to be staring quite intently youngdy, you can''t say such tant lies without blinking like this.''


    Though there were bound to be critics in this world, this was really the first time someone had said just a thing to his face.


    "Her clothes, they''re annoying." Emilin rified.


    She nearly said that they were a disgrace before toning it down.


    But that rification didn''t do anything to help Mason.


    ''???''


    "Could you borate? Do you like the photo or not really?"


    Mason couldn''t tell.


    "The photo is captivating, magnificent, even my unqualified vision can tell that it''s one of a kind..." Emilin''s voice trailed off a little.


    She didn''t know how to exin it, but she just felt like there was so much shing in this photo.


    There was this dominating fierceness, yet it was as if someone was trying to force some mellow elements down her throat, anything but pleasant. But that didn''t mean that Emilin could turn away from the resulting sparks.


    "I don''t know how to exin," Emilin concluded.


    And in the end, Mason could only brush it off as well, though such confusing words left a sour taste in his mouth, it wasn''t as if he could force her to talk.


    "Shall we start talking about business then?" Mason moved on from this ufortable topic, but if he had the chance some other time, he would ask again.


    Maybe then Emilin could give him an answer.


    They both moved from the disy case and then to the office table, making themselvesfortable in their own seats.


    It was also then that Lisa came in, offering some refreshments.


    Mason sipped on his coffee, which Emilin rejected since she had already had some earlier that day. Instead, she drank some warm water.


    "We didn''t have a chance to talk about what we were supposed to discuss yesterday since things cropped up rather spontaneously, but seeing as you are already all the way here in Opaque city, I am assuming you are taking me up on my offer?" Mason asked without a questioning tone, well he had good reason for being quite certain.


    "Ah, yes."


    Emilin was a little short of words...


    "Then we can work ording to your schedule for the following week seeing as Owen and Margo''s side will take a while longer, after that, however, I''ll have to put my focus on them so I won''t be able to work with you, I hope you can quickly set a suitable date."


    Mason, Owen, and Margo had already gotten familiar with each other over drinksst night, not to mention Mason was in fact older than the other two, but not by a significant margin either.


    They were still from the same generation and age group so they weren''tcking in things to talk about despite walkingpletely different career paths.


    Though Emilin found the word choice ''set a suitable date'' quite strange, she quickly theorized that he meant that he would take one day out of his schedule to teach her the ropes.


    "If it''s okay with you, I would also like to watch from the sidelines while you are at work," Emilin added a condition.


    Mason didn''t think too much about it before agreeing, even if she watched, Mason could make sure things wouldn''t leak through various measures.


    "For how long?" He asked back.


    Though he could allow for the models to watch every once in a while, after a long period of time, it could be inconvenient.


    "For as long as I am wee, I would like to learn as much as possible."


    Even though they were in fact talking about two separate matters, that didn''t seem to affect the coherence of the conversation.


    It wasn''t unnatural for a newbie to learn from the seniors in the industries, only, though Mason was thinking that Emilin was trying to learn more about the modeling industry, praising her for being resourceful in his heart, Emilin was really talking about learning from Mason about photography, inwardly praising him for being kind-hearted, willing to let her watch even though they barely knew each other.


    The two of them were really in two different ballparks, one ying basketball and the other baseball, both talking about how pretty, round, smooth, and hard the balls were thinking that they knew exactly what the other meant, not knowing that they weren''t even in the same ying field.


    "We can talk about thatter, you cane for as long as you would like, but you''ll have to stop whenever I tell you it''s no longer convenient." Mason was quite strict when it came to this matter apparently.


    He came off quite strong, but Emilin didn''t mind too much.


    It was only normal that he would call the shots since it was his studio, not to mention that she was the one taking advantage of his kindness, he was letting her watch him do his thing, which was already good enough.


    They continued this conversation, which was going as smoothly as ever, each one of them in their own worlds, not knowing that the other hadn''t gotten a word of what they meant.


    But not for long.

 Chapter 124 - Agreement Pt III: (Negotiations)

    At times, Emilin wondered if she was jumping the gun, especially considering her less than mediocre skill level.


    She wasn''t even sure if watching someone who was so many levels above her would be of help, but she was thankful for the opportunity nheless.??


    The two of them proceeded to discuss some other matters, including what dates Mason already had shoots scheduled, with Mason thinking that he was informing Emilin when he was unavable and Emilin thinking that Mason was informing her when she shoulde.


    Everything proceeded quite ''smoothly''.


    Mason had yet to bring up what theme he would like to do the photoshoot with Emilin, or anything about the photoshoot for that matter and so that didn''t pose a ''problem''.


    But that was mainly because that could all be discussed at ater date, thinking that he should get to know the model first before decided what would be most suitable for her, and Emilin not knowing that there was such a thing going through his mind simply nodded and noted down the dates.


    That was when a fateful question from Emilin finally forced the two parties to confront the elephant in the room, that neither of them knew to be present.


    Quite contradictory but fitting at the same time.


    "Then would you be okay with me calling you Teacher?"


    Emilin asked in passing, this was not the main point of the conversation, at least not for her, but she would like to establish good rtions there, after all, the man was doing her a favor.


    She would also like to recognize his talents.


    But her earnest eyes only made Mason even more confused.


    As a photographer, he had been called many things by the models, Brother Nosa, Brother Mason, Uncle (by those of younger ages), Director, just to name a couple, but as someone who never had the chance to pass on his skills, Teacher was not a title he associated himself with.


    Nor one that he had ever heard associated with himself.


    "I don''t usually have models calling me teacher, but I guess you have the freedom to call me whatever you like."


    And I have the freedom to decide whether I want to respond or not...


    "Model?"


    Silence ensued.


    Emilin''s honestly confused face and her questioning tone sent both of them in for a loop as the atmosphere became more stifling, neither of them knowing how to respond.


    There was an extensive silence permeating throughout the room, which was ultimately confronted by the duo at the same time.


    "Um..."


    "Um..."


    "It seems like we may have a misunderstanding in our hands here."


    It was Emilin who brought this up first, seeing as she was the one who understood where the misunderstanding had stemmed from while Mason was still at a loss.


    "Could you exin?" Mason asked helplessly, also having realized that something wasn''t quite right.


    "This must have started from back when we were in Mlakan."


    Emilin thought back.


    "I was buying my camera while you were a photographer, you looked like you knew what you were doing seeing as you knew your way around the ce and when you offered to work together, I naturally assumed that it was from the position of a photographer to a greenhorn in the industry."


    "I mean, I think it was pretty clear that I wanted to get into photography, but you seemed to have misunderstood my intentions when I epted your invitation. Thinking that I was agreeing to be your model due to reasons unknown to me."


    Emilin rified everything from her perspective, which left Mason pretty embarrassed, especially when everything wasid out so clearly.


    Mason thought back to previous events, some of which were a few weeks back while others just this week, even those urring today.


    It was clear to him that though both sides had their own faults that led them to their predicament today, he was a little more at fault than the other.


    He got a little ahead of himself back in Mlakan and then he never looked back.


    Mason was the one who misunderstood first, and because he didn''t rifyter, the misunderstanding continued.


    Mason had all the clues that could have led to the realization that there was a misunderstanding.


    There was the simple fact that Emilin was buying a camera for professional use, but he had chosen to ignore and forget it, there was also the fact that she had never worked as a model, and if she indeed was interested, it probably would have never gotten to his turn to shoot her debut, especially considering her age and her apparent wealth.


    If she was well off enough to travel across the world alone at a moment''s notice, with her looks, it probably would have been a piece of cake to get the opportunities she needed to quickly rise to fame.


    Mason had thought that it probably wouldn''t be the first time Emilin had gotten a modeling offer and thus assumed she naturally knew what he meant when he said working together, but then he didn''t realize that if that were really the case and she was really interested, considering the fact that she hadn''t known him, it really would be too strange if things went so smoothly.


    But still, even after that realization, Mason wasn''t sure of how he wanted to proceed.


    It was then, in a rare moment of enlightenment, Emilin suggested an offer of her own. This was business, after all, business and favors.


    "How about this, since this is all somewhat unexpected for both parties, it should be best that we negotiate things out to see if we can work for a consensus. I want to learn photography from you, and you want me to work as your model for a photo shoot. Let us just say that these are the preliminary offers."


    "I most likely won''t change my demands, of course depending on what you want, the only difference would be how much attention you give me in the process of teaching."


    "You could leave me to just watch by the sidelines and ignore my existence, or you could look through my progress over time and give me some tips. Of course, this wouldn''t be for free, I doubt any one of us here is a saint."


    Emilin kept going as Mason quietly listened.


    "I''ll be frank, I''ve never been too keen on modeling, not to mention how I have absolutely no experience. Facial expressions are also not my forte. I also wouldn''t like to be a public figure."


    Emilin voiced out one point after another as to why she wouldn''t be the best choice for a model, but in the end, they ended up going in one ear and out the other.


    All Mason heard were excuses.


    After all, she hadn''t said that she was absolutely against it, nor had she said that she hated it.


    The reason why he wanted to have Emilin was not solely for her good looks, a lot of things could be dealt with using makeup, wigs, etc. and though the result would be less than satisfactory, it wouldn''t be the first orst time it was heavily used.


    What really attracted him was the ice-cold aura she had around her when they first met.


    So strong that it would be able to pierce through the image. Mason was sure of it.


    It felt the same as when he had first discovered that woman of amber eyes.


    As previously stated, everything else could be dealt with using other methods.


    "So, if you could consider what else I could do for you in return for this opportunity, please just state your demands, of course, if in the end, you are still unsatisfied with the transaction, then I won''t be the one to force you. It would¡ª"


    "Wait, wait."


    Mason finally interrupted.


    "What you mean is that, if your identity is not exposed, you don''t be a public figure, you won''t be able to be recognized, you won''t have to deal with facial expressions, I don''t care if you''re a noob, then you''ll do it, right?"


    Mason himself twitched at that long line of requirements he listed, but in the end, he acted as if it was nothing.


    "I guess¡­?"


    Emilin responded out of impulse, even though she hadn''t even heard everything he had said clearly.


    It sounded about right.


    But then why the heck would you even want me anymore???


    "Then it''s a deal!" Mason smiled brilliantly.


    Though Emilin hade into the conversation with a little more rity than Mason, she came out of it more confused than anyone else.


    As for Mason, even if he still didn''t get what was going on, at least he felt like he did and that''s all that matters right?


    ***


    Mini-Theater


    Lisa had been standing on the sidelines this whole time.


    Lisa: ''What''s happening here?''


    Lisa: ''Boss what did you do?''


    Lisa: ''Isn''t this misunderstanding a little too¡­ um¡­ can people of your caliber even misunderstand like this? Or is it because of your caliber?''


    Lisa: ''Can I please leave?''


    Lisa: ''Can I not?''


    Lisa: ''Should I bring more coffee and water? She''s been talking quite a bit.''


    Lisa: ''Nah, I probably shouldn''t meddle, or I might affect the mood¡­ it''s not because I don''t want to help or get caught up in the sparks or anything.''


    ¡­


    ..


    .


    Lisa: ''Ah great! All is well when it ends well!''


    Lisa: ''So what was this conversation about again?''


    Lisa: ''Then I should just go back to my own business, they won''t notice if I leave now right?''


    Mason: Lisa!


    Lisa: Yes!? Ah? What did you say?


    Mason: ... the contract we were talking about.


    Lisa: ?????

 Chapter 125 - Makeover Pt I: (Grace)

    "I don''t quite understand how you n to meet all those demands? And even if you do, what''s the point of using someone like me as a model? I have no experience nor fame. I just don''t see how this would profit you in any way..."


    Emilin was genuinely curious at that point.??


    Mason was drowned in waves of questions, but he actually didn''t mind for once.


    This was because till now Emilin had yet to ask a question like ''Have you considered my feelings?'' or statementspletely rejecting the idea of modeling.


    It seemed more like she wasn''t quite confident in doing so, which they could work onter...


    [There is a pattern here, signs of a procrastinator, but I guess we can talk about thatter.]


    "Then let''s go now! If I show you what means we have, you should be able to agree right?"


    Mason''s eyes shone brilliantly.


    It had to be said that he believed himself to have quite the eye for talent or he wouldn''t have been able to survive this long.


    He wasn''t particrly intondscape shots and so to him, human interactions were a necessity, he needed models. As for who he was able to shoot with, that would all depend on his reputation, his skills, and his eyes.


    His eyes for not only angles, shots, but most importantly, people.


    Many things could go wrong if he got the wrong model, the whole shot could be ruined because of that person''s character, a single scandal would be able to ruin the photo, whether the photo had anything to do with that scandal or not, likewise a single scandal could also bring a photo to fame, but Mason wasn''t into the paparazzi business.


    As for why he was adamant about choosing Emilin, well it wasn''t because of any of that.


    He wasn''t all that worried about her reputation, this could always just stay in his personal collection as many others had, not that he doubted her character.


    Either way, he couldn''t miss the opportunity of creating another masterpiece that could transcend the image depicted, one that could convey the emotions.


    Like the one with the woman who was ck.


    In the end, Emilin was dragged to a room two doors down.


    Somehow she had ended up walking in front of the other two, Mason and Lisa, who clearly knew the ce better than her, not to mention she didn''t even know where she was going.


    Well, it was most likely so that Mason could block the exit, preventing Emilin from turning back in regret the next instant, not that she would do that...


    As for what they were doing standing behind, well Lisa was trying to get all caught up with what she missed.


    She had missed a few details here and there and then suddenly she hadn''t understood a thing! It was quite the pickle.


    After Mason finally finished ironing out the ns with Lisa, they were atst able to pay a little more attention to where they were.


    It seemed like they had also just been following the slow figure in front of them.


    Emilin was moving as slow as a sloth, not knowing if she was going in the right direction, still, she had kept moving since the other two hadn''t corrected her in any way.


    Mason realized what was happening, lightly coughing into his own hand at a moment like this to stop Emilinn from moving any further.


    "It''s not this way, this part is no longer part of my studio, so you should be careful withing near this area in the future," Mason rified.


    Emilin''s veins nearly bulged.


    ''You couldn''t have told me that a little earlier good Sir?''


    ''Then maybe I wouldn''t have to have walked this whole distance in awkward silence!''


    She vented in her mind, which was quite sad.


    They really hadn''t traveled that far though, just a few meters at most, but to Emilin, who had been taking snail-like steps, it surely felt like quite a while.


    Without Emilin even having to ask, Lisa politely exined the situation.


    "Sorry I wasn''t paying much attention, this is mostly my fault, as for this corridor, though it is connected to the rest of our studio, these rooms do not belong to us anymore. They belong to someone else."


    Lisa stopped there, either not wanting to put an identity to this character, or simply not being able to.


    Emilin tactfully didn''t ask.


    Then again, she was a little too startled.


    Lisa was clearly pointing out the rooms that did not belong to their studio here, half of them belonging to another owner.


    Quite peculiar.


    To Emilin''s knowledge, there was only one entrance and she had yet to see anyone else in this ce other than the employees.


    Then does this mean that it''s owned by some rich person who didn''t need to care about these spare rooms?


    But wouldn''t it be inconvenient if Mason had other peopleing in and out just like that? Wouldn''t they be intervening with the work if they came in during shooting hours?


    Unless the other person simply never came.


    Well, this was none of her business.


    "I''ll lead the way this time," Mason rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.


    Emilin didn''tment, simply nodding her head and agreeing to the suggestion.


    In fact, if Mason hadn''t offered, she might really just have asked for the exit.


    In the end, they had finally gotten to the right room, which had been in fact right next to Mason''s office this whole time.


    Emilin could only let loose a rueful sigh.


    Mason knocked on the room carefully, but his politeness was not returned in tow.


    "What is it! There''s nothing today, I''m sure of it, I''ve triple quadruple checked, you can''t lie to me again." The female voice from the other side was clearly filled with rage, reproach, and dismissiveness.


    Not even knowing that it was Mason on the other side of the door seeing as he had yet to speak a word, it seemed like she could already identify his identity.


    Was it by the sound of the footsteps?


    The connections between kindred spirits?


    Just kidding.


    By the way, don''t tell that woman I said that¡­


    Anyways, it was clearly not the first time such an event had happened.


    "I need your help---" Mason started, but he was promptly cut off.


    "Don''t test my patience, you know that I''m busy right now! Because of you, I''ve already had to take 3 extra takes!" She shouted once again, as if not willing to open the door for anyone and Mason didn''t dare open the door either.


    "It''s not for me, it''s helping a clean-cut newbie!"


    Mason shouted, just to make sure the other person could hear.


    There was a moment of silence when the door suddenly burst open.


    "Why didn''t you say so earlier?"


    She said poutingly as if she had just been wronged greatly.


    The woman in front of the trio was youthful, having ck hair tied in a bun, but in such a fashion that people could also see her green highlights in theyer beneath the first. Which would normally be hidden through her thick locks.


    She wore a light green dress with a coral print beneath a leather jacket, but none of those details were what first caught everyone''s eyes.


    It was her beautiful makeup.


    Her face was painted with streaks of blue and green while scale-like gems adorned spaced patches of her face, making her look like some mermaid that hade out of the sea right after having gotten her pair of legs, having yet topletely transform into a human.


    Yet that half-morphed face only made her look even more enchanting.


    Like a siren that didn''t even have to open her mouth to charm people into jumping the nk.


    Mason''s eyes widened, but only slightly as he looked at the style Grace was currently going for, as for Lisa and Emilin, they were likewise somewhat stunned for a moment, but their faces didn''t show it.


    "Well, I was going to if you only gave me the time of the day."


    Mason frowned a little.


    These days, he finally realized that it seemed like he wasn''t treated all that well.


    This was the second time in the past two days he had watched as another person so tantly gave another special treatment, though Mason did get over it after a bit, after all, Grace''s shenanigans were something he was quite ustomed to.


    This wasn''t the first, nor would it be thest time something like this would happen.


    Most people would say that she didn''t give him any face, but Mason consoled himself thinking it was just a simple love-hate rtionship.


    Which wasn''t all that off the mark.


    Grace was named as such with her parents hoping that their daughter would have a graceful temper, unlike their first son who had been pampered way too much.


    But this hope fell through and into the airne toilet where it was flushed into the unknown.


    Grace''s temper ended up being even worse than her brother''s, but it was also because of that that her brother had to start giving in.


    At first, he had been pampered to the heavens by his parents, and then, with the addition of his sister who was just 4 years younger than him, he waspletely dissatisfied.


    He used to throw tantrums all day because the elders only cared about this little sister of his, pouting for days on end, that was until one day, his attitude on this matter made a 180.

 Chapter 126 - Makeover Pt II: (Perfect!)

    He used to throw tantrums all day because the elders only cared about this little sister of his, pouting for days on end, that was until one day, his attitude on this matter made a 180.


    The young boy had been sent to primary school earlier that year, he hade to ss pouting cutely as per usual these days.??


    And suddenly, the young girl that he had good feelings for at that time actually confessed to him out of nowhere during recess with a bunch of other giggling girls behind her.


    He was dumbstruck.


    How could a pie fall out of the clear blue sky just like this? Completely illogical!


    Then again, liking wasn''t based on logic anyways.


    He had been expressing his good feelings towards her since the beginning of the school year, after all, she was cute, pretty, and cute. (Yes, that was really all it took at that age to fall into puppy love. No, it couldn''t even be counted as puppy love at that age... Fetus love?)


    The girl expressed that she had apparently ''misunderstood him'', saying that she had previously thought that he was too overbearingly unreasonable, buttely, she had realized that he wasn''t that bad.


    Well, it was more like her girlfriends had noticed that for her, each one of them standing next to her while she ''confessed''.


    At first, he had been annoying, mean, bad, and a whole lot of other words that the girl had learned to describe these sentiments, but apparently, the girl had finally seen his ''true colors''.


    Her friends had convinced her that before he was just trying to put up a front to look strong to impress her and went about it the wrong way, so this was probably his real self, this quiet, obedient, and cute kid.


    And since she didn''t dislike him, she was also soon convinced that this was what love was.


    To be fair, she was very young, and so were her friends who watched the dramas that their mothers and sisters, for those who had sisters, watched.


    ''They''ve just been reprimanding me too muchtely and so I haven''t had the energy to do anything else other than to listen and be obedient!''


    ''And what do you mean about cute? I''m clearly super handsome, okay?!''


    Each one of her words shot an arrow aimed at his heart.


    He wanted to spit out blood!


    ''Apparently, I am that overbearingly unreasonable kid you speak of!''


    He had just toned it down a whole lot these past few weeks due to personal reasons.


    After the wounds to his heart healed, the young boy was finally enlightened.


    True enlightenment and led him to change his ways.


    [Lol, this tis the way!]


    His parents also soon noticed that the boy had changed, well someone else had noticed for them.


    They hadn''t been paying too much attention due tock of sleep and many other reasons, but when a maid pointed it out to the two, they couldn''t help but widen their eyes in surprise at the realization.


    Their boy had finally grown up!


    The only change in these past few days/ weeks was the addition of the new member of their family and so after a conversation, Grace''s parents naturally pinned this oue on their well-named newborn!


    Well, it wasn''tpletely wrong to say that Grace had indeed influenced her brother''s actions this past while, but the little brother would probably cough out blood for the second time if he knew that such a thought when through his parent''s minds.


    Was there something as mystical as the name of one child changing the behaviors of another?


    This was all his hard work, okay?


    But thankfully the kid never found out.


    Instead, he was surprised by a raise in allowance for his good behavior! (Money that he really had no ce to spend on any time soon.)


    This was when he knew that he had made the right choice, setting his heart on changing his ways, yes, at some point his heart had wavered.


    But in the end, changing for the better wasn''t too hard considering his young age and flexible mentality, well, at least not when he had set his mind to it.


    As for his parents, unlike their eldest child of just 3, they hadn''t learned their lesson at all.


    After they hade to the ''realization'' that their daughter was really their lucky star that had helped change that fiery temper of that son of theirs, they started pampering her even more.


    And well, the oue of such a reaction was evident.


    Grace, their lucky star, the one who had even the power to make their son moreposed after just being in her presence as a baby, the one and only, ended up even fiercer than his brother.


    Their lucky star had soon grown up to be a shooting star!


    She was a true beauty from a distance and scarier than a meteor up close.


    And at that point, there was no one else who could control her temper anymore.


    Even the big brother who changed his ways, having be much more mellow, well rounded, both having a presence, but also not an ufortably overbearing one, instantly had his fuse lit up in the presence of his younger sister.


    Either way, her temper could be easily noted from the way she spoke to Mason, who was in fact her elder by a few years, her being closer to Emilin by age.


    But her temper had also changed from when she was younger, to some extent at least.


    This was mainly because of the route she had taken. She wanted to be the greatest makeup artist in history, and so clearly a requirement was great patience.


    There were many times when she had to deal with unreasonable models who were simply too full of themselves, which may be the reason she liked working with newbies, or perhaps it was apletely different reason entirely.


    There was also the fact that many times, the time spent simply doing the makeup could no longer be counted with one hand, even when the units used were hours.


    Either way, now her temper and impatience had been directed into specific channels, so at least it wasn''t as chaotic as before.


    "Just give me a second, I''ll finish recording thisst part before uploading this video real quick," Grace shooed the three guests to the couch that she sometimes slept on when she was too tired, or when she simply wanted a nap, which the others promptly sat on.


    The aforementioned 1 second soon became 600, as in 10 minutes.


    Emilin watched as this woman finished doing an outro for her video before saving and closing her screen.


    "So what can I help you with?"


    Grace turned around on her chair with a yful grin, which didn''t quite match her face nor clothing, which screamed both gracefulness as well as a refined personage.


    This merperson may have even been royalty, that is until she opened her mouth.


    It made it clear to all that she was very much human.


    "Well, the thing is Em---" Mason tried to exin before he was cut off.


    "I wasn''t asking you, I was asking the pretty sister over here," Grace said, looking straight at the greenhorn Emilin, who sat across from her.


    Emilin found that it would be quite rude if she were to simply start making demands, of which she didn''t even know the content.


    Mason had said that he could prove something to her here today, and so obviously she wouldn''t know all the details.


    After a short interaction and introduction which Emilin actually initiated, she continued by exining some of the situations, she also exined how Mason would actually know a little better why they were and what they were doing here.


    Followed by which he was finally given permission to speak.


    "So what you are telling me is that all I have to do is to prove to this pretty sister that I can perfectly conceal her identity and even make her prettier than ever before and I''ll have another beauty I can tes--- work with?"


    Grace caught herself mid-word and covered her smiling mouth as if saying ''oopsie, did I get caught?''


    "Yes, that is the general gist of it."


    Mason nodded with a small frown while Emilin pretended to not have heard Grace''s slip up.


    She didn''t understand it either way, so there was no point pointing it out and making people ufortable since Grace clearly didn''t want to rify.


    "Perfect!"


    Grace sped her hands together and looked at Emilin as if she were some prize she was going to win soon enough, withpetitiveness, eagerness, and determination.


    "Then you guys leave," Grace wasn''t polite to Mason anymore, and since Mason was leaving, Lisa would naturally have to leave with him.


    As for Mason, he simply sighed and did as he was told as if already used to it.


    "Why did they have to leave?" Emilin asked out of curiosity.


    Grace smirked once again.


    "Because we are doing a makeover of course!"


    "Me?"


    She asked hesitantly, to which Grace enthusiastically nodded and moved Emilin from her seat on the couch to the spinning chair she had been previously sitting on.


    Emilin was suddenly wary of what was toe, an awkward smile stered on her face.


    Wary, yet expectant at the same time.


    ''A makeover huh? I never saw that oneing¡­ but I guess that is to be expected if they want to prove anything at all.''


    ''Maybe my expectations are too high, but I hope that she can do so well that even mom and dad wouldn''t recognize me.''


    Emilin''s heart suddenly started palpitating at the thought before she shook her head and nerves along with it.

 Chapter 127 - Makeover Pt III: (*Tada!*)

    "Now tell me, what do you think of me?"


    Grace asked with a yful smile and fervent eyes while pointing at her own face.??


    "Hm?"


    Emilin tilted her head, showing her confusion while asking Grace to exin at the same time.


    "Well, what do you think? My age? Horoscope? Hobbies? Bloodtype? How would you profile me?" She borated.


    There was a moment of silence as Emilin thought of how to respond while wondering whether anyone else would respond to Grace seriously.


    Well, she wasn''t anyone else so it didn''t really matter, plus, it would be rude to leave someone''s question hanging unanswered when they asked so directly.


    It wasn''t as if it was a question about herself or an invasion of privacy either.


    "Around 19 of age, has a passion for makeup, believes in horoscopes. I assume you also believe that people''s personalities can be affected by their blood types, so not a type B. Maybe a little superstitious too?"


    Emilin worked with what little information was directly handed to her, though she would havee up with a whole lot more if she took into consideration the organization and cement of Grace''s materials all over the room, the cleanliness, theparison between the areas with makeup and those with clothes and other things, down to the details of her shades and colors and even the uses on her hands.


    There was a lot she could go off of, but she didn''t bother seeing as this wasn''t any serious scenario, there was no point, it would have been a little bit of an overkill if she had.


    Though uncertaintyced her every word, Emilin still said everything as statements as if there was a certain level of confidence in her answers.


    Then again, everything Grace had said previously could have simply been to mislead her.


    There were a couple of points that Emilin was quite sure of, while others that she couldn''t possibly know.


    For example, the horoscopes, Emilin could see various small calendars and merchandise for a certain horoscope, one that didn''te as shocking to anyone who had met Grace, so it was clear that she paid attention to such things, but most other things Emilin wouldn''t know unless she lived in Grace''s mind.


    After the words dropped Grace fell into a stomach clutchingughter.


    It was anything but graceful, but it was contagious enough that even Emilin had an awkward smile on her face, theughter making Grace look exceptionally brilliant.


    "You''re wrong about two things," Grace lifted two long thin fingers after she could finally breathe again.


    The reason for herughter was still unclear to Emilin.


    How was she to know that all other people who had been questioned by her previously had all just sat there in silence?


    "But I do have to say, those type B people have truly ruined my reputation. Oh, the woes of being a type B who looks into blood types and characteristics, always misunderstood!"


    She waspletely indignant, or so it seemed.


    Grace was so dramatic that Emilin soon started questioning whether she was a makeup artist or an actress.


    She would probably be able to fit into both characters if she wanted to.


    Grace had either practiced before, or she was just a natural.


    "Then what''s the second?" Emilin couldn''t guess which one it was, but she was leaning towards the superstition seeing as she had just thrown that in for fun earlier.


    "Should I show you?"


    Grace still had her ever prevailing yful smirk on her face, gracing all with a row of pearly whites.


    Emilin nodded with attentive eyes, not knowing what to expect from Grace.


    If it''s just something like not being superstitious or not believing in horoscopes, they shouldn''t be anything to show, right?


    Then there were only so many options left to pick and choose from.


    Grace turned the chair Emilin sat on around so that she was facing the mirrors of the dressing table, moving Emilin a little to the side so that she had some room to amodate herself in front of her reflection.


    With all this suspense that Grace had created for herself with her mysterious yet yful smile, Emilin was half expecting some magic trick to ur right in front of her face.


    Which in hindsight wasn''t all that far off from what really happened.


    Grace first expertly removed the scale-like gems from her face, one by one, delicately and carefully with extreme precision.


    After removing them from her face, she ced them back down in a small ss case-like container, where the form didn''t change, then squirting some water for cleansing.


    Followed by which she took the makeup remover and gently wiped off her face after removing the fake eyshes and some other essories, all the while looking at Emilin through the mirror from the corner of her eyes.


    Slowly, the decadent makeup from the sea was wiped off, and only a bare face was left.


    To Emilin, it was truly magical. It was as if she were watching live as the little merpersonpleted the rest of her transformation into a human.


    Front row seat too.


    "Tada!"


    The end product was the youthful girl who stood in front of Emilin with a *Are you surprised* expression on her face paired with the appropriate hand gestures.


    Emilin was truly surprised by this change, taking her time to admire Grace''s skills.


    In front of her now was a fair girl of white skin and ck hair that had been let loose, reaching her small back.


    Emilin was no longer able to see her green highlights either.


    If one didn''t know better, Grace right now would be the epitome of an obedient young girl without another thought or care in the world, even Emilin herself would have nearly been tricked if she hadn''t met Grace in her other form first.


    But most importantly, Grace looked a whole lot younger! And she already looked quite young before removing her makeup.


    "Then, can you guess how old I am now?" Grace questioned once again.


    Normally, in a conversation, asking a girl about her age was suicide.


    No matter if you thought her to look 5, 50, or 100 one was to neverment about it, especially if you don''t know their real age!


    An absolute Taboo!


    And if the other person was asking you to guess their age, they either wanted to dig a hole for you, or they liked to torture themselves and you alike!


    You never really knew what a girl was after, after all, some may want to look older, while others would like to look younger.


    There was no right answer, only wrong answers!


    Especially when they might get annoyed if you get the answer on point first try, thinking that their efforts had gone to waste.


    If you guessed them to be younger than their actual age and they wanted to look older, you were dead.


    And if you guessed their age, aiming higher than it was in reality and they wanted to look younger, you were even more dead!


    It was getting stranded in a road with 3 dead ends and no more paths, a deserted ind surrounded by sharks.


    Quite pitifully sad.


    And Emilin was in that exact situation, 3 dead ends, the brick piggie''s house had also blown away while goldie locks had been eaten up.


    Nothing was right, okay?!


    "17?"


    "16?"


    Emilin had decided to go from her original answer down so that she wouldn''t offend the other party.


    It was clear that she was younger than she had originally guessed, she just didn''t know by how much.


    "Bingo!" Grace''s hand formed a two-finger shooting sign as if she had just shot a balloon in a carnival, hitting the mark, a celebration was in order.


    "16," Emilin repeated to herself.


    How ludicrous.


    Though she had previously guessed 19, that was in fact already her giving the young maiden face, having thought that she was at least in her 20s.


    Thankfully she didn''t, or she might have made an even bigger fool of herself after finding out that that very same girl, Grace, was just 16, the same age as Noah, the model.


    It was mind-boggling to Emilin how that happened.


    The charming, seductive, enchanting young merperson transformed into an obedient-looking, calm, young girl of high society that exuded grace.


    "How did you do it?" Emilin asked in curiosity and Grace, with her usual smile replied.


    "It''s magic, and magicians never reveal their secrets," Grace countered.


    "Oh okay," Emilin didn''t push it, to which Grace was actually a little helpless about.


    Emilin wasn''t going ording to the script!


    ''Wasn''t she supposed to ask me again and again until I gave in? Wasn''t she supposed to look at her with suspense and admiration as they would when looking at someone they would want to get close to?''


    In the end, she was still a young maiden who liked the attention she received due to her personal skills.


    Grace pouted.


    ''Humph, not cute at all.''


    In the end, seeing as Emilin wasn''t going to give in any time soon, not that she even knew there was something to give in to, Grace had to raise her hands in defeat.


    But she moved on from that defeat really quick.


    "Well, secrets can''t be told, but I can show you right?" Grace said mysteriously, with a finger ced lightly on her lips as if she was about to do something naughty.


    Emilin looked up at her from her seat, waiting for Grace to borate, but it never happened.


    "Then let''s do it!"


    "I''m going to strip you bare!"

 Chapter 128 - Makeover Pt IV: (Conservative...?)

    Grace started making small talk as she cleaned off Emilin''s face toy some foundations for the next few hours of work.


    She was actually slightly surprised that Emilin was wearing zero makeup, not even having any creamer or foundation on her face.??


    Thankfully, all hope was not lost as Grace noted that Emilin was at least using some sunscreen, or else she may have really cried from despair.


    From this close distance, Grace found that this newbie was actually prettier than she had thought. Her eyesight was perfectly fine, but she didn''t know why she hadn''t noticed Emilin''s unblemished face and soft features previously.


    In the end, Grace could only brush it off as having met someone who was prettier the more you stared at them, which wasn''tpletely umon.


    As for Emilin, she simply obediently sat and listened to Grace talk.


    It had all started with one simple question from herself and suddenly, Emilin was awarded a long background story, an autobiography if you will, of Grace.


    "When did you start doing makeup?" Emilin asked after a short bit of silence.


    From the mirror, Emilin could see Grace''s signature yful smirk.


    "Now that''s an interesting story."


    She was idle enough and moving her mouth didn''t affect her hands that were doing the magic.


    "Well, I have no problem admitting that my¡­ strong personality is the main perpetrator for the whole mess, but I guess it ended up being a good thing since I found my passion."


    Grace seemed excited to be able to talk about the gossip of her life to someone else, not to mention she was also talking about something she was passionate about at the same time.


    She was quite shameless about the whole thing too.


    "Well, let''s just say that my rebellious age came quite early."


    "And so, as any other rebellious child would do, I dyed my hair, pierced my ears, just short of getting tattoos if they were not illegal for children of my age. All without my parent''s knowledge or consent of course."


    "But to be fair, it was mainly because of peer pressure."


    Seeing Emilin''s confused gaze, as if asking what was wrong with what she had done, Grace shrugged thinking back to her dark past.


    "Well, my family is rather conservative, at least on the surface."


    ''Conservative, but only on the surface?'' Emilin found the wording somewhat troublesome. What good is there to pretend to be conservative in this day and age?


    But in the end, what else could she do but nod and pretend she had understood.


    She wasn''t one to voice out her judgments.


    It was impossible to say that she simply wouldn''t judge others, after all, that''s all human beings did, but at least she wasn''t nosy or unrestrained enough to act on her unfound judgments.


    Graceughed before she continued, thinking of how silly the situation was back then.


    "My brother is 3 years older than me, but we have our birthdays just a day apart in the calendar. We celebrate our birthday together due to convenience and many times past midnight so that we could do it properly."


    "When ites to celebrations, our family invites all of their friends, family, business partners, friends and family of those business partners, and some other relevant people. The idea is that it''s a big deal, a big event."


    Graceughed again, this time more unrestrained.


    "So imagine their shock and horror when they saw my appearance just the day before the big party."


    "It would have been fine if I dyed my hair brown or another natural shade that wouldn''t be too obvious or eye-catching, but I just had to go dye it all purple and pink as if I were joining some My Little Pony convention the next day."


    "Well, the end of the story is that they flipped and my brotherughed his ass off mocking me."


    Grace''s face turned dark for a split second when she mentioned her brother, who had always been a pain in her ass, before returning to her usual carefree expression.


    But this didn''t go unnoticed by Emilin, who had been watching her from the mirror this whole time.


    ''Do the siblings have some kind of deep-seated grudge against each other?'' Emilin inwardly pondered.


    Someone like Emilin, who had always received and given the greatest love and care to and from her family including her two siblings wouldn''t understand the simple notion that that was simply how normal siblings interacted with each other.


    It was absolutely normal, she was the outlier.


    Grace didn''t give Emilin any more time to think about it as she continued her self-deprecating story, though, in retrospect, it seemed like she had already ovee the shames of her past, being able to evenugh at them as if they were the anecdotes of someone other than herself.


    "In the end, well, my parents threw me out the day before my birthday, into the streets asking me to figure it out myself. It was true love I tell you, true love, you show a child you picked up from the dumpsters! (T_T)"


    Grace shouted mournfully.


    "It wasn''t evenpleted my fault since they said I could choose to do whatever I liked for my birthday and so I wanted to give them a surprise too!~"


    "But I guess joining the Equestria Girls wasn''t part of their eptable range underneath the umbre that epassed ''Everything.''"


    Grace sighed ruefully as if she had been greatly wronged, to which Emilin imed to have noment on.


    "Well, since I was young, I have always been able to get away with a lot of things."


    "To put it nicely, I was born with a golden spoon hanging from my mouth, to put it bluntly, I was spoiled rotten."


    Grace said casually, so casually in fact that Emilin almost doubted that this wasing from someone who imed to have been incredibly irresponsibly spoiled just a time prior.


    Till now Emilin still didn''t know which birthday Grace was talking about, so even if she knew that Grace was 16, she didn''t know if this was something preteen, or something that urred just this year, both of which she heavily doubted.


    The preteen spection was somewhat absurd if she really went and dyed her hair without other adult''s knowledge, no matter how early her rebelling phase urred.


    And seeing as Grace acted as if this was something of the distant past, in addition to the fact that she had a rtively early rebellion ording to Grace''s own standards, it was probably not something that happened just this year, not to mention Emilin heavily doubted that her skills were something that could be cultivated in just a year.


    Admittance is hard.


    After all, mindsets and perspectives were some of the hardest things to change, especially when cultivated a certain way since young.


    "I didn''t know then, but I''m sure there were bodyguards protecting me all the way, so I was fine. My parents aren''t actually that irresponsible. My brother just used his dirty little tricks to convince them that I needed to suffer a little this time."


    Grace finished wiping Emilin''s face clean after applying a specialized cleaner that would remove all the dust and dirt particles umted on one''s face before continuing.


    "To be fair, I probably deserved that."


    Grace''s weary smile disappeared in an instant with a shake of her head as she reluctantly admitted to her past faults.


    "Anyways, things happened and my short legs took me to the hairdresser that I had been at just the previous day, and the employees there recognized me in an instant, after all, it''s hard not to remember a little girl with a mop of purple hair with pink highlights, right?"


    Emilin thought about it for a second and nodded in agreement, which Grace ignored for her dignity''s sake.


    Her dignity would be very proud of her...


    It was okay if she said it, but it really hit people''s egos hard when others agreed.


    "Anyways, I was ready to give in, to sacrifice it all! To dye my hair back to its original color..."


    Grace''s dramatic re earned her a chuckle from Emilin.


    "And that was when the life-changing moment urred."


    "The kind sisters, who seemed to have expected my return, spoke to me and introduced me to the wig, and the other kind sister who was doing her hair that day introduced me to the makeup."


    Listening to this story and observing Grace''s mystified face as well as considering her age, Emilin couldn''t help but suspect that those people may or may not have wanted to trick the young girl at the time, especially with the keywords ''purple and pink'' + ''who seemed to have expected my return'', though it was mere spection with absolutely no evidence.


    She was probably just jumping the gun, right?


    Grace proceeded to tell her happily ever after story.


    She got back home with a fix and the next day, her birthday, everyoneplimented her exemry this and that.


    The key point was finally reached after all that fluff.


    "The conclusion was that I felt an instant connection to that feeling."


    "Well, and I just felt like I could be someonepletely different with and without makeup on. I don''t believe that the magic lies in the change in appearance, but more in the change of heart, the change in confidence."


    "As for my parents, they couldn''t be happier that I had finally gotten somewhere I could put all my excess energy into."


    Grace smiled mncholically, just as she had when sheined about how her parents treated her as if she were a daughter picked up from the dumps.


    With the addition of tear-filled eyes and dramatic sniffs.

 Chapter 129 - Makeover Pt V: (Welcome You To My World...)

    "I''m sure they were all very worried at one point or another, but at least now I create a little less trouble with my focus concentrated on one point," Grace spoke with a mischievous smirk that made her previous statements hard to believe.


    It was taken with a grain of salt.??


    "Even so, there were still people who were unsatisfied, well you can''t satisfy everyone, but you can try. All I can say is I''ve tried my best to bnce both ends of the scale."


    Grace sighed as if she had just released a great burden, or at least she had exposed one.


    Emilin could tell that much.


    In fact, she had noticed from the very beginning. There were her two separate appearances that if frozen in time, gave offpletely different vibes.


    There was her most prominent artistic, wild, unrestrained side, being both energetic and vibrant.


    Her tied-up and dyed hair paired with her concentrated face when working, her confidence when talking about her own work, it was all incredibly attractive.


    She glowed.


    Then there was her other side, where everything was more restrained, calm, regal, and graceful.


    Her hair was down, and the dyed parts couldn''t be seen by others, giving one the impression of a very delicate youth.


    ''I don''t think either side is fake per se, just one is overshadowed by the other, and by separating the two, she was able to give each their own time to shine,'' Emilin contemted.


    "You know, there are many people who shame girls who wear makeup, but if it gives them more confidence, then who are others to say? Is it even their ce to do so?"


    Grace spoke confidently, but with her current attire and clean appearance, Emilin found it hard to connect the two dots, after all, she really looked like an obedient reserved young girl who wore no makeup and wouldn''t ever think of wearing any other than the nude or natural colors.


    "As for those who im to have been tricked after marriage after waking up next to a woman without makeup, I can only say to a great extent, they really brought it upon themselves."


    "I mean, it already looks bad if you want to separate due to looks if you want to divorce just because of someone''s appearance¡­ it was already quite shocking that you had reached the point of marriage. Even if you want to go back on it, there would be a permanent record, and then what would be the reason for divorce? Deception?"


    "If you don''t like someone enough with and without makeup, then you shouldn''t be together and ruin the reputation of everyone else who wears makeup!"


    Grace concluded with a huff and gusto.


    Emilin, who still sat there quietly couldn''t help but nod in agreement, being thoroughly convinced.


    Even so, she wasn''t an urate source nor audience seeing as she had both never been in a rtionship nor even been in close distance with anyone who was in a rtionship to make real-life observations.


    Either way, it was rather easy to sway someone like her, who had no real set foundations of knowledge when it came to these topics.


    It was like telling a baby, this is how life works, 1+1=3, what can they say? How can they counter without knowing any other principles?


    How do they even know they can counter?


    What can they do other than to be thoroughly convinced?


    In fact, it doesn''t matter if they are taught 1+1=2 or the greatest theory created by mankind, they will still have to be convinced in the same way and they will probably believe the two using the same standards as long as it''s convincing enough.


    Though of course if you have to use a bunch of concepts that the kid doesn''t understand to exin the greatest theory of mankind, then they won''t be convinced in the same way.


    "Then why do you help others do their makeup?"


    Emilin asked once more out of curiosity about this character.


    Grace seemed very clear about what she liked and didn''t like, what others liked and didn''t like including which of those other people''s opinions she cared about.


    And then finally, she was able to find a bnce between what other people like and what she liked, giving in at times when it was harmless and standing strong when it was a matter of her own principles.


    She was a strong character


    It was clear to Emilin that since Grace had said she fell in love with the feeling of being able to separate her two identities and control her own life not to mention do what she liked without restrains, but it was not so clear why she wanted to do that for others as well.


    After all, Emilin still couldn''t understand what could have changed someone''s character so much and so quickly.


    Grace had already admitted to having been quite the spoiled child, but from Emilin''s perspective, though she was prideful and a tad arrogant, there was nothing that screamed spoiled about her.


    How could one chance encounter of this sort change someone that much? Especially in their rebellious stage were ''being right'' was more important than actually being correct?


    Emilin pondered on the matter.


    "Well others helped me discover this new world, so shouldn''t I pull more people in as well?" Grace asked rhetorically.


    "Sure, they say misery lovespany, but I think joy loves it just as much, if not more," Grace said with an honest smile.


    ''Maybe these are her principles¡­'' Emilin inwardly thought.


    ''There may have been parts that were not as rted to that scenario in specific, after all, I''m sure that there were also other environmental factors such as her family, her gics, her internal moralpass.''


    As Emilin made more observations, she chided herself for being a little too nosy and then Grace for being a little too open, after all, Emilin was making a whole lot of assumptions about someone she had just met.


    But there was just something about this candidness that made Emilin unable to not think about Grace.


    Making her want to learn more and more about this character, and since she was so open about herself, Emilin subconsciously lowered her guard and was a little more open about her curiosity as well.


    When it came to this, it seemed as if Grace had made a small analysis on Emilin''s character as well.


    It wasn''t too much to say that she was a chatterbox, but something made Emilin believe that Grace wasn''t always that chatty.


    A feeling that made Emilin feel like Grace was a body of water that could easily mold to fit in with others while being herself.


    Water was always essential, no matter where you went, though at times its value was hard to measure and tell, in the end, in the long run, you were bound to attach a value to it.


    To those who wanted to discover the various aspects of water and analyze how they affected their daily lives, they were bound to attach a great value to this body of water, and as for those who only looked at its surface, finding that it looked the same as everything else, they were bound to miss this opportunity.


    Emilin wanted to dive deeper.


    The surface wasn''t enough to satiate her curiosity and she didn''t believe it ever to have been enough, no matter how much she minded her own business.


    ''I guess I just wasn''t used to the dynamics of talking to others¡­''


    In fact, minding her own business didn''t even fit in with this situation anymore seeing as this was two people having a conversation, and not Emilin simply listening in on others.


    "Then can you show me this new world too?"


    There was much to be discovered in the small duration that was this short life of hers, but there was no more point in hesitation.


    Maybe this was what she needed, to be able to separate her priorities.


    There were just so many things she wanted to do, so many things she wanted to aplish at the same time.


    There was the her that cared for her family more than anything else in the world.


    The her who want to aplish something in this life with her own skills and not by simply using those that she had gotten from who knows where in her past life.


    The her who wanted to make friends.


    And the her who wanted to be remembered.


    She had so many top priorities that it was mind-boggling and it was honestly hard for her to keep any one of them on track and on task with visible progress.


    And each goal left her with so many things to fear, the Emilin that was her today had so many internal struggles with her own character which shed with her goals.


    Too many things worried her.


    And so, the thought popped up, maybe if she could be someone else, to borrow the help of someone else who was also herself, she would be able to do things that she wasn''t able to do simply as herself.


    Truly opening the door to a whole new world, a whole new ying field.


    And then there was Grace, who smiled kindly, yfully, invitingly, warmly.


    "Then shall I wee you first to my world?"


    She teased Emilin shamelessly, but she wasn''t joking at all. Okay, maybe just a little, but the offer was serious.


    Next, Grace was going to invite Emilin to crash into her world.


    [Rest assured she isn''t going to crash and burn *wink*]

 Chapter 130 - Didnt Recognise Pt I: (Barely Recognise Myself)

    Grace conjured up a concept while talking to Emilin.


    Her eyes lit up, right when she got to work and the talking slowly dwindled as Grace needed her full attention on the matter at hand.??


    Unlike when she was simply cleaning Emilin''s face andying the foundations, something she could do with her eyes closed considering her experience, the projection and visualization part took a lot of concentration.


    Emilin had already expressed to the makeup artist that she could simply do anything she liked to the best of her capabilities, Emilin wouldn''t limit her options, she trusted the other''s professional opinion.


    Grace was also d to work with someone who didn''t limit her creative freedom because that would oftentimes lead to unnecessary conflicts.


    She wasn''t one to bend very easily. The right word would be stubborn.


    Either way, when she got to work, she was like a tornado.


    Emilin closed her eyes while her face was worked on, only opening them when asked to at times for some other details.


    During the rest of the time, Emilin was able to iste all other sounds, going into her meditative state as she both calmed her own mind and thought through her conversation with Grace, inwardly praising her awesome work so far.


    ''I wonder if I can learn from Grace...''


    Emilin truly admired Grace''s ability to change her personality by changing her appearance.


    ''Maybe if I can change how I identify myself, I can also gain the courage necessary to take that next step.''


    Emilin was already quite certain that her condition was due to post-traumatic stress disorder.


    There was fear inside of her to connect with strangers. Something that she couldn''t control at will, though meditating did help quite a bit.


    Now she was wondering, if she could create other identities for herself, then maybe those fears would be non-existent, after all, whatever she did with them wouldn''t directly affect her real identity.


    Like a smurf ount, but in real life.


    There was a reason, after all, that people became much more unrestrained when they couldn''t be identified online.


    Though of course, Emilin wouldn''t use this opportunity to do anything illegal or immoral, not that she had any reason to do so either way.


    Nor would she do anything that went against her original principles. The reason she wanted to this was mainly because she found that this would likely be a shortcut to aplishing a lot of her life goals. Not to mention she didn''t really have a defined path right now anyways.


    At least Emilin believed that this could very well give her the push she needed.


    Though she wouldn''t want to identally permanently severe parts of her personality, as long as she was careful enough, Emilin was sure she could handle it.


    She was slightly skeptical about taking this path, but now that she knew that the makeup may take a while, Emilin was taking this time to make some calctions in her mind.


    [45 minutester]


    "I''m done! You can open your eyes to see how you like it now."


    Emilin could easily tell how excited Grace was from her voice, she seemed quite satisfied with her work, Emilin was a little more expectant with Grace''s words and confident tone.


    "That was faster than I expected," Emilinmented.


    She had been told that at times, this could take hours.


    "It depends on what kind of makeup you are doing, there are many types you know?" Grace said with a pout as if Emilin''s words had somehow offended her and or her skills.


    "Well, you''ll just have to open your eyes and see."


    Grace''s eyes shone expectantly as well, expectant for Emilin''s reaction.


    "Wow," Emilin''s hands went straight for her eyes.


    She was about to rub them just to make sure that the person she was seeing in the mirror was really her before it was swatted away by Grace.


    "Don''t touch!"


    Grace shouted as if she was about to have a heart attack.


    Then again, the scariest thing to her was really probably someone who smudged the makeup right after it was done and right in front of her too.


    What was worse was someone who didn''t know what was wrong with that.


    And Emilin seemed to be both.


    "But wow," Emilin repeated in awe, even though her facial expression didn''t change.


    She really couldn''t believe her own eyes right now.


    In the mirror reflected was a woman who seemed two or three points more mature than her past self and even Grace, making her look around 18, her face sharper and more defined, her eyes more prominent, the hazel color more mesmerizing paired with the blush.


    Even her nose looked slightly taller.


    Emilin''s face looked more rueful, her cheeks had a slight blush and cute freckles littered her face, contrasting against her naturally pale countenance, along with the wig of short curly ck hair which made an impression when considering her original long locks.


    This look made her look incredibly lovable.


    There was no other way to describe it.


    Even Emilin found this image of her lovable, adorable, cute, and whatnot even though she looked much more mature at the same time.


    All the while looking very natural.


    She almost wanted to ask, just who is this?


    This went way past magic.


    Her original hope was for this makeover to be at a standard that not even her family including her siblings would be able to recognize her but forget about that.


    She could barely recognize herself if she weren''t sure that this was a mirror she was staring into.


    Grace was incredibly satisfied with Emilin speechless, gobsmacked reaction, even though it was quite sad that the shock and admiration couldn''t be shown on Emilin''s face.


    "It''s wonderful," Emilin finally came out with it.


    Grace chuckled.


    "I can''t tell if you areplimenting me or yourself."


    "Can''t I beplimenting both?"


    Emilin had clearly rxed a lot more in this past hour.


    She was still able to crack a joke when she was speechless just a few seconds ago.


    In this respect, meditating helped quite a lot.


    This was probably why the monks meditate, to keep the inner demons far away.


    Grace''s chucked grew into a peal ofughter.


    "You''ve grown much more unrestrained, and here I thought you wouldn''t know what a joke was," Grace wiped the tear from the corner of her eye.


    Emilin took it as apliment.


    "Indeed I also think we are both quite amazing," Grace found herself remembering why she did this at all.


    For this feeling, this connection stemming from understanding, from sharing with others what you love, and having otherse to love it as well.


    It was simr to when you read a book, watched a show, an anime, read a manga, or a novel, and you just found yourself ranting to your friends about it.


    Trying your best to convince them to read or watch it as well just so that you could proudly say ''see, I told you right? It''s amazing isn''t it?'' as if you had been the one to write or film it.


    There was a certain pride there.


    A pride that came from others agreeing to your point of view on something you are passionate about.


    Just as Emilin was about to ask how the process even went about, seeing as she had been too immersed the whole time, not having taken note of anything, yet wanting to satiate her curiosity, someone knocked at the door.


    *Knock* *Knock*


    Two crisp sounds were heard as the person on the other side simply waited to be answered to.


    ''It mustn''t be Mason, is it Lisa?'' Grace considered how polite the knocks were.


    She gave Emilin a questioning nce and after she (Emilin) nodded, Grace looked back at the door.


    "Come in."


    The doorknob turned slowly as a male figure came in.


    "Grace, are you free, I need some advice, oh you have a guest, I hope I didn''t interrupt anything..." Noah scratched his head awkwardly as he moved his gaze from Grace to Emilin and then back.


    "Should Ie backter?" He asked after realizing that the other girl in the room wasn''t his acquaintance.


    After another exchange of nces between Grace and Emilin, Grace shook her head and pointed Noah to a sofa seat.


    "It''s fine, you can stay."


    "Okay then," Noah made himselffortable rather easily after the initial awkwardness that came from not knowing that there was someone else in the room dissipated.


    Then as silence enveloped the room, he finally realized that it would probably be even more awkward if he were to talk about his problems in front of a stranger.


    However, the other girl in the room, other than Grace didn''t seem like she was leaving any time soon.


    Now there was a conundrum.


    At least when Noah gave her a few nces, she didn''t seem to be taking the hint at all.


    Just lowering her head, fidgeting with her fingers as many of the other young girls did around him.


    "Do you want to introduce this new friend?" Noah asked to break the ice.


    Seeing Emilin shake her head, Grace picked her words carefully.


    "What''s it got to do with you? If you have something to say, then just spit it out already."


    Or maybe not so carefully.


    Grace and Noah were already at the point in their friendship where they could insult each other without being offended, so this much wasn''t anything.


    Plus Grace rather liked seeing this friend of hers (Noah) in a sticky situation, though she was indeed quite curious about what this thing Noah needed advice on was.


    That coulde after she had her fun.


    Hehe.

 Chapter 131 - Didnt Recognise Pt II: (Haggling)

    It wasn''t every day Grace would see this friend of hers asking for help, and so she was actually quite eager to lend a helping hand.


    Then the question is, why was she being so dismissive if she actually really wanted to know what was troubling Noah???


    Well, the answer is actually quite simple.


    If Noah had already resorted toing to her for advice and help, even though he was clear about her personality, then his desperation was implicit.


    Then if she had the upper hand, why couldn''t she enjoy her time and y around first?


    As for Noah, even though he knew that he would most likely have to haggle an answer out of Grace, aiyo, he really didn''t have any more options.


    Grace was rather knowledgeable, she was simr to himself in age, and she was also trustworthy.


    Sadly enough, she was his best option.


    Noah looked at the other girl who looked to be shyly standing to the side, his gears turning, thinking of his options before sighing.


    "If you''re going to stay here, you should at least give me a way to address you right?" Noah conceded to having one more person learn of his troubles.


    Convincing himself by thinking, ''the more the merrier'' and ''maybe she can give some useful imput'' and so on.


    Sigh.


    ...


    ..


    .


    Emilin had already noticed that Noah didn''t recognize her from yesterday, then again she had barely recognized herself with this getup, she wasn''t expecting anyone else to recognize her either.


    "You can call me We-Wei."


    She came up with something on the spot, which led to a little stutter.


    Emilin herself didn''t know why she gave her surname rather than the name these people knew her by, but she also wanted to listen in, and she felt like it would be a waste of time to exin things now.


    Not to mention she also wanted to test out her previous theory.


    "Weiwei is it? Okay, can you promise me that you won''t tell another soul what you hear here?" Noah spoke as if he was about to reveal some life-threatening secret.


    ''Well, Wei, but I guess that''s close enough. Weiwei huh? What kind of character setting should I have?'' Emilin thought to herself, ''eh, let''s just wing it.''


    "En, I won''t tell anyone."


    Grace looked at the two bemusedly as if things had just gotten a whole lot more interesting.


    Which they had.


    This little fledgling that was Emilin was slowly spreading her wings and learning her (Grace''s) ways! Grace felt like a proud parent.


    "Come on then ''Weiwei''" Grace patted the sofa seat next to her.


    "Come quick or this big buddha may just run off. It''s not every day you get the great Noah toe looking for you!"


    Noah rolled his eyes at Grace before looking at the Emilin who had already made her way over, "pleasure to meet you."


    Emilin nodded softly, still not lifting her head as if she were in contemtion. However, one difference from when she was a few steps back was that there was no more fidgeting.


    "So there''s this thing that--" Noah was about to start.


    "Tsk, tsk, stop right there." Grace shook her head slowly and disapprovingly, giving Noah a ''you know better than that'' look.


    "Fuck, are we really going to do this again?" Noah asked, knowing very well the answer.


    He had wanted to get right into it, hoping that Grace''s curiosity would act as a barrier, slowing down her reaction speed so that she wouldn''t start bargaining before it was toote.


    Well frankly, he was just hoping for too much this time.


    "Well, since I''m giving you my time, isn''t it only right that you do the same?" Grace lifted an eyebrow at him nonchntly.


    "Aren''t we friends? What kind of friend bargains with the time we spend together?" Noah said through his gritted teeth, cursing Grace in his head.


    ''Wow, I''m jealous,'' Emilin inwardly thought while watching their carefree interactions.


    "Are you sure you want to go through that route, my friend?" Grace said with a smirk that gave Noah the chills, "then as a good friend of mine, you must remember your words carefully the next time I demand, no, ask for your time, right?"


    "Fine," Noah bit the bullet, "how much?"


    "Seven," Grace opened the negotiations.


    "You''re crazy!" What was left of Noah''s calm demeanor flew right through the window, "two!"


    "You know, you''re wasting time right now, the longer you spend negotiating with me, the higher my lowest price will rise," Grace said calmly as she twirled her hair.


    She had tied up her hair back when she was doing Emilin''s makeup, and simultaneously lost all of her high society womanly gentleness and grace.


    Those green streaks in her hair seemed to serve as a reminder to all those who knew and approached her, just who was in control here.


    A ''go'' sign that allowed her to let loose.


    Noah didn''t fail to notice that.


    There was no ying around with this Grace, she would eat you alive if you weren''t careful enough. This was the true her.


    The intensity of her personality sent even Emilin and Noah for a loop.


    In fact, the first time he had seen Grace with her hair down at a birthday party that his father had told him was mandatory, he had thought he had been hallucinating.


    In fact, he was sure of it.


    That girl he met back then surely looked like Grace, but they were two different people, no doubt about it, no matter what others said.


    Now once again, he reminded himself that that Grace he had met that day was a mear illusion.


    There was no way this cunning old fox in front of him right now could be that tame little rabbit back at that ball!


    He wouldn''t believe it until he went to hell!


    He wouldn''t believe it even if he went to hell!


    "Then state your minimum price right now." Noah finally gave up the struggle.


    It was pointless.


    He was the only one losing brain cells here.


    "Nine."


    "Fuck you!" Noah nearly spat out blood.


    The starting price had been seven, yet now the minimum price was nine.


    She was clearly trying to mess with him.


    As if being able to read Noah''s mind, Grace said pitifully, "Just so you know, back then seven was my minimum price, seeing as you are my good friend, I gave you a discount right away, but my good intentions seem to have flown right over your head," emphasizing the words ''good friend.''


    "Fine, deal."


    Noah had enough experience dealing with Grace. Since she said it was the minimum price, then there was no way she was going to lower it ever again.


    Chances were, if he said another word, it would skyrocket right to 10, 11, or even 12.


    There was no more point arguing, even if he felt like he was being taken advantage of.


    "Do you guys mind exining?"


    Emilin had alreadyposed herself in that short time, finally raising her head confidently.


    She was no longer that shy girl that Noah saw when he first came in, but rather someone else entirely.


    But then again, perhaps that was just a misunderstanding on Noah''s part at the beginning, so he didn''t think too much about this change. It wasn''t as if he knew her.


    Noah turned his head to Emilin, about to expose Grace''s scheming ways to her friend ''Weiwei'', but then he stopped midway with his mouth half-open.


    His eyes widened as they met Weiwei''s as if electricity ran through them.


    Then, the very next second, his eyebrows closed in, scrunching up.


    ''Why does she look familiar?'' Noah questioned himself, but even as he searched through his memory, there was nothing.


    ''Is this another one of Grace''s tricks?''


    As for Emilin, she was also slightly stunned when she saw the young man''s reaction.


    Was she seen through?


    Rxing the very next moment, ''probably not.''


    As for Grace, seeing as Noah wasn''t rushing to nder her.


    Yes, nder, defamation, she hadn''t done anything wrong. Humph, she would punch anyone who said otherwise.


    She went on to exin first.


    "Well, this guy is taking up our time, right? Then isn''t it only right that we take up some of his?" Grace put everything both mildly using her ''it''s only reasonable'' tone.


    "As for what we are bargaining, well, we''re bargaining the number of hours he''ll be with me as I help him put some makeup on," there was a slight pause as she thought carefully about her next words.


    "Honestly, I''m the only one on the losing side from this deal, this is clearly a win-win for him! I mean, I''m using my precious time to do his makeup, if this isn''t a steal for him, then I don''t know what is!" Grace said in a piteous tone.


    Noah''s eyebrows twitched.


    ''If it''s really like that then I''d really rather not impose on you!''


    There was not a guy he knew that liked to go shopping for hours, walking about while aplishing nothing.


    This was the same for spending hours on end just sitting and or standing there doing absolutely nothing and also aplishing absolutely nothing!


    He was super handsome okay? He didn''t need makeup!


    He was clearly being abused as ab rat for Grace''s experiments on his face!


    So if she was going to make him spend nine hours on this, couldn''t she be a little less shameless about it?


    Well, clearly the answer was no, but a man can always hope.

 Chapter 132 - Didnt Recognise Pt III: (Do You Want To Be Her Friend?)

    By the time Noah finally started getting started, talking about his issues, he felt like he had just finished a workout or listened to a few hours of lectures.


    So damn tired!??


    This woman was just way too hard to talk to with sense. All he could do was allow Grace to drill holes into his ears until they bled.


    Quietly listening as his suffering was portrayed as a favor from Grace to himself by the woman herself.


    "Can I watch?" Emilin asked about their makeup session which she wanted to join.


    It was both a good chance to learn more about this duo who were close to her in age as well as a chance to watch Grace in action, which she had missed out on this time.


    "Are you sure? It''s quite tedious you know?" Grace worried for Emilin''s poor soul.


    Though she personally loved it, she knew that it could be tough on others to spend hours on end just watching.


    The process was an incredibly slow one, especially if you wanted to get things right.


    To someone who didn''t have a passion for the arts, it was like telling someone with ADHD to meditate for 9 hours.


    ''So you also know!?'' Noah''s eyes rolled at this disgraceful hypocrisy.


    "Yeah, it should be easier to pass time with one more person to talk to right?" Emilin nodded softly.


    ''What a kind soul,'' Noah gave Emilin a look of appreciation and a thumbs up in his heart.


    There was some thankfulness, some gratefulness, and some shock in his eyes.


    "Thank you, Weiwei," he tantly expressed his sentiments, "You''re so kind, I don''t understand why you''re friends with someone like her."


    Noah humphed at Grace like a little child.


    "Friend?" Emilin mumbled to herself under her breath...


    She didn''t even catch anything else, like Noah''s sarcasm aimed towards Grace.


    But before she could ask if that were really true, Grace spoke first.


    "Hey! Aren''t you here to ask for advice? I''m going to start charging double if you don''t make haste."


    Noah''s face immediately reddened as if he were about to explode, before cooling himself down.


    This was a basic skill if you wanted to be friends with a fox who liked stepping on your toes.


    ''As if it''s my fault we took so long getting started!''


    "Okay, okay, so I wanted to ask for some advice for my friend--"


    "You can stop there. There''s no shame in admitting that it''s about you. I think just about everyone in this world knows that ''my friend'' -> ''me'', so can we skip the cutting of corners?" Grace wasn''t in for it for the bullshit.


    The ''so my friend this'' and ''my friend that'' would get seriously annoying when you heard it for long enough, especially knowing that it wasn''t about this ''so-called friend.''


    ''It''s because everyone knows that I say this, so can''t you just not put everything on the table for others to see?'' Noahined inwardly.


    This was a somewhat private matter, okay?


    He still wanted to retain his pride.


    "Who said so, I''m talking about---"


    Noah who wanted to exin himself and put the me on someone else was interrupted once again.


    "You are already here. Desperate enough to pay me 9 hours of work. If this is really for some friend, then I''m afraid you''ll have to call that friend daddy!" Grace''s eyes shone with disdain.


    That seemed to make sense, at least to Noah, who knew Grace and himself well enough.


    He probably really wouldn''t get that desperate if it were something or someone else.


    Noah suddenly felt like he hadn''t thought this through properly.


    "Whatever. Does it matter who''s the problem it is?" Noah sighed.


    "Either way, just give me your honest opinion..."


    Noah went on to exin the general idea and some of the more important details in his mind.


    "So let me get this clear. There is this girl who you fell in love with, at first sight, knowing her for less than a day, not knowing who she is, what she does, where shees from, and more. You didn''t confess, wanting to make more space between the two of you so that you wouldn''t like her as much. And now you are telling me that you were friendzoned just yesterday and you want me to advise you whether or not you should ept her offer of being friends."


    "Did I get this right?"


    ''Since when did he be so scummy?'' Grace inwardly thought.


    She didn''t think that anyone with Noah''s level of appearance would be able to fall in love at first sight.


    I guess there''s a first for everything.


    Grace was dumbfounded at how dramatic all this was, but that didn''t affect her professionalism as she spoke with an even tone and a calm voice, suppressing her great urge tough at this friend of hers.


    Nor did she voice her real thoughts until their ''session was over'', it was onlyter that she would be able tough at her friend all she liked.


    Noah''s eyebrows furrowed at the uracy of what Grace had said.


    It wasn''t urate, but he couldn''t say it waspletely inurate either, which was what really bugged him.


    "First of all, I wouldn''t say I fell in love with her at first sight. I''m not that superficial."


    ''That sure isn''t what it sounds like,'' Gracemented in a voice that couldn''t be heard by Noah.


    She was so immersed in the story that she didn''t want to interrupt, but she also couldn''t help butment when she had something to say.


    This was also why she didn''t notice that the other person sitting next to her stiffened when she heard Grace''s words.


    "Second of all..." Noah felt like he had nothing left to correct.


    Ah!


    "I think she was a model that Mason brought in yesterday," Noah said so that his words wouldn''t be left hanging over there.


    "A model huh?" Grace subconsciously looked at the other model in the room other than Noah, giving her more and more ideas.


    Enough to write a novel out of.


    "Is that so?" She continued curiously with a wee smirk that made her look like she was up to no good.


    When Noah noted Grace''s gaze, which moved from himself to ''Weiwei'', his eyes widened a bit.


    "Oh, do you have something you would like to say?" Noah asked Emilin, thinking that he might have done something wrong, such as identally talking over her or some other thing of the sorts.


    Emilin was silent for a bit before speaking in a soft, gentle voice.


    "Do you want to be her friend?"


    It was such a simple question, yet at that moment, amidst all those chaotic thoughts in Noah''s mind, he genuinely felt like he hadn''t thought of that just yet.


    The question sounded in his heart like a wind chime, crisp and clear amidst all that other mess, calming his own thoughts, something he couldn''t do with his own efforts.


    He felt his own eyes widen in realization as he paused to ponder on the matter.


    Did he want to be friends with that peculiar girl?


    There was something so maic about her.


    So mysterious.


    His curiosity was poked at time and time again with no mercy.


    He wanted to learn more about her.


    He wanted to be closer to her.


    To talk to her.


    Maybe then, he would finally learn what it was he was feeling when he looked at her.


    That feeling that he couldn''t understand.


    Noah truly couldn''t bring himself to believe that that incrediblyplex feeling could be something as shallow as love at first sight.


    At least those were his thoughts on the matter.


    So in the end, the question came back to, did he want to make acquaintances with Emilin?


    "I think so... I think I do."


    That was one of the most indecisive sentences Emilin had ever heard, yet somehow, they gave her a sense of great assurance.


    It was strange.


    Maybe it was because of all those failed attempts that had broken her heart, but when she heard that she wasn''t a lost cause, that her efforts were not all in vain, it felt incredibly good.


    She felt... acknowledged.


    ***


    Mini-Theater


    Grace: Haiz, you know, I lied to you.


    Noah: Hm? About what?


    Grace: I didn''t figure that it was ''you'' and not ''your friend'' just because of the fact that you wouldn''t be so desperate as toe to me otherwise¡­


    Noah: ???


    Noah: Really? Then how did you figure?


    Grace: Because you have no friends. >__<


    Noah: ¡­


    Noah: But I actually do have some really good friends¡­?


    Grace: Hey! That''s not how the script is supposed to go!


    Noah: Actually, if we''re talking about people who have no other friends, isn''t that you?


    Grace: What do you mean! It can''t be me, I have, erm, err, ehh.


    Grace: HEy THerE iS sOmeTHinG SEriousLy wROng wiTh This ChARacter sETting!


    Grace: How could someone as charming as me not have other friends besides this monkey!


    Noah: ¡­


    Noah: Why am I not offended after being called a monkey?


    Noah: Maybe because the real monkey is right in front of me (?§Õ?.)


    Grace: Nah, it''s probably just because you share over 90% of your DNA with monkeys.


    Grace: With you being 98.8% alike with the chimps, maybe I should just call you that¡­


    Noah: Then wouldn''t I also be able to call you a chimp?


    Grace: You know what, never mind.


    Grace: Just vote and get out of my face.


    Noah: Shouldn''t you be a little kinder?


    Grace: ''Why does he actually make some sense this time?''

 Chapter 133 - No Love At First Sight Pt I: (Inhumane)

    After Noah thought it through, a small smile grew on the same face that had been littered with anxiety and frustration.


    He had previously been scared that the person that he knew himself to be had changed.??


    Scared that he had changed into someone that he didn''t quite like nor approve of.


    But now that didn''t matter too much. He would just figure it out as he went.


    "You know, you can''t control who you like, it''s not all your fault," Grace twirled her hair with a helpless sigh as if talking to a son that she couldn''t simply throw away, trying tofort both herself and the ''son''.


    Noah''s eyes twitched a little.


    "I already told you, it''s not love at first sight!" Noah wanted to wash his reputation clean, after all, after a white shirt was dirtied, the longer he waited, the harder it would be to rify.


    Grace didn''t say anything else, simply sighing exaggeratedly as if to say, ''ah, my scumbag son doesn''t want to admit his scumminess, what should I do?''


    Well to be fair, Grace didn''t actually have anything against liking someone at first sight, after all, there was an innate part of a person that could be seen when you firstid your eye upon a person.


    Not to forget that humans were naturally visual creatures. Who didn''t like pretty things?


    However, what she didn''t appreciate was how it was romanticized.


    What about the number of people who were tricked by yboys and girls with bad intentions? Who writes stories that youngsters will read about those people?


    On the other hand, she could name at least a dozen novels where people found their prince charming and grew up happily ever after.


    In fact, children grew up being fed that bullshit. That wasn''t healthy at all!


    There were just too many things wrong with that.


    It wasn''t that Grace would say that anyone handsome or beautiful that approaches you is out to trick you, but as someone who knew the true definition of being two-faced, her being quite two-faced herself and not being afraid to admit it, she knew that no matter what, you shouldn''t bepletely swayed by outer appearances.


    You can appreciate them, but it was best not to be blinded by them.


    Anyways, this was Noah''s life, he could make his own decisions.


    Grace could give her own input and advice, but she couldn''t decide anything for him.


    Since he had already decided, there was no more point in her intervening.


    Of course, if Noah was indeed being tricked by a vixen, she would kindly make sure that her friend had a safety to get himself out of the situation when it got too sticky.


    If it was ''true love'' on his part, she knew better than to stick herself in front of a love cannon.


    In front of a person who saw the world through rose-colored sses, you had to know that they wouldn''t be afraid to see blood, after all, those damages couldn''t be seen through the pink filter.


    She wasn''t ready to be coteral damage.


    Not to mention, it would be a good learning experience for Noah if that were really the case.


    Grace could be said to be a hands-off teacher.


    On that note, Grace gave Emilin, who sat next to her, a thumbs up for a job well done, saving her a whole lot of time and effort.


    "Well, seeing as you have already gotten what you wanted, how about wee over here to choose the color palette and theme we''ll being using for this next project," Grace''s eyes shone when they finally got to this point,pletely unlike her previouszy attitude.


    Noah''s eyes darkened that very second.


    Let''s not talk about going shopping, even making a selection of which vehicle he was going to use to get to the mall. Even that was painful enough.


    It was like asking a death inmate how they wanted to die.


    Sword stabs? Knife? Gun? Strangling? Drowning? Burning?


    All this with the inmate knowing full well that the other party wanted them to die in the most painful way possible, ignoring whatever they proposed and skipping straight to what they wanted to stay the furthest away from, it was simply cruel.


    Inhumane.


    I want to die of old age okay!?


    Of course, he wanted to live!


    "Can''t we do thatter?"


    Like the procrastinator''s tomorrow.


    Aka: never.


    "I was just in a good mood too. What are you trying to do to my livelihood," Noah yed along with the act, only he was a little more realistic as if he were more experienced ying this part than Grace.


    Grace narrowed her eyes.


    "Don''t you dare even try to get out of your promise!"


    "Ha. You really sound like I owe you my life or something. Do I owe you a billion? At least a couple million from your acting right? Why do I feel like I was the one who was cheated, huh?" Noah made himself even morefortable in his seat as if telling Grace that he wasn''t getting up any time soon, much less to look at some torturing devices for himself.


    There was that and the fact that he was indeed feeling morefortable and rxed at the moment whenpared to just 5 minutes ago.


    "Why do I feel like all you did was spout crap indulging in gossiping?"


    "Weiwei was clearly the only one that cared whether or not I solved my troubles or not..."


    Noah humphed at his friend.


    Grace shrugged, "you''re the one that came to me, what do you want me to say? Beggars can''t be choosers! Don''t you know at least that muchment sense?"


    "Either way, your problem was solved in my office and you made a deal with me before talking, what more is there toin about?"


    Grace ended all chances for renegotiation right then and there.


    As for Emilin, who was named during the conversation, she was sitting quietly, yet calmly, exuding a confident aura around her.


    Inwardly, however, she was actually slightly embarrassed to have been said to be the only one who cared about Noah''s problems when in fact she also had her ulterior motives.


    Noah, who saw that ''confidence'' tilted his head in both confusion and interest once again.


    At first, he had already had an image of ''Weiwei'' that told him that she was a shy girl who may even be his fan.


    Then, after getting to know her a little better by speaking to her, she seemed to be a kind and gentle person, who he wouldn''t mind talking more to, yet now, there was this other side of her that seemed incredibly different from his previous image of her.


    Noah admitted that people could have various different sides to them, but even though it wasn''t impossible for someone to be shy, confident, and kind at the same time when he found those characteristics on Emilin, Noah found them somewhat contradictory.


    Mostly due to the impact of the changing personality in this short time frame.


    It was the short time in which she changed that made the changes especially striking.


    As for the reason behind these changes, it was of course Emilin trying to get used to the idea that this Weiwei was her, but she wasn''t Weiwei, that she could do whatever she wanted to get out of her shell.


    Of course, she wouldn''t forget that her actions still had consequences, but for her specific purposes, that could be put to the back of her mind for now.


    There was a short silence in the room where the drop of a pin would be heard.


    And Grace, who had her fun taken away had to make her own entertainment, which was exactly what she did.


    Proposing her amazing idea.


    "Hey, you guys don''t say, why don''t we call this girl Noah speaks of right now and solve this problem once in for all!"


    ***


    Mini-Theater


    Theo: Hey, aren''t I getting too little screen time?


    Theo: When do I get to show up again? From what I see, it doesn''t look like I''ll be on for another dozen or so chapters!


    Nathen: You don''t say, I''ve had even less screen time okay? I barely even get to talk to my baby sister on screen.


    Theo: But don''t we still talk to her off-screen?


    Nathen: True.


    Theo: Oi. That''s not the point, when am I going to join back in the fray??


    Gabriel (Dad): Humph! Shouldn''t you at least respect your elders? I haven''t even had my screen time, yet you''re here crying about not showing up for a couple of chapters.


    Elena: *ps Gabriel lightly*


    Elena: Don''t talk to my son like that.


    Theo: Yeah mom! You tell him!


    Elena: You should stopining too! I haven''t even startedining yet!


    Theo: *Looks away* ''Mom is always right¡­ nothing to say here.''


    Nathen: ''Oh, what pretty flower those are!'' *Turns the other way* ''Nothing to say here¡­''


    Gabriel: *Looks down* [Even if he had something to say, he wouldn''t¡­]


    The Big Boss has revealed herself.


    Elena: Jfjif fahio ¡­..! juheaosfho?! Yadayada! h h h¡­


    [3 hourster]


    Theo & Nathen: *Ears bleed out!*


    Theo & Nathen: ''Fuck! Just give her her fucking screen time already!'' *Give each other a knowing, sorrowful look*


    Theo & Nathen: ''How do all those other people log out? Can I please leave already??''


    ¡­


    ..


    .


    Gabriel: ''My wife''s voice is so pretty, even when she''sining.''


    Author: ''Why did I have to listen to all that too?'' *Hands sore from clicking log out button for 3 hours, 59 minutes, and 30 seconds.*

 Chapter 134 - No Love At First Sight Pt II: (Eccentric Madwoman)

    "Hey, you guys don''t say, why don''t we call this girl Noah speaks of right now and solve this problem once in for all!"


    Grace proposed this idea in passing, but the more she thought about it, the more she liked her own proposal.??


    Oh, how smart she felt at that moment.


    Emilin''s lips twitched.


    Why do you have to be like this?


    Why do you have to do this to me?


    She had been in cloud nine before she was suddenly pulled back down to the mortal world.


    She was a little embarrassed okay?!


    What was she supposed to do if she was seen through right now, right after having somewhat rmended herself to Noah as a friend?


    Of course, all she really did was ask Noah whether he wanted her as a friend, but there was a chance that he would feel tricked or perhaps that his thoughts were influenced somehow.


    Even though that was literally both not the case and also not quite feasible.


    Though to be fair, you have to take into ount that thinking normally and rationally is not something that can be done when emotional.


    Really though, either way, whether Noah found himself going back on his decision or not, it didn''t change the fact that it would be super awkward for the both of them if she were to be found out right now.


    Emilin looked at Noah to probe some information, and seeing the reluctance that was written on his face, Emilin rxed, a small inaudible sigh escaping from under her breath.


    "Sure."


    Noah relented after some thought.


    ''What the hell? Howe no one follows the script anymore?''


    She wanted to curse someone out, but she didn''t know who to use as a scapegoat.


    "Wow, that sounds so fantastic, um, where''s the bathroom again?" Emilin awkwardly asked, her EQ plummeting to the negatives as her nervousness took control.


    There was no poker face, no act, in fact, she didn''t have the time to think anything up or even n beforehand, simply wanting to get out of there before a call was made.


    Only pure raw annoying emotions.


    In retrospect, it probably wouldn''t have mattered that much, even if the other party found out, in fact, they were bound to find out at one point or another, but of course, Emilin didn''t have the time to think things through.


    "How can you go when the fun has just started? Don''t you want to hear what the other party has to say?"


    A mischievous smile grew on Grace''s face. She looked like she was up to no good.


    Even Emilin could see the foxtail she was swaying, much less Noah who had known Grace for much longer.


    Grace was about to grab Emilin''s arm when Emilin suddenly stood up.


    ''If she grabs me, then I''ll probably never be able to get out of this without getting caught,'' Emilin broke into a cold sweat as the adrenaline kicked in.


    "Well, the bowel movements wait for no one," Emilin replied near-instantly.


    Then, at the very next moment, she lowered her head, feeling her face heat up, embarrassed that she had blurted out such a horrid excuse.


    Couldn''t she have at least let that go through her mind twice?


    Grace watched as the little cutie bit her bottom lip with ruddy cheeks.


    "Stop teasing the girl," Noah said as if he were talking to some yboy friend, giving Emilin an apologetic look.


    Noah normally wouldn''t want people to be too nosy.


    He would probably be d that one less person was listening in, but for some reason, this time, when Emilin said that she was going to the bathroom, he actually felt a little empty in his chest.


    Perhaps it was because she was some really good emotional support earlier, at least she was rtively goodpared to Grace who was supposed to be the one really assisting him.


    Now that he thought back to it, perhaps asking Grace was really a little too much. Like using a sledgehammer to crack open a pistachio.


    [Though it would be totally understandable if it''s those stupid pistachios that literally have no opening. >.<]


    If Grace took things seriously, it would really be like pulling out the big guns for a petty kid''s fight, after all, the favors she normally did. They revolved around grand schemes with a lot of acting, spying, and other things involved.


    Not love counseling.


    Wait no, that''s not right.


    Um¡­ friendship counseling, yeah!


    "But she''s just too cute!" Grace almost didn''t shriek.


    ''You''re the cute one,'' Emilin thought, looking at Grace''s beautiful figure and lovable personality.


    "The bathroom is right over there," Grace pointed at one of the doors in her office that Emilin hadn''t noticed before due to its simr color to the walls.


    That and the fact that she didn''t think that an office would have a bathroom inside of it.


    ''Well, it was more like a makeup room so I guess it''s not too strange.'' Emilin thought as she made her way over.


    After she closed her door, her legs went a little soft and jelly, sliding to the floor with her back against the door.


    Thankfully the powder room was rtivelyrge in size and quite clean as well.


    It was fine if she sat there for a bit to calm herself down, but then again, time passed a little too quickly.


    Without her knowing, Emilin had stayed long enough for people to suspect that she was constipated or something of the sort.


    Either way, after she didn''te out right away, Grace was already asking Noah to get going!


    To call the girl from his story right away.


    At first, Noah was going to wait for Emilin, but seeing as she really wasn''ting he also relented.


    He scrolled over his avable contacts when he finally realized the problem at hand...


    "Oh wait..."


    "I don''t have Emilin''s phone number."


    "Ha hm?Whaaaa~" Grace''s small jaw dropped.


    Just how did she end up as friends with this moron?


    Maybe he really doesn''t love her, he doesn''t even have her number... unless this is the not so legendary, ''too nervous around the girl I like'' scene.


    Then again, they had just met yesterday, but if they were going to be friends, how would they do so without a way to contact each other?


    The more she thought about it, the more Grace found her normally smart, outgoing, friend with a high EQ to be moronic.


    Noah didn''t know that this one incident had decreased Grace''s views of him by 2 to 3 degrees.


    There were various moments of silence there, where Grace was thinking and Noah was somewhat dazed.


    Then, Grace''s brain who had skipped over some ''not so important parts'' finally caught on to another detail...


    Noah called that girl Emilin.


    It was true that Noah had yet to tell her just who this girl was, but Grace didn''t ask either.


    Yet now, hearing that eerily familiar name, matching her with another person she had just met, along with some other details such as the bathroom, the call, the fake name.


    Even before, Grace had sensed something off, now she was sure of it. Well, if she wasn''t then she might as well just go and quit life.


    Grace had finally connected the dots.


    But she didn''t expect it to be something like this.


    "Ah, so you''ve tricked a littlemb!"


    Grace said out of nowhere, and though Noah didn''t get it, he still responded.


    "I always feel like you''re talking shit about me," his feelings were hurt!


    Grace waved her hand as if to say no before responding- "Be more confident and take that ''I always feel like'' out of your sentence!" with a bright smile.


    "Bruh, just trying to save you some face... but since you don''t want any I guess that''s no longer necessary," Noah said mockingly.


    "I don''t need anyone else to give me my face," Grace retorted, moving her fair hand to her unblemished face as Noah''s lips twitched.


    Grace was that kind of person, white on the outside and dark on the inside.


    Like a glutinous rice ball.


    Of course, there would be people who found her cute either way and others that couldn''t stand her.


    Then there were the people in the middle, which was what made talking to her so tiring at times, she had the tendency to be a little too fast-paced.


    Noah was d to have someone like her as a friend and not an enemy since he had already seen her true powers at that party years ago, powers that may have very well improved during that time.


    However, there were also other times where he simply wanted to shake his head and im he didn''t know her at all.


    Quite troublesome.


    Grace was someone who knew well what she liked and what she didn''t like, however that wasn''t what was scary about her.


    What was scary about her was her ability to act as if the thing she hated the most in the world was in fact the love of her life.


    She knew exactly what she liked and what she didn''t, but her enemies could never be sure because one day they may see her spit out the pickled carrot she just ate, and then proceed to watch her eat a whole te of the very same pickled carrots the very next day.


    Doing this even if no one was watching.


    They would never be able to get any leverage on her.


    In fact, even if someone imed to be her archnemesis, chances were, they probably knew near nothing about her except for one fact.


    That she was a scarry genius, or as they would much prefer to phrase it¡­ one entric madwoman.

 Chapter 135 - No Love At First Sight Pt III: (Getting Her Number With BS)

    Grace never spoke about what she meant about ''so you''ve tricked a littlemb!'' and so Noah would never know.


    He gave up asking after having the conversation deviated to who knows what 3 times.??


    This reminded Noah how impossible it was to extract useful information from Grace.


    She could distract and deviate without one ever knowing a few years ago near wlessly, and since Noah knew that his perceptiveness couldn''t possibly increase faster than Grace''s skill level, he knew that she was going easy on him, most likely due to their friendship.


    If it was someone else, Grace might start digging holes with her words out of habit to turn the conversation into something embarrassing for the other party and then act all innocent just so that she wouldn''t have to disclose any information.


    He thought back to that poor innocent young girl back at the ball a few years back¡­ that young girl really kicked an iron te!


    Grace made it slightly obvious to send him a signal that she didn''t want to talk about it, and he took it with gratitude and annoyance.


    As for what Emilin was doing in the bathroom for that long, though Noah was curious at first, he stopped thinking about it after realizing how inappropriate it was.


    And Grace, well, she was quite certain of what was going on in Emilin''s mind, which only made her feel like that little cutie pie that was getting herself all worked up was too flustered to recall she never gave her phone number to Noah. Too cute!


    5 minutester, Emilin walked out of the bathroom with a confident-looking posture, but her burning ears betrayed her trueposure.


    ''Did she finally figure it out? That this boy doesn''t even have her number.'' Grace giggled to herself, but she didn''t disclose anything.


    It would be a lot more fun to watch from the sidelines no?


    The more Grace thought such sneaky thought, the more innocent Grace''s smile became... both Noah and Emilin didn''t suspect anything.


    "You''re back?" Noah asked, he did his best not to insinuate anything that would embarrass her, something dumb like ''howe you took so long'' or ''what were you doing in the bathroom'', but Emilin had lost track of time in the bathroompletely missed his goodwill.


    "Yeah, how did the call go?" Emilin asked casually as if she could really care less and with an air of sincerity that nearly convinced Grace that Emilin truly didn''t know anything.


    "Well it didn''t go, I forgot that I didn''t get her number, oh well." Noah shrugged.


    Emilin hummed as if to say, ''oh, okay then.'' with nonchnce.


    ''Thank god you didn''t!'' Emilin shouted inwardly.


    "That''s too bad, I''m sure she''ll call back sooner orter from the way you described her," Emilinforted, even though this was partially her fault.


    Well, she would just callter to make up for it...


    Noah once again felt like Emilin was a great kind person who made good moral support! Unlike Grace who would make him feel like a dumbass for everything he did.


    Noah gave Emilin a grateful nce.


    Grace who was watching at the side eating imaginary popcorn simply chuckled to herself once again.


    Now she could barely tell which one was the true cute innocent littlemb here.


    "Then I''ll get going first, I have some things to get to, you guys have fun. It was a pleasure meeting you Weiwei. See you much, muchter Grace."


    "Pleasure is all mine!" Emilin smiled with no stiffness and waved goodbye as Noah felt through the same door he hade in from.


    As for Grace, she simply waved Noah goodbye before putting the phone that she just used to send a message to a certain someone down.


    ''Just what did Emilin do in those 15 minutes for there to be such a big change once again?'' Grace was interested.


    She saw the potential in Emilin. She was adapting quite quickly, and if Emilin was as good as she thought her to be, Grace didn''t mind taking in a student.


    Things were getting boring anyway.


    This could be quite fun!


    After all, she was most confident in her skills in the art of disguise, acting, trickery, and misdirection.


    At that thought, Grace started plotting in her mind how she should go about it to sessfully entrap this littlemb into her fence so that she would be one of her own.


    But how was Grace to know that this sheep she wanted to entrap wasn''t a normal sheep but rather a golden magical sheep that had the power to shapeshift?


    One day, when she thought back to this day and her thoughts when reaching out to Emilin, who knows what she would be thinking.


    Pride in teaching such a monster? Dumbfoundedness at what the world had be? Ridicule at her own thoughts? Joy in tripping upon this little golden nugget that just happened to be the most precious little thing?


    Or maybe just all of those feelings at once and then alternatively.


    And this day would be much sooner than she could ever imagine, not that Grace had ever expected such a thing to ever ur.


    ***


    Noah, who had just left Grace''s office went straight to the one next door and knocked before going in.


    "Oi, Mason, I need a favor," Noah said casually.


    With Mason''s office and Grace''s office being so fucking close to each other, it was a true wonder how they allowed themselves to follow Emilin in the opposing direction for so long.


    "Why do you knock on the door if you don''t wait for me to answer?" Mason looked up at Noah annoyedly.


    "Are you busy?"


    Noah took Mason''s silence as a ''no''.


    "Then that''s why," Noah shrugged.


    Mason''s vein''s bulged, but he didn''t say anything since he needed to talk to Noah anyways.


    His timing was actually quite good.


    If not for also needing to talk to Noah, Mason may have very well had just kicked him out earlier.


    "What do you need?" Mason asked patiently, thinking in the back of his head that he also needed something from him, so he was going to get back at Noahter.


    "Do you have Emilin''s phone number?" Noah asked without a hint of awkwardness nor embarrassment as if he were asking for some very important work thing he had to do.


    "What do you need it for?" Mason narrowed his eyes, his question was basically a confirmation that he had it.


    "I also saw the photo from yesterday you know? Because that dinner was a more formal setting, well as formal as it could get. And that was our first time meeting, I didn''t get the chance to ask, I still want to know why she did it. What she was thinking at that time, and if it was with the intent that things turned out like that." Noah spat out a whole load of bs calmly and seriously.


    After spending enough time with Grace, he was quite good at that.


    That is, in front of everyone except for Grace herself.


    Well, every once in a while he could get things past her, but those times were few and far in between, yet another reason he would like to stay further away from her.


    Mason couldn''t help but nod his head.


    That reason seemed to make quite a bit of sense.


    "Then tell me when you figure it out," Mason added shamelessly.


    Then again, he had alreadye to an agreement with Emilin, so it wouldn''t have been too difficult for him to figure it out for himself.


    But if someone else was willing to go through the trouble, why would he bother?


    "Oh, you don''t need to ask me though!" Mason seemed to have just remembered something.


    "Emilin is right there," Mason pointed at a wall to his own left.


    "With Grace. Grace is showing Emilin some of her makeup skills to convince her toe model for me."


    ''It''s already in the bag,'' Mason thought.


    Noah narrowed his eyes dangerously, if he still didn''t get what happened, then he would have to be a real moron.


    ''Hehe, was I just yed?'' Noah smiled gently.


    ''No wonder I felt something off when I looked into her eyes¡­ they were so familiarly electrifying.''


    "If she''s with Grace, then I won''t disturb the two, you know how Grace is, if I go there, she may just chop me in two. Pass me the number and I''ll give Emilin a callter."


    Mason thought about it and shuddered, sending the number to Noah''s contacts right after.


    What Noah said madeplete sense¡­ but why did Mason feel like something was up?


    "Why do you sound so rushed? Do you have something you have to get to?" Mason questioned.


    Noah also realized that he had spoken a little too fast to be considered normal and so he came up with some other bs answer.


    "Yeah, I have to go to the old mansionter," Noah casually said.


    Mason made the face of someone who had just eaten a sour lemon before waving his hand.


    "Okay, okay, don''t tell me anymore."


    Looking at the good results, Noah couldn''t help but be proud.


    It was still amazing how effective that one line was.


    ''I guess Grace''s lesson was right, you have to know of the other party''s weakness to be in full control of the flow of the conversation.''


    It worked every time.


    Noah knew clearly how scary his old man was from Mason''s perspective and so every time he mentioned going to see him, Mason made the face of someone who would rather be at a gravesite than to hear another word.


    However Noah wasn''t as professional as Grace, while Mason wasn''t looking, he smirked like a little kid that had just pulled off a petty prank, unlike Grace who would be unfazed even after ruining someone''s reputation with some casual words.

 Chapter 136 - Teacher Pt I: (Adolescent Years)

    Mason quickly kicked Noah out of his office saying something along the lines of ''not wasting your time anymore, go to that ce and just get out of here,'' after sending the number over.


    After Noah left butt-first out of the office, he went on to check if the number was really there before saving it under ''Little Liar'' with a smile on his face.??


    It was also then that he noticed another message from someone else, someone he didn''t expect a message from.


    Mainly because he had just spoken to her a few minutes back.


    Grace: [Don''t think I''ve let you go just because you rushed off real quick. I''ll message you againter with a date,e or die. *warm smile*]


    Noah had a speechless smile on his face as he read the scarily threatening text, that must have been sent just around the time he left.


    It was really too hard to get anything past that little monster.


    Noah didn''t even bother sighing.


    9 hours of torture awaited him, he had to go do some good things to improve his shitty karma, less his karmaes to stab him in the back again.


    Noah seriously didn''t have the courage to me this on Grace.


    Bad things always seemed to happen when he did that.


    Noah left Grace on read before going back to look at his new contact.


    ''Hm, what should I do about this little one?''


    ''Well, she didn''t exactly trick me and I can see how that happened, I also did say that I would like to be her friend, but it''s a little too embarrassing that she saw me going to Grace''s to look for help about such a simple matter.''


    Noah thought contemtively.


    ''Then since she''s had her fun, I should have some of my own too right?'' Noah smirked.


    ***


    In Grace''s office


    ''How should I trick this littlemb into my palms?'' Grace thought about it carefully before opening her mouth.


    "How did you like the experience?" Grace asked vaguely.


    "Hm?" The words flew over Emilin''s head.


    "How do you like the makeup I mean." Grace continued smoothly without missing a beat.


    "It''s really amazing, I really like it," Emilin said calmly and with a subtle air of confidence around her.


    "Is that so? Then I''ve done my job well," Grace smiled warmly.


    "Then did you feel something different todaypared to other days?" Grace was looking for an opening in the small talk without really trying to hide her probing intentions.


    She was sure Emilin felt it too.


    Grace could tell from Emilin''s different micro-actions.


    "Then how about youe under my wing?" Grace gave up on theplicated methods and opted for the most direct one.


    It normally worked better with people who had stronger personalities, and even if someone had a wishy-washy personality, Grace was confident in her persuasion skills, most importantly, she was confident in her eye for people.


    "Could you rify?" Emilin asked back, not sure of what she was hearing, it wasing from a little out of nowhere.


    She was sure that Grace had a lot of other people she did makeup for, and she didn''t look like the type of person who would have the patience or the free time to make such an offer to just anyone.


    Plus, Emilin didn''t think that Grace''s time with her would particrly stand out among other people.


    "I mean it in the literal sense. I''ll take you under my wing and teach you what I know, in return recognize me as your teacher."


    Grace borates as she yed with her chin, tapping it with her thin fingers.


    "You mean... learning makeup?"


    Grace didn''t know if she should put it all out in the open or to slowly reel this fish in.


    "It will depend on your performance. If I think that you''re good enough, I''ll teach you everything." Grace said mysteriously.


    It was clear that she wasn''t going to rify what this everything meant, but Emilin still couldn''t help but ask.


    "Everything?"


    Grace chuckled mysteriously.


    Emilin didn''t know what to say, but she was considering it seriously.


    She could clearly tell that Grace was very good at things that she sucked at.


    Interpersonal connections, conversational skills, and a whole lot of other things.


    Then again, a lot of people were much better than her at that stuff, but Grace was the first to offer to help and teach her.


    Not to mention, learning an extra makeup skill wasn''t too bad either.


    Emilin didn''t find any shame in calling someone a teacher even though she was a multi-millionaire or was it a billionaire? She didn''t pay too much attention, plus you would have to consider how assets and shares were counted.


    Others didn''t know how wealthy she was and they were offering her a helping hand, so she was going to take all the help she could get dly.


    Just as Emilin was about to respond, Grace opened her mouth to ask yet another question.


    "Did you feel anything different today?"


    "Something different?"


    Emilin thought back.


    There should be plenty of things that felt different, but none of which she would say out loud willingly, she didn''t know if she was just being weird.


    But now that Grace asked, it was clear that it wasn''t just in her mind.


    "I guess, there''s something different. I''m not sure what though, it''s not anything bad."


    Grace nodded.


    "Then can you describe that feeling for me?"


    Emilin thought back to when she was in the bathroom around 30 minutes ago.


    "It was easier to make a hard choice."


    ***


    Emilin stood up from the bathroom floor and peered into the mirror, looking at her messy reflection.


    At least in her eyes, her emotions and face were a mess, though that did not directly corrte with her appearance being unsightly.


    She closely looked at the face that didn''t seem to be hers, closing her eyes time and time again.


    She was about to ssh her face with water to cool herself down, but her hand stopped at the faucet.


    ''Grace will probably kill me if I wash my face like this, she was upset enough when I almost rubbed my eyes. This can''t evenpare.''


    Emilin had almost done something impulsive.


    Not only because of Grace''s reaction and the fact that Noah was still outside waiting, she would have also regretted it if the makeup washed off just like that.


    She had yet to explore what could be done in her current condition.


    In the end, Emilin took out her phone that was in her pocket and stared at it nervously, awaiting a phone call that never came.


    ''What should I do?''


    ''Should I just tell the truth?''


    ''Probably not right?''


    ''But lying isn''t too good, not to mention this was a lie that was bound to be seen through sooner orter with Grace knowing both my appearances and with me staying for more photoshoots in the future.''


    ''But I don''t want to tell him just yet either¡­''


    ''Then should I just tell him when we meet again?''


    After all, Emilin had already asked for permission to go to the session Noah and Grace were going to be having at ater date.


    It wasn''t going to make that much of a difference¡­ right?


    Who was Emilin to know that Noah was to figure things out before that date because of that pig teammate who wasn''t even really her teammate, Mason?


    And what was even more coincidental was Noah also decided that he would reveal to Emilin that he knew about her situation at the end of that session after she had some fun.


    After all, Emilin hadn''t really done anything against his morals or really even against him.


    If Noah were to really get mad over such a thing, there was no way he could be in a friendly rtionship with Grace, who had done things 10 times worse just as a prank.


    After solidifying her heart on telling Noah next time, Emilin stumbled upon another problem.


    Should she tell him as Emilin or as Weiwei?


    Who was Weiwei anyways?


    An unstable crappy by-product of Grace''s amazing art skills.


    Emilin should have really thought about this before reaching this point, her unstable and wishy-washy emotions were really ruining this character.


    But it wasn''t toote.


    Then, what does Weiwei want to be?


    ''I can''t believe I''m thinking about this when I''m only like this temporarily.''


    Emilin looked up from her phone to the mirror before moving her gaze back again, awaiting that phone call.


    ''Or maybe it''s because it''s temporary that I''m like this.''


    Emilin wanted Weiwei to be a confident, strong woman.


    Someone who could speak her mind to anyone and get along with people too.


    That''s what she wanted Weiwei to be, that''s what she herself wanted to be.


    It was harder than she thought.


    Perhaps one day, she could look back at these moments in time and think that they were simply bittersweet.


    There was a reason why they said bitter first before sweet rather than Sweet bitter.


    Even though Emilin found her situation somewhat pitiful now, maybe, just maybe, when and if she grew out of it, she would find this all to be a growing experience.


    After all, those were what the adolescents'' years were all about.


    Puberty really hit like a fire truck. It was a phase of one''s life that you both reminisced and wanted to forget at the same time.


    It was supposed to be like this, no?


    Contradicting yourself.


    Finding yourself.


    Figuring things out.


    But of course, this was only something that Emilin was to figure out in the future.


    Something she never had the chance to learn in her past life.

 Chapter 137 - Teacher Pt II: (The Truth?)

    As Emilin, it was easier said than done to be such a person.


    Someone who could speak their mind as they liked while also getting along with others. Her EQ and confidence were simply insufficient.??


    But as her alt ount, Weiwei, she could act a little more unrestrained.


    This led Emilin to believe that her past traumas had something to do with betrayal, as many times people with such traumas would have trouble approaching others for fear of being stabbed in the back if they got into rtionships that involved too much trust.


    Because Emilin didn''t have any memories of those events except for some snippets, she didn''t have that same fear.


    In fact, she longed forpanionship, but those traumas still surfaced as her disability to talk to others even when she wanted to if she had friendship and trust in mind.


    That would also exin why she wouldn''t be particrly adverse to little kids like Rose, or even elders. She wouldn''t approach them necessarily withpanionship or trust in mind.


    As for her family, it was as if they skipped this whole filtering phase, they were people who had herplete trust and so there was no internal conflict.


    This could be solved as Weiwei, as the chances of being stabbed in the back and thus the consequences did notnd on her. It was an identity she could easily dispose of.


    In fact, Emilin should have longe to this conclusion as this was exactly what she did with her identities as Master M and Master Lin.


    Even though they were identities that were connected with a lot of her finances, if trouble that she couldn''t face came to attack her, she wouldn''t hesitate to move everything and dispose of the empty shell that was that identity.


    Emilin thought about that and time passed quickly, by the time she finally snapped out of it and realized that there was still no calling in, sheposed herself and left the bathroom.


    First, she realized that she hadn''t given Noah her number, and second, she realized that in all that time, she hadn''t even figured what she would have said if she did in fact get a call, after all, she spent most of that time in a daze.


    And just like that, she left the bathroom confidently on the outside and calmly on the inside.


    A small knot in her heart was solved and a new rope path unraveled as she took a step out of the door as Weiwei.


    Someone with the confidence that she herself could not show.


    But confidence is also not something someone is simply born with, but rather a trait that was to be cultivated. Emilin was confident that she would be able to cultivate the confidence she had inside of her into something she could disy on the outside.


    ***


    Emilin didn''t go in-depth on how she felt at every step nor her process, mainly because she didn''t want to expose her problems right now in fear of overwhelming someone who didn''t know her very well.


    That and the fact that her problem was hard to rte to, so rather than creating a point of connection and a conversation between two people, it was more likely that it would create a rift of sorts, an awkward silence, and even more likely, an awkward atmosphere.


    "It was a great experience, if I could I would do it many more times, but after I wash off the makeup, I doubt I will be able to catch that feeling again," Emilin spoke in a stable voice, in fact, she didn''t sound like she was particrly disappointed.


    It was as if a billionaire had missed out on a million-dor project.


    It was just a shame.


    Of course, there would be some regret, but not to the extent where it would affect that person''s emotions.


    It was that kind of mountain-like stability.


    However, the reality was more like missing out on a billion-dor investment as a millionaire.


    After all, for Emilin, money could be earned again, but once she missed out on a chance at learning aboutpanionship from another person''s shoes, she didn''t know when a simr chance woulde around again.


    If ever at all.


    "Then that''s good, it means that you''re interested. I''m offering you right now to be taken in by me so think about it. I''ll give you 5 days to consider it, but it''s best if you give me a response as soon as possible, hopefully, I won''t lose interest by then." Grace smiled as per usual.


    Emilin didn''t know what to say, was Grace ruthless? Arrogant? Cocky? All of the above? But then again, what did that matter? So what if she was all of those traits?


    "I''ll give you a response by tomorrow," Emilin said with a confident smile.


    Suddenly, it went from sounding as if Grace was a big boss giving a small employee an offer all the way to Emilin being an unreachable business partner that Grace had made an offer to. Now, Grace had to wait for the big shot''s response.


    Grace didn''t know how to feel about this alternate personality of Emilin, but it was both interesting and convincing enough.


    As for Emilin, she felt like she might be getting a teacher soon.


    It was a novel experience.


    epting a teacher was definitely different from epting a friend, and very much different from interacting with business partners.


    She didn''t mind the thought at all, maybe because she didn''t have a teacher in her past life?


    That was the feeling Emilin was getting.


    She could have assumed that her teacher in her past life was simply good to her, but from that snippet she got a few months back at school, of thatb, that didn''t seem realistic.


    After their short conversation, Emilin sent Mason a message telling him that she would agree to be his model.


    It was a win-win situation in her eyes.


    All of her requirements were met and she would also be able to continue experiencing the feeling of being in someone else''s skin.


    Then, she left and made her way back to her apartment.


    She hadn''t forgotten that she would have to call Noahter, but there was something slightly more pressing right now.


    No, of course, she wasn''t just procrastinating something she didn''t want to do, what do you mean?


    [Side note: Geniuses don''t procrastinate!]


    [Side note: Wait, um that doesn''t seem to make sense, well, who cares, plot armor! A protagonist can do no wrong!]


    [Side note: Hehe, what is procrastinating? I am procrastinating.]


    ***


    Emilin sat down on the long ss dining table with herputer in front of her while Xander, who had figured that she hade back, also came to her apartment, sitting on the other side of the same table.


    Even though they were each working on this same ss table, their workspaces were really worlds apart.


    While Emilin only needed herputer, Xander had aputer on one side, and he surrounded himself with stacks of papers with plenty of draft paper in the fray.


    It was a wonder how he could find anything in that condition, though considering he had been working on the same papers for the past few days nonstop, it wouldn''t be wrong to say that he had pretty much carved the image of those papers into his mind.


    He just needed to understand them now.


    But today, Xander couldn''t concentrate as he normally did.


    This was the first time Xander found Emilin actually working on something so he was extremely curious.


    In the past few days, if Emilin wasn''t scrolling her phone, she was ying with cats, if she wasn''t ying with cats, she was meditating, and if she wasn''t meditating, she was sleeping.


    Of course, Xander didn''t know what Emilin was doing on her phone, but he was around 100% sure that it wasn''t work-rted.


    Emilin didn''t seem to be restrained by a school, then again, Xander doubted a school could teach her anything she wanted to learn with Master M being Emilin''s teacher.


    As for what exactly she was doing all day, well, I guess she was helping him, so that was something, but was that really her job?


    ''¡­''


    Maybe it was to find a sessor!


    Him, right?


    [Pretty urate.]


    As Xander thought about that, he was super inclined to simply ask Emilin what she was doing on herputer!


    At the same time, though Emilin had felt Xander''s asional nces on her, she didn''t say anything since he wasn''t saying anything either.


    She had to concentrate a little on what she was doing right now.


    She had thought about how she wanted to proceed with this.


    Emilin needed to do a thorough background check on Mason, Lisa, Noah, Grace, Owen, Margo, and even a bunch of people from the studio, but at the same time, she was also somewhat reluctant.


    She didn''t want to know whether she should do it or not, but in the end, safety was always a top priority.


    She had already decided to get involved so there was no way around it, after all, this could affect her family''s safety, if she unintentionally got into something she shouldn''t have, she could still back off now.


    But on the other hand, she was praying that there wasn''t any information that would make her have to do so.


    In retrospect, maybe she should have done this earlier, but she wasn''t going to background check everyone she met.


    However, these people were already bing a significant part of her life, and she hoped that it would remain that way in the future too, so it had to be done.


    Now she sat there with another dilemma.


    And of course, the first person she would turn to to ask about such things would be, her big brother Theo.

 Chapter 138 - Why Is It Him!? Pt I: (Bad And Worse Alarms)

    "What can I do for you, my cute little baby sister?" Theo asked coyly, elongating the end of thest word.


    He was clearly in a good mood because his little sister had made him an impromptu call.??


    As for whatever he was doing at that time...


    He was free!


    Super free!


    Always free!


    Always super free!


    ?^?^?


    [If his ssmates and teachers, especially his Master knew of his thoughts, they would definitely be coughing out 2 to 3 mouthfuls of blood each.]


    "Big Brother Theo, I need your help with something," Emilin''s voice was warm with a tinge of care.


    Her usually rigid and stiff cold eyes also softened various degrees, in fact, her whole posture was a little less guarded and morefortable looking.


    These were just some of the observations that made Xander''s eye widen.


    He never knew Emilin to have this side to her, but what was more striking was that he never thought Emilin could possibly have this side to her.


    Sure it was only logical that Emilin would have this side to her, after all, she was a teen, right? But Xander couldn''t picture it, he didn''t dare picture it until today.


    Small hydrangeas bloomed around Emilin.


    "What does my cute little sister need me for? Hm~?" Theo''s hum at the end of his sentence made him sound like a young maiden.


    Kayden, on the other side, didn''t know what to say at that point when he heard only Theodore''s words.


    ''Whipped! Whipped I tell you! I''ll never be like him,'' Kayden looked at Theodore with both disdain and a hint of jealousy at this good sibling rtionship.


    He wouldn''t be able to be like him even if he wanted to!


    Should he be spending more time with his cousins?


    But they were too annoying for him to want to willingly approach.


    Thinking along these lines, Kayden came to the conclusion that siblings were a little too high maintenance.


    Just look at Emilin here, Kayden didn''t know just how Theodore''s younger sister could be so high maintenance that she had so much to ask of Theodore, who Kayden already found to smart enough, even in this school of geniuses.


    What would she need Theodore''s help with over aputer?


    Did Emilin need her big brother to hack into NASA to get a more precise location on the closest ce to her where she could buy the best milk tea?


    Or did she need her busy big brother to hack into amazon to get a faster shipment of her facemasks?


    [Theo: NOt BuSy!]


    [Kayden: then why don''t you help me do my homework?]


    [Theo: Don''t you see how busy I am?]


    [Kayden: You can''t be this two faced, a person has to be a man of their word¡­ didn''t you just say that you were not busy?]


    [Theo *eye roll*: That was then, now I''m obviously helping my sister.]


    [Kayden: Then when will you be free again?]


    [Theo: When Emilin asks for me again.]


    [Kayden: Noment¡­]


    Kayden didn''t know which one was more urate, but he really couldn''t and didn''t want to think more about it.


    "I''ll send you a list, don''t be too mean okay? Just check them thoroughly, and it''s best if you don''t get caught. I''ll back you up on the sidelines," Emilin said with and thoughtful expression.


    It was about time that Theodore took up the front lines.


    Their time zones were now different and so were their lives.


    There was barely anything to do back in high school, but now they both had their own projects to work on.


    It was both inefficient and unfeasible to assume that the other party will always be free. Theo also needed to learn these things anyway.


    Though in most dangerous cases, even if they weren''t free, they could always make time.


    But that was a different matter.


    Either way, it was about time that Theo finally started on this other aspect of hack... programming.


    On the other side, Theodore''s eyes shone.


    "Leave it to me."


    ***


    Everything went smoothly at first.


    Simple employees- check! [Clean!]


    They were all just normal people, with the exception of this one guy, but he wasn''t particrly relevant nor dangerous.


    Emilin barely had any interactions with them, so it was all good.


    Mason- He was definitely way too old for Emilin, he really wasn''t that old, butpared to Emilin, there was indeed a significant age gap.


    Interesting career so far, good family background, not particrly handsome, nor particrly charming.


    Theo reluctantly marked this male as, [clean]!


    Noah- Hm, he''s a little too close to Emilin in age, and though he can''tpare with me or big brother Nathen in terms of charm, he is a little too handsome...


    Good EQ, good connections, and a terribly good family.


    rms rang off in Theo''s mind and he instantly had the impulse to make Noah a potential danger.


    But using his remaining good judgment, Theodore simply marked him as, [Stay away for safety purposes, do not approach unless absolutely necessary].


    Typing in [clean] with gritted teeth.


    Grace- Good family background, not so clean history, but overall nothing too illegal [Warning, hobbies are a little too peculiar, check the list before approaching. Don''t be tricked!!].


    Theodore was getting a little concerned as to where Emilin met these people and why they were like this...


    He didn''t know how he wanted to mark Grace at first, but Theo ended up just giving his warning sign. Emilin could do more in-depth research if she really wanted to know more.


    Theo wasn''t particrly worried about Grace''s, hobbies, but he was worried that she could be a bad influence on Emilin.


    Then again, he couldn''t control every decision his sister made, with the exception of when it came to boys.


    Theo would always im to have a say in that matter. >_<


    Lisa- Good schooling, very professional, business orientated, clean background. [A little too Clean?]!


    Then with only two people left, things started going south.


    Owen: Good family background, reputable parents, older but not too old, at his prime, terrible reputation, yboy, stay away! [Warning, do not approach this dangerous specimen of neurologically underdeveloped apes! STAY AT LEAST 30 METERS AWAY!]


    It was obvious that when Theo was checking Owen''s background, clear rms sounded in his head, and thus his description, Theo made sure to borate, just for Owen.


    But what he didn''t expect was for thisst person to be the most troublesome of all as real rms sounded on hisputer.


    Once Theodore started digging in for information above the surface level of Margarette Lenin, hisputer immediately showed signs of being hacked.


    It seemed like the people he was hacking had noticed him, but not only that, they had evenunched an attack before he had the chance to notice what was happening.


    This was bad for Theo, who wanted to show off to his little sister.


    He felt like cursing, just a little, but he held it in.


    ''Who was this f*cker who ruined his show?''


    Theo had already made ns to ruin this guy. He was even more upset than when he was hacked and a number of his firewalls were broken into a few months ago.


    He had already fixed those and yet this new person sneak passed them?


    At least back then, he could simply im it to be a learning experience and settle it in his heart, but this was not the case here.


    This guy was clearly provoking him!!


    This was much, much worse, after all, Emilin was asking him a favor here! How could he perform badly??


    This was all the other party''s fault!


    ***


    Mini- Theater:


    Theo: This was all the other party''s fault!


    Nonexistent sidekick: His fault!


    Theo: I''m going to ruin them!


    Nonexistent sidekick: Ruin them!


    Theo: Crush them into crumbles!


    Nonexistent sidekick: Into crumbles!


    Theo: If I don''t do it, then my name won''t be Theodore Wei anymore!


    Nonexistent sidekick: Yeah!


    Theo: How dare they humiliate me in front of Little Sister Emilin!


    Nonexistent sidekick: Absurd!


    Theo: [Wait, wait, wait, author, why does this guy keep talking over me? And why does this script sound so familiar?!]


    Two secondster.


    Theo: [Fuck, why do I sound like a spoiled second-generation cannon folder young master that''s going to die or suffer a fate worse than death in less than 5 minutes??]


    Theo: [I said I want screen time, but not like this!]


    Theo: [This is all wrong!]


    Author: [?¡«(£þ,£þ )]


    Author: [???]


    Author: [I don''t know what you mean¡­ this is clearly not my style, it must have been someone else who did it.]


    Author: [*Types real fast, thinking of a character to y the role of scapegoat. *]


    Author: [Ahhh! I must have been this person, character, CutiePieZ, author of famous face pping novel in M continent!]


    Author: [Me? No, I would never! (?? 3 ?)???]


    Theodore: [¡­]


    Theodore: Okay, let''s make this clear, I''m upset, very upset, but I''m not an unreasonable guy, okay? I hacked them first and so a counterattack is self-defense¡­ I would have done the same.


    Emilin: Then what if it fails and your firewalls are all broken through?


    Theodore: ¡­


    Theodore: Then don''t I still have my cute little sister protecting me?


    Kayden: Shameless!


    ***


    Author''s Note: These past few days were a little rough with tests and all, I sincerely thank you for your understanding.


    Currently one chapter a day. I''m thinking of making a morepact updating schedule for the summer, any thoughts?


    Comment down below, and don''t forget to vote to show your support!

 Chapter 139 - Why Is It Him!? Pt II: (Master Giovanni)

    While Theodore was cursing the people who made him look bad in front of one of the only people in the world he''d really rather not look bad in front of, the person on the other side, the one currently attacking Theodore, rubbed his goatee, not knowing about the fire that he had lit in this young man.


    "Ah just as I needed a good stretch someonees knocking on my door, the kids these days are all so nice."??


    A man with azy voice seemed to be on the verge of yawning at every second, but he held himself back so that he wouldn''t have to deal with the troublesome yawn tears.


    With his left hand covering his mouth, he used his right hand to maneuver on the keyboard and move the mouse every once in a while.


    Though his left hand was dominant, as a hacker, he was still rather skilled with both.


    That being said, he was ambidextrous and required his students to be the same.


    Yes, thiszy-looking uncle was the man hacking Theodore at this very moment.


    "This kid is some nice warm-up," he was actually rather surprised.


    He didn''t think there were many people who could go up against him anymore, and those who could, wouldn''t be bored enough to hack him.


    At least they wouldn''t be caught doing so.


    This one up against him was weaker than all of those old monsters, in fact, it would be offensive to evenpare them, but this hacker wasn''t too bad.


    But this wasn''t what really interested this expert.


    What was interesting to him was that his opponent was rather inexperienced, at least inexperienced dealing with people of his level or higher.


    At most having some experience hacking some small fries.


    He could tell.


    [At this time, this man didn''t know that he had already deemed all of his own disciples, small fries.]


    [These disciples weep. ?_?]


    The opponent''s (Theo''s) fighting power came more from instinct.


    The kid was facing things as they came, and against someone like him, who had decades of experience, this was nothing, or at least it was nothing effective.


    But people like him, those with more instinct than experience could be nurtured, unlike those with no instinct and lots of experience.


    Of course, it wasn''t to say that those who weren''t born with the talent would go nowhere, it was just that they would often face bottlenecks.


    The saying that geniuses are 1% talent, and 99% hard work (Einstein) isn''t wrong, after all, if the talent is never nurtured with hard work, that talent would never be able to bloom, but that very same saying was also oftentimes misleading.


    If talent is a seed and the hard work is the water, sunlight, and soil that nurtures it, it''s misleading to say that you can make 99% of aputer genius with hard work alone¡­


    At least not at the standard that Giovanni was working with.


    Of course, someone who doesn''t water their nts will have their seed die, while those who water their nt with have their seed blossom, but that isn''t the main point.


    If you have an apple seed, no matter how much you water it, you''ll never get oranges.


    People are talented at different things.


    In the same way that if you have a defective apple seed, you will never be able to reach the quality of the apples produced by that perfect apple seed if it is watered as much as your own.


    That doesn''t disprove that geniuses are 1% talent, and 99% hard work, but it misleads people into thinking that if you put in the 99% hard work with no talent, you can reach the same level as someone with that ''1%'' talent and 98% hard work.


    That''s not true.


    There is no harm with noparison, but sadly, our wholepetitive world is about who is better than the other. You simply can''t rank withoutparing.


    Of course, some people have bigger apple seeds while others have bigger orange seeds. There are so many different things people can be talented at, but just because someone is talented at one thing, it doesn''t mean that they are talented at everything.


    If you have no apple seed, how are you going to grow that apple tree?


    Geniuses are 1% talent and 99% hard work, but if you are going topare between two people, you simply can''tpare proportionally to their hard work if they have varying talent levels¡­


    The value of that 1% talent is simply not proportional to the 99% hard work whenparing people.


    That''s why this expert is always seeking the talented. Hard work can be influenced by incentives and various other methods, but talent cannot.


    At least not unless you get hit by a lucky lightning bolt, or worse.


    The man with a goatee leaned back on his chair, one hand still on the keyboard.


    "Well he certainly can''tpare with me, but this might be good training for those kids, I wonder if they can beat this inexperienced child," he spoke to himself knowing full well that ''those kids'' he spoke of were all in the same room to hear him.


    Of course, he didn''t really know who was on the other side of the screen acting as his warm-up, but he could infer a lot ording to the opponent''s ystyle.


    As for the term child, anyone weaker than him would bebeled as such.


    "Sloth,e over here," the man waved his free hand.


    A soft grunt of frustration could be heard from behind.


    It seemed like this person was almost too lethargic to express his annoyance any louder.


    "Oh, Great Master Giovanni, why don''t you just let me off today," a raspy voice sounded, muffled by a fluffy pillow.


    Sloth''s arm dangling from the side of the couch he wasying on, was lifted so painfully slowly that it looked like some slow-motion clip, just to rub the man''s droopy eyes.


    It was a wonder how such a person could be anything but a couch potato, the unpeeled and unwashed kind.


    Well, probably because of Master Giovanni and his... kind nudges here and there.


    "Don''t think that I don''t know how you''ve been cking off while I was in seclusion..."


    Sensing a tirade... no, rant,ing, Sloth quickly interrupted. [Perhaps the only time you''ll see the adverb quickly next to Sloth''s name to describe any of his actions. (^?__?^)]


    "Dear Uncle, it''s in the name, beingzy is like my trademark, if you take away my trademark, there''ll be nothing left!" Sloth argued righteously.


    Master Giovanni''s smile grew when he heard himself being called uncle, but he still didn''t let his nephew off the hook.


    Sloth knew clearly that his argument would work better if his uncle were in a good mood, and Master Giovanni would always be in a better mood when called uncle by his nephews and niece. Mostly since he didn''t have children of his own, he was rather fond of the second generation.


    But what Sloth didn''t know was that better mood simply wouldn''t cut it anymore.


    Especially after the amount of face he had lost in front of that kid, Elijah, due to his disciple''s ipetence.


    That was one frustrating talk, and right after he came out of seclusion too.


    Master Giovanni felt incredibly indignant.


    His disciples all had to be taught a lesson, but Sloth and the others still didn''t know what wasing at them.


    Master Giovanni had gotten a call right after reconnecting with the main base, but Sloth, who had thought that he would be informed first hand didn''t know that his uncle had already made contact with their boss.


    Now Master Giovanni was angry and out for discipline and the others still didn''t know it.


    Like a smiling next-door neighbor who just so happened to be plotting your demise, not the death kind of demise, but the kind that involved a demonic level intensive training.


    Worse than death for someone like Sloth.


    "You know, just because everyone calls you sloth, it doesn''t mean that it''s something you should be proud of. You don''t always have to act like one all the time," Giovanni spoke rather amicably, yes, this is indeed still considered speaking peacefully.


    "Why don''t you ask Falcon to do it. He would be perfect for this job," Sloth spoke out of his ass, not even knowing what the ''job'' was.


    All he knew was that he was tired.


    He wanted to sleep.


    Conserve energy.


    Nothing could stop him.


    Falcon, who sat in one corner, did his best to minimize his presence. The same man who would normally speak the most, retort the fastest, as well as the one most eager to perform, was as meek as a mouse.


    He already had an inkling that they were caught red-handed after failing their job. In fact, even if they had yet to be caught, it was only a matter of time, and Falcon was dreading the times toe.


    Falcon had been this way since his teacher came out of seclusion.


    He was one of the first to be picked up by Master Giovanni as a student, and trauma had already been imnted in his mind, especially after noticing some of his teacher''s microexpressions that screamed ''you guys are in for a world of pain''.


    "I-I''m good," Falcon stuttered.


    ''Crap, why did I have to instinctively refute!? Now I can''t y dead!''


    A single tear was shed, and a sea of incense sticks lit. ?_?


    In for a world of pain indeed, quite the good insight on his part.

 Chapter 140 - Why Is It Him!? Pt III: (Wont Snore Next Time, I Promise!)

    Falcon''s gears churned, looking for a way to get out of this when another voice sounded from his right.


    "Why don''t I give it a try?" Serpent spoke, giving Falcon two hand signals.??


    One to signal washing clothes [making two fists and perpendicrly rubbing against eachother], and the following signaling the number of times.


    Serpent directly lifted all 10 fingers with a raise of his eyebrow.


    In other words, he was proposing him a deal; I do you a favor, you do myundry for 10 days.


    There was no room for negotiations when it all urred in silence, and Serpent had no doubt that Falcon would agree.


    Which he did, albeit very, very reluctantly.


    At least Serpent wasn''t the one with the worse smelling socks out of the whole group, though he did have the tendency to pile up dirtyundry.


    Serpent smiled slyly, but in the end, the biggest winner was neither of the two.


    It was Sloth, who said nothing since this silent interaction started.


    If Serpent hadn''t stepped up, there was still room for things to be pushed back to thezy man, but now, he could smile and go back to his sweet dreams.


    All of this urred behind their teacher''s back, but that didn''t mean that Master Giovanni didn''t notice anything.


    There was something called a reflection, and there was a reason why this expert was staring at this screen so intently when the lighting of theputer was so low.


    But he didn''t say anything either, there was no need to get involved in the children''s small gimmicks.


    However, his prompt response right after they finished their ''dealings'' also told some of the more keen students that their teacher had seen what had just gone down, simply deciding to act ignorant on the whole matter.


    But if Master Giovanni said nothing, then there was no need for them to say anything either. After all, he had his own intentions, and no one wanted to be the snitch in this circumstance.


    There was absolutely no advantage to snitching in this situation, you would only cause internal strife and put a target on your own back as the ''traitor''.


    "Come on then."


    The teacher pointed at one of the numerous workspaces.


    Thework was all connected and Serpent got started right as he sat down, after all, this was an important matter.


    It involved over a week''s worth ofundry time as well as some of his reputation among the team.


    This was still a test given by his teacher, even though it was put with subtlety.


    Master Giovanni sat back and observed this student of his''s progress since he had left, noting it down.


    This would greatly affect their monster training scheduleter. ¦×(£à? ¡ä)¦×


    Everything was pretty decent at first, the other side seemed flustered and so he could handle it quite smoothly.


    That much was to be expected.


    ''Has master improved once again?'' Serpent questioned in his own mind.


    With their skill gap, he couldn''t tell for sure, but there was this gut feeling telling him (Serpent) he (Master Giovanni) did.


    His thoughts wandered for a second, and that second was enough for the whole ying field to turn upside down.


    Things started to go south, and fast.


    Serpent''s eyes widened and then they narrowed sharply, giving the illusion of the predator that his name represented.


    He got a whole lot more serious than he was just moments before.


    Serpent''s usually smooth brows that creased lightly when he was having fun setting traps for others, soon creased for other reasons.


    The tides were turning, and not in his favor.


    The small upper hand that he still had just mere instances ago due to his mentor''s previous work had fallen apart, but he didn''t panic.


    Master Giovanni hadn''t helped a whole lot, lowering himself to his student''s level when he decided to hand this one over to them, but he had set the standard to that of the captain of these bunch, which was still rtively higher than Serpent''s skill level.


    Now that advantage had vanished under his student''s carelessness, Master Giovanni noted it down on his little notebook.


    All of this was noticed by both his fellowpanions.


    ''He''s dead,'' they all thought in unison.


    ''I knew this was going to be interesting,'' Master Giovanni rubbed his goatee with a smirk while his other students had other thoughts on their minds.


    ''When was thest time Serpent got so serious?'' Bear thought to himself, thinking back to a specific scene eons ago.


    Back when they still had the hopes of chasing M and TWO.


    ''This reminds me of thest time we went against TWO, that bastard that just kept ying with us¡­'' Falcon too was thinking of that very same scene.


    As for Sloth, he wasn''t thinking of anything in particr.


    Actually, it would be more urate to say that he was thinking of not thinking.


    At the same time, Serpent''s hands itched ominously. Even so, he didn''t dare move away from the keyboard to deal with it.


    "Why does this operation feel so familiar?"


    ***


    Theodore was also befuddled.


    After typing until his hands became numb, feeling his own hand speed breaking through another bottleneck, he couldn''t help but feel a little helpless.


    Still, he didn''t give up.


    He would never give up even though Emilin could easily deal with this.


    In fact, it was especially because he knew that even if he failed, he had someone behind his back, he had nothing to fear.


    Kayden, his (Theodore''s) roommate, and Jenna, the one who got third ce in thepetition that they had all participated in, now also holding the identity of a fellow student (only with Theodore) under Master Sungcha in the AI department in aboratory outside of school where both in the room with Theo.


    Kayden had already experienced a simr scene before, so he was used to it, but Jenna was not.


    She had no clue what was going on.


    Well, she had an idea, but even as she stared intently, the lines of text skipped too fast for her eyes to process properly.


    ''Indeed geniuses are just different,'' she inwardly thought to herself, not undermining her hard work either.


    Just epting that she would need to put in a whole lot more effort if she didn''t want to fall behind.


    In the past few weeks, though Theodore and Jenna had yet to start their lessons under Master Sungcha, they were already advised to get to know each other better, which was exactly what they had been doing.


    They would be the only disciples under Master Sungcha, and to improve on his legacy, this much was necessary.


    Jenna already had an inkling that herpetition would be tough, but her determination never faltered, even against someone as... frustrating as Theodore.


    In Jenna''s eyes, Theodore was the kind of person one would want to punch even if he did nothing but sit there. At least from an academic point of view, especially if you saw him as some kind of rival.


    For someone as hardworking as Jenna, it couldn''t be helped that she would want to hit the person who clearly didn''t even put in half of the work she did, but still got better results than herself.


    Human nature, human nature.


    What was more impressive though, was that she hadn''t done so already.


    As for the hacking that Theodore was currently doing, though Jenna had dabbled in quite a lot of programming, hacking wasn''t exactly something she could touch upon, or anyone for that matter, without knowing people.


    Otherwise, she was just bringing herself unnecessary trouble, and she currently had no such connections.


    It was only natural that she wouldn''t know what was happening.


    That didn''t stop it from looking impressive though.


    ''Should I askter?''


    Well, she wasn''t going to ask now.


    ''I''ve never seen him this... frustrated. He''s actually sweating.''


    Jenna liked that.


    For once, she wasn''t the one all heated up while he sat there like nothing was wrong with him getting away with sleeping in ss... and snoring, and then answering a 4th year''s question that the teacher gave him just to make some trouble correctly, and then going back to sleep... and going back to snoring.


    There was nothing normal about it and Jenna could still remember how she had an eye twitching problem that day.


    And so did probably the half of the ss that sat anywhere near Theodore.


    To be fair, he didn''t always snore, he was just really tired that day.


    ''But still, why didn''t he just skip ss? It didn''t seem like he needs it anyways,'' or so most people there thought.


    Who would have thought that the student that looked more like a delinquent would be in fact aiming for a perfect attendance record?


    The world was truly full of wonders.


    As for the teacher at the front who could clearly see all his students look back every once in a while during ss to observe the student who was snoring and didn''t even bother to hide it anymore.


    He was also helpless.


    It was a higher-level math ss in which nearly a quarter of the ss was getting around the 50-60% mark, which was still a pass after the curve and another half of the ss was failing.


    Theodore, the sleeping kid, was sadly, as much as he hated to admit, his best student.


    What could he do to him other than pull him over after ss to have a chat?


    And what did that chat get him?


    Nothing.


    Well, something.


    He got a promise from his top student to not snore next time...

 Chapter 141 - Teacher Pt III: (Pfffft, Wait Wait Wait!)

    Emilin tapped the corner of her lips and smiled.


    Indeed there were truly crouching tigers and hidden dragons everywhere.??


    She had known that Sister Margo was no one ordinary from the moment she heard of the project they were going tounch, but she hadn''t realized that such a problem would arise.


    The hacker that supported Sister Margo was very powerful. Of course not enough for Emilin to be worried, but still, much better than anyone they had dealt with so far.


    In fact, this expert was on another level.


    Emilin didn''t know what the requirements were to be a Master in the hacking field, if she had to guess, Emilin would assume the expert to at least be at that level.


    The hacker clearly had his own style, which was seemingly very flexible, but the ease and speed at which he moved were quite shocking.


    Like a fast-flowing current that split at some point and then met back up at another point further down the stream.


    As for the lines that went too far to be recovered, those that went off track, they were immediately discarded with no hesitation.


    Though since he was going against Theodore and not someone of a much higher caliber, the times the expert had to waste lines of code were few and far in between.


    Emilin was observing and controlling everything from the sidelines, and of course, she hid her presence well. She wouldn''t get involved until her brother told her to or things got out of hand.


    So far, things had yet to reach that point.


    But Emilin did find it somewhat amusing that the other side, though clearly better than her brother, was only working slightly above his level, which was helping her brother adapt and improve rapidly.


    It was good to have different opponents every once in a while, and this opponent was especially good for rapid improvement.


    It was all about his style.


    Like a current, when you are going against it, it is inevitable that you would have to exert a great force, however, the force acted upon you was more or less proportional to the force you exert against it.


    You could let yourself get carried away and lose.


    You could exert an equivalent force and stand your ground, and when you finally reached that point, you could slowly fight back.


    Right now, Theodore was at the point where he was slowly fighting back to not get pushed back as much. In other words, he was retreating, but by less each time.


    Aiming to stand his ground before he could possibly fight back.


    But to his advantage, this was his home ground, it was his ying field that they were working on.


    The ce he was most familiar with.


    He had countless firewalls set up, and while they served of little use, they weren''tpletely obsolete.


    Theo was improving rapidly, at least rtive to his starting point, and taking into consideration, how much you can really improve in a short period of time.


    Emilin didn''t care what the other person''s intentions were, but since it was currently helping her brother, Emilin would take this into ount when she had to step in.


    It was already an established fact that they were the ones in the wrong here, but she wasn''t going to let them get caught.


    Not ever.


    Seeing as Emilin wasn''t doing anything, Xander gave her a few more nces.


    "You''re talking to..."


    "My brother..." Emilin didn''t turn away from theputer as she revealed information that Xander would have thought would be put under a tight seal, "you may know him better as TWO."


    Xander''s eyes were just about to pop off.


    ''Excuse me, but can you please not say that as if it''s nothing?? Fuck! It''s a family of geniuses. And here I thought I was great, but when I''m with these people, my ego has to recede faster than my uncle''s hairline.''


    Xandermented his old age.


    If the other doctors that worked, well, anywhere in the world really, knew of this, they would probably want to p him even harder than on regr days, which was saying something.


    It wasn''t unreasonable though, since he was decades younger than the other people in the same position at the age of 25.


    "I feel so old..." he mumbled, which was heard by Levi Stanley, Xander''s trusted assistant who sat to his right, his eyes twitched.


    ''If you''re old, then what am I? Dead?''


    Thankfully Xander only said this in front of another monster and his faithful assistant, or the number of beatings he owed wouldn''t be in the single digits.


    Levi''s hand was also itching for no reason, in particr, no reason whatsoever.


    ''Xander seems to be getting into the habit of humblebragging...'' Levi thought to himself.


    But in the past few weeks, he was only getting more and more convinced that Xander was the so-called, main character.


    Things were falling into ce and even the humble bragging served to further convince Assistant Levi of his long-standing im.


    At this point, even if someone gave him a list of reasons why that wasn''t the case, that Xander was no main character, it would be incredibly hard for that person to convince Levi.


    This was something that Levi had believed for 10 years now.


    The reasons why it was true only piled up, while all reasons why it could be false were either ignored or used to build up the evidence or invalidated.


    In other words, Levi was deluding himself.


    Which isn''t necessarily a bad thing in this case. He was guaranteed to be incredibly loyal, not to mention determined, hardworking, and goal orientated.


    The goal being, to be an assistant good enough to support the main character, which he was slowly, but surely achieving.


    From an outside point of view, it could be said that Levi was both incredibly sessful and admirable.


    If people didn''t know what he was thinking in that pretty little head of his, they would only really have awe towards him when it came to the work he did.


    Levi was someone who seemed to be prepared for anything and everything when it came to serving his boss.


    Either way though, he was only human, that didn''t stop him from having hot palms when someone humble bragged to this extent, though he did see where his employer wasing from.


    He was equally shocked to discover that Lady Emilin''s brother was the elusive TWO, who also sounded to be quite young.


    (Theodore''s voice is actually rather deep, but when he spoke to his sister, it was a few octaves higher.)


    "Is your brother older?"


    Xander knew that he probably shouldn''t be asking too much, but this was also his attempt to save what was left of his pride.


    In his heart, he hoped that one of them was either adopted and were in fact decades apart in age, or that their parents simply gave birth to them, I don''t know, a few dozen years apart?


    "Mhm, he''s 3 years older."


    Xander wanted to cry, but he held it back like one would a fart¡­ that was something at least right?


    Xander would probably bawl his eyes out if Theodore were in fact younger.


    He couldn''t jump out the window since the floor they were on wasn''t high enough to guarantee a painless death..


    As for Emilin, she had no scruples when telling Xander this private information.


    She already took him as one of her own, even if he was a little... muddle-headed at times.


    [Trust the people that you use, and don''t use the people you don''t trust.] That would be the saying that Emilin went by in situations like this. That and the fact that she had her own precautions.


    Well, either way, she didn''t have that many reservations with people that she met in person.


    ''It''s about time. I should probablye clean with everything and take him in as a student already.'' Emilin thought about passing everything over right about now.


    She also hadn''t been doing nothing this past week while Xander had been getting familiar with the documents.


    She had used this past week to type up all the knowledge that she believed could be passed on to the following generation through Xander.


    Of course, she wasn''t sure if it could be aplished in just one generation, but after she passed it on, it would no longer be her problem.


    All she would have to do would be sit and count the profits whenever she was free.


    Thinking to this point, while keeping the situation on her screen stable, she asked Xander his thoughts on the matter.


    "So what do you think about doing the Master-apprentice ceremony tomorrow?"


    Pffft


    The water that Xander was drinking to cool himself down could no longer be held in as he spat it right out.


    Thisnded right around Levi, whose eyes and hands both twitched once again, but Xander didn''t have the time to be concerned about his assistant, who calmly took a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe himself.


    First, Xander had to make sure that no papers were damaged from the water, and well, spit.


    Only after sighing in relief did he realize what he had done, giving Levi an apologetic look.


    "I''ll take silence as you having no qualms on the matter," Emilin added.


    ''Huh? HUH?? Waitwaitwait! How was that silence? That was me being too shocked to speak. Happiness just came too fast! One second, just give me one second!''


    In fact, Xander was so stunned silent that he hadn''t realized that he had only just said those words in his mind.

 Chapter 142 - Teacher Pt IV: (Oh... About That. Im M)

    Happiness came way too quick, too sudden, too unexpectedly.


    Xander was speechless for a long time, or at least he felt like it had been a long time. In fact, it had only been a few seconds of silence.??


    Finally, someone''s voice snapped him out of his daze.


    "I have the feeling that Xander''s silence is not wholly because he has nothing to say," Levimented after he folded his handkerchief back into its original shape and returned it to his side pocket.


    Emilin didn''t understand what Levi was trying to insinuate, and so she just took it for small talk used to alleviate the silence, which she appreciated, and nodded.


    ''Howe I don''t feel like the adult here?''


    As for Xander, he blushed when he heard from Levi, but he didn''t refute.


    Xander felt like he was a little kid at a candy store for the first time, wanting to eat candy, but then waiting for his parent''s permission.


    Just when he thought he wasn''t going to get it, a bag of his favorite sweets dropped from the clear blue sky.


    It was a nice, but baffling feeling.


    "Ah-ah-ah, tomorrow? Tomorrow sounds great! Does your school have any rules for epting disciples? Should I call you Master Emilin from now on?"


    When it came to academics, Xander couldn''t help but admit that even a genius like himself couldn''tpete with a monster like Emilin.


    He would feel no reluctance whatsoever calling someone a decade younger than himself, teacher if they deserved the title.


    It had nothing to do with age anyways.


    Xander didn''t mean school as in a ce, but rather when Masters took in students, and then those students took in students, they would soon be connections too hard to keep track of.


    At some point, people would just say, ''I''m part of XXXXX school''.


    Of course, there were still some old-fashioned people who would say ''XXXXX faction'', but that way of saying soon faded because the academics found it gangster sounding.


    They had a whole conference about it, and in that conference, they put it more adequately and nicely since many martial arts or sports schools still used the term faction, but they made their point.


    Well, those people as well as most divisions in the military.


    They did not take it well when they heard the term gangster-sounding used to describe their faction behind their backs.


    "There are no such rules, and there is no need for a change in the way you address me, just keep calling me Emilin," Emilin spoke somewhat absentmindedly as she kept tight control over the situation on theputer.


    There was a sudden change on the screen.


    The opponent''s level first dropped by a great deal (When Giovanni started using the captain''s level as reference), and then the whole style of attack changed to something that wasn''t nearly as confrontational, but rather more on the sly and sneaky side.


    In Emilin''s eyes though, these poorlyid traps only made her eyes furrow in displeasure due to a level of OCD that every human would have.


    It would be like when you saw rolls of toilet paper ripped poorly and wet at its ends all over the floor, arranged in rows and columns where one just so happens to be out of ce on top of a misfit tile.


    Even if you don''t have OCD¡­ you have OCD.


    The nervous Xander didn''t notice that Emilin''s attention was elsewhere, nor the small displeasure that could be seen on her face, but how could the observant Assistant Levi not notice?


    ''Is that kid TWO having some troubles?''


    Levi felt a strange taste in his mouth when he had to process that TWO, the same person that he had imagined as an entric middle-aged man, was in fact in his teens.


    He cringed when he tried to perceive the boy''s age back when they first made each other''s acquaintance, but he didn''t show it on his face visibly.


    ''Fuck¡­ a eigh- I can''t even.''


    If he didn''t say the whole thing, maybe he could convince himself that he was about to think eighty-year-old and not eigh-- year old.


    In his heart... ( >¦â<).


    The feeling of being defeated even though there was no fight was... ¨{¨€?¨€¡ñ


    Xander, who had been opening and closing his mouth for a while now finally asked what he had been meaning to ask for the past few seconds.


    Which didn''t sound like a lot, but in absolute silence, felt like dozens of minutes.


    "Um, if you''re going to be epting me as your student, would your master attend? I mean Master M."


    Then Xander simply wanted to p himself.


    Who else could he possibly mean?


    Masters were very selective when it came to epting students and equally strict when it came to the students that their students epted, after all this was the honor of their whole ''school'' and thus the honor and reputation of the Master.


    It wasn''t unusual for another of an even higher rank to supervise the eptance ceremony to bear witness, but to Emilin, who felt that the ceremony was just a formality, she didn''t think too much about these things.


    She felt like, if she said that she was his teacher, then he was...


    "Oh, about that... I seemed to have forgotten again. I''ve been meaning to tell you that I''m M."


    This time, Emilin''s gaze finally deviated from the screen.


    Things were currently very much in control and she felt like she had to show some degree of sincerity and apology for not having mentioned this earlier.


    Xander: "..."


    Levi: "..."


    Xander was certain that if he had water in his mouth right now... well, it would no longer be in his mouth.


    Even the usually outwardlyposed Levi wouldn''t be certain if he could keep water in his mouth if he had any, after all, his jaw had already dropped to the floor.


    No matter how observant he was, he hadn''t seen this oneing and neither did Xander who had spent more time with Emilin out of the two.


    Though perhaps, they both simply didn''t want to see thising.


    There was some level of denial involved, Emilin had dropped some clues.


    But still, even if they had thought about this possibility for a split second, and I mean, just a split second, it was indeed a bit far-fetched.


    They also had no reason not to believe Emilin when she said that she was Master M''s disciple since the other had already confirmed it.


    It was slightly more reasonable.


    Even her brother was TWO, known for being Master M''s right-hand man.


    This was crazy!


    TWO''s defenses were known for being imprable (with some unknown help from Emilin every once in a while), and M, well, his, well her, deeds were widespread among those in the industry simply because of her unprecedented innovations.


    Crazy!


    Crazy!


    Their whole family¡­ both Xander and Levi didn''t know what to say about them at this point.


    How were they supposed to act?


    Was there even a ''right response'' for this?


    The two of them were staring so unreservedly that Emilin didn''t know what to say.


    ''Should I have told them earlier?''


    Well, the right answer to that question would be a big fat NO.


    It was actually a good thing that Emilin had only revealed this information after they got to know each other, or more specifically after Xander got to realize that Emilin was just a regr¡­ish teen.


    Xander, who saw M as his personal hero and idol, and only that, he may not have even been able to meet Emilin properly.


    Now, Xander felt like Emilin was kind of like the little sister that he never got to have, which eased the rest.


    That and the fact that Xander''s world views may very well have shattered twice, into millions of pieces, if they had met as M and Xander rather than Emilin and Xander.


    Thankfully currently, they only shattered once into thousands of pieces, there was still hope for this poor man''s ego.


    Levi, who had also been silent to this moment, had nothing to say. Nothing to fill in this silence.


    What could they possibly want him to say in this situation?


    He was almost more shocked than Xander!


    ording to all the novels he had read, these backers were either secret family members of the main character, big bosses (male), or female interests!


    Levi had seen Emilin and Xander''s interactions, they were anything but intimate, romantic, and they absolutely could not be sexualized.


    Let''s just not talk about Emilin''s social awkwardness and silence, as well as Xander''s preference for older women, the most important point here, was¡­ the 10-year age gap.


    With this age gap, though there could be a rtionship (not ageist here), ording to novelw/ theory, there would only ever be a rtionship where the older one (normally male), supported the younger (normally female, sometimes male if in a bl).


    Considering Xander''s traits, they were clearly not going for a novel [1] route.


    Emilin was clearly neither family, nor dominating male, nor coquettish female¡­ so what was going on here?


    Was it really all by chance?


    By fate?


    That they met¡­


    Levi''s imagination ran wild as his face remained serious and the other two just let him be.


    In the end, another moment of silence ensued, and Emilin, being the awkward teen that she was, looked back at theputer so that she wouldn''t have to trouble herself trying to pick up social cues.


    Ah, social cues.


    Emilin didn''t even have to purposefully ignore them as they would fly right over her head, they were clearly something she could not pick up, after all, for her, they nevernded close enough, not even at a viewing distance.


    They were still flying when they left for the horizon...


    [1] Novel: interestingly new or unusual (dictionary)

 Chapter 143 - Why Is It Him? Pt IV: (Natural Enemy)

    While Emilin was observing, Theodore was getting more and more confused.


    At some point, he had also noticed that the guy he was fighting against wasn''t all that bad (Giovanni at the time).??


    Theodore reluctantly huffed in recognition of the man or woman.


    Seeing as things were getting a little long, the other two in the room started working on their own stuff.


    Stuff that Theodore didn''t have to work on, mainly the ''optional'' work for their hardest ss, HL math (Higher level mathematics).


    There was no such thing as ''optional'' work... though the teacher didn''t check it, it would all show on your test results.


    In fact, the HL math teacher expected all the fails and half-baked scores at the beginning of the school year.


    Too many people here were too ustomed to simply getting things with a few tries, and the fact was that, even if you did do the work assigned to you, you might still get a half-baked score.


    HL math in a top university was no joke, even if this school was rather inclined to the arts.


    Theodore had agreed to help Kayden and Jenna on this matter after a few days of, not so discrete nagging.


    Kayden because he didn''t stop bugging him, while Jenna joined inter in the name of ''helping a fellow disciple'' and ''not wanting to drag him down in the future'' when they would have to work together.


    In the end, Theodore calcted that it would take more effort to reject them than to help them.


    After all, these two were geniuses in their own right.


    They didn''t need that much help and so Theodore just sat by the side ying a few rounds of Mobba with the others.


    asionally exining the questions that Jenna and Kayden got wrong.


    Kayden would never make the same mistake twice, while Jenna had the habit of triple checking before asking, and so she didn''t interrupt Theodore nearly as much as Kayden, who was innately less restrained.


    Jenna also took clear notes, and so she referred to them first after getting a question wrong, meaning that if she got a question with the same fundamentals wrong a second time, she wouldn''t have the need to ask Theodore.


    Her analytical skills were not bad.


    Meanwhile, Theodore had already gotten more familiar with BBAD, Gen, and the others.


    They could be said to be around the level of friends, even though Gen was the only one Theodore had met in person until now.


    Theodore often carried the others, and so even when he bailed mid-game today, they didn''t mind too much after Kayden exined the situation, saying that Theodore had an important matter to attend to that suddenly popped up.


    Inwardly, he still cursed Theodore for being a whipped sis-con.


    As for the important matter, of course, that was what Theodore was currently dealing with.


    A matter that left him more and more confused with each passing second.


    The more he went against the opponent, the more he felt like their attacks and schemes were familiar to him.


    He had immediately realized that the person he was against had changed.


    The difficulty level dropped dramatically! Not to mention, the other side even seemed to be a little distracted.


    Theodore smiled cruelly, getting even more serious.


    ''Does this guy make a joke of me? Does he not take me seriously at all?''


    This hurt his pride, and like an injured cat, he was bound to scratch back with all his might.


    Being looked down upon didn''t feel good.


    He even had an inkling that the other side had switched people.


    Like heaven and earth, there was noparison. Just the feeling of going against an unfathomable expert and someone below his level was different, even if the expert was holding back.


    You could say that it was an innate difference between the two.


    It was like when you climbed a small hill versus climbing a small hill that was a part of the mountain ahead of you. Just looking at the mountain ahead would give you some level of pressure, even if you had yet to reach the parts with a higher altitude.


    There was a psychological difference.


    The longer he went against the opponent the more sure he was of it.


    They had swapped people mid-battle!


    Then, there was an aftertaste of d¨¦j¨¤ vu.


    ''This style feels familiar''


    Theodore became more and more sure of it when other familiar moves and styles joined the fray.


    ***


    On the other side.


    When Serpent started releasing profanities and losing control over the battle, calling out familiar curses, Bear, Falcon, and the Captain made their way to watch the spectacle.


    As for Sloth, he couldn''t bother.


    Bear, Falcon, and the Captain''s eyes all widened in unison as they too had the urge to curse along with Serpent.


    They had been fighting with TWO for who knows how long in secret.


    Though they had onlyunched onerge-scale attack, they had multiple small-scale battles to test the waters beforehand.


    This was something that even Theodore didn''t know.


    And these men had observed him for even longer.


    If they couldn''t tell who this was, then all their work could be said to have been in vain. They might as well just quit.


    "Fuck, why is it him?" Falcon muttered under his breath, but in a situation where the only other sound in the basement room was Serpent''s typing, his voice echoed like the sound of the keys being pushed down.


    The Captain thought the same in his mind as his muscles subconsciously tensed and flexed.


    Bear was just about to leave and escape when the Captain opened his mouth and gave his orders.


    "Get to your stations and get started, you know your jobs. The enemy hase knocking on our doors, you don''t n to just give them the keys, right?"


    His eyes narrowed with a sharp, murderous glint.


    He had been working on this matter for way too long with no results, TWO had brought him countless troubles, and now that his teacher was here, he had nothing to fear.


    It was about time they got some revenge and about time TWO got some retribution...


    Who told him toe knocking when he was in a bad mood?


    Bear groaned and reluctantly went to his station while Falcon''s eyes darkened with a trace of trauma before he got to action.


    And Sloth, well, you really can''t expect him to move with just one call to his station, and the Captain knew that well.


    He was already on it.


    He leaned over and whispered a few words into Sloth''s ear.


    Sloth jumped up!


    Out of nowhere, as if he had been injected with chicken blood, Sloth suddenly became faster than a leopard as he made his way to his seat.


    Falcon and Bear also knew that the Captain knew of something that they didn''t, something that could get the immovable Sloth to run faster than they could sprint.


    Still, it could stun them every single time, watching the rock suddenly take flight on its own.


    It could be said that even thew that they thought would stand until the end of time, Sloth''sziness, could be countered by something else.


    They could only imagine that whatever the Captain had said would have to be Sloth''s natural enemy!


    As for Serpent, he didn''t have the time to pay attention to any of this, but when he saw his allies join in, he couldn''t help but let out a sigh of relief.


    ***


    Do you want to know what the Captain said to Sloth?


    Well... I guess I could reluctantly tell you, but you have to keep it a secret. After all, this is Sloth''s big weakness! (U? x?U)


    The truth is... the only thing that Sloth has absolutely no resistance against, the thing that he likes more than sleeping (I know, I know, something Sloth likes more than sleeping... unbelievable right?!), the one and only thing is delectable sweets!


    That is also the reason why he has a specific female cousin of his that he likes the most!


    Apparently, that female cousin of his is being currently hacked, and if her private information is leaked, then her business may be in danger!


    Who knows what will happen to those desserts of his?


    If Sloth doesn''te help, who knows what will happen!


    He really has no choice... or so the Captain says.


    Hehe... sweets. (¡¥¦ê¡¥*)


    ***


    Master Giovanni, who sat on the sidelines this whole time couldn''t help but raise an eyebrow at these kids who were not looking in his direction.


    ''Do these kids know the other person? Because they sure act like it...''


    He rubbed his goatee, which was a habit of his when thinking.


    ''Should I ask them to introduce him to me? Maybe I can ept another disciple, the kid seems worth nurturing...''


    Suddenly, he stopped rubbing and became somewhat serious.


    ''I''ll ask after all this is done, they might even tell me themselves. There seems to be a grudge here that they can''t deal with on their own... let''s just see how this goes first.''


    ''If the other kid loses to my disciples, he might be more willing to join.''


    Giovanni thought about this and nodded to himself.


    ''Oh disciples of mine, don''t disappoint your teacher! Teacher promises you that he will bring you a good junior disciple if you perform well enough!''


    Heughed inwardly to himself, thinking of what a good n it was.


    He already had quite a number of core disciples whenpared to others, but he didn''t mind too much.


    His legacy and inheritance weren''t something that could be kept by just anyone, even if he handed it over to them.


    They had to be skilled enough to keep it, or else, even if he gave it to them, they would only lose it to the hands of another.


    This was also why, though his nephew was also his disciple, there was absolutely no preferential treatment of any sort.


    Giovanni strongly believed that in the world of hackers, only strength had a say.


    Nepotism was only a form of self-harm here, and Giovanni felt like he would also be harming Sloth more than helping him if there was any preferential treatment.


    That was one of the two reasons why Sloth wasn''t a senior disciple nor captain.


    To be honest, Giovanni didn''t even really have to worry about that.


    After all, the main reason why Sloth wasn''t Captain or ''above the others'' was simply that he wouldn''t want such a tiresome role even if it was handed to him...


    It was pretty clear when it was said that he was pretty much forced to learn hacking, right?


    Sometimes, Master Giovanni would want to cry when he looked at thiszy nephew of his...

 Chapter 144 - Enemy Turned Junior Brother?? Pt I: (Politician, Farmer, Or Hacker?)

    At this time, the others of the zoo still didn''t know that their teacher was already ning to reel in their archnemesis to be their junior brother (or sister).


    If they knew, they would probably all be thinking the same thing¡­??


    This is a little too much okay!?


    This is the person that they have been observing for half a year, already having taken them for a sworn enemy, now, to jump from that to a sworn brother¡­ even the God of Mischief would have to bow down to that gamey.


    Thankfully they didn''t know, or they might really just be too distracted, questioning what they had been doing for the past months.


    Questioning why they had suffered so much, being reprimanded by the boss and his subordinates, every day while their mentor was away in seclusion.


    Ahhh, life feels so hard!


    At this time, the Captain and the others were already 70% certain that the opponent was the TWO that they knew.


    "This little monster¡­ he would be able to improve so much in such a short time. There''s no mistaking his style." Falcon said without any reservations, confirming Master Giovanni''s spections that his disciples had traded moves with the opponent before.


    Master Giovanni''s interest grew.


    His theory that this other kid''s potential was notable was promptly confirmed.


    Just from Falcon''s reluctantly voiced words, it was clear that if the opponent''s skills and improvement weren''t a fact, he would never be willing to admit it!


    As for Falcon, though his gut feeling told him that this was TWO, simply because TWO''s style couldn''t be replicated by just anyone, considering how much smoother this person was and the considerably higher skill level plus the new moves, there was still a trace of doubt.


    Another thing was; why would TWO want Margrete Lenin''s information in the first ce?


    This was a rather pressing point.


    It wasn''t just one or two of them wondering whether TWO had already figured something out while trying to dig out information on his attackers, which were them.


    Margo was a rather weak link when it came to information privacy, after all, she wasn''t a hacker herself.


    Thankfully Master Giovanni, Margo''s eldest uncle, didn''t leave this detail out.


    He had always known that his job was rather dangerous at times, and so he had his own precautions when it came to the safety of his family.


    He was the only person greatly adept atputer sciences in his family.


    Now that Giovanni thought about it, it was actually quite funny how their family ended up branching off.


    His parents were both in the political scene and they gave birth to three children.


    Three boys to be exact.


    Giovanni was the eldest, having be an international hacker. Still a bachelor to this day.


    Sloth''s father was the middle child, he was the only one who followed their parent''s path into the political scene. With how busy he always was, Giovanni, the one who never had a chance to have a child was the one who mainly took care of Sloth.


    But it wasn''t really his choice, he was reluctant at first, but we can get to thatter...


    Last but certainly not least, there was Margo and her elder brother Lennie''s father, who became a farmer. Lennie would go on to pick up his father''s farm while Margo went into business.


    There was a hacker, a politician, and a farmer.


    Though their career paths had truly drifted a little far... to the point where it was a little absurd just thinking about it, they were still quite close and they would oftentimes help each other out.


    These three seemingly unrted jobs actually interacted more than one imagined.


    Giovanni would always make sure his brother''s and their family''s information was properly kept and the parts that needed to be concealed would be done so appropriately.


    The need for such a thing was obvious for the politician, and well, Margo''s father wasn''t necessarily a ''NORMAL'' farmer.


    In fact, oftentimes, his work needed more information privacy than Sloth''s father.


    The second brother would help with the more technical parts ofnd-owning, animal centers, and really all the more real-life problems for the youngest brother while serving as a connection from the government to Giovanni, who often also took governmental assignments.


    As for the youngest of the three, as the youngest, he was often spoiled in his family. When he had a hobby, a passion, he simply went for it.


    His brothers would clear the path for him!


    However, what wasn''t known to the outsiders, was the fact that this youngest brother was in fact the smartest of the three, in both IQ and EQ.


    When the two elder brothers had their own troubles, they would oftentimes subconsciously go seek the youngest''s advice.


    You couldn''t look down on someone who could do what many others couldn''t. He was able to preserve the lives of countless animals who were ready to go extinct.


    In fact, animals that many others, those not in the know, believed to have already gone extinct!


    His determination and intelligence couldn''t be looked down upon.


    After all, he had built the whole high-tech ''farm'', if you could even stillbel it as such, from the ground up!


    Back to the point about Sloth.


    His father, the politician, greatly believed in letting his children choose their own path in life.


    This worked great with his eldest son, who ended up choosing to follow his own steps as a politician.


    But his second son, now known by his closest people by the codename Sloth... he was an anomaly, such a n that gave this level of freedom of choice would never work for him.


    If Sloth had the freedom of choice to such an extent, he would have long be a couch potato with no purpose in life.


    Even his father didn''t know what to do with him.


    In the end, he cut his own son a deal.


    He could do whatever he wanted, with the condition that he did SOMETHING, sleeping and eating all day not included, and then stick to it!


    Honestly, his best choices were to follow the path of one of the people in his family, after all, then someone couldy the foundations for him.


    At least those were Sloth''s thoughts at the time, which weren''t at all wrong.


    So now he had 3 main choices.


    Politician, farmer, or hacker.


    To Sloth, Politician waspletely out of the picture.


    In fact, before he even started considering it, he had already thrown that option out the window!


    Of course, that was only metaphorically.


    It would be way too much trouble actually throwing something out the window.


    Sloth had already seen how hard his father and brother worked, even though he was sleeping at the time, every once in a while, when he woke up because of some noises, he would see his father burning the midnight oil.


    He simply couldn''t imagine that kind of work style.


    Next was the farmer option.


    No.


    Just, NO.


    Andstly, Sloth was left with bing a hacker.


    In his imagination, that was someone who sat in front of a desk staring at theputer all day, and since he would also have quite some free time, he would be able to sleep as much as he liked!


    ''Win-win situation.'' he thought


    That was the stupidest conclusion he had evere to in his whole life.


    In fact, though Sloth''s initial thoughts were the ''someone willy the foundation for me'' = ''less work'', he didn''t take into ount the fact that there were countless more jobs out there that required less work and more importantly, less training!


    He could be a burger flipper for all his father cared.


    Even better, he could have be a stock investor. After all, their family had money, he didn''t necessarily have to be good at whatever he did, nor did he HAVE to earn his own ie.


    They could support him for life, his father simply didn''t want him to live without purpose.


    Though of course if he really did be a burger flipper, this wouldn''t look good for their political image, that could all be dealt with secondarily, after all, their family history in the politics wasn''t just a matter that urred in a generation or two.


    But in the rush of the moment, Sloth and made a poor, rushed decision¡­


    Now, he became a hacker.


    The initial training was pretty much a death warrant for Sloth.


    As someone who spent hours in front of theputer, his uncle had stated clearly that his physical health couldn''t be forgone.


    And their lied his biggest problem¡­ his uncle.


    He could have had so many options, but he just had to go and chose his uncle as his teacher¡­ his uncle, someone who had some actual authority over him!


    That was his biggest slip-up.


    If it had been anyone else, he may have been able to coerce them, but not his uncle.


    He had dug a hole for himself, and he simply couldn''t jump out of it anymore.


    It was part of his agreement with his father.


    Sloth had promised his father, that whatever he chose, no matter what it was, he would stick to it for at least a year before he even considered quitting, and that was if he really disliked it.


    The dilemma was, though he disliked hacking, he wasn''t willing to give up that year of hard work he had put into it, fearing that he would have to do the same in the next job.


    He was toozy to learn something new after that year of hell training.


    And thus, a not so virtuous cycle of, not wanting to be here, but not wanting to be there, even more, began.

 Chapter 145 - Enemy Turned Junior Brother?? Pt II: (Turning Point)

    After Serpent, Bear, Falcon, Sloth, and the Captain all started working together once more to fight against themon enemy, the fight became much more intense.


    Without the help of hispanions, Serpent had been suffering somewhat of a one-sided beating, losing the very ground beneath his feet rapidly.??


    Of course, just like Emilin, Master Giovanni was also watching the situation attentively so that it would never get out of hand.


    No matter how much he trusted his disciples, he wouldn''t put his own family''s safety solely on their hands when the enemy was someone whose power was rather unknown.


    The more they fought, the more they realized just how much TWO had grown.


    A few months back, they had still suspected TWO to be a group of people working together, but after weeks of analysis, done mainly by Bear, they had narrowed that number down to two people.


    They had even wondered whether that was the reason for such a code name (it''s not).


    There was always the first person who held the front line, and the second who would infiltrate and attack.


    After making that realization, these people were also able to note what moves were done by which person.


    Each one of them was incredibly on guard seeing as the second member, the most troublesome one, had yet to make his or her appearance.


    The animals of the zoo didn''t have enough lives to let their guard down.


    But even so, the group didn''t look down on this first member either.


    After deep analysis over a long period of time, the data collected from before their big fight, the data collected during that attack, as well as their first-hand experience and gut feelings told them all that they couldn''t afford to look down upon the person who''s skill level often improved as if they rode on a rocket while everyone else was crawling on the floor.


    They could worry about that second member when they came.


    They also had their teacher, Master Giovanni, so their worries decreased substantiallypared to when their mentor was still in seclusion.


    Of course, they also considered the possibility that the other side may overpower their teacher... but they didn''t want to consider that option, so they stopped worrying.


    If it came to that, even if they wanted to stop the opponent, there would really be nothing left for them to do.


    Even if they worried their hearts out.


    After nearly an hour, the two sides reached a stalemate.


    Previously, Theodore had needed Emilin''s help just to fight Master Giovanni''s disciples, yet now he could fight on equal grounds against all of them.


    That just went to show his improvements.


    But he still wasn''t strong enough to win.


    There was a huge chasm between a tie and a win and no matter how much longer this dragged on, the oue wouldn''t change by much.


    Of course, if it was as simple as a battle between the two groups, in the long run, Theodore may not have the upper hand anymore since he is a single person who was bound to get tired faster when fighting against attacksing from all sides.


    But for Master Giovanni''s purposes, there was no point in doing such a thing.


    The kid on the other side had already proved his worth.


    He was stronger than anyone of his disciples separately, and could even defend against them when they were attacking together.


    At this point, even if his disciples won, they wouldn''t really make a point.


    It would bepletely different if his disciple could win in a one-on-one, but that was not the case here.


    It would only be a waste of time from here on out.


    And the observers from each side also realized this point.


    ''Let''s stop this whole farce,'' Master Giovanni''s eyes had a cold glint in them as they narrowed and he stretched out his arms to crack his fingers.


    The first order of business, figuring out why the other side was looking for his niece''s information.


    If it was for a job, then things could still be forgiven. That was only if it had nothing to do with them personally.


    Giovanni was really nning to take TWO in as his disciple, and not just a nominal one.


    He wanted to see how this talent would grow, he was especially interested when he saw the kid''s skills against his own disciples as well as his disciples'' great anger on the matter.


    But if the kid was snooping around his family''s information for other reasons, ones with ill intent, then he could forget abouting out of this exchange unscathed.


    Forget about epting him as a disciple, Master Giovanni would make sure to destroy the kid, no matter how much of a talent he was.


    In fact, since he was a talent, Master Giovanni would have to pluck this seed before it grew to a point where it would harm himself, a point where he wouldn''t be able to do anything against this sapling.


    ''Well, there''s no need to keep stalling or waste any more time.


    Thinking to this point Master Giovanni got started to set his own ns into motion.


    This was going to be the turning point of this fight.


    When everyone else heard the new, gentle tapping sounds of a keyboard not unfamiliar to each one of them, they all stopped what they were doing.


    All their struggles, the veins that poped when they were concocting ns to get even the slightest upper hand, all of those disappeared.


    The whole zoo was unprecedentedly rxed and quiet as they perked their ears to listen to the soft and unrushed typing sounds, sounding like a trickling stream.


    It sounded gentle, yet unstoppable. Weak, yet prating.


    If TWO had even the smallest hole in his codes, this stream would infiltrate.


    Before the opponent even knew what was happening, the water would have already gushed in and broken down all defenses.


    ''How scary,'' they all thought.


    Their teacher had be even scarier during his seclusion, which also meant that his skills had be more refined during that time.


    As for Theodore, he was the first to notice this change.


    ***


    Unlike the first time he confronted the expert with the fluid-like style, this time, it wasn''t nearly as pleasant.


    When the expert had been lowering his skill level to one that was only slightly above his own, he could see how beneficial it was to his growth, but now, things were different.


    The expert wasn''t holding back nearly as much.


    When the water started gushing in, Theodore had no chance to counterattack and thus all he felt was an overwhelmingly overbearing feeling of being suppressed.


    Such a scenario would never help improve his skill level.


    It was akin to how a kindergartener would learn nothing from looking at a professional thesis written by a Ph. D student.


    No matter how much of a genius they are, there are simply too many holes in between to make any sense of the information provided.


    Theodore is the kindergartener in the current situation.


    This is the same reason why Emilin is unable to teach Theodore anything other than the basics.


    Though the InfoBase in her mind was expanse, there were also many things that jumped around from one point to another.


    Emilin''s hacking skills went straight for the kill without any in-between.


    Though Emilin could teach Theodore what she would do in certain situations, it was impossible to go through all possible scenarios.


    It would be neither time-efficient nor enjoyable, and it was only barely usible.


    It was also very hard for Theodore to copy Emilin''s style, which was also very much intuitional at times.


    People can''t simply cultivate identical intuitions; the same way people are born with differing talents at varying levels.


    The results would be at most, very subpar.


    In the end, Theodore was the first to propose that he try by himself. He wanted to pioneer and look for his own style and path independently.


    Emilin agreed to his proposal at the time, but she felt somewhat bad since there hadn''t been many opportunities so far.


    Until now, what had supported him had always been his strong foundations, skills that he picked up on the way, and his strong, almost animal-like instinct, which was very much different from Emilin''s foreboding intuition.


    It was unknown if that intuition and instinct ran in the family, or if it was nurtured over time from a young age after spending prolonged periods of time with Emilin, who more often than not, spoke her mind, but that doesn''t matter right now.


    When Theodore realized that he could do nothing against this expert, he wasted no time calling for his backup.


    The least he could do for his little sister Emilin was not waste her preparational time, he was no pig teammate.


    Theo''s faith in his sister''s sill never wavered, but that didn''t mean that she was omnipotent. If he left her with one firewall left, he didn''t expect her to clean up his mess.


    That would also be a very inconsiderate ass move.


    Just like it was both Emilin and Giovanni, he also but his family''s safety as the number one priority.


    ***


    Emilin had long prepared for this moment and so she jumped right in without hesitation.


    Another room was filled with resounding typing sounds.


    Emilin''s face, which had been somewhat tense as she waited in the beginning, increasingly rxed as she typed rapidly.


    Her speed picked up with every second, but the outputted sound did not increase, in fact, they only became softer the more rxed she became.


    The same could not be said for the man on the other side.

 Chapter 146 - Enemy Turned Junior Brother?? Pt III: (Little Cub)

    Giovanni''s eyes widened like saucers.


    He was being overpowered.??


    His insight told him in mere instances that this was not the same person as the previous kid, likely to be the other kid''s teacher or something.


    But at the same time, Master Giovanni questioned that im in his mind.


    There were too many things out of ce.


    If that kid had such a powerful teacher, why would he still be so inexperienced? (Mainly because Theodore doesn''t often go looking for trouble.)


    Not to mention, though there were some semnces to their two styles, it was a little too much to say that a teacher and a student could have styles that were not even ovepping by 20%.


    When fighting with the first person, Giovanni felt like he was fighting with a little lion cub.


    The instincts were on point, his gics gave him a strong foundation, but he was still, just a cub.


    Undeveloped, inexperienced, but with great potential to be the king of his territory.


    As for the second person, he was much like a trained assassin.


    Silent and deadly.


    At times Giovanni felt like there was a knife to his wrists as his hands staggered for a second at the person''s unperceivable movements.


    They could be partners, but it was also rather unlikely that two people with such disproportionate skills would work together.


    That led Master Giovanni to another point.


    No matter what their rtionship may be, it would now be at least 10 times harder to recruit the kid.


    He sighed in despondency as he really had no right to be worrying about such things right now, there were clearly much more pressing matters at hand.


    His typing sounds had be much louder, his fingers subconsciously tapping harder on the keys in a panic.


    Thankfully his years of experience allowed him to calm down much faster than many others who faced off against those much stronger than themselves.


    He had one major advantage in this fight.


    Since he was attacked first, in truth, just defending himself would be counted as a win, meaning that both a tie and a win from his side were really in fact his win, while the opponent would have to really defeat him, wholly andpletely, to reach his goal of obtaining Margo''s information.


    But such hope-filled thoughts did notst very long.


    Master Giovanni didn''t smash his mouse in frustration nor did he hit things in rage.


    He just sighed.


    He lost.


    Completely lost.


    He hadn''t evensted over 20 minutes, and worse of all, he had to be told by the opponent that he had lost.


    In fact, if his opponent hadn''t told him, he would still be going around in circles, thinking he was using his current to stop the other.


    It was likeke water, thinking it was moving around when in reality, nothing was moving ording to its will.


    Giovanni felt quite presumptuous.


    He was reminded of the two adjectives that he himself had thought of earlier.


    It was both sad and satisfying how urate those two adjectives were.


    Silent and deadly.


    2 minutes ago:


    On Master Giovanni''s screen, a line of text popped up along with a mechanical voice that read those very same words, as if worried that he could not read.


    [I have no ill intentions, do not worry. I just checked the files just now, since we have not really crossed paths and our work does not butt heads, shall we part ways here without grudges?]


    "..."


    "..."


    "..."


    No one in the room dared say a word as the animals of the zoo looked, pretending to have heard nothing, lowering their presence to a minimum.


    In their heads, they all thought: ''TWO is really being a little too overbearing!!!''


    There were just too many things wrong with those two sentences.


    ''No ill intentions? Then why the fuck are you here! Because you were bored and have nothing better to do?''


    To be fair, Master Giovanni was also clear that even if the other side had ill intentions, he probably wouldn''t be able to do anything about it.


    But what if this person was only saying that they had no ill intentions to lower his guard?


    But then again, what for?


    No matter how bored the other person was... it wouldn''t be to this degree, right?


    Master Giovanni ended up determining that they probably really didn''t have any malicious intent, or at least there wouldn''t be enough to make an enemy out of their family.


    Now the second point.


    ''If our paths don''t cross, why are you hacking us and reading our files?''


    Giovanni had no clue how to approach this point as of this moment.


    He would have to collect more informationter.


    In order to confirm, he would have to ask his younger brothers as well as his niece whether they had done anything that would warrant such an attack.


    Though it was clear that the matter probably wasn''t that big of a deal, at least for the other side.


    This could be seen from how the opponent had sent out the weaker hacker of the two to start out the attack.


    Allowing them to be caught in the act.


    Giovanni was sure that if it were the second hacker, they could havee and gone, and chances were, Master Giovanni wouldn''t have even known.


    At this point, Master Giovanni felt like his title of Master was almost mocking him.


    And this got him to his third point.


    ''You''ve pretty much just trampled on my pride, yet you want to part without grudges?''


    This was a little excessive.


    Truly a little excessive.


    Giovanni had to bite the bullet.


    Master Giovanni also realized that even if he had grudges, so what?


    What could he do about it as of right now? Nothing.


    He didn''t know whether the other person was really mocking him or not, but he sure felt like they were.


    Though Emilin wouldn''t know this due to herck of interactions with outsiders, as for her family, of course, they would still have times where they would y around with each other, but was there even such a thing as serious grudges?


    Well, maybe a little, but they were all grudges settled in a yful scenario rather than a business, serious one.


    And even then, just how hard-handed could this family possibly be towards their little princess?


    It was already a miracle that she wasn''t spoiled to the core!


    And this was mainly because she knew of the pains of suffering, she knew how to be grateful, and she knew that what she had was not because of how amazing she was, but rather how lucky she was to be born with a kind family.


    Still, being spoiled for years had its effects.


    It made Emilin a little willful at times, doing whatever she liked and then leaving a mess behind without even realizing that she may have done something wrong.


    In fact, that was the case with many of her businesses, but seeing as those earned her money, she was a little more gentle when settling them.


    Even when she lost interest, there would still be someone taking care of things since Emilin couldn''t really just abandon this source of ie.


    Or else, it was very likely that Emilin would make a name for herself and then throw that gig away leaving all her customers baffled to no ends.


    Then again, the only reason Emilin could do this was the fact that there were people who wanted to work for her, people who would do anything to keep up production, people who wanted to earn money, and people who were willing to wait in line even if their number was in the thousands.


    Though the scenario had changed, the situation was really no different.


    Master Giovanni had to give this other person face, and so he could only swallow his grievances.


    He also didn''t need to question whether the other person was trying to bluff him, wondering if they really had ess to his files.


    Though Master Giovanni couldn''t find any traces, the very fact that they could disy text on hisputer showed how his system had been hacked into.


    What was more, it was even scarier that he couldn''t find any traces, meaning the other person was on another level.


    At this point, he had already pretty much given up on the idea of getting the little cub to be his disciple.


    He felt unqualified.


    It was then, another text popped up along with its corresponding mechanical-sounding audio.


    [If you don''t mind, could I ask you for a favor too? Would you consider teaching TWO? He too is a hacker, the one that went up against you in the very beginning.]


    The mechanical voice rified to this person.


    Knowing that he (Master Giovanni) was an expert, Emilin was sure he would understand what she meant, also being sure that he could differentiate between herself and her brother.


    Master Giovanni''s first thoughts were¡­ ''THIS PERSON IS BEING ABSURDLY UNREASONABLE!''


    ''You mock me in front of my students and then you still have the face & guts to ask me to do you a favor?!''


    Half a minuteter after he cooled down¡­ ''Oh wait, wasn''t this what I wanted?''


    And it was even better since the other side was the one to make the proposition first. He could. Even make his own demands, those were obvious.


    He had to get the cub to be his real disciple!


    As for Master Giovanni''s real disciples, they weren''t nearly as excited as he was...


    ***


    I''m sorry I have to do this to you but skip this part if you don''t want to hear the worse realization ever... YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!


    SERIOUSLY, BE WARNED!!!!!!!!!


    .


    .


    .


    You know, assassins are just like farts.


    If they''re silent, then they are deadly, and if they are loud then they are not.

 Chapter 147 - Enemy Turned Junior Brother?? Pt IV: (Burden That Comes With Opportunities...)

    Warning rms sounded off in the heads of the animals of the zoo.


    They all jumped up from their seats in apprehension with their eyes wide open.??


    Well, Sloth sat with his eyes wide open, but the effect was simr enough.


    They exchanged nces with each other when they heard Emilin''s offering from that mechanical-sounding voice and shifted their gaze to theputer their teacher was in front of in unnned unison.


    They had justmunicated with each other with their eyes and sessfully transmitted their message, a skill only essible at moments of real crisis.


    THIS WAS A MOMENT OF REAL CRISIS!!!


    ''We have to stop him at all costs!''


    That was the message they had all understood.


    The Captain, Bear, Falcon, Sloth, and Serpent had all assumed that their teacher may have forgotten who TWO was seeing as he was in seclusion for the majority of the time in which they were looking for the man.


    Their teacher had only heard TWO''s name once or twice, and that was over half a year ago.


    This was because when the boss talked about him, he would always concentrate on M rather than TWO.


    All the disciple''s assumption was indeed correct.


    Though Master Giovanni found the name somewhat familiar, he brushed that feeling off as he was contemting how to approach the current matter at hand.


    He didn''t have the time to think of unrted matters or at least things that seemed to be of less importance.


    Then another text apanied by its audio popped up.


    [If you are currently considering it, click the ''y'' key on yourputer, and if you are still undetermined, please key in the ''u'' on your keyboard. We can call to have a more in-depth understanding and to facilitate this negotiation.]


    Master Giovanni''s eyebrow rose ever so slightly.


    At first, these instructions may seem quite simple, but if you dug a little deeper, you would see howplicated and trap-filled this one sentence was.


    First of all, such simple requests, though simple to aplish, determined who here had the initiative and the upper hand in this negotiation.


    Though previously, Giovanni had said, in his mind, how because the other side brought it up first, he had gained a small chip in the negotiations, it was also a fact that the cub he wanted to poach would be in demand nearly everywhere.


    TWO''s talent could not be denied.


    Master Giovanni''s small advantage was only rtive to his starting point, which was already a little weak due to his disciple''s failure to beat the other party soundly even with a numerical advantage.


    Another thing that stopped Master Giovanni from gaining the upper hand was clearly this expert better than himself who was backing TWO.


    There were just too many pros in taking TWO in as a disciple.


    He could take in a good seedling who would owe him and carry on his name as well as make good rtions with an expert better than himself. Something that could help him with his advancements in the future.


    Meanwhile, though the weight of his own name was by no means small, Master Giovanni didn''t know the clear reasons why the other party wanted to have him teach the cub from their family.


    He didn''t know how receable he was in the other''s eyes.


    Though the other party did seem quite keen on getting him to agree...


    This could be seen from the other small psychological hints, which weren''t necessarily well hidden. Nor were they really meant to be.


    Some people may just think that the two keys were simply chosen at random, perhaps because they were close to each other, or for some other insignificant reason, but if you thought for even a bit longer on the matter, one could see where the psychological hint lied.


    If he was considering it properly, then he would type in the ''y'' key, a letter in this case, that generally corrted with the word ''yes'', signifying his agreement, meanwhile, the letter for undetermined was naturally ''u'', making the previous suggestion feel more natural.


    Not only that, the other party directly eliminated the option of rejection, only giving him the two options of agreeing now or thinking about it a little more, and then agreeingter.


    ''I don''t believe that after so thoroughly hacking myputer and system they still can''t hear and see what I do and say!'' Giovanni shouted this observation in his mind as if he were proud of his realization, even though there was certainly nothing to be proud of when it came to the content of that sentence.


    But he didn''t realize any of that in the heat of the moment, his face only sinking after the whole ordeal was over when he was thinking back to the whole matter from the view of a clear-headed person, someone he couldn''t be at the moment.


    Master Giovanni didn''t fail to notice how the other party was showing their superiority using such a method of conversation through text, showing how his own skills were subpar.


    He could only sit there and listen while the other party spoke to him.


    He didn''t even have a way to contact the other side, that was how hopeless he was, and that''s exactly how hopeless the expert made him feel.


    What Master Giovanni didn''t know was that this was also Emilin and Theodore''s way of stalling while they were talking among themselves.


    ***


    Theodore didn''t know how to feel at the moment.


    Well, first of all, he felt like this was a great opportunity, he wouldn''t exactly lose out, but at the same time, after having defeated what Emilin told him to be the other person''s disciples, he almost felt like he was being taken advantage of, but that wasn''t the main point.


    With Emilin''s care for him, he was more worried that with his connection to Master Giovanni, she could be taken advantage of.


    epting a disciple and in the same fashion, epting a teacher was a great deal in this world.


    Of course, it may not seem like it from how easily it had been brought up until this point, there were some things that were nted so deep into the society that they simply couldn''t be ignored or taken lightly.


    Teachers who had epted disciples were meant to teach unreservedly while disciples were never to betray their learnings as well as their mentors.


    This was a silently eptedw, iid in the foundations of society.


    Once discover that you had done something as unsightly as stabbing the back of your teacher, you were pretty much ruined.


    Society would not ept such people.


    It was almost in the same way how society naturally frowned upon the idea of incest, something that was hardly ever questioned and once mentioned, naturally soured the faces of everyone who heard of the matter, whether it had anything to do with them or not.


    The main point was that this w'' was not really questioned, it was something simply epted as a fact.


    On the other hand, if the teacher were to have framed their student of betrayal, the mentor would simrly be shunned and pushed out of their circle, even if they were a Master.


    It would be taken the same way as the murder of one''s own child.


    The teacher would be quite literally killing all future prospects of their disciple.


    If there is a saying that a teacher for a day was equivalent to a father for a lifetime, then such framing would also naturally not be taken lightly.


    This would all be taken care of by the Master Association, the only ones who could approve and officialize a master-disciple rtionship.


    They were also the ones who would officially give one the title of a Master, naturally, secrecy was guaranteed.


    Their roles in the upper society were numerous and thus their importance was equally huge.


    And as a matter of course, their leaders were Advanced Masters or sometimes even Grandmasters of every profession and specialization that came with it, each with their own weight in the Association.


    We can delve deeper when this Association bes more relevant.


    The more pressing matter here was in fact Theodore''s decision.


    His main hesitanceid in whether he was bringing too much trouble to his own little sister. Someone whom he had promised to protect at a young age.


    Theo was feeling incredibly conflicted when their roles had been swapped time and time again.


    Of course, he also came to realize that if he took this opportunity to be stronger and more dependable, he would be able to help more in the future or at least be less of a burden.


    Theo just didn''t know if it was worth the exchange of a promise of mentorship for life. The connection would forever be there, and if his mentor ever came to face trouble, chances were, he would have to ask Emi for help once again.


    This waspletely different from when he took Master Sungcha as his teacher.


    He had his school''s guarantee, and even if Master Sungcha came to face trouble, his own disciples would never be in the front line when he was facing them.


    All he had to worry about there was learning all he could and enjoying school life.


    As for Master Giovanni, he had many other involvements.


    Theodore''s eyebrows furrowed once again.


    It was then that a voice sounded in Theo''s ears, as clear as a wind chime, clearing all the chaotic doubts in his mind as if already knowing all the troubles in his heart.


    "Big Brother Theo, you don''t have to worry so much. I already have a certain degree of involvement with Margo, your connection with her uncle won''t change much."


    In front of her big brother, Emilin no longer called her Sister Margo for fear of making a big deal out of nothing major.


    "There will always be burdens thate with opportunities."


    That was a fact that Emilin knew all too well.

 Chapter 148 - Worrisome Siblings (Out Of Arc)

    Theodore had always been troubled by how much his younger sister, someone he was supposed to pamper, pampered himself.


    He wasn''t embarrassed, just distraught.??


    Distraught at his failure, not able to even take on one of the worries in Emilin''s heart.


    Though Emilin didn''t say it, he knew almost better than anyone, even better than Emilin herself, how much she always had in her mind.


    While he only had to worry about what was in front of him, Theodore could clearly feel that Emilin had so much more in her heart.


    The past, present, and future all weighed on her.


    This had only gotten worse the older she became, and the more she discovered about the standards of this world.


    Pushing to be more normal, the harder it was to let go of the very troubles and thoughts that prevented her from doing so.


    Though Emilin was clearly working towards self-improvement throughout this trip, feeling as if she had taken big steps, just the number of worries and unimportant matters she constantly had in her mind was worrisome.


    Even when Emilin was meditating, she didn''t fail to have a couple of self-deprecating thoughts eat away at her confidence.


    At times, Theodore was d about how confident Emilin was whenever dealing with business-rted matters, but even then he sometimes felt like it... like that confidence was not her own.


    Theodore was always keen on reaching out his helping hand, but then he could only p himself with that hand, not knowing what he could possibly even help his sister with.


    At times, he really felt too useless.


    But knowing that his little baby sister didn''t want him to worry, knowing that she was in fact hiding a whole lot so that he wouldn''t be pressured by her troubles, he relented and didn''t butt in impulsively.


    Currently, he neither had the power to do so nor the ability to solve her troubles.


    Theo felt like he would only worry Emi more if she found out about his worries for her, yet at the same time, his worries only increased the less Emilin spoke about her own issues.


    It was a vicious cycle where everyone bottled things up and no one had the courage to speak first, not knowing if it was the right thing to do.


    Do you know how crushing it is to know that someone important to you is in trouble, yet they are unable to confide in you enough to share their burden?


    Only ever showing you their good side, even when they are supposed to be family!


    Emilin hid a whole lot in her heart, but she wasn''t the only one.


    So did both her Big Brother Theo and her Big Brother Nathen.


    They were all cut from the same cloth.


    Each one of them with their own anxieties.


    Each one of them with their own worries.


    Each one of them with their own fears.


    Each one of them caring for the other to no end.


    And none of them wanting the others to worry for them, knowing that they already had a lot on their te.


    ***


    From a young age, Theodore was already much less reserved than his older brother Nathaniel.


    While Nathen often watched from the sideline acting as the good big brother he was, making sure that his younger siblings wouldn''t make a big mess, Theo was always the one making that mess that Nathen was guarding against.


    Don''t be mistaken, though he looked like an angel, the troubles he got into were no joke.


    In fact, it might be because of that face of his, which always got him out of trouble with one pout that he had be so willful at that time.


    A fateful day, when he snuck into his father''s room while Gabriel was away, he dragged his pretty little sister in with him.


    By then, they had already gotten familiar with that room as well as that specificputer.


    Theo loved ying games on there all the time, showing off his skills in front of his favorite sibling, the one that wouldn''t scold him.


    That was also the day that Nathen caught the two of them in the act.


    And as the elder of the bunch as well as the one with more knowledge of the world (at least whenpared to the rtively naive Theo), he realized earlier than his younger brother that things weren''t as simple as they seemed.


    That was also the day that widened Nathen''s horizons, the day that made him realize that the rest of his life was going to be by no means normal.


    Whatever the definition of that word was.


    Nathen was a smart, sensible child. He knew more than those of his age at the time.


    That was back when Theodore was 7, he himself was 10, and Emilin was still 5.


    At the age of 7, everything for Theo was just fun and games.


    When Theo got bored of showing off ying those easy games Emilin introduced him to a new game and Theo didn''t question it, he just found it fun!


    This game was so much moreplex and entertaining than everything he had yed before.


    And before he knew it, Theodore had been introduced to a whole new world.


    The world of hacking.


    And a whole new world of troubles that came along with it.


    And as previously said, he knew nothing of theplications of what he was doing.


    As for Emilin, she had no other thoughts back then.


    She too did not understand how much trouble hacking could inflict on the family.


    She only knew that that was a skill in her database.


    A skill that was used to achieve something.


    Emilin was still rather na?ve in this aspect.


    She who was akin to a baby when it came to her EQ couldn''t possibly take into consideration how others on the receiving end would react to being hacked.


    Simply wanting to alleviate the boredom of the second brother who always took her to y.


    ***


    10 years ago


    Nathen entered his father''s office after noticing the crack in the door that was supposed to be closed shut.


    "What are you guys doing?"


    Nathen''s plump little cute face made a stern expression, which only made him seem even more adorkable than he already was.


    These two weren''t supposed to be here!


    The boy didn''t wait for the two sitting in front of his father''sputer to respond, moving to stand directly behind them so that he could have a clear view of what was on the screen.


    A dyed response came from the enthusiastic Theo, who never seemed to fear being beaten by his big brother.


    "We''re ying a really, really fun game!"


    Two minutester, Nathen''s eye couldn''t stop twitching as his small jaw almost spasmed.


    They would have if those muscles involved had developed enough to let him do so.


    Theo had been hacking into their local cinema!


    Nathen recalled just two days ago, in their living room, he was watching TV with his father when the local news had disyed "Shocking news!"


    Random movies in the cinema had been hacked into and instead of the movie they were supposed to be disying, they showed a cartoony clip with a little character dancing in circles, sticking their tongues out, mocking the people, singing "You''ve been haaaaad, You''ve beeeeeen haaaaad."


    There was a great uproar in the theater, tickets were refunded, reputations were ruined, food was thrown, and a whole lot of other things happened.


    It was only then that people discovered the troubles of disying onputers andputer hardware rather than the old school films.


    Nathen still recalled how it was only two days ago when he first discovered what it meant to be a hacker, with his father exining all kinds of dangers of such a character due to the hacking incident disyed on the news.


    He became all kinds of interested, then watching a whole lot of videos on the subject, just to realize that he had no such affinity with technology.


    Now he turns around and suddenly... his little brother was the ''dangerous hacker on the loose??!!!''


    Knowing that, Nathen promptly dragged this little brother of his out of the office, leaving Emilin befuddled.


    ***


    That was a pivotal day in the lives of all three siblings.


    That was a day, filled with ranting, scolding, and informing, from Nathen''s part.


    And a day filled with filtering everything Nathen said from Theo''s part.


    However, when Nathen mentioned the sentence, ''you''re also putting Emi in danger'', Theo''s ears perked up like that of a cat.


    Theodore realized how careless he had been, and even his cute little angelic face, which always seemed carefree was filled with a degree of remorse.


    A day he would constantly look back to with regret.


    Regret that he had not paid closer attention to his older brother''s words.


    As a day also came when he made the biggest blunder of his life.


    It was also that day, 10 years ago that Nathen realized that his promise was going to be a whole lot harder to keep than he initially thought.


    As the years went by, Nathen, who had realized that his little brother wasn''t the most reliable of characters, only increased his efforts, the same ones that he believed never to be able to catch up to true talent.


    The talent that his younger siblings possessed, and the one he didn''t.


    As for Emilin, that day when she eavesdropped, she too realized how careless she had been, how much trouble she could have brought to his loving family.


    How much she had changed the course of their future lives.


    It was also after that day that she finally started picking up on the ways of the world, initiating her own ns.


    That was the day that had brought them to today, that had made them who they are, and the day that had forced them to face the choices that they have to make now.


    And it should be said that it''s about time that Theodore also makes his choice.


    His choice of independence.


    His choice of power.


    His choice to be someone who can also protect the ones he wants to protect with nothing but his pure skills.


    Now, 10 yearster, he was finally going to take a step towards his own goals to be someone stronger than his current self.


    Theodore was going to take a step, albeit a small one, away from the protection of his family to be someone who could also do his own protecting.


    After all, in his heart, his biggest trouble had always been his feeling of helplessness towards the ones he cared about the most.


    ***


    This chapter is outside of the current arc, just a little insight into these beloved characters, who are more human than they are made out to be.


    Thank you for your support! <3

 Chapter 149 - Enemy Turned Junior Brother?? Pt V: (Brain Cells Fall Through)

    "Okay then."


    This is the right choice.??


    Theodore made his final decision and solidified the idea in his heart.


    On the other side, Emilin hummed.


    "Then leave the rest to me."


    What Theodore didn''t know was that at this moment, Emilin had a smile so bright that even flowers would bloom when in its presence.


    Her eyes were shining bright with pride.


    It was unknown if it was because Theo was finally leaving the nest, or if she realized that his determination to move on was finally showing.


    Emilin was d that after they parted this year, with her Big Brother Theo going to college, his world no longer revolved around her problems due to her own inability to solve them on her own.


    Though he and big brother Nathen often acted as if they would be okay if she never had friends, saying stuff like, ''ah, we''ll just have to take care of you for life'' or ''who needs them when you have a family like us'', to console her, acting as if they would be reluctant if she were to have friends, Emilin knew that they were the ones rooting for her the hardest.


    They were worried as much as she was.


    This was something that had always pressed on her heart.


    She was d that this space was giving both of them room to grow.


    Emilin too had realized that she was much too reliant on this big brother of hers, just in a different way from how Theodore was reliant on his little sister.


    ***


    Meanwhile...


    "What should we do?" Falcon asked nervously.


    They had just watched their teacher press ''y'' while the TWO''s partner initiated a voice call with Master Giovanni.


    "What can we even do? If we talk any louder, the other side will hear us. We still don''t know if they recall our attack a while back or not, we better not expose ourselves," the Captain reasoned.


    Theodore did indeed ink the two events, but he didn''t think much of it since there were sincerely too many people trying to hack him to get to M daily.


    Of course, there weren''t many who got far which is why he could still recall that day, but it wasn''t the first time such a big scale event had urred either.


    The world was notcking in people who eyed his little sister''s properties, patents, and skills.


    Since nothing else had urred since then, he didn''t really take it to heart.


    After all, there were in fact many hackers who were simply bored, hackers who liked to try out hacking people that were known for being hard to hack just to make a name for themselves, and even hackers who barely knew anything about who they were hacking beforehand, perhaps being challenged by a third party.


    All in all, since Emilin had gotten revenge back then, Theodore let bygones be bygones.


    He had almost even forgotten that event if it weren''t for today.


    As for these zoo animals, not so much.


    "Well, we can''t just let our teacher take in the enemy as a disciple without knowing anything right?" Bear retorted.


    "Then what do you propose we do?"


    "Isn''t that you''re job?" Bear pretended to not hear the tone of challenge in his leader''s voice.


    "You mean to think?" The Captain scoffed.


    "Yeah." Bear didn''t deny it.


    ''Should I call this stupid or shameless?'' The Captain questioned in his heart.


    He knew that Bear wasn''t as stupid as he acted, he just didn''t want to think at times, as in all the time.


    In his team, he had two people who were toozy to use their brains, one who didn''t have a brain, one who only knew how to scheme, while he was the only normal one.


    What were these lousy statistics?


    The Captainughed inwardly before stopping himself to concentrate on the more important matter at hand.


    "Since we can''t really talk, or use theputer without the other person finding out, why don''t we use our bodies to send the message?" Falcon proposed.


    "Sure." Bear looked at his teammate interestingly.


    "How do you propose we do that?" Serpent asked with a sour face. He could already imagine what was going to happen next, and he didn''t like it.


    A few whispers were passed around and in a matter of moments, Falcon''s idea was transmitted both quickly and silently.


    For decisions like this, a majority vote was always taken...


    There was Serpent, who strongly disagreed.


    Bear who agreed, just for the heck of it.


    Captain, who also found the idea to be idiotic, thus disagreeing.


    Falcon, obviously agreeing, seeing as he was the one to propose the idea in the first ce.


    And Sloth, who Falcon had persuaded into agreeing.


    The following events were... truly unsightly.


    There was one rule in this team.


    Before the majority vote, you could disagree all you want, but after the majority vote is passed, even if you disagree, you had to do your best toplete the mission.


    No matter how reluctant you were, you''d have to follow Falcon in his actions.


    This rule was truly killer for the other two members of the team when a stupid mission was passed.


    The four stood in front of their teacher.


    Yes four, how else do you think Falcon had convinced Sloth?


    Of course, it was by telling Sloth that he didn''t have to move an inch.


    The others would have toplete the mission without his assistance.


    The four of them stood in a row, first catching their teacher''s attention by waving with all their might.


    They were acting like kids under 5.


    Master Giovanni, who was talking with Emilin, who was using a voice modifier, stopped midsentence.


    "I''m sorry, could you give me one second? Something seems to be the matter here," he said apologetically after Falcon was almost right up his face.


    After Falcon realized he finally had his teacher''s attention, he moved back to his ce in the line.


    The following scene was... a sight.


    Just¡­ a sight.


    It was pretty indescribable, but I''ll try my best to convey this image.


    Sigh.


    The four people each used their bodies to form one letter tomunicate a word, before changing to the next and the next...


    It was as follows.


    [Dont]


    [Do it]


    [Stop]


    The ONLY issue being, Master Giovanni had no idea what they were doing, the D could pass for a P or a teacup pose or even just someone standing normally, with the repeated letters, it was hard to tell if they switched words, the t looked like a nazi sign, the s looked disfigured and the i might as well be a l as Bear didn''t think to use his other hand for a dot, the n was like a dance pose, and when the actual p came up¡­ noment.


    Oh, was I listing things?


    Sorry about that.


    It was really just supposed to be that first point, which was also the main point, but I got carried away.


    Anyways, Master Giovanni didn''t understand a thing.


    ''What are these f**king idiots doing?'' Master Giovanni couldn''t curse out loud seeing as he was still in a call, and in order to not blow his top, he simply ignored this group of¡­ people.


    He waved his hand in order to stop them from continuing before moving his gaze back to the screen.


    Out of sight, out of mind.


    He would deal with his disobedient studentster.


    "Sorry for the disruption, please continue," Giovanni had a pent-up sigh that he had yet to release, but he could do nothing about it.


    Later on, that sigh would go on to explode.


    The four went back to their seats, some dejectedly and others not so much.


    Captain was questioning for the first time whether he should resign from his position seeing as he clearly had no power or control over these people.


    Now that he thought about it, all he seemed to be doing as Captain was take the me and listen to all the ranting from the higher-ups as well as all the work and paperwork no one else wanted to do¡­


    Why was he doing this anyway?


    While the Captain was having a midlife crisis in his 20s, Serpent also had his head lowered.


    Only his was lowered in shame, ''This will never happen again!'', he thought to himself.


    Now plotting on ways to get on Sloth''s good side seeing as he was more often than not, the tiebreaker.


    As for Bear, he had fun acting like an idiot, knowing that someone else was there to take the me.


    And Falcon¡­ he still had no clue that his n fell through like the brain cells that he had used to make it up fell through the hole in his head.


    It was at this time that a soft sound came from the person sitting on the seat to the right.


    Though his voice was soft, as no one else in that area was talking, it was heard by everyone in the room with the exception of Master Giovanni.


    "By the way¡­ why didn''t you guys just write what you guys wanted to say on a piece of paper and stand where you guys were standing to show it to Uncle?" Sloth asked in azy voice.


    It was not a lie when people said thatzy people are oftentimes the smartest, if only Sloth waszy enough to not voice out his thoughts as right now, there was certainly more than one person wanting to give him a good beating...

 Chapter 150 - Enemy Turned Junior Brother?? Pt VI: (Coming To An Agreement)

    Serpent and the Captain especially wanted to give this lousy teammate of theirs a good beating.


    Why didn''t Sloth propose this earlier?!??


    Before they were swayed by their pig teammate Falcon.


    At this point, Serpent and the Captain weren''t even sure who was the real pig teammate here, both of their lips twitching in dismay as if having been infected by the actions of the other.


    Now, more than ever before, the Captain was considering resigning from his awful position of leader, a position that had seemingly no benefits, no power, and no say.


    Only endless more work and burdens.


    With twozy bumbs who didn''t want to think nor voice their useful thoughts, one schemer and a talkative dumbass in the team dragging the whole ship down, the Captain was surely going to be the first to sink!


    And if you still can''t tell who the dumb one is, indicated from the Captain''sint session in thest chapter, then it''s probably you...


    Falcon''s bad y could still be exined by his own stupidity.


    Bear, he''s just a bored person.


    You can rely on him to choose what sounds more fun, but that is oftentimes also what is most idiotic.


    In other words, you can''t really rely on him.


    At least not until your best n is ''fun'', not to mention it also has to be Bear''s definition of fun, which once again, is often stupid.


    Serpent and the Captain couldn''t rely on them, nor could they do much about them after everything was said and done.


    The only one who could attract all the remaining rage and indignation could only be thisst partner, who clearly has the brains to choose the better of the two evils, is easily convinced as he is toozy to argue, yet still chooses to not intervene as long as it has nothing to do with him, just to watch a good show from the sidelines.


    Let us each light a stick of incense for Sloth and hope he changes his ways.


    As he is also the weaker of the bunch. You can''t be expecting him to work out every day, right?


    ***


    Back to the main storyline.


    Master Giovanni was right about to wrap up the negotiations with the person calling him/herself TWO''s partner.


    Ah, he felt no sincerity.


    Master Giovanni wasn''t even given the other person''s name...


    (Emilin simply couldn''t think of an appropriate one on the spot. She didn''t want to repeat a name, and she didn''t want to blurt one out just to regret itter on. Emilin also took into consideration that this would make her identity seem more mysterious and put her on a slightly higher pedestal.)


    As for the actual negotiations, Master Giovanni finally felt how it was to be thoroughly suppressed in a conversation while Emilin and Theodore finally felt how it was like to get in with connections.


    Emilin listed her proposition and conditions while no matter how long Master Giovanni thought about it, he couldn''t think about how to retort nor ask for more.


    Even if he tried being shameless, he didn''t know how anymore...


    Everything that Emilin said seemed favorable to himself, yet he still had a feeling of being tricked.


    Emilin''s conditions were actually quite simple.


    -Master Giovanni would dedicate at least 10 hours of time per week to one-on-one lessons until it was no longer necessary (spread out in a week, it wasn''t too much to ask for, not to mention, Master Giovanni would have the honor of teaching such a gifted student. Other students would often times spend a lot more time to groom at the beginning anyway, and this student with solid foundations just dropped down from the skies.)


    Theodore also had his own stuff to get to, if they could, of course, more hours could be fit in their schedule, but if they couldn''t 10 hours would have to do.


    The hours would have to be put in anyways, so Master Giovanni didn''t mind the details, he didn''t feel like his time was being wasted, so that was mainly why he didn''t care about this point.


    -TWO would do his best to participate in all group activities and tests (in other words, he was also doing Master Giovanni some freebor.)


    -But his real identity would not be questioned.


    This point was a must, at least it wouldn''t be questioned until Theodore was willing to reveal himself, and to him who was still in college, that step was much too early.


    It would do him no good to reveal his identity as he was still meaning to have a normal college life, not to mention revealing his identity may also connect him to M and thus putting his sister''s identity in jeopardy.


    As well as putting his big brother, who had nothing to do with this, in danger.


    They would find a suitable time to fill in the forms to give in to the Master Association, but it was likely to be no time soon.


    Emilin however, did promise that TWO would be Master Giovanni''s true disciple and act appropriately, meaning Master Giovanni would have seniority over Theodore.


    Those matters were rather straightforward.


    Emilin directly connected to one of the printers in Master Giovanni''s base and printed out a signed and stamped copy of their agreement and Master Giovanni just had to sign it (this is legally binding).


    Of course, there were many other details that were ironed out, but none of them are worth mentioning at the moment.


    Everyone had their own precautions and so they wouldn''t allow themselves to lose out in a deal.


    Master Giovanni was really an old fox in this industry and Emilin had dealt with muchrger scale negotiations.


    They each had an idea of what benefits the other was getting, and an even clearer image of the benefits they were getting and what they were giving.


    All in all, no one was losing out.


    They also both understood the notion of giving and taking.


    They were giving what they were willing to trade for something they found to be more valuable.


    They both felt like they were winning in this deal, but that was only because they had different ideas of what was valuable, which was exactly what Emilin was aiming for.


    [Good cooperation.]


    "Good cooperation," Master Giovanni said with a sigh after the call ended.


    He felt like he had just ended a call more stressful than one with Boss Elijah. This was probably because he had a feeling of being watched from all angles.


    ''F**k! Why did we have to be so thorough with our security?''


    They were the ones to install cameras to epass every corner and edge of the room, yet now it was also them who woulde to regret it.


    He had chills crawling down his spine when he thought about it.


    Emilin had promised that she would leave their system be, thereafter.


    Emphasizing that she had better things to do, but Master Giovanni still didn''t say anything after the whole thing was over, just in case.


    Seeing his group of disciples that were growing puppy eyes, with ''we have something to say'' written all over their faces, he pointed to another room to the side.


    That was the only room here that had absolutely no electronics, isted and insted.


    It was conference room number 2.


    No sound woulde in or out, which also meant that what was said in the conference room, would stay in the conference room.


    That was exactly what they needed at the moment seeing as the whole system had been hacked into.


    Since Master Giovanni''s disciples had so much to say, and they had already made it clear that the other side wasn''t meant to hear it with that skit of theirs, this was the natural process of actions.


    They each walked in, even Sloth didn''t have to be asked as he too had some notion of what was more important at this moment.


    They each took a seat after dusting off their chairs.


    This conference room wasn''t used much as it wasn''t good if their whole group was unable to be contacted by the higher-ups, but now they had no other choice.


    If it was a usual day, and they needed to use this conference room, there would always be a person who stayed outside.


    In the case of an emergency, they would be able to call those inside out.


    This was usually, almost always, Sloth.


    But since Sloth wasing of his own vition, this was also him telling his uncle the level of importance of what they had to say.


    He wasing in so to make sure that the others wouldn''t mess up.


    Master Giovanni took note of that so as to mentally prepare.


    ''Just what could these kids have to say?''


    ''Is this rted to that constant nagging feeling in the back of my head?''


    Master Giovanni shook his head before naturally sitting at the head of the table.


    He didn''t say anything as he observed every one of his students first.


    Though they all had much to say, they didn''t open their mouths in a conference before their teacher did.


    That much was expected of them.


    Serpent''s eyes were sharp as he clearly had some suppressed rage in his heart.


    The Captain''s eyes were a little misty with doubt and worry.


    Falcon was equally upset as he was confused.


    Sloth was¡­ expressionless, but his eyes couldn''t hide his worry.


    And worse of all, Bear had this smile that told his teacher, something ''interesting'', was about to go down.


    "So, what do you guys have to say about your new junior brother?" Giovanni finally opened up the topic.


    And at that moment, all 5 of them had a wonderous expression on their faces.


    Clear of all previous emotions.


    This was because, at this time, they were all thinking of one thing in mocking confusion.


    ''How did our greatest obstacle for the past 7-8 months be our junior brother in less than a day?!''


    And the moment one of them open their mouths, all hell broke loose.

 Chapter 151 - Getting Closer To M Pt I: (Played?)

    "Teacher! You can''t be like this," a silly coquettish voice sounded, even though it was a few octaves too low to be mistaken for that of a female, the tone was still a little too much.


    Even so, that wasn''t the end of it as this voice was quickly drowned in that of the others.??


    "How can this be?"


    Another one was still in disbelief.


    "Teacher, he''s the enemy! THE ENEMY!!"


    One more was indignant.


    "TWO''s the one we''ve been looking for..."


    "That one we were fighting before!"


    "TWO is the one Boss is looking for!"


    "We''ve already invested 7 months on catching him!"


    Various different voices started to ovep, and in the end, though Master Giovanni got some keywords, the main point still wasn''t transmitted.


    The greatly ovepped sentences really couldn''t be understood by normal humans and Master Giovanni was no alien.


    "Speak one at a time!"


    Master Giovanni spoke with great exasperation.


    His eye and lip twitched concurrently as if havinge to an agreement beforehand.


    In the end, he simply pointed at the first person to his right, which just happened to be the indignant Serpent.


    Though Serpent had been fired up, when push came to shove, he was still able to be cool-headed.


    Cool-headed enough to exin the whole situation without having his temper re up noticeably.


    At least he was able to vent through his summarizing.


    Though of course, his bias during the storytelling was also promptly noted by not only Master Giovanni but also by most of the other people in the room.


    His calctive side couldn''t be reined in properly in a short period of time.


    But to be fair, it wasn''t as if he knew of the story from the other person''s POV anyway, no one really expected him to remain overly objective throughout when recounting this rage-inducing story.


    In the following moments, Serpent exined the general frame of things as well as some spections.


    After listening to the whole story, everyone else had also already cooled their temper as they proceeded to wait for their teacher''s final verdict.


    This was all they could do now.


    The more this expert, who was also known as a sly fox in his industry as well as by many others who had worked with him in close contact, thought about this whole situation, the more he smiled.


    This smile was bright, yet chilling.


    He had clearly noticed something that his students were still too inexperienced to take note of.


    That seemed to put him in a good mood.


    Not the part about his students not picking it up, that part was quite annoying, but rather the newfound advantage of taking in TWO as his disciple.


    He couldn''t help but smile at the discovery.


    Master Giovanni looked at things from a bigger picture than the young kids.


    He didn''t simply look at the grudges, but also at the addition of the new parties in this problem and what they wanted as well as what he could gain from that.


    ''This is even more profitable than I had previously thought...''


    Master Giovanni rubbed his goatee before finally voicing his judgment.


    "This is good... very good!"


    And from everyone else''s eyes which nearly just popped out, it was clear that they didn''t understand why their teacher was so... excited??


    "Then, does that mean you are still taking in TWO as your disciple?" Falcon asked with a shaky voice.


    Was it of excitement or disbelief?


    "Take him in! Of course, I must take him in! Why shouldn''t I take him in as my disciple?"


    The others nearly spat out blood.


    They felt like they could list a million reasons why TWO shouldn''t be their junior brother, but suddenly, when one of them wanted to open their mouth, none of them coulde up with anything reasonable.


    They had thought that their teacher may finally realize everything that was wrong with epting this enemy as a disciple/ junior brother.


    But what was this?!


    Were they somehow convinced that it wasn''t necessarily a bad thing?


    Was there something wrong with their brain all of a sudden?!


    Weren''t they perfectly fine before their teacher came out of seclusion?


    Did the seclusion do something to their teacher''s neurological functions or did his appearance make them all go nuts? Because if so, they didn''t know what they would be able to do about that.


    If Master Giovanni could hear his disciple''s thoughts, he would surely kick every single one of their asses before cooling down.


    But he wouldn''t think that they were wrong, he would agree with the point about his disciples not being the brightest bunch as long as his name was removed from the equation.


    But seeing that none of his disciples understood, he decided to enlighten them a little, of course, not in a straightforward manner.


    "If you don''t have anything else to say, then let us leave the conference room."


    Master Giovanni was already concocting his own ns as he said these words, but those perfect ns were interrupted by the voice of someone he didn''t expect to speak at this moment.


    "What about the situation with Sister Margo?"


    It was Sloth who was worrying about his favorite cousin.


    Now that Master Giovanni thought back to it, he finally realized what had been bugging him!


    He had been yed!


    Master Giovanni had beenpletely carried away by the flow of the conversation that the other person set, worried about the things that they wanted him to be worried about like the pros and cons of the deal when it came to epting this disciple.


    So much so that he hadn''t even put any importance on what had brought them to that position in the first ce.


    Misdirection at its finest.


    He waspletely fooled.


    And to think that that whole time he was worrying about whether that deal was profitable enough for him, so immersed in that back and forth, determined not to be tricked by the opponent.


    Who knew that it was exactly that tunnel-visioned caution that had led him to this point, fallingpletely into the other person''s trap.


    He had lost his biggest negotiation chip.


    The window for negotiation had ended.


    Now was the phase where he could only either go through with his agreement as promised orpletely drop the whole thing and go back on his word, which would be aplete loss for him.


    Something he wouldn''t do.


    He wouldy waste on all his previous chips, yet looking back, no matter how heforted himself, what he had thought to be a good deal now left a sour taste in his mouth.


    Now you may be confused since Emilin had clearly addressed this issue previously in their conversation.


    But she had addressed it so nonchntly, saying that she wouldn''t be affecting their security and that she would leave their system be that he hadn''t had the time to note how big of an opportunity he had missed.


    The problem was that of course, he wouldn''t be able to confirm this.


    Though in the first ce, he wasn''t worried.


    Master Giovanni had long informed his brothers of the issues concerning information privacy online.


    As smart as his youngest brother was, all the important information concerning his family and their business was on paper, everything online made them seem rather normal, at least if you weren''t a Master hacker determined to dig something out.


    That''s why Master Giovanni hadn''t made a big deal out of it for fear of upsetting the other person, making them regret the decision of reaching out to him at that time.


    But now that he thought back to the matter, he could have clearly made use of this fact to push on the other side to owe him!


    After all, they did in fact hack them first, right?


    Couldn''t he im trauma?


    Of course, now he couldn''t anymore, which was quite sad.


    Going back now to ask forpensation would make him seem petty since the matter had already been concluded and dealt with.


    (What Master Giovanni didn''t know was how dumb this whole thought really was in retrospect.


    This was because... Emilin could simply call it even with them when taking into consideration that they had also tried hacking into Theodore''s system in the past.


    Then again Emilin''s wasn''t quite as intentional and premeditated as Master Giovanni''s disciple''s attack


    If both of them yed it off as something they had done just for fun and with no ill intentions, then, in the end, these things still wouldn''t have been able to be used as a bargaining chip.


    Master Giovanni was just thinking a little too much right now due to the pressures from all these sticky eyes.


    Then again, in the end, this wasn''t necessarily a bad thing.


    Later on, when everything with the boss and his disciples were dealt with, he would still have to ask his younger brother and his niece and nephew to see if they could find out what was going on.


    Of course, this was onlyter on.)


    Seeing as Master Giovanni seemed to be lost in thought at the moment, Sloth didn''t proceed with his questioning.


    Since his uncle wasn''t showing a worried expression but rather a contemtive one, Sloth was sure his uncle would deal with it.


    There was no point in asking any further as he wasn''t an incredibly curious person.


    Thatst question, though simple sounding, had in fact condensed all the worry he had for his favorite cousin Margo.


    He only has two cousins¡­


    In the end, Master Giovanni left the conference without responding to Sloth''s question.


    Everyone else followed him out and stuck close to see what their teacher was going to do next, but they didn''t dare make a sound seeing how concentrated their teacher was.


    That is until someone did.


    "Teacher, who are you calling right now?" Falcon asked not so cautiously.


    This is why people needed someone like Falcon in the team, to bite the bullet for everyone.


    "Your boss of course."

 Chapter 152 - Getting Closer To M Pt II: (Elijahs Patience)

    Master Giovanni called Boss Elijah while ignoring the piercing gazes of the uninhibited zoo animals.


    On a technical level, Elijah was not Master Giovanni''s Boss, but rather he was currently this group of disciples of his''s Boss.??


    Elijah was in fact Master Giovanni''s associate.


    They had worked together previously, which made them more like business partners, but since they also knew each other on a personal level, as much as Master Giovanni hated to admit it, the level of trust couldn''t bepared.


    It was hard to describe their working rtionship, but just from the fact that his disciples had alle to work on this assignment for Elijah, it was clear that it was by no means simple.


    In this specific case, Master Giovanni was using Elijah as a test and a starting ground for his students, while Elijah was using Master Giovanni''s students asbor workers as well as a link to strengthen Master Giovanni''s ties to his pany".


    Working for Elijah andpleting the assignments given to them was a form of Master Giovanni''s trust in his students, trying to set his students up for sess as Elijah''s background was by no means neglectable, but also a harsh test as Master Giovanni knew Elijah''s personality well.


    Elijah''s strictness when it came to work came right from his bones.


    Just imagine how disappointed Master Giovanni was when he came out of seclusion, breaking past the peak of the intermediate Master level, just to discover that his students had thoroughly trampled on his face and reputation in front of their current Boss, who was also his business partner.


    Unable to aplish a single task in over half a year.


    (The zoo animals had done some loose tasks in between, but the M task was their ''Main'' mission)


    Elijah was definitely going to use this against him sooner orter, be it discretely so to not bring up past shames, or openly to pour salt in this untended wound.


    At first, Master Giovanni could only hope that it was discretely, but now, he wouldn''t have to suffer at all.


    This was a great gain!


    The zoo animals didn''t know that at this moment, their newest junior brother was climbing up in the rankings when it came to their ces in their teacher''s heart, and fast!


    How could you evenpare between a lot that brought you shame with one that help you regain your dignity?


    Of course, emotional ties with the older disciples were still stronger, but now Master Giovanni had a great impression of TWO, which would help Theodoreter on when he wanted to learn more and more, bing much less restrained when it came to his demands.


    It was simply embarrassing for Master Giovanni and if this event with TWO hadn''t happened today, Master Giovanni was sure that he would have to pay for this failure, and the price wouldn''t be small.


    Thankfully, this time, he was confident that most of his face could be restored by epting TWO as his disciple, not that that was his main goal.


    Not to mention, he would not easily let off his other disciples now.


    Since he came out of seclusion, their training definitely had to be increased by manyfold.


    It really had to be said that this group of poor souls had really kicked a brick wall this time.


    What they didn''t know was that Elijah had purposefully sent them to this specific wall, telling the group that it was made of Styrofoam.


    They were all too blinded by the pain that came from kicking the wall, wanting to break it down to get revenge that they had missed what was in in sight¡­ they had dismissed who it was that had brought them to this wall for them to kick.


    Of course, this analogy is notpletely correct as these hackers were no idiots, at least, most of them weren''t, but the general idea is still there.


    The reason why this analogy works is not because the hackers were idiots, but rather because Elijah had thought ahead, much more ahead.


    They had fallen into Elijah''s trap the moment the hackers were emotionally invested.


    It would have been great, amazing, simply perfect if these hackers were able to get a hold of TWO and thus by extension M, but Elijah was a realistic man.


    Master Giovanni and his disciples were not the only trusted hackers that Elijah had contacted and employed for this mission, they were only one of his side ns.


    So many other, more trained, more experienced, and more skilled hackers had failed¡­ just how much hope could Elijah possibly put in this lot?


    In fact, even if they didn''t seed it would still be a win for Elijah.


    This was something that even the sly fox Giovanni had yet to notice.


    Really it was about time he realized, but sadly, here he was, happy that he would not have to suffer against this younger man, not realizing that he had still inadvertently fallen for Elijah''s schemes.


    The phone ring twiced before the other person answered.


    "Why, isn''t it ol''Master Giovanni, to what do I owe the pleasure?"


    A maic,zy voice sounded.


    Though the man always sounded rxed and nonchnt as if he had all the time in the world, as someone who had worked with him previously, Master Giovanni knew better than others that Elijah was in fact a man who hated wasting time the most.


    Master Giovanni knew this well because he had felt the feeling of unwinding after finishing a job with Elijah, if that weren''t the case, Master Giovanni may really have missed that as Elijah always seemed calm and in control when he wasn''t putting up an act.


    In fact, even he had been surprized when he let out a big sigh after closing the first case with Elijah back then.


    After further observation, the man''s impatience was obvious to this observer.


    Elijah distained anyone who wasted his time and thus though he may slowly approach you as if he did not want anything from you, as if he was trying to help you, in his mind, he had probably already found a thousand ways to calcte you into his ns.


    If you weren''t useful to him, he wouldn''t give you a second nce.


    And if he did look at you a second time, then you should be ready to be trapped by the man.


    But that was not his biggest merit.


    What Master Giovanni had found to be Elijah''s greatest merit was his amazing patience.


    Yes, it may sound contradictory, but Elijah was in fact, a man of great patience.


    If he were someone who only calcted you into his next ns, then he may very well have been ruthlessly used my society.


    Used and thrown away.


    Such a short sighted and greedy person would have never been able to have gotten to where Elijah was right now, even if he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.


    That was what was scary about this man.


    He was incredibly long sighted.


    From the moment you met Elijah, he would already be observing you as prey.


    First starting by calcting your worth.


    From that point onward, he would decide whether you were worth the long con or not.


    If you are not, he may very well use and discard you, though those cases were few and far between as Elijah wasn''t fond of making short term investments for some chump change.


    If you were only barely worth it, depending on his mood, Elijah might still ignore you.


    What Elijah specialized in were long term investments, which was something hard to imagine when considering his rtively young age.


    And if you were divided into these cases of people worth being invested in long term, chances were, you were going to be in the palm of his hands for years.


    Even if you yourself didn''t know it.


    Even if you were countries away, doing your own thing for years, that may very well be part of his n.


    In the end, if he had his eyes set on you, no matter how far you were, you would never leave his sight.


    Be it days, weeks, months, or years.


    It didn''t matter how long he had to wait, how many ns he had to concoct, that was Elijah''s patience.


    That was a hunter''s patience, and his hunger to get what he wanted was what pushed him to be what he was today.


    His hunger for talented people.


    And of course, by the time you realized that, if you realized that at all, it would already be toote.


    He would calcte you so thoroughly that you would end up being willingly used, because he knew exactly what to give to get what he wanted.


    He hunted talents, and he was a patient hunter.


    As for people not worth his time, not a second would be spared.


    That was his inpatience.


    If things could be done more efficiently, then they would.


    If things could be ignored, then they would.


    If Elijah could spend one less second doing paper work and other useless stuff that could be given to his subordinates, then he would.


    His impatience for wasting his own time was correspondent and directly corrted to his patience when hunting for people who could work for him.


    In the end, these two opposing adjectives both resided strongly in this man in a way that was not in the least bit contradictory.


    But then again, even if it was contradictory, humans are contradictory beings to begin with.

 Chapter 153 - Getting Closer To M Pt III: (The Game Has Already Begun...)

    "I have some important news to give you, I believe you will be very interested."


    Master Giovanni finally informed through the phone.??


    He was not scared of building up anticipation as he was certain that the meat was up to par.


    "How important?"


    The voice on the other side asked casually.


    "Top priority importance."


    Elijah''s interest was peaked in an instant.


    He was very much willing to move his schedule back for top priority level importance matters, something he wouldn''t have done even if Master Giovanni had said that it was a high priority level of importance.


    Though of course, sometimes that depended on his mood as well as what he could push back and on to other people''s hands that particr day.


    If Giovanni didn''te up with something worth Elijah''s time, in the future, his matters would be pushed back in Elijah''s mind, so it was only natural that one wouldn''t want to mibel the level of importance of a matter.


    "Thene over to my office," Elijah said with an amiable smile that Master Giovanni couldn''t see, but it was also one that Master Giovanni could simply imagine.


    Just as Master Giovanni thought that that was it, Elijah added something else.


    "Do try and impress me more than your disciples have, okay?"


    The man joked yfully, but Giovanni could hear all the hidden seriousness and threat in his voice.


    It was as if he were saying: Don''t waste my time as your underlings have, or you won''t see what''sing! Or perhaps you will hehe¡­ either way, you won''t like it very much.


    The rxed mood he had built up to that pointpletely disappeared as Master Giovanni got red in his face.


    Arge smile stered all over just to hide the fact that his middle-aged self wanted to punch this man not even half his age.


    ''Don''t be too disrespectful, brat!''


    Master Giovanni almost wanted to say it out loud, but it stopped at the tip of his tongue as the other side had hung up on him.


    ''Just you watch kiddo! This master has more than this lot of disciples, so don''te regretting and begging me when you find out that this youngest disciple of mine isn''t one that you can offend easily!''


    ''Oh, youngsters¡­you don''t know what it means to burn bridges? I''ll show you what it means!''


    Now that smile was scary.


    The smile on Master Giovanni''s face clearly spelled out: ''I''m trouble.''


    It was the kind of smile one would have before murdering another.


    The smile your mother, sister, or wife had on when they are truly angry, enough to wish you dead.


    Yeah... that one.


    That one sentence of Elijah was truly effective.


    If Master Giovanni didn''t impress him, then Elijah could use this opportunity to settle some debts or to put some more pressure on the man.


    As for if one had something that could truly impress Elijah, then this one sentence would make them much more inclined to expose that information in a fit of rage to prove themselves.


    Of course, such a tactic would not easily influence Master Giovanni, but whening from a man much younger than himself, it still had its effects.


    Such as his temporary loss of control over his temper as well as the previously stated inclination, only much weaker than how it would feel to a normal person when faced with such a troublesome opponent.


    ***


    A few momentster, Assistant Liam opened the door to his boss''s office to let Master Giovanni in.


    In his heart, he was not as calm as he was made out to be on the surface.


    He was crying.


    ''Boss, you can''t be like this!''


    ''Howe all you have pushed is the time in which you have to look over paperwork? And you didn''t push it off but rather pushing it onto me??''


    Liam could still see the endless stacks of paper in his mind.


    Those were just a few meters away from this very spot.


    And to think that this was Elijah making time for this important appointment.


    The man was just one step away from saying that he had nothing important to do at the moment!!


    If Elijah could hear the thoughts of this good assistant of his, he would surelyfort him with a stern yet amiable voice, saying: Can''t you see this is my trust in you? I would only let someone as trusted as you supervise these 5 projects as well as theunching of these 3 lines of products and of course the building of these 3 franchises.


    At that point, Liam could only cry in his sleep while clutching tight to his resignation letter which he could not turn in as he too had been schemed by this boss of his into a 20-year contract with a penalty fee that he could not afford.


    Yes, he had not read the terms properly, but hey, at least he would never make such a low-level mistake ever again.


    But slowly, he was convinced by his boss''s strengths, strengths at obtaining manualbors!


    Each time his boss caught another prey, Liam would smile kindly in schadenfreude.


    How great it was to know that he was not the only one who had fallen into his boss''s trap!


    There were of course also many who were willingly trapped by this boss of theirs, which took the fun out of Liam''s game, but the ones who were tricked were also not small in number.


    Many of them are still clueless to this day.


    And just like that, he had started in the journey of bing a hunting tool for his calctive boss.


    Though he had piles of paperwork to do, Liam gained pleasure in knowing that his subordinates had even more paperwork than he himself.


    And thus he could only put that hard stuff in the back of his mind and a smile on his face as he led yet another fox into his boss''s trap.


    There was a saying that his boss had told him in the past, one that he wholeheartedly believed after many interactions with Elijah.


    "No matter how sly the fox, in the end, they are still a fox, and they will still be my prey," he had said with a calm, yet imposing demeanor.


    This was quoted straight from the boss himself, and be it past, present, or future, Liam had never seen Elijah fail to hit the target.


    As the office doors opened the handsome man inside lifted his head to make eye contact with Master Giovanni.


    "Come, sit here," Elijah smiled amicably, but his words clearly left no room for any sort of refusal.


    There were some more items made of Aether Ebony, ones that had not been there just a few weeks prior.


    Most of them were ced on the coffee table.


    But Master Giovanni didn''t notice since he hadn''t been here in a while.


    The calming, gentle, yet permeating smell gave Master Giovanni an uncharacteristically calming feeling, as if having let down all mental defenses.


    Something he had yet to notice.


    Younger people often found this effect harder to observe, but it was still there.


    This was mainly an issue on the observational skills of each person as well as their sensitivity.


    And in general, though people of younger ages often had better sensitivity when it came to their 5 senses, people of elder age had grown to have better observational skills, especially those who admired antiques and such.


    This was one more reason why the Aether Ebony was put in such high esteem.


    There were simply more mysterious effects than one could care to imagine and with the fading of this nt, fewer and fewer people were keen to find out these effects.


    Slowly, fewer and fewer people could even point out this wood.


    With many of the remaining people with their eyes on the Aether Ebony being those of much higher social sses and social standings.


    People that these woods could affect at some point in their lives as well as people who could afford to buy such an expensivemodity.


    Master Giovanni, though old, was not old enough to reach the age where he would be calm enough to observe such details.


    He was still a hot-blooded man at heart and being a hacker who sat at hisputer for extended periods of time did not help him notice such things either.


    He was rather unattuned with nature, so even if his defenses were being lowered, he wouldn''t notice as quickly as others may.


    And really, by then, it would oftentimes be toote.


    This is what is called starting one step behind the starting point.


    Unbeknownst to Master Giovanni, the game had already begun.


    Liam, knowing his boss well, could only sigh and pray for Master Giovanni to fall quicker so that his boss could go back to work quicker.


    He didn''t even bother lighting a candle for this unknowing prey as the number of candles he had lit previously had already warned him of the fire hazard involved.


    As his boss''s assistant, all he could do was light one in his heart.


    But even so, that was already him being way too kind of him since it was also because of this man that he had to do another stack of paperwork.


    From experience, Liam also knew that his Boss would never get to it.


    And of course, by ''this man'' whose fault it was, Liam, of course, meant Giovanni as he dare not me his boss in his heart too much lest Karma hits, and his boss decides to take a vacation out of the blue.


    That would really be a finishing blow.

 Chapter 154 - Getting Closer To M Pt IV: (Twitching Eyes & Whitened Hairs)

    The two men, one young and one old stared at each other intently.


    Both of them seemed rather rxed, perhaps due to the incredible effects of the Aether Ebony or perhaps for another reason that waspletely unrted.??


    Even so, just from their sitting postures, it could be seen that one was morefortable in his seat whenpared to the other.


    This was the advantage of being on your home ground when on a battlefield.


    Master Giovanni had pretty much walked into the other party''s ying field, but it wasn''t really his fault since Elijah was known for not liking to talk over the phone when it came to important matters.


    And there were clearly a lot of reasons for that.


    Elijah liked to set the stage, and what would be the point of setting the stage if he couldn''t even see the cast?


    If things were discussed through the phone, many truths may be distorted as one wouldn''t be able to see the facial expressions of the other, even the voices may be different through a speaker.


    Elijah''s pale green eyes pierced through Master Giovanni''s narrowed eyes in a cold light.


    Elijah flicked his sleeves to straighten out the creases as the other had yet to speak, but seeing as the silence was moving on from an "I''m observing you, you are observing me, we a creating a mood for negotiations" silence to a "this is getting awkward" silence and Master Giovanni had yet to show signs of opening his mouth, he spoke first.


    That could be seen as a sign of him conceding a little.


    "What important matter are you here to speak about today?"


    Elijah said with an air of indifference as if he had a million better things to do.


    Master Giovanni finally let out his pent-up sigh and rxed in his seat, as if to say: F**k it, I''m done.


    "Okay kid, you''ve gotten your point across so can you leave your sham of an attitude at the door?"


    This was fake, too fake!


    How could this man be here pretending to be all serious as if having be an advocate for ''all business no y'', acting as a straightforward man, when he was the most scheming of them all!


    ''You had the upper hand, but now that''s going to end!'' Master Giovanni inwardly thought.


    Suddenly, a smile grew on the young man''s face, making his whole presence a few degrees warmer.


    "How could I possibly do that? If I leave my attitude at the door, then I''ll surely be swallowed up whole by you old foxes before I can even take a step into my own office!"


    Elijah said in an usatory tone as if he really feared being swallowed whole by this big bad wolf.


    This young demon was ying the white lotus!


    How shameless could one be?


    WTF!


    Master Giovanni''s eye twitched.


    ''His skills have improved significantly...''


    Not only was this young man who he had worked with multiple times before, using him of being scheming, he also didn''t miss the chance to reinforce the fact that this was ''his office'' and his territory as if telling him to not make a fuss.


    Damn kid!


    I''ll make it so that you don''t have the mood to act,ter don''te begging for mercy!


    Master Giovanni got riled up quickly, but he also cooled down quickly in this environment, all of which Elijah noticed through the man''s expressions.


    In fact, this had been the first time that Elijah took into consideration using the Aether Ebony during negotiations.


    Though the initial effects were good, the more they got into the conversation, the more ws Elijah saw in using the Aether Ebony.


    It seemed like he would have to put this idea back into the incubation period.


    From his initial observations, such a method would only be able to be used in very specific scenarios.


    Elijah had previously failed to take into ount that, though it did lower Master Giovanni''s mental defenses, it also assisted him in calming his rage, which would prevent Master Giovanni from making rash decisions during key moments.


    In other words, the effects of the Aether Ebony would help Elijah''s opponents think rationally and with a calm mind at times in which they might have made a slip-up, rendering some of Elijah''s discreet provocations useless.


    That was quite annoying.


    In the end, Elijah could only settle that annoyance in his heart as this was indeed the first time he had used these tactics, it was only natural that it wasn''t mature enough to be used at its full potential.


    "Okay, let''s do it ording to how you say."


    Elijah relented, there was no point in inserting silent provocations just to waste both his time and efforts.


    He wasn''t a fan of that kind of y.


    "We can get straight to the point?"


    Master Giovanni asked in exaggerated mock surprise.


    "Of course, I have to respect the elderly, right?"


    The sentence just flew out of Elijah''s mouth... there was no helping it.


    Master Giovanni''s vein bulged, but it once again rxed in no time.


    ''I''ll deal with youter kid!''


    "I''ll just be straight then, this is about our previous agreement and bet. I know that my disciples have disgraced me quite a bit in the past few months, but that is not important, because another one of my disciples came to redeem my dignity."


    Elijah was surprised at how straightforward Master Giovanni was being about his past shames.


    After all, this was an old man who cared for his face and reputation for its weight in gold.


    It was not unreasonable as the jobs, resources, and opportunities given to hackers were greatly connected to their name.


    This was also why many hackers made it their life''s goal to make a name for themselves.


    Who would trust a no-name with a job to stealpany secrets from theirpetitor?


    Not only was their name, but also their reputation of great importance.


    If you''ve sold out your clientele before, or even had rumors of doing so, people would naturally be less inclined to hire you for a job.


    Even if it''s not true, just the fact that there was such a rumor about you means that your skills are subpar, or else no one would want to offend you after a job was aplished sessfully.


    Elijah was the next to speak.


    "You mean the bet concerning your disciples? I do seem to recall something like that, something about you believing that your disciples would be able to aplish any job handed to them in this smallpany of mine. The agreement was to let them work for me in this period of time¡­"


    Elijah''s head moved to rest on his hand as he leaned forward before continuing.


    "But their sense of presence has been so small that I had almost forgotten."


    Elijah was stabbing at theirck of achievements so far while acting as if he was dissing his own poor memory.


    But Master Giovanni simply gritted his teeth, pretending to not understand the not-so-hidden connotation in Elijah''s tone.


    "Well, your memory is indeed quite bad as the bet was on my certainty that my disciples as a group would certainly show you satisfactory results in your matters."


    "Without your interference," Elijah added as if having just remembered the contents of the bet.


    If it was this bet they were talking about, wasn''t it a little too coincidental if they were to say that results were produced by the zoo animals, right when their teacher hade out of seclusion even though there had been barely any progress in the past 7 months?


    Master Giovanni once against spoke through gritted teeth.


    "Yes... without my interference!"


    The man could feel his hair whitening the more he spoke.


    But even those whitened hairs calmed down and receded in front of the frightening effects of the Aether Ebony.


    Before Elijah could throw in another maddening tacticalment, Master Giovanni spoke again first.


    ''It seems like my words still had some effects, though not as strong as they normally are,'' Elijah thought to himself.


    It was as if his life goal was to whiten all of Master Giovanni''s hairs so that he could die of old age before he died of frustration.


    Actually, he would probably be satisfied with either or.


    "And there has been progress?" Elijah asked with just the right amount of skepticism mixed in with some level of intrigue.


    "Indeed, there has."


    Master Giovanni didn''t n to borate until the other asked.


    "And this progress is with the project X20Xn3 project they were delegated with?"


    Master Giovanni feared that he would grow an eye twitching problem if he stayed any longer.


    "We are the only ones here, so can you please use the humannguage to converse with me? Certainly, you don''t expect my OLD brain to remember the serial code of their assigned project, do you?"


    Elijah chuckled.


    Hearing this from someone who could easily memorize 20 lines of code at a single nce was an interesting experience.


    "Then how would this elder like me to phrase it? The M project? Is that simple enough?"


    Elijah acknowledged that they were indeed the only people there to hear these words as if there were others, he would not be willing to say such words that revealed so much information in a single sentence.


    Three words would be enough to expose their purpose.


    Master Giovanni rolled his eyes, but he still relented to the stronger, younger generation.


    In the end, he still had quite some respect for this young man, decades younger than himself.


    "Yes, quite some progress."

 Chapter 155 - Getting Closer To M Pt V: (Hold Grudges Like A Teenage Girl!)

    Elijah was very interested, but he didn''t show it in his smile.


    If Master Giovanni said that there was progress, then there must have been some significant progress.??


    He couldn''t help but wonder what kind of progress could have been made in this project that had been moving on and off the shelf for years.


    Yet still remained on that very same shelf until now.


    Master Giovanni and his disciples were only one of the many hackers he had contacted, or more urately, the hackers he slowly hooked into contacting himself.


    Though Master Giovanni thought that he had brought up the agreement and bet himself, Elijah knew better than anyone else that he had a lot to do with the bringing up of that topic.


    Or else it would have been impossible for Master Giovanni to simply bring it up out of nowhere and make a bet with such bad terms and inadvertently or advertently put his reputation on the line.


    Thus, the emotional investment.


    Elijah didn''t hesitate, giving Master Giovanni a wave to signal that he was all ears.


    "You are looking toe in contact with TWO to get information about M right?"


    Elijah''s smile widened a little.


    This reminded him of something, and it wasn''t exactly something pleasant.


    He felt like his wound was rubbed with salt while the other person didn''t even know it.


    At first, his goal was not simply toe into contact with TWO, but to directly obtain the necessary information.


    It would be best if the other side wasn''t even informed of this event.


    Yet somehow his standards had been lowered time and time again, to the point where he would be quite happy with even just the smallest of hints, just to know that there was hope.


    It was quite saddening when thinking back to it.


    He seemed to have been too arrogant just because he knew some people.


    Elijah realized that now, but still, that realization did not reign in his pride and ego.


    He felt like he was being suppressed by his low IQ at times, but still, his training and experience didn''t allow him to make an awkward facial expression.


    His movements didn''t look unnatural, it was as if he were simply smiling to confirm what the other person had said.


    "Indeed."


    Master Giovanni nodded before officially opening the negotiations with his words.


    "How would you like topensate me?"


    No matter how muddleheaded Master Giovanni was, he would never forget his goals, though one would have to admit that he was being incredibly straightforward here.


    Elijah''s expression didn''t change.


    "I guess that will have to depend on what you have. What are you exchanging?"


    Master Giovanni answered with his counterproposal of sorts.


    He clearly wanted the other person to state his range so that he could work ording to that.


    After all, he wanted to know what chips the other person had in his hand so that he wouldn''t dig himself a pit and lose out.


    "I guess I could either sell you information or a connection. Now, won''t that depend on your sincerity?"


    Master Giovanni''s confidence in his own hand was growing the longer he yed this game of theirs.


    After all, though he only had one card, it was a high-value card that the other person hadn''t been able to obtain.


    He could tell it was a high-value card simply knowing TWO and the other person''s hacking skills.


    Master Giovanni just didn''t know how high the value of this card was, after all, he was not in the medical industry nor did he pay attention to anything rted to it.


    He didn''t have any family member that had some incurable illness or anything and his girlfriend was pretty much hisputer.


    Anything unrted wasn''t of his interest.


    Master Giovanni also didn''t know of Elijah''s other attempts at looking for this person, so it was easy for him to assume that Elijah had simply set this high difficulty mission to mess with his disciples.


    Though he wouldn''t be convinced if Elijah said that himself as he rarely did anything without a purpose.


    On the other hand, he had juste out of seclusion and he had only heard the general idea of the proceedings.


    Master Giovanni had also been too immersed in how his disciples had nearly ruined his reputation.


    He didn''t pay close attention to just who M was nor did he know this person''s identity.


    Though he did believe M held some significant importance to Elijah, Master Giovanni also took into consideration how Elijah didn''t rush his disciples on the matter.


    That made him almost believe otherwise.


    In retrospect, Master Giovanni was very ill-prepared for this battle.


    It was like a chess pro was ying with someone who had forgotten to read the instruction manual, this being his first time ying.


    Okay, that was exaggerated, but that was the difference in their preparations, which would also go on to determine the winner of the game.


    "Sincerity huh?"


    Elijah pretended to ponder for a few moments as if looking into past events.


    "I guess if sincerity is what you want, then we could take the chance here to settle some ounts. After all, we can''t be doing business without sincerity, right?"


    Elijah said yfully with an undertone of a sly craftiness.


    Master Giovanni''s face tensed and froze for a second.


    He had a bad premonition.


    But Elijah didn''t wait for the old man to process properly before he started revealing some of the chips he had been umting.


    All for this little bet, or more urately... this deal.


    Well, even if they weren''t revealed now, the ounts would still be settledter, Elijah would just be trading these favors for other things or other information.


    "Well, we can start with our first meeting, right? I do recallpensating you appropriately for that event... yet the next time, when you came to me asking for assistance with that situation with your brother, I seemed to have been given a "We''re even"?"


    Elijah pretended to be seriously confused, but his sly smirk couldn''t be hidden behind those two long fingers of his that pressed against his lips.


    Much less the small scoff that came afterward.


    "Being the kind-hearted person that I am, and one who respects his elders at that, I just put that one on credit."


    Master Giovanni only had one thought.


    How can someone be this shameless?


    Are you born like that? Or does the think skin have to be cultivated? What did he eat growing up to grow such thick skin?


    Well, the ******* family surely didn''t mistreat this kid!


    Whatever it was, I''m sure they didn''t skimp on his meals of skin thickener!


    Kind-hearted?


    Respect?


    Credit?


    I don''t think kind-hearted and respect are in your dictionary!


    As for credit... credit your butt!


    "As a part of the government, it was your job! I clearly only said that out of courtesy!" Master Giovanni spoke through gritted teeth.


    Elijah proceeded to do the world''s fakest gasp along with an equally awfully exaggerated shocked expression.


    Just short of bing a depiction of The Scream by Edvard Munch.


    At least that''s how it felt from Master Giovanni''s perspective.


    In reality, it was just a short gasp with a slight change in tone from Elijah''s side. Hisposure didn''t change a bit.


    "There must have been a terrible misunderstanding! Did you not know that as a person who had yet to reach the age that one could consider an adult at that time... there was simply no way for me to be working for the government back then."


    Elijah tapped his cheek, still with his original calmness.


    His tone didn''t fluctuate much either.


    Though he liked ying with his words every now and then, as in always. He didn''t find the need to go on a full-blown act when Master Giovanni already knew some of his true colors.


    That would be a waste of energy and effort.


    Plus, he was confident that he could get things done without the whole act.


    Just the lines were enough.


    "But... you wouldn''t go as far as cheating a child just because of a misunderstanding, right?"


    Elijah continued, and at this point, Master Giovanni''s previously stiffened face started to twitch all over again.


    He couldn''t believe that THIS KID, out of ALL PEOPLE, would suddenly be ying with the moral high ground card!


    Then again, he should just believe it.


    Someone like him should be able to do just about anything without even a change in his expression if he wanted to! No matter how shameful a normal person may feel doing and saying the very same words.


    Master Giovanni couldn''t say a word, but in his heart, he convinced himself.


    No matter how many tactics the kid had, they would never be able to beat a stronger hand.


    What Master Giovanni failed to realize at that time, was that he only had a vague image of the true value of his card, while Elijah still had the ultimate skill, bluff.


    Not only that, but the list of things that Elijah had prepared for this rainy day was¡­ so absurd in number that Master Giovanni highly doubted that the man would ever have something as crude as poor memory.


    Either that or he held grudges like a midwife going through menopausebined with a teenage girl with a one-sided crush going through some serious stuff.


    One thing Master Giovanni was certain of, however, was that he was going to clear all debts today, sever all ties, and stay away from this kid.


    Or so he dreamt.

 Chapter 156 - Getting Closer To M Pt VI: (Finally...)

    "You can stop now, I get it, I get it!" Master Giovanni grunted both dejectedly and with great sorrow.


    He was so depressed.??


    Before today, he didn''t know the true meaning of being cornered.


    He was too tired to even try and get out of this unscathed.


    -Mommy, the opponent is too strong! Too prepared! I left my back open to be stabbed in the heart! What should I do?


    -Run baby, run!


    -But Mommy, I''m at his office with his people guarding outside! I don''t want to die young TT_TT


    -Your not young anymore... take care of yourself... sorry baby... the connection doesn''t seem to be gooooood *voice fades away*


    - TT__TT


    "I give in," Master Giovanni relented in a tired voice.


    He did not feel like the experienced adult in this conversation.


    Master Giovanni''s energetic body was now slouching all over as if he had aged 5 years in the time that Elijah had listed everything, he ''owed'' him.


    He was the one being cheated here...


    Master Giovanni always understood the idea of giving and taking, always careful of epting favors because he knew that they had to be paid back, yet somehow, there were near a dozen things that he had topensate for.


    Things that he had somehow never even taken note of.


    Mind-boggling.


    "Well I''m not holding you back," Elijah had spoken for such a long time, yet he wasn''t out of breath nor was he nearly as tired as Master Giovanni, who had simply been listening.


    This is because there is something called, mental exhaustion.


    It saps away all your energy all will to live.


    "I know that fellow, TWO, he''s my disciple!"


    Master Giovanni seemed to have regained his energy in an instance, pride seeping out.


    It was almost as if he was dering that he had raised the kid singlehandedly.


    Master Giovanni nearly forgot that he had only epted TWO as his disciple today and none of the formalities had even been done as of yet.


    "Do tell."


    There was clearly a story here.


    Master Giovanni started talking, but then the more he spoke, the more he found himself sounding strange.


    Not even midway, just two sentences in, he seemed to have realized that there was nothing good about recounting this story, it surely didn''t put him in a good light.


    Not to mention there was barely a point.


    He couldn''t forget that he wasn''t Elijah''s subordinate!


    He didn''t have to report to him!


    Master Giovanni pursed his lips before taking a few mental steps back.


    "Kid, you almost got me again. How can you always plot against your elders? This information shouldn''te for free!"


    Master Giovanni''s eyebrows knitted in annoyance.


    "Then how about I exchange it for the things on the list?"


    Elijah asked without even blinking.


    Admitting to having realized that Master Giovanni was talking more than he should have, yet still ignoring that fact as if it waspletely okay.


    How is one to talk to such a shameless fellow?


    The answer is you try your best to not do so at all.


    As mommy always said, when you meet a formidable opponent that you simply can''t defeat right now, you should run away!


    And if you can''t run away because you have trapped yourself in the other''s base, then you only have yourself to me.


    "All you need to know is that TWO was amazed at my skills and decided that he couldn''t go without having me as his master!" Master Giovanni proimed without blushing.


    And he wasining about the other person being shameless...


    [Master Giovanni: Old people get to be shameless!]


    Even Elijah''s eye twitched.


    For some reason that he couldn''t pinpoint, perhaps it was his gut feeling that told him, that he simply wouldn''t be able to force himself to believe such a tant lie.


    But then again, why would TWO take him as his Master?


    "But from what I can tell... at least from the direction that your story was going, it doesn''t seem that you won against TWO."


    Of course, he couldn''t tell from just two sentences, but just from Master Giovanni''s facial expression, Elijah could tell that he didn''t win.


    Not to mention Master Giovanni had only said that he made progress on the mission, not that he had aplished it for his disciples.


    Elijah had contacted other hackers in the past, and while some of them had proimed that TWO was a single entity, mainly the weaker hackers.


    Others proimed that TWO was multiple entities working together.


    Elijah was more inclined to believe this im seeing as they wereing from the better-known hackers with more achievements under their belts.


    Still, he didn''t want to assume anything and then miss out on key information.


    That was what Elijah currently wanted to probe about, though of course from his question, it didn''t seem like it.


    Master Giovanni didn''t flinch even after hearing the question.


    He had clearlyposed himself after those previous attacks on his character. Now looking back, he realized how riled he had been,pletely unlike his usual self.


    "Start paying up!"


    Master Giovanni demanded as if it weren''t himself who was indebted to the other but rather the other way around.


    Elijah lifted an eyebrow and took out a sheet of paper that had already been preprepared.


    On it, there was a list of everything Master Giovanni ''owed'' him.


    There were more things than what Elijah had listed before.


    It took a minute for Master Giovanni to make sure that they were all correct and that those were all events that had urred.


    From big to small, Giovanni had to rack his brain to recall some things that he had long forgotten.


    Looking at this list, he was once again depressed.


    In his heart, he promised himself that he would never be indebted to anyone ever again!


    "Fine!"


    He mumbled underneath his breath.


    ''Let''s do this!''


    The battle ended rather quickly.


    Master Giovanni did his best to release as little information as possible, as slowly as possible while having Elijah cross out as many debts as possible.


    Whenever Master Giovanni said something Elijah thought was worth something, he would cross off the corresponding debt.


    Elijah had enough integrity to be straightforward and honest about this part.


    There was no point in doing business anymore if he didn''t have this level of sincerity. Or no trust would be built and no business would be done.


    Master Giovanni had revealed pretty much everything by the end.


    The situation with TWO.


    Them being two people in total.


    One who went by the name of TWO, that was the one whom he epted as a disciple.


    And another whose name was not given to him.


    One of a much higher caliber than himself.


    Master Giovanni didn''t find it shameful to admit that he had lost.


    Not only that, but he also admitted that his system had been hacked into, but Elijah didn''t mind too much.


    Master Giovanni had told Elijah that the other party was trying to get his niece''s information at that time.


    And at the end, because there were still a few things left on the list, Master Giovanni even had to borate on just how exactly that talk with that person who was stronger than himself went about.


    Even after all that, there were still two more things on the list, those being the two biggest debts that Master Giovanni owed the other party.


    He still couldn''t get away from this kid Elijah because of them, and thus his previous dreams were crushed.


    "Do you want me to connect my disciple with you? Surely you can cross off those two matters with this favor, no?"


    Master Giovanni asked without much hope in his eyes.


    "Do you mean to say that your brother''s reputation and safety are only as important as your connection to your disciple?"


    Elijah''s brow lifted a bit, but he quickly moved on so as to not really offend the elder.


    "I don''t need it."


    "?"


    "I mean to say that there will be no need for you to connect me to your disciple, I have no interest in contacting TWO as of right now."


    Elijah pondered for a bit.


    It seemed like he didn''t put the matter about M and TWO at a very high level of importance, but he still cared enough about it to chat with him for over an hour, nearing two.


    Only people close enough to him and with enough updates on his matter would know how desperately Elijah had been looking for this character.


    Then he stood up while Master Giovanni followed suit near instinctively.


    "Our chat has already extended way past the time initially allocated for this matter, but I do have to admit that this information was quite useful."


    "How about we make another appointment when we both have time? I''ll lead you to the door." Elijah smiled amicably.


    He had clearly left the old man with no other choice, yet he still spoke so politely as if he were respecting the elder... not wanting to waste the old man''s precious time.


    Master Giovanni huffed, knowing exactly what Elijah was thinking.


    He left without waiting for Elijah to take him to the door and right before he closed the door behind himself, he waved the paper with a bunch of crosses and two lines of text that could still be read, saying, "even if youe to meter saying that I have more debts on events before today''s date, as long as they are not written on this paper right now, I won''t admit it!"


    *m*


    Elijah smiled wryly, but he let the matter go in the end.


    He did indeed have more things to add, but there was no point hanging on the matter, he had gotten what he wanted and this information was more than enough to satisfy his appetite for the following days.


    Elijah sat back down, now in an even more rxed, yet contemtive manner.


    He moved his head so it leaned on the top of the couch''s headrest before sighing.


    "M, I''ve finally gotten one step closer to you."


    His hand reaching out to grab the thin air above him.

 Chapter 157 - Getting Closer To M Pt VII: (Future Plans)

    Elijah sat in silence for an unknown amount of time.


    His eyes were shut, but the contemtive look didn''t leave his face.??


    Not a moment after his sharp eyes opened, his hand reached for a call button underneath the surfaceyer of his armrest.


    A few keys were dialed and a voice was directly transmitted to Elijah''s Bluetooth earphone.


    One that couldn''t be seen if you weren''t close enough or paying enough attention while using a magnifying ss with 20/20 vision.


    These were the kinds that could escape all kinds of detection devices.


    The first to speak was Elijah, who didn''t want to hear any pleasantries at the moment.


    "Put on hold project X20Xn3 until further notice and be ready for termination at all times. Be sure to contact all the relevant departments of this matter. I''ll give you the rest of the day"


    "Got it, Boss!"


    The other side did not question anything at all.


    He didn''t have the time for that nonsense!


    His brain had instantly scanned through the currently ongoing projects that he had supervision over as well as their codes, locating the one his Boss was talking about.


    That is until he realized that that wasn''t even necessary.


    This was therge-scale project under his supervision that was always on his mind, even when it wasn''t.


    The one whose code he had memorized backward and forwards in his sleep.


    More urately, in his nightmares.


    It was a true nightmare the number of angry people he had to deal with for this mission.


    People telling him that he was trash for not even being able to distinguish the true difficulty of this project and of course, people asking forpensation for their losses.


    In the end, they weren''t wrong, but it also wasn''t wrong that he wanted to live and that his Boss didn''t want topensate for their unending mental trauma, the same people that seemed to have forgotten that they had gotten an F in acting ss, F as in Fake as $hit.


    He didn''t even want to think about the number of contracts he had to write up for this mission alone.


    In other words, tons of people to contact, not all of them being incredibly reasonable!


    Even though he wanted to know why this long-term project that had gone on for years was nearing termination so quickly, he only had the rest of the day to contact all the internal employees working on this and all the people they had contracted from the outside.


    Not only was the number of people ridiculous, but a lot of the people whom they contracted from the outside also had certain working hours and habits... such as being out of range for a week or two.


    He didn''t even want to think about the number ofints either, much less talk about how long he would take to cate every single one of them.


    He had no time to waste here!


    Not only that, but he didn''t dare ask Boss for more time.


    That was a great taboo.


    If he had given this amount of time, then it meant that it was possible in this amount of time.


    If he couldn''t do it, then it meant his skills weren''t up to par.


    The only issue in this logic was that the Boss would use his own skills as a standard. Wuuwuu TT_TT


    When was his skill ever going to be up to par?


    If only he worked somewhere more normal, maybe then all he would have to worry about would be remembering the emails of everyone he wanted to contact.


    Butttttt nooooooo!


    Damn it.


    He could only hope not tog too much.


    He could just see his foreboding future of mental training if he couldn''t even do this!


    Elijah hummed and dropped the call, looking very serious.


    Inwardly he was actually thinking of somethingpletely different than what his outward appearance might imply.


    ''See, even he can remember which project X20Xn3 is, I knew it wasn''t a problem about the naming style, it must have just been that old man''s dementia acting up. I''ve clearly told him about this mission before.''


    ''It seems like there is no need to change the mission names¡­''


    Elijah''s poor subordinate didn''t know that he had just missed a golden opportunity to finally get rid of these crappy names, in exchange for something, anything (!), more memorable.


    It could even be called mission rabbit, or mission frog for all these people cared, as long as they didn''t have to spend another second memorizing and differentiating between RSu0lo and RrsUi0, etc.


    It was fine for these underlings to memorize 1-3 missions, the ones they were part of.


    But for the higher-ups who had to memorize up to 30 different random strings ofbinations of uppercase, lowercase, and numbers, now that was torturous.


    Especially when these missions were being cleared and more were being assigned every day.


    Elijah put that thought aside for a moment.


    He was thinking about his next ns.


    Master Giovanni had thought that the information about TWO was the most valuable to Elijah, but that wasn''tpletely true.


    Of course, his curiosity led him to want to know just how many people TWO wasposed of as well as who this other person who Master Giovanni, along with a whole other group of Masters and even hackers a step into the Grandmaster level wasn''t able to defeat.


    But that wasn''t his ultimate goal.


    Though he had originally set the n as getting information on M, that was no longer an efficient route.


    Not unless he somehow managed to get the Grandmaster hacker of the Association to do him a favor with only an estimated 20% chance of sess, 75% of a deadlock (tie), and a 15% chance of a loss. ording to the information they had up until now.


    Those weren''t statistics he was willing to bet on because he would be rming the other side with loud sirens if he did so.


    Not only that, but the Grandmaster of the association wouldn''t take into ount whether he seeded or not in the mission when it came time to pay up, only on the skill level of the opponent.


    If he ended up losing, that wasn''t a price Elijah was willing to gamble with.


    Of course, there was the option of asking TWO about M directly, but that had an even lower chance of sess, a chance hovering around 0.001% seeing as he had only just epted Master Giovanni as his Master, while TWO''s loyalty towards M was well known.


    In fact, TWO nearly never interacted with any jobs that weren''t rted to M, at least not that they knew of.


    Elijah would only be scaring this good prey away, an amateur move he would never do.


    After all, though a connection to TWO wasn''t particrly useful to him right now, that wouldn''t be the same in the future.


    As for what was really the most valuable piece of information he had obtained in this talk with Master Giovanni... it was in fact something that Master Giovanni had said in the very beginning.


    Before they even started recording with the sheet of paper to even out the debt.


    Of course, Elijah still crossed something out for the old man, he was an old customer after all.


    And that was the fact that TWO was looking into information about Master Giovanni''s niece.


    Not only that, but he had also said that he was backing off since there was nothing wrong with it.


    Of course, there was nothing wrong with the information about Margo Lenin, but there sure was something wrong with the fact that TWO, someone well known for only looking into information and hacking people for M, to look into this personage, only to be doing what seemed to be a simple background check.


    It was clear that he did not have any serious grudges against Margo nor real ill intent.


    Otherwise, there was no way someone of TWO''s caliber would randomly get Margo''s uncle to be his mentor with a real title as well as some level of authority over himself.


    There was no need to corner himself like that.


    Everything else was quite straightforward from there.


    Elijah could see all the possible paths this could take in the future, and he didn''t mind any of them.


    It could be that it was just TWO looking into this person for personal reasons.


    That would lead him to believe that TWO had some connections to Margo Lenin, and if he approached this issue from this angle, it wouldn''t be too bad to have another ''fated connection'' with this hacker who was oh, so close, to the person he was looking for.


    And even better yet would be if M himself (gender unknown) asked TWO to do this task.


    That would be the breaking point for his investigation in his pursuit of this mysterious character.


    Real, significant, documentable progress.


    Worst-case scenario, TWO had only looked into this person on a whim.


    Even then, Elijah could put all his efforts into investigating who Margo Lenin had been in contact with for the past 3-6 months, both online and in the real world.


    In other words, some more hacking and a some-more tricking information out of Master Giovanni.


    Something along the lines of: "h, h, h. Oh right, about the situationst time, has everything been dealt with? Oh you already asked your niece? How did that go?"


    And honestly, with Master Giovanni''s rather easily instigated nature in a chaotic state of mind, instantly making him many levels more talkative, it wouldn''t be weird if he started rambling on his own.


    Once his need to talk about it with someone was poked at, Elijah could cut him a deal that would be beneficial to both sides.

 Chapter 158 - Master Pt I: (Maverick)

    Liam, who had just been called in by Elijah, came in with a cup of coffee for his Boss.


    Elijah took two big gulps, nearly emptying out half of the mug brought to him, yet this action still looked rather elegant when done by this handsome young man.??


    Liam looked at this sight and couldn''t help but sigh inwardly.


    His boss''s figure just looked too much like a mix between a mafia gang leader and a high aristocratic son.


    It was disturbing to Liam, as a male of the same species, that even after having been his boss''s assistant for years, he still couldn''t get used to his boss''s mesmerizing and imposing looks.


    This was too sad.


    We are all human and all male. So why the f**k is the difference so big? :)


    Anyways, it only got worse the older Elijah got.


    It was still okay when Elijah was a kid, but then he became a teenager.


    His gics as one from the ***** family had long determined that he would grow up in size and build at a much faster pace than a normal child.


    Now that Liam looked at his boss, he could definitely pass as a 21-year-old at the minimum, while he could pass as a 27-year-old if he released his aura.


    In fact, if he released his aura, the vast majority of the people, wouldn''t even be able to look at him properly enough to determine his age, ultimately assuming he was much older than he really was.


    In reality, their Boss hadn''t evene of age!


    [Theye of age at 21 in his country and one can start working at 14, of course there at exceptions to the rule.]


    He was still 18, yet he didn''t look a bit like it.


    At least from an outsider''s perspective.


    Anyways, Liam stopped paying these wandering thoughts any mind seeing as nothing would bare of them.


    "Boss, are you going to make your move now?"


    Elijah put his empty mug down, basking in the bitter taste that made him feel alive.


    "I''ll start phase two when Hees to find me."


    Elijah could wait.


    He matter-of-factly responded as if it were the most no-nonsense thing he had ever said in his life.


    Liam stopped for a bit to catch up to his Boss''s train of thought before nodding.


    ''I have no f**king clue what you mean, but okay.''


    He smiled calmly as if this were an everyday urrence.


    Which it was. :)


    ***


    As for who Elijah was talking about, the man whose call he was waiting for at the moment, that man would be Maverick Lenin, who more widely went by Mav.


    Giovanni Lenin''s youngest brother.


    He was the kind of figure that had enough power to be able to hide in the shadows.


    After such a big event, it was only natural that Giovanni would first and foremost inform his younger brother, the one whose daughter was directly involved in this matter.


    And just as Elijah predicted, at this moment the old man, Master Giovanni, was making the call.


    This much was well within his expectations.


    If Elijah''s luck was good, then by the end of the day, Elijah would be doing the other party a favor by assisting them in the search for M.


    Of course, that was the best-case scenario that had quite a low probability of urring.


    What Elijah was really aiming for, was for the other party to contact him first.


    But in this scenario, Elijah actually didn''t dare say that his thoughts were foolproof nor that things would go his way.


    Maverick was not one to be tricked like Master Giovanni.


    No, he was much, much sharper.


    Elijah knew this fact well, all too well.


    If he was going to contact Elijah, then he would already know Elijah''s thoughts.


    This is why Elijah hadn''tplicated things.


    He was rather straightforward in his intentions because there was really no point in plotting here if all his intentions were going to be seen through by the other party.


    At least he could make a better impression if he didn''t give chase and run around in circles with the man old enough to be his father.


    Just from his lifestyle and job, one could tell that this man wasn''t particrly fond of mind games, or else he might have followed his second elder brother into the political field and brought the whole Lenin family into a whole new level in the political world.


    But that didn''t mean that the man didn''t excel at it.


    When it came to mind games, Elijah wasn''t particrly confident against Maverick, rather he knew that he wouldn''t be able to hide his thoughts from him.


    The world didn''t know, but he knew.


    He knew that if Maverick was second, then there probably wouldn''t be a first in anything that the man wanted to do.


    Others could spend decades learning something only to end up not as good as a month''s work from Mav.


    He was a man of talent.


    His only w was hisck of ambition for such things.


    If you could call it a w at all.


    At least Maverick didn''t think it was.


    As someone with an unmeasurable IQ, Maverick was in fact, a man of many emotions, and one who liked to proactively show them too.


    Elijah found it fascinating, but he felt like he couldn''t do the same, not in this lifetime, and probably not in the next either.


    That was why Elijah adopted another tactic when it came to dealing with him.


    He would always make sure that even if Mav knew what he was thinking, the man would still go with his flow.


    Then again, when it came to him, one never knew.


    ***


    "What''s up Eldest Brother? Am I going crazy, or did you not just call me yesterday? To think that the day woulde where my Eldest Big Bro would spare me some time two days in a row! Wait, wait, wait, give me one second¡­"


    The man on the other side said in a light and yful tone.


    The sound of rummaging could be heard before the same man spoke again with a scarily serious tone.


    "I must go see my weather satellites; I think that the world may be ending by the time you drop the call¡­"


    Maverick burst intoughter.


    Master Giovanni, who had yet to get a word in since the call started relented and admitted his wrongdoings immediately so that he could go into the main topic sooner.


    But not before he did his iconic synchronized eye and lip twitch.


    "I get it, I get it Mav. I''ll be sure to call more when I have time," he coaxed.


    Maverick was still their family''s youngest before they all went out and had children with the exception of Giovanni, so Giovanni still had the habit of giving in to this youngest brother of his.


    Maverick sighed and said, "you know I''d be happy if you just dropped thatst part. I know you never have time, but I wish you would make some."


    "I''m not young anymore, and you''re not either, Second Brother is always busy, but he also wants to get a call every once in a while, you know? Much less mom and dad," it was still in the same yful voice, but Maverick''s tone told Giovanni that he was 100% serious on this matter.


    And he wasn''t wrong either.


    Their parents indeed weren''t young anymore, and neither was Giovanni.


    It was about time that they reconciled¡­well, it was about time 25 years ago.


    But Giovanni couldn''t bring himself to be the first to give in.


    The problem was that, though he was an old and stubborn man, his father was an even older and stubborner man.


    "I''ll think about it," was all he could muster after a moment of silence.


    Maverick sighed.


    This wasn''t the ce for him to intervene, but he couldn''t help it.


    "Big Brother, I know this is very hard for you, but I just hope that you won''t end up regretting anything in the future."


    He didn''t want things to be toote when his Big Brother finally thought things through.


    And Giovanni understood this point too.


    Only sometimes, he was so immersed in the escapism in front of him, with his head lowered in front of his screen that he found it hard to look around him when ignoring problems got addictive.


    "Okay then, you should think about it, but before that, why don''t you tell me why you called? Though I wish I could confidently say that it was because you missed me, I also don''t want to delude myself," Maverick asked.


    Though Mav was not young anymore, his spirit was still as young as ever.


    He could always lighten up the mood and crack a joke whenever he felt like it.


    Master Giovanni suddenly felt old byparison.


    "Yes, this is indeed about a very important matter," Giovanni exined.


    "It hurts me that you''ll only call for very important matters¡­ but do tell," Maverick said as if he was about to shed some tears.

 Chapter 159 - Master Pt II: (Youve Learned Well...)

    "Mav, please, this is serious," Master Giovanni had zero defenses against his little brother.


    If he wanted to talk about everything and nothing for the next 2 hours, then he would be able to do nothing about it.??


    Thus is the fate of a big brother. ¡¥_(?????)_/¡¥


    "Fine, fine. I''ll zip my mmMm," Mav had already zipped his lips with a movement of his hand, not able to finish the rest of his sentence.


    Master Giovanni sighed, even though his little brother was not too much younger than himself, (in Master Giovanni''s mind, there''s not much of a difference between the ages between 45 to 65, at that age, it''s all the same, or so he tells himself) Mav still had such a youthful vitality and spirit.


    It was quite admirable and enviable


    Master Giovanni was envious, but not jealous. There''s a difference.


    It wasn''t as if he would hate someone just because he was envious of what they had.


    "It''s like this..."


    [Let us all skip the tedious, repetitive, and zealous exnation part. ;)]


    [30 minutester, after the whole story was recounted from beginning to the end (probably missing some parts since the old man filtered through the information)]


    "MMmmMMMMmmMMM?" Maverick spoke with his lips still sealed.


    Master Giovanni''s eye twitched.


    He finally realized why he hadn''t been interrupted once in the whole duration of his conversation (more like a monologue) despite there being quite a few pieces of information, that in his opinion were rather shocking and needed further exnation.


    It was because his little brother had picked up some new ways to entertain himself.


    "Yes... you can talk again."


    He had already guessed what his brother was trying to say with those hums of his.


    Maverick on the other side could be heard releasing a great big breath of air in a silly manner before asking his question.


    But his question was not one that his Big Brother could anticipate.


    "So, isn''t everything solved?" Maverick sounded truly confused and a little indignant.


    It was as if he were saying, if things are already solved, then why are you spending (wasting) so much of our precious call time talking about it?


    Master Giovanni was both dumbfounded and speechless.


    If he didn''t tell his little brother... then who else would he tell?


    "Well, it''s solved, but not really, right?"


    Master Giovanni sounded like he was questioning himself more than he was questioning Maverick.


    "Dear eldest brother of mine, from your tone, it sounds like you really want me to do something about this matter," Maverick teased.


    Mav didn''t have to wonder what that kid had told his older brother to make him like this nor what tactics he had used.


    After hearing what his brother had to say about his disciples and their assigned mission with 0 progress after 7 months, he was rather clear about the general urrences.


    Especially since he too had used all those tactics before.


    But he was neither bothered nor upset after having seen through Elijah.


    "Hm, that does seem to be the case, but should we at least know who it is that is looking into my niece?" Master Giovanni rationalized his own words.


    "But didn''t you just tell me that your disciple-to-be has close connections to this person?"


    Maverick was trying to hint at Master Giovanni so that he could get there himself.


    This person''s intentions were clearly not leaning towards the negative side, in fact, they might even have a rather good impression of his daughter considering everything that happened.


    After all, they don''t seem to have to rely on his big brother.


    As for worrying about people going through his daughter to get to him, he had no such worries.


    He was just a rather normal person with a fancy hobby, what did he have to worry about?


    Even if things happened, Maverick was normally the type to let it happen and just deal with it after it did.


    He wasn''t worried about insufficient preparations.


    All in all, taking action with Elijah would be normally an unfavorable choice.


    At least that would be true if it were anyone else.


    Clearly, things were different if it were that boy.


    "Won''t it still be good to know though? It''s not impossible, right?"


    Master Giovanni''s stubbornness was showing.


    Maverick smiled on the other side, but the meaning behind that smile was unknown.


    Why was his eldest brother so innocent?


    "Big Brother, do you have anything against this M person?"


    Maverick questioned once again.


    This time Master Giovanni pondered for a while longer.


    Though he was stubborn, he knew that his little brother wouldn''t be so insistent on asking if there weren''t some big issues here.


    "I guess¡­not?"


    Master Giovanni suddenly had an inkling of what his little brother was trying to insinuate, but he didn''t seem to be able to catch it enough to put it in words or meanings.


    "Then do you think there is a need to put yourself in danger to know more about someone that even that Elijah boy has trouble messing with? If you just nurture that disciple of yours, won''t you know about what you want to know sooner orter?" Maverick didn''t say too much, but just enough to get his Big Brother thinking.


    In the end, Mav didn''t point out how the only reason why his Big Brother even cared about this dangerous figure was due to the fact that Elijah purposefully gave his disciples a death mission.


    Sigh.


    He still had to leave the boy some face, even if he didn''t want his Big brother to be tricked by him so easily.


    At least, next time, Big Bro would put up some more fight, right? Even if the oue were the same¡­ <3


    "That does sound about right¡­ then Mav, what are you going to do now? Just wait, and see?" Master Giovanni was somewhat, but not totally convinced.


    "Of course not!"


    Maverickughed light heartedly


    "I''ll be calling Elijah! I haven''t checked up on him for a while and he seems to be missing me."


    Master Giovanni was dumbfounded.


    He didn''t understand, but since Mav said so, then it must be so.


    "Didn''t you say that we shouldn''t get involved?"


    This was Master Giovanni''s final attempt at getting some equilibrium in his heart as well as some answers for his mind.


    "Well, shouldn''t is one thing."


    "Of course, the reasonable and logical thing is to stop here and not get involved any further. But humans aren''t exactly logical¡­ after survival instincts, one is also very much guided by curiosity."


    And it seems that curiosity is what Elijah had bet on.


    Maverick''s interest in this matter would be the only thing that could lead him to seek Elijah out knowing full well that that was what Elijah wanted.


    And to do that, of course, Elijah had to pique the man''s interest.


    ''Ah, I''ve taught the kid too well,'' Mav mused, ''now he''s even using me.''


    "Alright then," Master Giovanni relented with no more words to say.


    He was about to drop the call right thereafter saying his goodbyes, but there was really no way in hell that Maverick would allow that to happen.


    The call dragged on for another hour and a half with the support of Mav''s conversational skills before Master Giovanni finally used the excuse of wanting to go to sleep early.


    Otherwise, he really wouldn''t dare drop the call on Mav, or he would probably be in the next time he called.


    As for the call that Maverick was going to make to Elijah, that could wait.


    ***


    Maverick finally dropped the call after conversing about everything and nothing with his big brother.


    Even though to others, these interactions may seem insignificant at times, to Mav, these were his most precious memories, especially when their family was always quite separate, with the others only visiting him every once in a while.


    As for going to visit the others, Mav didn''t want to impose too much.


    "Well then, should I call that boy now or should I make him wait a bit longer?" Maverick spoke to no one in particr.


    "Well, I do seem to have neglected the child for quite a while."


    So much so that even the obedient kid started throwing a tantrum.


    A tantrum that involved 7 months of nning¡­


    "I guess it may be an issue if I haven''t spoken to him in over 7 months though."


    Maverickughed, realizing that he indeed may have some fault here.


    "Then I shouldn''t make him wait too much¡­ that would be the right thing to do."


    ***


    "Hello Elijah boy, did you miss me so much that you had to send your Uncle Gio to call me?"


    Maverick smiled and asked.


    "I don''t know what you mean. I too was about to ask you why you had called today. I even went to get the calendar to make sure I hadn''t missed any special asions and dates¡­" Elijah lifted an eyebrow at the man, which Maverick couldn''t see, but he still imagined.


    This was one of his ticks.


    "¡­but seeing as it is not any special date, I can only imagine that it is the end of the world soon for you to have found some time toe talk to me like this. Have you checked the satellite yet?" Elijah asked amicably, speaking as if this were truly just small talk.


    "My my, knowing that you don''t have any cameras, video, or audio feed of my ce, I can only say that you have learned well my disciple," Maverick said bemusedly.


    "Thank you, Teacher, or should I call you Master?"


    Elijah snorted.


    ***


    P.S.


    (Elijah and Maverick are not father and son...)

 Chapter 160 - Master Pt III: (Deciding Factor, Yes!)

    Somewhere else, another Master-disciple pair were having a much more harmonious... interaction.


    Emilin released a sigh after everything was over and wished his big brother all the best before disconnecting.??


    "Are you really Master M?" Levi ask again cautiously so that his boss wouldn''t have to do so.


    Xander''s gaze that hadn''t left Emilin showed how he too was awaiting a response.


    Emilin looked at them both before responding.


    "Yes, I am indeed M."


    Emilin didn''t intend to hide anything, and she didn''t find it strange at all that they were shocked.


    In this situation, it would be best if she gave them some time right?


    "Oh...," Xander looked down at his own hands as if counting with them before his eyes widened.


    *Cough* *Cough*


    The remaining water and saliva were coughed out by Xander and he seemed out of breath.


    "So you were 5?"


    This was a little too absurd.


    This feeling could not bepared to the one he felt just a few moments ago when he figured that TWO was eight years old when they first met.


    Xander had once thought that he was a genius, but now he understood how others felt when looking at him, feeling as if they were still a kid ying in the mud.


    "Yeah, it took quite a while for me to be able to start typing things with those stubby fingers of mine back then. Those reports were a pain to write," Emilin''s face darkened in disdain for those hands of hers that failed to type properly before much practice.


    (?_?;)


    Xander: How am I supposed to respond to that?


    Xander: I have finally realized how unqualified I am to humblebrag. What to do now?


    Xander: Is this the difference between a miniboss and the final boss?


    Xander put how his fingers in defeat.


    Wait.


    Defeat?


    Why should I feel defeated?


    Nonono.


    This isn''t the time to feel defeated, but rather overjoyed, right?


    Indeed it was, rather than feeling defeated, Xander realized that he should be over the moon!


    [Prime example of female mood swings.]


    It was only natural that his future Master was better than him!


    It just meant that he would have to work even harder so that the disciple could finally surpass the Master one day.


    Even if that day wouldn''t being any time soon.


    Xander could only trust his own talent.


    "Then about the ceremony tomorrow... are there any specific ns?"


    Xander continued to ask.


    Emilin pondered for a bit.


    "Actually, now that I think about it, the ceremony is dispensable in this case scenario..."


    A question mark floated above both Xander and Levi''s heads.


    ?


    "Well, I''m meaning for you to be my sessor, not my inheritor, so no ceremony, for now, should be just fine right? Not to mention this since this is the case, it would probably be more convenient for you to seed my name after you have assimted all the knowledge from the folders."


    "That is if you are willing."


    Emilin kept borating as this was an issue that she had only thought of right now after Theodore took in another Master as his teacher.


    It was only now that she had realized the difference between some of these procedures.


    When epting a disciple, as a Master, there was habitually a ceremony to officialize the event.


    Simr to a marriage, this has no real significance when ites to the procedural parts, but is normally not skipped.


    Not unless there were special circumstances such as that of his brother''s where the two parties didn''t want to meet each other face to face.


    [AN: My god, when I read thatst part again while editing, I imagined marriage in another 20-30 years when people wouldn''t even want to meet each other when getting married¡­]


    But now what Emilin was talking about was a whole other case.


    "Ma-Master! You''ve already reached the Grandmaster level?!"


    Xander was stunned and stuttered a little.


    Though he had strongly considered this possibility in the past, when he looked at the rather slender, small (really not that small though), and young girl in front of him...


    The description didn''t fit!!!


    Have you ever seen a 15-year-old grandmaster?


    And in a field like medicine!


    Frick, all the other grandmasters were already one foot into death''s door.


    [Tincally, Emilin had once put in both feet but isn''t it as simple as stepping out? But let''s ignore that for now.]


    "Well, yes and no. I''ll go get the certifications next time, but you haven''t answered my question yet."


    When Xander finally escaped from the buzz in his head that came after the revtion, telling him he was going crazy, he thought back.


    What question was it again?


    If he was willing to be Master- no- Grandmaster M''s sessor?


    Yes!


    Yes!


    Yes!


    A million times yes!


    If anyone says no to an offer like this, then they can just go fly to the heavens!


    Those were probably only the people who were certain they could make an even bigger name for themselves, not wanting to seed their teacher''s title.


    Most of them being a little too arrogant for their own good.


    But by the time the adrenaline stopped rushing through Xander''s head, he realized that he hadn''t spoken yet despite having said yes so many times in his head.


    "Oh, no. I mean yes! I meant oh, no I haven''t said anything yet, but the answer is yes."


    Loading bar...


    "Okay then."


    "Wait, but Master, don''t I have to at least be a Master too to be able to seed you?"


    Though Xander was close, that didn''t mean he was at that point yet.


    There was a grand chasm between doing something and almost doing something.


    "Don''t we have plenty of time?"


    Emilin sounded indifferent yet to Xander, that voice contained so much faith!


    It was as if she were saying, you''ll get there at some point right?


    I can wait.


    If this were said by anyone else, Xander might have just humblebragged a little, but he wouldn''t have taken it to heart.


    He generally ignored people who said: Ah! I''m sure you''ll be a master sooner orter!


    But this wasing from his teacher so it waspletely different!


    Still, Xander was still quite startled.


    Masters would take in a number of disciples, depending on the amount of time they had as well as their personal preferences and avable candidates.


    But those were all people who may or may not bepeting for their Master''s inheritance.


    Everything they leave behind, property, money, their knowledge, and their secret techniques.


    On the other hand, a Grandmaster was different.


    A Grandmaster could leave behind their name if they found a suitable candidate who was at a minimum of a Master level.


    This was their name, their title, their reputation, and their people''s faith in the Grandmaster''s skills being passed on to their disciple.


    This was clearly because people didn''t want to watch the decline of a title/ name just because the sessor was someone who wasn''t qualified to pass down those techniques.


    It was a rather simple matter.


    People didn''t want the information to be lost due to human selfishness.


    Especially when every piece of information from a Grandmaster could heed in a breakthrough.


    But then again, of course, Grandmasters could still do whatever they liked in the end, it wasn''t like they could be easily forced.


    It was in general, condemned by the people who understood enough to know what it meant.


    As a show of respect to their industry, Grandmasters wouldn''t usually do such a thing.


    Of course, it wasn''t just once or twice that a government had to do an ''inspection'' and ransacking of a Grandmaster''s house looking for documents in the name of public justice or some other sh*tty excuse.


    There were also a lot of Grandmasters who actively looked for people who could carry their name in the future with no results.


    In the end, many of them either donated their research, sold it, giving the money to their family, or went to the association to make an inheritance with specific requirements that future generations could try and ess.


    The third type was in the minority as the process was a tedious one.


    The second one was even more so since Grandmasters generally did notck money with abundant government funding and patent money from various counties (Of course this is only in the fields of research and not business-rted ones, when ites to those this is not urate).


    And thus the most frequent urrence was the first, with many donating the research topanies or organizations they were familiar with or connected to.


    But all in all, these sessors were different from normal inheritors.


    And sessors were normally only chosen after a long time of observation with many Grandmasters wanting to choose from multiple disciples.


    It was only natural that Xander would be shell-shocked to know that (Grand)Master M had already decided on him to be her sessor.


    That meant that he was going to be the second-generation M!


    Being called M when he officially seeded the title.


    And though it didn''t seem like too much as of now, Xander knew that in the future, the weight of this title would only grow and not diminish.


    However, what he didn''t know was that he was so easily determined to be the sessor because Emilin couldn''t possibly bother looking for another person to take up this job, wanting to wash clean from the work as fast as possible.


    Oh, and um, that and her great confidence in Xander¡­ right, that.


    Yes, her confidence in him was really the deciding factor!

 Chapter 161 - Friends Pt I: (Routine)

    In the following two weeks, many things happened.


    Emilin had already taken Xander in as her disciple, grooming him to be her sessor and carrier of her burdens which included 15 new files of documents every three weeks.??


    On the other hand, she had also taken this time to ept Grace''s offer, epting her as her teacher in the art of... conning?


    The job description was flexible.


    In Emilin''s mind, Grace was really teaching her how to be a normal person.


    Though Emilin knew that Grace may not be the exact definition of a normal person, she might be quite taken aback by how far off the mark she really was.


    Either way, though they said it was a teacher-student rtionship, Grace and Emilin really acting much more like friends, just one of them had more experience in certain areas than the other.


    After that, they determined that whenever Emilin went to Mason''s workspace, she could see the makeup process first before moving on to watch the shooting process afterward.


    It was somewhat (not really though) systematic.


    In this time Emilin had also realized that though Lisa, Mason''s assistant, always said that Mason''s schedule was full to the brim, a lot of this time was filled with "looking for inspiration."


    Thus, Emilin didn''t really have that much to do.


    After a week, Emilin had developed somewhat of a schedule, one that she also followed for the following week.


    It went something like this...


    Wake up around 6-7 to then clean up etc.


    Exercising with taichi after a jog from 7-9


    Taking a shower before going across the street to the cat caf¨¦ where Xander would have already been since around 7 to answer his questions and doubts and giving short lessons while also ying around with the cats from 9-12


    Going to the studio/ office after lunch at the cat caf¨¦ at 13 if there is something going on there and staying at the cat cafe if there isn''t.


    Leaving around 19 depending on her mood and the circumstances.


    Then Emilin would call her family while eating dinner if there was nothing else and surf the inte before going to sleep.


    On Mondays, that was also the time she allocated herself to deal with everything she had to deal with in the outside world with those messy businesses of hers.


    As for the office, the people there had already gotten used to Emilin''s presence and they got more familiar with her after a few days, even though she wasn''t particrly talkative when they weren''t working.


    At least she was enthusiastic.


    Everyone there greeted her when she came and left, and to Emilin, that was already quite satisfying.


    If there was no photo shoot going on, Emilin would normally leave earlier after talking with Grace for a few hours with Noah asionally joining in.


    Well, the other two were the ones doing most of the talking at first, but Emilin was learning a whole lot in the process.


    Every once in a while, when they were talking about things she knew and understood, she would also join in with some of her own insight.


    It was also because of that that both Noah and Grace realized that Emilin was really no normal character.


    After all, who the heck just randomly knows specific details of dozens of countries, can talk about cosmetic and medical products in-depth as well as mention a few side effects every once in a while, off the top of their head!


    That was apanied by some random terms that they had to search up mid-conversation.


    I mean seriously¡­


    Those terms just rolled off the tongue one after the other.


    And after learning a little more about Emilin''s rather inconspicuously shy character, the two were rather certain that Emilin wasn''t there just to put on a show, after all, if she were, she would probably be talking like that with every topic of conversation.


    Why else would she be silent, simply nodding her head and perking her ears when they were talking about what they had been doing.


    It was really nice to have a good listener who wanted to hear your life story okay?!


    Emilin only ever really spoke when she was certain of something or if it was just an opinion.


    Mostly the factual parts that really made Grace and Noah question what they had been doing with their whole lives.


    One dayst week, Noah was working on the homework he had been assigned by his tutor and Emilin just pointed out some mistakes in passing.


    A habit from back when she was still in school as it was also the only thing she had the confidence to say back then.


    It was also after that that Emilin promised to help these two with their homework and school stuff.


    Apparently, it wasn''t that Grace and Noah did not go to school, but rather that they brought the school to work due to their strong conviction to follow their own paths as well as their possession of parents who could barely control their own kids.


    There was a tacit agreement there.


    Either way, Grace and Noah had both proved themselves over the years.


    They weren''t doing poorly for themselves at work, and their school ranks weren''t too bad either.


    It''s just that it wasn''t as good as they could have been, which is where Emilin came in for the rescue.


    The real tacit agreement came in where the parents had to ignore all the times their child skipped school, which they were enrolled in, just to slouch around at Mason''s ce these days.


    It was okay if they had work that specific day, but really, sometimes they didn''t.


    So that was that.


    Slowly, Emilin was getting more and more familiar with the two, as well as a whole lot less nervous around them.


    All three of them talked freely and spoke about things that the others didn''t understand quite well while the others listened.


    That was why, though they didn''t have a whole lot of simr hobbies, they still had great chemistry.


    Because the other parties were very much willing to talk about and learn from the other, though there were some small quarrels and disputes here and there.


    After a while, even Emilin''s icy poker face naturally warmed up a few degrees when entering a room with any of the two inside.


    The progress she made was not due to sudden enlightenment or anything of the sort, but rather because Emilin had long been trying her best to open her heart, little by little, to the outsiders.


    Making them insiders like her family.


    But due to her environment where most people believed themselves to know the other, she really had no opportunity tomunicate with other people because they had all determined Emilin to be someone who didn''t like to speak to others.


    That was why she had no one to start from, no one to talk to around her age, despite being at a school.


    It didn''t matter if Grace and Noah were both 0-2 years older than her, Emilin had been spending years around people 3 years older than her anyways.


    As for the times where there were photoshoots, Emilin had been standing next to Mason absorbing information like a sponge.


    When it came to learning what she didn''t know, apparently she had no qualms about embarrassing herself by asking stupid questions at all.


    Her eyes sparkled.


    This was a new and novel experience for Emilin.


    After all, never had she known so little about something.


    Unable to even determine the ups and downs of photography.


    At some point though, she had to restrain herself a little as she was dying the photoshoot.


    Thankfully Mason didn''t pay too much mind, saying that it was helping him get some inspiration.


    As a Master, someone with great talent, Mason felt like he was learning from the ground up by teaching Emilin.


    He found that it wasn''t a bad idea to have allowed Emilin to stay, and he would find out in the future, that this choice may have been a whole lot more beneficial than he could have ever imagined.


    But that waster, now is now.


    Emilin was also providing some freebor so that she wouldn''t be too much of a burden on the others.


    There were still quite a lot of things that she could do, that others couldn''t, so she did her best to assist everyone while she was imposing on their wee.


    That was also why everyone got familiar with Emilin so quickly.


    They all found themselves thinking of her to be a good child.


    In this time, Emilin had learned more than she had in all 4 years of her high school (from 9th to 12th grade, for some school''s high school is from 10th to 12th, but that is not the case in the H¨¦ Continent, more specifically not in Polo.)


    Though of course, what she was learning was very different from what she was learning back in school.


    If we are going to be real here, to be fair, Emilin didn''t actually learn much of anything new back in high school, but that wasn''t the reason why she was going there anyway.


    Like her two other siblings, they had all tacitly agreed back then that they would rather live a normal life on the surface and spend their time properly with their normal family so that they wouldn''t be a screwed family.


    And that worked out fine.


    Kind of.


    Either way, even though Emilin was doing more menial and scattered work here and there, she found it a whole lot more enjoyable than sitting in ss at school back then.


    At least now she was learning, she was learning about every step it took to make a perfect photo shoot down to the smallestponent.


    Learning more about how she could better do what she wanted to do.


    But more importantly, she was also learning more about herself.

 Chapter 162 - Friends Pt II: (Shamelessness Knows No End...)

    "By the way, why are you still here?"


    An annoyed voice sounded from the young girl who held on to a small brush, working on the contour of another''s face.??


    "Didn''t you say that thest time you went to go meet your old man that you wouldn''t be able toe around as much anymore? Why do I seem to see you here more and more you lying bastard?"


    This was Grace with no filter.


    The recipient of her annoyance, the young man seated at the couch ying a game on his phone didn''t move his gaze from the ongoing game while responding.


    "That was true, now it''s not," he said casually.


    But before he could be scolded 6 feet under by the graceful youngdy''s poisonous tongue, he borated in his exnation, which distracted him from the game.


    "I made a deal with him that I would rank at least in the top 20 of my ss in the midterms in exchange for my freedom."


    Noah''s brows furrowed, and his hand speed increased as he was ying, but in the end, he still frustratedly put his phone down to look away from the screen that showed his failure.


    "When did this happen?" Grace asked, not remembering such an event.


    "After going to the old house that time around 2 weeks ago and agreeing to go to school more (aka. Skipping fewer sses), I came back a few more times, remember? It was onlyter on that I made such a promise. I mean, if you cannd in the top 25 every time with the amount of studying you do, surely the top 20 in another few months won''t be too hard right?"


    Noah said nonchntly.


    But still, it wasn''t as easy as he made it sound.


    Not at all¡­


    Their high school was an extremelypetitive one where many of the rich put their children in an attempt for their kin to outpete those of other conglomerates.


    The gloating of the parents with high-ranking students knew no end as their children basically represented the future of theirpany orpanies.


    Then again, there were also schrship students there to light up thepetitive spirits of the other students, so it wasn''t really just a school for the rich andzy.


    Though of course, the students there weren''t all the same.


    While those ranked at the bottom generally stayed at the bottom with no intention of working hard for grades, those at the top would very likely not budge in rank, no matter how under the weather they may be on testing day.


    This was a source of pride for many parents¡­ which wasn''t always very healthy for the students.


    Though of course, seeing as many of the top universities had taken the initiative to make a change, some of these high schools were slowly changing their ranking system as well, realizing that some things that were harder to measure, also had their own value.


    Up until now though, the rather rigid education system still found it rather hard to change the whole way they graded, and thus only some schools had implemented extra points for the children who excelled at prespecified extracurricrs.


    A list that was constantly changing with the addition of more and more skills.


    In had to be known that it was no easy task to change the education system, and the big moves from the top universities had greatly shaken the high schools below.


    Especially with therge high schools with great boards of education and directors with shares and interests other than the betterment of their student''s education and futures who found change hard to ept for fear of losing their ie.


    Still, if they didn''t make a change, the elite high schools who prided themselves for having students that could enter top universities would slowly fall behind, thus changes were still made.


    Though many of them still had the main subjects, other things were also put into consideration.


    That was one of the greatest reasons why Grace and Noah could still keep up with the rankings at their school.


    Though in the end, the weight of your grade in math, English, and the sciences as well as your electives still could not be forgotten as it was by no means negligible.


    To rise by even one rank in such apetitive school was already hard, yet Noah had promised his father he would do his best to rise in nearly 30 ranks.


    It was unknown what he had to put on the line for such a bet.


    Even so, he had some degree of confidence, most of which stemmed from the fact that Emilin, this studying god, was here.


    "So you made a deal with the devil himself? I recall you being stuck around the bottom of the top 50."


    Graceughed joyously in schadenfreude.


    Noah was unhappy.


    First, because he lost the game, and secondly because he was beingughed at.


    The worse part was that he couldn''t even retort because Grace, who was in the same school and grade as her had a higher ranking than himself.


    "Don''t worry, I''ll help you."


    This time it was the girl who sat in front of Grace who spoke.


    Noah''s face softened two degrees as he ignored Grace to thank the other person.


    "Thanks, WEIWEI, I''ll be counting on you for this one. If you don''t help me, I might really be doomed this time," Noahughed.


    "Can you stop teasing me already, I get it, I get it, I was being really dumb okay? I was young and naive and will you just stop already," Emilin pouted in dissatisfaction, which only made her look cuter from Grace''s perspective as the person currently doing her makeup.


    Even though she was supposed to scold Emilin for talking at this moment, she couldn''t get herself to do it at this critical instance.


    As for Noah, heughed again but he still conceded to coax the other party.


    "Fine, fine, that was thest time, I promise."


    And though that promise wasn''t very sincere, it was still enough to cate Emilin a little.


    In front of her first twopanions who she could really consider friends of around her age, of course, she would be a lot more lenient and epting.


    She was just messing around, not actually angry that the other teased her.


    Somehow, Emilin actually felt like this kind of teasing was much more intimate and friendly than hearing those words that were always kind and respectful.


    A special atmosphere that she hadn''t experienced before was created, simr to when their whole family would tease her Big Brother Theo together.


    That familiarity made Emilin particrly fond of these two people who could speak so casually around her.


    "Emilin, don''t bother with that bastard, all men are trash, you should just ignore them," Grace red at Noah before moving her gaze back at Emilin to do the finishing touches on her piece of art that was Emilin''s face.


    Noah''s eye twitched a little.


    Meanwhile, Emilin found those words eerily familiar as a sense of deja vu flooded her.


    Wasn''t that the exact same words that her brothers used to tell her?


    [Well the truth was, if Emilin were to ask them now, they would still be saying the same words, so those thoughts really shouldn''t be in the past tense.]


    And yes, she had just called her Emilin out loud.


    That was because two weeks back after Noah discovered that ''Weiwei'' was in fact Emilin from back then, he hade back a few times, even after his father had given him an ultimatum to go to school.


    Then, after a few days of observation, he had determined that it would be better to simply tell Emilin that he had already known the truth because he could tell that something was weighing on Emilin''s mind.


    I mean... at the beginning (before she fully got into character) she was flinching when called that nickname.


    Well, back then it was more like an alias, but ever since the two of them came clean, Noah just considered it like a nickname just between the three of them.


    One that he would use every once in a while to tease the seemingly cold, yet incredibly warm girl.


    Since then, he had already promised to stop calling her that around a dozen odd times, but as you can tell, well, all those promises weren''t kept.


    At this time, Noah still didn''t fully understand or incorporate the moral learned from the story of the boy who cried wolf.


    He didn''t realize that his word may decrease in value and credibility at this rate and he would sourly regret it in the future.


    But that would be a matter of the future, for now, all he had to concentrate on was the issue in front of him right now.


    He couldn''t be defamed and have the tag of a trashy bastard put on him so easily.


    "Hey! I''m not a man yet, just a handsome and mature boy so could you not trash my reputation? I can sue you, you know?" Noah said full of vigor as if his life were on the line with no shame.


    In front of someone who had no shame, one had to be equally, no, even more shameless.


    It was just that Noah still underestimated Grace''s true shamelessness.


    It was a shamelessness that knew no end.


    In a split second, Grace, who had been facing Noah with a violent expression turned around to Emilin.


    Her face changed in less than a millisecond to that of a pitiful, bullied youngdy.


    She even rubbed her head on Emilin''s shoulder like a cat and pulled on Emilin''s arm coquettishly.


    "Emilin, he''s bullying me! Do you hear his tone? He''s clearly threatening me! You have to uphold justice for me," Grace spoke like a weak, frail, white lotus.


    Noah''s eye twitched once again.


    How could he not know what was happening here?


    He was clearly being plotted against!


    This was just like the scene of the consort favored by the emperor trying to get rid of a pretty little flower that had been a thorn to her side with her years of experience.


    Completely trying to uproot the new beauty from the emperor''s harem.


    [Okay, I admit, that analogy was a little screwed up, but either way, the idea is still there.]


    It was unknown who was most pitiful out of the three.


    The one who was plotting.


    Grace acted oh so pitifully.


    The one who was being plotted against.


    Noah simply didn''t have the acting chops to deal with someone like Grace, who had been acting her whole life.


    Or the one who knew of all the plots but still could do nothing about it as she just wanted them to get along.


    Emilin wished she wouldn''t be constantly put in this position, but this was the fate of an emperor with one too many consorts...


    In the end, she could only pat the head of the girl who rubbed her shoulder due to the habit Emilin had gained after going to the cat cafe every day and sigh.

 Chapter 163 - Friends Pt III: (Sincerity And Affinity..)

    Emilin kept patting the Grace that leaned next to her before awkwardly saying, "I have to go to the bathroom..."


    Then she hurriedly ran off to the bathrooms outside, the ones next to the main lobby just a few rooms away.??


    She ran off so fast it was as if there were a great monster chasing her.


    The monster of a problem that couldn''t be solved.


    After Grace''s office''s room closed shut, the two people left inside burst intoughter in unison.


    "You scared her away with your terrifying acting. Just look at her, like a bunny she just jumped off to the farthest bathroom there is here."


    Noahined amidstughter.


    There was clearly a bathroom in Grace''s office that Emilin had used on multiple asions, yet in a moment of panic, not knowing what to do, she seemed to havepletely forgotten about this point.


    It was in moments like these that Emilin oftentimes disyed her social skills, or more likeck thereof.


    Grace moved to the couch to slouch on the armrest as one would on a pillow before sighing and ring at Noah again.


    "Isn''t it clearly your fault though? If you weren''t threatening me, then I wouldn''t have had to act like that. All because of you, my little cutie pie ran off!"


    Grace nagged like the unreasonable second-generation child of a big boss that spoils their kids.


    Noah''s eye twitched.


    "Would I have to have threatened you if you didn''t nder me?!"


    He was always rather restless with Grace when Emilin wasn''t here to keep a watch on her.


    It was rather simple logic.


    When Emilin was here, Grace would have better things to do than to look for every way to plot against himself.


    Plotting on how she was going to annoy him to death.


    It was actually a rather ingenious n, there would be no visible evidence or weapon and thus nothing to pinpoint the crime on her when he died.


    And so, in order to live a longer life, Noah hade up with two skills.


    One was of course to stay away, but that was only after his long-cultivated patience ran out.


    And from experience, Noah knew that even an ocean''s worth of patience would be quickly drained away when in this mighty being''s presence.


    What was worse was that his father dared to say that Grace was a good influence on him and that since he had met her a few years back, he had be a more sensible child!


    Wasn''t that just because after spending time with Grace, he was just way too fucking tired to argue with his father after he got home?


    How the heck was this being a good influence?


    And let''s just not talk about the way his parents interacted with Grace when they met at some event.


    Noah would seriously question whether Grace was in fact his parent''s true daughter, while he was picked up from some dumpster at a young age.


    The kind that you got from the buy 0 get 1 free section.


    Yeah, you know that section.


    And Grace.


    God, Grace.


    Her acting was Oscar-worthy.


    No morement.


    After spending so much time with both Emilin and Grace as well as with Grace in a good mood, he nearly forgot what her true form was like.


    She was a scheming little thing!


    "You can''t call it nder if it''s true! Don''t you think that all men are trash and that our baby Emilin should stay farther away from them? I only called you a bastard, everything else wasn''t even directed at you, yet you directly came to im the sins, don''t you think that you should examine your guilty heart?"


    Guilty heart my ass!


    Noah was speechless.


    Okay, he could admit that he wasn''t as proficient at word games, but did one have to be like this?


    He was being fucking yed again, how could one even make friends anymore?


    Seeing as Noah wasn''t speaking, Grace continued.


    "Or do you mean to say that you would rather more trashy men approach dear Emilin," Grace teasingly said, words filled with meaning.


    Noah was fuming, but now for different reasons.


    "I don''t understand what you mean..."


    Graceughed at the man in denial.


    This denial was really the greatest evidence of guilt.


    Any normal friend would probably just agree and move on to the next topic.


    What was the point of even denying such a statement if it''s just about someone you see as a friend?


    But then, Grace stoppedughing after realizing the other party was actually somewhat distraught.


    Noah sighed again.


    "What''s wrong, you better take the chance while Emilin is out to tell me, or if you keep keeping it in, you might explode one of these days," Grace said sincerely, but even then, she didn''t miss the chance to curse the other party.


    If it were anyone else, they might have gotten mad, but sadly enough, Noah was already used to it.


    Noah sighed again.


    After a moment of silence, he finally spoke.


    He didn''t suddenly talk about all his troubles and do an emotional dump on the spot, instead, he just asked a simple, yet somewhatplicated question.


    One that had been bugging him for a long time.


    "Grace, you tell me. Why do you think that, despite being such a reserved person, you are able to talk to and open up to Emilin so easily?"


    "Don''t you find it strange? Do you ever question yourself about it?"


    Yes, Noah just said that.


    Grace was in fact a reserved person, very, very reserved at that.


    Even more so than himself.


    Though Noah spoke to the people around him and disyed his social skills all the time, when it came to his private matters, he rather nearly never spoke to them to anyone he considered an outsider.


    Unlike many who are able to talk about their private matters to people they just met.


    At least he usually wasn''t like that.


    And for the seemingly outspoken Grace.


    The very same one who had no filter around Mason, Noah, and Emilin, she was even more reserved than he was.


    Yet in a time span of fewer than two weeks, it wasn''t just a handful of times that she had spoken about her private affairs with someone she had pretty much just met.


    Though Noah just went along with it, he still didn''t understand why it was as it was.


    Grace even oftentimes used the term "my" as in "my cutie pie" or "my dear".


    That single word made a whole world of difference, and Noah didn''t fail to catch it.


    Grace really took Emilin as one of her own, or at least even if she didn''t do it fully, she was already halfway there.


    But what troubled him wasn''t the fact that Grace opened up so easily.


    That was her own issue.


    As for the main reason he wanted to ask this question, that was of course because... he found himself to be in the exact same position.


    He too felt like he opened up too quickly.


    He truly didn''t understand why he was able to talk so unreservedly.


    For these reasons, Noah had in fact question himself over and over.


    He had even spoken about his father!


    But it was really much before that, from the first moment he locked eyes with the other party, he felt like he had no secrets worth mentioning.


    No, it was more like, no secrets worth keeping.


    That intense feeling that stifled his breath made his heartbeat and his adrenaline pump.


    That feeling was so mystical.


    But he couldn''t believe it himself.


    He felt like if the other party wasn''t tricking him, the only other option would be that he was deluding himself.


    How could there be something as paranormal as having your heartbeat for someone else with just one nce?


    That was absolutely absurd.


    So absurd he wouldn''t admit it to have happened.


    There had to be another reason.


    Then why was there something in himself that made him want to believe it?


    And thus, the question was proposed to Grace.


    "Why huh? Does there have to be a reason why?"


    The question dumbfounded Noah, and for a moment he couldn''t think of anything else.


    None of his messy thoughts clouded his judgment.


    Does there have to be a reason why?


    I guess not.


    But if this sounds so logical, why does there seem to be something wrong with logic?


    "I guess if you really want a specific reason, it would be that Emilin is sincere, and I feel like we have an affinity for each other."


    "It''s a horoscope thing, you wouldn''t understand," Grace said in all seriousness.


    Up until there, Noah had been somewhat convinced, but then it was as if someone had shown him reality after questioning him with the world''s most philosophical question.


    Why the fuck are you still listening to her?


    Horoscope my ass!


    For a second, Noah felt like he had just wasted all this time talking to a wall, but after he calmed down, he actually felt like Grace''s words made some sense.


    He must have gone crazy.


    Like totally cookoo.


    Okay, to be fair, it wasn''t the horoscope part, but the thing before that.


    The part about sincerity, and the part about fate...


    ***


    Mini-theater


    Grace: Yeah, okay, you really are delusional. I said affinity. AFFINITY, not fate!


    Noah: Okay, okay, we can still change that for the next chapter¡­ deal?


    Grace [ignores]: Hmm¡­


    Grace: But then again, I guess little Emilin and I are pretty fated if we met in this vast world. Yeah, it''s really one in a million, I should take this chance and marry her quickly!


    Future Elijah: *Brows crease* [How shameless, who else could have more affinity with Emi than me?]


    Future Elijah: So, you''ve been by love rival all the way back then huh. I guess I should do something about this now, shouldn''t I? *Kind smile*


    Grace: *Cold sweat breaks out for no apparent reason.jpg*

 Chapter 164 - Friends Pt IV: (The Best Policy!)

    Should he even be thinking this much about it?


    The answer was probably no, but then again, humans do find it rather hard to just stop thinking about something just because they felt like it.??


    Maybe it really was as simple as that.


    The other party was sincere and Grace was willing to be friends with her because she felt a natural affinity towards the other person.


    Then what about him?


    About these two points... they should be even more obvious for Noah, right?


    And since both sincerity and affinity were there, was there a reason for them to not be friends?


    It wasn''t as if circumstances were preventing them.


    Maybe Noah and Grace did have simr thoughts after all.


    As their professions encroached on the entertainment industry and their age was on the rather young side, it wasn''t wrong to say that both of them found it somewhat hard to make friends.


    Not only that, but it was in fact even harder to find people that they wanted to make friends with.


    They didn''t go to school frequently enough to be able to establish a strong circle and with even just a little bit of their fame, it was inevitable that there would be people who would be jealous of them.


    Jealousy, envy, two-facedness.


    These factors all made it hard for them to make real friends at school.


    It wasn''t as if there were just one or two people who smiled at them to their faces and spoke behind their backs after they turned around.


    Not that they wanted to make friends with such people.


    They had standards after all. :)


    Their not-so-hidden family background didn''t help ease these factors either.


    From that standpoint, they actually had it worse than Emilin, they had to face the scheming world since young, and not because they wanted to either.


    It was still okay for Noah, who adapted in a somewhat mellower way, making it easier for him to get along with others naturally.


    But for Grace, just from the fact that her acting skills were so superb, you could tell that she didn''t have it easy.


    Though she got along with people just fine, maybe even better than Noah did, none of that would feel real.


    At least not to her.


    If they were to count the number of trustworthy and reliable friends they had, it would probably still be that same handful.


    Maybe Emilin didn''t know it now, but though these two interacted with others a lot, it wasn''t as if they had a whole lot more experience making friends than she did.


    And by friends, it means that stic friendships don''t count.


    At this point, Noah felt like, perhaps he should be more serious about this friendship.


    It wasn''t every day you would meet someone like Emilin after all.


    There was no real way to exin it, but it just felt right.


    "Then what about the question I asked you?"


    Grace pointed out how she had answered the other person''s question, but her question, which had been asked first was still left unanswered.


    Of course, if Noah didn''t want to talk about it, then Grace wouldn''t push it either, but if there was something wrong, Grace would also like to know whether it was something that could be helped or if it just took some more time.


    Noah thought about it for a bit.


    "Nothing."


    Nothing will be wrong.


    Not now, and not in the future.


    It wasn''t as if Noah didn''t realize how important this friendship was to Emilin, it was written all over her face.


    It waspletely inappropriate in his mind if he were to ruin something so important for a mere fleeting emotion.


    Since the other party had already put in all her sincerity, wouldn''t it be appropriate if he reciprocated?


    There was no need to make something pure like this, soplicated.


    And so Noah made up his mind.


    He was going to discard these emotions that he didn''t understand, emotions that he didn''t need to understand.


    All that remained would be a precious friendship that he hoped to be able to survive the storms of time.


    A hope that all three of them shared even though none of them said it.


    Noah''s "nothing" made Grace sigh.


    She realized that this was him telling her that he would solve it himself, that he would deal with the problem before it became a problem.


    Sadly, she knew what he meant, and she also knew that her intervention wouldn''t be of any help.


    She could only hope, as Noah himself did, that it was in fact a fleeting emotion.


    Even though the three of them hadn''t spent a whole lot of time together, at least notpared to those yearlong friendships, this short amount of time made Grace realize why people say that a friendship can''t be measured in years.


    It really can''t.


    And she also knew howplicated things could get if they really wanted to.


    Now Noah wasn''t the only one with conflicting emotions.


    Grace too didn''t know how to feel.


    There was an appreciation for Noah''s considerations for Emilin''s will.


    But at the same time, there was also a deep heartache for Noah who had to make such a choice.


    A throbbing heartache.


    But there was one point in which Grace greatly differed from Noah.


    Unlike Noah who contemted and processed this matter, Grace, who didn''t know, no longer put it to heart.


    In her mind, if she were to ever find out what it was, what she was supposedly feeling this day as well as the connotations of such emotions, then that day woulde, and she would find out.


    Anything else, any other time she put on thinking about this felt superfluous.


    ***


    The conversation ended there, and while Emilin was still not here, Noah went back to ying his game while Grace organized her tools.


    Even though the room had descended in silence, it was by no means awkward.


    There seemed to be some tacit understanding amidst this silence, one that told the other that they were there so that they wouldn''t feel too lonely.


    "Where do you think Emilin went off to? Do you think she fell into the toilet?"


    Noah''s questions broke the silence.


    "Hey, don''t jinx her. Who knows, maybe she just doesn''t want to see your unsightly face right now," Grace countered.


    "Why don''t you speak for yourself eh? If I''m ugly, then I''m pretty sure that you''d be insulting more than 70% of the world''s poption of males," Noah was being modest.


    "Well, it''s saying something if you''re onlyparing yourself to other trash. And don''t you mean to say that there a literally hundreds of millions of other people who are better looking than you?"


    It''s just that he kept forgetting that there was no use being modest in front of a shameless person.


    Of course, it wasn''t to say that Grace''s rebuttal was wrong.


    It was just that Noah''s speech was like swiss cheese, full of holes.


    Grace just had to choose which one she would rather poke at.


    "There''s something called temperament, okay? Amidst those that are better looking than me, how many have my temperament?"


    "Not everything is about looks, okay?" Said the supermodel.


    Noah wouldn''t admit that he had misspoken, and so the exchange just went on.


    And Grace had to admit that he wasn''t wrong, but that wouldn''t prevent her from poking at another hole.


    "You mean to say how many are better off than you? Then I guess you can indeed reduce that number; it just doesn''t take away from the fact that it''s still in the millions."


    Who could determine what temperament was better anyway?


    And just as they were about to break out from a squabble into an all-out fight, the door was knocked.


    *knock* *knock*


    Emilin didn''t wait for the other person to call her in, simply turning the knob after knocking.


    It was as if her previous knocks were just a warning that she was about toe in.


    Grace had already long told Emilin that she didn''t need to knock toe in, but she still had such a habit, so it couldn''t be helped.


    And it was only now that Grace realized the importance of such a habit.


    "How was it?"


    Grace almost pped herself.


    What kind of dumb-ass question was that to ask someone who had juste from the bathroom?


    It was a slip of the tongue in a moment of anxiousness due to quick changes in her emotional fluctuations.


    Noah realized this too and he almost burst intoughter before receiving Grace''s re that told him he was a dead man if he made a peep.


    And yes, he was about tough at her, not with her.


    "It was good¡­" Emilin said skeptically, not truly paying attention to the contents of the question she had just answered, before observing the two people in front of her.


    "Were you guys fighting again?"


    Emilin asked with question marks in her voice.


    But the moment she saw the backs of the two personages straightening, both of them looking at her as if they were the most obedient children in the world, she was sure.


    She was sure that they were most likely scolding the other party''s 8 generations of ancestors.


    "So? Were you fighting?"


    Emilin asked, but this time, it wasn''t much of a question, and both of them knew it well.


    They knew that Emilin knew, and so, they simultaneously thought of the best n of action without the need to consult each other, and so they answered at the same time with honesty, the absolute best policy!


    "No."


    "No."


    The best policy after denial of all charges.

 Chapter 165 - Friends Pt V: (Lovers Spat...)

    It was only at times like these that these two would be so agreeable and obedient.


    Only now would their answers be in sync.??


    These were clear signs of a guilty heart, ah!


    When Emilin turned around, Grace and Noah were like ravaging beasts trying to tear the other down, yet the moment her gaze moved over, these beasts would suddenly turn as docile as puppies.


    "My, if you both say so I guess I''ll just have to believe it..."


    Believe my a**.


    Emilin said as the two still seated on the couch released a sigh of relief at the same time, which of course did not help relieve Emilin of her suspicions.


    In the end, she just dropped the matter altogether as she had long realized that this was simply their way of interacting.


    It was still fun to see them acting as if they had no clue what she was talking about, so even though Emilin had a general idea of what had happened before she came in, she still liked to tease the two.


    They were quite cute.


    Emilin oftentimes found the resemnce of a married couple in the two of them.


    But she wouldn''t say that to them out loud because she knew them well enough to know that thebined power of both Grace and Noah''s attacks were not something she could face.


    And saying something like that would surely attract all the aggro.


    When they worked together, they were like a power couple!


    Anotherment that would rest in peace in her mind, never to see the light of day.


    "By the way, what took you so long? You know, Noah was wondering whether you had fallen into the toilet," Grace sold out her friend in a heartbeat.


    It was true that their previous momentary partnership to avoid suspicion existed.


    But the emphasis was really on the words previous and momentary.


    It could really onlyst for that one second after there was no more imminent danger.


    Right after the danger was gone, the amicable partnership and rapport between the two vanished into thin air, as if having never existed.


    Noah, who had been sold out, resigned to his fate without another word.


    He had finally learned his lesson... for now.


    What Grace said wasn''t wrong, he had indeed said such words.


    It was just that a normal person with a conscience wouldn''t repeat these words back to Emilin when they were all supposed to be friends.


    Like¡­ what was this difference in treatment?


    Sigh.


    Whatever.


    He had decided to just keep silent and y his stupid game which he kept losing at.


    "Oh, about that. Haha," Emilinughed awkwardly when she heard of their spections.


    "I was heading to the bathroom when I met Mason right around the entrance. He said that he had suddenly recalled a matter, telling me that after another two weeks, I couldplete my month of training on learning all the before and afters of handling a camera before actually doing so."


    "He was telling me that he would take a look at my previous works before deciding where to start the lessons... and I told him that I would get my camera to him tomorrow so that he could check it out..."


    Emilin felt increasingly awkward the more she thought of this matter.


    What she really wanted to say was that she wanted Mason to check out whether there was something wrong with her camera.


    After all, during her whole trip to the Hemafuji Mountain Range, she had only taken one half-decent photo.


    Everything else was... so half-assed that just thinking about it gave this youngdy a migraine.


    The worse part was that that was already her doing her best, it wasn''t as if she had cked off or anything.


    ''That just means that I have room for improvement! A whole lot of room for improvement...''


    Even Emilin''s self-encouragement felt deprecating.


    "Anyways, after I spoke to him, I came back right after, so even if you''re going to say that I took too long, it wasn''t exactly my fault," Emilin''s cheeks puffed as she was not in a good mood after thinking about her past matters.


    As for Grace, who found Emilin''s hamster-like actions adorable, she just giggled.


    "You said that you met Mason on your way to the bathroom and then you came right back after talking to him... does that mean that you don''t have to go to the bathroom anymore?"


    Grace teased.


    That did seem to be the case.


    Emilin blushed.


    "I went beforeing back," Emilin said meekly.


    So meekly that she almost did believe her own excuse.


    She too had gained the habit of not liking to admit her mishaps in speech, especially not when she was around people who were so good with their words.


    "I see..." Grace was trying her best to stayposed.


    She had almostughed out loud, but she still didn''t expose Emilin.


    It was the same way Emilin didn''t expose Grace and Noah.


    Though all three of them knew that the others knew, they wouldn''t say it out loud even if they were 100% sure.


    This was some kind of tacit understanding between the three that allowed their rtionship to continue without anyone getting offended by anything.


    "Then can I see the photos too since you''re bringing them for Mason tomorrow anyways?"


    Grace asked rather casually, but that tone didn''t hide the interest gleaming within her eyes very well.


    "No!"


    Emilin answered quickly, almost too quickly.


    "Okay then¡­" Grace was like a sulking puppy.


    Since Emilin had rejected the notion, her best chance at making her change her mind was to act cute, something that Grace had figured out through trial and error.


    But this time, this honey trap tactic didn''t work.


    This was because Emilin was just too embarrassed to reveal the truth about her horrid skills right now.


    At this moment, a great thud was heard from a strong impact of a hand on the leather couch.


    It was Noah losing another round, nearly throwing his phone at the wall.


    Thankfully, he was able to restrain himself, instead of just mming his phone along with his hand, face down on the couch.


    "What''s your win-loss ratio anyways?"


    The two girls'' attention was attracted by the noise that conveyed all human frustrations.


    Grace and Emilin both knew what Noah was doing rather clearly, after all, he was hooked on ying this game from a few weeks back, but these two girls really didn''t understand what he was hooked on.


    After all, he absolutely SUCKED at it.


    "Noment," Noah said monotonously.


    He was not about to admit that his win-loss ratio was 0:321.


    It was too shameful.


    Grace could more or less guess what kind of ratio this would be, but even she wouldn''t be able to guess that Noah had yet to win a single time after hundreds of games.


    It was unfathomable to her that someone would be able to persist in ying a game that one couldn''t win at, no matter how much they yed.


    "How did you even get so addicted to this game anyway? This... this... what was the game called again?"


    Grace couldn''t recall.


    "Mobba, and no matter how many times I lose, it doesn''t change the fact that the game is too cool. Sister, you don''t know because you haven''t yed before," Noah said in a mocking tone as if calling the other party an uncultured swine.


    "Brother, you spend at least 6 hours of your day being cursed at for being trash at the game by strangers, yet you still defend it. even if you don''t feel bad for yourself, I feel bad for you. I don''t need to y the game to know that anyone would be able to do better than you," Grace mocked right back.


    This sister and brother were spat out with a mouthful of poison.


    As for Emilin, who sat on the sidelines, she couldn''t help but roll her eyes at their eloquence.


    It was just terrible, simply terrible.


    She wanted to say, "Even if you guys aren''t tired of insulting each other, I''m already tired of hearing it! You people have to research some new lines!"


    She had already heard simr insults being hurled back and forth a couple of dozen times, and not once did is sound convincing.


    Instead to Emilin, it sounded like they were having a lover''s spat.


    Emilin didn''t take their words at face value, instead, she took some time to interpret the meaning behind them.


    Everything was through a filter.


    And of course, with this, Emilin could easily predict the next lines.


    Something like.


    "Sister Grace, why don''t you join me in ying since you haven''t yed before?"


    "Yeah, sure, I''ll join, I feel bad since you keep getting cursed. When I join, I''ll make sure to keep you safe!"


    And the real words that came out from their dispute weren''t too far off.


    "If you''re so good, then why don''t you try!" Noah spat out.


    "I will! And I''ll make sure to trample you within the week!" Grace looked at Noah disdainfully before downloading Mobba.


    See.


    Not too far off.


    The general meaning pretty much remainedpletely consistent.


    And just like that, for the following week or so, in all their free time, they were both engrossed in the game with their hands stuck to the screen with the exception of the times when they were about to throw their phones away in frustration.


    Seeing the two of them like this Emilin had no way of telling them that this game had anything to do with her.


    And thus, she consistently kept mum on the matters rted to Mobba.

 Chapter 166 - Mobba Pt I: (Lousy)

    "Fuck."


    Why is this game so damn hard???


    This was one of the only thoughts going through Grace''s mind this past week.


    It had been a week since Noah had invited/ challenged Grace into ying this game, and it seemed like it was indeed true, Grace too was unable to break free from Noah''s path.


    This game was too sadistic!


    Grace had lost what remained of herposure as she too kept losing at this trashy game.


    [Noah: You hadposure before? Howe I couldn''t tell?]


    Following Noah, she too had been ying Mobba all day, every day.


    The only thing keeping her going was her unwillingness to lose to Noah, though to be fair, even if she were to lose another 100 rounds, she wouldn''t be "losing" against him.


    "What''s keeping you going?" Grace suddenly asked.


    Noah, who sat next to Grace on the same long couch, didn''t even flinch anymore at Grace''s deliberate use of misleading and frustrating words that would lead one down the route of hair loss.


    Still, why did she have to make it sound like he was terminally ill?


    Seeing as Noah wasn''t going to react, Grace wasn''t flustered, simply and naturally borating as if that was what she was going to do all along.


    "How did you get so addicted to this game? It''s making me seriously question whether you are a masochist."


    Noah almost wanted to shout out loud.


    Can''t you just finish your sentences all at once?


    He was thankful that Grace wasn''t an author of any kind as she would surely be the type to leave cliffhangers at every chance she had.


    Actually, even if she was indeed an author, he would never read her writings for this very same reason.


    "Look."


    Noah just about finished his own round before going to another screen to show Grace, and Emilin, who sat behind her on a stool, a clip.


    It was easy since it was one of thetest ones in his liked videos.


    In the clip, it was the hands of someone ying a very high-quality electric piano.


    Question marks instantly floated on Grace''s head and Emilin too was confused as to why Noah was showing this clip right now.


    This clip... she had watched it before too.


    The tune was a really catchy one, a remix of the current number 1 song, but a piano version whose melody was a little moreplex, elegant, and enjoyable from a subjective point of view.


    Not long after, the video ended, and without exining, Noah directly disyed another clip, this one was the one following the piano clip on the liked list.


    This time, Grace sighed as this clip was finally about Mobba.


    These hands look familiar. That was Grace''s first thought.


    She would have to be a dumbass if she couldn''t understand that these two were the same person.


    But that was nothing.


    So what if someone yed both Mobba and piano?


    Then, 10 minutes in, the girl was thoroughly convinced.


    Grace was enlightened.


    It was clear that the reason that Noah had shown the first clip to her was forparison!


    Now, now.


    Okay, one may be questioning, what is there even topare?


    But damn.


    Generally, wouldn''t ying the piano makes one seem more refined?


    Then tell me, tell me why this guy ying video games looked so elegant? Even more so than when ying the piano!


    And I can only see a hand cam for god sake!


    When ying the game, it was as if he were using his intricate advanced piano skills.


    Grace questioned internally.


    Grace felt like just having Doorii''s hands y this game, the whole value of the phone, the video, the game, and even the tform increased.


    Another 8 minutester she was even more convinced as the streamer had won the game wlessly along with his other teammates.


    After the game disyed on the screen ended, Grace waspletely stunned.


    Have we even been ying the same game?


    Why do our controls look the same when they clearly have different functions?


    Why does this support kill more people and hunt more than me as a jungler?


    This is unscientific!


    "Who is this person?!"


    Grace could clearly feel the difference in their leagues as she questioned whether the guy in the video was still ying a video game.


    His maneuvering was clearly faster than when he was ying the piano earlier.


    "Ah, this guy goes by the name of Doorii online, that being his username both in-game as well as in various social media tforms."


    Noah thought about this matter for a bit before continuing.


    "He hasn''t started streaming and uploading videos for long, but he does it very frequently. His ount was only started around a month ago, but with his kind of... unique and memorable skill set, I think you can see why he hase to fame so quickly, having already around 2 million subscribers."


    [AN: This has been a total of 3 weeks since the hacking incident.]


    "I can see how that can sound strangely explosive, but actually, it''s not really if you look at his home page."


    Noah did as he said to show Doorri''s homepage.


    He scrolled, and then he scrolled, and then he scrolled, and scrolled, and scrolled.


    Grace''s eyes widened with every passing second.


    Was this even an ount that was started just a few weeks ago?


    Though some of the videos were only a few minutes long, mostly the ones on musical instruments, there were still dozens of them.


    Not to mention the much longer gaming videos!


    All kinds of games including standalone and other major games were being yed.


    "I''m telling you, this guy is no joke. I was looking for adaptations of BTS''s songs when I stumbled upon one of his guitar videos."


    "Then, it was just a spiral from there," Noah calmly reiterated the experiences of the majority of teenagers on entertainment tforms.


    "I spent hours tracing back all his videos. They started from musical instruments to cooking and then to gaming. It was as if the guy was just trying things out to see what worked out better, which finally ended in gaming. I think he still asionally uploads some new instrumental covers, but no more cooking. You can tell pretty easily since he uploads around 3-5 videos a day, even more at times, but never really less than those 3."


    "Crazy," was the only thing Grace could muster.


    It was no wonder this content created was being rmended. Just based on the number of uploads a day, one would reckon they should be rmended at some point.


    What kind of dedication was this?


    It still made sense to have this much dedication if this was something that you had always wanted to do, but just from how random these videos were, it was clearly not nned out.


    The time and effort put into such a project could by no means be small.


    Not to mention, it wasn''t as if the editing of these videos were bad, in fact, they were quite good.


    The music, transitions, cuts.


    They were all added and implemented very cleanly.


    It clearly wasn''t half-assed.


    "So..."


    Grace''s word dragged on.


    "I got hooked on Mobba because out of all the other games Doorii ys, this one is the one he ys most of all. I mean, if you just watch enough of it, surely you can tell that this game is just something else. The only issue is that the other yers are too good at it," Noah''s face got sour at this point.


    He wouldn''t admit that he was no good.


    It was clearly just because everyone else was better¡­ eh, that doesn''t sound right either.


    Even so, he didn''t show any signs of wanting to stop ying.


    Now, this was the point that Emilin didn''t understand.


    Not the ying part.


    But logically, there was an algorithm that would let lousy yers y with other lousy yers.


    And just from hearing Noah and Grace''s frustrated grunts, Emilin could tell that they weren''t particrly good at the game, if you were to put it nicely.


    Now if you keep getting put together with even lousier yers every time you lose... shouldn''t you start winning at some point???


    This was what Emilin didn''t understand.


    It felt like there was something wrong here.


    While Emilin thought of that, Noah was already showing Grace some of the videos he liked better while Grace watched and observed attentively.


    Even the gaming part only showed a hand cam and the resulting effects on the screen, but Grace felt like that was more than enough to catch everyone''s full attention.


    In this video, Doorii was ying on the onlineputer version of Mobba, and this scene only made Grace even more convinced.


    Convinced that even if she were considered trash at this game, the other party could only be considered a god.


    The guy was clearly at a level when he didn''t need people of a worse caliber to show off his own strength.


    And just like that, Noah had dragged Grace into one more of his "bad" hobbies as Grace too fell into the stream spiral.


    She was so immersed and as was Noah that they both hadn''t realized how little of a presence Emilin currently had.


    She was trying to make herself scarce so that she wouldn''t have to express her opinion on the matters they were speaking about today, and it was working.


    This was because they were all somewhat rted to her!


    Even if no one else knew it, she did!


    Just hearing about these matters made her want to lower her head to calm herself down, much less talking about it.


    Emilin didn''t even know why.

 Chapter 167 - Mobba Pt II: (Yanyan)

    As Grace and Noah spoke of Doorii, Emilin was in fact, secretly proud like a mother who had heard others praise their child.


    This was a feeling that she didn''t have, even when her own identities like Master M and Master Lin were being praised.??


    In fact, when it came to those identities, she always felt an indescribable sense of alienation.


    Perhaps a feeling that stemmed from the fact that the things she knew from those fields required no hard work on her part other than the tedious typing and constant managing to keep the identities alive.


    Thus theck of gratification and fulfillment.


    Sadly enough, she felt more pride in her blurry photos of which the context could not be clearly decerned and was to be possibly discarded in the future than in the procedures she had uploaded, saving thousands of lives, and even more in the long term.


    But of course, that was only pride.


    She still knew that she was saving lives and felt like it was a good thing.


    But that feeling was more of a matter of course rather than pride.


    How could one feel pride in an achievement that didn''t even feel like your own?


    As for her initial embarrassment, that also dissipated after a while of unease.


    Emilin was able to talk herself out of it.


    "Man, if everyone ys like this, then I can understand why we weren''t able to win a single game all along," Grace''s whole body rxed as sheid on the couch with a sigh.


    This past week, she had started questioning herself as the losing streak affected her mental health quite a bit.


    Now she felt like everything was exined and thus a knot in her heart was loosened.


    It wasn''t her fault, and she wasn''t ipetent!


    It was just that everyone else was too perverted!


    Grace felt like she had been ying the game wrong the same way one would be reading wrong if they held their books upside down reading from back to front.


    She clearly hadn''t been given a manual¡­


    "That shouldn''t be it... I''ve seen worse yers streaming and isn''t it quite strange that both of us haven''t won a single round? Not one between the both of us!"


    Noah still found it incredulous to this day, though this didn''t deter him nearly as much as it did Grace.


    Then, Emilin, who seemingly thought of something just now, voiced out her thoughts.


    "Well... why don''t you guys y against each other? If you two are in opposing teams, won''t one of you win either way?"


    This was just a sudden thought from Emilin.


    She didn''t actually mean much by it as she too was curious as to why neither of them had a win under their belt.


    What she didn''t know was that such a sentence of hers would be followed by such passion.


    Grace and Noah''s eyes met after thatment, and at that moment, sparks flew as a sign of the beginning of a new war.


    As for Emilin, at first, she was worried.


    It wasn''t her intention for them to start fighting again.


    But after watching for a while and observing how heated up their discussion was getting, Emilin felt like she was enlightened once again.


    There was some chemistry going on! Sparks were flying!


    This clearly wasn''t your normal friendly quarrels.


    And then in the very next instant, Emilin felt disgusted and happy at the same time, as if having eaten a sour lemon covered in honey.


    I like dog food, but not too much of it okay.


    So can you guys do the love-hate thing somewhere else?!


    In order to get a better idea of the teenage female mind as well as how rtionships and friendships work, Emilin had been reading more and more mangas and novels as well as binge-watching some popr animes and tv shows.


    Purely for research purposes. ;)


    And thus her whole mind had been gued with Manga and novelws that told her that the type of interaction between Grace and Noah would surely end up in a rtionship!


    Emilin''s eyes rolled after she realized what was going to happen next and for a moment, she felt like a 200-watt lightbulb.


    They were going to have another lover''s spat...


    Emilin estimated that it was going tost at least a week or two.


    And so to not impose on the two, letting them do their thing, she excused herself to actually go to the bathroom.


    It didn''t matter to admit that she hadn''t gone before now with her actions since she had already been silently exposed anyways.


    ***


    "Boss Wie, why have you called?"


    An unmistakable female voice sounded from the other side of the phone.


    Though the woman on the other side was very stern sounding, her voice was just too soft and cutesy to be mistaken for a voice anything other than that of a woman''s.


    "Yanyan, I recently found the need to look into whether our algorithm for sorting yers to y against people of simr skill levels is working properly. Have you received any reports on this matter?"


    Emilin spoke casually through the voice modtor which made her sound like a mature woman to the person on the other side.


    But even though she spoke so casually, Yanyan didn''t dare take the matter lightly as she too understood her boss''s way of operating things.


    Boss Wie has so much trust in her employees that if there was nothing serious, she would allow her to take care of and make all the decisions in theirpany.


    If she was calling specifically for something aboutpany matters, then it had to be a big deal!


    Otherwise, whenever Emilin was calling Yanyan, it was always about personal matters such as how she was doing, catching up during holidays or congrattory words when they sealed another deal, etc.


    Never about anything business-rted unless Yanyan were to call the chairwoman herself.


    This often made Yanyan, as an aspiring strong and independent woman, incredibly touched.


    To her, Boss Wie was not only her role model but also someone she aspired to be like.


    In truth, that was just Emilin giving the young woman all the work after having first created the game as well as thepany.


    Yanyan had pretty much single-handedly built the wholepany after Emilin built the foundation, also oftentimes giving the young woman business and game-orientated advice when help was needed.


    This was also why Emilin had generously given 30% of thepany shares to the then young woman, despite being the sole investor in thepany.


    She was investing in Yanyan''s abilities as well as in her futureziness.


    Emilin would feel bad if Yanyan wasn''t getting a big share when she was doing nearly all of the work.


    But of course, Yanyan didn''t feel that way.


    She just felt like she was being wholeheartedly trusted by her boss, which felt incredibly good.


    Either way, things worked out.


    "I''ll check right away."


    Some typing sounds from the other side could be heard as well as the sound of Yanyan talking to someone else.


    As for the specific content of the conversation, it couldn''t be heard by Emilin clearly.


    On the other side...


    "CEO Yan, there''s nothing on this matter. We haven''t received any such reports and the IT department hasn''t found any bugs that would lead to such a problem," the head of the IT department was sweating bullets as of this moment.


    Their CEO was notorious for being a strong woman despite her cute voice and petite figure, which had brought many troubles to theirpany in the past.


    Yanyan''s current presence waspletely unlike when she was talking to Emilin.


    She was much more domineering, confident, cold, and headstrong.


    If anyone other than her role model/ idol called her Yanyan, her given name which she often found way too cutesy, just like her outer appearance, she would probably give them a good thrashing.


    Everyone around here knew that no one other than the chairwoman, who was often forgotten due to herck of appearances, could call their CEO, Yanyan.


    Everyone else had to respectfully call her CEO Yan or the conversation would probably end there if she were in a good mood.


    As for if she were in a bad mood...


    Well, stubborn women in bad mood like her would hold grudges, and Yanyan had no trouble admitting it.


    She was very strict with forms of addressing during working hours.


    Of course, outside of working hours, her employees could address her differently.


    When they were drinking together after a big project, everyone just called her Sister Yan, no matter their age.


    There were in fact many employees that were older than Yanyan, but none of them minded considering howpetent their CEO was.


    At first, people had troubles adapting to how differently their CEO Yan acted inside and outside of work, which was equivalent to theparison between the devil and an angel, but soon, people got used to it.


    In fact, people even started liking and admiring such an attitude.


    This was exactly the attitude of someone who could distinguish between work and private matters, which was very admirable.


    But after all, the employees were still people who had feelings.


    Many of them felt like Yanyan was being pretentious at first.


    But what really got to them was how unapologetic she was on the matter, as if it were only natural that the order of the matters was like this.


    As well as how cute she was when drunk.


    But mostly the first thing.


    Yeah, that one¡­ what was it again?


    Ah, yes, unapologetic about her distinctions between private rtionships and work rtionships.


    She had no fear of hurting one''s feelings when they were seriously cking on the work they were delivering to the table.


    This made the employees work much harder as they knew that their hard work would always be recognized.


    Yanyan made sure of it.


    As for why Yanyan called Emilin Boss rather than Chairwoman, despite her strictness, that was because Emilin had told Yanyan to address her in that way because she felt like Chairwoman sounded too old.


    Of course, Emilin didn''t tell Yanyan that reason and Yanyan didn''t ask.


    Since the Boss said so, she wouldply.

 Chapter 168 - Mobba Pt III: (???- The Unread Reports)

    Yanyan pondered on this matter for a bit, but she was in a hurry since her Boss Wie was still on the other side of the line.


    With a wave of her hand, she dismissed the head of the IT department before going back to the phone to report her findings.??


    "Boss Wie..."


    The head of the IT department who had yet to shut the door nearly staggered when he heard the name of who CEO Yan was currently in a call with.


    Sh*t


    In his mind, he was wondering if he had said anything wrong, sighing when he found nothing.


    I should be fine right?


    After all, this was the elusive chairwoman they were talking about. His superior''s superior.


    He felt like he had just dodged a bullet when he left, running off to tell the others from his department to work harder!


    Thank god he hadn''t done anything wrong this time, but if they didn''t work harder, would they be able to escape the CEO''s wrath the next time?


    These people weren''t actually scared of Emilin, after all, though she was mysterious, she had never done anything to elicit fear.


    How could she when she had no interactions with these people?


    The real reason why there was some innate fear when these people were dealing with the chairwoman''s matters was that if anything went wrong, their CEO Yan would be in a bad mood for weeks toe!


    When CEO Yan was in a bad mood, it was akin to letting the leash off of a big beast!


    There was no sound way to cate her.


    They would just have to weather the storm and hope that the gods were on their side.


    That''s why, in the department head''s heart, he had dodged not only the CEO''s wrath but also the wrath of all his colleagues.


    ***


    "Boss Wie, our IT department has just informed me that we have received no such reports from our yers and there are also no such bugs that will affect the algorithm," Yanyan reported back.


    Though her voice was steady, she had some nervousness in her as she was unable to find the problem that Emilin had asked her about.


    Not to mention there was no way that Boss Wie would contact her with a nonexistent problem.


    That means that the problem had to lie within her!


    "I''m sorry Boss, this must be due to my ipetence, is this issue urring with your ounts?"


    It shouldn''t be unless the algorithm kept pairing the boss with weak yers...


    If it was like that, then Yanyan could only light a candle for those massacred in the process.


    After all, she knew the boss''s skill level well.


    "No, that''s not it. I''ll send you an ount number, see if you can tell what is wrong with it."


    Emilin said without borating.


    She swiftly sent Noah''s ID name and ount number, something she remembered to check earlier when he was adding Grace as a friend.


    When Yanyan inserted the code into their program for some preliminary data, her jaw immediately dropped to the floor.


    Yanyan: Huh???


    Yanyan: (?¦¤?¡Î)


    When she heard the words from the chairwoman, she had thought that no matter how hard the task was to find out what was wrong, she had to do it!


    There was the notion in her mind that it would probably be very hard to tell that something was wrong if the boss had toe to her to ask for assistance.


    Now, she had realized that she may have been mistaken about something along the way.


    The moment her eyesnded on the data, she could immediately tell that something was wrong, very very wrong!


    How could there not be something wrong when someone had lost 588 games in counting with 0 wins?


    Honestly, the real thoughts going through Yanyan''s mind were, how can someone be so skilled?


    Losing that many times and still ying was quite the feat in her mind.


    *Thumbs up*


    Not only that, but the question of why the boss had only contacted her now also surged in her mind.


    Only addressing the issue after 550+ games?


    After the initial shock faded away, as the efficient boss and subordinate that she was, she quickly scanned through the data without missing anything.


    Then she noticed something.


    "Boss, I think I may know what is wrong..."


    "What is it?"


    The mature woman''s voice from the voice modtor sounded.


    But that technology was so advanced that even now, after so many years, Yanyan still couldn''t tell that this wasn''t Boss Wie''s real voice.


    "Boss, this ount was given a tinum privilege..."


    Just from the fact that this problem popped up, Yanyan was already sure that the Boss didn''t know what this meant.


    If she did, then chances were, the boss would have never contacted her.


    "So?"


    I knew it!


    "Boss, the new update from thest season gives tinum privilege members special a new privilege. Well, the privilege for the yers who y properly and a restriction for those who like to troll. Normally, people can only earn these privileges, after all, this can''t be bought with money, and so the people with the tinum level privilege are all of very high levels and calibers."


    Without having the Boss to ask, Yanyan borated.


    "Once they receive the tinum level privilege, they are only allowed to y in the higher-ranked games. We implemented this so that the pros wouldn''t intentionally increase their loss rate to y and thrash newbies. Not only that, but even if one of the tinum level yers has a really bad day and their ranking drops, they won''t have to y with yers of much lower caliber unless they already have a preset team."


    "Of course, if they already have a team, then there are a different set of rules."


    Yanyan exined all this because she could tell that the Boss had not read the report sent to her a few weeks back.


    What she really wanted to say was that this was all in the reports, but clearly, she didn''t have the guts to point it out even if she knew that her boss hadn''t read the documents given to her.


    The other side was silent.


    What Yanyan said: "Boss, this ount, who has not won a single game, has tinum privileges that force the yer to y in the high ranked games."


    What Yanyan didn''t say: "It''s no fucking wonder that he hasn''t won a single fucking round!! He''s ying with fucking pros as a newbie!"


    Emilin: "Oh."


    Yanyan was a little exasperated and a little helpless.


    Emilin had thought that the tinum privileges would only give the yers a little boost after a while.


    This was supposed to make the higher-ranked games a little more interesting.


    She indeed hadn''t expected that such an update would fall upon this privilege when she gave it to her two friends.


    She had only done so to give them a boost... but it didn''t end up as expected.


    Truth be told, the sequence went something like this.


    Noah had been ying for a while, and he indeed couldn''t win. That was solely due to his own problems with his skills.


    Then, Emilin thought about the tinum privilege and gave it to Noah with the intention of helping him.


    By then, the update had already long been implemented.


    Then, when Grace started ying, Emilin didn''t want her to be at a disadvantage since she had already given Noah a helping hand.


    So thinking that it would be unfair if she didn''t, Emilin gave the tinum privileges to her too.


    But in the end, due to her negligence, all this had happened.


    In the end, those 500+ losses were all partially her fault.


    Well, that sucks.


    "Yanyan, will you do me a favor and remove the privilege from that ount?"


    Emilin said after thinking about it for a while.


    She couldn''t give them the boost anymore since they would be reported if they were seen to have the boost while ying in the unranked realms.


    As for Grace''s matter, she would do it herself.


    But since Noah''s ount was already opened on Yanyan''s side, Emilin thought that she might as well let her do it and save her some effort.


    "Of course, Boss. Anything else?"


    Yanyan already saw thising and so she had already been working on it.


    "Nothing else. I''ll be going now. Rest more and don''t overexert yourself."


    Emilin said before dropping the call.


    Yanyan released a great big breath when the call finally ended.


    And she almostughed at how quickly that call was dropped.


    Even so, a call with Boss Wie was really too nerve-racking.


    In this aspect, Yanyan was actually rather d that her Boss didn''t call every other day or else, she wouldn''t be getting any sleep anymore.


    When it came to Boss Wie, her role model, things often went wrong, especially at first when Yanyan was particrly nervous.


    She would end up spending her nights thinking and rethinking and overthinking.


    Mostly about what she could have said wrong, or what she should have said instead.


    Should of, could of, would of, but she didn''t.


    Super stressful.


    But now, Yanyan actually felt rather rxed.


    With how speechless Boss Wie was just a few moments ago, Yanyan actually felt more refreshed.


    It was like finding out that your idol was actually human, with human emotions, and someone who could make human mistakes.


    This time, Yanyan actually felt like her boss became more approachable and down to earth for a second there.


    How strangely warm.


    Especially right there at the end when she seemed to be in a hurry to end the call so that they wouldn''t get to talking about how she hadn''t been reading any of the progress reports.


    Haha.


    Why did Yanyan have a feeling that if that topic were to be brought up, then the Boss really just say something perfunctory like...


    Oops.

 Chapter 169 - Mobba Pt IV: (Memorable)

    Emilin hurriedly dropped the call and stuffed her phone in her pocket in a rush.


    But it wasn''t even a second before she took it right back out so that she could remove the tinum privilege for Grace.??


    Then, she shoved it right back in.


    When Emilin was done, she left the bathroom.


    When she first left, she was still feeling quite guilty and bad for her two friend''s predicament.


    After all, this was all due to her blunder and miscalctions, she had been careless.


    But then... she wasn''t all that guilty anymore.


    At least not after watching Grace and Noah intimately bickering.


    Haha.


    What''s with all this dog food?


    So much PDA¡­


    If this isn''t animal abuse, what is? :)


    All her guilt vanished into thin air.


    It had to be said that Emilin in fact was actually a little jealous of how well they got along, even if they didn''t admit it out loud.


    To Emilin, they didn''t have to admit it out loud.


    The two of them just had this particr chemistry that one couldn''t help but admire.


    Emilin took her seat and watched the two of them ying and arguing passionately together.


    Then, her jealousy also vanished into thin air.


    She wasn''t capable of letting such a feeling cloud her view of such a cute interaction.


    After all, she found the two quite adorable when they were like this.


    Especially when they weren''t arguing seriously.


    They were like bickering children.


    They only fought over the small things.


    It was all just for show, as in the end, they would always end up being on the same side.


    When it came to the big matters, they would still be there to support each other, and that''s what Emilin admired the most in the duo.


    It was also why she was so willing to be their friend.


    Though it often seemed like Emilin was desperate for friends as she was often stopped from making them due to some psychological trauma, she too had standards.


    She wouldn''t lower herself to make friends with people she didn''t want to as that would be beside the whole point of having any friends.


    In fact, if she found out that the people, she approached were no good characters, she wouldn''t hesitate to drift away from them.


    For people unworthy, there was no point in bothering with them in the first ce, as for those who were both worthy and willing, she would give this friendship her all.


    That was why she didn''t hesitate to open the back door for her friends when they were having trouble with the game they were ying, even if this may affect the wholepany if found out.


    Though the results were less than satisfactory.


    As for the issue about the tinum privilege that had led to this whole thing, Emilin had determined that she was going to take this matter to her grave!


    ***


    As for what was really happening on Grace and Noah''s side when Emilin came back from the bathroom... well, let''s just say that the situation was not exactly as it seemed.


    Grace and Noah had each been battling for the duration in which Emilin was in the bathroom, but the final victor had yet to be decided, after all, these two would not easily settle for defeat.


    When Emilin came into this equation, things had only gotten more heated.


    These two got serious, sleeves rolled up and all.


    Seriously fierce.


    Neither Grace nor Noah was willing to look bad at such a critical moment, after all, this was a battle that had been fought for a week with no clear winner.


    This game could be considered a deciding moment.


    While Noah was determined not to make himself look bad when he had more experience than Grace, especially not wanting to lose to her, Grace wanted to show how unreliable this guy was.


    Proving a point to Emilin, who didn''t even know that Grace had such thoughts in her mind.


    Or something like that... to be honest, no one can really be sure what was going through her mind for certain.


    Anyways, because of this critical moment, they had gotten particrly serious during the game.


    Not minding using unscrupulous methods for the win.


    This resulted in the two of them having one hand on the controls while their other three limbs were used to mess with the other party.


    Which to others looked particrly intimate... or not.


    It was probably just Emilin, who already looked at these two''s interactions through a pink filter.


    Well, it depends if you think having one''s foot on the other''s face in an attempt to block their view is particrly romantic.


    I guess everyone has different definitions of romantic.


    Some were more normal than others, while some were more¡­ quirky and entric.


    As for who ended up winning in the end, it was as a matter of fact Grace''s team who won.


    Something she was going to gloat about for the following week.


    Truth be told, this had absolutely nothing to do with Grace''s and Noah''s skill level.


    When it came to that, it was pretty evenly matched.


    It just happened to be that Grace''s teammates were slightly better than Noah''s this time.


    But when it came to the final results, Grace would never admit that she had only won due to external variables.


    All she could see was the Victory on her screen followed by her username.


    And of course, she didn''t forget to take a screenshot to remember this moment for the years toe.


    She had even tried to take a photo of Noah''s screen, disying his loss on this very same day, but that ended up as a failure as Noah had quickly exited the screen.


    But even then, this wouldn''t prevent Grace from gloating at every and any suitable and unsuitable asion. :)


    That was, after all, one of her only joys in life.


    ***


    "You know, after I beat you, I feel like the game got a whole lot easier," Grace gloated for the nth time.


    Noah rolled his eyes in disgust, but she did have a point there.


    Both of their win-loss and tie records were no longer as mundane as they were previously.


    Now there was a mix of data.


    "I don''t know if the game got easier, but I do think our opponents got worse," Noah pointed out.


    That was indeed the case.


    This point was further mentioned on multiple asions in the following days, but in the end, neither Grace nor Noah was able to figure it out.


    As for Emilin, all she could say in moments like these was, "Yeah, that''s quite curious."


    "Cough, cough."


    "Quite curious indeed."


    "I wonder how that happened."


    "Anyways, what were we talking about again?"


    Well, she didn''t blow her cover, so all was well.


    Grace and Noah had also taken this opportunity where they finally had a few wins under their belt to invite Emilin to join in the fun.


    They hadn''t done so previously as it would be quite embarrassing to ask her to join in just to lose at every and any turn.


    Now that they could win at the game, they could finally carry Emilin in their team.


    Sadly, their dreams of carrying this little cutie were crushed as quickly as Emilin rejected their offer.


    She didn''t want to lie to them saying that she had never yed before and pretend to be bad as she feared being exposed, but Emilin also didn''t want to suddenlye out as a veteran at the game and expose herself as that would be even more embarrassing.


    It would probably be more fun if they developed their own y style and y through the ranks before she joined them, right?


    Not to mention, if they lost interest in the game, she didn''t want to impose.


    If she didn''t get too involved, then she wouldn''t be as sad if that happened, right?


    After all, Mobba was still a game that she and her two older brothers developed together, if she gave it her all and her friends ended up not liking it, she felt like she would also be a little hurt.


    Other people''s opinions didn''t matter, but theirs did.


    Emilin decided that she would prefer giving the two some time to develop their own thoughts on the game, or else in the future, she might think that they only liked it because she instilled such an idea in them and not because the game was actually enjoyable.


    In the end, she just admitted that she had tried the game before and wasn''t too interested in ying for fun as of right now.


    This made it sound like she didn''t quite enjoy the game when she yed, when in fact what she meant was that she had been ying professionally for too long and she would probably spoil the game if she were to go and crush new yers.


    Grace and Noah could only give in when they heard her answer, but what Emilin didn''t know was that that was only on the surface.


    Emilin didn''t know that her worries were in fact quite superfluous as the two had fallen in love with the game so much that they were already ready to rmend it to everyone they knew, even the people they didn''t quite get along with.


    In the future, they were still going to continuously persuade Emilin into ying with them but as for now, Emilin was happy just watching the two having fun with the game that meant a whole lot to her.


    Mobba.


    This game made up so many memorable memories in her childhood, and this very same game would make up so many more in the future.


    The game that she and Theo had programmed together and developed together under Nathen''s supervision.


    And now, this was the very same game that she watched her friends y together.


    Emilin hade so far, yet there were still so many things that she could hold close.


    How gratifying!

 Chapter 170 - Studious But Not Really Pt I: (I Really Want To Hate You...)

    Theodore uploaded another batch of videos, enough content to skip the stream for today.


    He had already agreed to go out for dinner with Kayden, Jenna, and Gen, so he couldn''t possibly stream since he normally did so around 8 PM.??


    In retrospect, as a college student who went out with his friends every once in a while, that timing didn''t seem great.


    But there wasn''t a better time either, so Theo just let it be.


    These videos included his own covers for two separate songs with aption with the piano, the guitar, and the drums.


    One of the songs had been rmended by Gen while the other by Jenna.


    That being said, Gen agreed to sing the lyrics for the song she had rmended, being one that she had long memorized as the opening to one of her favorite animes.


    The kind that she never skipped when she watched by herself and the kind that she would never let others skip if she was watching with others.


    As for Jenna, she rejected singing it and so the video was uploaded with just the instrumentalption.


    Theo still had a few other edited videos for the songs that Kayden, Jenna, and Gen had insisted he did, but since he couldn''t go to the nearby recording studio every day, he was nning to upload those another day.


    As for thest two videos he uploaded for today, those were of the new game that TD Games had juste out with.


    TD Games being the name of thepany that created Mobba.


    Emilin, Yanyan, and his ownpany.


    The three of them being the only shareholders as their Big brother had rejected any shares back when thepany was first created.


    Yanyan had 30% of the shares while Emilin and Theodore had 51% and 19% respectively.


    Back then, Theodore didn''t even know what shares were, Emilin just gave them to him and he had been unable to reject them.


    Nathen knew better and directly rejected, even insisting that Emilin keep at least 51% to herself.


    As for Theodore, though he did nothing, he still received a continuous stream of money from those shares, easily making him a multimillionaire.


    Though he never acted like one.


    He easily forgot that he had that money as it was hard for him to see money as a thing. Livingfortably and rather normally was still more of his thing.


    Though of course, if one paid special attention, they would still be able to tell that Theo came from money just by the fact that he didn''t care about it, though they probably wouldn''t have thought that that money was in fact from his sister rather than his parents.


    Then again, if he had to, he also wouldn''t have too much trouble earning his own cash.


    There was no need to mention Yanyan and Emilin.


    The three of them hadn''t even had to sell any of these shares as Emilin was able to inject a continuous stream whenever an investment was needed.


    Other than that, Yanyan did almost all the other work while Theodore, who did nothing, could just sit there and earn money.


    Though of course, the others wouldn''t know that he was a shareholder.


    When he had decided to be a streamer and content creator and started ying games afterward, he thought, shouldn''t he at least advertise his ownpany''s products?


    Otherwise, it would really be too shameless to say that he had done anything for thepany to earn so much money every year.


    Emilin thought otherwise as the first and main game that TD Games had developed, Mobba, would have never existed without him.


    Anyways, that was that.


    At least Theodore had found a way to help thepany in his own way, even if it was quite insignificant to Yanyan and Emilin''s contributions.


    One supported thepany when it came to greatbor and the other supported with money, which made the whole world go around.


    There really wasn''t much for him to do anyways.


    "If you''re done, thene here and help me do this question!"


    Jenna, the third cer in Master Sungcha''s test, used her pencil to signal Theodore who had finished uploading his videos.


    Both she and Kayden knew that Theodore was an aspiring celebrity or something like that and though at first Jenna really thought that that was a great waste of Theodore''s talent in everything else, she shut up when she watched his videos.


    She had to admit that the videos were well made.


    Not to mention it was none of her business what the man wanted to be in the future.


    Since he wanted to pursue this route, they, as his friends who wanted to catch up to him when it came to academics, fully supported him!


    As for Jenna, she just wanted to curse Theodore for having the time to y games all day, make videos, sleep in ss, sleep at night, hit the gym before going for a swim, and still do better than her on tests.


    She had specifically asked Kayden to confirm with him that Theodore was really sleeping at night rather than studying.


    Truth be told, however, after knowing the answer, she was only more devastated.


    Damn, the guy slept all the way through the night unless he was ying more games.


    It was too harsh on the ego when you had a friend like this, especially when you came to this university being a genius, just to realize you were really quite average, if not worse.


    Ah, but Jenna couldn''t give up, so she just had to continue by working harder.


    Theodore patiently exined the question to Jenna, who had long stopped being polite with the other party.


    It was fine since they were both friends and disciples together under Master Sungcha.


    Theodore preferred how straightforward Jenna was and he didn''t mind helping with the material she was having trouble with.


    He didn''t have anything better to do anyway.


    And there was a part of him that enjoyed their sufferings as he too had suffered when he learned this material.


    "God damn, I really want to hate you, but how can I when your exnations are 10 times easier to understand than that of the professor?" Jenna sighed as she prepared to do 2 more simr questions to internalize her learnings.


    "How did you learn these things anyway?" Kayden asked offhandedly as he did his own questions, but unlike Jenna, he had to ask fewer questions and once he got the question correctly, there was no need for him to do more practice questions.


    This was because he could easily corrte the problem to a real-life application after understanding it, making it easier for him to do it the following times.


    The only problem was that he still found it hard to go that extra step, so although his grades in the ss were at the top of the batch without the same amount of effort that Jenna put in, he still couldn''t surpass the lowest mark for an A by much.


    They ranged from around 60% to 80% depending on the ss, meaning his grades were all around a B, B+, or even an A.


    But unlike Theodore, he got an A because he could only get that A, while Theodore got that A because there was no higher grade.


    It was simr to how a great student could get 99 marks on a test because they were only worth that 99% on that specific test, while the godly student got 100 marks on the test because there were only 100 marks on that test.


    Even if it were only 1 mark, the difference was still as deep as a chasm.


    Kayden didn''t mind too much, but as a human and a man who had a monster as his roommate, it was inevitable that he wouldpare himself with his good friend, which only motivated him to do better.


    Both he and Jenna had no qualms about asking for help from the person they wanted to surpass.


    Either way, what had to be done, had to be done.


    At least they had it better than their other ssmates as they could easily pester Theodore into tutoring them when they didn''t know the material.


    Theodore thought back to when he first learned this material.


    When was that again?


    Ah, yes!


    Back when he was about to get sses because he was on theputer too much.


    Was that 6th or 7th grade?


    Theodore couldn''t even recall how old he was back then.


    "I think it was around 8th grade? I was on theputer too much, and I was getting a little nearsighted and so my little sister convinced me that I should learn more without theputer and more on paperback."


    Theodore thought back.


    Ah, those were the times.


    Those were the dreaded times.


    They were terrible when he was living them, but looking back, nope, they were still equally as bad.


    Emilin had told him that he wouldn''t be able to hack and code properly, or at least not at a higher level without a higher level of education.


    Then, she taught himself as well as Nathen everything.


    From things rted to coding to those that had nothing to do with anything.


    Damn, looking back, he had been so easily tricked¡­ so damn na?ve.


    Though of course, Theo still knew that most of that stuff would probablye to use, maybe even save his life one of these days.


    Of course, at some point, he and his eldest brother''s path diverted as he pursued a path to learn more about the future of their technology while his eldest brother started getting even more into various sports.


    At that time, he had even gotten into some extreme sports but he had to drop them due to unforeseen circumstances.


    Many things were happening at that time, so in the end, Theodore hadn''t found out why it was that Nathaniel had gotten into and out of those extreme sports so quickly.


    I believe it was something about his young age despite his great physique.


    But Theo couldn''t be sure.


    Anyways, was a known fact that the things learned in the course of the 4 high school years could be learned in a single year, and for someone as smart as Theodore, of course, it took a much shorter amount of time.


    The only option left was college sses, only what Theodore didn''t tell the other two was that he didn''t only learn the courses for one single department.


    "We had already finished the high school courses during the course of the year, so the only option left was the college courses for the summer," Theodore said exasperatedly.


    It was clear that that summer vacation he spoke of left a sour taste in his mouth.


    After all, it was a whole summer vacation without going on theputer for longer than the 30 min that it took to look for the right files.


    Sad times.


    But what could he do?

 Chapter 171 - Studious But Not Really Pt II: (F***ING ONLY??)

    It was his little sister who had insisted he learned that material after all.


    How could he possibly find the face to not know the material that his younger sister already knew???


    Where would his pride as an elder brother go?


    Even if he didn''t want to learn it, he had to want to learn it!


    There was no second nor third option.


    He either had to learn it or he had to learn it or he had to learn it.


    Well, those were his second and third options.


    Anyways, now that things had already developed to this point, there was only one more thing for Theo to do.


    In this case, learning was just like bitter medicine.


    Now that he had already drunk it, as an unscrupulous person, of course, he would want others to drink it as well.


    If they didn''t drink it, then he could just force it down their throats.


    This feeling of schadenfreude was great!


    [What, you thought that he was going to say something about bitter medicine being good for you? Ha! Ha! How funny. *Insert fake smile :)*]


    Join in the suffering, he thought as he tutored hispatriots.


    Companions for life, am I right?


    He didn''t want these people to give in mid-way!


    "Anyways, let''s leave that at that."


    Thankfully, after that summer, there weren''t many more like it.


    He dove into swimming afterward, and Emilin could only admit that exercising was really good for the body, and one couldn''t just sit in front of books all day.


    Not to mention, that would solve half of Theodore''s near-sightedness problem that Emilin had been wanting to help with.


    Theo had inadvertently learned that trick from his big brother Nathen.


    That was also one of the reasons why the two of them ended up bing so fit.


    6 and 8 packs were nothing when stacks of textbooks were on the other side of the scale.


    Did these people really think that these abs came from out of nowhere?


    Dream on!


    They came from the fear of bing a bookworm with a Ph.D. education by 10th grade!


    Theodore said those words as those distant memories of him cramming in information in the zing summer started to fade into oblivion.


    It was a good skill, to be able to stop thinking about the things one wanted to stop thinking about.


    A skill that most ordinary people didn''t have.


    Meanwhile, Jenna was still stuck at the revtion that Theo too had a day when he had to study hard to learn information.


    Even if those days were much earlier for him than they were for her.


    Ah, how refreshing a thought.


    So he too had this day!


    Instantly, her impression of Theodore''s little sister, whom she hadn''t even met, rose by a degree or two.


    After all, Emilin had been the only one that could confront Theodore without even trying, at least from Jenna''s perspective.


    But then she froze.


    Sh*t.


    It couldn''t be that this guy didn''t learn shit for the other four years in which he was in high school right?


    Then does that mean that he had 4 more years than I did learning college courses?


    CRAP!


    Jenna''s whole body suddenly deted.


    How could he even catch up anymore?


    Can you not leave some room for other people''s livelihoods?


    And though Jenna abhorred the thought of what kind of answer would end uping out of Theo''s mouth, she still had to ask.


    "Then that means your current studies are around...?"


    She asked meekly as if the answer would take away herst breath while the soft winds could possibly blow her ashes away.


    Theodore thought about it for a bit.


    He was about to open his mouth to voice his answer, but when he saw Jenna''s defeated appearance, he closed his mouth again and decided to hold back.


    He knew well what a studious and determined person Jenna was, it was as if there were a fire raging in her eyes and in her heart.


    How could he have the heart to smear her efforts?


    No matter how much he enjoyed other''s sufferings, he still knew of limits.


    "It should only be around our 4th-year courses."


    Theodore said with some uncertainty after some contemtion.


    That was low enough, right?


    Meanwhile, Jenna was about to pull out her hair while Kayden''s eyes were also twitching.


    Brother.


    Do you even know how to use the term ONLY?


    What do you mean ONLY??


    What more do you f***ing want?


    We''re over here working our asses off to barely get the grades we want for our 1st-year courses while you''re over here... having ONLY mastered your 4th-year courses.


    Kayden almost wanted to turn around and leave for a second right then and there as he pondered on the fact that he was even slightly older than this son of a nice person.


    But what could he do?


    It wasn''t as if he was in the dark beforehand.


    At some point, before this point in time, he had alreadye to terms with such thoughts.


    It wasn''t particrly hard as even in his own family friends, he was surrounded by abnormal people.


    Jenna also finally gave up.


    There was no point inparing with this person.


    Wouldn''t she just tire herself out?


    Now she finally understood why there was a documentary about people whomitted suicide when going to these top universities in the past because of the pressure.


    It must be because of these types of students that you simply couldn''tpare to.


    But since she had already found out that she couldn''tpare, Jenna could just spare herself the effort and trouble.


    She didn''t want to die young after all.


    A weight was immediately lifted from Jenna''s shoulders as she decided that she would no longer bother alwaysparing herself to others.


    There were some things that you just couldn''t do no matter how much hair and sleep you lost.


    It was a matter of talent.


    And she had no such talent. There was nothing she could do about it, and so she wouldn''t mull over the matter any further.


    If she had a chance to catch up, then she would do her absolute best, but since that light had been extinguished, she would just have to follow her original ns.


    There was no need for her to feel inferior just because she was different.


    There were bound to be people who were better than you in certain matters and there was nothing you could do but ept it and continue by following your own path.


    Jenna, who had been pulling all-nighters felt like she was given a new lease on life.


    Her eyes shone with a new light, a new amber as if she had finally left the vicious cycle that had been entrapping her.


    It was an attractive look on her.


    Or so Theodore, who sat across from her, thought.


    Kayden, who sat next to her, making it easier for Theodore to tutor them both at the same time, missed the scene.


    But neither of them would be able to miss how Jenna had changed in the following days as the whole air around her became more rxed and carefree.


    Not to mention, with her whole body and mind at a much less tense state, not only did herplexion improve but so did the results of her studying sessions with Kayden and Theo.


    Theodore, as the person who corrected half of their practice mock tests, could not possibly fail to notice such a detail.


    And this was a good thing for him too as he would have to grade less of these tests in the future.


    But that was a matter of the future.


    After that episode, Theodore, Kayden, and Jenna continued studying at this bench outside.


    This was the very same one in which Kayden and Theodore first met Gen together, and now, it was their regr studying spot other than the library and one of the private studying halls.


    It was inconvenient for them to study in their rooms as they were still in the school dorms, and it didn''t matter if it was outdoors since they didn''t have to worry about the wind in a ce like Basilian.


    Of course, the only problem was that under the zing sun, theputers couldn''t be seen properly, so this ce was only ideal when it was cloudy, like today.


    While Kayden and Jenna kept reviewing the higher-level maths ss''s content, Theodore was also studying his own material.


    His performing arts andmunication major was not there just for show.


    He still had quite a bit to learn from those sses, the improv ss with the ruthless Professor Thiago in particr.


    Though Theodore quite liked his style, it was still hard on his students.


    In the end, neither of them questioned why Theodore was still in their grade despite being able to graduate at this very moment.


    Since he was staying, he must also have his reason right?


    Their thoughts didn''t really go much deeper than that.


    But one thought that did in fact pass through Jenna''s mind was somewhat unrted.


    She thought back to all those times in which their ssmates would talk behind Theo''s back.


    While he was quite popr, in the end, there would still be jealous people, so that waspletely normal.


    If any of the people that thought Theodore was being way too high profile and showing off too much when sleeping in half of his sses, they would probably receive a hard p in the face when they found out why those sses were so sleep-inducing to this man, right?


    If such a day came, she too wanted to witness the scene.


    After all, schadenfreude was not a feeling limited to Theodore.


    Jenna smiled at the thought.

 Chapter 172 - Out For Drinks Pt I: (Clean Out Her Pockets~!)

    As the sky darkened, going from a light blue shade to a warmer palette, the temperature also dropped from the usual scorching heat to a nice warmth.


    Theodore, Kayden, and Jenna had already left their bench, going back to their own dorms to drop off their stuff.??


    They had agreed to meet up an hourter before heading off to the secret roasted meat and noodle shop in an alley close to the school campus, a ce Gen, who had already been around the campus one year longer than the others, had found.


    The food at the ce was delicious, but the business wasn''t good due to two main reasons.


    One, the secluded and hard-to-find location.


    Two, the inappropriateness of eating steaming food in the usual hot weather, which was really the only weather around here.


    Though at night, when it cooled down to a certain extent, it wasn''t bad.


    Not bad at all.


    What most people didn''t know, however, was the fact that this ce had the best drinks around!


    Gen, as one who prioritized the drinks over the food when going out with friends, found this to be the only ce to go.


    Naturally, this time, things were not different.


    Theodore and Kayden were currently taking a shower, which was the norm considering the weather in Basilian.


    Rather, it would be ufortable they didn''t.


    Unless one stayed indoors all day with the AC on, not bothering with the crushing electrical bill, they would likely have to take at least 2 to 3 showers a day, just to feelfortable.


    But I mean, the electrical bill was really no joke!


    This was why, though this university was ranked second, at times, people who did not care for specific teachers and faculties or the locations of the university would rather opt for the third or fourth-ranked if they couldn''t get into the first.


    It was a matter of livability, especially for those who were not ustomed to the heat.


    As for those who were born in Basilian, well, that aspect wasn''t as much of an issue.


    For the others, especially those who lived in the north¡­ haha, good luck and all the best to you.


    Theodore rubbed his messy hair with his white towel.


    The shower sounding behind before halting to a stop.


    Kayden came out of the bathroom wearing some of his nicer and lighter clothes.


    "Your dressing rather nicely for eating out at that ce," Theodoremented with a chuckle, covering his mouth to hide his teasing smile.


    The eatery wasn''t particrly shabby and Kayden wasn''t dressed particrly nice either.


    But this was, after all, someone who often just wore hoodies or t-shirts.


    Now he was wearing a rather nice new dress shirt that wasn''t exactly formal.


    "But of course!" Kayden was clearly used to the teasing.


    "If I don''t dress well, how am I going to make a good impression?" He said casually, but there was clearly still a blush near the base of his neck.


    Dress to impress, am I right?


    "Bro, I think you''re a littlete for that. In all seriousness," Theodore didn''t know if he shouldugh or cry at this moment.


    Why did Kayden sound like he was going on a blind date rather than meeting up with friends?


    "True, true, but as you know, humans are forgetful beings," Kayden seemed to have already thought things through in the past few days, weeks, or even months.


    He was rather resolute.


    Theodore chuckled.


    "I''m sure that''s true... Mm, I believe you, I really do! But it sure didn''t sound like it when Gen told me about that time you wet your bed..." Theodore stifled augh with his hands at Kayden''s expense.


    Kayden''s face instantly darkened at Theodore''s poisonous tongue, but the helplessness in his eyes could not the concealed.


    "That was over a decade ago!" Kayden said through gritted teeth.


    "Mmhm," Theodore did poke at his friend''s sore spots any longer.


    He stood up and threw his wet towel in hisundry bin before slinging his arm over Kayden''s shoulder, showing his support for this man''s endeavors.


    "Then let''s do this brother!"


    Theodore had already agreed to be this roommate of his''s wingman.


    He couldn''t back down now, right?


    ***


    Outside of the dorms, three people met up.


    The sight was in fact quite strange as their wardrobe didn''t match up at all.


    It was hard to tell if they were even headed to the same ce¡­


    Jenna was wearing a pretty ck skirt that reached right above her knees and afortable beige jumper with apanying essories.


    Kayden was wearing jeans and a clean, ironed dress shirt.


    While Theodore was wearing a fitting white shirt andfortable track pants, which went well with his figure, not forgetting hisfy jacket that was both light and could keep the wind out.


    If there was any at all.


    The only thing was, one of them looked like they were going on a date at the park, one of them looked like they were going on a date to a nice restaurant, while the other looked like they were about to hit the gym or something.


    In fact, Theodore seemed to have been wearing nicer clothes when they were just studying outdoors.


    They seemed like they all had different ideas of what they were going out to do.


    But interestingly enough, none of the three seemed to care about this mismatched wardrobe.


    Simply walking off as if it were the norm.


    When they were like that, speaking and walking casually despite looking out of ce, others seemed to feel like... maybe it wasn''t out of ce at all??


    Anyways, they quickly made their way off, getting to the ce 5 minutes before the agreed-upon time after a few twists and turns.


    The closer they got to the right alley, the fewer people there seemed to be around, but once they got to the right ce, there wasn''t ack of customers.


    Though it was quite obvious that most of these people were not from their university.


    At the entrance, the three simultaneously noticed the hand that was waving at them.


    It seemed like, in the end, Gen had still made it here first.


    And well¡­ here was, another person who didn''t get the memo.


    Gen was dressed¡­ to party?


    She seemed like she could go to a nightclub and be thrown into the dance floor and fit right in.


    Anyways, the four of them made their way together to the table that was upied by Gen beforehand.


    "It seems like no one got the memo!" Genughed out loud, her voice, quite melodious.


    "What was the memo?" Jenna lifted an eyebrow with a cheeky smile.


    "Since it''s a celebration, and I''m paying, shouldn''t you guys be ready to party all night after this? I thought you would be ready to suck me dry, but it seems like you guys are preparing to have a meal and go out for a walk before heading back," Gen said mockingly.


    As a matter of fact, any of the three could be easily seen making such a move.


    "Sucking you dry, huh?" Kayden seemed to think about it for a bit, but in the end, he said nothing else on the matter.


    Theodore chuckled at the side knowingly while the other two didn''t seem to have thought anything of it.


    Gen sat down on the innermost seat which was close to a wall as they were seated at a corner while Kayden sat down beside her.


    Theodore moved to sit across from them, but before sliding into his seat, he still asked Jenna, who had yet to sit, which seat she would like to take.


    In the end, Jenna ended up seated across from Gen and Theodore across from Kayden.


    They were booth seats, so things just ended up like that.


    Who knew that such a small detail would end up making this night so much more difficult than it should have been?


    And yes.


    The word was difficult.


    Anyways, that would be a matter of the future, like a couple of hours into the future.


    "Well, if you want us to empty your pockets, it''s not impossible for us to do it here either."


    Theodore mused.


    "No thanks," Gen''s answer was instantaneous, eliciting a peal ofughter from the other three.


    It wasn''t as if the three of them didn''t know of Theodore''s appetite.


    One of the reasons Gen had treated them in the evening was because of that very reason.


    Theodore didn''t quite like to stuff himself before sleeping after all.


    But if he put his mind to it.


    Theodore could surely clean out this girl''s credit card.


    The only thing that would stop him would be the number of ingredients there were at this ce.


    In the end, Gen even put her hands in her pockets and flip them inside out to show that she had nothing in them except for a tampon, which she promptly put in Theodore''s hands.


    "There! You''ve emptied out my pockets!"


    This time, it was Gen''s turn tough.


    And boy did she do so hysterically.


    As for Theodore, his face darkened a bit before he gave Kayden a re that tantly said, "look after your girl, will you?"


    Theodore didn''t even skip a beat before handing the tampon to the man seated in front of him, whether that person wanted it or not.


    He even did so with a huff.


    At that moment, Jenna who had been observing quite keenly seemed to have picked something up from these short interactions... but nothing conclusive.

 Chapter 173 - Out For Drinks Pt II: (Angel)

    Theodore didn''t usually drink much, but that didn''t mean that he couldn''t hold his liquor.


    But this time, he had reallynded himself in a big mess!??


    Who told his friend to be so bad with alcohol and still pursue someone like Gen?


    F**K.


    ...


    If Theodore had known that things would end up like this... then perhaps he wouldn''t have made some of the decisions he did.


    And this all started back when they first met.


    If you can still recall, back then, Gen had asked Theodore to teach her his ways of ying Mobba, but not long after, Kayden came out admitting that he had a thing for thedy to his roommate.


    And as the good friend that he was, Theodore of course instantly thought of teaching Kayden his tricks so that he could, in turn, teach Gen, thus finding more opportunities to spend time with her.


    Kayden had a fast hand speed, to begin with, so all was well up until there.


    They had their lovey-dovey moments of well... let''s leave that at that.


    As for how lovey-dovey those moments actually were from a scale of -100 to 100, I won''tment.


    There was also this other thing, about teaching Kayden some of the second-year material so that he could help Gen.


    In this aspect, Theo actually rather admired this friend of his, who was willing to do so much for the person he liked.


    If Gen didn''t reciprocate such sincere feelings, all Theo would be able to say was that she was seriously losing out.


    This good brother of his was really a man among men.


    But he quickly got over those feelings of respect and admiration...


    In his heart, the image of Kayden had instantly dropped 4 to 5 degrees with just one meal


    Now, all he could do was curse Kayden.


    Why the fuck did Kayden pursuing a girl have toe at his expense???


    Was the thought that went through Theodore''s mind as he downed his nth shot.


    Hell, no matter how good his physique was, there was no way that he wouldn''t be slightly drunk after that.


    But though he was drunk and his face was flushed red, his throat dry, and even if his eyes were slightly blurry and he was a bit dizzy, feeling as if the whole world was spinning, he was still able to think properly.


    Or something like that.


    "Are you okay?" Jenna asked as Theodore''s head hit the table, instantly making the world spin a little less than it did before.


    "I''m not drunk!"


    Theodore said with his voice a little slurry and hoarse, making it deeper than usual.


    It was incredibly alluring, making Kayden want to punch his friend a little.


    This guy was clearly an enemy of all men.


    Kayden looked at his friend who had taken one too many shots for him without an ounce of guilt despite his not-so-friendly thoughts.


    In fact, things hadn''t really gone as nned either.


    If it was just drinking Kayden''s shots, then fine.


    With Theodore''s metabolism, things would still work out.


    But not long after, Theodore wasn''t just drinking his own and Kayden''s punishment shots.


    Apparently, Theodore was being a little too "obvious" with his preferences for Kayden, and with previous misunderstandings from Gen''s side, Theodore ended up having to drink Jenna''s shots as well.


    Meanwhile, Jenna was sipping on some fruit wine that she had brought with her.


    Amusing herself while watching this drunk friend.


    "I guess it really is true when people say that drunk people tend to im they aren''t drunk," Jenna chuckled, her appearancepletely contrasting to Theodore''s.


    Her face didn''t even have a tinge of redness, much less any other signs of drunkenness.


    "Of course! Only drunk people like him would say such words! UNLIKE ME!"


    It was hard to tell what betrayed Gen''s words first.


    Her flushed face.


    Her abrupt motion of standing up, leading her to a bruise on her thigh after she mmed it on the table.


    Or her loud drunk talk.


    It was unclear which one of them made it more obvious that she was absolute, without a doubt, even more drunk than Theo.


    Kayden and Jenna exchanged helpless nces before looking back at the people seated next to them.


    Kayden, who was bad with alcohol, had barely taken two sips this whole time.


    Every time he was about to be punished with drinks, he wouldmunicate with his friend using his eyes.


    Theodore would re at him before giving in after making a deal.


    Though this method was going to hurt his pockets in the future, at least it was better than looking bad in front of Gen.


    Though it had to be said that he was thinking a little too much considering the fact that she probably wouldn''t be recalling much the next day.


    As for Jenna, many didn''t know, but her alcohol tolerance was in fact, through the roofs.


    Of course, right now, it looked like she hadn''t drunk much, but in fact, she had already downed 2 bottles of high concentration fruit wine while sipping.


    Jenna had drunk more alcohol of a higher concentration than Theodore.


    But the other three couldn''t tell at all, simply assuming that the fruit wine was of low concentration considering how she was drinking it out of a big cup.


    I mean, she was drinking with a straw, which somewhat fit the image that her attire gave her.


    Then again, when Theodore was slowly pushed into drinking her punishment shots, she didn''t say anything either.


    In fact, she was very much having fun watching the show.


    Hehe.


    The whole thing ended up bing, "Make Theodore Drunk Game."


    It was nice to know that there was something that she was better at than this guy.


    At least she was better at drinking than he was.


    It was sad when she thought back to how quickly she was humbled by the man, her ego of having be a student at this university, instantly crushed into smithereens.


    This alleviated some more of her inner pain, which was slowly healing as she stopped with those stupidparisons.


    "Do you want to send her off first?"


    Jenna asked Kayden knowingly.


    After this meal, she was sure of it.


    At first, it was just a thought, but that thought was only confirmed and reaffirmed with Kaydens words and interactions with both Gen and Theodore.


    It was clear to Jenna that Theodore knew while Gen didn''t.


    But since she was having fun, why not lend a helping hand as well?


    Kayden looked at that familiar look that Jenna was giving him.


    It was the exact same look Theodore would give him whenever he was teasing him.


    Kayden''s face flushed a little before he nodded at Jenna, to show his gratefulness.


    Thankful to Jenna, who clearly showed her stance as a good friend who would help him if needed.


    Now he not only had a wingman, but also a wing-woman.


    Since that was the case, he was not going to stand on ceremony, at least like this, with fewer words, he would seem less pretentious.


    After all, it was pretty clear that he would rather go with Gen first.


    At the same time, his leaving was a silent acknowledgment.


    As Kayden left with Gen leaning on his shoulders, and an arm over his so that she wouldn''t fall over, her consciousness had already drifted to a certain extent.


    Jenna waved the two goodbye, even though both of them had their backs to her.


    Then, she moved her gaze back to Theodore.


    When he was quiet like this, Jenna couldn''t help but marvel at how handsome he was.


    It wasn''t as if she didn''t know of this before this moment.


    After all, Theodore was given the nickname of a heartthrob in the first week of school, something hard to miss.


    But before this evening Jenna had been a little preupied with other thoughts.


    Throughout the day, she would often be blinded by the man''s stunning achievements and hisrge back that seemed to be hard to catch up to, not having the time to think of his looks, despite them being the first thing one would look at.


    Now that she had let those things go, she could finally appreciate the finer things in life.


    Once she stopped trying to catch up to him, Jenna suddenly felt like that back was not thatrge as she approached it, now walking side by side with this friend, whom she previously had a hard time with.


    She was indeed humbled.


    But to her, she felt like that wasn''t a bad thing at all.


    Now that she was standing by this person''s side, she could finally observe him from a little closer.


    When Theodore was sleeping in ss or even when he was resting, he was often still a little tense.


    His presence and aura naturally gave off the feeling of a bad boy, even though Jenna knew that he wasn''t really one.


    In fact, she thought him to be a rather simple person.


    Even so, such a thought was hard to express when looking at the man.


    Whose appearance told you he was anything but simple.


    Now, however, was a different story.


    Theodore''s face was slightly flushed, and his face waspletely rxed on the table, probably due to the effects of the alcohol.


    He showed no signs of movement, and one would think he was asleep.


    "As innocent as an angel," Jenna thought to herself.


    That was what Theodore looked like right now.


    An angel from the heavens.


    It was not dissimr when he was still a child, just that his face was now a lot more mature and alluring rather than cute with his past baby fat, but Jenna didn''t know that.


    Wait.


    Adorable?


    Angel?


    WTF

 Chapter 174 - Out For Drinks Pt III: (Holy Sh*t)

    Jenna cringed momentarily.


    Was this even a way to describe someone like Theodore???


    She instinctively rejected such an idea.


    Jenna gave the man another fleeting nce.


    But then why did it seem so fitting?


    What the hell?


    Jenna couldn''t help but jerk back a little at the thought.


    Damn, how could she think something like that?


    Jenna stared for a while longer, but Theodore still didn''t show any signs of moving from his spot.


    For a second, she too froze as if to let the silence tell her whether the other person heard her thoughts.


    Sigh.


    Thankfully he didn''t.


    Jenna was nning to watch for a little longer, letting the alcohol in her own system do its thing wanting to sober up a little more, ming her previous thoughts on the alcohol, but then, she nearly had a heart attack!


    *Swish*


    Theodore suddenly sat up straight from his previousying position as if he had been injected with something.


    But he justid right back down without saying anything.


    It was as sudden and out of nowhere as his previous movements.


    Jenna patted her chest to calm herself down, reassuring herself that mind-reading wasn''t a thing and that some of the other supernatural hypotheses in her mind were not usible either.


    "That really gave me a scare," the girl said to herself, assuming that there was no one else there conscious to hear her.


    "Really? Sorry ''bout that," Every word was pronounced individually and with great efforts.


    A merge of a sound and a sigh.


    Theodore''s voice was as light as a feather, as if he were too tired to say another syble.


    "Ha, so you also knew it was you?"


    Jenna suddenly felt like this drunk fellow was a lot more honest than usual.


    This time, however, Theodore didn''t speak.


    But his whole aura said, "I''m too tired to speak, the fewer sybles I have to pronounce, the better, so deal with it."


    Jenna looked at the handsome drunk fellow who could still respond to her questions and suddenly, a little devilish smile bloomed on her face.


    If someone were conscious to see it, they would definitely think that this devilish smirk was the cutest expression on this seemingly nice girl


    It was said that drunk people were the most honest, right?


    Then wasn''t this the perfect opportunity to get some truths out of this man?


    "What is the first thing you think of when you hear Jenna?"


    Jenna whispered into Theodore''s ears.


    Either because she didn''t want others to hear her question, or perhaps because she wanted to make sure that Theo did.


    "Stu-pid!" Theodore said clearly as his shoulder rubbed on his sensitive ear which had just been whispered in.


    But that sensitivity was missed by Jenna as she marveled at this honest answer.


    Okay!


    Fine!


    She shouldn''t have asked!


    What was she even expecting?


    What kind of answer would have made her satisfied?


    Jenna wasn''t sure.


    Wasn''t this the form for torturing oneself? TAT


    What she didn''t know was that Theodore in fact, first thought of another word, but that one was quickly reced by stupid in his mind as stupid rolled off the tongue better.


    He really wanted to be excused for this one.


    Who told unfaltering and tenacious to have so many sybles making it so easy to slur?


    But since he didn''t say it, how was she supposed to know?


    If she knew that, she would find out that she was actually much better off asking Theodore this stuff when he was sobber.


    It wasn''t as if he had troubles being honest with her.


    But then again, Jenna would probably kick Theodore for being so damnzy, I mean it was just 1 to 2 more sybles so why couldn''t he just say something nice?


    In the end, this should be med on Jenna''sck of courage in being upfront andck of trust in Theodore, thinking that he may lie to her, right??


    But why did that not sound quite right either?


    "Then what''s the second thing you think of?"


    Jenna asked tentatively, hoping to recuperate some of her dignity.


    If she kept asking, there was bound to be something good right?


    But soon, she realized she was being way too optimistic.


    What she didn''t know was that after so much talking, Theodore was only getting more and more clear-headed.


    He hid his face from the other party so that she wouldn''t be able to see his amused smile, but with so many improv sses, he was getting better at controlling his facial expressions.


    This girl was trying to pry some answers out of him while he was down.


    Theo couldn''t help but smile, thankfully, even amidst the drunkenness, he could still hide his face well when he couldn''t control his facial muscles.


    "Xs, a lot of X. Wrong answers everywhere! More Xs than I''ve ever seen throughout my high school career."


    Theodore groaned as he answered with a hidden chuckle.


    He was of course talking about the mock exams that he would correct for her.


    He was exaggerating, yet he was not at the same time.


    Jenna didn''t do that bad considering oftentimes, an average of 70% was often an A.


    But he wasn''t lying either.


    He really didn''t get that many things wrong throughout his entire standardized learning career, other than when he was studying with Emilin and Nathen at home.


    Since the girl wanted to pry answers out of him, he didn''t mind ying along.


    Jenna didn''t notice how Theodore''s voice was now much less slurred and sluggish.


    It was faster and more concise, and it even hid a hint ofughter.


    As for Jenna, well, she was regretting asking all over again.


    What was worse was that it wasn''t even wrong or anything, Jenna could see where the other wasing from.


    So now you''re not skimping on your words anymore?


    Why did she even bother?


    "Whatever..."


    Theodore chuckled inwardly.


    Cute.


    "I have to go to the bathroom, so could you move?" Jenna asked wanting to move on from the topic.


    But as soon as she thought of the bathroom, she suddenly really had to go.


    Like, really, really had to go really bad.


    One would like to say it was out of nowhere, but how could they?


    Especially considering the amount of fluid she had ingested in this simple meal.


    It was at least over a liter of fruit wine.


    This time, Theodore chuckled, but out loud.


    It was unlike his humorousughs, leaning more towards a helpless smile.


    This was because¡­ he was actually rather helpless about this situation.


    His legs were feeling as heavy as lead and he was sure that the moment he stood up, would be the very same moment that he would fall over to whichever direction his center of gravity was leaning towards at that very moment.


    That is if he could stand up at all.


    Seeing that the man wasn''t moving, Jenna, in the spur of the moment in which she really needed to go, tried to push Theodore off his seat.


    She couldn''t consider any consequences, but that didn''t matter.


    I mean, she was really urgent.


    So, god help her!


    God: No.


    Jenna: TTATT


    Well, and that was that.


    With the mass of Theodore''s dense muscles, which was usually rather hard to note, even with Jenna''s full strength, she wouldn''t make the other party budge.


    Like, one could tell he had a good figure, but it was still on the lean side, it was really hard to tell that he was this heavy.


    "Can''t you move your ass? I really got to pee!"


    Jenna whispered screamed in a moment of desperation.


    Sensing the girl''s urgency, Theodore suddenly thought of something.


    Theodore hadn''t been nning to use it as he didn''t want to bother Emilin to get more, if need be, wanting to use them sparingly, but now that it came to this, he didn''t have much of a choice either.


    It wasn''t as if he could let the girl pee her pants and she couldn''t crawl under the table either as there was no room.


    There was also no way she was going to be stepping over the table or himself in this scenario.


    Okay, truth be told, he just didn''t want Emilin to know that he was out drinking this much, but in hindsight, he would be better off if he took the thing so that he wouldn''t do anything stupid in a drunken spur, right?


    That would definitely make Emilin feel more at ease than him trying to muddle through it.


    Either that, or he could just make Kayden his scapegoat and say that the things were taken by his friend who was a terrible drinker¡­


    Yeah, that sounded good.


    Theodore made up his mind and spoke to the girl who was still trying her best to push him off his seat with no results.


    It didn''t help that it was a leather couch with high friction either.


    "Mm"


    Theodore caught the other party''s attention.


    "What is it?" Jenna said with impatience as she was still thinking of peeing.


    "My bag''s back pocket. Open it and bring me a pill from the tin."


    Theo said as he himself couldn''t get it with his heavy and stiff arms.


    Jenna''s brows furrowed, but she stillplied.


    She was still able to hold it in for a good 5 minutes if she sat on the edge of her seat¡­


    Jenna unzipped the bag and she instantly gasped and frowned.


    Holy sh*t.


    For a second there¡­ she thought, maybe this was the heavens trying to be fair.


    But if that were true, what a cruel fairness it was.

 Chapter 175 - Out For Drinks Pt IV: (Effects Of The Pill)

    In front of Jenna were at least a dozen bottles of pills with variousbels on them, none of them concise enough for Jenna to know of their purpose at first nce.


    Such a scene instantly made Jenna think about the worst possibilities.??


    Truth be told, it really looked like Theodore had some chronic illness just from the number of pills he "had to take".


    To someone who didn''t know the purposes of such pills, they may really think that Theodore had to take all these pills every day.


    Well, in fact, most of these pills were just precautionary, while the others were rather useful in specific circumstances.


    Of course, there were also some vitamines, also made by Emilin''s forms.


    Nathen and Theodore didn''t have to worry about side effects when eating these, so they really had no qualms, thus the number of pills that would make one wonder whether you were going to die in the next breath.


    Theo wasn''t the only one with these pills in their family.


    Nathen was in fact carrying even more than him as he had stronger vitamins and other precautionary pills that he didn''t need.


    These were mainly due to Nathen''s stronger physique, which had to be maintained.


    Of course, since these pills didn''t harm the body and they took immediate effect before being flushed out of their system, they werepletely unlike drugs.


    Well, except for the vitamins, which were just like normal vitamins, except enhanced so that they wouldn''t affect the body even if too many were taken.


    Of course, there was still an "ideal number", any more and the rest would also be flushed out of the body as it would be detected to be superfluous.


    "Wh-which one?" Jenna''s voice was much softer than usual and it had a slight tremble, which also existed in her hands.


    If Theodore needed to take a pill right now, then it meant that something might go wrong if he took the wrong one right?


    I can''t mess this up, or I might have a dead Theodore by my side in the very next second.


    By then... I''m really not going to be able to pee.


    But of course, Jenna''s focus was still on her friend''s life- of wait- nope, it was on peeing her pants. She was worried if things really went south, she may be peeing on her friend''s warm corpse.


    "The one that''s half yellow and half white, with abel that has a "D" on it," Theodore said after thinking about it.


    It scared Jenna even more that Theodore knew these pills like the back of his hand, or at least that was the impression he was giving...


    Well, that was a misunderstanding.


    Theodore recalled this one well not because he used it often, but rather because Emilin emphasized it well.


    They had both read those novels about people getting drugged, getting pregnant, etc, etc.


    WELL, no one was really sane enough to put their hopes on some unrealistically beautiful and perfectly lovable female lead that was perfect for them tond on their beds if they were drugged, so precautions were taken.


    Emilin had emphasized that this pill was half yellow because of the color of the beer that was often shown to be inrge jugs so that Theodore would remember it even if he were drunk, and thebel was obviously D for simr reasons.


    It was something like Don''t Drink so Damn Much Next Time! or Don''t Forget This One When You''re Drunk! Or, Don''t Get the Next Person You See Pregnant! Or, Don''t be a Drunk D*ck!


    Well, the idea was there.


    Theodore could no longer recall what the original meaning was, so he could get creative about it.


    But it did the trick, even when he was drunk, he could still recall the pee-colored pill that he wouldn''t take on any other asion.


    There were the rummaging sounds of his bag along with the cking of the stic and ss containers, which really made Jenna ufortable.


    It was ufortable how she had to dig through a bag to find these pills and even more ufortable that Theodore seemed to have to carry all these different pills with him at all times.


    It really made it feel like he could die at any second.


    Another misunderstanding.


    Theodore just carried them all around with him due to the fact that he never knew which ones would end up actually bing useful at any moment, and really, he couldn''t bother organizing them.


    He had the acute feeling that if he were to ever only bring one bottle around, he would never put it back, and thus he would probably start losing medicine left and right.


    Wasn''t it much simpler for him to bring it all with him?


    He wouldn''t ever have to have so many worries again.


    Of course, if he lost them, he would lose them all, so when he went to Emilin, he could just ask for another batch while using the reserve.


    It didn''t matter much to Emilin either, something she had long emphasized, seeing as these were only some of the elementary medicines in her library.


    It didn''t matter if they got out as she already had the patents done, even though they weren''t currently being sold to the outside market.


    Though of course, Theodore wouldn''t be that careless with the stuff given to him by his sister.


    "Did you get the pee-colored one?" Theodore asked, just to make sure, after all, even if he recalled it really well if the person getting it messes it up, then he would also be f*cked.


    Okay, that was somewhat of an exaggeration since none of these pills would have an adverse effect unless you were supremely skinny eating the pill that would increase your metabolism and proceed to still not eat.


    But even then, there wouldn''t be immediate results unless you continued to starve yourself, which was pretty pointless if you had such a pill, to begin with.


    Even then, you probably died due to starvation and not because of the pill you were taking.


    Jenna''s eye twitched at the mention of a ''pee colored pill'', which only made her desire of smashing this guy and then going to the bathroom and go back to nature, increase.


    But if he was going to die without the pill, how could she leave him standing? I mean, sitting?


    Well, Jenna took out one of the pee-colored pills and used her hand to move Theodore''s head so that she could stuff the pill in his mouth.


    She felt somewhat tingly when her fingers touched Theodore''s warm lips, and even more so when his tongue brushed past her fingertip when taking in the pill.


    But the thoughts of going to the bathroom still overthrew everything.


    And her urges to go masked any and all feelings going on in her lower abdomen.


    I mean, she was already clenching really hard, so how was she supposed to feel anything at all?


    Theodore didn''t notice as he was trying his best to swallow this pill, something he usually didn''t have troubles with, but damn!


    His throat was so damn dry.


    The pill barely went down with his great efforts and his throat hurt even more than it did before.


    But the results were instantaneous.


    Theo became more clear-headed, his legs were returning to normal and so was the rest of his body as the alcohol was being processed and dispelled from his body at a rapid speed.


    The first thing he did once he could feel the movements of his arm was to get the closest drink to him, of course, he wasn''t going to get the alcoholic drink next to him, so without even thinking, he took the fruit wine with a "low percentage of alcohol."


    But, damn.


    Damn did he not think things through.


    He had only taken a small sip from the straw and his throat was already burning like crazy all over again!


    "What were you drinking!"


    Theodore roared as his whole face scowled.


    Jenna didn''t respond as his actions werepletely unexpected to her.


    She didn''t know what to say at this moment, and she was lucky she didn''t pee herself a little there.


    "I''ll be damned if that''s a normal fruit wine."


    Normally, if he hadn''t already drunk that much, his reaction wouldn''t have been so exaggerated, and especially not when he was expecting something of such high concentration.


    It was like drinking white wine thinking it was water, your reaction was bound to be different from drinking white wine knowing it was white wine.


    It was the difference between knowing what to expect and not knowing.


    But after that scene, Theodore didn''t say anything more either.


    He still knew clearly why he had taken the pill in the first ce, and since it was still in his system, the fruit wine would also be affected, he didn''t have to worry about getting drunk again with just a sip.


    Suddenly, to Jenna''s surprise, Theodore stood up and Jenna even saw how Theodore''s face had returned to its originalplexion.


    Completely unlike his flushed face from just moments ago.


    In fact, if it weren''t for such an apparent change, Jenna may have even assumed that Theodore had been acting before.


    He lookedpletely normal.


    But she had no such free time to think about it.


    As soon as Theodore moved out of the way, she ran like a cheetah, making a B line to the bathroom.


    While Jenna did that, Theodore took this time to order water and anotherrge bowl of noodles.


    Since he took the pill, his body was going to be working a little bit of overtime, so he at least needed to feed it well.


    And his throat was still dry as f*ck.

 Chapter 176 - Out For Drinks Pt V: (Clear-headed)

    The water came not long after and by the time the noodles came, Jenna was already back from her trip to the loo.


    Theodore had chugged the water and he had even taken to bites into the noodles by the time she came back.??


    "One second, I''m going to the bathroom too," he informed rather offhandedly.


    Since things were being processed, it was inevitable that he would have to go to the bathroom, it just wasn''t as urgent as Jenna, who had already been holding back for a while.


    Jenna nodded as if to say that she would look after their stuff.


    She sat back to her seat, but thinking a bit longer, she sat in the middle of the couch to take up half of her own seat and half of Theodore''s.


    She was really just sitting in the middle.


    Her intentions were clear.


    She didn''t want such a thing urring again.


    Then, without really learning her lesson, she went back to sipping her drink.


    She drank like normal, still without batting an eye at the alcohol intake, looking down at the pretty color of her drink.


    She was currently drinking the peach fruit wine.


    It had a yellow and pink hue, which made it a fan favorite for the females.


    It also tasted really nice, so that was a plus.


    Well, that is, if you could drink 3 sips without getting drunk.


    But then, her face, which had beenpletely normal up until now, flushed red.


    Like really red.


    And not because she was drunk either.


    She stopped drinking and looked at the straw she had just drunk from.


    Jenna didn''t think about it when all that was in her mind was the flowing water sound of nature, but now that she was clear-headed again¡­ she noticed.


    Wasn''t that the same straw that Theo just drank from?!


    And her face flushed harder.


    Hey! Wait a second!


    This is my drink to begin with¡­ why am I the one feeling embarrassed.


    It wasn''t as if Jenna had never had a boyfriend before, she had one back in high school, but they separated upon entering university and he even had the guts to say that it was all because she cared more about studying than their rtionship.


    Of course, she cared more about studying than their rtionship!


    It was her future vs, their (quite honestly non-existent) future.


    Not to mention, she had made it clear to him before they agreed to get together.


    Back then she was rather shy, so she recalled that she was probably beat red when she blurted out those truthful words, which is why the other party took it for a joke or something like that.


    But was that even her fault?


    So even though Jenna had been in a rtionship before, the two didn''t get too far either and her experience was still rather limited.


    As for the scenario right now, it was hard for her not to be affected, especially under the influence of some alcohol.


    She was rather prone to overthinking.


    Jenna had all these indignant thoughts in her mind about Theodore''s actions and how casually he had done them, so much so that she couldn''t think of anything else.


    "Are you getting drunk? Your face is beat red, you should probably stop drinking."


    Theodore, who just came back to the scene of Jenna cutely pursing her glossy lips while metaphorically staring a hole into her alcoholic drink,mented.


    He had tried for himself how strong that drink was, and he still couldn''t believe it could be called wine.


    Much less that someone was drinking it as wine.


    It was clearly a shot, okay¡­


    Jenna''s indignant thoughts deted like a balloon the moment she heard those words of concern.


    Well, it wasn''t his fault, right?


    He seemed pretty restless and ill at ease at that time.


    Jenna could imagine the reason why he was pending for a drink, having even assumed that hers was non-alcoholic, of a low degree at best.


    She had been drinking it all night, and Jenna knew exactly what impression she gave off.


    It wasn''t the first time such a thing urred before.


    There had been many who tried her drinks thinking that they wouldn''t be too strong before, of course, they did that out of their own cups.


    She frowned.


    Maybe Theodore didn''t care all that much about sharing a drink, I mean, a lot of people nowadays were like that, so maybe she shouldn''t care that much either?


    While Jenna was lost in thought, Theodore, who had sat across from her, getting her message, took his bag and rummaged through it, taking out the same pill that he had taken not long ago.


    "Do you want one?"


    Jenna snapped out of her daze.


    Huh?


    What?


    Who am I? Where am I? Why is this guy offering me his medicine???


    For a second, the scene could almost be interpreted as a littlemb, an innocent young girl, being offered drugs from a person who popped out of absolutely nowhere.


    Or worse yet, someone who they thought they knew.


    Tsk, tsk.


    [AN: Don''t do drugs kids. And don''t ept drugs. And don''t sell drugs! You too adults¡­ watch yourselves. ?]


    Seeing the confusion in Jenna''s eyes that made her seem even more like a lostmb, a sudden sh of realization dawned upon Theodore.


    "Ah, don''t misunderstand."


    Thinking back, there did indeed seem to be a lot of things that could be misunderstood in that situation.


    Especially the contents of his bag.


    Mm, very prone to misunderstandings.


    [AN: Seriously¡­ why the heck does this sound more and more like drugs, for people who are new here, just know that they aren''t drugs goddamnit.]


    "Those pills are¡­"


    How should he even describe it?


    Theodore thought long and hard beforeing up with something suitable.


    "¡­special."


    ???


    Jenna didn''t even know how to react at this point.


    Seeing the question marks floating over Jenna''s pretty little head, Theodore could already imagine what kind of thoughts she was having at the moment.


    "No¡­ I''m not terminally ill."


    Theodore spoke seriously, but even that wouldn''t save him.


    Sister, how was he supposed to exin this?!


    I mean the scene really couldn''t get any stranger.


    Jenna was looking at him as if she were looking at someone on their death beds saying that they were absolutely fine and as healthy as ever.


    As if he were a crazy person in denial.


    Theodore sighed.


    "I''m really healthy, as healthy as one can be, even more so."


    Theodore said as he stared at the incriminating evidence that said otherwise.


    "These, these¡­"


    He couldn''t say that they weren''t to supplement his health, since they were, but that didn''t mean that he was ill.


    In the end, there was really nothing he could say, other than the truth, right?


    Well, it shouldn''t matter too much.


    "Well, it''s easier if I take them out and exin."


    As Theodore said that Theo slowly started taking out bottle after bottle without missing a beat.


    Rows after rows.


    There were¡­ a lot to say the least.


    Since these were already patented, it should be fine, right?


    Theodore already considered Jenna as a friend.


    Not to mention since no one really knew his background, truth be told, other than his grades, looks, and his great personality, there was no other reason they would approach him.


    He found these friends rather trustworthy, plus, there was a contingency n.


    Though of course, it would be best if such a n was unnecessary.


    Then Theodore started pointing at things, rather casually if I may add.


    "At this row, yeah, these with the greenish colors, those are all vitamins, you can tell which from the letter on thebel."


    The Vitamin D was in a slightlyrger bottle which held more pills.


    This was taking into consideration his profession.


    The letters were also on the capsule of the pill, so even though they were of the same color, there was no need to fear mistaking them.


    "Oh, this one, this big bottle is the one that you eat if you consume too many sugars and fats throughout the day."


    This bottle was at least 3 times the size of most of the others.


    "Oh, and this one, this one is in case I don''t sleep properly."


    This worked kind of like coffee but without the adverse effects. In the end, some people still preferred coffee even if it affected one''s health to some extent, so to some, these were pointless.


    "This one is for bowel movement."


    "This one is for the drinking thing, you remember right? It''s the one you just gave me. You can give it a try if you''d like. It''s really effective."


    Jenna hesitated to take the pill, before actually putting it in her mouth.


    And as a matter of fact, she could really feel herself getting more clearheaded, though she wasn''t too drunk to begin with.


    "Eh, howe your face is still flushed? Hmm, it should have subsided by now." Theodore murmured.


    These pills had been tested before and the results were all given to Theodore, and since he was taking them, of course, he would know them like the back of his hands.


    Jenna blushed a little harder, but she just acted dumb, moving the back of her right hand to her cheek.


    "Really? I think it''s working."


    As if saying that her face was cool.


    "Hm, is that so?"


    Theodore instinctively reached out to touch the other side of her face.


    "Well, I guess this it''s the temperature of a drunk, maybe it''s just the heat here."


    Theodore still hadn''t gotten too ustomed to the heat here in Basilian, so it bothered him more than others.


    "I guess so."


    Jenna said in a half-whisper.


    What was this guy even doing!


    ©ß©¥©ß¥ß £Ü£¨¨R¥í¨Q£Ü£©

 Chapter 177 - Out For Drinks Pt VI: (It Seems There Is No Fairness In This World After All...)

    Whatever, whatever.


    Jenna thought to herself.??


    Either way, she couldn''t let herself stay like this.


    She calmed herself down with two deep breaths.


    "So do you need these in your daily life?" Jenna asked.


    She was really just getting more and more confused.


    To her, it felt like Theodore was saying that he needed these for bowel movement, processing sugar, sleeping, etc.


    As if he couldn''t do without them.


    But that was clearly not what he was trying to say, so why the hell was he carrying all these with him at all times?


    Was he worried that he would start having sleeping troubles in the middle of dinner?


    Did he fearcking Vitamin E whilst chowing down his noodles?


    The real reason Jenna couldn''t seem to understand all of this was in fact due to another reason altogether, and that was that she didn''t understand how much Theo cherished the things given by his sister, fearing that his family may get worried at some point if he got sick.


    He had promised that he would stay safe when he went to the university in Basilian rather than the one in Polo, which ended up taking him further away from their home.


    As for the reason he brought everything with him.


    It wasn''t solely because he didn''t want to lose or misce things, but also because he really never knew if someone around him, a friend or a passer-by may need it.


    It didn''t hurt him to carry these around.


    It was kind of like a pseudo med kit, just with different purposes.


    Not to mention a lot of this had be a habit.


    But Jenna didn''t know all of this, though she probably would reach the conclusion that it became a habit at some point seeing as Theodore had brought these with him when they were just going out for dinner.


    She also noticed that Theodore carried this bag with him a lot, though she never really thought about what could be in this frontpartment that seemingly could only fit a few pieces of paper, but in fact, could carry dozens of bottles of pills.


    What was hard to process was how she had never seen such an effective medicine to sober up.


    Surely, they would have made a big hit somewhere, right?


    That was unless it was some kind of homemade remedy???


    Well, the pills were clearly factory-made, so that was crossed off the moment it even crossed her mind.


    But Jenna really couldn''t think of anything else.


    She had never even heard of a medicine that could sober you up in seconds.


    And since it was clearly a thing¡­ the next question was, why was Theodore in possession of it?


    Though Jenna wouldn''t dare say that her family was at the top of any pyramid, Theodore''s didn''t seem that out there either.


    At least notpared to Kayden and Gen.


    She had also never seen the two of them carrying such things, and if they were in the market, their wealthy parents would have surely cared about their health more than anything else.


    Things just didn''t really add up as Jenna felt like she was trying to solve a puzzle with half of the pieces missing.


    There were a lot of questions going around in her mind, but in the end, she decided to ask about her friend''s health.


    Surely that was first priority.


    So she really had to ask, were these really for daily intake, or was there some other reason other than terminal illness and despondent organs?


    "Ah, no, no."


    Inwardly, Theo wasining about how hard it was to exin this.


    "Look, it''s like this. I don''t NEED these. They just make my life a whole lot easier, do you understand?"


    Jenna nodded, and then she shook her head.


    Obviously, the first response was instinctive, while the second was her real answer.


    "I could survive without any of these, but I live better with them. You don''t have to see this as medicine¡­ half of them are more like supplements, some are for daily life, while others are if I get sick, which rarely happens to begin with¡­"


    Theodore started to exin seriously.


    He lifted a small container with some brown pills.


    "For example, this one."


    "This one is for the bowel movement."


    "I don''t have problems with my bowel movement, but if I were to have such problems, rather than wasting my time going to the doctors, I could just take one of these first before doing a check-up. Of course, if it wasn''t a bowel movement problem, in the end, the pill won''te to use, and it''ll just be discarded in the same way as food."


    Then he put that one down and lifted thergest container with wholly white pills.


    "And this one, for the excessive sugar and fat intake. It will quickly process and burn the fats that are in your system to a healthy degree. But I can''t take too many of these since I work out and I still need healthy amounts of fat in my body for energy. Otherwise, it would just be a waste of them."


    It was true, if a ripped person took them too much, they would just be a waste of good medicine, and Theo didn''t let such pills stop him from going to the gym and swimming regrly as those were also his form of release and rxation.


    The exercise was still necessary for healthy mental health.


    "And this one, which you and I both took. This one could even render the strongest aphrodisiacs null, not to mention just some drunkenness. Of course, these two symptoms are different, but the idea is that it can dispel these things from one''s system."


    Theodore exined some of these examples to make Jenna understand, but to her, it was really hard to process that a perfectly healthy person could be taking so many meds.


    After all, she grew up learning that too many medicines were bad for the body, not to mention, shouldn''t the body start to gain immunity at some point?


    Like with other medicine and poisons, if you take so many of them, shouldn''t your body be getting immune at some point?


    It was simply too hard to go against an idea that had been instilled in one''s mind from a young.


    Seeing that there were still questions floating around, Theodore sighed again.


    "Look, I don''t know too much myself, it''s not as if I made these, but I can tell you there are no adverse effects, they just help some of your cells do their job, easy right?"


    Though Jenna was not a student studying medicine, even she could tell it wasn''t as simple as that.


    One would have to be a real dumbo to believe such words.


    And even a bigger dumbo to believe that a sane person would believe suchme excuses.


    But then she let it go.


    It was clear that Theo wasn''t going to be saying much more, and she didn''t want to push him.


    "Yeah, sure, easy."


    No matter how she tried, Jenna didn''t sound quite convinced, but Theodore just took what he could get.


    It seemed like Theodore wasn''t the only one who was tired.


    While Theodore was tired of trying toe up with a reasonable exnation, even though what he had said was all true, Jenna was tired of trying toprehend with normal logic, and thus, they came to a strange agreement to just ept things as they were.


    They both sighed in unison.


    It seemed like it wasn''t easy for anyone.


    As for that thought that Jenna had previously when she first saw these pills, she realized that she was entirely wrong.


    It seems there is no fairness in this world after all...


    This world was still as fake as it was made out to be.


    Jenna thought.


    Fairness was clearly all a farce.


    What fairness?


    How can one even speak of fairness when in front of a human being, just like yourself, who is like Theodore Wei?


    Jenna didn''t have to go listing the things that were wrong with that concept, just Theodore''s name was enough.


    She didn''t want to think of anything else, after all, she was already determined not topare with him.


    Sigh.


    It was at this time that Theodore, who was packing his bottles up in a rather messy fashion, spoke again.


    "Do you want a bottle of these?"


    Theodore asked, lifting up the big bottle of pills and swaying it in front of Jenna.


    They were the container of white pills, but Jenna couldn''t quite recall what they were for.


    "Which are these again?"


    "Oh, I thought you would recall since they are quite distinguishable. These are the¡­ to put it simply, healthy weight loss pills."


    Theodore said rather crudely.


    Some ingenious medicine that had never before seen effects with absolutely no real side effects sounded like a scaming out from his mouth.


    It was a good thing he wasn''t a salesperson or people would start crying, mainly the boss that would have to pay him for demarketing their products.


    Jenna''s eyebrow twitched along with her eye.


    No matter how she heard or processed it, none of it sounded reliable.


    But as a girl, the notion of losing some extra fat without doing much work and without going into an insufferable diet was too magical.


    Even though she hesitated, she also didn''t hesitate for that long, after all, this was somewhat of a dreame true if it was for real.


    "Can you take one for me to see?"


    Jenna said in slight suspicion.


    This time, it was Theodore''s turn to be baffled.

 Chapter 178 - Birth Of The Campus Couple Pt I: (Defying Physics!)

    He understood where this wasing from, but why the hell did it seem like he was going to poison her?


    Was he begging her to take them???


    Was he selling them at high prices like drugs?


    No and no.


    So why did he have to be made out to be a bad guy??


    Really though, it was only natural that things would end up like this.


    After all, the effects of this medicine to Theodore were only natural, anything less than this couldn''t even be considered as medicine!


    That was all trash.


    Theodore couldn''t possiblyprehend how medicine with any side effects or unknown effects could be even ounted as medicine at all.


    How could those things be sold to people?


    Not to mention, if the medicine was any less efficient than the ones he took growing up, they would only garner his distain.


    Which pretty much discounted 99% of the market.


    These were the effects of growing up with an encyclopaedia of advanced medicine.


    As for Jenna, who grew up rtively normally in that aspect, it was way too suspicious to be given something so magical so casually.


    She hadn''t seen the effects for herself before, so it was bound to be like this.


    "Sure thing, Mdy," Theodore stillplied, popping a pill into his mouth.


    "But I should tell you, since I''m in a semi-optimal shape right now, they won''t be of much use, except for perhaps digesting the noodles I just ate so I don''t gain weight from that. I guess you''d be better off eating it after a buffet with a body like mine," he revealed calmly.


    The worst part was that Theodore wasn''t even exaggerating.


    Jenna didn''t know if she shouldin about Theodore being too narcissistic or too straightforward.


    Not to mention, she felt like her own physique was being attacked.


    "I''ll take them!"


    Jenna snatched the bottle without anymore hesitation, and Theodore, who was just nning to give her a few relented with some helplessness in his brows.


    ''Well, that is fine as well, I should ask Emilin for a few more bottles.''


    "Considering your body''s condition right now, I''d say you shouldn''t eat more than 2 a day. You might want to slow down your intake and check progress daily so that you can see the progress yourself. I don''t want to be used of giving out fake stuff," Theodore''s voice had some innate arrogance of someone who felt like they broadened another''s horizons.


    Then again, if he didn''t tell Jenna to check her progress, then she might not even realize how good the stuff he gave her was.


    These pills were of very small sizes, so even though there was just one bottle, it would have been enough for a Theodore since he didn''t really have to eat them as he did intense exercise daily.


    But if 2 were taken a day, they might notst 2 months.


    Well, this time Theodore felt like he had dug himself a pit, but when he thought about how amazed Jenna would be at the stuff Emilin made, he couldn''t help but smile in gratification.


    It was somewhat simr to when one shared the things they liked with others and others couldn''t help but praise and like the same things.


    It was inevitable that Theodore would feel satisfied, but that would have to wait until the future, when Jenna finally figured just how magical these pills really were.


    He smiled.


    Jenna kept this bottle well in her own bag after staring at it for a few moments, even wrapping it around in some napkins from the restaurant.


    "By the way, I do suggest you do more exercise in the future though, after you see the effects of the medicine. It wouldn''t be good if your mental health got effected because you got to obsessed with these. Though there are no addictive substances in the medicine, just the idea of losing weight without doing much of anything is quite addictive in of itself," Theodore exin.


    He didn''t want to deal with an addict, or he might really mistake himself for a drug dealer.


    Jenna understood what he meant, especially as a girl who had gone through puberty.


    If not for the warning, she might really just get addicted to the idea of losing weight while slouching on a couch all day long eating junk food for all meals of the day.


    That would be as counterproductive as vapes were.


    "Let''s head out?"


    Jenna didn''t see what else they could be doing here, and it was getting quitete too.


    "Sure," Theodore nodded and paid why leaving.


    Something that though he didn''t say, Jenna, who was walking behind him, easily noticed.


    She giggled.


    "Are you paying for Gen?"


    Theodore''s brows furrowed a little.


    Those two had hopped on off while somewhat drunk when Gen was the one treating them.


    Though he wasn''tcking in money¡­


    "I''m a frugal person!" Theodore imed proudly.


    In other words, stingy.


    "Of course, when I go back, I''ll be collecting my money," Theodore smirked wickedly, and in the night, that only made him look even more alluring.


    It was clear without anyone having to say just who Theodore was collecting this money from.


    He was going to be collecting money¡­ with interest.


    Kayden would be lucky if he was still awake at night to pay the man back.


    If he waited till the next day¡­ it was unknown how much money and blood he would have to cough up as interest.


    Theodore''s money was more valuable than others.


    Jennaughed, her voice somewhat melodic under the night sky, while praying for Kayden''s future good health and stable blood pressure.


    Though no matter how much she prayed for him, that wouldn''t prevent the man''s blood pressure from skyrocketing the next day.


    "So, Kayden and Gen, huh?"


    Jenna said with a mischievous undertone.


    "Mhm," Theodore strode slowly so that Jenna could keep up.


    "Are you jealous?"


    Jenna sounded just like a little kid who was meaning to y a prank on the adult, whereas the adult knew nothing of it, but even if he knew, he would still have to follow that line of thought.


    In this case, Theodore had no clue what Jenna was talking about.


    "Hm?"


    "Where you and Kayden not an item? I recall hearing some rumours in the beginning of the year¡­" Jenna smiled innocently while giving Theodore a sideways nce.


    Theodore''s lips twitched.


    "I don''t know what you mean, and aren''t you being presumptuous to believe everything you hear?"


    Kayden and Theodore had already agreed to never speak of that incident, so they were ready to deny any and all allegations.


    "So, you guys didn''t¡­" Jenna moved her two index fingers together and tapped using them twice.


    Theodore scoffed and said no more, which only prompted more exaggerated words from Jenna, who was having her fair share of fun.


    "Oh! You know how I felt while studying with you two? I felt like a third wheel, a light bulb of 1000 watts!"


    Each one of her words was more exaggerated than the previous.


    Theodore didn''t know how to deal with this.


    They didn''t teach him how to deal with unscrupulous girls in improv ss!


    On the other hand, Theodore felt like Jenna deserved an award from the academy of magic and preforming arts.


    She clearly defied physics, creating something out of nothing.


    "There is no such thing," Theodore continued to deny.


    There really wasn''t though... a kiss was only a kiss when it was a kiss.


    It''s quite like if someone did CPR to you and your lips touched, would you consider that a kiss?


    No.


    Well, if both parties say it wasn''t, then it wasn''t.


    "Hmm, but there was clear chemistry there! So, would you be jealous of Kayden or Gen? I think Gen''s really got something there when she said it was suspicious that you were drinking all of Kayden''s drinks for him, isn''t that only what you do for people you are interested in?"


    Jenna continued since she was having fun and Theodore couldn''t do anything about it, which was the best part, even though she knew that there was nothing there.


    But that was also where she went wrong.


    Jenna should have really stopped while she was ahead.


    Rookie mistake.


    "Really now?" Theodore mused.


    Suddenly, they both stopped walking outside of an alleyway, the same one they used to get here.


    There were still a couple of lights around, so they could see each other clearly, but the lights weren''t particrly bright either.


    "Well, I also drank your drinks, so what does that say about me, hm?"


    Theodore''s voice was seductive, and his undertone was a little dangerous. Somehow, the two people who had been walking side by side had their distance closed.


    Jenna looked at the man who was a head taller than herself and gulped.


    At this moment, she questioned whether she had teased the wrong person, but it was toote.


    "Well, Kayden that poor drinker is paying me with snacks to drink his shots, so are you going to pay me with dessert?"


    Theodore leaned closer, and Jenna realized that there was nowhere to back off as she was already leaning against the wall.


    Now the question was, did she even want to back off in the first ce?


    The atmosphere became somewhat ambiguous and tense, and Jenna wasn''t able to muster out a word.


    She had definitely provoked the wrong person, there was no questioning it anymore.


    And at that moment, her eyes met with the person whose face was just inches away.

 Chapter 179 - Birth Of The Campus Couple Pt II: (First- First?!)

    The tense and dangerous aura instantly dissipated when Jenna''s eyes met with Theodore''s hazel pupils.


    Theodore''s eyes were as soft as a pool of water,pletely unlike that serious look that one would have associated with his hoarse voice, deeper than his usualzy and casual tone.??


    The girl immediately rxed and put her guard down in front of the Theodore of right now, and truth be told, though Jenna didn''t know, Theodore knew very well that he wasn''t going to do anything to her.


    He had absolutely no experience in dating, much less in being a yboy who could do whatever with whoever, whenever.


    That just wasn''t him.


    Nor could he ever force himself to act so casually on such matters.


    At this moment, Jenna was still pinned between Theodore and the wall behind her.


    Though she was more rxed at this moment, she still could feel some of the ambiguous atmosphere around stemmed from the fact that Jenna didn''t know of Theodore''s situation.


    And Theodore wasn''t nning to let Jenna find out either.


    After all, at this point, it would be a tad embarrassing.


    He also had no questions that Jenna would make fun of him on such a matter in the future is revealed.


    "So, have you thought about it?"


    "Hm?"


    Jenna snapped out of her daze.


    Thought about it?


    Thought about what?


    Jenna looked like a confused little doe in a forest all alone, having met a human for the first time and not knowing what it was, nor its dangers.


    Jenna had already forgotten about the question and was now trying to recall, and seeing that Jenna couldn''t even remember this, Theodore took a step back and smiled.


    His seductive aurapletely dissipated and the ambiguous aura along with it.


    Theo then reached out his hand and flicked Jenna''s forehead, right at the center.


    "Want to go get dessert another day?"


    At the mention of the question that Jenna hadn''t even processed thest time, she instantly blushed.


    "Ah-um."


    She didn''t know what to say.


    Without the ambiguity, it just sounded like Theodore was asking her out on a date.


    "There''s a nice dessert shop maybe 20 minutes away but it''s alreadyte, so it''s probably closed. Shouldn''t you at least treat me another day to that for all the drinks I drank for you?"


    Theodore said rather shamelessly, but that''s what Jenna got for ying around with him and letting him drink her drinks when she clearly had an even higher alcohol tolerance than himself.


    What would he have done without the alcohol cleansing pill?


    Jenna was dumbfounded.


    That was clearly not the original implication of his words, right?


    Or was her mind just too dirty?


    Maybe Theodore really just meant dessert dessert?


    But it didn''t sound like it at first¡­


    Jenna was somewhat troubled, but in the end, she decided to not think so much about it.


    Since the person was right in front of her, why didn''t she just ask?


    "Are you asking me out?"


    Jenna asked with a clear yet uncertain voice.


    Theodore smiled gently, with a shadow of his younger, more innocent self, that of the one that resembled an angel.


    "Are you agreeing?"


    Such a smile made it hard for one to disagree or oppose, just as it was hard to punch a smiling man.


    Theodore''s whole aura made him instantly more likable at first sight and rejecting his words was simply inconceivable.


    But that wasn''t the reason why Jenna made the decision she made.


    Instead¡­ she wanted to learn more about this person in front of her.


    This person who was most certainly better than her in so many aspects yet didn''t really seem to put those things in his eyes.


    Everything that she wanted, came most naturally to him, so much so that it seemed almost superfluous in his hands.


    Theodore had never, not once, unted his superior grades as if they were worth something. Not once did they seem to mean anything to him.


    In fact, Jenna suspected that even with his grades, Theodore was still holding back during tests.


    Sometimes, what Theodore did show was that he was already way ahead of everyone else, even at this school of geniuses.


    The people he was hacking, the codes he was using and programming, as well as his whole outlook in life.


    They made one feel like he was from a different worldpared to everyone else as if he could leave and drift away at any time.


    At least, that''s how Jenna felt.


    Yet at the same time that Theodore felt so distant, he nheless seemed grounded.


    Grounded with an anchor that prevented from bing overly cocky and arrogant, and that same anchor was also what made him stay at this college and learn among peers of his same age rather than moving on to the new world.


    She wanted to know why he was staying, but she never said it, not wanting her curiosity to inconvenience anyone, but maybe, if she knew him better, she would know if she could ask.


    And though Jenna had said that she wasn''tparing herself to Theodore in the aspects that couldn''t be helped, she didn''t want to be left behind either.


    How could she possibly keep up if she didn''t even know of this world he was headed towards?


    And what better way to do that, than to get to know this person named Theodore Wei, better.


    Jenna looked up at the person in front of her once again with a mysterious confidence and determination, not any different from the way she faced her academic goals.


    It was at this time, that she had set herself a new goal in life.


    "Sure, dessert? Why not?"


    Was he not the one who asked her out? Why should she reject the other''s approach?


    This time, it was Jenna who closed into the male of great aesthetics.


    Theodore''s eyes widened as Jenna''s face came closer and closer to his view.


    Her eyes were soft and watery, looking at him intently.


    He lowered his body and head before he even knew what he was doing and suddenly, an unprecedented warmth descended upon Theo.


    Her soft and warm lips met his own and Theodore instinctively moved along with her.


    Though this camepletely unexpected, he adapted quickly.


    Their lips connected and disconnected time and time again, each time they disconnected, one or the other would seek the warmth of the other party.


    They didn''t seem to find this heat overbearing, even in the rtively hot weather.


    Jenna''s arms slung across Theodore''s neck in the heat of the moment, closing their distance even further.


    But soon, Theodore''s inexperience prevented them from continuing any longer.


    Their lips parted as they both found the need to take deep breaths.


    Jenna''s arms were still around Theodore''s while his arms were around her waist, bringing them closer together as they breathed each other''s breaths.


    Their foreheads touched as Jenna was still on her tippy toes as Theodore''s neck lowered to meet her.


    Jenna''s eyes were focused on Theodore.


    She hadn''t nned to kiss him so¡­ passionately.


    But the moment her lips met Theodore''s, she physically felt something being unleashed from the other party.


    It was as if a beast that hadn''t eaten in hundreds of years was finally let loose.


    His kisses made her feel like he was going to be sucking her in, bing more demanding and needy as they went on.


    And though she was rather inexperienced, she could tell, he was even more so.


    At first, he was really rather clumsy, yet as their lips met time and time again, he seemed to get a hang of it.


    It was baffling as Jenna had long expected that someone like Theodore, who had both and the looks and the brains, not evencking EQ, at least not from what she could tell from their previous conversation, to have had dozens of girlfriends by the time they came to college.


    At this time, Theodore, who had caught his breath spoke.


    "You should take responsibility for my first kiss," he said, giving her another peck, which involved only tilting his head a little.


    Yet somehow, that simple peck once again turned into another make-out session.


    And after they stopped, having to catch their breath again Jenna''s eyes finally had the time to widen, realizing the information Theodore had just revealed.


    "First¡ªFirst kiss?!"


    Why did she suddenly feel like she had totally taken advantage of this man, who could very well be seen as a godly figure in some people''s eyes?


    Had she just defiled an angel?


    But then, she recalled Theodore''s needly kisses, and she was instantly at a loss.


    What had she done?!


    Had she just sinned?


    "How is that even possible? It can''t be!" Jenna nearly stuttered.


    This couldn''t be med on her, after all, she wasn''t oblivious to Theodore''s poprity.


    She felt like it wasn''t unlikely that he would hook up with one of his admirers, but apparently not.


    She had thought that she was rather reserved, having only had one boyfriend, but this man, he was something else altogether.


    Theodore frowned as his brows furrowed.


    She had broken the mood, but not only that, she even questioned his honesty.


    This was his sincerity she was trampling on!


    "How is it not possible? Are you going to kiss me and agree to go out with me without taking any responsibility after taking my first?"


    ***


    AN:


    There seems to be something seriously wrong with these calctions.


    Hmm, 170+ chapters and the FL and ML have barely met, while these two gave already gotten together in less than what? a dozen chapters?


    Something should be done about this...

 Chapter 180 - Birth Of The Campus Couple Pt III: (Soft And Hard Tactics *wink* *wink*)

    (AN: Longer chapter)


    Theodore gave the girl a stern look as if reprimanding her, and Jenna''s questioning eyes could only look away from Theodore.??


    "Uh- I ¨C um¡­"


    How was she supposed to know that that was his first kiss?


    In this day and age, by the time one got to college, it wasn''t strange to see close to no virgins, much less people who had yet to have their first kiss.


    If this was widely known, considering Theo''s good looks, many might think he was an alien from another altogether, and one far from here at that.


    Jenna had kissed Theodore half out of impulse and a half due to interest in the other person.


    Her thought process was that Theodore had already taken quite a bit of initiative, and so shouldn''t she reciprocate?


    It didn''t help that Theodore was so damned attractive.


    No one would be repulsed by the idea of kissing him unless they preferred someone of a different gender, and even then, it would probably take a hard thought to reject, but Jenna was just a little more out there.


    Not to mention, she was encouraged by Theodore''s show of interest.


    But who knew that she had hit an iron te?


    [A very handsome and attractive iron te, but still.]


    Coming across someone who seemed to have been deprived of water for years, this little spring of sweet water suddenly didn''t know if she could handle this Big Buddha.


    Back then, Theodore had never corresponded with any of the people who sent him love letters nor those who had confessed to him.


    It became such a daily urrence that they even became like annoying background music.


    [All the high school girls and bent guys: TTATT]


    He hadn''t thought much of it, and those people had never really gotten further than that.


    At some point, those girls and bent guys had already long agreed that no one could get together with their male god, but Theodore didn''t know that.


    He still got the same number, if not more, presents on his birthday and choctes for his valentines as well as the letters throughout his daily life.


    But now, at college, the whole setting had changed.


    Clearly, it couldn''tpare to high school''s social scene.


    People who were dating grew exponentially and other than studies and connections, that would seem to be the only other thing on these people''s minds


    Theodore had also been exposed to a whole lot more scenarios in his day-to-day life.


    Including people who had had multiple changes in boyfriends/ girlfriends even though the school year had started in less than 2 months.


    People who approached him but weren''t quite interested in getting together seriously.


    As well as people who approached him asking whether he wanted to get involved in carnal pleasure together when he didn''t even know the other party''s name.


    They would even emphasize that there were more people when he rejected as if that would make everything more eptable.


    Well anyways, Male and female rtionships really seemed to be in a lot of people''s minds, and this didn''t differentiate between people who were doing well in their sses and those who were not.


    It seemed to be the only other thing everyone was thinking about, including even Kayden.


    Not to mention, his parents had been nagging him to get a girlfriend for weeks now.


    Every day, every call.


    Something on the matter would be mentioned.


    It would be a lie to say that he was not somewhat persuaded and thus his thoughts on the matter had also changed.


    Of course, this did not include those sexual rtionships that people he did not know were approaching him for.


    He was mainly speaking of a romantic rtionship.


    Theodore went from thinking that it was a nuisance to being something that he may want to experience before judging for himself.


    Not to mention, he couldn''t help but be attracted to Jenna''s cute appearance and personality.


    She had adorable moments and fierce moments as well aszy moments and determined moments.


    These different sides of her made one unable to ignore her presence.


    Theodore couldn''t help but look her way when they were either in ss or spending time together with others.


    Wondering, how is she feeling right now?


    Or, how she would react to this or that.


    Wondering what expression, she would have when something interesting was being said and looking her way to check if he was right.


    Of course, this didn''t reach the point of loving the other party, he had simply taken an interest in her, and it couldn''t be denied that he liked the novel feeling.


    It made his life a whole lot less mundane, adding so many more aspects to his thoughts, even though many may think that those thoughts of his were a waste of time.


    He didn''t.


    There were many qualities that one wasn''t born with, and one of them was the ability to make smooth social interactions.


    That came with experience and not talent, and it was also something that Theodore wasn''t quite abundant with.


    But, sometimes, with Jenna, he would find himself giving in, not correcting her words as long as they didn''t affect her.


    That wasn''t something that he would usually do.


    He felt his personality change a little, and for the better, as he was influenced by her, just a tad.


    And he was sure that he was getting along with others because of that, even with people whom he didn''t know in his other sses.


    His improvement was especially noticeable in Improv ss, has be more flexible in that aspect.


    Of course, this all cameter, and it was only recently that he had noticed such a change.


    Then again, these things could still be said to be friendly interactions, and people change because of the friends they hang out with as well.


    His parents nagging would also fail to convince him to get a girlfriend so soon, he wasn''t that impulsive.


    But this time, it was Jenna who moved first.


    The moment she was nudged into his arms and their lips met, he felt like a whole new world was opened up for him.


    Back in high school, he wasn''t the biggest fan of physical contact with others, be it with men or women.


    There was this strange impulse within him that just made him want to stay further away from them, especially if it was in a humid and enclosed space like the male locker rooms.


    This is what made some mistake him for a cold and detached person, which wasn''t really the case.


    Even so, due to his good grades and how good he was at sports, he still had people to hang out with.


    Not to mention, byparison with Emilin, he didn''t seem all that cold at all.


    But once he came to college, he had dropped that habit of not having any physical contact with others.


    And he had also realized the reason for him having such an impulse.


    At times, he simply didn''t want toe into contact with others as he was going toe into contact with his family afterward.


    If he did, he would feel a little dirty when going back home.


    Just touching made him feel like that, so a closer rtionship such as that of having a girlfriend, well, that was even more impossible.


    Their family was really close-knit and things had always been like that, so he hadn''t noticed such a reason, but now that he was going back to the dorms, he didn''t seem as bothered by something like physical contact with others.


    And maybe the fact that he had to take 2-3 showers every day also had some y in all of that.


    Of course, if he could help it, he would still rather not.


    Though that was just his preference and habits do die hard.


    On the other hand, at this moment, despite the humid weather, Theodore couldn''t help but want to bring Jenna closer to him.


    Not forgetting to give the girl a peck or two while staring her down, which left Jenna even more dazed than she had already been.


    Then, her words finally stammered out of her slightly swollen mouth.


    "I-I didn''t know¡­"


    What else could she say?


    Could she look at this dazzling man''s beautiful lips that were swollen because of herself and still im innocence?


    Well, the short answer was, absolutely not.


    Theodore''s eyes drooped and his innocent eyes zed.


    Suddenly, the whole world seemed to be a little darker, as if feeling distraught for him.


    "Then¡­ does that mean that you''re going to leave me like this after having a taste?" Theodore''s arms loosened their grip a little as his hand reached for his lips.


    Jenna suddenly felt like she had defiantlymitted a great sin.


    She had sinned against the world!


    She was definitely a scumbag among scumbags!


    Defiling flowers and then leaving them with words like, "It''s not like we were together! Weren''t we just having some fun?"


    Jenna felt like she had wronged the world and Theodore acted like he had been wronged by the world!


    "Of course not!"


    Jenna''s mind churned in a frenzy.


    "Didn''t I just agree to go out with you?"


    Something that had meant to be just getting dessert together at a shop as friends with a rather ambiguous rtionship suddenly became their first date!


    Theodore suddenly smiled and the whole world brightened.


    Jenna could almost see the stars shining a little brighter as if to congratte the two of them.


    "Okay," Theodore said shyly, like a little white lotus girl, and leaned in for another kiss.


    He was addicted, and he was no longer willing to let this feeling go.


    Theodore had no other choice but to act like this and then grab this opportunity tight.


    His arms also grabbed her tighter than before.


    And in the middle of another intense make-out session where Theodore finally learned how to use his tongue, Jenna suddenly found herself confused.


    Why had she felt like she was a scumbag when this guy was the one eating her lips like there was no tomorrow?


    Her lips were definitely no less swollen than his!


    As for Theodore, he smiled throughout.


    He too had realized something of great importance through this experience.


    Sometimes, one had to use soft and hard tactics.


    Those little tricks that he had used when he was much younger had resurfaced today, and they still worked like a charm.


    ;)


    He found that, sometimes, to get what you want, the tactics that worked well were still the best.


    No matter how shameless they were.


    It really all depended on the situation, and for these situations¡­


    Indeed, both soft and hard tactics had to be used in unison, and in the end, the results were also just like this.


    One of them was soft enough to copse on the spot while the other was hard.


    Definitely, hard.

 Chapter 181 - Shortened Lifespan <3 Pt I: (Question Of The Century!~)

    At another time and another ce, Emilin was sipping on a Frappino, using her carefully crafted wooden spoon so that the whipped cream wouldn''t get mixed in.


    She sat there, looking at the diminishing drink in front of her with great concentration.??


    Xander gave her nces here and there, but seeing how concentrated she was, he didn''t dare bother her.


    Even though he had quite a few questions on his mind, on second thought, he should probably do his best to figure it out himself.


    The girl''s brows furrowed, and her be were wrinkled cutely as she nearly stared a hole in front of her.


    Emilin sighed.


    It had been like this for a while.


    A few hours ago, she had gotten a message from her Big Brother Theo and now, she was pondering on the issue.


    How should she go about this?


    Seeing this sigh, Xander finally gave in to his curiosity, even if that may or may not shorten his lifespan.


    "Master, what''s bothering you?"


    Though Emilin had told Xander to just call her Emilin as usual, he really couldn''t make himself do it.


    He felt like he wasmitting sphemy, like calling the emperor casually by his first name. Xander would feel a chill whenever the thought went past his mind, and it never stayed there for long either.


    As for Emilin, she had gotten used to it after a while and stopped correcting him.


    But Xander also had his own measures, so in front of the wrong people, he would never call her Master so openly, or it would only bring his Master more troubles.


    "I''m thinking about something," Emilin sighed as if she was facing the question of the century.


    Xander couldn''t help but think, what could possibly trouble Master so much?


    In his mind, it had to be something like solving cancer. No actually, solving cancer shouldn''t even be that hard.


    It had to be said, Xander really saw Emilin like a god in most aspects.


    But it seemed like even gods had their own worldly problems every once in a while.


    If Emilin knew what this man was thinking, she would seriously scoff at him.


    She had a lot of issues, okay?


    "If you want to eat a pill that can increase your metabolism greatly¡­"


    Xander''s ears perked.


    He had still been learning his master''s procedural medicine and had yet topletely assimte all the information.


    Naturally, he had yet to even touch the pharmaceutical aspects of the inheritance.


    Could it be that Master was having some troubles with a breakthrough in the pharmaceuticals that she was working on?


    "¡­what vor should it be?" Emilin continued in all seriousness.


    Xander: ???


    Xander: Excuse me?


    Xander: Is this the question of the century? Are you not ying with my emotions?


    Xander was speechless.


    He was right, his curiosity was really going to shorten his lifespan as he felt like spitting out a good mouthful of blood right now.


    He took a deep breath to prevent himself from overreacting and banging his head on his table until he bled before carefully asking.


    "Master, was this what you have been thinking about for the past half an hour?"


    Emilin seriously nodded and looked at Xander with pure eyes that told him that she wasn''t joking.


    Xander had an incredibly helpless expression on his face.


    Yeah, this should have been expected, after all, the problems that his Master had weren''t the same as those of usmon folk.


    But this was still a little too much!


    "I''m not sure, I guess it would depend on the target audience. Strawberry? Vani? Chocte?" Xander proposed meekly.


    He couldn''t believe that this was somethinging out of his mouth at this moment.


    He almost felt like he was in an international medical conference, talking about what vored medicine would taste better, in front of thousands of people who had simr qualifications as himself.


    How absurd.


    But he could only smile weakly when he saw his master''s eyes suddenly shine.


    Of course, Emilin was not enlightened by Xander''s basic rmendations of vani, etc as she had already gone through all the possible vors one could think of.


    Obviously, she wouldn''t miss those three.


    But there was indeed something that she agreed on very much.


    She should ask the people these were for.


    Emilin''s fingers snapped in acknowledgment as she fished out her phone, quickly dialing a number.


    There were only a few main target audiences.


    Not a ringter.


    "What''s up baby sis?"


    The deep voice on the other side sounded.


    "Big brother Nathen, you remember the thing that Brother Theo spoke aboutst time?"


    Nathen, who had juste out of the shower on his side thought for a bit.


    "You mean about the inconvenience of having all those pills in his bag? His little girlfriend even mistook him for someone who was terminally ill," Nathen chuckled hard on the other side.


    Theodore had told his family about everything a few hours ago, and he had officially be the first person with a partner out of the three siblings.


    Their parents cried out in joy!


    Finally, someone wanted their child!


    Then he also specifically told Nathen and Emilin about thisst incident with the pills, which was also why Emilin had been thinking so hard on a way to solve it.


    In the end, her best idea was to incorporate the medicine into a candy which was by no means hard, just a few minutes to change the forms and procedures [which would cost hundreds of thousands of dors to make the new machinery, but Emilin wasn''t really concerned about that], but then came the problem.


    What vor should it be?


    "Well, while it''s true that I do use the pills the most to regte the burning of my calories, I''m not nearly as bothered about the appearance of the pills. I guess it would be good if it didn''t look like I was on drugs though," Nathen pondered on the question for a bit.


    He had been asked about this matter by his ssmates and friends, but he just shrugged it off saying that it was for high blood pressure or some other shit like that.


    While they were surprised at first considering how fit Nathen was, after seeing his eating habits, they weren''t nearly as suspicious.


    His sugar and salt intake was definitely off the charts.


    Anyways, because of the high-intensity training, Nathen did daily, it was only natural that his dense and developed muscles would burn high amounts of calories every day.


    In order to regte his bodily functions and to lessen his worries about his nutrient and calorie intake, he ate the pills.


    Then he could really eat as much as he wanted during the rest of his meals with no worries.


    As for the vitamins, he also took those, but they were quite useless since he ate a lot of everything.


    So really, his vitamins problem was solved by the metabolic pill too, which is why he took less of those.


    That was something Theodore, who didn''t care for stuffing himself, couldn''t do.


    Since he at times much preferred snacks and skimped on the food he didn''t feel like eating, he still had to take the vitamins to stay healthy.


    After Nathen''s muscles burned for all the energy they needed, even after he ate an extra dose, he would just have to go to the bathroom one more time with the assistance of the pill.


    It was hard for some to understand how such a high metabolism could still be boosted, but it was in fact the other way around.


    The better one''s physique, the further it could be boosted with the help of Emilin''s pills.


    "Well, but shouldn''t you at least have an opinion? I was thinking of making it into candy so that it would be easier to carry around and eat as a snack." Emilin insisted and exined her own thoughts.


    Nathenughed at how Emilin described this godly medicine as a snack one would pop into their mouth whenever they felt like it.


    He also knew that not having an opinion when asked a question was the worse opinion to have so he rephrased his answer.


    "Just make it delicious and make it taste like what it''s supposed to taste like," Nathen thought about the biggest issues with candies.


    "Surprise me!" Nathen said before stopping at that.


    He rather liked the idea of being surprised.


    "Love you, bye!"


    At that Emilin hung up the phone with a humph!


    Him saying something was the same as not saying anything at all!


    But in the end, that dissatisfaction dissipated as such sentiments towards her family neversted long.


    ***


    Family chat logs from 3ed person.


    Theo: I got a girlfriend!


    Elena (Mom): Really? *Disbelief jpg.*


    Gabriel (Dad): My boy! Good job, who''s family''s child did you trick?


    Theo: ¡­


    Elena (Mom): Honey, is that even what you should be asking?


    Theo: Thanks Mom, you''re the only one who loves me <3


    Elena (Mom): You should be asking what kind of tricks he used! So that he can teach them to that Big Brother of his! Look at him, that child is already so old. Shouldn''t he be wiser than his little brother? Why hasn''t he tricked a little girl over yet?


    Theo who was just thankful way too soon: TT.TT


    Nathen who was just dragged into the conversation out of nowhere: ???


    Nathen: Mom, you''re still so young, you shouldn''t talk so roguishly. I won''t be tricking any little girls over.


    [AN: Hehe, but he already has his eyes on someone.]


    Elena (Mom): *Disappointed jpg.*


    Elena (Mom): That''s no excuse to ck off¡­


    Nathen left the chat¡­


    Seeing his brother take the lead, Theodore followed after.


    Theo left the chat¡­


    Emi left the chat¡­


    Elena (Mom): ¡­


    Gabriel (Dad): Dear, you''ve scared them all away.


    Elena (Mom): Am I that scary? TAT


    Gabriel (Dad) [*lies through his teeth*]: No not at all. :)


    Gabriel''s inner thoughts: I don''t want to sleep on the couch. *Smile jpg.*

 Chapter 182 - Shortened Lifespan <3 Pt II: (Dont Want To Know...)

    Emilin didn''t hesitate to dial her Brother Theo''s number right after hanging up on her unreliable Big Brother Nathen.


    Hopefully, he would be more helpful than Nathen.??


    But on the other side, rather than hearing her brother''s voice, Emilin heard another one before it.


    "Oh, man! Are you bailing again? Didn''t you say you would carry our team?"


    "Howe you AFK mid-game?"


    Two different unknown male voices sounded, one jokingly and another seriously at the same time from the other side.


    Theodore seemed to have covered the mic mid-way as Emilin could hear a muffled "Shut up Dyson! Even if I''m AFK I still contribute more than you, Beeme so shut it!" from a voice that she couldn''t know any better.


    [AN: (Chapter 42) For those who don''t remember Dyson is the Guildmaster of MMXLV Guild while Beeme is a member of the guild.]


    "Sorry about that," Theodore said sheepishly.


    "Was I interrupting anything?" Emilin was in fact more concerned about something else.


    "Nah, they were the ones interrupting," Theo said shamelessly, shooting a nce to the people seated at his sides.


    For those who could make it from the guild, they were currently in a private room in an inte caf¨¦ and for those who couldn''t, they were connected on a video call.


    This was also why everyone could immediately tell when Theodore picked up the phone mid-game.


    The ring tone for this phone call was also different from those set for everyone else, so at first, these people weren''t even sure whose phone it was that was ringing, that is, until Theodore picked it up without another second of hesitation.


    "Are you getting along well with your friends? y nice okay?" Emilin said worriedly from the other side.


    That was the thing that she was most concerned about.


    She was worried that she was getting in the way and then her Big brother''s friends would get upset with him.


    With her rtiveck of experience, she was sure that her big brother Theo''s friends were probably mad at him because of her just from the tone of their voice.


    That was upsetting to her.


    Theo was dumbfounded and silent.


    He also knew of his sister''s problem, so he didn''t know what to say at this moment.


    "Can you put it on speaker?" Emilin asked.


    Theodore did as he was told without thinking it through.


    "Is it on speaker yet?" Emilin''s soft voice echoed throughout the room.


    There was no other sound so everyone there could hear her clearly.


    They all stopped ying since Theo went AFK.


    There was a tacit agreement that these other people came to.


    If they lost this game and blemished their records, they could me it on Theo and then make him carry them for another 20 rounds.


    And if the call somehow ended before they lost the game, well, they could me Theo for emotional trauma.


    It was a win-win situation.


    So everyone just stopped ying in unison.


    But this tacit agreement and understanding didn''t exist for the other team that they were going up against as they werepletely befuddled as to why a team ying in the upper ranks were going AFK all at once.


    The best they coulde up with was that the other team''s wifi was probably sh*t.


    They didn''t know what to do either, hesitant to kill Theo''s team.


    Anyways.


    These people all sat there staring at Theo intently and their ears perked up at the pretty voice of a gentle girl.


    "Yeah... it''s on speaker," Theodore said a little dimwittedly.


    "Dear friends of my Big Brother, I am sorry for having disturbed you. I hope you won''t take this matter to heart, and you won''t be upset with my big brother. I hope you will get along really well with him so that you can be friends for a long time toe," Emilin''s clear and cute voice sounded from the other side of the phone and everyone was immediately dumbfounded.


    ???


    ???


    ???


    In the end, it was Theodore who snapped out of it first.


    In a split second, he red at his "friends" with murderous intent and turned off the speaker, putting his phone to his ear and speaking into his hand that was next to the mic.


    Emilin may or may not have said anything else after that, but they wouldn''t know.


    They all stared at Theodore''s phone with a strange desire to hear this person''s voice a little more. It just came and went too quickly, and it somewhat felt like Theodore really didn''t want them to hear her, which is also what made these people want to listen all the more.


    To the people who couldn''t hear what Emilin was saying anymore, all they could hear was Theodore''s soft voice.


    "You don''t have to apologize to them, they don''t deserve it."


    ¡­


    [People seated there: Excuse me?]


    "Oh, you''re right, that''s not what I meant. What I meant was that they''re really nice people and they won''t mind that much."


    ¡­


    [People who were listening in: How can your face change so quickly? You should go perform at a face-changing opera¡­]


    "Yeah, we weren''t doing anything important either, just ying some Mobba."


    ¡­


    [People who had nothing left to say: Nothing important? It''s very important, okay?!]


    "Nah, they don''t like shortcuts like that."


    ¡­


    [People: ???]


    "Yeah, since they are so honest and kind, I''ll be sure to treasure my friends."


    ¡­


    [People who wanted to interrupt but were just too speechless: Why do I not believe any of this crap you''re spewing? Where is the Theo I know and what did you do with him?]


    "Mhm, mhm."


    ¡­


    ¡­


    "Oh about that? Is that why you called? Um, then I''ll make a list of some choices right now."


    Theodore suddenly closed the screen on hisputer and started writing up a list at the speed of light, sending it off before the others could even take a good peek at what he had written.


    "Yeah, I just sent it."


    "Mm, be careful over there. Okay, love you, bye."


    The others felt like they heard so much, yet understood too little.


    When Theodore put his phone down on the table, he looked around to realize that everyone was staring at him.


    "Hey, when did I be a nice and magnanimous person?" Beeme asked teasingly.


    "So you know that you''re trash," Theodore retorted without missing a beat.


    Beeme''s face soured as he realized that he really dug that one for himself.


    "Shortcuts? I love shortcuts!" BBAD, real name Ba De, said with no shame.


    Not even knowing what shortcuts they were talking about.


    Really, all he knew was that Theodore seemed to be saying that since they were nice and honest people, which they weren''t, they didn''t like using shortcuts.


    Theodore ignored him.


    "Was that the legendary little sis of yours?" Kayden asked knowing full well the answer.


    "Mm," Theodore grunted in acknowledgment before silence ensued in the whole room.


    Theodore flipped back to the page with the online version of Mobba on hisputer and resumed ying, even though his teammates were all still a little bedazzled.


    Everyone silently exchanged a few meaningful nces with each other.


    While they weren''t sure of many things and they also couldn''t understand much of what Theo said since it was very much out of context, they were able to understand one thing.


    Something that Kayden had long understood.


    And that was that Theodore could clearly do absolutely nothing about this younger sister of his.


    It was actually rather refreshing to know that there was always someone who could deal with another, no matter how strong or impressive they are.


    And that was that.


    They weren''t incredibly meddlesome people either and they weren''t actually upset either.


    They would just make Theodore pay upter, and now, they had one more chip for negotiations to use in the future.


    As for the game that they were in the middle of, well the call didn''t take that long and they floored their opponent who soon came to regret that they hadn''t killed the other party when they were AFK.


    ***


    Emilin finally made up her mind after looking at the list that was sent to her along with some contemtion of the words of her big brother Nathen.


    And her final decision was to make jelly beans.


    They were the right size, tasty, and she could make them of multiple vors.


    Three birds with one stone.


    And thus, she took out a sheet of paper and started writing a graph of all the possibilities so that she could pick and chooseter.


    As for Xander, who had been watching and listening in this whole time.


    No words.


    He watched as his Master started writing (what he thought to be) the medical terms of her medicine, some of which he had never heard of, apanied by the vors she was considering¡­


    But then again, he didn''t think he wanted to know anymore.


    Just from the terms, he did know, he felt like he didn''t want to know.


    At least, he didn''t want to know what "Diarrhea jelly- chocte vored?" meant.


    ***


    Mini- Theatre


    Negotiations between Theodore and Guild Members in the near future:


    Beeme: why don''t we y a few more rounds, I don''t know 20, 30?


    Theodore: You mean to ask me to carry you another 20 rounds?


    Beeme: 30 will do too. *Toothy smile of pure shamelessness jpg.*


    Ba De (BBAD): Yeah, didn''t you say that you would look out for us more in the future? Isn''t that what you told your sister? That you''ll treasure us?


    Beeme: Well, you better treasure me quickly or I might leave. Your sister will be sad to know that you have no more friends.


    Theodore: I think you are mistaken.


    Theodore: I said I''d treasure my kind and honest friends.


    Theodore: There are clearly none among the two of you, so that is not applicable.


    ONE HIT K.O.


    TT-TT

 Chapter 183 - Shortened Lifespan <3 Pt III: (Shady... Really Shady)

    Emilin was beaming.


    She had finally finished her graph and finalized everything.??


    All she had to doter was make some more calls, buy some more factories and employ some more people in the rted professions.


    Of course, all that was also the most tiring part after the vor choosing.


    Now that she thought about it, in hindsight, rather than finding the talents to take care of things after she handled all the hard stuff... she should be finding the people to do all the hard stuff as well.


    That was a blunder on her part.


    [Of course, if she said this to anyone else, they would surely cough out blood at the way Emilin was trying to industrialize business creating so that she could just think of something and have it done, but that''s not the main point either.]


    Since she was going toe of age in a few more years and her brothers had already done so, many of her previous worries were no longer necessary.


    They were already old enough to not have to worry about a lot of things nor exin some of the more bothersome stuff.


    After all, she wasn''t a 6-year-old doing the work of a 60-year-old anymore.


    Of course, ideally, she would be of age too, but the idea of having to do everything for herself in the next three years was tiring.


    She had so many other things she wanted to do with this life of hers, so she couldn''t waste it all here right?


    Not to mention, thatst incident with the tinum Privilege was embarrassing.


    Wouldn''t life be a whole lot easier with people reading the Monday files for her?


    It definitely had nothing to do withziness.


    Emilin looked at the unknowing Xander with the eyes of a predator.


    ''Didn''t this guy have quite the amazing assistant? Hmm, I wonder how he did it,'' were her thoughts.


    ''Xander seemed quite good at cultivating assistants?''


    ''Or is it just Levi Stanley?''


    It was really just Levi being a passionate weirdo but Emilin wouldn''t know that.


    In fact, even the people who investigated him very carefully didn''t know that, after all, no matter how carefully one investigated, it was impossible to investigate one''s mind.


    Well, it might have been different if Elijah himself or Maverick went to meet him, but that was not the case so those were just nk words.


    But now, the only thought that Emilin had in her mind anymore was, ''how do I get an assistant like Levi, who does all the work for me?''


    Emilin nodded her head.


    That did indeed seem like a good, worthwhile idea.


    But it also seemed like quite a bit of work.


    So, should she just leave this up to fate?


    ***


    The thing about Levi was really no joke.


    He was just short of being nicknamed Mr. Superman back at the International Medical Association.


    As famous as Xander, the youngest department head was, Levi was just as famous.


    Levi quite literally took care of all the annoying stuff for Xander, so much so that Emilin was a little jealous.


    She wanted to have someone like that too!


    All the times where Xander was studying and Levi wasn''t there making tea, coffee, or snacks, he was cleaning up Xander''s mess.


    For example, right now, though Xander was still supposedly the department head in the International Medical Association, he wasn''t even there, having taken leave to "improve and brush up on his knowledge".


    Worse of all, if it weren''t for Levi, Xander may have found himself fired weeks ago as he had failed to inform and register for the necessary procedures.


    A few weeks ago, the people under him were in chaos, but that wasn''t even the shadiest part.


    The shadiest part was that those same people from his department as well as the deputy department head had adapted to the situation abnormally quickly.


    It was as if to show that they had gotten used to this unreliable young department head of theirs.


    If it were anyone else other than Xander, people may have believed that the department head had prepared everything beforehand for the people below him with how quickly they got things together.


    If it weren''t for the fact that Xander was just too good at the main parts of his job, he would have long been fired a thousand times over.


    And that was the biggest problem.


    The people of the association couldn''t fire him, nor could anyone else.


    Well, they could, but for the sake of the future of their reputation, they weren''t willing to.


    Not only because of his connection to (Grand)Master M, but also because of his pure skills at the age of 25 that could rival that of a doctor double his age.


    People had great hopes for Xander bing a Master in the near future, many even betting on the age at which he would cross that threshold.


    They weren''t willing to let another organization or hospital take the credit of nurturing such a talent, and since they had already nurtured him to this point, all they could do was endure.


    Endure.


    Endure.


    And endure some more.


    Surely after that much suffering, they wouldn''t be willing to be mocked for having their talent run away to some other medical organization when he reached new heights.


    That would leave a great stain on their reputation, especially since Xander was still considered very young in this industry, meaning that he would have time to aplish a lot more than others.


    What else could they do really?


    People his age were not even close to interning yet¡­


    That was where Levi came in.


    He made dealing with Xander 10000% more tolerable for the vast majority which was especially important apanied by the fact that Xander probably wasn''t going to be leaving his position until the next time he gets promoted.


    It had to be said, it wasn''t a godsend to Xander that he had an assistant like Levi, but rather a god sent to everyone else around him.


    It wouldn''t have been too big of a deal if Xander lost his job, in fact, he would definitely think that the trade of his job for the opportunity to learn under his current teacher was 100% worth it.


    But if that had really happened, everyone else, including the people who were stupidly vying for his job, those who believed themselves to be his rivals, those who used firing him as a means to coerce him, and his family... surely all of those people would be the ones to have their lifespans shortened due to frustration.


    Not Xander himself.


    It wasn''t just one or two people that could tell that he was pretty much doing all the work here and there, tieing up loose ends everywhere.


    Honestly, with him constantly being by Xander''s side, it was hard not to tell.


    It was something clear byparison.


    As for the people of the other medical organizations, Levi was many times seen as an eyesore for being way toopetent.


    If he wasn''t there, then Xander would surely have been fired at one point or another for either miscing files, losing files, not seeing files, forgetting meeting times, not seeing meeting times, oversleeping and the list goes on and on.


    Most of these are not really Xander''s fault as once he got concentrated on experimenting and training for surgeries, brushing up on theoretical and practiced methods, it is often that he gets too engaged to sleep, leading to most of the urrences listed above.


    But what happens, happens and not many outsiders care to know why it is.


    And just like this trip, it wasn''t as if Xander was going to tell them.


    This led to the unreliable impression he gave off.


    It also didn''t help that after being spoiled by Levi, Xander didn''t try to recall most things outside of his job, just like that situation with the visas.


    Either way, things worked out well, kind of, with the help of Levi, who was currently still in contact with the association dealing with the matters that Xander couldn''t bother with.


    ***


    In some base hidden in the Hemafuji Mountain Range, another person was affected by Assistant Levi''s situation.


    "Boss, it''s about Levi Stanley."


    The man who had juste out of the bathroom with nothing but a towel around his waist and another one ruffling his wet hair seemed displeased to be faced with these matters right aftering out of the bathroom, but he still nodded for his assistant to continue.


    "The people who had been trailing him for the past month weremissioned from the outside, not our own people as they had found nothing in the past," Liam started, but he was quickly interrupted by a grunt from Elijah, seemingly to tell him to stop beating around the bush.


    Or at least, that''s what Liam''s guilty conscience was telling him.


    Liam quickly corrected his way of speaking to a more concise manner, even though Elijah didn''t say it explicitly, with some cold sweat around his lower neck.


    "We just found out that they had lost track of him almost a month back. It is suspected that they flew off on a helicopter but due to howte we got the news, it is no longer possible for us to trace back where their destination was."


    "Their?" Elijah questioned casually as he put on somefortable clothes.


    "Yes, it is suspected that Mr. Xander left with him, and ever since, they have beenpletely wiped off the radar," Liam divulged.

 Chapter 184 - Leads Pt I: (One Too Many Coincidences)

    "Some more investigation has to be done on whether they used any form of transport that would leave traces, but considering how clean everything else is, there is also the possibility that those were forged for the eyes of the outsiders," Liam spected.


    What he meant by that was that if they bought ne tickets or train tickets, they would have to leave an ID, etc, but they had even left the people they had hired to follow Levi in the dust.??


    Those were all qualified mercenaries, though of course, further cooperation with them was impossible considering they had both lost track of the target and also failed to inform them at first notice.


    "It is not like hecks the means," Elijahmented offhandedly.


    They had both TWO, who could easily wipe out the tracks and create new ones, as well as enough money and connections to discretely go through other means of transport.


    "This is quite interesting¡­" Elijah said in a low voice after he dressed himself.


    His bedroom, bathroom, office, and meeting room in this base were all interconnected and so, after changing in his bedroom, he walked back to his office with Liam following him.


    After the contraption was closed, the office looked just like a normal office and no one would be able to find the bedroom, which led to many more misunderstandings from Elijah''s subordinates.


    Those silly gooses thought that their boss worked so hard that he couldn''t even get out of this office of his, many times "sleeping on the couch" or some other silly thoughts like that.


    Of course, Elijah also had a "bedroom" outside of this one, but that was for other things, like keeping up appearances.


    Which was FYI, not the official use of the room.


    Whenever people pitied their boss who had to "work" through the night, Elijah would often show a smile of pure joy, looking at how cute and na?ve these people were.


    If he was working through the night, what did he have them for?


    As for people in the know, like Liam.


    Ha Ha.


    Did you just say that our boss is so serious and hardworking, and we should follow his lead?


    *Blood stter*


    Yes, I''ll follow his lead all right.


    Such people couldn''t even expose their boss''s secret rooms where important files were kept, as well as where their boss would be in the case of an emergency as that would put their boss''s safety on the line.


    But boy did they want to p those people who pitied the boss that worked them like dogs.


    [A terrible saying as dogs definitely don''t work more than most humans, but I guess it works out. It would really be more urate to say, worked them like 9 to 5 workers with a lot of overtime a no overtime pays.]


    "To think that we have had more action in project X20Xn3 in thisst month than in the past few years. Don''t you think that that''s quite interesting?" Elijah had this inexplicable feeling that something was going to happen soon.


    That there was going to be developement in this case.


    Liam thought about it for a bit.


    "Indeed. The only two people we know to have contact with Master M, TWO and Mr. Xander have both shown signs of strange movements in the past month aspared to the past 2 years we have been observing them," Liam thought out loud.


    "While TWO, who has often stayed elusive and has supposedly only even been seen making a move when being attacked has made a move to investigate Miss Margarette, Mr. Xander and Mr. Levi, who have never been seen to make any suspicious moves, havepletely gone off the radar. And in the same period of time as well," Levi summarized.


    "Indeed, it would be hard not to suspect that something is going on, but at this point, other than the ns with Teacher, I''m better off waiting and seeing on Xander''s side," Elijah informed Levi that there was no need to make too much trouble.


    It was enough to know whether the information was avable or not on where exactly Xander was, and if not, then that was just that.


    Elijah would rather not waste more time going around in circles where there was a better lead with TWO around.


    Liam knew his Boss very well.


    As a matter of fact, he had to do most of the interpreting and talking for his boss when they were together, and his Boss was valuing his words.


    In his heart though, he would often like toin that this boss of his was quite the poser.


    "Very well, I will ask group 9 to just do the preliminary investigations and report back," Liam left with a serious expression that he had already perfected over the years.


    He felt like if he imed to be able to control his temper second best, then whoever imed to be first was out looking for trouble. In fact, Liam felt like his efforts in controlling his temper when with this boss was so great that if someone imed to have more patience than himself, he might just cave in and punch the guy.


    [AN: So many things wrong with thatst sentence, but I''ll let you guys figure it out.]


    Elijah, on the other hand, also realized his assistance''s sentiments as he had the tendency to resort to such a face when all else failed.


    It was quite funny.


    Elijah leaned his head back to find the headrest and closed his eyes, hiding his pale green pupils.


    It was his habit when he was in deep thinking mode.


    His whole mind would rx to work at its optimum for those few moments.


    After going through a number of ns and options in his mind in a matter of seconds, Elijah got increasingly tired.


    Not because he was using his brain too much as there was no such thing, but rather because he realized that though he could ck off in some aspects to some extent, there were still too many restrictions to such words.


    There were still quite a few ces where he had to make his appearance in person as well as getting some things done outside of this base.


    There were still many things to do, just not right now.


    Though he would love to say that his being overworked was aplete lie, his schedule was still packed full when looking at the big picture.


    At this moment, Liam came back in.


    It was unknown how much time passed, but it wasn''t long, that''s for sure.


    "Boss, there was indeed a trace of ne tickets having been bought, but we are unsure of how urate this information is. The destination was Opaque city (chapter 91 for more information). The thing is, it also says that the ce of departure was right around here, in White City," Liam found this information both shocking and hard to believe.


    What were the chances?


    White city was one of the 3 cities closest to this base of theirs and if this information was really correct, then it begged the question, why did both Xander and Levi suddenly take a helicopter flight to White city out of nowhere?


    It wasn''t as if there were any official business from the International Medical Association here.


    But unlike Liam''s visible disbelief, even when informing his boss of this information, Elijah smiled.


    "Now this is getting really interesting. It seems like the hunt will bemencing soon."


    Very soon.


    He clearly had a piece of information that Liam wascking to plug in the holes.


    "Boss, do you mean¡­"


    Liam''s voice trailed off midsentence as he too didn''t know what he was going to ask with his question having no real substance.


    But Elijah clearly knew what he meant to ask.


    "Do you want to hear something even more ''coincidental''?"


    Liam''s ears perked up.


    He knew that his boss didn''t believe in coincidences more than he could throw them.


    When it came to coincidences, two were already a crowd.


    Any more and you might just get suffocated to death.


    Elijah didn''t wait for Liam to respond.


    "Teacher''s daughter, Miss Margo, the very same person who TWO had been investigating a few weeks back, just so happens to be in Opaque City, Phashi. Now if we take into consideration the amount of time Xander was there and if we assume that he still is for no apparent reason¡­"


    Elijah smiled beautifully.


    "Doesn''t that make an interesting mix?"


    Liam immediately got what Elijah meant.


    There were one too many coincidences here.


    Indeed, the slow hunt showed some signs of progress as Elijah was now seeing signs of the shadow of his prey, which he waited one too many days to find.


    Now there seemed to be something worth investigating once again.


    As Elijah thought some more, there were only so many more things left for him to do.


    "Liam, get group 9 and 10 to work together. Don''t get caught. Be discreet but get them to put this as their first priority and get it done fast. Investigate who Xander went with, check who was on the same ne, and the nes before and after, departing around that time too and from this area to that area."


    "It would be best if we could get testimonies of the ones on the flight as well as those of the flight attendants, do it cleanly," he emphasized.


    Elijah propped his chin on his hand.


    "Yes Boss, do you need another team to go and search for their tracks at Opaque City?"


    "There is no need," Elijah responded with no hesitation as he waved Liam off.


    His pale green eyes shone as the aura around this man became sharper and sharper.


    Then, in a silent room, he spoke once more.


    "There are only so many ces one can hide, and I''ll search them all if need be."

 Chapter 185 - Leads Pt II: (Tais Excuses...)

    In the end, half of the investigation was for not.


    The next evening, after a night of overtime from the members of groups 9 and 10, who were likely not going to be sleeping anyhow, they came out with some preliminary judgments.??


    "It seems that it is very likely that Mr. Xander and Mr. Levi truly boarded that ne on first ss, but there were quite a number of vacant seats in first ss, business ss, and economy ss," Liam read off the report in his hands.


    That meant that it wouldn''t be too hard to mask things thoroughly.


    "Group 9 has confirmed that they were unable to find anything wrong with the recording feed and the two men went there alone with no other signs ofpany. The seats next to theirs were also empty," there was good news inteced with bad news.


    They still had no clue as to why Xander and Levi had made a stop at White City.


    "Group 10 is currently headed to the airport to do their own in-depth investigations; Group 9 has already informed us that the few flight attendants that were taking care of the business ss on that flight are already somewhere in M Continent. This might take a while."


    Liam wasn''t too worried about the flight attendants'' lips as they were usually quite loose, especially if they werepensated well and believed they were helping in some kind of investigation, which they were, just not the kind they were expecting.


    The only problem was the timing.


    "Those mercenaries really screwed us over, with the amount of time that has already passed since that flight and with the number of flights those same attendants have gone between then and now, we would be lucky to find anything of importance."


    Liam felt like this was a fool''s errand and quite a waste of money.


    But before he could rmend his Boss not to waste the resources on this matter, Elijah, who was fiddling with a pen in his hand, finally spoke.


    "I think it''s quite the opposite," he said rather casually.


    Liam had question marks written on his face.


    "Considering the hackers on their side¡­ well, I don''t know if I want to say their hackers are toopetent or if ours are too ipetent, but if they want us to believe something by just meddling with the surveince tape, all we can really do is get fooled," Elijah said straightforwardly, uncaring of all the feelings he had just hurt.


    From his perspective, he was already quite certain it was because of their ipetence, which was also partially his own fault.


    And Elijah wasn''t wrong.


    Emilin had the tendency to always scramble her information. Of course, she didn''t travel without a trace as that would be way too suspicious, but her movements were just too clean and normal to be noticeable by a passer-by or even by someone who was trying to investigate her.


    She had already cleanly cleaned off all traces of her going to the airport on that day, and made it look like she had taken another mode of transport the day prior.


    No one, be it those who had met her in White city or the ones that met her in Opaque city would be able to notice any faults between the timings, even though it was all faked.


    In the end, she would reach the location that she was going to at the same time, just with a different method that made it harder for people to track down her information.


    "Our best chance against an opponent that we can''t perceive through so many technological eyes is to use the human eye, and the human brain," Elijah said assertively, not wanting to leave any loopholes on this investigation as he proceeded with the next.


    In the end, Liam could only nod and agree.


    That was indeed the case with this situation.


    Seeing his assistant''s reaction and noting that that part of the report was done, Elijah signaled him to proceed with the next part, but Liam was hesitant.


    "Boss, it''s about thepany¡­"


    His voice trailed off just like that, and Elijah didn''t like it.


    It was a sign that what Liam was about to say was something that he wouldn''t like to hear.


    "They want you to make more appearances to raise the stock prices and the confidence of the employees, the board of directors, and the public."


    Elijah''s eyebrows scrunched up.


    "Why do you sound like you are trying to convince me as well? And shouldn''t such problems be stopped at Tai?"


    Elijah questioned Liam''s loyalty.


    Tai was one of Elijah''s direct subordinates who took care of hispany matters as a front, but everyone at theirpany knew that there was a mysterious boss above him who didn''t want to show himself but also made most of the more important decisions.


    But unlike his "organization" where most people knew of him, at Kong Consortium no one other than Tai, knew who he was.


    "Those old fogies have finally done it."


    Elijah mused as they used such fancy words to get him to show himself.


    "Well, surely they would be worried considering that don''t even know who is the one with 70% of the shares in thepany that is making most of their riches."


    Elijah agreed, but that was also not his problem.


    He could easily see how many more cons there were to reveal his identity, in fact, they were really all results that he didn''t like.


    "Why hasn''t Tai stopped the requests before they reached me?"


    That was the part Elijah found most uneptable.


    "Well, boss¡­"


    Liam hesitated to sell out hisrade to their boss, but with one re, he had to give in.


    "His justification was that you kept saying that you would not attend such events because you were still too young and so he had to deal with all that, but now you''re already of age," Liam knew that this was a terrible excuse and he followed to mumble something inaudible to Elijah, who was at least a good 2 meters away.


    "Plus, he seems sick and tired of making excuses for you, like convincing the whole board that you are too old and traditional to attend."


    Elijah stared at Liam intently for a moment before giving the response that Liam both expected and somewhat hoped for.


    "Reject it," he said coldly.


    Though Liam felt quite bad for Tai, hisrade, he didn''t feel bad enough that he would give himself more work just to match the man''s tastes.


    If Elijah really epted, there would be another pile of letters he would have to go through, letters that would usually be used to fuel his firece.


    Now, all he could do was to light a candle for Tai while he was at it.


    After all, in the upper society of the H¨¦ Continent, where Tai mingled due to his job as the "deputy CEO" of the Kong Consortium, one of the top 10panies in the whole continent, he was already known as the "Excuser" by everyone who knew him.


    In other words, the whole upper society.


    At first, he was well known for making all kinds of excuses as to why their CEO wouldn''t be able to make the attendance of any of therge annual parties, and then, it only went downhill from there.


    The excuses were only getting worse and worse to the point of them being funny.


    Some of the more rxed people would ask Tai for the reason why the CEO couldn''t make it just to see what excuse would be made this time and then have a goodugh at it.


    Meanwhile, those who rather cared for their reputation disdained the man as they found him too arrogant.


    Of course, most people still humored Tai as they wouldn''t want to get on his bad side.


    It also didn''t help that Tai''s figure was oftentimes looming over the others as he was around 2 meters tall with a huge build.


    No one wanted to retort or shout his ears off for fear that the man would pull theirs off in return.


    It went to the point where Tai had once said that the man, their elusive CEO, was having diarrhea and those people could only twitch their eyes in silence as if they had bought the excuse and hope the man they had never met would get well soon to keep up the act.


    Under Tai''s words, Elijah had already married a good 5 times, had wives that had 10 pregnancies and 10 more miscarriages, recurring colds, fevers, and failing organs every time the festive seasons came around.


    One couldn''t help but wonder if the man was going to die the very next day along with the rest of his family.


    As for the reason why Tai had never given up giving such excuses, well, every time he made one, in his heart, Tai always had the hope that his Boss would finallye back, take this stupidpany away from him and let him join back officially to the organization.


    He couldn''t go as overboard as to actually affect thepany''s procedures, but Tai felt like if he showed how bad he was at this job, he could be removed from the post, but sadly, that never happened.


    How he missed the times of being tortured physically rather than mentally.


    Those were the good old days¡­


    ***


    Meanwhile, in another ce, Emilin didn''t know that her years of always taking the right amount of precautions had finally paid off.


    And she wasn''t the only one.


    Xander was also oblivious to the fact that someone was currently investigating him so thoroughly.

 Chapter 186 - Lines That Are Destined To Meet Pt I: (Lot Of Work To Do... T W T)

    It was already past noon and Emilin was still at the cat caf¨¦.


    "Master, are you not going to meet with your friends today?" Xander asked hopefully.??


    His Master was always so busy, he wanted to bring up the pharmaceuticals to know when he could learn them.


    With how much thought his Master put in them, Xander was sure that they would definitely be out of this world.


    Not to mention, he had also been given a sneak peek of it when Emilin was making that chart.


    But he didn''t know to bring it up as his Master always seemed busy.


    He also feared not being able to meet the deadline for his current work at hand leaving him behind schedule and possibly pushing back the date at which he would learn of the pharmaceuticals even further into the future.


    Emilin smiled at the term friends but frowned when she thought of the matter.


    Indeed, she wasn''t going to meet up with them as Grace and Noah since they were taking their quarter exams which they could not miss as they would determine the rankings posted.


    Noah had to take it for the agreement with his father, and a while ago, when the two of them were not satisfied with the results of theirpetition on Mobba, they had taken the matter to school grounds in the form of a bet.


    Noah, who needed the most help in the past few weeks received more attention from Emilin when tutoring time came around while Grace was unsatisfied with the arrangements.


    Emilin knew of the existence of the bet, but she was still unsure of the nature of what exactly was put on the line.


    At school, on that same day.


    Both Grace and Noah''s actionspletely baffled their ssmates as they were fired up on testing day, walking into the ssroom like they were going to war.


    Fire in their eyes and determination to win written on their faces, metaphorically of course.


    Many believed the two to have gone crazy after they hadn''t seen them for so long, and the others who heard the usations felt like they weren''t too far off.


    Well, but that is a story for another time.


    But even though she wasn''t going to go meet them, she would still go to the studioter to keep on doing her training.


    In other words, participating and providing more freebor.


    While Xander was waiting for his master''s answer so that he could find the right opportunity to pop the question of furthering his studies in other fields, a ringing sound stopped the thought mid formation.


    It was Emilin''s phone.


    Emilin gave Xander a sorry look and epted the call.


    "Hello?" She was the first to speak and she did so in a soft but cold voice.


    She was working on it.


    "Emilin, I have some good news," Mason said abruptly from the other side.


    Emilin waited for him to continue.


    "If you have the time, we can start the hands-on lessons now with the camera."


    Emilin was confused in an instant and Mason could easily imagine Emilin''s tilted head and the question marks floating above her head.


    He chuckled.


    It was nearing the end of October, and right around the time where a big project was about to start.


    "Mr. Zekan (Owen) and Miss Lenin (Margo), have been expressing their gratitude for your help in connecting them with such a great auction house, and when they found out how interested you were in photography, they were more than willing to have you take a ce in their project. But of course, the type of participation would be dependent on your skill level," Mason worded it in such a nice way, but both he and Emilin knew well that the best she could do was watch and do her best not to mess things up considering her still level.


    To actually participate, it would take her probably another 5 years of hard work to be a photographer in such arge-scale project with a whole lot of luck, talent, and the right connections.


    Even so, Mason would prefer if Emilin had enough skills and a good eye before the project began as that would allow for her to learn a whole lot more in this experience.


    He was really taking her as his student seriously, and he could tell that such a high-level project wouldn''t teach her much considering the skill gap.


    In fact, Mason was thinking of having Emilin be one of the models in one of these shots, but he didn''t want to jump the gun and make the person hop away like a scared bunny.


    Though it was clear that Emilin was cold on the surface, had an outgoing nature when it came to learning, Mason also found out that she was in fact quite timid by nature.


    He just had to slowly goad the girl.


    This would also help her learn how to approach the camera from another angle, the angle of the one being shot.


    Such experience was also very important.


    "That''s why we''ll move up the schedule a little. Thankfully there is nothing important until the project begins as I''ve already had Lisa clear my schedule."


    All the people Mason canceled on in an impromptu fashion begged to differ, but they had no right to speak.


    They were also mostly people who didn''t have important jobs but wanted to see his skills.


    They could wait in line.


    This didn''t affect his reputation in any way as other than really important matters, Mason had the tendency of not giving out promises ofpletion my any specific amount of time.


    After all, he was a man who needed inspirational trips (AKA: Holidays where his work phone is off and no one can contact him other than the VVIP DO NOT MESS WITH THESE PEOPLE list) all the time and a person who strove for perfection during shoots.


    (AN: perfectionist+ amateurs = very cranky photographer who may or may not go on an inspirational trip until further notice).


    Unless one was sure of their talents or very patient and with a lot of free time, they would go for another photographer as Nosa''s reputation of being quite poor with time management was world renown.


    Of course, in the end, he had his skills backing him, so no matter how much of an annoying pest he was, he was still a skilled annoying pest who one couldn''t dismiss.


    He was very clear about it too, if you didn''t have the time or patience to work with him, then you shouldn''t at all.


    That''s how things worked andints about anything other than the end results were not epted.


    That was also why many people contacted Mason months or even up to a year in advance unless they had special connections or a sh*t ton of money.


    It shouldn''t be a surprise that Mason had a lot ofwsuits to pay for before he got a half-decentwyer.


    "I have time, when should I be there?" Emilin asked in her half-cold half-soft voice that was hard to control.


    "It would be best to get here as soon as possible so that we can get started, I''ll be honest with you, we have a lot of work to do," Mason released a heavy helpless sigh that Emilin was unsettlingly familiar with.


    Mason was not lying.


    One might misunderstand what he was saying, but Emilin wouldn''t.


    It had been a week since Emilin sent Mason a chip with the data of the photos she had taken, and he hadn''t spoken about it since.


    But the look he gave her the day after told Emilin that he had definitely seen it, or at least skimmed through it.


    Still, since he was saying nothing, she wasn''t going to mention that dark history of hers on her own.


    It was bad enough just knowing it existed.


    Since Mason was saying that they were going to start working on her personal skills, she refused to believe that that huge sigh was not directed at all the work he would have to put in to improve what little skills she had.


    She actually felt a little bad for him too, but she had already done some of her part providing the freebor, and in exchange, she asked for knowledge, so Mason was just doing his part.


    Sigh.


    Moreover, since she was already acknowledging him as her teacher, if he ever needed her help, Emilin definitely wouldn''t hold back.


    In the end, she didn''t feel like Mason was on the losing side of the deal.


    "Then I''ll be there as soon as possible," Emilin agreed that there was indeed a lot of work to do.


    But thinking again, that was probably also the most satisfying part.


    Actually, learning something interesting.


    And so, Emilin soldiered up.


    As for Xander, who could only cry on the sidelines knowing that his Master had to leave again, well he bade her goodbye and left for his apartment after paying for the food.


    He didn''t forget to lift an eyebrow when the long list of a receipt was handed to him, but that was it.


    He was already used to the sight at this point.


    ***


    In another location, a helicopter was boarded by Elijah and Liam.


    One of them, much more rxed than the other.


    While Elijah seemed to be heading off for vacation, the other seemed like he was forced on a roller coaster with a terminal fear of heights.


    As tense as one could get, even more so than when piled with stacks of paperwork.


    Speaking of paperwork, an unassuming stack of biodegradable paper was found in an unassumingke between Phashi and the Hemafuji mountain range on that very same day.


    Thankfully, nothing important was lost or found.

 Chapter 187 - Lines That Are Destined To Meet Pt II: (She Could No Longer Find It...)

    Mason released yet another helpless sigh.


    It was only the nth time in thest few hours.??


    Emilin could also only helplessly smile and pretend not to notice.


    ...


    A few hours ago...


    Mason brought Emilin to one of the locations in which he would get inspiration on his leaves.


    At moments like these, many would think of pretty forests or mountains.


    But Mason was by no means a normal person¡­


    Emilin was baffled when they ended up in the busiest shopping district in Phashi, which was also one of the most well-known fashion districts in the entire continent.


    The clients in line would surely be angered to death if they found out that Mason''s so-called seclusion was in fact sitting at the private balcony of the best pastry shop right in the middle of the no. 1 shopping district.


    He also seemed incredibly familiar with the shop owner as he walked in and up the floors like he owned the ce.


    Emilin couldn''t help but be impressed when she realized that there were even long couches, a bed, and a minifridge nearby.


    The first three floors of the pastry shop were filled with tables and customers, but this fourth floor had no one else.


    When she asked, he just responded saying, "Oh, I do own this floor."


    Which answered a whole lot of questions, but not why this floor was connected to all the others of the bakery and why the people working downstairs would bring up refreshments and refill the mini-fridge every few hours.


    The pastry shop clearly had another owner.


    "This is my secret hideout," Mason said honestly.


    This is where he went to get some time for himself when in Phashi.


    And though he traveled, he was still here quite a lot as Phashi was well known for its fashion industry, which attracted a lot of clients from the industry.


    That much could be seen from the fact that he had a studio here.


    There wasn''t a single well-known international brand that didn''t have a shop in this district.


    And while Mason made his way through the room, Emilin just followed him in silently.


    Mason dragged a chair from inside to the balcony where there was only one other chair.


    "Come on, sit down then," Mason patted on the chair he had just dragged over.


    "Okay," Emilin sat down slowly.


    There was an awkward silence created by the strange atmosphere where one was too ashamed of their work and the other didn''t know how to bring it up.


    In the end, it was still Mason who spoke first.


    "Can I know why you want to be a photographer? I mean, it doesn''t earn you a whole lot of money at first, and I doubt money is what you are aiming for in this industry, or you would have gone for something else. It also clearly isn''t the best method of gaining fame. So, if not fame and fortune what could it be?" Mason asked.


    There was something else that he didn''t add, but if Emilin were trying to follow in someone else''s footsteps, like a family member, then she wouldn''t have to seek him out either.


    Emilin hesitated for a moment before replying.


    "¡­I- I want something to be remembered by."


    And also, something to remember from. Something that would tell the future her, that none of this was a dream.


    Mason didn''t quite understand why photography would be Emilin''s choice when that was her goal, but he could understand the sentiment.


    He nodded lightly.


    "I see. Then let''s get started."


    Emilin was somewhat startled that Mason didn''t ask any questions, but that was good too.


    She probably wouldn''t be able to find the right words to answer any of them.


    "Okay."


    For the following hours, Mason started sweating bullets.


    He knew it was bad, but not this bad¡­


    "You normally have such a steady grip! What''s happening?"


    "What is this blur?"


    "Did you click something on the camera? Why are the pictures in such an angle?"


    "Mm, but the camera is fine¡­"


    "When did you even get the chance to tilt the camera in such a way?"


    "It just feels right? Well¡­ that''s good, but not when the result of your gut feeling is this!"


    "Did you just miss the target of your shot?"


    His initial idea was toe to this district to show her the ways of the angles when photographing certain types of people depending on how far they are, what types of clothing they are wearing, andmenting on how toplement certain styles of the person with their clothes and essories.


    This ce was especially good as on this balcony, while you could see the people below, because of the sheet that extended underneath, the people below couldn''t see you.


    With the high-definition cameras, the distance of 3 to 4 floors was no issue either.


    But all that was for not.


    A good idea, but useless in practice.


    This was because Emilin couldn''t even hold the camera straight¡­


    If he didn''t know any better, he would have thought she was doing it on purpose.


    But clearly not the case as Emilin was at least 100 times more distressed than himself.


    Mason was a little sad at the thought.


    The clicking sounds resounded and he didn''t know what to do.


    Was he not fit to be a teacher?


    Was he approaching this the wrong way?


    If so¡­ what was he doing so wrong?


    At this point, Mason felt like he really had to give teachers some more respect.


    The respect they deserve for the work they do.


    In his head, Mason felt like he had things well thought out, but he was quick to realize that he didn''t really know much about teaching at all.


    It was somewhat like how an unqualified middle school math teacher might get frustrated as to which why the student couldn''t understand the simple knowledge that represented Log or Roots.


    Sure, that teacher may or may not have learned it, but that did not represent that they would be able to impart that knowledge properly to any and all people.


    They might be trying to exin it time and time again in a way that they found to be simple or easy to understand.


    But at that point, if the student doesn''t understand, is it really their fault?


    Honestly, Mason thought otherwise.


    At a moment like this, he actually felt rather ipetent. Unable to exin things more simply and making his first and only student feel inadequate.


    That was also why most master''s and Grandmasters were incredibly picky when choosing disciples.


    They would be certain that their disciple could understand them beforehand, so they would most likely never face such issues.


    Xander for example already had years of experience understanding most of what Emilin showed him, and even if he didn''t his talent was just too helpful.


    Emilin on the other hand didn''t seem to have the talent in photography on her side.


    That was when Mason decided that he was going to take a day off from the lessons to brush up on his own knowledge.


    Emilin only nodded as a response, she was already feeling bad enough about the trouble she felt like she was causing, so she felt like that was only right.


    Both of them, however, still stayed on this floor.


    While Emilin remained on the balcony, taking her handy camera and trying again.


    Mason was inside the room, rereading through his old books, textbooks, and looking through some good examples to use.


    At these instances, the instances in which she had the camera in hand, sitting by herself with only her own thoughts to apany her, sometimes she would question herself.


    Holding it tightly, she asked herself what she wanted.


    Sure, she had a long-term goal, but surely, she could have a short-term goal as well, right?


    What did she want?


    Emilin heard the reverberating clicking sound for the nth time.


    But it was still just like any other.


    The results were less than desirable.


    "What was it?" Emilin mumbled to herself.


    "What was that feeling?"


    She was not talking about the feeling of taking a photo right now, but rather the one she felt back then.


    That one good photo she took back in the Hemafuji mountain range.


    Even though it was weeks ago, she felt like it was just yesterday, that beautiful scene that would forever be carved into her memory.


    She could forget all the other photos she took, but not that one.


    But that feeling¡­ that perfect click.


    She could no longer find it.


    ***


    On a helicopternding pad, Elijah stepped off with a freshly rested face while Liam, well¡­ let''s just say it''s a good thing he is not openly afraid of heights, but otherwise, he really couldn''t look any worse.


    Elijah looked at this assistant of his and thought about having pity before dismissing the idea with a second thought.


    "Let''s go to Sister Margo''s main shop," Elijah said, pretending not to have noticed Liam''s poor countenance.


    And Liam was too tired to say anything in his own defense, so things just ended up like that.


    Well, since he said nothing, then nothing should be wrong, right?


    Elijah walked off calmly while immersing himself in his own thoughts.


    He had to go in person to ask Margo whether she had seen the person who went by the name of Xander or not¡­ that was the main purpose for which he came all the way here after all.


    "Things would have been so much easier if only teacher was not so..."


    Elijah did not dare say the following words as he was sure he would probably be caught for it, even though there was no one else around to hear him other than Liam.

 Chapter 188 - Lines That Are Destined To Meet Pt III: (Is That A Bet?)

    Earlier in the day, somewhere elsepletely, Noah and Grace were walking side by side on the hallways of their school.


    The two of them attracted many gazes due to their conspicuous appearances, but others still walked at an arm''s length away.??


    There was Noah, who had his hair styled up, clearly showing his clean and attractive face which was especially eye-catching with his height, and Grace who couldn''t be described as anything less than stunning.


    There weren''t that many people in the hallways at this time though, so it was still manageable.


    Though their own ssmates had seen them a few times before, if not for Noah, who had this memorable appearance, they might have mistaken the two for transfer students.


    It wasn''t that Grace wasn''t well known enough, just that every time she came around for the testing season, she would have already changed the makeup styles that she was trying out.


    Not to mention, everyone was wearing a uniform, so a shy outfit wouldn''t be helpful in distinguishing them as it wasn''t possible in the first ce.


    Today, Grace was wearing a brte wig, with her hair tied up, which made her look especially refreshing.


    The light makeup didn''t make her look especially overly powdered, but it also just so happened to mask a whole lot of her most prominent features, with the exception of her eyes.


    She looked like a different person.


    So much so that if one had an impression of her, they might just think she had some kind of stic surgery.


    It didn''t really make her look prettier or uglier than usual.


    Just different.


    A different kind of beauty.


    "You know, I don''t know why you bother," Noahmented, not straying his gaze from just up ahead.


    Even so, there was only one person he could possibly be talking to.


    "Hm? I don''t know what you mean," Grace acted ignorant.


    Noah scoffed.


    "You''re going to have to wash off the makeup and take off the wigter anyway, so why bother?" Noah asked.


    It was true.


    Because all quarter exams were monitored strictly at this school, these people even had to bring their IDs to the testing center.


    The grades were taken very seriously to prevent cheating.


    There was just no way that Grace would get off lookingpletely different from her ID and sit in on the test.


    Some might evenin saying that she had gotten a substitute to do the test for her.


    But that was also one of Grace''s joys, other people beingpletely unable to recognize her.


    This went beyond simple makeup.


    "Don''t you think it would be interesting? I think every time wee to ss, your admirers have a heart attack the moment I sit down next to you," Grace said mischievously.


    Contrary toment belief, they did actually go to ss sometimes, especially when they had fewer jobs handed to them when they were less experienced.


    Back when everyone was somewhat new to the school and many people didn''t even know the faces of the people of people other than those from their social group.


    Even then, people would still recognize Noah.


    There was a reason why he was able to be a model, other than his connections.


    As for Grace, she would be much harder to recognize with her efforts.


    Grace would go to meet her teachers beforehand to inform them of his job/ hobby and tell them that this was her look for the day, and after the teachers got used to it, they could only sigh helplessly as they could neitherin that this was affecting her studies, nor that it was against the school''s dress code.


    Though Grace often wore wigs of different styles and colors, she never deviated from the natural hair colors when at school.


    Not to mention, the dress code said something about not dying your hair, but nothing about wigs.


    Either way, there was not much the teachers could do and to have the school dress code changed would take a meeting from the board of directors.


    It was just not worth it for just one student who barely came to ss enough to meet the required attendance.


    Noah smirked a little.


    There was a tinge of frustration between his brows.


    "Interesting, very interesting!" He agreed in a mocking and sarcastic tone.


    "It''s so interesting that the boss and the regrs at the arcade we went to regrly were asking me just how I got hooked up with so many different girls every other day!"


    Noah vented out his life struggles with a low frustrated grunt.


    That was one of the most embarrassing moments of his life.


    When a middle-aged man behind the counter pulled him in and asked, "Hey, kid, you remind me when I was younger and had all the girls flocking around me. But does that pretty blond from 4 days ago know that you''re here with this beauty?"


    F*ck.


    Noah quite literally spat out an affirmative through the gaps of his teeth while ring at Grace at the time.


    She even had the guts to act all innocent and tilt her head all oblivious.


    If she didn''t know, who knew?


    Noah would say that Grace knew that blond beauty and where she was at that time the very best.


    As for when Noah told the old man that Grace was that blond beauty.


    Well, he wasn''t looked at as anything less than a lunatic.


    It was as if the middle-aged man was saying: "It''s fine if you''re ying around, but you don''t have to pretend like you''re not with such ame-ass excuse."


    Then, when Noah said that Grace really was that person.


    He was faced with an even more disbelieving gaze as the man said with his eyes: "Fine, pretend, keep pretending. Kids these days."


    Grace had startedughing quietly after she turned around, and from then on out, they never went back there.


    Noah refused to.


    "Those were the good old days," Grace reminisced in her days of glory.


    "Yeah, right," Noah clearly didn''t share the sentiments, not wanting to talk about it anymore.


    "Whatever, what''s the first test of the day?" He changed the topic.


    "Hm, English?" Grace said in a manner that gave no one confidence in her words.


    At that time, someoneing from the other side of the corridor ran up.


    He seemed to have heard Grace''s words as he shouted, "It''s math!" before running up to Noah.


    They did a bro hug mixed with a hand grab thingy that was hard to describe in a sentence and not important enough to take up more.


    But just with that, it was clear that the two knew each other quite well.


    "Lou, it''s nice seeing you again," Noah said to one of his school friends.


    Louis, who went by Lou on most asions smiled brightly.


    You could tell that he was the sunny type with but a nce.


    "Well, yeah, and who''s fault is that Mr, super busy supermodel?" Lou said without a hint of anger or any other such sentiment.


    Just a yful aggrieved face.


    "Well, I think we can split the me, it''s not like you don''t have my number, yet I don''t see you calling me either," Noah pushed the man''s pitiful face away.


    Lou didn''t seem troubled at all as he casually slung his arm around Noah, who was around his same height.


    He gave Grace an acknowledging smile and Grace did the same with a small nod.


    All of the sudden, the yful and mischievous Grace turned into any other outgoing good schoolgirl, who kept her head a little lowered in bashfulness as she stood next to two handsome men.


    One with the attractiveness of a model and the other of a sunny personality that could be one''s first love.


    "Hey, is that bet with your dad true?" Lou asked, having heard of the matter from who knows where.


    It wasn''t a well-known thing within the entirety of the school or grade, but it wasn''t hidden in the upper society either.


    Noah could only assume that his father had mentioned it to his mother who mentioned it to some friends which got to those friend''s sons and or daughters who may or may not have been in their school.


    "Mm, probably," Noah hummed.


    Hopefully, it wasn''t some other random rumor he was confirming.


    "Hells, how do you n to get into the top 20?" Lou asked in curiosity.


    That was rising in over 30 ranks.


    It wasn''t impossible, but it was definitely harder than finding a pot of gold bars lying around.


    "No worries, the deal was by the midterms. It would be good if I can show some progress in these exams, but they don''t determine anything," Noah said,pletely unperturbed.


    "Good luck man, I''ll meet you at the top then?" Louughed.


    He was consistently in the top 10, so this wasn''t strange for him to say.


    "You sure that you don''t want me to help you guys out? Will you be okay? I know how much you hate spending your time here. But then again, maybe Mr. Super model would spend some more time with usmoners," heughed joyously.


    It wasn''t the first time Lou had asked if they needed help with tutoring or such, but the thing was, the two were just not that interesting.


    "True that but I''ll pass, I have a good tutor, just wait for me to surpass you in the next exams," Noah smiled, and as did Grace at the thought of their thoughtful tutor.


    "Is that a bet?" Lou asked.

 Chapter 189 - Lines That Are Destined To Meet Pt IV: (One Grand Play!)

    "Mm," Noah thought about it for a bit, even giving Grace a nce for confirmation.


    He had confidence in himself with the help of Emilin and Grace, who was also improving at an rming rate with some effort, but in order to get a favorable bet, he should y it off, no???


    Grace saw that nce from Noah, whose gaze signaled at Lou and somewhat knew what he wanted to do.


    There was some kind of chemistry there that allowed them to understand each other''s intentions with just a few nods and nces.


    Grace rolled her eyes butplied, nheless.


    "ssmate Louis," Grace said in a meek tone, but she made sure to use some of her little tricks to draw attention to herself so that her voice would not go unnoticed


    It would be awkward if it were ignored amidst the other sounds.


    "?"


    Lou was not quite used to people calling him Louis anymore unless his parents were super upset and used his full name as a frontal blow.


    He didn''t have any particr thoughts of his own name, but he had just gotten used to Lou.


    "I- I don''t think it''s quite fair," Grace said in a soft voice paired with a justice-filled intent.


    Or so it seemed.


    Either way, it made the young girl look particrly innocent and made one lower their guard.


    Noah hid a smile and tightened his itchy hands that wanted to just send her off to the Oscars to let her collect all the golden little men that they owed her.


    Lou, on the other hand, didn''t quite know what was going on as he wasn''t even quite sure of Grace''s identity at the moment.


    After all, Noah did seem to hang out with quite a few groups of people and the school wasrge enough that Lou wouldn''t know everyone.


    On the other hand, Grace also lookedpletely different from her usual appearance and had a different aura around her, which made her even harder to identify.


    It''s not as if the school didn''t allow for visitors that would like to see and experience how it would be like to study at this high school.


    Enough money would do the job.


    Though of course, it would be a little strange to do so during exam times.


    But for Grace, well she didn''t say anything since Lou didn''t ask and so she easily yed it off.


    You could say that this situation was akin to someone with top-notch acting skills wearing a facemask in front of someone who hadn''t seen her more than a handful of times with thest time being a few months ago.


    What else could you expect?


    Lou was bound to be yed like a fiddle.


    Grace didn''t get really closed to others either as she was always honing her skills, thus only a few handfuls of people even knew her real personality.


    "How do you say?" Lou asked with his perpetual sunny smile, which made him look both friendly and easy to trick.


    "Well¡­ well¡­" Grace looked like she had lost her confidence in standing up for justice due to her shy nature.


    But suddenly, energy seemingly surged from her due to the power of the greater good as her voice became a little more determined and less shaky.


    "ssmate Noah is clearly not as smart as ssmate Louis¡­ there are so many ranks between the two of you. If you coerce him into betting with you, they won''t he be losing out?" Grace spoke with a great sense of justice and zero shame at the words that even she herself didn''t believe.


    Not even forgetting to throw in apliment to get into Lou''s good books and lower his defenses as a bonus.


    As for Lou, though he was alleged to be coercing a ssmate, he didn''t take it to heart at all.


    In fact, heughed with great joy.


    "Haha, you''re right! That does make it seem like I''m bullying him, huh. Then ssmate, what do you think I should do in this situation?" Lou asked with great curiosity about what she woulde up with.


    It was strange, he didn''t usually particrly like it when people stuck their nose in other''s businesses, but somehow, he felt like Grace was supposed to be involved.


    Like it was only natural.


    But at that time Grace seemed to have deted like a balloon.


    It seemed as if she had been asked a mind-boggling question that could stump the masses.


    "Um¡­ I don''t know... ssmate Louis, do you have to do the bet with ssmate Noah?"


    Grace threw in some bait that would blur her traces so that it wouldn''t be so obvious that she wanted the bet to go on, and badly.


    But she only had the guts to do so because Lou seemed genuinely interested.


    From what Grace could perceive, he wouldn''t be dissuaded with a word or two.


    And that was indeed the case.


    "Hm, that''s troublesome. What should I do if I really want to go through with the bet though?" Lou said it in a yful tone.


    Grace acted as if she were really troubled by the question and gave Noah a sorry gaze that Lou understood as "I wasn''t able to be of any help¡­ I''m sorry."


    Noah, on the other hand, stifled hisughter silently.


    "It''s okay, a bet to spice up our dull lives seems quite interesting," Noah coughed into his fist as if he was relenting to Lou''s request after watching the whole scene y through.


    And thus, the stage was set.


    "Then since we are betting and the odds are quite unfair as this ssmate has kindly pointed out, should I use a handicap? Like, if you score within 5 ranks of me, it counts as your win?" Lou suggested.


    If it were anyone else, it may have seemed like mocking words with ill intent, but really, anyone looking at this man''s face would think otherwise.


    He really didn''t have such thoughts as he seemed rather simple-minded.


    "Brother, could you give me some face?" Noahined.


    "If you put it that way, it hurts my ego, you know? You don''t have to put such restrictions or even if I win the bet, I''ll feel like I''ve lost more than what I''ve gained," Noah added.


    He was clearly talking about the hits on his reputation if he won the bet in such a manner, but of course, that was just some acting on his part.


    Since Grace had already shown her hand, shouldn''t he at least put in some effort?


    As for why he rejected the offer, he was really aiming for something else.


    "Well, since you really want to make this fairer for me, then why don''t you just let me make a suggestion?" Noah asked.


    Lou nodded, it was just a suggestion anyway, it wasn''t as if he had to ept it if it was too much.


    "Why don''t we increase the bets?" Noah suggested something that made Lou''s eyes widen a little in surprise.


    For a second, he felt that maybe there was something going on that he couldn''t quite see.


    But he shrugged it off.


    "Like real men, eh?" Heughed.


    Though they had not said what they were going to bet beforehand, they both knew that whatever it was, it was going to be kicked up a notch now.


    "Sure, why not," Lou said with a smirk that seemed mock mischievous.


    It was iparable to the actually scheming ones though.


    Noah showed a glint in his eyes at a thought that popped into his mind.


    "Then how about the highest-level bets?" Noah suggested something that the two of them clearly both understood.


    "Are you sure? After you lose, will you be willing to ept the defeat?" Lou seemed surprised once again.


    As for the highest-level bets, there was just one. If you made such a bet- the loser had to adhere to the winner for whatever one favor they asked for no matter what it was, putting all their pride on the line.


    The worst part is that you wouldn''t know what it was before that person made the favor known which left many on edge.


    There was no time limit either.


    It could be 30 years into the future where one of them asked for the favor and they would just have to ept it.


    It could be a favor ''like lick my feet'' or one like, ''give me all the money, credit cards with the money included on you right now''.


    Crazy like that.


    But of course, there was a whole lot of trust involved in making such bets.


    Noah smiled sincerely.


    "Of course. I trust you," Noah said.


    It was insinuated in his words that he believed that he himself would lose, but he would still y for the fun.


    "Alright then, since you''ve already agreed, then what do I have to lose?" Lou said all smiles and rainbows.


    In his mind, he was just thinking, this is going to be fun.


    At this time, someone else chimed in.


    Of course, it was Grace.


    "You should write it down so that no one can get out of the better on! Humph," she gave Noah an open re.


    To outside viewers, it seemed like Grace was saying that Noah might cower out after he actually lost.


    And to Lou, it looked like Grace, the cute ginger cat, was upset that Noah had not taken her goodwill to heart, continuing on with the bet even though it was "near impossible for him to win".


    Now this adorable cat wanted to retaliate!


    Noah stifled yet anotherughter to an extent where Lou, who was right next to him couldn''t hear.


    And that was for the best really.


    Lou felt this girl was really looking out for him this time¡­


    If only he knew¡­


    Oh, poor soul.


    He had no clue that while he was lost in his own thoughts, Noah and Grace shared a nce and a cunning smile along with a fist bump behind the man''s back for a grand y well preformed.

 Chapter 190 - Lines That Are Destined To Meet Pt V: (Missing The Target...)

    "Hey, how many points do you think will be necessary to get into the top 10 ranks this time?" Noah asked out of curiosity.


    "Hm? Were you nning to bet on this time''s exam?" Lou looked at him with an incredulous expression.??


    Noahughed.


    He was a man.


    Not a monster, nor a dumbass.


    "Of course not. Hey, since my deal with my father is on the midterms, why don''t we push all bets to the midterms?" Noah suggested.


    Wouldn''t it be a whole lot more interesting if everything happened all at once?


    Lou nodded in agreement, but what he didn''t know was that Noah was not only talking to him but also the girl beside him too.


    Grace also casually nodded as if just listening in on the conversation from the sidelines, but Noah got the message, so it was all good.


    ''Well, this midterm is going to be a whole lot more interesting than all its predecessors,'' Noah thought with a stunning smile.


    Meanwhile, Lou finally answered Noah''s first question.


    "Not sure how many points you''ll need in total, I don''t think you can miss more than 25 points total (out of 7 subjects aka 700 points) if you want to be top 10. Um, maybe 70 for a top 25 or so, and well, I really don''t know about the rest," Lou scratched his head.


    He never really had to look that low down the list, so he didn''t.


    And thus, it was hard for him to infer anything about it.


    "Well, the tests are getting harder and harder, so I wouldn''t be surprised if the bar perhaps lowers," Lou added.


    Noah chuckled.


    "What are you smiling about?"


    Noah shook his head as if to say that it was nothing.


    "How do you think one gets 675 points?" Noah asked rhetorically.


    He was thinking of a funny scene from a few days back that he had just recalled.


    It was back during a tutoring session with Emilin and Grace.


    Back then he had asked a simr question.


    When it came to studying, while he wasn''t bad, it couldn''t bepared to either one of the girls.


    In the end, he was prone to get stuck in some questions that the other two didn''t even find troublesome in the least.


    Of course, his situation wouldn''t warrant pity since he was in fact very gifted, it was just that his objects ofparison were too abnormal.


    Noah was scratching his head with his pencil, trying his very best to stare a hole into his paper so that it would just disintegrate out of sight.


    Sigh.


    Sadly, he had no such powers.


    Though most things went well with practice, there were always some big questions that he couldn''t wrap his mind around.


    Like physics.


    It was simply¡­ physics.


    There was no other word better to describe his sorrows and pains.


    He had already made a bet with Grace, so he really couldn''t lose when it came to just this.


    Wouldn''t that be too shameful?


    When Grace left for a bathroom break, Noah took the chance to ask Emilin.


    "How can you get 97.5 % on the physics test?"


    He had asked out of curiosity.


    That was the minimum score for an A+.


    Even though he probably wasn''t going to get anything out of the question, it was still worth a shot.


    But the cruel reality proved him wrong, very wrong.


    Emilin seemed to ponder on the question a little, something he could see quite clearly as they had all been sitting on the floor around a short table to work and converse at the same time.


    Making checking each other''s work easier.


    "Well, I guess skipping one of the first questions that are worth fewer points would do the job," she said in all seriousness.


    It wasn''t as if there were a total of 100 points in the test, if she calcted correctly during the test, she would probably be able to find one of the questions that would be worth the number of points that amounted to 2.5%.


    Noah was dumbfounded right away.


    ???


    LoADinG in prOgREss¡­


    DING!


    "Ah," Noah finally reacted.


    "Right, that would probably do the job," not even quite believing his own words.


    He had forgotten that when it came to their studies, the two of them were quite literally worlds apart.


    At times, that left Noah embarrassed about himself and proud of Emilin at the same time, but sadly, Emilin was at a point where he could hardly think of catching up.


    While he was trying to think up ways to reach the mark, Emilin would have to find ways to lower her marks just so that they would reach the same point.


    Noah chuckled a little depressingly, but he knew that Emilin meant no harm.


    He had indeed asked her how she would do it and honestly with some interactions with Emilin, it was clear to tell that there were some things that one couldn''t assume she knew.


    If you wanted to ask her something, you really had to be straightforward, or everything would fly over her head.


    As for this time, she was really just expressing her true thoughts.


    After all, with Theodore and Nathen who were not all too different from herself, there was someck of awareness in certain aspects.


    Most social cues that were jammed into others were not in her as no one had the guts nor heart to tell Emilin that she could hurt their feelings.


    Especially not when she seemed so cutely oblivious to it.


    Noah sighed and patted Emilin''s head softly with a smile and she let him.


    ''What''s going on with him?'' Emilin questioned inwardly.


    "Are you getting too stressed with the exams nearing?" Emilin asked.


    Noah shook his head and retracted his hand.


    "Well, maybe it is that." Maybe he was a little anxious.


    But looking back at the memory, even though it was quite a recent one, Noah could still smile.


    At that time, even though he was anxious, it wasn''t entirely because of the exam.


    But that didn''t matter anymore.


    ***


    Meanwhile, the sun had already started setting and Emilin headed back to her apartment.


    There was no progress with her photography and Mason had already informed her that he would need some more time to do more research and organize aprehensive n to teach her.


    Something that in hindsight, he probably should have done sooner, but honestly, in this case, he wasn''t really choosing his schedule.


    Emilin was incredibly touched by how much Mason was putting into teaching her.


    If before she was just taking him as her teacher because he was skilled and she didn''t have many other options, now she felt some genuine respect for this person who took his art so seriously.


    Emilin was walking down the hallway, nearing her door with every step, still lost in her thoughts.


    Lost in her thoughts about what she could do with her itchy hands that just didn''t seem capable of holding the camera properly when she wanted them to.


    So lost in her thoughts that she didn''t notice when another door opened, and someone approached her.


    "Master Emilin."


    "Master"


    Two people said in unison.


    It was Levi with Xander following behind.


    Levi had heard the footsteps when he walked past the door and Xander came with when he saw that Levi was checking things out.


    "Hm? Xan, Mr. Levi, what are you guys doing out here?" Emilin asked.


    The two men shared a nce and shrugged.


    "Of course, it''s to pick Master up," Xander bullsh*tted.


    "You''re going to pick me up from the hallway just two steps from my door? How nice of you," Emilin said with a funny face.


    Xanderughed.


    He was unsure if Emilin was being sarcastic and joking or serious and trying to be nice.


    Either way, Xander couldn''t stopughing at how adorably entric his Master was.


    "Master Emilin, would you like toe in for some supper?" Levi asked.


    "Sure," Emilin nodded even though she had just eaten before leaving the pastry shop.


    Well, an extra meal had never done her any harm.


    She ended up walking in first as the others followed in and at that time, behind Emilin, Levi elbowed Xander as if giving him a signal.


    One that Xander received with a helpless smile.


    It was time!


    He was going to ask his question during supper!


    [AN: Yeah, I added that line so that I wouldn''t end this in a weird cliffhanger.]


    ***


    As for Elijah, who had just made his way to where Margo was said to be, he went there for not.


    "Sorry Sirs, our Boss is currently out for a business trip."


    Elijah gritted his teeth, but his expression didn''t show any signs of fluctuation.


    His people would have never made such an amateur mistake as to mistake where the target was located.


    But the problem was that Margo never was, and never will be a normal target.


    And there was only one reason why he would get incorrect information about Margo''s whereabouts.


    "Teacher¡­" Elijah said through gritted teeth.


    It was that old man doing his thing again.

 Chapter 191 - [Bonus ]Lines That Are Destined To Meet Pt VI: (Where Did I Go Wrong?)

    Emilin looked at the two people sitting opposite her with suspicion reflected in her eyes.


    Her gaze went from the hot pot to the two men.??


    Back and forth.


    Back and forth.


    When she finally couldn''t take it anymore, she put her chopsticks down and swallowed the remaining food in her mouth.


    "What is it?" She asked hesitantly.


    No matter howcking in understanding of social cues, surely even someone with their EQ in the negatives would be able to tell that something was up if the people you were having supper with weren''t eating, instead, staring at you with "I have something to say" written all over their faces.


    Emilin was only hesitant because she didn''t know what wasing.


    "Haha, right," Xander said with some awkwardness in his tone as he scratched his head.


    Levi looked at Xander who was finally speaking and sighed.


    While Xander was trying to figure that out, Levi was s able to lift his own chopsticks and start eating.


    There were some really nice cuts here, so it would be a waste if he didn''t try some.


    As for the matters that Xander had to deal with since he was dealing with them, Levi would no longer let that affect his appetite.


    It would only be a problem if Xander didn''t ask and then proceeded to sigh and groan all day like he was some depressed teen worried about the feelings of his first love.


    Then, Levi, who had to hear it all, would be wishing he was either deaf or heartless or both.


    He had enough of that bullsh*t


    "Master," Xander spoke like a little girl who was looking for the right wording.


    Let me just tell you, there is no "right" wording at the moment.


    You only have the honor of finding out what you should have said after the moment when you reflect on all your life choices.


    "Just tell me."


    As for Emilin, she was praying for the best and preparing herself for the worst.


    ''What was making Xander so troubled?'' She questioned in her mind.


    There were only so many things.


    If it was something like cancer, then that was good.


    At least that could be dealt with.


    But if it was something like emotional support.


    Sorry, but Emilin felt like she needed that more than him.


    But what was for sure was that all this dragging and stalling was keeping Emilin on her toes and her nerves were screaming.


    She just wanted to shout, "What is it! Tell me!"


    But sadly, her vocal cords weren''t working ording to her will.


    Just her luck.


    "Master, I want to learn pharmaceuticals!"


    There.


    Xander finally came out with it.


    "Hah?" Emilin was, dumbfounded, to say the least.


    All that for just this?


    "Well, Master, I know that though you said that I will be your heir to both your knowledge and title, but with the vast amount of knowledge Master is in possession of, it will be no trouble for you to make a few more titles for yourself and teach a few more heirs," Xanderid out all the truths, but there was only one thought in Emilin''s mind.


    Are you crazy?


    Why would she go looking for more people?


    Emilin released a sigh of relief to find out that this whole thing was in fact, just blown out of proportions.


    But before she was even given the chance to rify, Xander seemed to find the need to clear things up first.


    "I know that Master must have her own ns and that you may have already found someone else to inherit other parts of your medical knowledge, after all, it would be quite hard for one to learn everything," Xander continued.


    He spoke really rationally and logically, yet at the same time, he seemed to have missed the fact that what he was saying to be incredibly hard or near impossible to do, as in learning everything, had a perfect example of aplishment.


    And that person just so happened to be the one right in front of him.


    Though of course, Emilin hadn''t acquired this knowledge through normal means.


    But his worries and thoughts were not out of ce as currently, M was definitely not known for pharmaceuticals and Xander wouldn''t even have known that Emilin had such extensive knowledge in the field if not for the circumstances that lead him to meet her in person.


    It wouldn''t be surprising if Emilin was going to move into the pharmaceutical field under another alias (which was her original n), but that would also lower the possibilities for Xander to inherit the knowledge unless he also inherited that other title (aka. alias).


    "It may be presumptuous of me since I don''t know what Master''s ns are as of yet, but when I heard of the pills Master is making, I just knew that I had to learn!" Xander was getting more and more pumped up and his respect for Emilin only grew by the day as his tone followed suit.


    But he wasn''t able to finish his long-winded speech as Emilin finally interrupted.


    "Of course, you''ll be learning the pharmaceuticals!"


    ''In fact, you''ll be learning everything!''


    ''And I mean everything!''


    Emilin didn''t say thatst part out loud for fear of scaring the guy off.


    Emilin couldn''t stand the allegations of being dealt with more useless work than she was ready mentally for and thus she waved Xander off and motioned for him to eat.


    "Eat, eat, eat," Emilin waved with chopsticks at hand.


    If this continued any further, she wouldn''t even know what to say.


    It had already taken her quite a bit toe up with the right words that weren''t too perfunctory nor ranty.


    She didn''t have the brainpower for this right now.


    "Master, then do you know when I will learn it?" Xander asked with food in his mouth.


    "Do you want to start learning it sooner?" Emilin replied back with a question.


    Xander nodded fervently.


    He was hoping that Emilin could possibly move pharmaceuticals up a slot.


    He had yet to find out all the content of what he was being taught, but he knew that it wouldn''t end at where he was now, even if it wasn''t everything Emilin knew.


    Or else he would just be a shame and bring down the reputation of M''s future name.


    But what he didn''t know was that he would sorely regret this impulsive action of his in the near future.


    Emilin nodded as if to say that she would take his thoughts into consideration, and they went on to happily eat hot pot.


    Xander was so happy that night that he slept with a smile on his face.


    A smile that stayed there until the next day, that is, until lessons resumed.


    ''What is this!!!'' He screamed inwardly.


    Xander was having a mental breakdown early in the morning while questioning most of his life choices.


    Where had he gone so wrong?


    Sadly, this was a rhetorical question as he knew exactly where he had gone wrong, and it could be said that this was mostly his own doing.


    He had brought it upon himself.


    Xander had the feeling of having gifted himself to the devil and even asked her to torture him. T-T

 Chapter 192 - Lines That Are Destined To Meet Pt VII: (Fervent Eyes)

    Emilin never had the intention of changing the order in which things would be taught to Xander.


    Such a thought had crossed her mind, but then she quickly rejected it as it would be counterproductive to do so.??


    But when Xander said that he wanted to learn the pharmaceuticals sooner, a nice idea popped up in her mind.


    Wouldn''t it be nice if she crammed everything a little tighter together? :)


    It was a win-win situation!


    Like this, she would be able to get one more problem out of her hair sooner and at the same time, Xander wouldn''t have the time to think about all the useless stuff that would give her a heart attack.


    Xander would also get what he wanted as he would get to touch upon the pharmaceuticals sooner than previously nned.


    Emilin promptly ignored the despairing gaze Xander gave her when the new stack of information and documents were handed to him, and the new deadline was set shorter than ever.


    ''I believe it you!'' She encouraged in her heart with much hope as she left for sses with Mason.


    On the other hand, for the following days, Xander was like a sad puppy with a pen in his hand that never had the chance to stop moving.


    If only absorbing all this information, that was quite literally from another generation, wasn''t this satisfying.


    Then Xander wouldn''t be so troubled!


    ***


    Emilin was once again seated at the balcony on the 4th floor in the middle of the fashion district, but this time, she wasn''t alone there taking photos anymore.


    Instead, Mason was there currently lecturing about everything Emilin had to pay attention to when it came to photography.


    It had to be said, Mason was truly a poor excuse for a teacher.


    Not because he didn''t know his stuff or because he couldn''t speak eloquently, but because he was all over the ce.


    To be fair, he never had any teachings on how to teach nor any experience, but if anyone else were to listen in on the conversation, even if you swore on your life that that was Emilin''s first lesson with no prior knowledge on the subject, that person definitely wouldn''t believe you.


    That was because whether they knew about photography or not, there were just too many random concepts being thrown around before they were even exined or defined.


    It would have been fine, in fact, more than fine if he were talking to someone more experienced, but as of right now, if it had been anyone else sitting in front of him, they would have already stopped Mason from spewing so much gibberish.


    Thankfully, Emilin had a great memory and an even greater brain capacity.


    After everything was said and done, she was still able to piece the information together.


    If it were anyone else, it was like letting them listen to the lecture of a Master at human anatomy before giving them some lessons on basic biology and chemistry to exin what some of the words meant.


    You can''t expect anything great toe of it really¡­


    "And don''t forget to check the histogram properly when you''re taking photos to make sure that the lighting isn''t crap, I''d say at least half of your photos from a simple skim had such a problem. That half I just spoke of was only the ones with major issues. You were taking photos outside, right? Yeah, sometimes it happens where the scene is either too exposed or too dim¡­"


    With the help of Mason''s nonstop lectures and a lot of lemonade to quench his thirst, Mason was finally able to cram in all the basics into Emilin''s head.


    Of course, most other things would depend on luck, experience, and inspiration.


    Two people were slouched on their chairs, withzy arms reaching out for their sweet drinks.


    The sun was setting behind them and they were both tired out of their minds.


    Emilin had had her mind working overtime to organize all the information into new files to sort out in her mental library and Mason felt like if he didn''t take care of things properly, he may lose his voice tomorrow.


    "Did you understand everything?" Mason asked like the irresponsible teacher that he was.


    He had been speaking for hours on end, without a break and this was the first time today that he had asked Emilin whether she understood what was being taught to her.


    But his efforts could not be denied and his dry throat was proof of his hard work.


    "Yes, teacher," Emilin replied.


    Her abilities truly prevented Mason from understanding just how bad his teaching methods would have been for anyone other than geniuses like her, that could memorize and organize all the information at the same time in their minds.


    Mason nodded in relief that he wouldn''t have to reexin anything or borate.


    It was nice to have a student who understood but seeing as Mason hadn''t had any other student other than Emilin, it was hard for him topare.


    "Then why don''t you give it a shot?" Mason motioned at one of the cameras on the table that had been used as an example during ss.


    Emilin hesitated for a second before taking the camera up.


    Mason looked away and gave Emilin some of her personal space.


    He could still correct herter when Emilin got the hang of it.


    It was still necessary for Emilin to learn a little from her own experience.


    *Click* *shutter* *Click* *shutter*


    Emilin tried her very best to concentrate on taking the photos, but she was still a little lost in thought.


    *Click* *shutter* *Click* *shutter*


    The picture of the setting sun, though very different from the other one she had taken back in the Hemafuji Mountain Range, still couldn''t help but bring her memories back to that day on the cliff.


    *Click* *shutter* *Click* *shutter*


    "Why are you distracted, dear one and only student of mine?" Mason asked out of curiosity and worry.


    As a veteran in the field, how could he not tell when someone was distracted?


    Emilin hadn''t been like this even during the lesson, which would have most likely bore most people to sleep.


    In fact, Mason had never seen Emilin like this.


    Though her eyes were in a daze, there also seemed to be an obsessive glint in them.


    Mason just didn''t know what it was about.


    Emilin sighed as she was caught red-handed and put the camera down, but the look in her eyes did not change even when there was no longer a camera in her hands.


    In fact, they only became more desperate.


    "I''m not getting the feeling! That feeling," Emilin''s voice trailed off as if mumbling to herself when she was clearly talking to Mason.


    Mason was dumbfounded as a look of enlightenment shed on his face.


    "Oh dear," Mason mumbled.


    "Oh, deary dear! My dear student, tell me the truth. Are you¡­ a psycho?" Mason felt like so many things had just clicked in his mind.


    "¡­"


    There were just too many things off about everything and now, with this one link, everything seemed interconnected.


    Emilin snapped out of her fervent daze of wanting to find that right feeling again when she heard her teacher''s words.


    What the cr*p.


    There was a momentary pause of silence, which only convinced Mason even more.


    Even if he didn''t admit it, it seemed like his student was really no normal, and possibly not even sane, character.


    Emilin felt like she was finally poured on with a bucket of cold water as her fervent and desperate eyes returned to usual.


    Still, her itching hands did not stop.


    Emilin sighed with her hands clutched tightly.


    "I guess I should be exining before I get sent off to some mental institution by my own teacher¡­"


    She lifted her head, looking at Mason with an aggrieved expression as if she had been wronged by the world.


    ***


    On the other hand, one more person was feeling aggrieved at their teacher''s actions against them.


    Maverick would definitely know that Elijah wasing here to Opaque city and with some simple deductions, the reason for hising was quite simple.


    But from what he was told, it was clear that Margo had gone for the business trip and probably wasn''t going to being back any time soon.


    Without any better clues, Elijah may havee for naught.


    That was annoying.


    "If it''s alright, could I know which ces and shops your boss has been visiting most frequently? This has something to do with her own safety and wellbeing," Elijah prompted the samedy for answers, though it was highly unlikely that he was going to get anything.


    Thedy visibly stiffened when she heard that it was about the Boss''s safety, but in the end, she still held on.


    What if this person was the one that would put her Boss in a precarious situation?


    Then wouldn''t she have be a sinner?


    "Sorry Sir, but I won''t be able to disclose much information to you on matters that have to do with the Boss''s private life, but I can tell you that there have been a few of our own businesses that she has been visiting and doing check-ups at more frequently," thedypromised as this could truly be about the safety of her Boss Margo.


    "Do tell," Elijah nodded.


    He would get what he could from the hands of his stingy teacher.


    "Well, there has been this cat caf¨¦ that she attends to more frequently than the others and more frequently than before, though due to her business trip, she hasn''t gone as of recently, I''ll circle the address for you," thedy said while taking out a pamphlet.


    "If you want more information, I suggest you show something that would be able to confirm your identity as someone who Boss Margo trusts with such," thedy said helplessly, telling Elijah that she really couldn''t say any more.


    Elijah nodded and was impressed by this employee''s tactfulness.


    "Thank you," he said, turning around to leave with Liam following behind.


    Thedy at the counter sighed.

 Chapter 193 - Lines That Are Destined To Meet Pt VIII: (Stairs)

    "Teacher, how can you say that about me?" Emilin blinked twice in session with her eyes drooping as if tears were about to be shed.


    "Of course I''m not a psycho," Emilin imed full-heartedly.??


    She could admit that she was probably a little messed up in some aspects, but who wasn''t?


    Such a big jump in assumptions hurt Emilin''s feelings.


    Mason saw how hurt his student was and instantly regretted his words.


    He may have been a little excessive, but it was a real worry of his, okay?


    "Okay, okay, how about you just tell me what you meant and exin it extensively," Mason sighed and relented.


    If it had something to do with photography, he may be able to help, but if it had something to do with the body, such as hand tremors or something psychological, Mason felt like he was probably more useless than a pig.


    Emilin paused for a bit to reorganize her thoughts and emotions as well as to get a better feel of what it was that she had been feeling moments ago.


    "It''s probably best if I use the example, right?" She mumbled to herself.


    She took out the photo that she had been holding on to since the first time she got that fervent itch in her hand when handling the camera which gave her that inexplicable feeling.


    She fished out the photo that she kept in her inside pocket and put it on the clean table.


    It didn''t seem old or worn out in the least.


    "What is this?" Mason asked confusedly.


    The photo was facing his way and it depicted a familiar scenery, but Mason couldn''t quite pinpoint from where he found it familiar.


    What he knew for sure though was that it was incredibly eye-catching, so much so that Mason couldn''t turn his eyes away.


    For a moment, he was in a daze.


    All of a sudden, he felt the impulse to want to go to this location and see this scene for himself even if it were on the opposite side of the world.


    It was a spontaneous thought, but somehow, just looking at this photo made him want to do something like that, something that he wouldn''t normally do if he were in his right mind.


    The best part of this was probably that Mason could tell that there were no filters or edits done on the photo.


    "Wow, this would be perfect for a traveling agency," Mason praised, thinking that if this could make someone want to leave thefort of their homes to do something for once, then it was definitely worth at least that much praise and exposure.


    Though of course, he was originally already someone who traveled quite a bit to garner some inspiration, but he felt like this time, it was different.


    While he was still in a daze, Emilin''s long finger tapped at the corner of the photo.


    "This, I want to do it again, but nothing feels right anymore," Emilin said as if that would simply exin everything.


    Instead, it just left Mason in surprise and even more so, in confusion.


    ''Why is my student talking as if she took this photo???''


    It wasn''t that Mason didn''t believe in Emilin; he just didn''t believe in her natural talent.


    Looking at the photos sent to him, he was sure of it.


    But had he missed some of them?


    Were there treasures buried under that mountain of trash?


    Or was it just luck?


    A one-hit wonder?


    Mason''s eyes gleamed before they dimmed once again.


    "How did this even happen?" Mason finally asked, a little exasperated.


    When faced with such a scene, Emilin also didn''t know what to say.


    All she could do was exin as best she could.


    She exined how she had gone to Mount Hemafuji for a trip for a breath of fresh air, taking her camera with her, only to realize she royally sucked at photography.


    At that point in the exnation, Mason nodded knowingly.


    Which prompted Emilin into a sad smile. :)


    She exined how, despite everything, she still quite liked photography and that feeling of looking at everything through a lens.


    Even more so to be able to remember such memories in the future when her memory was to fail her.


    Mason felt a little strange at first, but then he nodded.


    It was unusual in general to see someone pursue something they weren''t good at, but it wasn''t as if there weren''t such people.


    Then Emilin exined how that photo came to be, out of pure luck andpletely out of the blue.


    She didn''t even think to im that this had something to do with skill since there was no such thing to speak of.


    Mason nodded in understanding.


    "No wonder I found the scenery in the photo familiar." No hell! He had seen a couple hundred photos of that very same scenery.


    "You won''t me me for not seeing it amidst all the others, right? I''ll be honest, I looked through a good 700 of them, but I still wasn''t able to finish it all," Mason said in truth.


    It wasn''t that he didn''t have the time, but he felt like his eyes would fall off if he looked any longer.


    It wasn''t really his fault either.


    "No, I''m sorry, I didn''t clear any of the photos out since I would rather you get a clear idea of my¡­ skills, rather than a skewed one," Emilin said, hesitating on the word skills.


    Not only that, but she also kept those photos in so that Mason could tell her what she was doing wrong.


    In fact, she was already surprised enough that Mason had even looked through that many. She was sure if he just looked at perhaps a dozen or two, he would probably be able to find out most of what she was doing wrong.


    Any more would probably only tell him how bad it was and which parts she was doing wrong more often than others.


    She felt like he was already being dedicated enough, I mean, all this work was from someone who seemed to particrly enjoy pushing off the work from his real job to do other stuff.


    Emilin was actually rather curious why he had epted teaching her when it seemed to be such a fuss.


    But she didn''t ask.


    "The thing is, though I want to do it again, it just doesn''te to me! I always feel like my palms are itching to the point of burning when I seek that feeling of that right moment, right motion, right people, rightndscape, and right time," Emilin exined while looking at her hands.


    She was sure that if she worked hard enough and studied, she would be able to at least be mediocre at some point in time, but she feared that her greed wouldn''t allow her to settle down for that.


    Now that she had felt such a joyous feeling, it would be hard to settle for mediocre.


    It was simr to how if someone had always lived avish lifestyle and then suddenly went bankrupt, it would definitely be harder to adapt than someone who went from rags to riches.


    Mason stared for a bit.


    "I think I may know what the issue is¡­" Mason hesitated a little.


    And there was a good reason for this hesitation too.


    This was because, though he couldn''t bepletely sure, these were some symptoms he had before too.


    It was just a little inconceivable that Emilin was having them at this point in time.


    And if it was really what he thought it was, then it wasn''t necessarily a good thing¡­


    "Do you not know what stairs are?" Mason said exasperatedly before proceeding with the exnation.


    ***


    Elijah and Liam were in the car parked at the side near the cat caf¨¦.


    The very same cat caf¨¦ that Xander and Emilin had been frequenting quite a bit due to their location which was right across from their apartments.


    Though Elijah would love to barge in and ask who Margo had been seeing most frequently recently, he really couldn''t do that.


    Still, there were limited ways for him to get information in a short amount of time without exposing himself.


    Did he really have to do it?


    Did he really have to call that stingy teacher of his now?


    "Well, this is annoying," he said in a deep voice.


    "Liam, go inside and try to get the tape for the surveince," Elijah said in annoyance.


    It was not fun dealing with someone who could easily hack everything one could think of.


    Though that didn''t mean that they werepletely out of options.


    If the people they were looking for, either just Xander, Xander and Levi, Xander, Levi, and TWO, or someone else entirely, was to be investigating Margo, then they probably met more than just once or twice, right?


    At some point, it wouldn''t be too good if they hacked everything to make it look like they weren''t there since real people would have seen them and it would only be more suspicious if they were the only ones who were never caught on camera.


    It was just that it didn''t change the fact that TWO and whoever it was that was working with him could still easily change how they looked on screen.


    Most people wouldn''t be paying that much attention.


    But at least¡­ it was better than nothing right?


    Liam cried inwardly from being given such a task, but he still went without making a peep.


    "Yes, Sir."

 Chapter 194 - Lines That Are Destined To Meet Pt IX: (For The Fairness!)

    "I have also had simr bouts in the past, but they have always been few and far between," Mason sighed as he confessed.


    "However, they were somewhat different from what you have described. What you described is simr to an obsessive need to seeking the perfect scene and then capture it, which is a good thing. This will push the limits of your potential¡­ that would be, in normal circumstances," Mason seemed very troubled.??


    "The problem is, right now, for your situation where you have neither the skills nor ability to aplish such a task regrly, this obsessive need will only lead to destruction. It''s simr to an addiction where you aren''t able to find release. If you can''t find a way to control your desire before you find a way to increase your chances of getting what you want, you''ll never be able to improve," Mason exined his own thoughts on the matter.


    Emilin nodded and agreed as she too believed that this wasn''t very helpful to her.


    As of now, she could pretty much only rely on the right timing, some luck, a whole lot of inspiration, and the basics that she had just learned.


    Such waiting filled with stressful thoughts would likely be harmful to her mental health.


    Even so, to apply what she had learned, she still needed the calmness to be able to control her own body to do what she wanted, when she wanted it.


    "You''re in quite the precarious situation."


    To put it crudely, Emilin was akin to one who was addicted to cigarettes but didn''t have the skills to earn the money necessary to buy them.


    At the same time, because of the withdrawal symptoms and the obsessive need for more nicotine, she was unable to concentrate on learning the skills needed to made money to get the cigarettes.


    Of course, such an analogy was a little skewed in perspective as not all addictions were necessarily detrimental to one''s health, affecting a person in other ways.


    It was just as he had said.


    She was in a precarious situation.


    "I have also had such a feeling of obsession, but it is unlike your own as it happens in moderation. I don''t mean that the feeling is more moderate, but rather that the asions I feel such an impulse and itch are not frequent," Mason frowned.


    It wasn''t as if he felt it every time he picked up the camera nor every time he was doing a photoshoot, or he would never be able to be a sessful photographer.


    Mason thought back to the first time he had felt something simr.


    "I only feel it when some of the conditions were already met and by then I didn''t have to face the problems you now have¡­" Mason hesitated.


    "It was easy to realize when it first started since the feeling was so piercing and unusual. For me, it only happened when I had long learned the basics and became a professional, and rather than scenery, what prompted such a reaction from me was a person¡­" Mason reminisced.


    "Her eyes were so piercing and her aura, it was as if I could feel it if I looked at her from a mile away," Mason''s eyes held a bit of infatuation, but if you asked him, it was not infatuation for that person as a woman, but rather that person for their aura.


    An infatuation for that point in time.


    Hearing Mason''s words, Emilin was reminded of the photo she had seen back when she was first in his office, but she didn''t ask to confirm her thoughts since Mason was still talking.


    "And that wasn''t the only time, there have been a handful of people, and every time, my hand would itch for my camera when I looked at them. At first, it was intense. It wouldn''t stop until I got the job done, butter, I started gaining the ability to control it, limiting it to a twitch and a small itch with my hands getting a little hotter. After all, it would be quite harsh if I couldn''t even control my hands as a professional photographer," Mason exined.


    "The difference between you and me is that while this is more of a bother to you, ever since the first time I had this feeling, I used it as a radar for my next project, my next big hit," Mason''s eyes shone.


    He had no reservations in pointing these things out as he saw no point in beating around the bush on this point.


    After all, it wasn''t always going to remain this way for Emilin.


    As for himself, every time he had a small itch in his hands, he would see through to it that the perfect shot was taken and since it was restrained unlike Emilin''s, Mason wouldn''t let it affect the rest of his life a great deal.


    "This started veryte in my career, and I have yet to hear from my friends of this industry who are just as passionate as I am, have early signs of such obsession," Mason exined why he had not thought that what Emilin was talking about was this when she first mentioned it.


    He also had no trouble calling this what it was as it was quite literally obsessive.


    Now that he thought about it though, it probably wasn''t that it was impossible or that Emilin was the first case, but rather the circumstances that led Emilin to the situation she was in right now were just too improbable.


    Who wouldn''t have given up on photography ages ago if they were in her shoes?


    And who would be able to take such a gobsmacking photo before even learning the basics?


    And to top it all off, who would have the right genes to bepatible with this form of obsessivepulsive disorder (OCD) that didn''t quitee naturally?


    Mason didn''t have OCD in his day-to-day life as shown through his great dependence on his assistant Lisa.


    But in special circumstances during photography when his inspiration was at its peak, his OCD was especially intense, so much so that he would even get tics and a short fuse which he would at times convey through words


    Mason was especially thankful that Emilin hadn''t reached that point.


    Mason smiled weakly.


    "You''ll have to temper yourself a little so that you can control your impulses before you can forge your impulses into a tool that will be of help to you in the future! You can''t be expecting your luck to save you every time, right?" Mason argued.


    Though luck and chance could do a lot of things to help one create shortcuts, it could not prevent you from treading the path to get to your destination.


    Emilin nodded.


    Her hands had already cooled off a bit and the itching subsided, but this whole time, there were absolutely no physical signs of these things.


    How could she not tell that this was a phenomenon in her mind?


    After all, most things were.


    It didn''t mean much though since she couldn''t and didn''t want to control it through means other than the ones that normal people used.


    Sure, she could just hypnotize herself into stopping these bodily reactions, but as Mason said, if she tempered herself rather than taking the shortcut, wouldn''t she be left with quite the useful tool?


    Emilin felt more reassured knowing that it was possible.


    That one could control their reactions through pure mental tempering and resilience without using other means.


    Since Mason could do it why couldn''t she?


    "Thank you, teacher. I''ll work hard to temper myself and be a photographer you can be proud to im as your student in the future," Emilin said in a chilling, yet determined voice that brought a strange degree of warmth to one''s heart.


    Emilin knew it was probably a little early to say so but it didn''t matter too much since she was not only making that promise to her teacher but also to herself.


    Mason also felt like it was nice when his efforts and favors were recognized and the other party showed their determination to reciprocate the kindness.


    It was fulfilling and it made him appreciate this student even more.


    After all, he didn''t have to do or share any of this, and what he had said today could also be considered a trade secret that couldn''t be spread to the public.


    Mason nodded with a wry smile.


    He could tell that no matter what, as a photographer, Emilin would probably have a hard road ahead of her.


    He wouldn''t me her if she were to give up in the future, but with nearly a month of interactions, while considering Emilin as his apprentice, it was still inevitable that he hoped she could persevere.


    "Then work hard," Mason encouraged his little student.


    "Try and steady yourself so that we can first make sure you can take normal photos before we move on to anything harder," Mason felt like the world was quite unfair as this young girl who was so passionate about photography seemed to have less talent than a 10-year-old passer-by who had never even held a camera other than the one on their phones, but since that was the case, didn''t it just mean that he just had to work a little harder to teach her?


    Mason steeled his will in the name of bncing and maintaining fairness in this world!


    Isn''t that nice of him?


    Though it would still have to be seen if he were to ever regret having such a thought about fairness in this world when he found out the truth of what the world had bestowed on this determined little student of his.


    ¡­


    AN: Ehehehehe, what? Fairness? What''s that? Eh, no, I''ve never heard of it in my entire life!


    ...


    AN:ClicktoReadAuthor''sNotesforAuthor''sthoughts!

 Chapter 195 - Lines That Are Destined To Meet Pt X: (B*stards And Liars!)

    Elijah sat in the car with his eyes closed, waiting for Liam.


    As he reyed the day in his mind, he sighed at how uposed he was today as he reviewed his faulty ns.


    Some of these things were due to his emotions being affected by his rush in finding M and others due to that annoying teacher of his.


    "In hindsight, there were so many things I could have done differently, and more efficiently," Elijah spoke to himself in a quiet voice.


    He had this habit to rey his memories every day in order to assist his self-improvement.


    After all, he had only one teacher, and that teacher was too stingy to give him any hints, much less giving pointers.


    He could only rely on himself.


    "Mistakes, too many mistakes¡­" Elijah was very calm despite his words that reflected dejection.


    Other than a small frown, there was no other sign of his bad mood.


    One would think that he was simply talking about the weather as someone who couldn''t care less from his tone.


    Well, things had already transpired, so Elijah just took this time to n out what he would have done differently.


    It wasn''t as if he could make many useful ns for the future before Liam came back.


    On the other hand, Liam wasn''t having nearly as much of a rxed time.


    ¡­


    "And when exactly was this?"


    "It was around a few days ago, I can''t quite recall exactly when," Liam remained calm on the surface despite his turbulent mood.


    "Is that so?" Thedy with her hair tied in a neat and refreshing bun asked suspiciously.


    She looked veryposed and mature.


    Inparison, the youngdy by her side with her hair tied in two cute pigtails seemed much more adorable and youthful.


    "If Sister Riri said that she hasn''t seen you here before then it must mean that you haven''t been here before! Why are you asking for the surveince footage!" The youngdy hmphed, clinging to the mature youngdy''s side.


    Liam was appalled.


    Did this Sister Riri have a photographic memory or something? Remembering every face that came in and out of this ce?


    And did she also just so happen to be working every single day this past whole week?


    Impossible¡­ well, highly unlikely.


    Which meant that Liam just had to bluff his way out.


    It wasn''t as if he didn''t have experience doing such things.


    The only thing was¡­ why was this little girl with the cute pigtails ring at him like he had killed her lover??


    wtf.


    "Youngdy, I''m sure your right, Lady Rita seems very capable, and it is indeed not strange that she has never seen me before as this is my first time here. The thing I am looking for is for my friend, not myself," Liam started bullshitting.


    Getting Rita''s name from her nametag.


    But he sounded so confident and looked so wronged that it almost made the two people forget what he had said before this.


    Rita, called Sister Riri by the youngdy, narrowed her eyes.


    "Didn''t you say you came here with your wife and that she may have dropped her wedding ring around here? And it also seems incredibly suspicious that you only found out you lost it and came back for something as important as a wedding ring a few days following its disappearance. Sir, I highly doubt you''ll find what you are looking for here," Lady Rita replied calmly and seriously.


    She was very professional with her customers, even when they were acting rtively suspicious.


    There was no line and no one else she had to tend to right now, so she had time.


    Plus, she always went with the motto, "Don''t wrong the customer until you are sure they aren''t being wronged."


    (It''s just saying that she won''t use customers of anything before she is sure of it.)


    Liam cursed in his mind before he cursed out loud.


    "F*ck that b*stard!"


    Suddenly, the whole aura around Liam changed, leaving bothdies bbergasted and speechless¡­


    Like. Wait- wait- wait! Isn''t this change a little too abrupt??


    Only, one was able to control their facial expression better than the other.


    The young one with the pigtails dropped her jaw on the floor due tock of caution (oopsies), while the mature young woman flinched before returning to her usual polite customer smile that was just a little more awkward than the previous.


    Well, what could she do when the customer was always right other than when they were harassing them?


    Anyways, Liam didn''t seem to be a threat as if yet.


    "That b*stard! It''s all because he made mee here. I''ll never bet with him again!" Liam acted as if he were "showing his true colors" after blowing his fuse along with his original act.


    But all this looked incredibly strange as the man was wearing a custom-tailored Arma** suit.


    Liam didn''t even seem to have the patience to wait for the twodies to react as he took out his phone and pulled out a photo.


    "You see this man! Damn it. He''s the one making me do this, so if you want to, you can me him, god damn. I''m sorry to have troubled you, but if not you, I would have to pull a random customer and hope they had been here on the days he had, and I didn''t want to mess with your business," Liam seemed to want to keep swearing at the person in the picture, but he managed to restrain himself and apologize in the end.


    When Rita saw the person in the photo, her eyes shone a little, reflecting some of her thoughts, but they quickly returned to their usual light.


    She was also grateful that Liam didn''t go disturb their other customers, but even so, she would need a full story to allow someone she didn''t know ess the security footage.


    Even if they were just a cat caf¨¦, there was still something called privacy, which they preferred to enforce unless there were special circumstances.


    "Sir, you seem to have something with this man in this photo, if you could exin it to me, I''ll do my best to assist you within my capabilities as long as it doesn''t affect our protocol," Rita was the one that spoke.


    She was both professional and amodating, never promising anything that would corner her options of retreat.


    And by the time the young pigtail girl finally snapped out of her stupor from seeing Liam''s personality go through a 180 change, she was finally able to see the photo on his phone.


    "Ah! How do you know this big brother?"


    It was clear that this youngdy, Daisy, knew him too.


    Liam hid a smile that threatened to creep upon his face.


    So it was true¡­ Xander must have been frequenting here if even this airhead of a girl could recognize him and even say "this big brother" with a degree of familiarity.


    The two of them definitely recognized him!


    Indeed, the photo Liam had pulled out was of Xander, and it was a photo that had been taken secretly, one that looked like Liam would be the person seated somewhere close to him as they were having a meal together with some other people.


    It was just the magic of some professional angling.


    Of course, Liam wasn''t in the photo, but it looked like he was the one taking it and it seemed to be a photo that was more directed at the food, so they looked familiar with each other.


    Liam''s way of addressing Xander also made it feel like they were quite¡­ close.


    Liam took a deep breath as if collecting his thoughts to exin the matter to the two girls.


    "That ba¡­ Xander," Liam spoke through gritted teeth at first, reluctantly changing the address from b*stard to his actual name.


    "When he heard that I wasing here to the city, he told me that I had toe to the cat caf¨¦ here since he hade too. But I didn''t believe it since he had nevere to such ces before," Liam knew that much from all the investigations.


    He mixed truths with lies to make his act more believable.


    "Then, he goaded me into making a bet on it¡­" Liam''s voice trailed off as to say, ''and as you can see, this was the result!''


    The two people said nothing as Liam continued.


    "Since I lost, I was supposed to collect information on how many times he came here and when, since it had to be something he could check. Something to confirm that I aplished the consequences of the bet properly¡­ but I had toe under disguise and make up a character!" Liam seemed frustrated to no end.


    "The idea was that I woulde here as a cat lover or something of the sort and chat with other people around here to collect some information which would take the whole day, but since he didn''t specify the method of collection of information, of course, I have to take the short cut!" Liam said as if it were only natural that he would opt for looking at the security cameras.


    "Plus, it would be more time-efficient and cost-effective," he added shamelessly in his ten-thousand-dor suit.


    "That b*stard knows that I suck at keeping any act up and I''m terrible at lying so he just wants me to make a joke out of myself!" Liam was "fuming", so much so that he "forgot" to not call him b*stard.


    All the liars and swindlers of the audience were currently apuding him.

 Chapter 196 - Lines That Are Destined To Meet Pt XI: (Mature... Um, Handsome Man??)

    At that time, Rita seemed to havee to some kind of realization¡­


    Xander always went to a private room, which means that if Liam had reallye to collect information from the customers, he was likely to go home with absolutely nothing¡­


    After all, Xander would barely show his face down here other than to greet the people at the counter before going up.


    How savage!


    Liam would have probably wasted a whole day or more here if not for himing up with another, even trashier n, which just somehow worked out for him.


    For a second there Rita even pitied Liam for having such a bas-¡­ person for a friend.


    All in all, it had to be said that things kind of added up.


    Except that Rita hadn''t expected Xander to be such a character!


    At this instance, Liam had already moved on from fuming to pitiful as his whole figure seemed to diminish.


    His whole bodynguage screamed, ''I didn''t want to do this, I still don''t want to do this, I don''t even want to be here! If you help me, I''ll leave right away! I really don''t know what else I can do¡­''


    Daisy, the young and na?ve girl with the pigtails believed Liam''s words straight away, not once questioning it.


    In front of such people, as long as the stories didn''t have any obvious loopholes, there wasn''t much to question.


    Still, she didn''t say anything, looking at her trusted and respected Sister Riri for affirmation, as if she wouldn''t trust anything other than what came out of this Big Sister''s mouth.


    Rita, on the other hand, was a little more cautious.


    She paused for a moment to think about it.


    "I see, well Sir, I''m sure you would have gotten something on this person if you asked around, but I thank you for doing your best not to affect our business establishment. Sir Xander does indeede here quite a lot. Even so, I cannot provide you with the security footage for such a matter for security reasons. I hope you can understand our predicament!" Rita was still as polite as ever, even a little dismissive.


    And even though she had her own thoughts on the matter, she would still voice out the thoughts that would bring her the least trouble.


    This was the way of a true professional.


    As for Liam, who should also be considered a professional in his own field, he knew exactly when to take a step back.


    After all, the idea of negotiations is to put up a front and then ask for a high demand before getting what you want, is it not?


    Liam gave a hesitant and troubled look.


    "I really don''t want to trouble you guys, but I''m a man of my words, and since I''ve already given my word to that piece of¡­" Liam''s voice trailed off, but the two girls both got the idea.


    Liam''s words gained him some respect from Rita and some admiration from Daisy.


    "Then¡­ then what about the records?" Daisy was still clinging to Rita''s side as she asked her in a soft whisper.


    Normal people may not have heard it if they weren''t paying attention, but Liam was both trained with heightened senses and paying attention.


    ''So, there are records, huh.''


    Well, I guess that makes sense.


    Margo''s establishments were rather meticulous in some ways. At least more so in some respectspared to the other shops in the same industry.


    Rita could tell that Daisy wanted to help Liam, but she was a little hesitant.


    ''If it''s just the records, it should be fine, right?''


    Rita was weak against Daisy''s puppy eyes while Daisy was a little weak against mature¡­ scratch that, um, handsome men.


    Well truly, Liam acted by no means mature for the sake of the orders from his Boss Elijah, but if he just stood there without opening his mouth, he would definitely look like a mature handsome man.


    As for his thinning hair¡­ don''t mention it.


    ''Fine,'' Rita relented in her mind with a sigh.


    She also wanted to get rid of this troublemaker before more people came in, or things would get even more annoying and troublesome.


    With a small nod from Rita, Daisy''s smile widened a little.


    She ran off like a little girl¡­ oh wait, um, well, yeah¡­


    Anyways, she ran off and came back in a sh with something in her hands.


    It was a clipboard.


    She skimmed a little through it, and to Liam''s surprise, she pulled out a paper that had all the dates in which Xander had been here.


    He was a little stunned.


    Surely, they didn''t have one of these for all their customers, right?


    The youngdy didn''t go print anything either and these were just papers with time stamps.


    Liam was definitely not that lucky, so he just couldn''t help being surprised.


    Noticing Liam''s surprise, Daisy happily exined.


    "He''s our VIP~! So of course we have records."


    "Oh really? How does the VIP system work here?" Liam asked, acting as if it were just some passing curiosity.


    "Our VIPs have private rooms on the floor above and they can especially ask for specific cats! They will all be in the room with you and no one else cane in and disturb your ytime. Not only that, but the VIP get to ascertain the number of cats in their room, within the limits of what is avable of course," Daisy said, for once sounding like an employee at this establishment.


    Though no prices were mentioned, which was a little strange.


    Then again, it didn''t look like Liam would care about such trivial things in his Arma** suit.


    "Oh, that''s quite nice," Liam said, cursing inwardly.


    This was going to make reconnaissance a lot more troublesome.


    This was a cat caf¨¦ for god''s sake!


    Why are you so professional and amodating?


    Couldn''t you be a little morex so that we can spy on your customers and so that I can get a holiday?


    While Liam cursed inwardly with a grateful smile on his face, he didn''t forget to take a picture of the paper with the timestamps.


    "Thank you! Thank you so much! Beautifuldies are indeed the saviors of the world!" Liam was proficient with rainbow farts.


    Then he gave the two women a thankful bow before talking a little more like a human.


    "I hope you won''t tell Xander, I don''t want him to know I had external help, or he''ll really mock me for life for needing a woman''s assistance," Liam said, somewhat mncholily.


    This gave off the impression of him saying that Xander looked down on woman, making both Rita and Daisy feel a little indignant.


    There were definitely not going to expose Liam or help Xander!


    Hmph.


    After Liam thanked the twodies profusely once more with some more rainbow farts in the mix, he left the shop with a happy smile on his face.


    Only, the twodies weren''t able to see how that face turned serious in a split second the moment he was out the door.


    ''Well, it doesn''t matter too much if I''m discovered as long as I get the information, but it would still be best if I can keep my tracks covered so as to not get exposed too soon.''


    But Liam didn''t dare stay any longer.


    This was because, Xander had practicallye to this shop every single day, at least once in these past weeks.


    And he hadn''te once today.


    Liam didn''t think talking to the twodies so that they wouldn''t expose himter was worth the chance of being exposed immediately.


    The moment Xander came walking in, there would practically be no way out without another good while of bullshitting.


    And Liam was sure that his boss wouldn''t like that, as much as he wouldn''t either.


    That''s why he made his way out asap.


    ''Well, that went well,'' he thought to himself as he opened the door to the car where Elijah was resting.


    ***


    As a ck car that had been momentarily parked around the front area of the cat caf¨¦ next to the front parking spot drove off, a young man in his mid-twenties crossed the street.


    His gaze momentarilynded on the car that went off to the distance for no particr reason, and he didn''t think much of it either as he had been in a daze since leaving his workspace in his apartment.


    Xander didn''t think he had the brainpower to think of anything else, much less why this or why that for something so trivial.


    Xander finally forced himself to take a break after a long day of going through the new papers, and he had been so immersed that he had had to skip his morning trip here.


    After a while, he had also gotten fond of cats, so even when Emilin was not here, he would stille to sit for a few hours.


    Xander was the type that worked well even when changing workspaces as he would be too immersed to notice a big difference, other than needing to adjust the cement of his papers for an easier time reaching that is.


    Luckily or unluckily for him, that car that had just driven off was the one with Elijah and Liam in it, and the two parties just so happened to miss each other by a hair.


    Xander went into the cat caf¨¦ and the small bell near the door that sounded whenever it was opened signaled his arrival.


    Even so, no one else in the shop took notice other than an instinctual nce as they were already ustomed to the sound.


    Just as Xander was about to greet the employees at the counter so that he could go to a room, he realized that something was off.


    Somehow, the two girls were looking at him a little strangely.


    Or was he just imagining it??


    No, they were definitely looking at him weirdly, with some hostility even.


    "Can I-" Xander was about to ask for his usual room when he was suddenly interrupted.


    "Why do you look down on women eh? Do you look down on young girls too?!" Daisy suddenly burst out.


    It seemed like since she couldn''t talk about anything else, or at least not the things that would give Liam away, she had gone for this point of entry in a moment of frustration.


    The frustration that had just been formed after making aparison between Liam and Xander.


    To her, it really looked like Xander had beening here wanting to look at Liam make a fool out of himself when he just so happened to miss him.


    Xander was dumbfounded.


    His dazed brain instantly woke up.


    Xander: WTF???


    Xander: But my master is a girl¡­ and a young one at that! How the hell am I supposed to look down on young girls? Could you not nder me please?


    Sadly, he couldn''t actually say any of that.


    Cold sweat dripped down the back of his neck.


    Thankfully his master wasn''t here, or she may misunderstand and think that I look down on her!

 Chapter 197 - Lines That Are Destined To Meet Pt XII: (Opportunity)

    "Well, it could be worse," Mason consoled weakly.


    Emilin didn''t even have to look at the photo on the screen to know she wouldn''t like what she was going to see.


    The camera was directly connected to aputer so she could see the final result right then and there.


    Seeing that Emilin was not responding, Mason sighed, finally realizing how stubborn this little girl really was.


    "Don''t be like that! There has been a great improvement already, okay?" Mason eximed trying to unwrinkle the little girl''s face.


    "Look, look, look! You can already tell what is being photographed, and this angle isn''tpletely off, not to mention you can even take a photo without the re now!" Mason pointed out Emilin''s many improvements in this short period of time, but that did not assist him in making her feel better in the least.


    Emilin gave her teacher a look that said, "Was that supposed to make me feel better?"


    Eyebrow lift and all.


    I mean, is anyone supposed to feel good hearing that their efforts were not in vain as you have gone from ''verified trash'' to ''a noob could still do better than you''?


    "¡­"


    "Haha¡­" Mason seemed to realize that his words didn''t sound quite right and so he stopped.


    But his words weren''t exactly wrong either.


    Emilin had already learned everything she needed to, for now, all she needed was some more time to internalize it.


    Sadly, it didn''t seem to Mason that she would make it in time for the job that was about to start in a few days extending for the following month or so.


    Mason was sure that there would be more jobs in the future, but it was a shame that Emilin would miss this great opportunity.


    Emilin ignored Mason''s somewhat troubled expression and kept going at it.


    Mason had given her quite a lot of pointers here and there and everywhere, mainly because she needed that many.


    Sigh.


    Emilin looked at the newly uploaded photo.


    They were indeed significantly better than the ones taken in the Hemafuji Mountain Range, but that didn''t mean much.


    She thought to herself, ''I shouldn''t be in such a rush. Calm down, take it slow. Improvement is made in small steps.''


    Emilin was doing her best to calm her nerves.


    She would still meditate at night before sleep, but now that she thought about it, she felt like she might have to consider changing it to the morning so that she could go through the rest of the day with a calmer mindset.


    Or better yet, just meditate at both times.


    The only problem was¡­ the trouble in waking up.


    Emilin wasn''t a deep sleeper, which was why she never seemed to get enough hours.


    She needed more rest in order to make up for the inadequate quality of this rest.


    That and a whole lot of sugar and coffee.


    As Emilin closed her eyes to calm down as Mason had also indirectly suggested, she took in a deep breath.


    She could feel her hand cooling off, little by little, and it was at that time that a phone ringed.


    That being Mason''s.


    Emilin didn''t bother opening her eyes as she was trying to concentrate on cooling her nerves, but that soon changed as she heard her name being spoken.


    The conversation had gone something like this¡­


    (Though of course, Emilin could only hear Mason''s side.)


    "Oh really!" Mason seemed so excited that his voice was even a pitch higher than usual.


    But that changed really quickly due to what the other side said.


    "Tomorrow? So soon?" Mason frowned.


    "Well, I''m not sure if the prep for Emilin on this side has been enough," Mason was in fact sure that it was not enough, but he didn''t want to say it out loud.


    "Well, I guess this opportunity doesn''te by often¡­ we''ll prepare right away."


    The other side had spoken for a bit, and Mason seemed convinced.


    ''I wonder what kind of opportunity they are talking about,'' Emilin thought to herself, havingpletely forgotten about her so-called meditation.


    This seemed a whole lot more interesting.


    Interestingly enough that even her thoughts on her hand dissipated along with the itch that had still been bugging her once in a while.


    They exchanged some more words before the other party dropped the call and when Mason looked up, he was instantly met with Emilin''s curious stary eyes.


    Like a curious babe whose eyes screamed, "tell me! Tell me! Tell me!"


    Mason smiled.


    Emilin only had such a gaze because this conversation of Mason''s also seemed to have something to do with herself, if not she would not be so openly nosy.


    Emphasis on openly.


    As a girl, she was still inclined to gossip and such, wanting to know everything that was happening around her, whether it had to do with herself or not.


    But she still knew her limits.


    Yet, the moment her name was mentioned, it shouldn''t be considered being nosy anymore, right?


    This was just her caring for her own rted matters.


    "That was from Owen who was calling in Margo''s stead. They wanted to inform us that Margo had gotten us an opportunity to go to her farm! This is a high-tech farm we are talking about! We will be able to take the photos of all these animals that are going extinct, and all in the same location as well," Mason was clearly very excited.


    Emilin scoffed inwardly.


    ''You mean you will be able to take a whole lot of photos. What the hell am I able to do?''


    But she was still quite excited.


    This was going to be an experience most of the world wouldn''t be able toe by.


    It was only natural that she would be excited.


    "So, when are we going?" Emilin asked, showing the same enthusiasm as Mason himself.


    At moments like these, Emilin had sadly not even thought of her loyal and hardworking disciple, who was still being wronged due to Liam''s words and actions.


    As he strongly argued with the little girl, Daisy, so that she would not defame him and create misunderstandings between his Master and himself about him looking down on her, his Master was already nning to leave, having forgotten about this important baggage called Xander.


    ***


    "I see, so it is true. Then Margo and Xander must have already made contact. The person that asked TWO to investigate Margo, who may be TWO himself must have also made contact with her seeing as Xander didn''t seem to have ever done investigations on the people he met. Is it another character who is close to M? After all, TWO only seems to associate with those kinds of people."


    And by that, Elijah meant people who were associated with M.


    He had already heard of everything from Liam, who promptly skipped the parts that had to do with the process by which he acquired the information.


    And he was rather happy with the lead.


    "Let''s not interact directly with the targets right now, less their guard goes up. The hackers that we got to tamper with the security system of today will only be a paper sheet if they really decide to investigate and by then, you won''t be able to show your face around here anymore," Elijah sighed.


    Sadly, Margo was meticulous on the part of the security cameras.


    There was no real blind spot other than on the upper floors where people were given some privacy in their own rooms as well as in the bathrooms.


    And on an even sadder note, their hacking defenses were quite literally worth as much as a wet tissue in front of TWO and his backer.


    "Since we can''t make any direct contact with the target, just leave some people here to scout things out. Also, get them that VIP thing so that they can observe and install some gadgets in the rooms for closer inspection. Use the micro-ones. I don''t want teacher bugging me about this matter," Elijah had already decided to abandon this area and leave it for his subordinates.


    He had something more important to attend to.


    Liam noted the things he had to do down so that he could do them when his Boss finished talking.


    "Preform some more observations and don''t get caught. Since the people won''t be able toe here in a day or two anyways, make sure theye discretely," Elijah didn''t want things to go wrong this time, but he didn''t borate since he trusted that Liam would know what to do.


    Only, he didn''t know that the Xander, who hade every day for the past few weeks, would cease toe for the following days.


    Leading to the misunderstanding that Liam had already been exposed when both Rita and Daisy had in fact told Xander nothing, while Xander didn''t dare tell Emilin about this incident for fear of misunderstandings.


    The real reason why Xander wasn''t going to the cat caf¨¦ in the following days, was in fact because though Emilin had forgotten about him¡­ Margo had not forgotten about this person who always seemed to follow Emilin around, had also extended a friendly invitation.


    "Meanwhile¡­ I should go meet that good teacher of mine," Elijah was already half speaking to himself, in a soft and deep voice.

 Chapter 198 - Nora Island Pt I: (Good Teachers Dont Kill Their Students ^.^)

    Even if Elijah just wanted to barge into his teacher''s ce and go ask Margo about the situation, that was simply not usible.


    With his teacher''s attitude towards himselfpared to his care for his daughter, it was much more likely that he would be silently shot down by his teacher''s people, fast enough so that Maverick''s precious wife and daughter wouldn''t even notice the event.


    In fact, Elijah found it more likely that he would be cursed in his own grave by his teacher for making too much noise when being shot and killed.


    Sigh.


    The difference in treatment was like the heavens and earth.


    Other people got masters who taught them step by step, reaching the pinnacles of their lives with the assistance of their teachers, and what did he get?


    An old geezer who could only care a little less about helping him.


    It wasn''t that he couldn''t care less, but there was only a small margin left before it really reached that point, a margin so small that one wouldn''t be able to fit their pinky in it.


    But then again, with Maverick''s stature and position, he didn''t care about most people in the world, so I guess that was already half-decent.


    Sigh.


    "I guess I''ll just have to do this the hard way¡­" Elijah shook his head just thinking of the possibility of being hit by a hailstorm of silenced gunshots, or perhaps syringes that would make his death faster and less noisy.


    Maverick''s farm was not a ce one could ess freely.


    In fact, it wasn''t even a ce one could find without Maverick''s permission.


    Of course, since Elijah had already been there a number of times, he knew how to get there.


    Not that Maverick would let him use any of the safe routes.


    In the end, he only had onest option left.


    And that was to make so much noise that one couldn''t ignore him, a big entrance that would attract everyone''s attention so that he wouldn''t be shot down on the spot.


    "Sorry teacher, but you brought this upon yourself," Elijah spoke to himself without much of a fluctuation in his voice.


    He sure didn''t sound sorry.


    He had no qualms about being shameless in front of the person who was supposed to clean after his messes but never took any ountability for taking him in as a student.


    And thus, after making some short preparations, Elijah departed immediately with Liam, who was determined to have a good rest on this trip.


    He didn''t even bother with trying to convince Elijah to do any paperwork.


    Screw that.


    That was just a waste of time and resources.


    And thus, they departed before even Emilin, Xander, Lisa, and Levi.


    ***


    One side, a group of invited guests, and on the others, a not so weed guest¡­


    Maverick heard the reports from one of the "stable staff" and waved him off.


    But he was not too bothered about the report.


    Instead, Maverick was more concerned about the fact that the person reporting to himself smelled a whole lot like what you would expect from someone who worked in the stables.


    "It will be the kitchen staff''s turn soon, right?" Maverick felt like he couldn''t take it any longer.


    Though there were devices that could thoroughly clean a person from top to bottom installed around here, once you stayed long enough somewhere, the odor would often seep into your skin and bones.


    No matter how much you washed it and disguised the smell, it would still permeate to some extent.


    What''s more if you don''t try to disguise the smell at all, which was the case for this subordinate of his.


    Mr. Subordinate didn''t know that his position in his Boss''s heart had dropped due to his odor, but if he knew¡­ TAT


    Maverick shook his head.


    There wasn''t much he could do.


    Anyways, he was going to have a chat with his peopleter.


    Those guys that liked to do rotations every other week made his head spin.


    Though they did get things done, so I guess that''s all that matters¡­


    Maverick was thinking about these everythings and nothings for quite a while, but his thoughts were interrupted when a loud sound could be heard from the outside.


    Maverick looked at the radars on his screen just to see a red dot encroaching on his territory not so discretely.


    "Hm, already? Well, I expected it and it was written in the reports, but it seems like there is still some dy in the speed at which the news gets to my ears," Maverick said in aining tone,pletely ignoring the fact that the dy in intelligence getting to him was in fact because he wouldn''t let most people contact him at random, not even his subordinates.


    Maverick dragged up another page to his screen to see the security footage out of curiosity.


    "Hm, as expected of my predictable little student," Maverick rubbed his chin, which had some stubble, making him look like a mature handsome man.


    Of course, some of that aura was still attributed to his actual age.


    His cute student wasing in on a Twin Otter (a small-scale ne, just imagine the ones you would go on for sky diving) that was particrly loud.


    And of course, he could only rely on the air route since all other routes were closely guarded by his people.


    Then again, the air route was as well.


    Maverick smiled and stood up to close his window which was made of a special material.


    He didn''t have soundproof walls and windows for nothing.


    Ah, the peaceful silence.


    Maverick picked up his phone and hit a quick dial.


    "Travis, would you be a dear and tell the men to shoot the intruders down? These people, ah, they are getting more and more daring, not only encroaching on private property but also flying on prohibited air routes! Too audacious are they not? Oh, and do make sure that thedies of the house are where they are supposed to be."


    This person, Travis, who seemed to be used to Maverick''s ordeals got to work right away.


    Maverick dropped the call as he knew that Travis would know what to do.


    His smile widened.


    "Oh, dear, I didn''t install an indoor spa and jacuzzi in the basement with soundproof walls for nothing," Maverick had made sure that both Margo and his wife were enjoying their time while he dealt with the pests outside, and his efforts were not for naught.


    After all, he had just caught a cute little pest that had broken a fewws just now.


    And of course, he would know this well because all the air routes and licenses that flew by this area, to and fro were all bought out by him.


    But just as he was expecting to see a particr ne crashing down, something unexpected urred first¡­


    Something that made even his mouth twitch in absolute disbelief, not to mention the people out there who had been ready to fire at a signal.


    There seemed to be a banner on the ne, and just now, they had unrolled and unraveled that banner.


    A white banner with stark ck words, sorge that one would be able to see it clearly from meters away.


    Just so you can get an idea, the ne was tilting to this side because the banner was hung on one side, that being the one next to the open door.


    The words written being, {A good teacher doesn''t kill their student! :) ¨C Love, your one and only. Student that is.}


    Ahhh, when did his student get so shameless!


    So tantly denouncing him.


    Ahh, and what do you mean my one and only student? I don''t want to acknowledge you anymore! What can you do about it?


    [Elijah: I''ve just been learning well from you, my teacher. Won''t you praise me?]


    [Maverick: Even asking for praises. Shameless! Too shameless!]


    In reality, though, Elijah would have likely scoffed at his teacher as to when it came to shamelessness, he truly felt like he couldn''tpare.


    But well, things had already reached this point, and Maverick didn''t feel like considering himself a good teacher at this moment.


    [If only Elijah knew where he had gone wrong, he surely wouldn''t have stuffed the word good in the banner.]


    While Maverick was still a little baffled at the banner, the people on the ne started dropping one by one.


    It was Elijah, who had determined that the ne had already flown close enough and that if they stayed any longer, they might just have to jump down into the water.


    He jumped off the ne with no hesitation, and from the inside of the ne, he took and unfolded a contraption.


    A glider.


    He was jumping down with a hang glider... and Liam followed suit.


    As for the person who was manning the ne, he was already warned, and thus, the moment the two people jumped off, he took off even faster.


    Leaving this foreboding ce.


    This pilot had not been warned by Elijah, he had, in fact, been taught things the hard way as he had lost one of his nes (not actually his, but Elijah''s), andnded in the ocean after one such instance ofing to this ind.


    Yeah, that was not ever going to be happening again, and thus, the ne that had brought Elijah and Liam to this ce left for the horizon faster than a unicorn.


    And yes, Maverick''s farm was on an ind, an obscenelyrge one at that.


    Nora Ind to be exact.

 Chapter 199 - Nora Island Pt II: (Jackie)

    "Ah, this kid hase to cause trouble again," Maverick sighed as he saw Elijah and Liamnd on the helipad with their hang gliders.


    "I have to add pollution to the list of the things they''ve done sinceing here," he shook his head in disappointment.


    Elijah had simply let go of the glider when he was close enough tond, and of course, the glider just went off.


    At least Liam didn''t do so as his glider still had some proper protection methods that tied the glider to the man, unlike Elijah''s.


    "Well¡­" Maverick looked at the screen that showed how Elijah was patting the dust off his clothes after havingnded safely on his territory.


    "Should I go meet that kid before he causes troubles for me?" Maverick thought about it for a bit.


    The spa had been newly constructed under his order and so Elijah didn''t know about it, nor should he know about it.


    That was a plus on his side as it meant that he wouldn''t be able to go disturb Margo and his wife.


    "Master should probably go meet the guest," an androgynous voice said out of nowhere.


    There was no one else in the room either.


    "Mm, I guess I could do that much, but such people shouldn''t be considered guests at all. Never mind," Maverick shook his head.


    "By the way, where were you earlier?" Maverick asked the voice.


    "Master, I''m sure you know that that group of barbarians shooed me away with the threat of unplugging all of the electricity in the ind and destroying all the backup," the androgynous voice said aggrievedly.


    "Hmm? How is that a threat? You clearly know that they wouldn''t dare damage my property, and there is still the backup of the backup. Oh, and don''t call them barbarians, they are my subordinates. If they are barbarians, then what am I?" Maverickpletely ignored his assistant''s aggrieved little voice.


    "How about you call the intruder over here, I''ll wait for them here while you are at it," Maverick felt like a lightbulb lit in his head.


    This was definitely the right way to do it.


    This way, he could still do something else while Elijah wasing over, and Elijah would also have no other choice other than to follow the voice, meaning that he wouldn''t wander around and somehow find the spa that was a few floors underground.


    "Okay, Master," the dejected voice left just like that.


    "Hmm, this is good, I can spend this time doing some important stuff," Maverick nodded at himself.


    Still paying no mind to the dejection in that voice that had just parted to do his errands.


    ***


    Elijah had patted off the dust, sand, and leaves off of his clothes and then looked around at the familiar scene.


    He found it both crazy and suitable to call this ce a farm.


    It was definitely not crazy suitable though.


    This was because most of it was indeed a farm, but then again, which farm was better to live at than a cruise ship or a 5-star hotel?


    You might as well just call it a high-end exotic resort really.


    At that time, a drone came flying over to Elijah.


    "An intruder has been detected, ready to fire in 5, 4, 3, 2¡­" the familiar androgynous voice counted down the time until Elijah was to be riddled with holes.


    "Jackie, don''t be like that."


    Elijah''s eyes squinted a little as he patted the bottom of the drone as if to say, ''be good.''


    "Hehe, Master told me toe to bring you over with the identity of intruders. You know how it is," Jackie, the high-tech AI with its own conscience, said in a good mood.


    He spoke as if this had happened a hundred times already and thus Elijah would know the drill. As if all this were amon urrence.


    Though Jackie often felt wronged when all his Master''s subordinates wanted to fight for his Master''s attention and would often shoo him away, he always felt better when looking at the pitiful Elijah, who seemed even worse off than himself as the Master''s student.


    Jackie was ecstatic!


    Ah, the joy that came fromparison with someone worse off than yourself was unfathomable.


    As for the barbarians, ah, no, um, the underlings of his Master, they could go screw off in the stables and clean up some sh*t.


    "Then lead me to my teacher," Elijah nodded, not at all surprised at how this went along.


    Not only that, but he also knew Jackie''s true personality and could more or less guess his gloating thoughts at this moment.


    Sigh.


    He had already reached a point where even an AI wouldugh and mock his rtionship with his teacher.


    A sad, sad milestone indeed.


    "Then let us go! Master said he''s very busy and is doing important matters, so you better not disturb himter!" Jackie warned in a serious tone, but his androgynous voice did not change.


    And while Elijah highly doubted the truth of Jackie''s words, he still didn''t point it out as he was sure Jackie would sell him out in less than a heartbeat if he said anything untoward about his teacher.


    In his heart though, he still questioned, what kind of important matter could his teacher possibly be doing?


    His teacher only ever seemed to either be spending time with his family, mostly his wife, or taking care of the farm, and the remaining tiny portion of his time seemed to be used to mess with him.


    Well, he would find out soon enough.


    Anyways, the drone led him to the door that would lead downstairs and stopped there.


    Following that, a robot around 1.5 meters in height that had been waiting at the door took him the rest of the way there.


    Jackie was in control and or had ess to tell control over most of the machinery on this ind, ranging from airships to vacuum cleaners.


    And there were really quite a lot of means of transport around here, all of which were deemed necessary to transport near-extinct animals from different locations in their best conditions.


    He was an AI, so he could be at multiple locations at the same time to divide and conquer, and Jackie was especially hard working and serious when it came to his work because of that one time Maverick suggested making another AI to apanied Jackie so that they could split the work.


    That was one more vermin who would be vying for his Master and Madam''s attention!


    No way!


    He could handle it all!


    This was also why he was assigned toe to pick up Elijah this time.


    Jackie, who was currently controlling the robot in front of Elijah, took him down a few flights of stairs, followed by an elevator ride down to the base floor of where the helipad had been.


    They walked to another building before finally reaching the ce where Maverick was, which was right next to the farm''s warehouse.


    Elijah had already known this ce, but he still followed Jackie.


    As for Liam, he was taken elsewhere by another robot controlled by Jackie at the same time.


    Liam also knew his own ce, so he followed Jackie obediently, after all, this was the AI that controlled half of the machinery that could potentially kill or save his life on this ind.


    Anyways, Elijah had finally gotten to the door that led to his teacher, Maverick.


    This ce was really just a side room next to the warehouse, which was actually quite close to their main house.


    It was also the ce where Maverick ced all his monitoring radars, the surveince, and his important work stuff, all put together to add up to his workstation.


    Jackie knocked on the door with his robot hand.


    "Master, I''ve brought the intruder over!" He spoke.


    Elijah''s eye twitched at how he was being called an intruder.


    It wasn''t wrong, but it certainly wasn''t right either!


    "Mm," Maverick acknowledged.


    Jackie opened the door and Elijah walked in.


    He looked at his teacher and what business he was attending to, and suddenly, he didn''t know what to say.


    And thus, he said nothing.


    "Jackie has brought you here! I was quite busy,e, sit here," Maverick didn''t move his gaze away from therge screen in front of him as he patted a chair nearby, signaling Elijah to sit.


    So, this was the important matter?


    Elijah''s eye twitched a little as he watched his teacher y minesweeper in all seriousness as if he was about to go into the battlefield.


    How could one im that he was doing important stuff without flinching or even affecting his conscience while ying minesweeper?


    How could Elijah possiblypare with this kind of shamelessness?


    Truth was, Elijah knew that he couldn''t.


    He just wasn''t that type of person¡­ all disagreements are null.


    On the other hand, his teacher, well, all Elijah could say was that his understanding of the words entric and shameless was refreshed every time he met his teacher.


    Sigh.


    He sat down as he was told to.


    Who told him to still not have enough power to beat this person up?


    That was his own fault.


    But one day, it would surely be different!


    Maverick, who was speedily clicking his mouse suddenly felt a chill crawl up his spine.


    As he cleared the minefield that he had specially programmed to be a 200 by 200, he turned around to look at the source of his chill with a knowing smile.


    "You''re thinking of beating me up again, aren''t you?"


    It was more of a statement rather than a question.

 Chapter 200 - Nora Island Pt III: (Father-Daughter Pair)

    "How could I? I''m a good student! With a good teacher, such a good student would never even think of ever attacking a good teacher," Elijah said in all seriousness.


    Maverick didn''t show any changes, but in his heart, his eye twitched. On the surface, he was at least able to control his facial expressions when he wanted to.


    ''You''ve already said that you''re a good student, so do you mean by that, that if you are to want to beat me up, it''s my fault?''


    This student of his was starting to learn his ways.


    This was not good.


    It spelled trouble for Maverick.


    After all, it was getting harder and harder to shake this kid off.


    Still, even if he knew the true meaning behind Elijah''s words, he would be shameless enough to pretend he didn''t.


    "That''s good, that''s good. As long as you don''t act treasonously against your teacher. Tell me, why have youe?" Maverick moved on to the important matters before he was really punched, after all, he was already old, and not as fit as the young who trained their bodies continuously.


    "Teacher, how could you not know why I am here? You have long known of my mission to find and¡­ recruit M, well, at this rate, I doubt recruiting is in the picture, but at least I must make an inseverable connection in order to ensure my safety. A doctor of M''s caliber is rare after all, and everyone cares about their own health the most. That was grandmother''s condition," Elijah red a little at Maverick.


    "Now that I have finally gotten a lead after years of searching, you won''t go as far as taking what little I have, right?" Elijah twisted and spun his words like a pro, but the pitiful act definitely didn''t work well with his teacher.


    Well, it wasn''t exactly that the act didn''t work well, but rather that the person doing it was simply not the right one.


    If Margo or Maverick''s wife, Leanora, so much as asked, he probably would do whatever it was in a heartbeat.


    On the other hand, Maverick enjoyed making troubles for Elijah, the difference in treatment was as clear as day.


    "Hm? I don''t quite understand," Maverick tilted his head in feigned ignorance.


    And to Elijah, Maverick acting oblivious was also the most unbelievable yet most frustrating act in the books.


    Like hell he was supposed to believe Maverick didn''t know.


    But even if Elijah knew, so what?


    What could he do?


    There was also theponent that Elijah was on Maverick''s territory.


    If he didn''t y by his teacher''s rules, he could very well be thrown out into the ocean, where some of the deadly aquatic species that they were raising would eat him alive.


    Either that or he would have to swim to the closest maind, a few hundred kilometers away.


    Elijah had no doubt that his teacher would have no qualms about having Jackie send an attack ne to follow him and to shoot down any form of transport that was toe to pick him up, just to make his life a little harder.


    Jackie would probably go the extra mile to record it all for entertainment as well.


    "Teacher, it isn''t that I want to trouble Margo, in fact, if it were possible, I wouldn''t bother her at all! But I''m really desperate this time," Elijah said in a serious tone.


    That was a lie.


    Elijah was never desperate.


    But he knew that his life would be a whole lot easier if Margo were to be interested in the matter and were to help him.


    He would be able to get the help of both Maverick and Margo and even get back at Maverick, all in one fell swoop.


    Ah, but it was okay to act desperate for benefits.


    In the face of a shameless person who was in a position higher than your own, there were only two options.


    Either to submit and concede, or to act even more shameless.


    For the sake ofpleting his mission, he would choose thetter.


    But could he even do that?


    It was hard, very hard.


    "Really? It''s a shame though, Margo isn''t here right now!" Maverick imed.


    That was a lie too.


    Well, it wasn''t exactly a lie, but rather a misleading im.


    Of course, Margo wasn''t right here, at this office, she was at the spa underground!


    But it was a misleading statement that made it sound like she wasn''t on this ind at all, and that was Maverick''s intention.


    Elijah could have his doubts, but could he act on them?


    If Maverick said she wasn''t here, what could Elijah do about it?


    This was called the home ground advantage!


    "Is that so, what a shame," Elijah also knew that he was at a disadvantage.


    Just as he was about to suggest taking a tour of this ce because "he hadn''t been here in a long time", as a guise to try and find an opportunity, something stopped him.


    *Knock* *Knock*


    "Dad, I''ming in!"


    The room inside fell into silence as three heads turned to the opening door.


    Maverick, Elijah, and Jackie were all stunned silent.


    Well, things really fell through, and Maverick threw a re at Jackie which clearly said, ''What the hell? Weren''t you supposed to be keeping watch? And where is everyone else? Why is my baby here?''


    Well, it wasn''t all that clear, but Jackie, who was proficient in reading his Master''s facial expressions and emotional fluctuations got the gist of it, which was that Maverick needed an exnation for this matter!


    Jackie looked down at his mechanical hands like a child who was caught not doing his homework.


    He had been too immersed in watching Elijah and his Master battling it out with words, enjoying Elijah being troubled.


    That was why Jackie had put most other things on autopilot, including the mini mechanical surveince outside the spa, of course, there was none inside since that would be inappropriate.


    Either way, Jackie had missed when Margo left the spa, and only now did he reconnect to his main system to see what had happened.


    Margo had left ande here, and none of his Master''s subordinates could stop her.


    ''Such wimps!'' Jackie thought to himself, not saying it out loud as he had calcted that this would not be the right time to express his emotional range.


    Was it that idiom about, no one will think you are mute even if you do not speak? Well, the idea was that it wasn''t his turn to talk unless he wanted a thrashing.


    Elijah gave an eyebrow raised nce at his teacher as Margo came in and Maverick pouted.


    "My baby, why are you here?" Maverick decisively ignored Elijah and gave his full attention to his daughter.


    So what if his ns were foiled? His daughter was more important!


    And no matter how old she was, Margo would still be his little baby girl.


    "Dad, oh, howe Elijah is here?" Margo exchanged nods with Elijah before looking back at his dad.


    "Well, remember when you pushed me to the spa with mom earlier? I said that I felt like I was forgetting something, well while I was rxed during the massage, I finally recalled so I came rushing over, but the others weren''t letting me out, so I made my way there to see if anything was happening," Margo looked genuinely concerned.


    Maverick gave his daughter a helpless nce.


    He patted her and told her to sit.


    "No, everything is fine on my end. I''m not sure why they wouldn''t be letting you leave the spa. They were probably just worried that you were tiring yourself out too much these days and so they wanted you to rest some more," Maverick felt like he should give his subordinates a good scolding, yet at the same time, if they used any means other than words to hold his daughter back, he felt like he would have to punish them even more.


    In the end, there wasn''t much he could do, not much at all.


    Sigh.


    Elijah looked interestingly.


    How were this father-daughter pair so different yet simr at the same time and in the same way?


    Elijah knew both of them well, all too well.


    One more personally than the other, but he had seen many sides of both Maverick and Margo that most others wouldn''t be able to see in their lifetimes.


    They were both like lions in their industries, iparable to the normal folk.


    Margo with her numerous chain stores was a household name across continents by the people who were well entangled with the rted businesses, yet she often simply worked at some of her simpler shops like a normal employee/ manager/ boss of a small business type of character.


    And there was no need to mention Maverick, who was spending all his time here on this farm ind when masses of people could be waiting for hismand, doing his bidding as long as he wished for it.


    And then there was the fact that though both of their IQs and EQs were sky high, the moment they were only interacting with family, none were spared as both their IQs and EQs plummeted willingly to normal or even below-average levels.


    Elijah didn''t look down on either of them.


    In some aspects, he could understand the concepts of their way of living despite their entric nature, but he felt like he couldn''t do the same.


    It was as simple as that.


    But that was also what made the matter so interesting to an outsider such as himself.


    Understanding and doing were worlds apart, just like how you could memorize a theory and not understand it, just as you could understand a theory but still be unable to apply it.


    Elijah didn''t work that hard because he had his own way of doing things.


    It was his motto that if things could be aplished by others, then he would leave it to others to do, but Maverick and Margo were different.


    Maverick was more entric and didn''t have many ambitions, but Margo, well, Elijah didn''t know her well enough to judge as Maverick, more often than not, safeguarded her from the "bad influence" that he was.


    Apparently, the more Elijah became like his teacher, the worse of an influence he was on Margo.


    There was no need to go in-depth about that.


    It was just a little silly.


    Either way, it was also likely that they had simply grown up in too different of environments for them to live like the other party.


    There were simply too many factors that came into y, so Elijah didn''t bother delving too deep into it.

 Chapter 201 - Visitors Pt I: (Differential Treatment T-T)

    "What is it that you recalled, hm?" Maverick stopped mulling over spilled milk.


    "Oh right!" Margo felt like she was about to forget about this matter again if not for her father''s timely reminder.


    "The 2 business partners along with their assistants and Owen will being soon, but we don''t really have a specific tour route around here. I wanted to ask for your opinion on how to go about this," Margo asked her father.


    It was clear that she didn''t bother making any ns of her own, havingplete trust in Maverick''s judgment.


    In the end, this was still her father''s farm, he knew this ce the best.


    Even her brother, who had been working hard for years so that he could properly inherit this ce wouldn''t say that he knew this ce half as well as his own father.


    This was the difference between one who built their own kingdom and the ones who inherit it.


    As for Lennie, Margo''s elder brother who was to inherit this farm, he was currently on a trip to and from a savanna in one of the countries in the M continent to transport a particr breed of ostrich, so Margo didn''t bother him.


    Maverick thought about it for a bit.


    There were some areas where it was advised for one to stay away from if one had a weak heart, but as for real safety hazards, they could be dealt with before the people Margo invited came over.


    "You can just tell Jackie to raise all the safety measures and ask Travis to deal with the manual safeguards. Other than that, the views here are quite nice, especially when you find them yourself, if your partners would like, they can just wander around on their own," Maverick casually said as if he were not letting strangers walk freely, unsupervised in his own home.


    Well, it wasn''tpletely unsupervised as there were sensors everywhere on this ind, controlled by Jackie, but if it were someone else, it would most likely be too close forfort.


    Then again, Maverick wasn''t wrong, this ce was like a treasure trove.


    The idea was simr to how one would find that the novels one found on their own "by chance", were better or nicer to read aspared to those rmended by someone you know personally.


    Of course, there was still the aspect of whether the novel was good enough in itself.


    As for this farm, there was no need to doubt its particrity.


    You really didn''t know what you would find in the next corner unless you were very familiar with all areas, and that wasn''t to say that things wouldn''t change the next time you came around.


    There were only a few ces that remained in the same spot, such as the house at the center, other than that, where you would one day find the zebras, you might find the crocodiles instead.


    Giving people a good heart attack.


    Thankfully not many people came around in the first ce.


    But this was why Jackie was even more important, as he was one of the only ones that could always navigate themon areas, which would be especially essential to those who didn''t know the area, or even what to expect.


    "Mm, okay. They should get here around brunch, so we can eat something, and then they can look around," Margo nodded.


    She also felt like that would be the only way these people would be able to get the full experience ofing here, and thus she agreed with her father with no dy.


    She wanted Mason, Emilin, and the others to feel the true wonders of this ce so that they would feel more attached to the project.


    She had done business for a few years, and thus, she knew of the importance of cultivating emotions aside from the promised benefits so that they could have longer, healthier cooperations with skilled individuals.


    That would be the ideal win-win situation.


    As for Elijah, who had been sitting to the side and listening in, he was surprised to hear that other people wereing over.


    This ind, which hardly received visitors year-round, was receiving two batches of visitors one after another.


    Himself being the first.


    Of course, if Maverick heard Elijah''s thoughts, he would surely raise both hands, being the first to disagree.


    First of all, Elijah surely didn''t act like a visitor at all, marching in as if he owned the ce, and the main point was that he really wasn''t a visitor but rather an intruder!


    "Who are these people who areing over?" Elijah asked, purely out of curiosity.


    He cared just enough to ask about it.


    But just as Margo was about to open her mouth to respond, Maverick beat her to it.


    "What does it have to do with you! Go, go, don''t bother us anymore!" Maverick said in a suppressed shout.


    It gave off the vibes of wanting Elijah to get out of here as soon as possible and as quickly as humanly possible.


    But of course, Elijah who had already decided to take the shameless route this time to achieve his goals wouldn''t budge.


    Just as an eerie silence was about to descend, Margo spoke.


    "Then I won''t disturb you two anymore, I''ll head back to pick up mom first," Margo looked at the sparks that had flown between Elijah and her father and only had thoughts of leaving.


    It was also a fact that she had been the one to intrude on the two, so she found nothing wrong with leaving at this moment.


    Maverick of course disagreed intensely with such a thought, but he couldn''t say anything as he watched his daughter leave.


    Margo had softly shut the door behind her before the other two could even react.


    ¡­


    There was a cold silence.


    ''Darling, I didn''t mean you! I clearly meant for this kid to get out of here, why did you go instead?''


    Speaking of which, Maverick turned around a gave Elijah a cold re.


    It was all his fault!


    Elijah had a wry smile on his face as he wanted to fight this injustice and point out the differential treatment the other person was receiving.


    But he could say nothing as he had a strong gut feeling that told him he wouldn''t enjoy listening to the answer to that question.


    Poor him.


    T-T


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