'I'm enjoying myself way too much for someone who was supposedly waiting for death to claim me.' The thought randomly came to mind.
Draping my blazers over my school uniform, I loosened my tie with an unfocused gaze.
The incident with Lyn was resolved fortunately. I wasn't certain if she had a lie detection skill or not, so when she asked how I knew her name, I told her it was an innate skill of mine.
Well technically it wasn't but at the same time it wasn't exactly a lie.
The system could be considered an innate skill of every player, and it also had an appraisal function so basically I didn't lie.
It was let's say… deception.
After all the best lies were the one often close to the truth.
After that Lyn seemed to revert back to her usual self…. Wait no that was wrong, she became a bit clingy which was creepy for me.
I just couldn't bring myself to be friends with someone I was going to kill eventually.
Still… something about her gaze just drew me towards her.
Now I know you might be thinking I'm into her but while I admit she was the most beautiful person I had ever seen, there was this detachment within her eyes that reminded me of myself.
Back when I was so sick and tired of living, when I viewed the world from a monochromatic perspective.
"How ironic, the very thing which could eventually lead to the downfall of the world was what got my spirits up." I mused with a scoff.
"That's because you're a sadist." Ash chimed like the little joy killer he was.
I sighed in exasperation, then shook my head.
"I'm not… wait, who even taught you those words, you damned gremlin looking child."
Ash froze.
"Me? Child? I'm a god."
"Former."
"Hold your tongue boy."
I raised a brow
"Ohoho… getting cocky now are we?"
Ash met my gaze with the same aloof expression he'd always worn.
"Mortal, warn yourself, you will show me respe—"
"No more cartoons for you, and you're surviving on nothing but cereal this week."
His hands trembled.
For the first time I got the satisfaction of seeing a different expression on his otherwise stoic face.
From the way his eyes shook to the slight jerking of his shoulders, I knew he was horrified.
He averted his gaze, then asked.
"The fox girl."
I titled my head slightly to get a better look at his face.
"The fox girl, you mean Lyn?"
He nodded.
"Yes."
He lingered for a second as though contemplating what to say.
After a brief tense seconds of silence, he spoke.
"You should learn a bit from her. I happened to glimpse at a bit of your interaction with her and she seems eager to teach you, at least from the way I see it, she considers you as a friend."
Cap!
I call bullshit.
The midget was watching every single second of the fight against the dire king and I knew it.
The hell did he mean he caught a glimpse, it's like cornering a gambling addict at the entrance of a casino and he tells you something like 'Oh I was just passing by.'
How does that sound?
Exactly! It's bullshit.
That aside…
'It would be very troublesome if Lyn sees me as a friend, in the end she's just a game character, a floor boss I have to confront in order to advance to the next stage of the tower.'
I let out a deep sigh.
"That… would be troublesome."
****
The car arrived at the academy at nine AM.
Ash had already returned to the soul ring, probably observing my every interaction like the creep he was.
Also… despite how ridiculous it sounded, we still had to attend school.
Something about the president saying we can't let the 'apocalyptic anomaly from some god's forsaken world stop our children from having a future.'
His words, not mine.
But it was ridiculous regardless.
I mean, take a look at the road outside. Everywhere you look it was a grotesque sight of buildings which were mutilated by the monsters.
Yet we had to attend school.
"Fuck!" I groaned in frustration.
The next scenario, which was on the first floor of the tower, was supposed to take place today! But for some reason that gremlin looking tiger appeared out of thin air before announcing a slight adjustment with the time.
It didn't look particularly elated, gone was the carefree child-like attitude and smile it usually donned.
It even shot us players a glare with hostility before vanishing.
But not before muttering something like how abnormal some players were.
'Well I doubt I was excluded from that list.'
As I walked towards the gate, a pair of blue eyes gazed in my direction.
For a second, the both of us stilled, until…
"Hyung!"
"Ah fuck… Ryu, don't touch… no, get the fuck off me."
My little brother latched onto me like a koala hugging an eucalyptus tree.
Around us, some other students were staring at us, giving us a strange gaze.
The type of judging looks that showed they were clearly questioning the situation wondering why we couldn't do this at home when we were siblings.
'I guess he just heard.'
"How could you just move out without telling me?"
I averted my gaze with a nervous smile.
"Well I didn't meet you."
"You could've called."
A quiet vibration stirred in my throat.
"I could have."
"But you didn't."
"I'm sorr—"
'Child…' Ash's voice echoed within my mind through a telepathic link which was only possible through the effect of the soul ring.
'Who the fuck are you calling a child you godsforsaken fuck—'
'Now is not the time for your pointless curses boy… I sense something.'
"Hyung?" Ryu called, with worry evident in his tone
I tilted my head towards the other end of the street where I could feel a slight intent leaking.
"Hey Ryu, go inside… I'll follow shortly."
I started walking past the school and further into a dark alley, where the fool I was baiting was tagging along like a lost puppy trailing the scent of its owner.
"Ash… this person is a player, right?"
'Not just any player' Ash replied. 'He's the one who made a contract with Zeus.'