Chapter 3: Late Introduction

A while ago, the boy walked towards the old wall with careful steps, trying to hide his injured leg.

He stopped in front of the wall, then looked back at them, and his mind was processing what he saw before turning his focus to the wall.

These kids are strange.

He put his hand on the wall, testing if it would collapse. He was like a cat sniffing the food before eating it. The wall was old and cracked. It had bushes and trees on both sides, making the view look like a symmetrical painting. It wasn’t hard to climb for him, as it reached only to his head.

Taking a deep breath, he jumped, gripping the top edge with both hands, then swung himself over to stand on it.

Well, it’s not like I’m normal.

From his position, he could see little, as the village didn’t have street lamps and instead relied on the faint moonlight that reflected off the trees lining both sides of the road. The road ahead was an empty, narrow path. It looked as if the wall had been built right in the middle of it, separating this area from the rest of the village.

The boy narrowed his eyes, struggling to spot the ball, so he decided to climb down.

He carefully looked up and down, searching around each tree on both sides of the road, wondering if the ball was stuck somewhere high, like the old ball had been, until he spotted it.

With a smirk, he murmured, “Found it!”.

It was half-buried under one of the trees.

Something was digging a hole here, but—-left it unfinished.

He gave it a faint kick, but it didn’t budge, so he crouched, and with both hands, he managed to tug it out and fell onto his back with a sigh.

Finally

The ball bounced off before coming to a sudden halt.

Turning around, his eyes widened as he saw huge paws on the ground, his eyes moved up to see a black, ferocious dog with a muzzle over its mouth, resting one paw on the ball.

The dog looked frustrated, seemingly angry that it couldn’t bark due to the muzzle. It stared at the boy as if accusing him of trying to steal its buried treasure.

Swallowing nervously, the boy tried to back away while still on the ground, then rose slowly, with his hands raised.

Moving away slightly, he said with a cracked voice.

"Easy, boy. Calm down—I didn’t take anything. See?"

The dog didn’t seem convinced, breathing heavily with a menacing sound.

Suddenly, the boy leaned back, then turned around and sprinted off despite the pain in his leg, not daring to look back.

The dog quickly gained on him, not giving him a chance to escape.

He started weaving through the trees in a zigzag pattern, hoping to throw it off, but the dog figured out his tactic and continued running in a straight line.

He was breathing heavily, feeling his legs might give out at any second.

This is a result of showing off.

Tilting his head to keep track of the dog.

I need to slow him down a bit.

Desperate, he looked around for anything to distract it, but could only think of the ball.

Turning sharply, he ran toward it, grabbing it with trembling hands, and then launched it as hard as he could toward the dog's face before sprinting again.

Just as he was nearly out of energy, he spotted the wall.

It was finally in sight, but it happened what he was afraid of; his strength gave out, and he tripped, collapsing onto the ground.

He looked back, terrified, as he realized he couldn't run any farther.

The dog, unaffected by the hit and angrier now, crept toward him to claim its victory.

At that moment, a large rock hit the dog's leg. Looking over at the wall, the boy saw three figures—two short and one taller.

The three boys were shouting and throwing rocks at the dog.

"Hey! Over here!"

Relieved that he was not alone, the boy crawled to the right side until he learned his hand against a nearby tree for support, still watching the dog from a distance.

He shifted his eyes to the boys over the wall, but realized that they had suddenly stopped throwing rocks and were frozen in place.

Rock looked nervous, taking a step back, while Ryan remained silent, seemingly lost in thought, and Dell’s hand was still raised in the air without moving.

The boy followed their gaze, his eyes widened as he noticed another dog approaching, seemingly drawn by its companion's distress.

Stunned, he was barely able to stand and decided his best chance was to climb the tree rather than try to outrun them. He began his ascent without looking down.

Ryan pointed at a nearby tree on their side of the wall and said.

“Rock, get the rope quickly and wrap it there!”

Rock replied, “Right!” Then took the rope and wrapped a loop around the tree to secure one end, and gave the other end to Ryan.

In the meantime, the boy reached the top of the tree and positioned himself on a large branch.

He leaned his back against the trunk and looked down to see both dogs circling below, their eyes fixed on him.

Over the wall, Ryan sensed the danger, seeing the dogs hitting the tree, he called out to the new boy.

"Hey! Are you alright?"

The boy looked at the scratches all over his hands, his injured leg, and his drained energy. He didn’t know where to start explaining, so he smirked weakly and said.

"Well, my hands still work."

"Good."

Ryan replied while his thoughts were racing, trying to think of the fastest way to save the boy.

Should we find an adult to help—

He shifted his gaze to the dogs. They were determined to find a way up the tree. He realized they couldn’t wait any longer. He looked at the boy as he dismissed the idea and thought he should proceed with his plan.

"We’ll help you, but you need to do as I say."

The boy noticed the dog's shifting behavior, furrowed his brows, and looked back at Ryan with a nod, but he wasn’t sure what Ryan could do in a situation like that.

"Alright… How are you going to help me?"

Ryan smiled, sensing the boy’s growing trust. He looked at Dell and put his hand on his shoulder, giving him more confidence.

“Dell, you can do it, keep throwing the rocks at them.”

Dell nodded, then continued to throw more rocks to distract the dogs.

Ryan wrapped the other end of the rope around their rubber ball to add weight and shouted towards the boy.

"Catch it!"

The boy watched as Ryan swung the rope in a circle, mimicking how he had taught them.

Seeing their teamwork, the boy felt a surge of pride in him—and a bit of disbelief that they’d managed to pull this off.

The weighted rope with the ball flew toward him. As he grabbed it, he wrapped it securely around the tree branch he was on.

He realized that shimmying along the rope was safer than trying to walk across, as he couldn't find his balance with his injured leg.

Wrapping both arms and legs around the rope, he began inching his way back toward the wall.

Meanwhile, despite Dell’s attempts to throw rocks at them, the dogs again seemed to figure out the distraction plan and kept their focus solely on the boy.

Just as he was nearly at the wall, one of the dogs used the other as a springboard, reaching up with its claws to grab him.

Panicked but determined, the boy swung his body with all his might, executing a full 360-degree spin around the rope to lift himself up just out of the dog’s reach, which only managed to catch his cap.

His move was swift and skillful, leaving the dogs momentarily stunned as they fell back to the ground, baffled by his maneuver.

Watching this, Ryan sighed in relief. He reached down to catch the boy’s hand, and following his lead, Dell and Rock did the same, pulling the boy as fast as they could.

With a final tug, the boy scrambled over the wall’s edge, losing his balance and causing them to tumble down onto the village side.

Luckily, no one was hurt; however, the boy’s leg was still injured. He looked up at them. His mind was still shocked, and he didn’t know what to say except a few words.

“That went exactly as planned.”

They all laughed and stood up in front of the new boy, unaware of how dangerous the situation really was.

Ryan extended his hand to help him stand.

"Are you alright… uh…?" He paused, then continued, "Can you stand?"

The boy coughed, trying to act unfazed. He winced before saying.

“I think I can manage—”

He paused, then added, “Name’s Kyle. You can call me Kyle.”

Ryan smiled and took Kyle’s hand, guiding it over his shoulder to help him walk.

“Okay, Kyle. Let’s get you to the infirmary—my mom will help you.”

Kyle nodded, then glanced up at the sky, and realized how late it was.

It is getting late. I should contact them before they make a mess.

***

Back at the infirmary, Ryan’s mother was helping a patient as the doctor's assistant.

“How did you get these injuries?”

Her eyes shifted from his face to his hands.

The patient replied, recalling what happened to him. “The poisonous bugs were acting strangely and more aggressively. Despite wearing my goggles, their poison spread more. I felt my eyes burning. I tried to block them, but one of them bit me.”

Hearing this, Ryan’s mother had a worried look on her face.

This is getting serious. I should probably make Ryan stop removing them.

She looked through the glass of the windows.

We are surrounded by a wild environment, so these types of incidents are common. However, the number of patients has increased recently. Why?

She turned and looked inside, her mind already wondering how to handle even more patients.

There are no more beds left. Although the injuries are not critical, if they are attacked in greater numbers, it could be dangerous.

After finishing the treatment and applying the antidote, she raised her head as she spotted her son among a group of kids with an unfamiliar boy with white hair, limping.

Seeing her son, she asked with a worried expression.

“What happened?”

He hesitated before replying, “Kyle… his foot is injured. Could you take a look?”

Upon hearing him, she crouched down and gently removed Kyle's shoe.

After carefully examining his foot, she pressed lightly on the swollen area and noticed some discoloration starting to form.

“Looks like this didn’t happen just now.”

Kyle, looking away, didn't respond. Instead, he asked, “Is there a way to call my guardian? I need him to pick me up.”

She nodded. “Yes, we have a phone. We can call him, but I doubt he can take you today. You’ll have to stay the night. If your foot isn’t treated, it might leave a permanent effect.”

She stood up and continued, “Let’s find you a place to bandage your injuries.“