Winners

Yuka let out a sigh. She saved the kid and turned to see if everyone made it. Silvia made it. Genesis made it. Misuki made it. Ryota made it— she rubbed her eyes to look again at the short haired firecracker that was aggressively trying to kill her not even a few minutes ago. His vest was red. “Who added this guy to our team?”

Ryota looked at her boredly, his hands in his pockets, shadowing his eyes from the sun, seemingly so nonchalant.

“Which one!” Yuka yelled, glaring. Misuki shook her head and hands. “It's not me.”

“It's not me either,” Hayato admitted.

All eyes turned to Silvia, who sat up on the ground, whistling. She poked her fingers together. It's her, they all thought. “You see, I think he would be a great ally to have in the future—”

“I should have killed you, Silvia.” Yuka wanted to throw a fit because she wanted to get rid of him the most but instead, turned around, holding her head. “I really want to curse you Silvia right now but I care more about sleep and getting a shower. I’m exhausted."

They didn’t know how much effort this round took from her. She felt nauseous and sick but she didn’t want to show weakness here. Yuka turned back and pointed a finger at Ryota. “You scum, consider yourself lucky and better kiss Silvia’s feet, because I would have never saved you.”

She took off, beckoning someone over. “Misuki, let’s go.”

“Coming!” Misuki called out and glanced at the new people, going to her knees and bowing to everyone as an ultimate gesture of respect. “Thank you, everyone, for helping me. I will never forget your kindness.”

Hayato immediately floated to her, pulling his sister up. “Not at all. I’m glad you’re safe.”

He smiled as he ran his hand through her long, brown locks. Misuki blinked, her hazel eyes lost in his. It feels like… Hayato-onii-chan. Misuki beamed at him, and he felt his heart melt a little.

“Misuki? Come on!”

“Right!” Misuki immediately ran towards Yuka’s direction, turning her head back to glance at Hayato one last time before going full speed ahead.

“Wait! What about me?” Youngwoo glanced at the other two strangers before he ran after Yuka.

Hayato felt like he was about to collapse but Silvia was right behind him, holding him together. Ryota’s tongue poked his cheeks, looking at Silvia. “Thank you. I’ll… one day return that favor.”

Before he, too, left. “Should I take you to your dorm?

“I would like tha—“

“No, leave him here.” Evan’s wings flapped, his feet landed gently on the ground as he signaled for Silvia to get out of his sight. Silvia furrowed her brows but connected the dots. She smiled at Hayato and gestured that she would take her leave as Hayato nodded in understanding. Once she was gone, Hayato endured the pain in his leg, waiting to hear what Evan wanted. Evan clapped loudly. He must be happy I won the second round?

“What an utter disappointment you are,” Evan amusedly said, clapping even louder.

Oh. Hayato’s face comically turned into a drawn caricature. He was disappointed.

“I can’t even describe how bad, horrendously bad you were during this round. I would go as far as to say you only won because you had that woman in your team. If she was alone, she would have won with minor injuries but she is too busy carrying everyone's burden on her back while I had to embarrassingly watch you humiliate over and over again.” Evan let out a speechless scoff, glaring at Hayato, who held the face of someone he already held in contempt. “At some point, you even said you don’t want to kill anyone? Have you lost your mind? Do you want to die?

“It’s true, I don’t want to kill people. Is it wrong to not wish harm on others? I wanted everyone to be safe,” Hayato earnestly said.

“This naive thinking.” Evan grabbed his neck and lifted Hayato closer to his face. Hayato's feet wiggled in the air, struggling to breathe. “Don’t forget your life is tied to mine. You can die all you want but you can’t die dragging me down with you.”

He dropped Hayato, watching him take big gulps of air, arrogantly. “If I hear that nonsense again, I’ll personally kill you.”

“I understand you don’t want to lose your life, but my plan—“ He swallowed the saliva gathering in his mouth, nervously standing up for what he believed in.He pinched himself on his back. Evan rubbed salt into all of his wounds, and he wanted to tell him the truth.“I-I-I believed that if people heard my plan, they would change their minds. That’s why I didn’t want to kill… unnecessarily.

He wanted the least violent outcome to win over the results of today.

“Hmm, your plan was great. Many people before thought of it, but the only person who was able to successfully execute it is Allen Vult.” Evan acknowledged, pacing around Hayato like a swarm of sharks, circling the prey. Hayato felt small. “But your problem is, you don’t have any charisma, Hayato. You are a loser through and through. Nobody was convinced by your plan because you don’t inspire any convictions in anyone. That’s why everyone has been beating down on you since your school days.”

Hayato clenched his fists, enraged by what he heard. Although deep down, he was frustrated because truly nobody had believed him or seen through his good intentions.Nobody would have died if they had just… believed him. It feels like another one of his failures. Bitter and sad tears formed in Hayato’s eyes as Evan stopped nitpicking his flaws. “I’ve failed everyone.”

“You have failed me first,” Evan reminded, but seeing how hard Hayato was taking it, he believed the message came across. “Just your luck, there is a gap between the rounds this time. So train hard and be prepared. I’ll heal you today so tomorrow you can do better.”

Hayato swore he will do better from here onward. He will prove people wrong.

_____________________________________________

Yuka woke up the next morning, her body all sore. She cursed that round two game because she had performed moves like never before. She didn’t even want to get out of bed, but the moment she turned her head, Azrael stood there, watching her. She turned back, snoring.

“I know you are awake.” Azrael tapped her bed frame with his foot. He wore his signature white shirt with ruffles around his wide sleeves, and a chest cut. He was donned in matching brown pants and shoes, with a brown vest across his chest. Black ribbon strings were pulled taut from the back of the vest to cinch his waist.

“I'm not awake,” Yuka answered.

Azrael lifted his hands and with a finger, lifted the cover off her body. Yuka quickly turned, gun in hand, but his finger pointed above, and the bullet went through the ceiling. “That won’t work on me.”

He never moved from his spot in the chair. Yuka spread her legs apart, an elbow on her thigh and a palm on the other, sitting like a man. “What do you want?”

His thumb went under his chin and the index curled on his lips. “Don’t give me that attitude when I’m saving you. Someone named Raven will come to heal you. He is a fairy friend of mine. He will heal all the wounds you received in round two so you can be in full condition.”

“You are not saving me; you are saving your life.” Yuka bit back, and his lips curled a little in amusement. “Since you are here, I want something more than bread and stale soup. I heard everything here comes from you, outside of living conditions. You are rich, yet somehow a stingy bastard? Can’t afford to feed an extra mouth or what?”

Azrael burst out laughing, a little shocked that someone was talking to him like that. He stood up to his full height of three meters, looking down on her as an act of intimidation. “You will still have more bread and stale soup until your attitude gets fixed.”

Yuka stood up on the bed and waved the gun in her hand.

“That didn’t work the first time; it won’t—” He paused when she pointed the gun at her own head.

“You still think it won’t work,” Yuka taunted back.

He went silent, taken aback by the way she was challenging his authority, but he was a general, renowned and known throughout the entire world.

“Do it,” he whispered cockily. “Do it while I walk out of here.”

He provoked as he sharply pivoted, his long, ponytailed hair swayed from the movement. At the door, he gave her one last warning. “If you want me to treat you better, you better earn your respect here by winning the next three games Ishikawa Yuka. Only the strong deserve to address me.”

_____________________________________________

A tall, skinny man, dressed in an all white suit, entered the room where the game master resided in. The walls are massive windows, offering breathtaking views of the city. The decor is a collection of artifacts and books from countless journeys. The main room is a domed observatory.

Ruri greeted the young man apprehensively. “K, what an honor to have you here in my humble residence. To what do I owe this visit?”

The atmosphere quickly turned suffocating, even though it was just a human in his office. K smiled brightly, but it never reached his eyes.“I’ve come to inform you that I’m ready to challenge the Abyss. I want you to announce that I’m conducting an expedition to raid it three months from now. Anyone who wants to join is welcome.”

“The abyss?” Ruri scratched his chin. The abyss was the hardest dungeons to explore. There were many dungeons like that littered around, but the problem was, if people couldn’t pass that one, they couldn’t even dream of passing the others. “Well, that’s great news. As you know, our protective barrier can’t hold much longer. It’s been predicted that in five years, it will break… that was said three years ago. We are quickly approaching our fourth year, and the fact we still haven’t defeated that dungeon is worrying me. The hero should be among us by now… it might be you. The flame is still burning, so I know the hero is not among the dead yet.”

“I don’t care about being a hero. I’m here to ask, is my mother or brother among the third wave?” K asked.

Ruri went silent, not speaking a word. K chuckled, a little amused. “My, oh my. Are you that scared of my ability, Ruri?

Ruri remained silent. K smile dropped, the suffocating air taking over. “Your little tricks are as amusing as ever. It's fine though, I'll look through all the third wave eventually so you can’t hide this from me for long, Ruri.”

It was a threat. Ruri didn’t move as K saluted a bye, walking away. Ruri sighed. “K… truly a talent I don't want to give away… out of all the abilities he could have awakened… it had to be all the troublesome ones. He lives up to his name of being the strongest Hero. How terrifying. I wonder which third Generation team he will chose for Round 3?”