Awakening

The alarm clock rang.

He had been sleeping deeply and peacefully before waking up energetically to its sound. He was a man with disheveled black hair at the moment of waking; his face was relatively handsome, and his eyes were a uniquely appearing gray.

Vricanto Elisitanuise was neither purely human nor purely Bardemy, but both together. His father was a Bardemy and his mother was a Japanese human. Despite that, his name was Vricanto, and the family name suggested he was only Bardemy. The reason for this was his father's former authority over the family; he did not allow anyone carrying his family name to be named in Japanese, only in the Bardemy language.

Yet, despite this, he lived his life largely as a human, even though his wife was also a Bardemy. After showering and putting on his black suit to appear elegant, he prepared to go to work again, happy and optimistic for another wonderful day.

He went downstairs where he saw his little one-year-old daughter sitting in a high chair playing with her toys, while his wife prepared breakfast. He picked up his daughter and lifted her high, saying in a gentle, affectionate voice:

"You've grown another day older, my little princess." He saw her smile and her attempt to cling to him.

He sat in his chair with her in his lap, playing with her until his wife called him to the dining table, saying: "Don't you have important work today? Come, breakfast is ready, dear."

She had black hair with beautiful blue eyes—a lovely-looking woman, slender with a well-coordinated body and a wonderful smile.

He replied with a kind smile: "Yes, I do... I'm coming."

Ideas began to swirl in his mind, and suddenly he realized that the beautiful voice in his head had vanished; the voice of the Card Prison and the information had faded away, and he could not remember any of that information at all.

His face grew pale, and expressions of shock appeared clearly on him, reaching the point where he suddenly exploded in a loud cry of terror:

"NOOOOOOOOOO!"

His scream terrified the child, and she began to cry. His wife ran quickly and, without thinking, pulled the child from his arms, saying:

"What happened to you suddenly? You've frightened the girl!" She looked at him with concern, seeing him utterly terrified. She continued: "Are you okay? What happened to you?"

He stood up, holding his head, and said: "I'm fine, I'm fine... no need to worry. I remembered something regarding work; I must go quickly."

He grabbed his bag from the table and turned to leave, but she wouldn't let him go until she asked anxiously: "Is it so serious that you scream like that while holding the child? You don't look well."

He turned toward her, saying calmly: "Please, leave me with myself for a while. I need time alone. Stop asking questions; you would never understand the nature of the work I do.

 So, leave everything to me, agreed?"

She nodded in agreement, with some anxiety and fear for her husband because he usually didn't talk much about the nature of his work, and she never thought of checking on him during work. This stemmed from her blind trust that the person she loved was always showing his true self.

He kissed both his wife and daughter quickly and then turned again, leaving the house on foot. He walked at a fast pace without stopping—sometimes slowing down to immerse himself in thought, and other times speeding up. Eventually, he reached a turn in the road that looked like a deserted alley, far from sight.

He struck his bag against the wall, shouting at the top of his lungs: "Everything... is gone!"

"Hahahaha! Hahahaha!" He laughed loudly in despair and madness.

"I've forgotten everything..."

He sat on the bag that had fallen by the wall, taking a cigarette pack from his pocket and lighting one. He was quiet for a moment, appearing deeply immersed in thought, sighing and laughing during that as well, until he began to mutter: "More than twenty years of collecting that information is gone... I've forgotten it. I can't remember anything!"

'I don't know how this happened. Who was able to break the memory of the Prison Awakening? In this state, everything is destroyed; I no longer have any solution.'

"This means the return of all the Awakenings I sealed back to reality. Everything I fought and sacrificed to achieve has evaporated." His nerves at that moment were collapsing slowly like the cigarette in his hand.

He acted like someone who had lost everything; yet, you find him laughing loudly and muttering: "I must return there... I must go back to see her again."

This amount of information was equivalent to a full quarter of the number of cards he had imprisoned, and the full number was being imprisoned quietly and slowly. After such a large number were freed in a single moment, a catastrophe and major conflicts must occur to obtain them.

He stood up as he finished his cigarette, throwing it on the ground and then treading on it forcefully, trampling it over and over. "Everything is lost... gone... shattered... there is no hope in this life at all..."

He left it, leaning his head against the wall and laughing: "What the hell am I doing?"

Then he laughed and shouted: "All I have to do is start over... Yes, start over! I will start over!" He shouted loudly, but now with intense anger and despair.

He took his phone out of his pocket, and at that exact moment, a silver light began to radiate from his body until he turned entirely silver. After the light faded, he appeared in a completely different form: black hair with silver streaks, a white mask with facial expressions representing cunning and deviousness with a clear smirk. His clothes hadn't changed much—a formal black suit.

He held his phone near his ear after calling someone. In a voice completely different from before, he said:

"Hildens, it's time to get back to work, and there's no time to explain now."

(..Understood. Welcome back, Mr. President.) Hildens had something to say and a deep question about the reason, but he settled for complying with orders and welcoming him.

He closed the phone. He sighed, saying:

"How in the hell was a powerful skill like the Information Prison broken? And who is that bastard who actually managed to do it? And where is he now?"

"Whoever it may be, his end must be at my hands."

I rose again. I am the best person in this world—no, in this existence—without any rival. An exceptional person like me shouldn't be told "Good morning" in the morning; rather, they should say with all supplication: "You have dawned again to illuminate a world."

I went downstairs to give the water a chance to be blessed by touching my handsome face, the likes of which surely do not exist. I raised my head to look in the mirror, only to see it blush from the reflection of my image. A young man with very smooth, elegant, and perfect black hair to cover the scalp of a great mind like mine. Blue eyes drawn by God with the finest details to honor a great one of my status.

I put on my school uniform, ready to go and sit with a group of those lacking in mind and beauty—those cheap humans whom even I cannot describe with a word of inferiority because they are beneath being described by any word, except for one, of course.

It was a morning completely different from any other, and the reason was the ideas that suddenly flooded into my mind. I don't know what they are... Awakening... Card... Iron Man... what is all this nonsense filling my mind? Was I dreaming of a fictional world? It doesn't matter; I will continue what I am doing. I took my bag, ready to go to that "herd-graduating warehouse"—meaning, the school.

I stood at the sidewalk where I wait for her, the girl who made me continue studying for her sake. She is beautiful, considerate, and intelligent, and I have bestowed a great favor upon her by letting her be my girlfriend. For a moment, I felt that the girl was late. This made me feel intense anger; how dare she be late and make a person like me stand alone waiting for her? I ended the matter right there and went by myself. I will punish her later for that. I took out my phone to call her and rebuke her severely, but upon opening it, there was no call history except for my parents. I wondered if I had deleted her number by mistake.

Upon my arrival there, there was a sign with the usual high school name along with a strange word: "Magic High School." I thought it was just a normal word, perhaps placed there by mistake. I continued walking until I reached the place where I was shocked. In such a place, I always find everyone around me welcoming me, but now, no one—not even her.

It was a huge shock that made me angry; is there some trick? I am always the center of this damn high school. Later, I went to the courtyard alone; it was also very different from before. I was very frustrated, so I would punish everyone by denying them the sight of my face today.

I was immersed in thought until the students appeared from the classroom, heading toward the courtyard, and I had no idea what the hell they were doing. I intended to go to them, but then I saw my girlfriend. She was standing in front of the students next to the teacher, raising her hand toward a wooden target. I really don't know what that fool is doing.

Suddenly, something resembling magic circles from games appeared, and a fireball emerged from it, hitting the target. I stared in amazement; how did she do that? Then, students one after another began doing what she did. I almost lost my mind; has my world turned into a game, or is all this just an illusion? Is it possible that I am still asleep and now dreaming?

I stopped thinking and headed directly toward them; I had no other choice to find out what was happening. Upon my arrival, the teacher was looking at me with a look of intense indignation, and I didn't know why, as all the students began to laugh.

"Liaki, how dare you skip my class in this manner? And you have the nerve to return as well?" the teacher shouted in my face like a madman.

In fact, this was the first time I had seen this teacher; he seemed like just a cranky fool. "I came to ask about the kind of sorcery you were just performing. Also, know your place, whoever you are, and do not raise your voice at me," I spoke to him in my usual condescending manner.

The students laughed loudly, which provoked the teacher's resentment. He sighed and drew a sword from somewhere using sorcery, saying: "It seems you need more discipline. A failure who cannot use magic well dares to speak to me this way? I am Professor Rokith."

The bastard struck me hard with his sheathed sword, knocking me to the ground. He continued to strike while I tried desperately to protect my charming, handsome face. After several blows, he finally left me, and his students continued with his lesson. I was treated as if I were garbage that no one knew.

While I was lying on the ground, I remembered her—my girlfriend, Niyatialya. I stood up quickly. She was standing among the other students. I stepped toward her and shouted:

"Niyatialya, what is happening here? Please tell me everything! Am I not your boyfriend?"

As soon as I uttered these words, everyone burst into laughter. Some were surprised and feared it might be true, but her reaction toward me was harsh. She stepped forward with her cold face, her straight white hair, and her unique crystal-red eyes. She slapped me, and she didn't stop there—she kicked me in the stomach, and I fell to the ground. While I was lying there, the teacher looked at me with anger.

"Go to the principal's office immediately!"

I was confused and didn't know where I was. Where did the people I treated like slaves vanish? And where has my dignity 

gone now? And how did Niyatialya change so much toward me? I have no answer until now, and I don't even know when I will get one.