Shun POV:
The morning sun shone down on the front garden, lighting up the thin strips of grass that neatly sat beside the pathway. I stretched out my hands, inhaling the fresh morning breeze with closed eyes. I could feel it. Today was going to be a good da—
“Go to school, Shun!!”
“...Yes, Mum.”
I heard the door slam shut as my hand travelled through my jet-black hair. My lips curved into a smile; after all, getting interrupted during my monologue was only a sign of the inevitable. It meant it was time for a new character to emerge, just like in all the countless novels I’ve read before.
I closed the small gate behind me and readied my mind. After a few seconds of mulling things over, I embarked on the journey that would lead me to a well-known place called School.
“Clifford! Wait!!”
I had barely reached the end of the road when a young woman’s voice disrupted the serene atmosphere. My head spun around only to see a large, black bulldog charging towards me with ferocious eyes, followed by a woman with large breasts wearing running gear.
‘Scenario#1 has already appeared. I knew it. Today really is a good day.’
The leash trailed along the ground as Clifford ran in a blind rage, ignoring her commands to stop. At the pace he was going at, it wouldn’t take long before a collision would occur.
‘Let’s add some good Karma points to the system.’
I crouched down and opened my arms wide, causing Clifford’s bloodshot eyes to return to normal. He glanced back at Joanne with what I could only describe as cunning eyes before wagging his tail and jumping into my arms.
“There’s a good boy.”
“Woof. Woof.”
I rubbed his head while he barked away. The young woman caught up a few seconds later and rested her hands on her knees, panting heavily. There was no time to ask if she was alright because two large masses swayed back and forth in a rhythmic motion, hypnotising me instantly.
“H... He... Hey! Shun!!”
I managed to snap out of the hypnosis: a testament to my strength of character, and glanced up at Joanne, who had barely caught her breath. Her brown hair was tied back in a bun, which drew attention to her sharp eyes.
“What’s up, Joanne?”
She folded her arms and pushed out her chest. I quickly got to my feet, not falling for her obvious attempts to tease me this time. Why? It’s because toda—
‘Damn. The view is really good.’
“Ha... Look, if you were a little older, I’d probably give you a chance. I can see you worked out quite a bit these past 6 weeks, but I am an up and coming model, you know~”
My attraction faded into the abyss as I watched her try to make a cute pose. The morning breeze whistled by, exemplifying the tragic scene that I had just witnessed.
I often wondered how Joanne even managed to break into the modelling world when she had no sense of what separated a good pose from a bad one.
“...Was it really that bad?”
She pressed the tips of her first fingers together while her eyebrows curved inwards. I patted Clifford’s head and stood up.
“Don’t worry, Joanne. The assets you have will make everyone overlook your faults.”
I placed my hand on her shoulder and gave her a confident smile.
“...”
*Slap*
Needless to say, the result went as expected. It was just unfortunate that because I grew up in the same neighbourhood as Joanne, we interacted with each other very often. In other words, I couldn’t use her as a gauge to see whether or not my confidence had actually improved.
“Ha...”
A helpless sigh left my mouth while I walked across the zebra crossing. I raised my hand to thank the driver for stopping and continued on to school.
By the time I realised I hadn’t been thinking, I was already standing in front of the school gates. Four buildings loomed over the outside streets, separating the school into different blocks according to what you studied.
Walking through the gate would reveal a huge playground with a pond and two more buildings, but let’s be honest, no one here has a real interest in the details of what this school looks like.
I reached my classroom and sat beside the window where my desk was located. I stared outside, realising that I would be turning 18 in a few days. It didn’t really matter though.
I had no interest in celebrating my birthday.
“Oh? Shun’s here early. Did you remember to bring what I asked for?”
My gaze shifted to a short boy with curly brown hair. He looked at me eagerly as I slipped my hand into my black bag and pulled out a limited-edition mechanical pencil shipped all the way from Japan.
I knew Carl was an aspiring mangaka, but tools don’t make you draw well if you can’t draw already, right? Hmm. I searched a plethora of novels in my head but failed to find the information I wanted.
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“Woah, thanks man! You’re the best! I promise you won’t regret this!”
He snatched the box out of my hand and dashed out of the classroom.
‘Spread your wings and fly Carl, the sky is the limit as they say.’
I stared at the empty door for a while before looking back outside of the window. I observed various kids walking into school with their black and red uniforms as I sighed.
‘...I’m not a loser.’
“Shun. My calories. You. Strength...”
Panga, who was usually fat, looked like a dried-out stick as he held out his hands towards me. His short hair stuck to his head like a turnip while I pulled out two limited edition meat bun rolls.
“Saviour. Shun!”
He grabbed them and rushed to his seat. It didn’t take long for a loud burp to ring out across the classroom, causing many of the girls to call him gross.
‘...I’m really not a loser.’
Before I could turn my head back towards the window, two dark hands slammed down on the desk in front of me. I looked up at Reagan, his hair having waves in them as sweat poured down his forehead.
“Shun! I swear man, if you didn’t get that account for me, I’m screwed!”
I handed him a card from my inner pocket containing the account details to a character with fully maxed-out legendary equipment in a game called Legacy X.
“Be at eas–”
“YES!! I’m gonna bank off of this!!”
He snatched the card out of my hand and started boasting to his friends about how he stayed up all night raiding. I stared at my floating hand for a few seconds before lowering it.
‘I’m a little bit of a loser.’
I saw dramatic tears stream down my cheeks in the reflection of the window. Sometimes, I just found it hard to say no... But, it’s alright because of her.
“Woah...”
“Unmatchable beauty... The school’s no. 1 doesn’t do her justice...”
“A queen...”
“A goddess...”
Gasps and praises of adoration sprung out from various places in the classroom as a teenage girl with shoulder-length brownish-black hair walked in. Bright rays of light poured in through the window, highlighting her large, dark hazel eyes that almost seemed to glow. Her lips were pressed together accentuating the softness of their form, and while her breasts weren’t as large as Joanne’s, they definitely couldn’t be regarded as medium-sized. That girl was called Amelia Garcia.
“Damn...”
“How has she still not got a boyfriend...?”
“Do you think she’ll decide to model?...”
The murmuring continued as she moved swiftly to her desk. Despite Amelia’s status at school, she wore reserved clothing, opting for long skirts that fell somewhere between her mid calves to ankles. I don’t know about the others, but for me, this made her at least 10x more attractive.
I watched her pull out the chair to her assigned seat, and once her bum touched the plastic surface, her spell was lifted, and the classroom returned to normal.
‘Ha... If only getting girls in real life was as easy as they make it out to be in the novels and games...’
I sighed inwardly, lamenting about the unfairness of this world, when I noticed Amelia wearing a pair of glasses. She stared at her phone as a thin smile spread across her lips.
‘Ah...’
To be honest, I have very good eyesight, so it was easy for me to see the contents of her phone from where I was sitting. Amelia always read books on her phone in the mornings without fail, and among those books, there was one that made her eyes light up like no other; it was a light novel called Legacy, and I just so happened to be a huge fan of the author too.
‘...’
I gazed at her for a while, noticing the slight raising of her cheeks and the squinting of her eyes when she found something funny. I suddenly felt the same spur of confidence I had in the morning, so... I plucked up my courage and stood up.
She sat towards the front of the classroom while I was located near the back, so there was a decent amount of metres between us. By the time I had closed half of that distance, things went south quickly.
Very quickly.
“Woah, woah, you weren’t actually trying to approach Amelia, right? It’s a misunderstanding, right?”
“You know it, John. There’s no way he would do that.”
John pushed me back a little before putting his hands back inside his black hoodie. He was darker than Reagan and opted for a bald look while Ethan, his best friend, had pale skin with short, blond curly hair. To make matters worse, they were both pretty muscular.
“Oh. That’s Shun.”
“You mean the guy always staring out the window or reading books?”
“Yeah... The other guys also use him to buy stuff for them.”
“Aw, why though? He’s kinda cute~”
The confrontation had attracted the attention of the entire class, making me feel somewhat nervous as I scratched the back of my head.
“I... Uh... I just thought I’d say ‘Hi.’”
“...”
Silence descended upon the classroom, and I felt everyone’s gaze burning holes through me from every angle. Sweat laced the palms of my hand while I avoided the gazes of Ethan and John peering down at me.
“I just thought I’d say hi.”
The silence was broken by the voice of a girl mocking me. That was the signal for all hell to break loose.
“He was actually serious about trying to talk to Amelia? Has he lost it?”
“Stick to reading books or staring out the window, loser.”
“Don’t forget your place, Shun Shun.”
“Better yet, go be useful and buy me that handbag I was talking to you about before the summer holiday.”
The barrage poured down on me as cold sweat ran down the nape of my neck. I hated being in this situation; if I didn’t do something soon, I would be reminded of past events I had desperately tried to forget.
‘...Don’t back down, Shun. We can do this.’
I took a step towards Ethan and John, forcing the spectators to close their mouths at the unexpected turn of events.
“Why are you two even acting as Amelia’s bodyguards? Did she ask you to do that? Don’t you think this is a waste of your character?”
The two of them looked at each other before resting their hands on their chin.
“...You know, he does have a point... Ethan, why are we acting like this?...”
John looked shaken by the sudden realisation of what he was about to do. It was no different for Ethan, who held his head while wincing in pain.
“...I don’t know. It’s not like us. We have dreams of being the tag team ace stars of the basketball club, yet here we are defending Amelia, who we’ve never spoken to. It is bizarre...”
A bolt of lightning struck John as Ethan’s words reignited his true passion—his true purpose in this life. He gripped his best friend’s shoulder and gave him the thumbs up.
“That’s right. How could I forget the dream that we share?! Ethan, let’s go. We need to practice!”
“Yeah. Let’s write our own story!”
“Damn, right!”
I watched the two of them walk out of the classroom with a bounce in their step. I’m sure that as long as they worked hard, their story would be read and watched by thousands, if not millions, one day.
***
“Ugh...”
A pained moan escaped my mouth as I forced open my eyes. My clothes were a mess, and blood was scattered across the ground, reminding me of the beating I took. I let out a small sigh, resting my head back against the cold, cemented wall.
‘We couldn’t do it.’
*Ping*
I slipped my hand into my pocket and pulled out my phone. A large bell notification ran across the top of the screen.
[Legacy Part 5 will be on hiatus for...]
‘Ha... The author has worked hard for so long; they deserve a break too.’
My lips curved into a content smile when I felt that something was amiss. I unlocked my phone and pressed on the notification, which took me to the full article regarding the author’s message.
[Dear Readers,
Thank you so much for your support over the years. I’m truly grateful for your interest in the world of Legacy. However, due to personal issues, I have no choice but to put the series on hold.
Legacy Part 5 will be on hiatus for 5 years, but I hope that the stories you’ve already read will be a reminder of the many interesting things to come!
Once again, thank you for your support!!
- Rui]
‘...’
“5 YEARS?!!”
“5 YEARS?!!”
‘!’
I shifted my gaze to the female voice that shouted in unison with me when I saw a girl who did the exact opposite of my action. As a result, our eyes met, and we stared at one another. She covered her mouth as a deep shade of red spread across the bridge of her nose. After a few seconds of silence, her soft lips parted.
“Um... Do you also read ‘Legacy’?”
That was my first interaction with Amelia.