Inside a dimly-lit room, sat a man on a black leather sofa which was placed in the middle of the room.

The room was quite spacious, roughly the size of a dining hall, there were several paintings hung along the walls on either side of the room.

A beautiful red carpet was placed over the floor which only made the room look more eye catching.

There was a desk a few feet away from the sofa, and many paper and parchments rested on top of the desk.

“Human beverages sure are delightful,” the man spoke with a sip of whisky from his glass.

His face had a delightful look as he sipped the whisky from the glass, which he held in his hand.

He twirled the glass once in his hand and took another sip of the whisky.

His taste buds stimulated with each sip, which in conclusion made him want to drink more.

He wore an elegant and well tailored black suit, with his shirt’s sleeves rolled up.

He leaned his head back and looked up at the ceiling.

His black hair fluttered mysteriously as his green eyes shined with an eeire glow.

A crimson red hue exuded his body as he pursed his lips and leaned forward, taking the bottle of whisky from the table and pouring himself another glassful.

He brought the glass close to his mouth, but at the exact moment he was about to take a sip, he saw the translucent orb on the table glow.

It glowed brightly with a beautiful and subtle white.

He tapped over the cold hard surface of the orb once and soon a manly voice echoed from the orb.

“How are you?” His crisp voice echoed inside the room.

With a sigh, the man crossed his legs and leaned back in his seat.

“Get to the point... don’t waste my time Zeroth.” He solemnly said.

“Fine!”

The other man replied.

“Tell your contractee to be careful. News has reached my ears that there are many individuals from the Union and strong guilds present in the Lock.” He cautiously said.

Inclining his head, the green eyed man scoffed, “my contractee isn’t as useless as yours, Zeroth.”

Taking a quick sip of the whisky, he continued.

“And everything will go according to my plan. He may be weak, but not entirely useless.”

He combed his hair with his hand, and the edges of his lips curled up slightly.

“He contacted me just a few hours ago and reported that everything is going smoothly.”

He extended his arm and grabbed the orb in the palm of his hand.

“You just need to sit back and enjoy the show.” He mumbled into the orb.

“Alright! But tell him to be careful, if what we have planned goes accordingly, we might be able to do a devastating blow to the World Union and the Lock.”

With a smile, he played with the orb in the palm of his hand and replied a few seconds later.

“Alright!”

With that the orb lost it’s glow and he threw it on the table.

SLAM—!

“Heh... hehehe...”

With a few chuckles, he gulped the entire glass of whisky and slammed the glass over the table.

SLAM—!

CREAK—!

The table spilt into two perfect pieces, with the glass in his hand shattered into millions of small shards.

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Licking his bottom lips, he leaned back into the sofa and exclaimed.

“Things are starting to get interesting.”

***

“Holy shit!” Jiwoo exclaimed, his gaze didn’t move an inch away from the hologram, not even once.

He was astonished by Jiyoung’s performance.

Jiyoung’s speed was now equal to Jiwoo’s speed before he had clashed with the demon inside the devil’s whisper dungeon.

‘Seriously, if Jiyoung was given a few more years, she would most certainly become a powerhouse just like her father.’ Jiwoo thought as he stretched his arms wide and got up from the bench.

‘Or she might even surpass Yujin in the future.’

“All the more reason to never provoke her.” A shiver ran down Jiwoo’s spine as he remembered the expression Jiyoung had over her face during the fight.

After seeing Jiyoung get mad in the mall, he swore to himself that day to never get on her bad side.

'Jihoon was right, she really was a demon.’ He jokingly said as he pressed on his heel and stepped forward.

Her ability to adapt and learn from her past experiences was nonetheless terrifying.

But, her ability to grow in only a short amount of time had surprised Jiwoo the most.

With a quick tap over his watch the hologram disappeared from in front of him.

Just as he took a step forward to walk towards the arena, Jiwoo staggered and failed to keep his footing equal.

His brows knit together, as he tried to steady his footing. His vision blurred and mind became groggy.

“Haaa... Haaa...”

Jiwoo’s breathing became uneven and he stumbled a few steps back.

He almost dropped down on the ground.

“Uek...!”

Jiwoo bumped into someone, and stumbled down on to the ground.

“You okay?”

A crisp voice echoed in his ears, as he got up from the ground and steadied his body.

The youth supported Jiwoo and helped him to the bench.

After taking a minute or two to calm himself down, Jiwoo inhaled and exhaled deeply before looking up at the youth who had helped him.

“Haaa... thanks,” Jiwoo thanked him as he met his gaze.

“Huh...”

But his face took a sharp turn and his expression changed into one of surprise.

He was flabbergasted!

The youth that stood in front of Jiwoo... he was someone whom Jiwoo knew.

He was someone he had met in his previous life.

The one that stood in front of him was someone Jiwoo deeply admired, respected and shared a brotherly bond with.

The person who had risked his life for Jiwoo, and someone who Jiwoo had risked his life for countless of times, in his previous life. He was...!

“H-Han...” Jiwoo stuttered as he gazed at the youth.

The youth in front of him, was in fact his best friend, ‘Han Shu-hui’.

Jiwoo’s face looked sorrowful as he gazed at the youth.

His shoulder length navy hair, tied into a low ponytail, and his bangs covering his eyes, and his stature which was well built.

Confused, Han Shu-hui opened his mouth and spoke.

“Yes...?”

But Jiwoo simply looked at his old friend who stood in front of him.

But after a few more seconds, he stood up from the bench and spoke.

“Thanks for helping me, Han Shu-hui.” Jiwoo said.

“How do you know my name?” Han Shu-hui looked confused.

‘Haaa... this idiot! Did he forget he is one of the top ten of the academy?’ Jiwoo inwardly sighed as he looked at his old friend in disbelief.

“Aren’t you someone who is ranked among the top ten in the first year?” Jiwoo said.

“Oh yeah, sorry! I never took interest in that rank hierarchy whatever.” Han said whilst scratching the back of his head.

Jiwoo knew about Han Shu-hui being among the top ten, not because he had investigated but because in his previous life Han Shu-hui himself had told Jiwoo about his time at the Lock.

So he just took a guess.

“I am Seo Jiwoo.”

Extending his right arm forward Jiwoo exclaimed, his voice was joyful and full of vigour. “And sorry for bumping into you earlier.”

Taking his arm and shaking it, Han Shu-hui replied.

“No, its alright!”

‘Still the same I see,’ a smile flashed Jiwoo’s face as he shook Han’s hand.

The moment Jiwoo shook his hand, he could feel the hardness of his skin.

It was due to him being a full-body martial arts practitioner.

‘Long bangs, that vigorous aura and... that good nature. Han is still the same.’

Jiwoo thought inwardly as he looked at Han with a subtle warmth in his eyes.

He was glad to see his friend after years.

Then letting go of each others hand, Han Shu-hui spoke.

“If you'll excuse me. I have a match coming up so I need to go inside the arena.”

“... I was going there myself.” He looked at Han Shu-hui and then both of them stepped forward and entered the arena.

Walking through the wide corridors of the arena, both of them didn’t speak a single word.

Jiwoo glanced in Han’s direction with each step he took.

But did so in secrecy, so he wouldn’t be find out.

His lips trembled as he looked at Han.

He wanted to talk with his friend just like the old days. But he knew he couldn’t.

‘Han was the same as I remembered... but he is not the Han that I know of.’ Jiwoo thought. His eyes displayed a passive sadness.

“Good luck on your match.” Jiwoo titled his head towards Han and spoke.

“Yes, thank you.” Han Shu-hui responded, then quickly picked up his pace and soon left for the changing rooms, to change into the protection suit.

***

I walked through the wide corridors and soon stopped in front of a small room which displayed the platform below. There were two chairs placed inside the small room.

Walking up to the chairs. I sat down on one of them and peered through the glass window and looked at the platform below.

[The winner of this match is... Thomas Carter!]

I heard the referee’s voice boom inside the arena as he announced the result of the match. Soon followed the crowd's cheers.

But all of them, be it the announcements, the matches, everything felt insignificant to me as of this moment.

All the old memories reminiscing inside my mind.

A sorrowful expression covered my face as I remembered about the past.

‘I had met Han on the battlefield but... he was always there for me through my thick and thin.’

I leaned back into the chair and drowned into the sorrow of my own thoughts.

‘He was always there for me! When I lost Master... when I lost Koeji... and when... I lost Rachael.’

He was always there for me.

He supported me, encouraged me to live on for those who had died.

But I wasn’t even able to protect that one friend who always had my back.

When I lost him too... that’s when I lost all hope.

But not now!

My expression changed into a determined one and I looked down at the platform, where now Han was standing.

“All the more reason for me to stop the Demon king and prevent the humanity's extinction.”