Aogiri Ryuya
I pushed my body off of my bed and weakly got out of my bed sheets, as the constant banging on my door rang loudly inside my ears like drums being played in a festival. My head began to hurt under the loud noise of the knocking. My body ached with a deep fatigue as my muscles felt sore.
I tiredly yawned with my eyes still half closed, as I stretched my body with my arms held upwards. I slowly turned my head sideways to look for my shirt, as my half open eyes peered across my bed.
A moment of searching later, I pulled my shirt out from underneath the bed sheet and wore it on. I yawned again as I walked up to the door of my dorm room. I massaged my temples as my brows knit together.
The constant knocking on the door still rang inside my ears, which irked me to no end. I looked at the time over the watch, which was hung on the wall above my TV. It was about nine in the morning. My brows tightly knit together, as I shouted.
“Coming, coming...”
I rushed to the door and placed my hand over the doorknob and tightly clenched it. Opening the door, I saw Amelia’s figure standing outside my room.
“Amelia what do you want so early?” I spoke with a tired yawn.
I had been training the entire day yesterday, so it was evident that I was still pretty tired, as I had fallen asleep only a few hours ago. I ruffled my hair with my other hand as I looked at Amelia, who stood outside my room with a concerned expression which hardened her beautiful and delicate brows a little.
But just as I was about say something, Amelia cut me off and pushed me backwards as she forced her way inside my room.
“Hurry up and get inside, Ryuya.” She said as she pushed forward.
“Oy,” I rebuked as Amelia hurriedly flung the door shut behind us and made her way inside my room.
“Oy, Amelia, what’s going on?” I asked, dumbfounded by Amelia’s sudden change in behaviour and her actions. She had not been the kind of person to force her way inside someone’s room. But her expression spoke for itself; she looked serious.
Her delicate brows were knitted together, as her eyes went solemn. Her below shoulder length auburn hair were beautifully tied into a ponytail, and she was wearing a beautiful white blouse with a pair of blue jeans. Her milky skin looked as mesmerising as always. Her dark brown eyes bore into mine as she sat down on the seat placed near my desk.
She eased herself in the seat, and spoke a moment later.
“Ryuya, Jiyoung is in trouble,” she exclaimed with worry laced in each of her words. She crossed her legs and leaned back into the seat.
A tired sigh escaped me—unbeknownst to me—, after I heard her. I stepped to my side and sat down on my bed. I took a moment, then asked. “And what kind of trouble is Jiyoung in, if I may ask?”
She leaned forward an inch in the seat and exclaimed. “Someone is blackmailing Jiyoung.”
My brows jumped in surprise rather worry, after I heard Amelia. Huh? Someone was blackmailing Jiyoung? Eh?
“Amelia, is this the same Jiyoung you are talking about that is among the top ten with us?” I asked. Confused, as I looked back at her.
Because, after only having known Jiyoung for a few months, and despite that, I had only interacted with her the bare minimum. I had came to the conclusion that she was a serious and unbothered character.
She didn’t speak to someone if she didn’t deem it necessary, and her face was always expressionless, so I couldn’t tell what she was thinking. She always had that wall around her, to not allow anyone to come close to her.
But I didn’t mind. Because everyone has their own distinctive personality. So who was I to judge her on her behaviour and personality. I also had my own quirks. Everyone did.
But being blackmailed. That’s a little far-fetched. She is the Young Miss of the prestigious Park family, and the daughter of one of the strongest hunters in the world, who is also the Guild Master of Korea’s strongest guild. Park Yujin.
And even if someone were to blackmail her, she would have already resolved the matter on her own, without even an outsider’s interference.
“Yes,” Amelia quickly answered. “I have seen some strange guy enter and exit her room a couple of times in the past two weeks.”
I looked at Amelia for a moment, dumbfounded, then pulled my gaze away and got up from my bed whilst sequentially stretching my arms. “Couldn’t that guy have been her friend or someone like that instead?”
I pressed my heel against the cold marble floor of my room and entered the kitchen. “You want coffee?” I asked as I opened the fridge and took a bottle of water out and drank from it.
“Ryuya I am being serious,” Amelia's voice came out a little louder as my eyes met her. “Its Jiyoung I am talking about. Do you think she would make a friend? She doesn’t even talk to us that often. And you know it too. Even I was a little skeptical first, but she is the type of person to not interact with someone unless needed.”
Well that was a good point. Most of the time Amelia was always the one who initiated conversations between her and Jiyoung. And she did almost all the talking, Jiyoung just always shook her head to keep the conversation steady, or quickly replied. She wasn’t the talkative type of person.
“That’s a good point to reason over, but,” I took two mugs, placed beside the rack near the sink, and placed them under the coffee maker, placed to the left side near the fridge. “Did you confirm this fact with Jiyoung, before coming to a conclusion yourself? Hmm?”
I said with a raise of my brow, as I turned my head to look at her.
Amelia pulled an inch back and replied, whilst turning her face, as her eyes rolled to her left a little to not meet my gaze.
“N-No! But—”
“But... its all just a misunderstanding then.” I commented, as I took both of the mugs and walked back to my room. I handed the mug which I held in my left hand to Amelia, and I went back to sit on my bed.
“But still, your suspicion could be true,” I added. “So what are we going to do now?” I asked as I took a sip of my coffee. “What if that mysterious blackmailer you mentioned really is blackmailing Jiyoung?”
The rich taste of the coffee stimulated my taste buds, as the caffeine washed off my sleepiness. I looked at Amelia meeting her dark brown eyes.
“Well, she is going to be meeting that guy today, so... we could follow them to make sure if she is alright or not.”
My brows pulled together in surprise, as I spoke. “So you were eavesdropping over their conversation?”
“I was just worried about my friend, it’s just that,” she rebuked my words, as I sighed once. “She could have be in a bad situation.”
I finished my coffee than got off of my bed. I turned to look at her and asked. “And when will she be leaving to meet that mysterious blackmailer?”
“Around ten!”
I lifted my head and looked at the watch hung on the wall. It was around half nine in the morning, so in half an hour she would be leaving.
“Alright, meet me in front of my room after half an hour and then we can follow her,” I said as I walked up to the kitchen, and placed the mug held in my hand into the sink.
“Alright,” Amelia replied as she walked closer to the kitchen, and handed me the mug from the open space, connecting my kitchen and bedroom.
***
After taking a quick shower, I took a towel and began to wipe my hair and body dry. I looked in the mirror in front of me. I touched my midnight blue hair, as I observed my physique.
“Has my hair grown longer?” I thought, as I fiddled with a lock of my hair in my fingers.
Either way.
I stepped back, and wore a black t-shirt on, with a pair of black pants. Then exiting the washroom, I walked up to my desk and took my dimensional storage—which was a ring—placed over the desk. I wore it on my index finger. The ring had a golden colour and a spiralling line of red around its body.
Then wearing my watch, I quickly checked the time and hurriedly rushed to the entrance of my room.
I pulled a pair of sneaker out of the shoe rack on the side, and wore them on.
I opened the door of my room and exited. I saw Amelia standing a few feet away from my room, with her back against the wall and arms crossed.
“She left her room a few minutes ago, let’s hurry,” Amelia said as he stepped forward in the wide hall.
I followed her from behind and both of us entered the elevator. Amelia pressed the button on the side and soon the elevator began to descend.
“But what if that guy really is just her friend? Then what are we going to do if it turns out like that?” I questioned. Breaking the silence between us.
Amelia pursed her lips, as he placed her hand over her chin to think for a moment. To form an answer.
“Well, if that guy really is her friend, then we first have to confirm that fact, don’t we?” She turned her head in my direction and said. “And we can’t just leave her stranded when she is in trouble. She might we be calling out for help right at this moment, but that guy might be threatening her not to.”
Soon the doors of the elevator opened and both of us stepped out. Then exiting the dorm building we made our way out through the gate of the Ashura building.
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Just as I exited, my eyes fixed in front of me, where I saw Jiyoung standing near the wide garden outside the Ashura building, which was at least a hundred meters away.
Both me and Amelia stopped near a tree, to hide behind it.
I focused my eyes in front of me where Jiyoung was standing. She was wearing a long black skirt with a beautiful white blouse. Her hair were tied into a ponytail, exposing her slim neck, which adorned her beauty. And she wore a necklace which had a sapphire attached to a silver chain. Her milky skin looked enchanting in the warm sunlight, as her hazel eyes charmingly peered down at the batch of lilies in front of her.
“Alright, that guy will be arriving here any moment.” Amelia said from my side, as she kept her eyes fixed on Jiyoung’s figure.
But after waiting for another five minutes, nobody arrived.
“Amelia are you sure about this?” I asked with uncertainty in my voice.
Amelia turned her head toward me and answered. “I did hear them talking about going somewhere?”
She answered my question with a question, with uncertainty in her own voice.
But a few seconds later, I saw a someone enter the garden and walk closer to where Jiyoung was standing.
“Sorry to make you wait,” he said as he stopped a few feet away from Jiyoung.
Jiyoung turned toward him and answered. “Don’t worry I didn’t wait for too long.”
I focused my eyes on the mysterious blackmailer—as stated by Amelia—, he had glossy black hair, and deep obsidian black eyes. His stature was just a little above average, and so was the case with the features of his face. His features were just a little above the average. His skin was also pale. Like a face you would forget about once you don’t see it again.
He wore a white t-shirt coupled with a pair of black pants, and with a pair of white sneakers.
“So where would we be going?” Jiyoung asked as he looked at guy in front of him.
“I’ll have you accompany me to Seoul today. If its alright with you, that is?” The guy with glossy black hair spoke.
Jiyoung simply nodded her head in response.
I felt like I had seen him somewhere before, but didn’t remember where. But I shrugged my shoulders and kept on observing the two.
To me, Jiyoung didn’t seem like she was being forced in going where that guy was taking her. But just as I focused my gaze toward them once again. Both of them had stepped outside the garden. I looked at Amelia and both of us nodded our head at each other.
Soon we began secretly following the two from behind. We maintained a little distance from the two to not seem suspicious. But for now, thing had gone pretty smoothly. I was by now doubt full about what Amelia had told me.
Soon they reach the portal house and both of them entered through the gate.
I turned to look at Amelia who was also making her way toward the portal house together with me.
By the time we entered, both of them had disappeared from the hall. They both had most probably gone to a portal room which connected the portal to Korea, Seoul.
Both me and Amelia quickly stepped forward and reached the reception area.
I withdrew my student card out of my dimensional storage and handed it to the receptionist. Amelia did the same and after confirming where we needed to go she handed us our card back.
“You both can go to portal room 14.”
We both rushed to the portal room and entered. We quickly ascended the flight of stairs, and now stood a few inches away from the portal frame.
I nodded once looking at Amelia and soon the spiralling mana which was bounded to the portal frame sucked us inside. My consciousness drifted inside the portal as my body momentarily lost touch to its senses.
***
Exiting the portal house, I covered my eyes with my hand, as the side effects of crossing through the portal still were having their effects.
I felt a bit nauseous, as the sun's bright light basked me in its warmth. It took me a moment to recover from the vertigo of crossing through the portal.
‘Seriously, I can’t get used to crossing through a portal,’ I inwardly said, as I recovered quickly.
But to my side was Amelia who held on to her stomach, as her face was pulled into a frown, and her milky skin looked a little paler. But she was also quick to recover.
Amelia withdrew two baseball caps out of her dimensional storage, and handed one to me. I took it from her and asked.
“What’s this for?”
She looked at me as she pulled a pair of round glasses out of her dimensional storage next and wore them on along the cap.
“Just a precautionary measure.”
With that Amelia took a step to her left and I followed her from behind. The noise of the car engines echoed in my ears, as pedestrians walked along the sidewalk of the bustling streets of Seoul.
My gaze shifted from one place to another, as I took in the scenery in front of me. Large buildings, bustling stores and a peaceful environment. There was a big park to my right, where the children’s joyous voices were coming from.
The side walk had many people walking beside us, so it was quiet packed. Well it was morning so everyone was rushing to their workplace or different occupations.
Just as I was about to take another step forward someone bumped into Amelia’s shoulder and she almost stumbled on the ground.
“Be careful,” I hurriedly said as I reached out to her.
I quickly held on to her hand and pulled her close to me. Amelia cheeks flushed with a red shade, as she tried to say something, but her words were drowned by the loud noises of the vehicles and pedestrians around us. I quickly made my way out of the sidewalk together with Amelia and entered the main street.
Afterwards, both of us stopped in front of a restaurant and looked inside through the wide glass window. Jiyoung and that guy were seated on the further left side of the restaurant.
“Let’s go,” Amelia said from my side, as both of us entered the restaurant. Quickly but carefully we took the table a few rows away from them and took a seat, whilst observing the two.
“Ryuya?" Amelia said.
I turned my head to look at her and spoke. “What?”
“Thanks for earlier,” she said as her cheeks were still a bit reddish.
“Don’t worry about it,” I replied.
But I turned my head slightly to my left and looked above my shoulder. I pulled the cap down slightly and observed the Jiyoung and the guy with glossy black hair.
“So far, there hasn’t been any suspicious movements from that guy's side,” I said, observant, as I crossed my arms and gestured the waiter who was a few tables ahead, finishing writing someone’s order.
By now the doubts of him blackmailing Jiyoung had almost completely disappeared from my mind. They looked just like good friends having a good time together.
“Let’s observe for a bit longer,” Amelia replied. Her brows knit together as he glared at the guy with glossy black hair. “He must be threatening her.”
I sighed looking at Amelia. But I was definitely sure I had seen that guy somewhere before. I kept on racking my brain on remembering who he was.
The waiter approached our table and I placed the order of the breakfast menu. I hadn’t had breakfast yet. Amelia also ordered breakfast. The waiter wrote our order on the small draft book in his hand and left a moment later.
I focused my gaze back at the guy and after a moment of thinking, I finally remembered who he was.
His name was I think, “Seo Jiwoo”. He was in Jiyoung’s and Han Shu-hui's team during the Fort Holding event, and the guy who had informed us about the bomb and Stephen and Felix being demons’ contractees. If I remember correctly, he also had an accident during the side event of the tournament. Where the mana beast he had to fight turned out to be a mutant.
“Amelia, I finally remember who that guy is,” I said as I pursed my lips. “His name is Seo Jiwoo. And he was in Jiyoung’s team during the Fort Holding event.”
Amelia looked at me for a moment as she thought. “And...”
“And what...?” I asked with a raise of my brow.
“How does that proves his innocence, that he isn’t blackmailing Jiyoung?" Amelia mused.
Seriously she just wants to apprehend that guy.
But the waiter from before brought us our breakfast, and he placed it on the table. With a bright smile he went back to work.
“Either way, let’s first eat breakfast.”
***
After finishing our breakfast and paying the bill, both of us exited the restaurant and kept on following the two for the next two hours. But they were simply visiting stores and having a good time.
But just as we were about to take another step forward, I saw Jiwoo place his hand over Jiyoung's shoulder, as Jiyoung stiffed up for a moment.
Amelia’s eyes glared at him as she rushed in their direction. But I stopped her by grabbing her hand and pulling her to the side.
“Ryuya, what do you think you are doing?” Amelia said. “He is taking advantage of her, you saw it to, didn’t you?”
I pulled a step back and rebuked. “What if he was just trying to shake a bug off of her shoulder, or something like that?”
But Amelia grunted as her voice came out louder than she had thought. “Why have you been defending that guy from the start?”
Well, I... didn’t know myself. It was Jiwoo who had helped us during the tournament, so I thought he wasn’t a bad guy, but...
“Move,” Amelia stepped forward leaving me behind. I quickly followed her from behind. She took a sharp right turn, but stopped in her tracks. I hurriedly reached her and saw that Jiyoung and Jiwoo both had caught us tailing them.
***
All of us entered a park nearby and Jiyoung and Amelia sat down on a bench placed near the side of a batch of flowers of different kinds. Jiwoo and I kept on standing as all of us exchanged glances.
“Can we get an explanation, why you two were following us?” Jiyoung calmly asked as he leaned into the bench and crossed her arms. Her face was as expressionless as I had remembered.
Amelia pointed her finger at Jiwoo and hurriedly spoke. “We know everything. We know that he is blackmailing you, and taking advantage of you with some dirt he has over you, Jiyoung.”
A confused expression replaced both Jiyoung’s and Jiwoo’s face, as they turned to look at Amelia. A thin chuckle escaped Jiwoo as he looked at her and crossed his arms.
“E-Eh, so he isn’t... blackmailing you,” Amelia said as she lowered her hand and looked at Jiyoung. “Then why was he entering and exiting your room for the past two weeks? He must have been threatening you, right?”
Jiwoo and Jiyoung sighed in unison as they heard Amelia.
“I had been the one who asked Jiyoung to let me use her training room,” he exchanged a glance between me and Amelia, before continuing. “And I had invited her today to thank her for that. I don’t have any form of malice toward her. I swear.”
Amelia’s ears perked up and she heard Jiwoo. “But he was trying to wrap his arm around you.”
“He was just shaking a bug off of me,” Jiyoung replied.
Amelia looked at Jiyoung and she nodded her head. “He is my friend, Amelia.”
Amelia cheeks flushed in embarrassment all the way up to her ears, as she held on to her knees and lowered her head to hide her embarrassed face.
“Then it was me misunderstanding everything from the start,” she muttered in a low tone of voice. Almost inaudible.
“You could have just asked me instead of coming to that conclusion on your own,” Jiyoung commented.
“Either way, I am just a friend to Jiyoung, I haven’t blackmailed her once,” Jiwoo exclaimed, as his gaze drifted from Amelia and on to me.
“Sorry for following you both, and I am sorry for, ah... doubting you, Jiwoo,” I apologised as I placed my hand behind my head.
“Don’t worry about it,” Jiwoo muttered. “You were both just worried about Jiyoung, weren’t you? And I don’t mind.” Jiwoo said with a friend smile over his face.
Jiwoo checked the time and looked at all of us. “Well, if you guys are here already, why not join us?”
“If its fine by you two,” I said as I looked at Amelia and Jiyoung.
Afterwards all of us left the park and went to enjoy the rest of the day.
***
Thomas Carter
My breathing came in a disordered fashion, as I clenched the staff of my spear tightly. Blood was rushing to my head, as in my mind the image of that piece of trash kept on repeating, like a picture film.
I wanted to kill him. Kill that fucking piece of trash.
How dare he humiliate me. Me, Thomas Carter.
Mana erupted from inside my body, surging with a tight sheen, a bright colour of blue erupted and enveloped my staff whole. My arms felt like they could give out at any moment. But I didn’t care. My mind was right now preoccupied with a single thought. The thought of taking revenge, killing Seo Jiwoo.
How dare he do that to me. First in the open tournament. Whatever trick he had used to make me spit out blood. And during the dungeon trial, he humiliated me. Using me like his plaything.
I thrust my spear forward, but under the heavy manipulation of mana, my arms gave out and with a pain filled groan, I grounded my teeth and stumbled on to the floor of my training room.
My body quivered as I clenched my hands and fell on all four. I felt anger, such anger that I have never felt boil up my spine. Something about him had changed after the day he didn’t show up when I had called him behind the training facility.
“That fucking piece of trash,” I grumbled with venom in my voice.
I gritted my teeth hard, smashing my fist into the white floor of the room. Damn it. Blood began to sweep out of my palms as I increased my grip. My eyes became blood shot as my face twisted into a deep frown.
“Heh...”
But I pressed my hand on the floor and quickly shot up to my feet. I heard a delighted chuckle emerge from the corner of the room. The light of the room became dimer and I saw an eerie black smoke cover the inside of the room in its entirety.
I became alert and quickly held my spear in my hands. Manipulating the mana inside me to be used at a moments time.
“Who’s there?” I grumbled.
The smoke thickened more and soon after I heard a melodic voice echo from within that smoke.
“The hatred I sense in your heart, who is it that you want to kill so desperately?” the voice asked.
My mind burned with fury, as the anger and desperation in my heart increased. The voice sounded so enchanting, as if it knew what I wanted. What things made me worry. I felt bare to this voice.
“I want to kill that piece of trash for humiliating me! Thomas Carter. And to do that I would do anything."
With a malevolent chuckle which echoed inside the room, and made my heart to waver. I felt like the owner of that voice now stood behind me, as if a hand rested over my shoulder. Then he whispered something into my ears with his crisp voice.
“Then sign a contract with me and I would grant you the power you wish for to kill the people standing in your way.”
I held out my hand and the smoke began to swirl all around me, like a hurricane. Enveloping into its embrace.
“I’ll do it.”