n

n

nJuly 15, 2056.

nA terrorist attack took place at the Lock during the battle royale games of the inter-academy tournament.

nTwo teleportation devices were found to be installed during the event. Investigators have linked this attack to the Monolith.

nWith the brave efforts of two young students, the portals were soon found and their activation was prevented.

nUnfortunately, in a last-ditch attempt, one of the perpetrators directly cracked the core installed in the teleportation device.

nA massive explosion followed suit, killing 260 people and injuring more than 80 in the process.

n—Click!

nTurning off the TV, Emma threw the remote to the side.

n

"It's about time.

" Dressed in a black dress, Emma turned around.

"Let's go, Kevin.

"

n

"Hmm

"

nA weak and hoarse voice replied back.

n

"...Kevin.

"

nEmma's lips tensed.

nStaring at Kevin who was sitting on a white sofa dressed in black, Emma felt her heart tear apart.

nEver since 'that' day, Kevin had not been the same. He was skipping out on meals, and for the most part, he was always absentminded. He had even stopped training, something that she had never seen him do throughout the whole year.

nHis whole complexion was white, and his eyes were bloodshot. Glaring black circles appeared underneath his eyes.

n

"It's all my fault...

"

nHe repeatedly muttered to himself.

nEmma did not understand why he was blaming himself for Ren's death. It wasn't something he could've controlled.

nBut.

nEvery time, Kevin would mumble those words. Blaming himself for Ren's death.

n

"...Kevin.

"

nEmma called out.

n

"…Ah, Emma… Give me a second.

"

nKevin finally looked at Emma. He tried to smile cheerfully, but that made him look all the more pitiful. His lifeless eyes coupled with his glaring black circles caused Emma's heart to stir.

nEmma understood.

nRen's death had truly hit him hard.

n

"We need to go. Attending is the least you can do for him

"

nToday was the day of Ren's funeral. For obvious reasons, there was no corpse at the scene. Even then, no one questioned his death.

nUnless a miracle happened, there was just no way for Ren to survive.

n

"...E-emma, what do I do?

"

nBringing Emma back to reality was Kevin's hoarse voice.

nStaring at her in the eyes, he weakly muttered.

n

"I-i, don't know what to do...Had I not been so stupid, and just left wi—

"

n

"Enough!

"

nEmma cut him off.

n

"Now is not the time for this! How long are you going to wail in self-pity?

"

nShe was starting to get angry now.

nIt was only natural for someone to be distraught upon the death of someone close. She too was sad. Although she wasn't particularly close to Ren, she did interact with him quite a lot in the past.

nAnd although Kevin and Ren were really close, the last thing Kevin could do was drown himself in self-pity.

nIt wouldn't be something Ren would've wanted for him. Even though, Emma didn't interact with Ren much, she could see how much he genuinely cared about Kevin.

nHe would never want Kevin to blame himself for something like this.

nLifting his head, Kevin weakly asked.

n

"...Then what should I do?

"

n

"Get stronger.

" Emma's voice became firm.

"...Get strong enough to prevent this from ever happening in the future and make those that have caused this pay. Be it the Monolith or anyone that was involved!

"

nWhilst she spoke, Emma's eyes never left Kevin.

nShe wanted him to understand that instead of beating himself up for what had happened, it was better for him to pick himself up and mature.

nEven if took years for Kevin to recover from this, Emma wanted Kevin to use this incident as a reference point for his growth.

nShe wanted him to grow stronger. Strong enough to prevent any of this from happening.

n

"...I see

"

nKevin said after a brief moment of silence.

nStaring at Kevin, Emma was able to notice a subtle change in Kevin. Even though the sadness never disappeared, there was something else within that sadness.

nResolution.

nThe resolution to grow up and change.

nSeeing the change, Emma smiled beautifully.

n

"I'm glad you've picked yourself up.

" Emma extended her hand

"Let's go, it's time we say goodbye to him.

"

n

"Mhm.

"

nTaking her hand, Kevin stood up.

n***

nLaying on her bed as her hair scattered all over her pillow, Amanda blankly stared at the ceiling of her room.

nA couple of days had passed since the incident, and unbeknownst to anyone, she had already started packing up her stuff.

nShe was planning on leaving the academy soon.

nIf before it was about the guild. This time, her reason for leaving the academy was different.

n...it was because the academy reminded her of 'him'

nEverywhere she walked in the academy she would recall her conversations and memories with him.

nAlthough few, Amanda could vividly recall every single interaction she had with him. Even the small ones she had during class or around the campus.

nDespite having witnessed Ren's death right before her eyes, Amanda still couldn't quite grasp the situation.

nAt this point, she was almost numb to the pain of having someone in her life disappear.

nYes.

nImportant.

nIt was only after Amanda witnessed Ren's death, that she had realized her feelings for him.

n...she liked him.

nShe didn't know when, but at some point, she had started to long for him. Every day, a small part of her would look forward to the lectures, and classes. The ones that had him in it.

nJust the casual things he would do from cringing whenever the class attention was on him, or when he would randomly slap Kevin in the head to get a reaction out of him.

nAll of those moments were deeply etched inside of Amanda's mind.

nAt first, unfamiliar with this type of feeling, she couldn't quite grasp what she was feeling. But now she knew.

n...and the realization was a painful one.

nOne that once again shut her heart completely.

nTok, tok—

n

"Young Miss, it's time.

"

nDisrupting Amanda, was her attendant, Maxwell.

n

"The car is waiting for you downstairs.

n

"...I'm coming

"

nWeakly lifting her body up, Amanda responded.

nStaring at the neat black dress on her desk opposite to her, Amanda calmly walked up to it.

nIt was time for another goodbye.

n***

n—Click!

nDressed in black, Melissa closed the door behind her.

n

"...

"

nRight when she was about to leave, her footsteps halted. Turning around, she looked towards the room that was next to hers.

nBy now, the room was already empty. Everything that used to belong to Ren had already been taken by his parents a day prior.

n'...he's really gone, huh.'

nEver since meeting him, she had wished nothing but for him to die.

n...but now that he had actually died. She felt lost.

nPerhaps because she had never talked to anyone else but him, but his death hit Melissa harder than she had expected.

nThis caught her by surprise.

nFor the past few days, she wasn't able to focus like before. She made a lot more mistakes than she would've normally have done.

n

"Haa...

"

nClosing her eyes slightly, Melissa exhaled before muttering.

n

"Just what is wrong with me.

"

nTurning around, she left.

n***

nJuly 17th.

nTwo days after the tragic incident. It was a clear and sunny day in Ashton city. A day that completely contrasted the gloomy atmosphere that was revolving around the whole city.

nInside a funeral home.

n

"Waaaahh...Whaaaaa...

"

nSeveral people stood by the side of the room. A high-pitched wail echoed throughout the whole room as a young girl cried in front of a picture frame. Her eyes were red and snot fell from her nose. The scene was heartbreaking for anyone that was watching.

n

"Bwuddar!

"

nIt was Nola.

nNext to her, her mother and father tried their best to console her.

nBut.

n

"Waaaahh...Whaaaaa...

"

nNo matter, how hard they tried, the crying wouldn't stop. It was only after someone used a sleeping spell on her that she stopped crying.

nBy the side, Emma, Jin, Kevin, Amanda, Melissa, Leo, Ram, and Donna all stood by the side. Staring at Ren's picture in the middle of the room.

nAll people who Ren had influenced throughout his life.

nFor some he was a best friend, for others he was something else. A business partner, a student, a friend, and the person that changed their life.

nUnknowingly, unbeknownst to Ren, for better or for worse, he had influenced the life of every single person present in the room.

nListening to the funeral hymns, everyone lowered their head.

nFor the next thirty minutes or so, no one talked. They all mourned for Ren's death.

nOn this day, to the world, Ren Dover was officially dead.

n*

n

"Haaa...

"

nStaring at the blue sky, Kevin exhaled. With the funeral coming to an end, Kevin decided to go out to take a breath of fresh air.

nHis mind was a mess.

nDespite what Emma had told him moments prior to the funeral, Kevin still couldn't quite pick himself up. He knew better than anyone else what had happened that day.

nHad he not been so fixed with the idea of saving those eight people, and had directly left with Ren, none of this would've ever happened.

nThis thought alone was eating him up from inside.

n

"How are you holding up Kevin?

"

n

"Miss Longbern?

"

nDisrupting Kevin out of his thoughts, was a familiar voice. It was Donna.

n

"What are you doing here?

"

n

"I was looking for you.

"

n

"Me?

"

n'Why would Donna look for me? Did something happen?', Kevin wondered to himself.

n

"What do you need me for?

"

nAfter a bit of thought, Donna let out a soft sigh.

n

"...I think I know what may have resulted in Ren's death

"

n

"What!?

"

nShocked, Kevin's voice raised a few pitches.

nPutting her finger on her lips, Donna gestured for Kevin to lower his voice.

n

"Shhh...lower your voice.

"

n

"Ah, sorry.

"

nRealizing his mistake, Kevin apologized.

n

"...What do you have?

"

n

"Here, take a look at this.

"

nExtending her hand, a phone appeared on Donna's hand. Taking the phone, Kevin tilted his head to the side.

n

"A phone?

"

n

"Give me a second.

"

nPressing on the screen of the phone, a video appeared.

n

"Take a look and tell me if you've also noticed something strange.

"

n

"...sure.

"

nPressing onto the play button, Kevin played the video. In the video, Kevin saw Ren.

n

"Huh? What?

"

nMost shockingly, he was quite close to the exit of the dome. In fact, he was practically almost out. Furthermore, from the looks of it, he had a lot of spare time to get out.

n

"Just what—

"

nKevin abruptly stopped himself midsentence.

nThat was because he saw it.

nRight before Ren set his foot outside of the dome, he suddenly dissapeared. Replacing him was another youth. Kevin instantly recognized him. It was Aaron.

n

"W-what!?

"

nKevin's eyes opened widely. His mouth opened and closed repeatedly. He couldn't quite comprehend the situation. Did the video glitch or something?

n...but if it glitched, how come Ren suddenly appeared in the distance? This didn't make sense.

nHe then turned his attention back to Donna.

n

"What's this!?

"

n

"...As you can see. I suspect that Ren death's wasn't an accident.

"

n

"T-this...

"

nOnce again, replaying the video, Kevin's blood started to boil.

nHis breathing was slowly starting to get rough. A terrifying red hue slowly enveloped his body.

n

"Aaron!

"

nHe venomously spat as he stared at the youth in the video. The more he watched the video, the more he was convinced that he had something to do with Ren's death.

n

"Khhh...

"

n

"Kevin.

"

nUnbothered by Kevin's pressure, standing by the side, Donna calmly spoke.

n

"Kevin don't act recklessly. We still don't have enough proof

"

n

"What do you mean we don't have any proof? This is as clear as day that he was the one!

"

nKevin snapped.

nThe video alone was enough evidence to prove Aaron's guilt. What else did they need?

nStaring at Kevin, Donna shook her head.

n

"Unfortunately it's not enough. This could very well be due to some sort of lag in the video. With the bomb about to explode and everyone fleeing, such a thing can happen.

"

n

"Furthermore, even if we know that Aaron is the one who did it, we don't know how he did it. With his backing, we also can't do too much...

"

nThere were a lot of things that they needed to take into consideration when persecuting someone for a crime. In this day and age where all that mattered was a backing, with the pitiful amount of evidence they had, she couldn't see a way to get Aaron to face a trial.

n...they could also of course take matters into their own hand, and try to kill Aaron directly, but that would be far too risky at the moment.

nEspecially since he was now surrounded by bodyguards. Furthermore, if they found out it was them who killed Aaron, they would be in a lot of trouble.

nThey couldn't be reckless about this.

n

"So are we just going to let him walk away like that? Are we going to completely ignore the fact that he killed Ren!

"

nKevin raised his voice.

n

"Calm down Kevi—

"

n

"How can you tell me to calm down!

"

nAt this point, Kevin was practically shouting. The people around him were looking at him strangely, but he didn't care. His emotions were unstable.

n

"Please listen to me, Kevin

"

nDonna's eyes suddenly shone slightly.

nKevin, who was about to scream again, stopped.

n

"Haaa...haaa...

"

nGlaring at Donna, he took heavy breaths. A bitter smile appeared on Donna's face.

n

"Kevin listen to me carefully. I'm definitely not letting Aaron go that easily, that's for sure.

" Donna's voice suddenly turned grave.

"The only problem is his backing. It's not something that we can go up against at the moment.

"

n

"...So what should we do?

"

nCalming down a bit, Kevin softly asked.

nIf they couldn't do anything now, what could they do? Was there really no other option?

nStaring at Kevin for a good minute, Donna closed her eyes. After a while, seemingly having made up her mind, she said.

n

"...Join the union.

"

n

"The union? Wha—

"

n

"Please listen.

"

nDonna raised her hand and started explaining.

n

"If you want to truly make Aaron pay for his crimes, the best option would be for you to join the union. With your talent, joining the union shouldn't be a problem.

"

n

"Bu—

"

nRight as Kevin was about to say something, Donna once again cut him off.

n

"Let me finish...only with an organization like the union backing you can you enact your revenge. I've already talked to Monica, and she's willing to take you in right after you graduate.

"

n

"In the meantime, I'll help you grow to new heights and reach the top faster. Only when your truly strong will you have enough power to take revenge for Ren.

"

nAfter taking a lot of factors into consideration, Donna came up with this solution. It was the best solution she could think of for Kevin at the moment.

nWith the Union backing him, Kevin would be able to take his revenge without a problem. No one would dare to fight the union. Kevin also understood this point, hence why he wasn't talking.

nOriginally, Donna had tried to get Monica to do something, but her hands were tied. With the Monolith terrorist attack that had just happened, the Union was in a complete state of alert.

nAlmost all high-ranking members had been called back. Monica wasn't an expectation.

nShe was so busy that she couldn't even attend Ren's funeral.

n

"So...

"

nDonna paused. Looking at Kevin straight in the eyes, she asked.

n

"....Are you willing?

"

n