Chapter 19: Identity Crisis I

[ Identity Crisis I ]

Reward: 5 Inventory Slots, Anonymous Mask Piece #1

Introduce yourself as a different person with different names, personalities, and weapons to three people who knew you before. When a person is convinced, the quest will be updated and you shall make another persona for another person.

Allen stared at the quest panel in his interface. He knew he was planning to become anonymous while he conducts his Code collection, but he didn't know the system would support his decision.

If the other Primordial Beast Codes were like this too, it wasn't a wonder why the ther Bearers became overpowered in no time. In a span of almost two decades, they reached four worlds. It was almost two times the time it takes for a regular Hunter to do.

As for Allen, he was wondering how he could pull this quest off. In theory, the quest was easy. He only had to introduce himself to other people as someone else three times. But when he think about it thoroughly, he has to have different personalities three times, and he has to convince the person that way.

And to top it all off, he has to convince people who knew him before. Some would definitely see similarities between the new him and the old him. He might look different and might able to talk, but his actions were still the same Allen he used to be.

"How shall I pull this off?" Allen chuckled and shook his head. He was about to walk out of the alley and saw Kyle peeking out from the corner. "Hey!"

Kyle's eyes widened and his body retreated. Allen ran up to him to chase him down, but he stopped when Kyle walked inside the alley.

"Who are you?" Kyle asked. "It's odd how there are literally hundreds of Hunters here in the camp, but I always memorize the faces of everyone, even the new ones. Yet I haven't seen you before."

"I told you, I was just transferred–"

"And in your other camp, you didn't have a Skill Altar?" Kyle cut him off. "Silver Bow."

Kyle summoned his weapon. It was a bow made of pure silver that had a silver embedded string. It was a Rare grade Code that Kyle traded after they took down their second Rare grade beast.

Allen was there when the dark brown haired boy was grinning in joy after receiving his weapon. He was there and congratulated his ally, to which only gave him a half smile.

He was there in their brightest times, but they left him for dead.

In his mind, he wanted to return the favor. He opened his hands to summon his hammer when Kyle suddenly smiled.

"You're actually a newbie Hunter, right?" Kyle said. "You don't have to be afraid and act like you know everything if you don't."

"I…" Allen was about to disagree when he remembered his quest. Kyle knew him before, and the man practically finished the quest for him before he could introduce himself. "I'm sorry if I lied."

"Aww," Kyle cooed. He walked over to Allen and tapped the boy's shoulder. "We're about the same height, but I guess I'm still older, so call me big brother, okay?"

"Yes, big brother," Allen let out a fake relieved chuckle. He scratched the back of his head and pretended to be shy in front of Kyle.

"I'm already twenty-two, what about you?" Kyle asked. "Oh, but before that, what is your name?"

"My name is…" Allen trailed off. He has the tendency of being forgetful, so whatever he says here should be stuck inside his mind forever. He has to introduce himself with a name he will remember. "I'm Leandro Jones."

"I am Kyle Morgan," Kyle introduced and offered his hand. "Was I right about my assumption? Am I older?"

"I'm only nineteen," Allen lied once again, still keeping the shy kid act. "But they do say that I'm pretty tall for my age."

"You are quite tall," Kyle measured their height. "Only a few inches shorter than me, and I'm sure you'll still grow."

The two had continued their conversation in the cafe Allen left before Jake called him. He wanted to ask him about their group, but he was afraid he would get suspected by Kyle. The man was very perceptive among all of the ones he know. If this man would even get a whiff of his true self, he would be finished.

"Kyle!"

The boys snapped their heads to the door where two women were running to them. The two women were also familiar to Allen and he couldn't help but want to roll his eyes and scoff.

"Selena, Irene," Kyle stood and greeted his former group mates. "What are you two doing here?"

These two were the support and the mage of their group. Selena was a boost-type support who uses skill Codes to help her teammates, while Irene was the mage who uses her skill Codes to cast long-ranged magic damage.

Among all six of them, these three were the most synchronized. While Selena boosts their attacks, Kyle deals physical side while Irene deals the magic side. They were at the back lines dealing high level damage to the enemies, usually the ones who deals the most HP before their team captain, the fighter finishes off the beasts.

Allen was somewhat disappointed that he met the two in front of Kyle. Now, he couldn't make up a new identity for his quest. After all, he didn't know a lot of people in camp, so his attempts were limited.

"Guys, this is Leandro," Kyle introduced Allen's fake identity. "He's a newbie Hunter and I'm his big brother now."

Selena skipped to Allen's side and leaned in closer to him, "Blink twice if he's taking you as hostage."

"Hey!" Kyle pouted.

"You? Big brother?" Selena scoffed playfully. "Who would want that?"

Irene walked to the other side of Allen, "Is it hypnotism? Or did Kyle blackmail you?"

"You're both so mean," Kyle crossed his arms. "If you must know, I happened to have helped him in the Skill Altar as a good big brother should."

"You've really changed in a span of a week," Selena stood properly. "You miss him that much, don't you?"

"Selena," Irene warned. "Kyle, we know you're upset, but let's just accept that Allen's gone. He will never come back."

Allen's eyes widened. There was something about their conversation that made him feel odd. The atmosphere around them seemed to be tense and sad. All three of these people looked miserable.

Why are you sad? Allen asked in his mind. You left me alone. You should be celebrating! Why are all of you acting like this?!

"I'm sorry, I can't help it," Kyle dropped his arms and gave Allen a forced smile.

"I have to go," Allen stood. "I'm sorry, I just remembered that I needed to do something."

"Leandro, please wait," Kyle held his wrist but Allen pulled it back. "Where are you going?"

"To my room. My cat needs food," Allen said before leaving.

The three people he left behind looked at each other with questioning gazes.

"Since when was cats allowed in the camp?" Selena asked, to which the other two answered with a shrug.

Meanwhile, Allen walked out of the cafe and into a dark alley. He sighed and looked up the skies, trying to solve the questions in his head.

"Why were you sad?" Allen covered his face with his hands. "You should be celebrating, so why?"

"There you are."

Allen forced his feelings back and looked at where the voice came from. It was Philip and he was standing in the corner. "Have you forgotten our deal?"