Chapter 98: New Message

It was morning. 

The sky was gloomy. It looked like it was about to rain.

Rewen woke up. He remembered from last night that he hadn't had dinner and was quite hungry. 

"Rewen? Did you wake up?"

He was preparing to logout when he heard a familiar voice.

"I'm up, Mother. Do you need something?" Rewen's voice was bland.

"Listen, son. Forget about our talk from last night. I had an argument with one of my friends and wasn't feeling well…" Mrs. Klofar had an uneasy expression behind the door.

"It's fine. I never actually thought too deep about it. Anyways, I need to go now." 

"Rewe-"

He logged out.

***

7: 03 p.m.

He let out a mouthful of air as he took off his helmet. "I was better off not knowing that the closest person has been closest with me for a reason." Bitterly smiling, he decided to watch anime. He was in no mood to train. He wanted a good break from all of this.

Two hours later.

"Haa, to think he would really die. Deserving but I'm not satisfied." Just like this, Rewen realized the fascination in pre-apocalyptic Earth. "This is different from the anime I have watched."

[It's because what you watched isn't anime. They are animated series about a bunch of mages, fantasy and whatnot. The new Era tried creating the new phase of animation and failed miserably. They forgot that anime worked not necessarily because it was relatable but also as a medium of escapism. It used to be fun but the new Era ridiculously wanted to base it upon a particular and special niche.]

"I agree. Most anime I watched are based upon real-life settings where a person directly or indirectly gets into the world of magic. It's not bad but very bland and boring. This is also the reason why there are so few anime these days. Because it doesn't work anymore." Rewen didn't think too much and picked out another anime.

"Let's watch Code Geass. It has high ratings and used to be quite popular."

***

"Rewen, come for dinner." Cal's voice sounded from outside the room.

Rewen paused the video that was playing.

"I'm not hungry!"

"Stop the nonsense. Come out for dinner." If it was Denny, maybe he would have gotten away but not with Cal.

"..."

*Knock*

*Knock*

"Rewen?"

"Fuck, I'm coming." Rewen eventually gave up and went to the dining room.

***

"What's wrong, Rewen? Your face isn't looking good." 

"It's nothing."

Cal stared at the young man opposite to him and sighed. "Rewen, this isn't going to work. You have a serious condition. If you don't tell me if you are facing any problems, how am I going to help you?"

"Where were you in the past two years?" Rewen's mouth blurted out whatever he was thinking. He knew that while his predecessor was at fault not confronting about it, his legal guardian Cal was too preoccupied with his work that he failed to notice that the abnormalities he had was from interference.

"I'm sorry."

Rewen was vividly shocked by the unexpected apology. 'He actually apologized without making excuses?' He was completely speechless for a while. Finishing his dinner within a minute, he went back to his room.

His whole body trembled. A single tear slid down from his face. 'Huh? Why am I crying? Why am I so affected by the apology that I'm actually crying?'

He sat by the bed and stared blankly on the walls for over ten minutes. Slowly and gradually, a smile surfaced on his face. 'It was the remnant of my predecessor. Seems like when I inherited his memories, a soul remnant went along with the memories.

'He gave up on everyone except for Cal. Cal seems to be the only person that he cared about before he passed away. Why is it so? Because Cal has the closest family member to him. He was closer to him than his parents were. His middle school friends didn't bother to look too much into him because they had their own lives. Cal was the only one who even bothered to check up on him once in a while.

'My predecessor is quite a sad guy but I feel his emotions and respect him.'

Rewen also figured out his unstable emotions for Svety. It stemmed from the soul remnant. His predecessor hated her to his bones. In the beginning of their relationship, he was optimistic and hopeful. However, it all changed when he felt that she wasn't doing anything to prevent him from getting bullied despite having known of the fact that he had interference. 

'She isn't worth it.' Rewen sighed. It was quite ironic for him to say that because a few hours ago, he was risking his own life to save hers. He knew from the time he read the letter that an explosive that could destroy an entire city was nothing more than a joke. Svety was too conscious about her own life that she neglected logic and reasoning. Even so, Rewen decided to get involved in a behemoth-level organization because he was the one who got her involved.

He is a hypocrite, overconfident, quick-to-judge and many things but irresponsibility is not one of them. 

Because of his rash actions, not only does he have to take responsibility for endangering Svety's life but also Denny's. 'I'm never using [Missions to Doom] again.' He swore in his heart.

"Whatever, I'll just watch anime." On this day, Rewen became an extreme case of escapism with anime.

***

Just like that, he watched anime the entire night. When he looked at the time, he realized that he didn't have any time for breakfast. 

Wearing his uniform, he went to the Academy.

He didn't see any of his friends or Denny. 'They must have already gone.'

***

6th April, 4017. Saturday. 11:45 a.m.

4th Grade Training Ground.

---

MP: 100

---

[The Quest 'Starting Up'  has been successfully Completed!]

[Generating two random Purple-ranked Rank 0 skills…]

[Ding! The Host has received '[Grappling] (Elementary)' Skill Book! Would you like to learn it right now?]

[Yes] [No]

'I thought that the system would only give out the skill. To think that it would actually give a skill book, the system is being unusually generous.'  Without any hesitation, he tapped on 'Yes'. 

A second later, Rewen understood the skill. If he wanted, he could demonstrate it right now. That's how important and beneficial a skill book is. As soon as he was about to think about how and when he should use [Grappling], another notification rang in his ears.

[Ding! The Host has received '[Circuit]' Skill Book! Would you like to learn it right now?]

[Yes] [No]

'I don't know what it is but I do want it.' Rewen tapped on the ' Yes'.

"..."

"What are you staring like a fool for? You think you have all day to practice here?"

Rewen woke up from the daze through Instructor Venitt's voice. Looking at her annoyed expression, he wanted to tell that he had reached Rank 0 so bad but he managed to hold it in. 'I seem to have got on her bad side. I wonder if my marks will be affected?'

A few minutes later, the session ended.

---

MP: 104

---

Needless to say, Rewen was quite satisfied. He chatted with Zaplin and Vin until he saw Svety and went to the Central Canteen with her.

***

Central Canteen.

---

Greetings, Mr. Klofar.

Hope you have been in good health.

I had received word from my subordinates that you had managed to defeat the Squad I sent in quite a fashion.

For that, congratulations! Also, excuse me for not appearing in person or send my heartfelt congratulations earlier. 

Rejoice, you have passed your first hurdle. Your first hurdle had tested your unfamiliarity with life-and-death battle and throughout the battle, you grew. It made me very fascinated.

Unfortunately, your second hurdle won't be as simple as the first. Without spoiling anything, just use every single resource available to you to win.

Eh? Am I forgetting something? Ah yes, I didn't forget anything but as an upright man, let me reward you with something.

As far as I'm concerned, both your cousin and (ex-) girlfriend have explosives in their bodies. Those explosives are connected to a five-way remote. I won't completely destroy the remote but I can definitely destroy one of the connectors. Sounds good?

Enough chit-chat. Take a rest for today and tomorrow I'll send you the location and details of the next Squad.

Take care.

With regards, 

X.

---

Rewen read the entire message with a frown.

Seeing his expression, Svety felt the need to question. "Is something wrong?"

"No. I just had an unlikely thought related to this Mr. X."

"Is it because he seemed kinda generous? Don't be deceived by this, Rewen. Even if he did cut off one of the connectors, the city would still be in danger."

"I know that better than yourself. I'm… forget it, I'll see when the time comes. Drop me home."