Chapter 42: Consequences

"Teacher Aiya is on an emergency leave, so I'll be your stand-in teacher for the foreseeable future," said the male teacher who surprised the classroom with his entry.

Well, Hiro wasn't surprised, as Teacher Aiya's matters weren't something to be handled in a day or two. As the new teacher introduced himself, Hiro ignored him completely.

To Hiro, this teacher was just a background character with a limited presence in his life, and it wouldn't be long before he faded into obscurity once more.

Thus, he activated his {Go to School} option and zoned out, filtering out anything and everything that wasn't related to his studies.

…

"This can't go on, school is too boring," Hiro complained to Elvin in the cafeteria during their lunch break.

Elvin was too busy with his stomach and its needs for the moment, and so he didn't even bother with Hiro's usual complaints.

"Oh," Hiro suddenly recalled something and opened his bag, pulling out a rectangular box before passing it over to Elvin.

"Take this," he said, removing the wrappings to reveal the case of a high-quality smartphone.

Elvin was shocked and put his utensils aside as he looked at Hiro in disbelief. "What do you mean by 'take this'? Is this for me?"

Hiro rolled his eyes. "If not you, then who else? I've already secured my spot in our Soccer Club's Group B team, so I need someone to take photos and videos of me on the field."

Elvin was stunned. "You bought me a new phone just to take photos and videos of you playing soccer?"

He didn't believe it; he wouldn't believe it even if someone beat him to death.

However, Hiro didn't need Elvin to believe him. He didn't lack this bit of money.

Moreover, he truly felt that Elvin was rather pitiful.

He said, "Don't think that this job is easy. I'm telling you, you'll be my personal cameraman in the future when I do big things. For example, I'll be doing outdoor street soccer streams, and if I become an internet celebrity, you'll have to take the role of my manager; just take this as an upfront payment."

Of course, Hiro had no such plans. It was just an excuse to make the pill easier to swallow.

Elvin wasn't an idiot, and he quickly saw through Hiro's intentions. He was so excited his face flushed red, but he was still hesitant to accept it.

It took a lot of persuasion on Hiro's side before Elvin finally nodded his head and took the case. He started unboxing the phone right there and then.

Everything was included inside the packaging, including a SIM card.

After spending the remaining time of the lunch break configuring the operating system of the phone, Elvin downloaded the iMessage app, registered an account, and immediately added Hiro as his first friend.

Hiro accepted gladly, relishing the addition of five achievement points. With that out of the way, both of them returned to class in a brighter mood when the bell chimed.

Elvin didn't even care that he hadn't gotten the opportunity to finish his meal; he was busy downloading his favorite games.

Well, they were Marcus' favorite games, but Elvin had no choice but to play the same games as that dude, which ultimately led to them both liking the same genre of games.

The rest of the school day proceeded normally, and in no time at all, it was time for the club activities.

Hiro was looking forward to the club's activity today since he got his wingman on his side for the day, but something unexpected happened.

Well, Hiro should have expected it to happen when three upperclassmen from the sophomore year approached him.

They 'politely' asked Hiro to follow them back to someplace, and for convenience, they showed him a photo.

Yup, it was a picture of Hiro and Teacher Aiya standing under her apartment building on the street.

"You've really picked the right time and place to act," Hiro looked around. At the moment, those who hadn't left school yet were probably busy with their respective club activities.

Hiro expected a backlash from getting involved in Teacher Aiya's matters, but he hadn't expected to reel in some delinquents in his net.

Hiro smiled. "I wonder, it doesn't seem like this matter has Broski behind it, so who is your master?"

One of the three yelled in a low voice, taking a threatening step forward. "Don't talk too much! Just follow us obediently, little guy."

Hiro gave him the side eye, not bothering to respond at all. Observing his silence, the leader of the group frowned and said, "Must we drag you there by force? It won't look pretty, it won't feel pretty, and it definitely won't leave you looking pretty. Think twice."

Hiro looked up and said dismissively, "You're not worthy."

"You…"

The hot-tempered guy lashed out with his eyes wide open, but before he could act, Hiro's left hand reached for his scalp, grabbed a tuff of his hair, and pulled his head down at a speed he couldn't react to.

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Two heads collided, and while Hiro's hairstyle was a little ruffled up, the upperclassman's eyes shook and rolled back before he slumped to the ground, unconscious and drooling.

Hiro had to regulate his strength so as not to cause any fractures or leave an open wound, but the guy wouldn't wake up for a couple of hours.

The other two were shocked speechless for a moment. Then, the leader of the group creased his brows and looked at Hiro warily.

"You don't know what trouble you've got yourself into, you should have just tagged along obediently. Do you really think Rosaline and Bella can protect you in this school if some people want you hurting?"

Hiro scoffed and responded with the same, indifferent line, "Who do you think you are? Threatening me? Are you worthy?"

Even as he spoke, Hiro moved closer to the two sophomore upperclassmen. At that moment, his aura was off the charts, and he didn't seem to care about them at all.

"Move aside or you'll end up like him," Hiro spoke lightly, then moved through the gap between the two, deliberately bumping shoulders and sending them back a few steps.

It was a blatant display of strength.

They gritted their teeth.

"Hiro, is it? Just obediently wait for death to come, little guy."

"This isn't over yet, little guy. You deserve whatever is coming your way, there's be no room for regret once this is over."

…

Hiro ignored their words, but he was feeling very good inside. Aiming for Broski at the moment might be too far-fetched a fantasy, but that didn't mean he couldn't break down other, smaller groups.

As he thought about it, he pulled out his phone and sent a message to Arabella, asking her to buy a nightclub and leave the General Manager's spot vacant.

He already had a candidate in mind for that position, which was naturally Natali.

After sending the message, Hiro went to the male's locker room to change into his sports outfit.

"Eh? Am I that late?" Hiro noticed that there wasn't a soul to be spotted in the locker room when he entered.

Hiro's brows creased. "That's not right, the lockers were barely touched, let alone opened… Weird, is today's activity canceled?"

As Hiro was muttering to himself, he heard the door creaking open from down the hallway, accompanied by ridicule and laughter.

"Haha, it's so satisfying to have blackmail material on your teacher. They can't even say a word even if you beat 'em half to death."

"It all depends on what blackmail you have on what person. If the humiliation is much greater than the backlash from the blackmail, then you're asking for trouble."

"Don't worry, if Tobby thinks it's blackmail material, then it's definitely something diabolical. What a pity, we were so close to getting our hands on some Aiya blackmail stuff, that woman is a fine piece."

"It's all that freshman's fault; he really thinks he's all that just because he's some handsome nerd with soccer skills. Let's see how he plays after we break his legs."

"Hahaha!"

"Hahaha!"

"Hahaha!"

…

Hiro understood. It seems like they forced the coach to cancel today's activities just to deal with his matter.

After figuring out the situation, Hiro brought up his left wrist and said, "Connect to the surveillance cameras and every electronic device in this building to censor all recording features."

A synthesized female voice responded, "Done!"

Then, Hiro dragged a steel chair to place it in the middle of the room, crossed one leg over the other, and clasped his hands with his fingers interlocking.

He patiently waited, but he didn't have to wait so long. The laughter was getting closer and closer.

Soon, a group of thirteen people entered the locker room, some carrying metal pipes, pliers, wooden bats, and ropes.

The boy following right after the one in the lead was the upperclassman who intercepted Hiro's way earlier, and he silently made a throat-cutting gesture at Hiro.

Hiro smirked; instead of replying, he simply moved his lips to mouth the words.

Are you worthy?