Jake woke up in a dark capsule.
Its lid immediately opened upon sensing him blinking.
The scene of the theater parted like a curtain before him. The lights momentarily stunned Jake, and then he looked up at the people cheering at him.
"That was awesome, Joker!"
"That eight-arrow release was epic!"
"You defeated two favorites alone!"
Various people cheered at him in broken English. Most, if not everyone, were hyped about his battles and performance, wishing him a good career in the esports scene.
Although Jake accepted all compliments and waved back at the crowd, he focused more on searching Meredith's capsule.
She lay still in her capsule, staring at the crowd absentmindedly.
It seemed there was much going on through her mind, so much that she hadn't raised her upper body and just comfortably nested herself in her capsule.
She quickly put on her confident expression and peeked out of her capsule. After waving at the crowd, Meredith noticed Jake gazing at her.
She looked away and hopped out of her nest.
Meredith did a curtsy to the crowd before leaving the scene.
Jake quickly followed her example. He bowed like in The Seventh Division's Tournament and ran after the woman he'd confessed to.
It was quite disrespectful to his teammates, as the tournament was still ongoing.
Jake, however, believed that they'd understand him.
Running through a corridor, Jake was about to call out Meredith.
Alas, she entered the female toilet.
It was a sacred place no man could enter!
A staff member was also present to watch for anything indecent. She curtly eyed Jake before shifting her stare from him.
Jake leaned onto the wall.
Meredith's complex was her chest.
It shaped her into a woman she was never meant to be, as ever since middle school, girls would be jealous of her, and boys would treat her as nothing but a girl with a huge chest.
At first, she tried to show her true self, to no avail. Everyone called her fake.
In later months, she turned distant and unapproachable.
Her development didn't stop as Meredith came to terms with her fate. At that point, she was assertive and detached from the world around her, with a little window open for anyone to enter her world.
Her obsession with history was another weakness, but even that was too much for others to handle.
Nonetheless, Meredith was at the point where she would stop anyone from bothering her with a simple stare. Her glare was also something else. She was far from a woman who would get swayed by others and their opinion about her.
She comported herself with such confidence that becoming closer to her was like wanting a moon.
Knock! Knock!
"Miss Meredith... I'm just checking on you," a female staff member entered the toilet only to gasp. "You're crying! Is it because of that man outside?!"
"I'm crying?" Meredith asked.
She raised her head and looked at herself in the window. Streaks flowed down on her cheeks.
"W-Who is outside?!" Meredith asked in a hurry.
When she learned about a black-haired man with green eyes, Meredith instinctively opened her purse and took out a little make-up bag.
She fixed everything, including her red eyes.
She inhaled deeply before leaving the toilet.
She went past the worried staff member. "Thank you for your concerns."
Outside, the situation had significantly changed.
It wasn't just Jake waiting for her, but also Triple M. These two didn't say even a word, but there was a palpable tension between them. If these two looked into each other's eyes, a lightning streak surely would pop off between them!
Meredith remained indifferent. She stared at them like she usually would.
Inwardly, however, her voice was loud. 'I want to go home!'