Chapter 1: Confusing Mysteries After Triumph

  The final matchup begins in District Nine, at the District 9 tournament; my teammates and I are on the school’s soccer team bus, running to the tournament. This final tournament is crucial because it has this nice cup. However, getting the cup is a difficult journey, because many schools have their star players, various and excellent in terms of skills, I’ve witnessed a lot to bring up that statement. This year is the final year for my third-year elders because it is their last year as high schoolers, they’ve put much effort and love into soccer, it is proven through how eager and excited they are after school time, also, it is the reason why my school started investing more in soccer, and began to open more opportunities with different tournaments. As many matches went on, my elders were the ones who made the school famous until this day started to show their appearance in front of the audience, their talents have bloomed to the point that they are very eye-catching.

  Days passed, and I strangely have witnessed this alone, my elders have been getting weaker and weaker, not like being absorbed, but like they are not as good as before I joined. It made me ask myself about my existence, “Is it my visible form that makes people…No it can’t be, it is too dreamy.” I grimaced after the despicable and contempt thought. Still, my elders had been getting straight bad days for a year…

  Anyway, the honk had whistled, the first string, the strongest lineup in my school had the players going out on the main field. First, both sides have to stand on the horizontal line, where the position of the ball is in the middle of the line. Then, the referee started lecturing rules to us, which we already knew. After explanations, the kickoff started, and the first side to claim the ball was my team. The passes were given without getting tackled, I sat on the bench observing the play gives me feelings of satisfaction, matches from my elders are always eye-catching to watch, they play aggressive and smart, adding up to that is their talents such as power, speed, and others.

  I didn’t have a chance to get in, I stood on the field several times but those were not satisfactory matches because those times when I got the ball, I messed up, I dribbled and got stolen, shots got blocked, the negative thoughts started blending in, messing up my mind. My mindset is so bad, that I always think of how people would react with their behaviors and facial expressions. Also, I would think of bad results which ultimately crush my best. Therefore, I thought a lot but didn’t take action, which is why my muscle memory is not well trained to have me in a good state. My mind has much to say, it is dispersed, not in a straight order, and I don’t have anyone to share my true beliefs and thoughts with.

  The opponent’s team is full of star players, very famous, still, they don’t have the chance to bear anything to my team, we are on another level, that’s why my school is called the best for a reason. The match was not completely on one side, the other’s team had speed, physical, and shot power. It is something you see every day in nationals, the players appeared strong in a variety of aspects, and a genius would be called a monster. Unfortunately, my team has genius players, they are exceptionally outstanding.

  I looked at the bench beside me, the substitute players were sitting just like me, hoping for a chance to get in the match. We are on the second string of the team, lower than the first string about skills, not intelligence probably. I trained hard but the result is a hard worker cannot beat a genius, therefore I am staying in the second strand. Not stopping there, I continued training, hilariously, I felt the “monsters” wouldn’t just keep evolving, so I stepped out and thought, “I should train on positioning and scoring, most importantly, dribbling”, to get a pass, I must find a good position. However, I may not have a chance to play on the field.

  Sighing, I take out my phone and click on the game that I usually enjoy…

  "STOP!"

  The whistle blew simultaneously with the word spoken out loud. I took a look to acknowledge what's going on.

  "AH! MY LEG!"

  It was a player got fouled so hard,

  One of the guys in my team stepped up to bash the fouler, he said.

  “What is the problem with you?”

  “I want to win.”

  “Oh, you want to win? Look at what you've done to our teammate, dumbass! Your dirty tricks are nothing but result you in losing this game, I swear to you.”

  The conversation was kind of weird to be honest. Nevermind, I think the guy was just heated, he was desperately striving for the win, but in a...violent way. it was exaggerated to the point that his actions are now resulted in him having a red card. Just what it was, the guy was suspended.

  Then, an actual fight began. The guy who fouled couldn't take the insults and the fact that he was taken out, at that point, he was going to cause another issue, his rage bursted and out of the blue, jumped at the guy who was speaking words to him. When that happened, the stadium was full of people started to yell, supporting the fight between them.

  The coaches must have to interrupt to stop the fight, the guy was fortunate to not have any serious bruises or injuries.Then, both sides started to apologize each other and swore to not play like that again. Meanwhile, an ambulance came, the injured person was put on a soft black leather sheet, and people gently brought him to the ambulance. I was staring and feeling sorry for him since it was his last match, I did not want to take this as an advantage. The coach will decide which player is going to play. The coach said the name out loud, and I couldn’t believe it.

  “Hey, Kinter, you are going to play this role for him”

  “Yes! Coach” is all I responded to a fortune that was given to me.

  I will play a midfielder, an important role in a team. The midfielder has the role of giving passes and dribbling to the opponent’s side.

  “Kinter, quick!”

  I have to go out on the field and start playing…I went out and randomly looked back at the coach. “!?”, dusts were flying in the air in front of the coach. “What is that ?” I thought, left me with an unfathomable feeling on the field.

  "What did I just see? My eyes must have deceived me."

  They were glowing in yellow color. After a moment, they disappeared like they have never been here before. No one seemed to know about it, especially the coach. The phenomenom was in front of his eyes, how couldn't he see it?

  "My mind is imagining things." This was not my first time of having those observations.

  I tried to forget what I saw and marked it as an imaginable thing from my mind, it was just that my mind is not very clear today. I thought I have an disorder or illness, something like schizophrenia because this type of illness lead to the individual having visuals of something beyond understanding. Or is it something else but not in a negative way? In a way that its mechanism is what it took place.

  At that time, the thought that replenished the question was popped up. However, that was the thing that I can't believe it's true, it was impossible for something like that to happen.

  ***

  The ball was thrown to me by my teammate on the line. As a midfielder, I started to look around for an opportunity, looking for a pass or I would dribble and wait for my teammates to get in a good position…

  “Give your everything, you fucking bastard”

  A voice from nowhere sounded so clear and big, but no one on the field said that.

  “Huh!? What the hell?”

  What did it want? And what it said was really pointing at my heart. More importantly, who was the one saying?

  "No, it can't be. Something like that could never happen in real life."

  I was thinking of the one possibility to explain what was happening at that time. It was only one answer to these---It was some kind of novel stuff, which is involving fantasy, unreal characters and imagining places.

  "I am the one who gave you orders to motivate up!"

  "!?"

  It was something, something was speaking to me, I don't think like this at all! Was I thinking stuff or was something inside me...communicating to me?

  "Yes! I want you to keep your head straight and be confident in what you thought!"

  I can't really tell if I was self-portrait or something novel was actually speaking to me.

  What it was speaking, was it metaphoring the things I need to do right now? Is it saying that I need to be confident in my playmaking decisions?

  I think I was right at it, the thing it wanted me to do must be trusting in myself, and it's relevant to what I am doing now. Yup, I do not want to underestimate myself anymore, how long was it since I can't play with joy and always think negatively? I must rebel! That fragment of my head was the reason holding me down. The big chance was given to me right here, the chance to stand on the field with geniuses. I must take it and fulfill it to its finest. This is the time I need to change myself for once and forever!

  So instead of passing, I'll go for it, which is leading myself to the goal post and score a banger.

  “Kinter! Pass! I'm right here!”

  “Is he going for it himself?”

  “Do something!”

  All of them are silent after their confusion and remarkable toward my actions.

  That is right. I will take this path alone to the opponent’s net, I alone will shine...for myself. Multi-choices burst out of my brain, giving me a lot of ways to defeat any defenders on this field. Oh, a guy came up to me right away, just as I expected. It was just a common behavior for which the attacker was attacking.

  “Is this your first time playing? Everyone seems to have the face of amazement and confusion when you're here. And, there are many open players. Are you really going alone for real?”

  Not my first time on the field, but my first time playing for myself once for real.

  “Nope but you could be right. I don't want to be cocky but if I don't change this current 'me' then I won't progress.”

  "Oh, are you a talent learner? You are a player who constantly seeking weaknesses, spots and mistakes to improve. These kind of players usually are the ones who are smart and having good field vision."

  What's with his deal with all his reading his opponents!? He's just saying out what I am! I was reminded that this is nationals, these kind of people are here for a reason.

  "Yeah, but sorry to interrupt. I need to get past you now."

  "Bring it on!"

  Pulling a crossing right toward my defender to go right, as regarded it was left for my defender. I was about to surpass him, he tucked his leg out to tackle the ball.

  “!?”

  He's a moderate defender I supposed, it's just common. Immediately, I pulled a La Croqueta, passing my defender. I thought I went by him but then he reached himself enough to nearly tackle the ball.

  However, I knew he would do this. I nutmegged him and went through him this time. I used my head because it is the most useful thing in a battle with geniuses. However, On daily, I always use my head so it's not a big deal.

  Then, the next obstacles came up…

  Two guys were running toward me, it will be often that one guy or two guys going straight up to cover the other person after making a mistake or getting went by. I nodded my head, surely this is a common challenge for strikers. First, I noticed that the situation was not separate from a person on a person, it was two guys on a person, which meant I had to straight up going for a fight with two guys, going in for the steal.

  They were very fast. They went to pressure me, so I used my arm to keep a distance from one guy. Another one was overlapping, he was going around and trying to steal in the back at which the ball was raw.

  Quickening, I pulled the ball back and kicked it with inside foot. The ball was rolling on the line as I simultaneously did a spin move, so fast that the guy I was keeping a distance couldn't react in time. If I was a bit slower, he would use his body to block me from going to the ball, and then I would lose my possession.

  "He's good!"

  Wow! My heart is racing! unbelievable. My decision-making isn't bad, it's just my fear of getting judgements, and now it's gone. I don't know how but I don't care what they say to me anymore. It might be that my concentration was pouring into it, my soul was really admitted to it. It's like "flow" I watched from that show.

  I was so delighted to get past them. The goal post is very close right now, there were only three defenders left.

  A defender who I just left catched up to me. He was going for me by my side. His pose changed as he gradually fell with one leg tugging out.

  He was going for the slide tackle.

  I juggled the ball up over the guy’s top. This time, I really left him behind.

  After I got through him, I could hear everyone cheering for me and opponents screaming out "STOP HIM!". All the attention dispersed all over, now, it's all pouring into me, my existence.

  “Keep going! Keep going!”

  “Go!”

  I have to continue, I cannot stop the feeling which is excitedly pouring into my body. In front of me, there are three cornerbacks left.

  “You cannot surpass us, we are the final walls.”

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Who said I am going to surpass you ?”

  “Huh!?”

  Fooling him, I posed a shooting posture. Thinking I was going for a shot, he ran all his might to make the last action, stopping the ball. I faked my shot, he was sliding as I went for the right.

  “No, it can’t be!”

  “Stop right there!”

  I stepped into the forbidden zone, this is where I would have a guarantee of ninety percent of scoring a goal. They were going for me, of course, or it would be an easy goal. Unfortunately, I shot the ball with my left leg the moment I surpassed the cornerback I faced, making them look at the ball with an expression of despair.

  The ball was out of reach, the other two cornerbacks could not block the shot. The ball was curling from the right side of the front net, it hit the post then it bounced into the top right corner. Scoring an unbelievable goal, determined the final score that is five to four. My teammates and the audience yelled in harmony, so loud that I could not even bear the sound, it almost broke the barrier of my ears. After getting patted by my teammates, I and my team started to clap hands with the other team, saying something nice to the other team such as you can get it next year, you can get it next time. I was the one told to lift the cup, no hesitation, I accepted and lifted the cup as high as I could. This was my first time lifting the cup, I was really really happy, I cried because this is my first time to bear such happiness and shock from what I've just done.

  “Great job, my vessel. This is what you really are”

  “Huh!?”

  The voice appeared and said something seemingly nonsense to me, vessel? It sounded like something lurking on your body and it chose you to be its master or a puppet, waiting for the day to destroy and take your body or wanting to cooperate. I do not know, I read many mangas, and some manga have the details that seem relevant. Anyway, the voice did not say anything from that day after a week when I came back to school.

  * * *

  I am walking on the floor, the path, leading to my classroom. Hearing everyone talking about me, especially the girls, it looked like they were saying something nice to me since their reactions said it all. I knew the performance that day was impeccable, there was nothing to complain about. But I feel very shy because I do not like attention, I do not want people looking at me like they expect me to do some sort of thing to relieve them, or I was thinking negatively. This trait has been magnetizing to me for a long time, it is time to get used to this as things are starting to change since the football event.

  I went into the classroom, and the thing that got me looking was my friends chattering about a newspaper, held by Pew, a chill guy, also, the guy who always brings up information he gathered to tell us, he knows everything in my school because he has learned at this school for seven years. I respect Pew for his curiosity and mild personality, he would often be the one to free the conflicts if an argument broke out. He was holding the newspaper, saying something to the other two.

  Fevis is an introverted person, he was watching the other two talking while he was standing looking at the newspaper held by Pew. Fevis is the type of person who makes the atmosphere seem boring because he is quiet every time he is in the squad, he speaks randomly, surprising us, thus we cannot know when he talks. I would guess his speeches by looking at his emotions from his expressions, which gave me an idea of when he talks. He would speak if there is something seems wrong, also, when things are looking nice, he starts to compliment “beautiful” and many other words to describe the scenes. Despite being quiet around us, I recognized him as a “good” friend due to his personality, generous, kind, and friendly, with the reasons listed, I do not hate him.

  Yusuke, a Japanese dude, transferred to the school last year, meaning, he has learned at the school for one year. He is funny and kind, commonly, it is always the foreigners who are hilarious and talkative. He was talking to Pew about the newspaper, I heard some of the compact words, “A stone with supernatural habitant in it? Haha, this is insane if it was real…” saying something like that…

  Wait, the stone has a supernatural habitant? What the hell? This is getting more fiction than I thought. Compelling my mouth shut for the amusing information, I walked toward them, trying to add something to the joke. This must be Pew’s curiosity again, I knew it because sometimes Pew will make jokes by showing fake news to us, Usually, it cannot happen and is casually humorous. “Yo, what is it you guys are talking about? I heard you guys are talking about a…”

  “Joke, I knew it” Fevis applauded, disrupting my last sentence

  “Oh did Fevis just speak? What made you speak can you tell?” Yusuke asked in surprised

  “No, I was answering to Kinter, just it.”

  “Kinter, Kinter, check this out, look at this news.” Pew eagerly waved his hand to me.

  “...”

  Holding the paper in hand, I was reading the news as I started to feel like I was living in a manga world. The text was written by the famous newspaper Kuseley producer, always giving reliable information, the text will be deleted immediately after if it is considered fake news. Right here, the newspaper I am holding cannot be mistaken, it was approved to be posted. The text was this “Wandering in Zalek, a place full of rough stones and blue rivers flowing. Our search continues to the point where we find a destination on this new land we discovered. We have found a huge statue made from rough stones, a wonderful sculpture made in the middle of nowhere. It started to get blurred, and we gained the information that the statue will start to transform into a person varies from person, analyzing simpler, the statue changed its form to look like the person looking at it. The pedestal below the statue has a square sign carved in the middle, showing a circle of seven sins, pride, wrath, envy, sloth, greed, gluttony, and lust. At the center, it showed four dots connecting through the center, two lines intersected at the center, giving it a x-cross image. Underneath, the sign is a board with small words “Instinct should be discovered and preserved for the right person, the center is the original as it tells where everything begins…” I stopped reading, Feeling interested. Then, I woke up from my unconscious mind, being conscious, I put the interesting in the back, giving comments.

  “This cannot be real, a whole new mystery was discovered on this planet, I think this is just a starting point of an upcoming apocalypse…I do not feel right about this.”

  “Well, people could find a way to prevent it from happening; they have not found anything that could be harmful.” Pew nodded and spoke with a regular low tone about the phenomenon.

  “Let me guess this, seven sins shown symbolize humans, which means something lurking might know about human nature. In other words, humans are disgusting in their eyes, possibly preparing for an exorcism. That means we might get cooked.” Yusuke said

  If an exorcism happens, then the world is going to finish since people do not have anything to insist against magical attacks, therefore, an awakening would grant people supernatural power to fight back, it is just to balance. If humans do not appear to have any superpowers, then the world of fiction cannot happen, its universe and plot will collapse because, in the end, humans are always the winner. This is common in fictional and fantasy books, where imagination is the main point in building up a world or creating a mystery out of nowhere and was just discovered recently. In conclusion, this is where I am living in, a fantasy world.

  “I am wondering about the word “instinct” written on the board. What is it about?” Fevis got into the conversation

  I do not know anything about the “instinct” it was saying. A superb theory popped up in my head. To explain what I mean, through generations, we humans learn things, saved into our DNA, an “Instinct” to protect and do things without thinking. Everyone is distinguished from each other, and what we usually do will imply our “instinct” which generations would claim, doing bad things could be saved, therefore the statute represents the cure of purity and clearness, wanting to save those who are cleansed.

  While I was thinking, I also heard a mixture of waving and vibration sounds flowing in my stomach. It was loud and noisy, making me stumble. It seems I was the only person who heard the noise.

  The bell started to ring as it told the class had started. Me, Fevis, Yusuke, and Pew left the newspaper behind. Focusing on the lessons, I was able to forget everything, sitting for hours. Having a lecture about Polymer, I worried I would not learn it well for the semester test which is four months later. Anxious and anxious about the test rather than folklore-like…

  ***

  “The lesson was hard, I am scared I cannot keep up next topics.”

  “Do not worry, we have Fevis, he will teach it for you.” Yusuke sighed after eating his full big course lunch.

  burped by Pew “Yeah, is it obvious?”

  “Pew, You should watch your manners when eating. Also, I do not have much time to teach you guys one by one. You guys should learn the habit of self-learning.” Fevis complained

  “Well, it is easier to learn without looking at the screen. Focusing too much on that makes my eyes droop.”

  “Then ask the teacher!” Fevis was arguing with toughness

  “That is the point. The chemistry teacher explains the concept too complicated for us to understand,” Pew said. Yusuke nodded, showing he had the same opinion.

  “Haizz, you guys always find ways to persuade me and I always fall for it. Damn it!” Fevis grunted

  “Come on, we have been friends for two years now, we can classify ourselves as bros,” Yusuke said

  “What Yusuke said is not wrong, brothers should help each other in difficult circumstances,” Pew added

  “Alright…Come to my house on Saturday morning.” Fevis claimed the loss and decided to help

  “Thank you! You are my savior!” I, Yusuke, and Pew said together.

  A spacious silence occurred. We were looking at each other like we had found something awkward.

  Me, Yusuke, and Pew said in melody

  “Fevis, you started to speak more!”

  “Yeah, I knew, I wanted to be affable. I want to speak more about my opinions.” Fevis responded

  “Just be it, we love this change of yours. Sharing will enable us to understand each other more.” Yusuke giggled with his eyes closed. I and Pew had a jubilant facial expression, agreeing with Yusuke.

  At this point, we completely forgot about the newspaper article. We had the usual chat every day in the school cafeteria. Having a friendship like this makes me melancholy, and I am scared that one day, we will not see each other again.

  My friends went back to class and I went into the library. Knowing I read books, so they do not say anything. Well, the first we met, I was always in the library, they got used to seeing me going to the library after lunch, whenever I had time, I would go to the library just to read books.

  Going into the library, as usual, eyes looked at me but I was already used to it. Opening a book named Harry Potter And The Sorcery Stone, I started to read, and I could hear the people talking, having a space in their sentences, making me feel disrupted and disturbing my reading flow, However, I got used to it after two years. Currently, I am invulnerable to my weaknesses. Reading through the fiction, I asked myself about the parallel worlds. Is there any chance to link the universes together? The universe I am living in is a fantasy world, using my assuming head, there must be a universe with no strange things as my verse. I want to live in a world with no battles, I do not want to survive in chaos. The characters in fictional stories must have thought the same if the world was peaceful, creating the world by killing the evil.

  After reading the book for straight minutes, I picked my head up to look around.

  “!?”

  I saw dust, with a large amount of it traveling in the air. I could see the dust carrying a charge that looked like an atom. Several of them carry a positive charge and the opposing went for the rest. “What the?... My eyes must have got a disease, I should go to the school’s medical clinic. After telling me that, winked again, and the cloud of dust disappeared. “What is the actual fuck happening to me these days?” Seeing nothing unusual again, I ignored what I saw, assuming I was just imagining.

  The bell rang, I closed my book and went back to the classroom for the next period. This period was a self-learning, me, Yusuke, Fevis, and Pew gathered. I asked Fevis about composite materials, I noted some of the common materials. Yusuke was solving math problems for the test he did not take last week, in the next period, he will go to another class to take the test. Pew was scrolling his phone. After I understood the composite materials and started to solve questions, Pew got our attention by speaking up.

  “Guys, there are more information updates about Zalek.”

  “Oh, I completely forgot, so what is the news?” I raised my head

  “They discovered a new profound. A gigantic pile of stones mesmerized them. Digging into it, they found a flat stone. It had a symbol of a crystal carved in the middle. The atmosphere inside was packed with energy. They felt contempt that it was their weak mind, but no, with the senses of humans, they recognized the magical power stacking in this environment. Discovering the paranormal, they immediately knew the crystal must have power, it was assumed, teleportation since there were no signs of discovery in this place yet.” Pew briefly unpacked.

  “Now this is ominous,” Yusuke interjected while he was solving his last question.

  “I guarantee this must be some kind of plot relating to monsters taking over the world,” I sighed

  “Kinter, you read so much fiction. Well, it could be since the details are similar to the stories. Also, do not forget that we have not discovered everything on the planet yet. So, it was a new mystery discovered to us. However, it showed no sign of existing, meaning it could already be extinct.” Fevis made his point.

  “Yup, do not worry, it showed no sign of living as what Fevis said. I was wondering about species that could be living there.” I spoke.

  “Oh ya, what kind of species could already have been living there? I think we will know after they have found the fossils.” Pew spoke.

  “It could have forms of dinosaurs. It is most likely dangerous animals. Luckily, it was already extinct or else we would already die. You guys know what I mean.”

  Yes. Me, Yusuke, and Fevis knew what it meant. If it is still staying alive, an incursion must have broken out due to flying figures, or civilization was built there, living and using the privileges of its place. There could be a species that looks like humans. If it had intelligence, I could imagine how powerful it is and humans would have to be extremely difficult to fight against something like that…

  Have not noticed the others were talking about the the same topic. I heard another group was chit-chatting about it sincerely, showing the news has gotten to many people. Zalek, is a new place with strangeness going on all over, what could it mean about the signs and symbols? What exactly did it know about humanity? The answer will be given by the geologists.

  The bell rang, mentioning that another period had begun. We went back to our main seat and started listening to the geography teacher. She asked us about the new place that has been discussed these days. She said if people fully analyze Zalek, there could be special resources that are very valuable. If it is what I imagined, the resources should be harder than diamonds and have better traits than normal metals such as better electricity conducting, high-heat capacity, or everlasting energy, which is very overpowered if we have it. To have it, an awakening must have happened because no ordinary logic which already rooted in us may be able to mine the sediments. A superpower given to people is common sense.

  The class ended. A whole day of learning ended in peace, no one can argue about it as well as I am. I had club time, it was playing soccer. Meeting my teammates again, it was great that today they played amazingly, it was not like the previous days, from the football event, I can tell everyone has been improving their skills. The injured midfielder came up to me, his name is Jin, and he apologized to me for having me penetrate his position. I smiled and said I felt nice to be myself again, I thanked him for letting me fulfill the role, or I would not have had a chance to control, machiavellian, myself.

  After the hardest exercise the coach gave to my team, a break was given, I went to buy drinks from an automatic machine. Coincidently, Pew and Fevis were walking together in the lobby, they were learning marketing, and it was chosen to be their club time. I think they will become entrepreneurs in the future. Wait, why did I keep thinking about my friends? I guess it was my trait, both positive and negative.

  Accompanied by the coincidence, too. Pew and Fevis went toward me as I was walking toward them. This was the first time they were fortunate to meet in club time. My club is always later than other clubs, the practice would go straight for hours, it would have been noon and the sky was dark so we would have started to end. The coach also gives us stretching exercises after practice, thus it is impossible to meet my friends. Today, the course was short but very difficult, so my team was granted five minutes to rest.

  Going to greet…

  “!?”

  I was trembling, my mind started to spin around deviously. Getting in a state that looked like a seizure. Vomiting, eyes got blurred, glimpses of Pew and Fevis were fading away and asking “What is happening to you, Kinter?”. No, I was losing my mind, wanting to rely on something for an explanation of the phenomenon going on inside me. I was clutching, resisting the urge of something inside me trying to take me away from the present, bringing me into an illusion.

  “How dare you try to resist your nature, huh ?”

  “You, who are you really? What exactly do you want from me? You have been bothering me a lot since that football event. Tell me who are you? Lurking inside my body like that…” inner conversation between Kinter and the voice.

  “I am your “instinct”, I chose you for my vessel because of your purity and circumstances,” the figure interjected

  “Not only that, you are very strong, capable of being something that I foresaw. Hahaha.”

  “Stop! I am not what you were expecting. Free my soul, now! I am begging you.” Kinter prayed to the figure.

  “Alright, to be easier, let’s get into my dimension first.”

  I heard something like a crystal falling to the ground, pulverizing into pieces. After that, my mind was completely crushed, it can be described as fatal.

  Falling into never-ending darkness. Gray clouds were very transparent, nearly invisible. Cold and wet were what I was feeling in the atmosphere made up here.

  “I feel so tired.” talked in a lazy tone, looking at the nothingness.

  After a minute of free-falling, I finally land on the surface of the water, it does not make my clothes soggy, good for me. Impacted by the soft material below the water, I felt sleepy and began to take a nap.

  Standing over there, the figure was looking, laughing at the scene in front of its eyes. Doing nothing to it, it felt like the figure was empathetic or adoring, similar to a loyal pet watching its boss doing something whatever it is.

  Snoring and snoring, waken up by the brain told me to do so, my sleepy eyes opened its half, and I tried to rise and looked around. My body was so heavy, the exhaustion must have gotten into the core.

  “Is it this place taking my energy?” I thought miserably.

  I felt this place was taking my mental energy, it could be the reason why I felt exhausted and not able to stand up. It was a hallucination experience, did not do anything but still felt tired.

  “Isn’t it?” asked by the figure

  “You know what am I thinking?” I asked to confirm.

  “I am inside your body, fusing with you. Therefore what you are thinking will also transfer to be my thoughts.”

  “So inconvenient…So everything I thought about you…”

  “Hehe, yup, I knew it all.”

  I was surprised and was not. The fictions and mangas, you know what I mean…

  “Are you awakened ?”

  “What is this place?” barely speak a word due to tiredness.

  “This is my living habitat, I created inside you. Human’s organs look so unpleasant and disgusting. Hahaha. Oh! I have not given you a proper introduction yet. I am the figure who is trying to search for a compatible partner, trying to save those from suffering. I will free you from what you are suffering, mentally and physically. As long as it was not for bad purposes.” the figure briefly explained the cause.

  Understanding its purposes, I felt there was something else,

  “It is not the only reason, right?” based on the experience that everything is not as simple as it seems.

  “...” the figure being silent, does not want to respond.

  “Say something, is there anything bad that will happen…ah.”

  At this rate, my mind was unstable because everything seemed new to me. The cold was braising my body, intense cold, getting deep into the bones, making my body shake continuously. I was able to withstand this, it was because…my instinct?

  “That is right, your “instinct” is tremendously great, you can overcome anything that gets in your way. Your tactical mind and immense strength are the reasons why I chose you.”

  “So? All of that is just used for fighting? I supposed.”

  “To save the world.” the figure stated.

  Honestly, the first time I heard the voice, it was very toxic. The comments it gave were not easy to hear except psychopaths. However, the voice, the figure standing in front of me, gave me nice speeches as it wanted me to save something precious.

  The figure threw me a sword, making me astonished. It was malicious, speeding toward me, and looked like a strong attack. I was very frightened,

  Ching!

  The swords impacted frictional, and trailing lights of sparklings appeared. Not only ending there, it gave a combo of attack, constantly and constantly.

  I was mindless when the attacks landed on me, I parried and countered as it had already been planned before even though I did not. It continued to the point our attacks with swords, were so quicked that a spiral was what you can observe from the third party.

  “Stop!” I grunted, telling the figure but it did not listen as well as my body.

  –-A realization— Wait, how did the figure create swords? I did not notice how it had happened, I just knew that I was thrown a sword and started to fight recklessly. If it was magic, it could explain the unknown. Or another cool theory I thought of, “It was atomic creation.”

  “Do you notice that you can fight back every attack that I landed on you, Kinter?” the figure spoke, bringing me back to reality.

  “...” I did not say anything

  “If it was someone else, they could not handle themselves. Interesting of you!”

  “Uh-huh,” I responded

  “However, more training should unlock the potential. This is not enough.” The figure ended the consecutive meeting.

  Bisecting me from the upper body, the world started to whitely tear apart. I did not feel pain, I was fascinated by the figure’s ability. Laziness made me not want to bear anything…

  Waking up, an image of my friends, Pew and Fevis was carrying me to the medical clinic. The medical clinic works until six thirty, meaning it is still open. Seeing that I was waked up and shocked,

  “Are you ok, Kinter? You were vomiting at the automatic machine,” said Pew

  “Yes, I am ok, do not be worried.” pretending to be ok but not.

  “Whatever it is, we are carrying you to the doctor, to see if you have any health problems.”

  “It was shown that you were thinking too much, you should take it small. If you have big thoughts then you can write it down for later use. Now, I advise you to start resting for tomorrow, ensuring efficiency.” the doctor spoke to Kinter

  “Yes, thank you very much, doctor.”

  Leaving the medical clinic, I started to pack up my stuff. The coach heightened my mental up, joking “Is this my Kinter?”, I knew who I really was, it was strange things that occurred to me unwantedly.

  I, Pew, and Fevis started to go home, our house is near together so we walked the same path. We were talking just as usual, just my friends but my mind was wondering about the incident that had just happened to me.

  ***

  “Interesting, so this is him, his energy is outrageous, I must take his body for examination.” said someone

  Expressing the face of a devil, he laughed and started to look at the profile…He looked at the guest he treated today, Kinter.

  The lights switched off. A chain of sounds of a metal glinting, the doctor set himself to a destination, started disappearing, and left with a flickering wind blowing due to an extraordinary speed.

  * * *