“Piece of shit probably just awaken few days or weeks ago, he doesn’t even understand what it means to be an Evolve” Daigo said massaging his wrist as he walked closer to Haiji

  Haiji didn’t respond, he just walked to his bag-pack to where he dropped while the kid-boss waited for some kind of reply from him before the fight.

  “Seriously, what’s your fuckin' problem?” Daigo shouted in annoyance and continued

  “Why the fuck will I fuckin' screw you over for a shitty amount of coins?

  I didn’t even know you were alive until few hours ago… I already said I’m sorry!”

  Haiji just bent down; ignoring Daigo’s ‘half apology and ranting’, picking his bag pack before standing up and looking at Daigo for some seconds, then he walked towards Daigo.

  He reached Daigo face, then put his hand on Daigo’s shoulder and said

  “Why in hell do you imagine, I will ever blame you?

  As you said, you possibly didn’t even know I was alive and most importantly - you don’t have the actually balls to pull that kind of thing.”, then smirked a bit.

  Daigo just smiled and said “Fuck you too”, before turning to the gang they just beat up and stated to Haiji “C’mon let’s check them for some coins and shit, before someone comes sniffing around”.

  They quickly searched all of them, as Daigo was searching one of them, the goon was waking up and responded by grabbing his smashing it to the ground several times; the guy didn’t die but had a concussion.

  The duos even searched the guy the kid-boss beat to the inch of his life; just to make sure they don’t pass anything by.

  “What did you get?” Daigo asked after gaining some distance the scene, to avoid further complications.

  Hanging around where you just offed punks from another neighbourhood is plain suicide. No one gives a shit what happened, and them gangs are just looking for every reason to pull up in another neighbourhood for war and shit.

  Not even Daigo is safe, even he’s caught rolling with me, if we are found close to these dead bodies.

  “I got four cigarettes, a lighter and a flask of gin and 400 yen… You?” Haiji replied, as they sat on the pile of stone in a demolished building full of trash and rats, people were around the building but virtually all of them either sick or junkies too weak to do stand upright by themselves or even pay anyone any attention.

  The only ones that were somewhat active were kids that were robbing the hobos and junkies, and some guys have sex in the open (There’s hardly anything called shameful here).

  “Cards, tiny batteries, some drugs and 550 yen. Oi, pass me those cigarettes” Daigo said stretching his hand to Haiji.

  Haiji passed the cigarettes and lighter to Daigo which the latter grabbed; placing three of the cigarettes in his pocket and lighted up the remaining one in his hand.

  After taking a few puff, he extended his hand; giving the cigarette Haiji.

  “Get that shit away from me” Haiji rejected, pushing Daigo’s hand back.

  “C’mon you really believe all that shit on that train TV about getting some sickness from this thing? You do know all those ‘news’ are just literal shit to brainwash folks like you” Daigo asked mockingly, as he took another draw from the cigarette.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “I refer not to be an addict, if cigarettes will cost me coins, if they said it can give cancer then that’s a bonus” Haiji said.

  Daigo suddenly stood up and spread his arms sideways, saying in a louder tone;

  “Look around you, if you were to get one or two deadly diseases, I’m pretty sure it won’t be from this small stick of joy”, slowly turning back and front as he used his hands to gesture our environment – filled with feaces, piss, trash, sick people, rotting things etc.

  “It still saves me coins” Haiji tried to stand his ground.

  “I’m not telling you to buy shit” Daigo said as he sat back down and grabbed the wooden flask of gin next to Haiji.

  “Hope you at least going to drink with me, because it’s really good to know you didn’t die…” Daigo said as he opened the flask.

  “I will just have one gulp… not two or more” Haiji said firmly; though he wasn’t totally on board, he can’t deny Daigo this little thing.

  “Three gulp for good luck” Daigo battered.

  “No, no, no… Just one” Haiji shaking his head in disapproval and replied.

  “Guy, I am not telling to take two more, then tell you to take another and another… No, just take three; for good luck” Daigo said softly with a smirk.

  The two chat and drank; Haiji stopped after three gulp and Daigo didn’t force another round on him. They chatted for some time and during those moments Haiji paid closer attention to the floating objects that were stuck to his vision.

  The strange thing of him being able to see clearly like they were there and not there at the same time was unnerving to say the least.

  ‘The writing ‘Elixirs:’ had a new number; ‘1215’ attached to it, which meant it increased from ‘1120’, the other writing was still the same – ‘Coins:15’, ‘I don’t know what this numbers mean but the more I thought about it, the more I couldn’t wrap my head around what the fuck is actually going on’.

  Why the hell am I seeing numbers and shit, why I am not having illusion about some past scraps in Gates and shit, I am not hearing voices, just seeing freaking writings and numbers that I can’t make concrete sense of…’ Haiji thought with a nervous expression on his face and tightening his left fist, of which Daigo noticed.

  “Look I know, it’s my fault you lost some coin but I promise to make it up to you… somehow” Daigo said, leaning then puts his elbows on his knees as he paid very close attention to Haiji’s face.

  “Daigo, we are… we are REALLY here, right?

  I’m not still down there in that fuckin' underground cave inside that Gate and dying slowly, while dreaming about all this shit” Haiji asked, trying to figure out if what he seeing is really reality, by trying to how Daigo will respond to this weird question.

  “Ohh, it’s about that…” Daigo commented in a barely audible low tone, then continued “Bro, you aren’t fucked up… even if you are, you can only have illusion...you will... You will…umm” Daigo bit his lower lip, while rolling his eyes all over the place; trying to get a sound argument and after some moment of getting no words out that can back him up.

  He surrendered and continued “Look I am here, YOU are here. I don’t know what’s making you think of shit like that but this {gesturing everything around them} is real, just because you think you spent days in a down there instead of two days and you allow these kinds of thoughts mess up you; causing you to do some dumb mistake out in the Gate or on the streets… then you will be in a worse position than whatever you are babbling about; you will fuckin' DIE…”.

  Daigo concluded, his tone was mixed a trace of little pity and annoyance “So, get your shit together… you aren’t going through any serious shit”.

  Haiji just signed and as he was about to say what he was currently seeing, when suddenly a loud sound was heard; like a building was collapsing.

  Daigo and Haiji turned their head to the direction of the sound, and they were vines with glowing white marking erupting from the side of a wall – on the other side of the road; about 25 feet away from them.

  They weren’t the only ones who heard it, even the two people that were fuckin', got up to check what was causing that sound (if it was something that they need to flee from, then lovemaking can bloody wait).

  After tens of seconds the vines stopped expanding and the glowing marks went faint, everyone present there just stared at it, even Daigo and Haiji already grabbed their shit before the vines stopped expanding.

  It was basically common sense to people in the slums to always to observe when a Gate suddenly appears, before deciding whether to fight or flee; turning their back on a sudden opening Gate is just you leaving their bare back exposed to whatever might come out of the Gate and many things from Gate are freakishly fast – it is better to see if it is a Siege Gate or a Spawn Gate.

  Daigo already pulled out two arcane-daggers from his sheath behind lower back at his and tossed one to Haiji when the Gate was expanding, they were both ready to fight or flee; just waiting for the Gate to stop its process.

  After several minutes of watching the Gate along with other active people around them; most people around them weren’t active even as the Gate erupted.

  After tens of second and seeing nothing coming out the cave, some of this active people began to run towards the Gate in an attempt to enter.

  For a place so strange and dangerous, people; adults and kids ran into it, this is because of two reasons.