Chapter 7: Trouble in Paradise
"This should do it."
Zac was coming out of his room; almost not being able to fit through it as he was carrying two large bags that were seemingly about to burst from having too much inside them. But after a brief struggle with the door, he was finally able to shoot out from it.
"Mother, I'll be leaving again, okay?" Zac then quietly said as he carefully made his way through the apartment,
"Please wait for me to come home again."
And even with the noise clunking from his bags and his heavy steps, his mother was completely unresponsive.
Nathalie was just currently seated on the sofa, her eyes closed as a large book floated in front of her.
[Forced Assimilation] — the process in which an individual who has not entered a Curtain is gifted a Class Tome by one who has. Even in Zac's first run, the number of people that were able to engage in such an activity were probably less than a hundred.
Class Tomes were only given to Classless individuals who managed to close a Curtain alone. And usually, only fools or crazy people were willing to pass up on the chance to grow stronger; Most of them, selling the Tome for money.
Those people did not last long, however, as the Curtains grew even more violent as the years passed.
"..." Zac glanced at his mother one last time, before finally stepping out of the apartment.
"Zac, what's happening out there!?"
"...Victoria?"
"It's Vanessa!"
Zac's neighbor and supposed childhood friend, Vanessa, was outside in the hallway. And it wasn't only her, there were also other people in the hallway, all wondering what exactly those auroras are that littered their skies.
"Shouldn't you be at school, little lady?" Zac asked with furrowed eyebrows.
"I should be asking you the same question! I stayed home 'coz I was feeling sick. And…" Vanessa's breaths slightly stuttered as her eyes landed on Zac's clothes, "Is that… blood on your clothes?"
"It is," Zac answered.
"What!? Why do you--"
"No time to chat, kid. Sorry."
But before Vanessa could even finish her words, Zac disappeared from her vision.
"Eh?"
"Watch it!"
She could only watch as Zac suddenly ran across the hallway, she also saw him running on the wall like some sort of ninja as he dodged the other people blocking his path.
"What…
...the fuck?"
***
With his body now acclimating with its newfound strength, Zac was now able to run even faster than he did earlier; even managing to leap over tall fences even with the two large duffle bags in his arms.
He was hurrying back to his school, as the Gold Curtain should have appeared somewhere near there. He could have just stayed there after closing the Goblin Sorcerer's Curtain, but he didn't want the burden of worrying about his mother while he was trying to close the Gold Curtain.
And so, he continued to weave through the street; taking a small detour as he leaped over the small houses with ease. From the view of his apartment, he could already see people panicking and running from their lives in the parts of the city that were populated; it was a good thing that his school was on the other side, if not, then he would probably have more trouble getting back there.
And in almost a quarter of the time he previously used to get there, he was finally able to return to the area near his school.
"Now… where could you be hiding?" Zac then whispered to himself as his eyes scanned the area. He did not need to search for long, however, as he saw a group of students running around; their faces filled with excitement and their phones raised.
"Bro, check this out! Chad's currently live!"
"Oh shit, he's crazy! You think he'll go in!?"
"Fuck, hurry up or we'll miss it!"
"!!!"
And as soon as Zac heard the students' words, he quickly rushed to follow them. He knew that children were inherently stupid and curious. But to think that they would actually approach something they know nothing about, and as if that wasn't enough, they need to post it on the internet.
...Was this what happened last time? If so, then he really should hurry up. Once someone enters a Curtain and every one of the Players is killed, they would come out as monsters — bringing along with them beasts from the other side that would eradicate anything their nose could sniff.
And 15 minutes after that, if no one comes along and enters the Curtain, then it will close; leaving only destruction and no rewards in its wake.
"A few more likes and I would enter this mysterious light!"
And as soon as Zac reached the area where the Gold Curtain was resting, he saw a bunch of students circling it — and right in the center, was presumably the student called Chad, waving his phone as he stepped back and forth towards the Curtain.
"..." Seeing this, the only thing that Zac could do was let out a short but deep sigh as he made his way through the crowd, pushing them to the side with his large duffel bags. The students were complaining and cursing him as he went through them, but Zac couldn't care less as he hurried his steps towards Chad.
And without even any warning, he grabbed Chad by the collar and gently pulled him away from the Curtain, causing him to tumble a little.
"It's dangerous here, kid," Zac then breathed out as he dropped one of his bags on the ground,
"Take your friends and go play someplace else."
The crowd of students that were watching on the side could not help but murmur and whisper at each other, staring at Chad as his butt was firmly planted on the ground and his legs wide open like some sort of frog.
And hearing this whispering chuckles entering his ears, Chad quickly stood up and stomped his way towards Zac,
"Who the fuck do you think you are!?"
"Nobody," Zac did not even look at Chad as he opened one of his bags.
"Wait… Aren't you that toilet kid!?" Chad then said as he tried to grab Zac by the collars, "You think you're tough now because you accidentally sent Mark to the hospital or some shit!?"
"Yes, yes, me weak," Zac muttered mockingly as he continued to search his bag for something.
"You motherfucker, you're really starting to get —"
"Oh, here we go."
"!!!"
And before Chad could even finish his words, he instantly stepped away. And it wasn't only him, even the crowd that were meters away circling them also started to move away… after all, Zac was now holding a shotgun.
And it wasn't only that, he also proceeded to wear a belt; attaching knives, grenades, and all sorts of lethal weapons around it.
Zac then placed the shotgun on the ground, before picking up his bags and hanging them on his shoulders, before once again grabbing the shotgun.
Those who were watching him do all of these could not help but take in a huge gulp as their feet continued to slowly move.
Was this it?
Has the quiet kid finally had enough?
But before they could even run, Zac turned around and completely ignored them as he started walking towards the Gold Curtain.
"...I got all of these from the internet, by the way." But before he stepped inside, he turned to glance at the crowd,
"Yay America, am I right? Land of the free!" He then roared before his silhouette disappeared into the Curtain, leaving a speechless crowd of students looking at each other.
***
With the scenery around him completely turning dark, Zac immediately kneeled to the ground and aimed his shotgun to his front, ready to shoot anything that came at him.
Small guns will be ineffective against the monsters inside the Curtain in the near future; but for now, even if this was a Gold curtain it should be enough to kill most of them; or at the very least, distract them.
Zac then moved his body to the side as continued to aim his — nothing.
"..."
He didn't realize it before… but he was actually holding nothing.
"W… what?" Zac's eyes then immediately widened as the cold breeze of the empty desert in front of him wafted across his body…
...his naked and bare body.
He has no knives, no guns…
...No clothes.
"Oh...
...I'm fucked."
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