章 21: Volume 2 Episode 15

Lin suddenly felt lighter and quicker. When he realised what was going on, he couldn't help but smile. He had finally reached level nine.

'Well, at least I got to level nine before the tournament.'

As he thought about the potential opponents he would be facing, he couldn't help but sigh. They were leagues above him, and he honestly didn't believe that he had the chance of winning against any of them.

Daylight appeared soon, Lin quickly got ready and headed to the stadium, where the preparations for the tournament was still going on. He looked around the school, which had been covered with paint and colourful posters welcoming spectators from all over Korea. Even though it was a school competition, it still was viewed by millions on social media like MeTube and Twitcher, both of which had gotten the official broadcast rights to stream the tournament. As such, there were many professional videographers and video drones around the stadium. There were even interviews being conducted to extend the streams, and Lin moved past some of them, refusing to talk with them who were looking for any sort of comment from the rising star of the famous Hamill Family.

Lin went to the waiting area, where the participants were present, which was a large room with a transparent rooftop, making the place give a luxurious feeling. He went and sat on one of the couches.

As he sat down he saw two familiar figures coming his way, causing him to furrow his brows. It was Luke and Rin, who had also applied for the contest. He couldn't help but sigh as Luke stood in front of him and started to speak proudly.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't-"

"Just shut the f**k up and leave me alone you little b***h!"

Luke's boasting which he had saved up for a while had been interrupted by the cursing Lin, who just wanted to sit in peace for sometime without thinking about anything before he got called to compete.

"Wh-what? You c-called me a b***h? Well I'll show y-you in the competition what my real power is!" Luke, who had been caught off-guard by the sudden curses had lost his courage and got flustered, timidly spouted some threats before he went away with his head hung low.

Lin looked at the leaving Luke and was proud of his cursing, which seemed to work wonders on a kid who had been pampered by his mother too much. Perhaps he should've started cursing way before.

'Now then, there's only one annoying person left.'

Rin, who had been standing in front of him along with Luke the whole time still hadn't left. She was looking at him as if he was an alien form whom she couldn't figure out. She had been under the assumption that Lin had hidden his awakening as a Gifted and was keeping it from her for some reason, and Lin didn't explain it to her anyways, so she just assumed that it was the truth.

Rin always had an inferiority complex, which is why she didn't hang out much with people who were inherently stronger than her, instead choosing to play with Lin, whom her father had told her wasn't a Gifted. Over the time, her feelings for him had stemmed from the fact that he would be completely dependent on her as he was not a magic user, which meant that she could be dependent on him as well, and her fear of being left behind wouldn't be a problem. She had mixed up her feelings of acknowledgement and abandonment issues with love. She had been spewing motivational speeches to him non-stop not because she wanted to see him succeed, but because she believed that he wouldn't succeed. Now that her ideals were being challenged, she couldn't handle facing the reality, and she avoided Lin during class most of the time.

As she stood in front of Lin, she didn't know what to say to him. In the end, she bit her lips and asked him straight.

"Did you hide the fact that you had awakened? You knew already, right?"

Lin looked at her face, as he smiled internally. She had been feeling what he had felt all this time. Hopelessness. As he thought about how the situation had finally been reversed, he was finding it hard to keep a straight face in front of her.

"Would it matter? Whether I hid it from you or I got awakened at the public test, it still doesn't change the fact that I got awakened, does it?"

Faced with a vague answer, Rin couldn't help but frown. She had to know what was the truth. But deep inside her, she knew that it didn't matter. He was right. The fact is that he got awakened, and when it happened didn't really matter. He didn't have an obligation to tell her either. But she couldn't accept that fact, as it would mean admitting that the only reason she asked him that question was to find a reason for her to justify not talking to him and avoiding him in school. She would be admitting that she was only with him because he wasn't a gifted and was now wary of him because he had awakened. So she didn't give a reply and left.

Lin saw her departing figure and was laughing inside. He had finally cracked down his insecurities related with Rin. Whether it was the right way to do it or not, it didn't matter to him. As long as he got what he wanted, it didn't matter what methods he used.

He had finally gotten the time for resting that he had desperately wished for. As he sunk into the couch, he remembered his original world. There, he had no control. He couldn't control his life. He couldn't control his destiny. He was no one. But here he was someone. He had some control, even if it was little for the time being.

But what did that little control cost him? What did it cost him to use a system? What did it cost him to use the information hint? What did it cost him to take on the job of The Man Upstairs? And how would he pay for it?

He didn't know the answers to any of these. But he did know that they weren't free. Nothing in life is. And he didn't believe that The Man Upstairs had noble intentions. And when the time to pay for these blessings finally come, would it be worth it?

Lin fell asleep without finding an answer.

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