บท 6: Classmates
Meanwhile, Rezeth, one of Timothy's high school classmates, together with her two female friends and two handsome dudes were walking towards the coffee shop.
They were laughing when Timothy's name suddenly entered their conversation.
"Rezeth, what happened to Timothy? Why don't we see him at school anymore?"
"Yes, girl. The news is that he has been out of the hospital for a long time."
"HUH?!" Rezeth's voice rose and her eyebrow arched upward. "Why are you asking me about that guy?" She said, a little annoyed.
She didn't want her two male companions to think that Timothy was her boyfriend or she was related to him. There was no way she would like that ugly and lame guy. He wasn't only ugly and lame, he was also a former NEET. He fits better with their nerdy classmate Margareth.
When Timothy was beaten by some gangster, she believed he deserved it. Maybe Timothy thought she liked him. But the truth was, she was irritated by him.
Even though she already tried to avoid him, he still approached her and tried to talk to her even though Rezeth obviously didn't want to talk to him.
"But don't you always talk to him?"
TSK! She didn't know if her friends were trying to annoy her or embarrass her to the two guys with them, but she wouldn't let them bully her.
"That was then. I have to do that because he looks lonely. I thought he was pitiful, but later on, he became annoying."
"Wow. You are very kind, Rezeth. That assh*le doesn't deserve your kindness."
"Indeed."
Said one of the handsome guys and the other immediately agreed. Rezeth's face immediately turned slightly red from what they said.
Truth be told, the main reason why she befriended Timothy then was because there was gossip that he came from a rich family. But anyway, Rezeth found out that he only lived in a small and cheap apartment. In addition to that, he only worked a part-time job at a bakery shop so that he could attend high school.
Crap! Compared to the guys with them at the moment, that clown was nowhere near in terms of looks and wealth. Their two companions today were not just handsome, they were from rich families as well. One of them was the heir of a housing firm, and the other was the son of the CEO of a large company.
Clap!
"You know what? Let's not talk about him anymore. I heard that there is a newly opened cosmetic shop in the Platinum Star Mall," one of Rezeth's friends immediately changed the subject.
"Really?"
"Yes, and I heard that their cosmetics are imported from the West."
"Let's visit it!"
"Alright, let's go!"
…
"Anyone? Do any of you know Timothy Hanz? Who is his friend here or a close relative?"
The students only responded with an unbearable snub. The teacher repeated his question.
"Do any of you know Timothy Hanz? Who is his friend here or close relative or even neighbor?"
"Why don't you call his number, teach?!" A male student asked back.
"We did but we couldn't get in touch."
"Teach! Margareth is a close friend of that guy!" A blonde girl, named Rezeth, couldn't hold back the teacher's irritating question and said it while pointing at the female student with glasses.
The other students laughed at her remark but no one said anything against her.
Margareth was remembering what happened earlier while walking towards where Timothy lives.
What Rezeth said was not true. She was not Timothy's close friend or anything. She didn't even know where his house was.
It took her a while to discover where he lived by asking some students in school. Fortunately, a student told her that Timothy works in a bakery shop as a part-timer.
When Margareth went to the said bakery shop, she found out that Timothy was absent from work, so she just asked the address where he lived and that was what led to the current situation.
He wondered why Rezeth said that to the teacher though. In fact, Rezeth knew Timothy better than her because she was often seen talking to Timothy in school or outside school.
Aside from being classmates, Margareth didn't have any connection with Timothy. They only had a brief conversation once, when he helped her bring old test papers to the faculty. And that's all.
Honestly, she hates talking to Timothy because he stutters when talking to other people. He was socially awkward like her. They were alike but they were definitely not close friends, they were not even friends so how did they become close friends?
'Rezeth lied to them,' Margareth thought.
When she reached the address she got from the bakery shop, she realized that he lived in an old and small apartment.
She heard a gossip that Timothy was from a rich family, but something happened and his parents kicked him out of their house.
Well, whether it was true or not, it didn't concern her. She just wanted to finish this errand so that she could go home.
She immediately rang the doorbell.
Ding dong!
Even after 30 seconds, no one answered. She rang it again.
Ding dong!
Ding dong!
She rang it twice this time. Finally, the door opened and a young man with red hair of medium length came out of the door. He stared at her while blinking his eyes twice. He seemed to be trying to remember something.
Margareth, on the other hand, briefly forgot what she was going to say.
"Margareth, right?"
She heard her name called out by him calmly. She noticed that he didn't seem surprised to see her, which was very uncommon if you think about it. If she was in his shoes and saw a classmate she didn't expect to see, she would definitely be surprised at least a little, but Timothy didn't seem like that. He looked at her casually.
'What's up with him?' Margareth thought.
Besides that, Margareth also noticed that there seemed to be something different about Timothy now. But she couldn't explain what it was.
"Yes, I'm Margareth. By the way, here take this!"
"What is this?"
"A note from our teacher. He wants you to come back to school."
Timothy frowned. As far as he knew, he had already stopped studying. But when he tried to recall what truly happened, he learned in Tim's memory that he had not informed the school whether he was going to stop studying or not. He just decided not to go to school anymore.
"All right. Thanks for this," after saying that, he turned his back on her and locked the door from the outside.
Margareth noticed that he was dressed well and had a bag for a long trip.
"Are you leaving?" She couldn't believe she asked that.
"Yes."
"Eh? Where are you going?"
"In East Dawn City."
"Huh? E-East Dawn?!"
"Yes."
Timothy calmly nodded to her and was about to leave.
"What will you do there? That place is very dangerous for us non-Awakened Humans, y'know?"
Timothy stopped walking for a moment and turned back to her.
"I know." He turned back again after saying that. "Thank you again for this!" He raised the note while waving it in the air. "Please tell our teacher that I won't be going to school anymore."
"Ha?!"
He went down the stairs and left the dumbfounded Margareth alone, who was still staring in the direction Timothy had left.
Margareth thought about Timothy. Something has really changed in him. His back widened a bit and he looked a bit taller than before. Also, the way he spoke was no longer stuttering. Has his self-confidence improved? She also admitted that he looked rather a little bit handsome now.
And then she also discovered another thing in him.
That's right! Did he forget to wear his glasses?
She wondered if he would be fine without it. Perhaps he switched to using contact lenses instead. No wonder he suddenly looks better than before.
"However, in East Dawn City…? That place is very dangerous. What was he planning to do there?"
After Tim arrived at the bus station, he immediately took a bus to the market.
First, he needed to go to the bakery shop where the previous Tim worked. He needed to properly resign, especially because the owner, Mr. Bert, was very kind to him.
After that, he needed to shop for travel essentials, like water and food, in case he got hungry or thirsty during the trip.
East Dawn City was quite far from Platinum City after all.
According to his memory, he was currently in the city of Platinum City in the country of the Southeast Asia Federation. This was one of the remaining humanity shelters in the Asia Region after a terrible apocalyptic cataclysm a century ago, where mysterious wormholes suddenly appeared in random places.
Platinum City was one of the cities that were safe to live in for people who were not blessed with the Mana Core. On the contrary, East Dawn City was a dangerous place especially to Unawakened Humans because it was near the Desolate Area where hostile monsters nestled.
สถานะพลังงานรายสัปดาห์
-- การจัดอันดับด้วยพลัง 
-- หินพลัง