Chapter 42: Talent Showcase

"The next applicant, please come up!" Instructor Mary shouted from next to the judges' table.

She, of course, was not one of the honorable judges invited to determine the fate of the graduated trainees.

At the judges' table seated Ian and Levi. 

Unlike the casual way he dressed on ordinary days, Ian wore a fitted black-suit that went well with his figure. With his innocent and still immature looking face, the suit should have made him appear as though he were a child imitating an adult. However, his calm and steady vibe neutralized it and made him appear mysteriously older than he actually was.

For this special occasion, Ian specially styled his hair so that his bangs were swept back, revealing his smooth forehead. 

His waist-long hair was pulled into a bun at the lower end of his head, the tailend of which slipped out from his bun and flowed down exquisitely onto his back.

Ian looked dashingly playful unlike usual with his gentle and polite demeanor.

At his side, Levi was also a sight to behold with his long, elegant robes draping onto the floor. His outfit was a dazzling red that made him the center of attention immediately upon sight. 

Everytime one applicant goes up, their attention would be attracted by Levi's eye-catching outfit and otherworldly appearance.

With his golden hair gathered up into a high ponytail on the top of his head, he showed the bold, heroic aura of a war general instead of the usual bookish and elegant scholarly air.

"What did you think about the last applicant's talent?" Levi asked with a naturally sly-looking smile on his face as he gently fanned himself while waiting for the next applicant to come up.

"What do I think? A clown would know better."

Curling his lips into his trademark gentle and polite smile, Ian replied with a layer of indifference in his eyes that was hardly detectable, but his words brought it out in full force.

"Haha!" Levi chuckled light-heartedly. "In that case, they obviously don't qualify." Saying that, Levi crossed out the last applicant's name.

Ian shook his head. "Don't hurry to cross their name off. What about you? What did you think about their… thought-provoking performance?"

Covering his mouth with his fan pretentiously, Levi said, "In their case, the best thought would be to have no thought." 

"What about Chase?" Ian asked, wanting to hear what Levi thought about the applicant he was interested in.

"Ah! You mean the kid you're interested in?" Levi thought for a moment and made an 'ah' sound in recollection.

"Yes." Ian nodded. 

Tilting his head, Levi reiterated, "I'm only interested in that gloomy kid." 

"I know. I only want to know what you think about his usefulness," Ian explained. 

His words made Levi recall the appearance of the young man named Chase who had a head of orange and yellow hair, quite similar to his own, and a pair of blood red eyes that should have appeared sharp, but instead, merely looked mischievous on his face.

But other than that, Levi had no impressions of him.

"Obviously, I don't see much use in him. Although his cooking was truly the best I have ever eaten, and his control over everything within his domain was superb, I can't see any way he could be of actual use to you. Maybe other than making sure the food you eat are not poisoned, which I suppose is a very important value," Levi drawled out, knocking his folded fan onto the palm of his hand repeatedly as if in thought. "But then again, he doesn't have to become one of your men to do that."

He continued, "Conversely, I have no idea what you would see in a simple cook like him who boasts of no other abilities. Cooking for the Everett Mansion is the same as cooking for you, why bother specially making him your subordinate?" 

Confused, Levi really could not figure out what was so special about Chase that would make Ian want to have him.

Ian smiled. He knows that Levi wouldn't understand—it wasn't something he could understand either.

As they were discussing the previous performances and deciding on who "pass" or "don't pass" so far, the next applicant came up on stage.

A glimmer of sky-blue color reflected by the lights on stage shot into Ian and Levi's eyes.

The applicant with sky-blue hair bowed with a beaming smile to the judges' table once he reached center stage. 

He was Rip.

For his performance tonight, he wore a plain white t-shirt with long sleeves that could cover his hands, matched with black pants.

His hair was let loose and his bangs framed his tender, delicate face.

Seeing his favorite big brother Ian, Rip did not wave excitedly at him like usual, instead, he simply smiled brightly at Ian, making Ian amused, wondering what the other was up to.

Not letting anyone notice, Rip waved restrainedly to his dad who stood behind Ian.

"What talent will you be demonstrating to us, applicant?" Levi asked the official question that was asked to every applicant so far.

"I will be…" 

Rip inhaled deeply and then exhaled with a smile. Now on stage, nervousness no longer took hold of him, instead, a never before felt thrill coursed through his blood and into his heart. 

"...acting."

"Oh," Levi looked intrigued. 

Even Ian was surprised. He did not know beforehand what talent each applicant chose to show, and he did not deliberately ask Rip about his preparations for the talent show, so he had no idea until now that Rip chose acting as his talent. 

It was the first time tonight that somebody chose acting as their talent which they wanted to impress them with.

In fact, all of the other applicants steered clear of it very consciously and deliberately, because being good at acting—especially having a talent for it—was like admitting to being good at lying and deceiving, and surely their employers would not like that.

So upon hearing that the talent Rip was about to perform was acting, the applicants behind the stage grasped in surprise at the other's decision that could be considered either naivety or stupidity. They fear that this applicant won't have a chance now.

Curiously, Levi asked with a particularly sly look on his face, "And what will you be acting?"

Expecting this question to come, Rip simply smiled calmly—much unlike himself—and said, "My acting will do the talking."

Rip's reply astonished Levi who was not expecting the applicant to answer in such an enigmatic way. 

This was a risky move. 

Although the act of acting itself is supposed to tell a story, how can you tell apart a lion and a cat without it telling you which is which? If one is able to clearly and wholly deliver their message to their audience without an explanation, they were without a doubt true actors.

But what of one who has never properly learned acting? 

—He would be a prodigy.

If Rip's acting happen to touch the judges' hearts and, through his acting, he is able to immerse the judges in the world he creates, he would pass without a doubt. But if he doesn't and causes confusion and a lack of immersion…

It'll be an automatic disqualification.

Surely Rip must've known, however, he still chose this path in the end. 

Was he confident or was he arrogant? Thinking that he'll pass no matter what because he had Ian as his backer. 

Sorry to say, although Ian was prone to the Everett syndrome running in his family since the founder of the Everett Mafia Group, where he values his subordinates and cares for them because they are his own, there was a harsh reality behind the syndrome as well. 

—Those who are useless, arrogant, and disloyal do not deserve to be their men.

Levi was curious to see the results. And he hopes it will surprise him and surpass his expectations.

Which one will it be? 

"Alright, you may start," Levi said as he leaned back into his chair.

Ian looked at Rip and smiled encouragingly.

Rip saw and smiled back with self-confidence.

Then he looked down and took one last deep breath. Not to calm down his nerves but to suppress the overflowing excitement in his heart that spilled out to the rest of the body that made his body want to go wild and escape out of his control.

Rip forcibly restrained his heartbeat and body.

This was his body. He gets to decide what to do with it. 

It was his heart. He decides how he feels.

Stepping forward, close to the edge of the stage, Rip suddenly toppled over.

Everyone was given a start. They thought something happened to him to make him fall.

Chase was about to run up to the stage to see if Rip was alright when the latter abruptly lifted his head up to show the intense hatred in his eyes. It burned like crackling fire, even being a foot from it will burn a person to their untimely death.

Shocked, Ian subconsciously leaned forward, as if wanting to take a closer look into that pair of eyes that inexplicably looked so familiar to him.

Where had he seen these eyes from?

On stage, Rip continued his act regardless of the audience's thoughts.

On his knees, the originally drooped head and back straightened up like a beast with its fur spiked from the anger and danger it felt.

In just a second, Rip's entire atmosphere changed to become someone else. His bright and cheery smiles and outgoing nature was nowhere to be found.

He was no longer Rip. 

Another being has taken over his body, replacing the soul.

The white t-shirt on him that originally made him appear clean and pure now appeared stained with black ink that covered not only the surface but also the soul. It was so dark and deep that even the fishes that live at the bottom of the unfathomable ocean would dare not live in it.

There was no exaggerated gritting of teeth or soaring nostrils or deeply triangled brows. Using only his clean, spirited, and vigorous sky-blue eyes that usually resembled the cloudless skies to express the terror of the angered and vengeful seas, along with the slight movement of his facial features, he did not need to say a word to let the audience know that he was currently angry. 

Furious beyond compare, as if having everything precious to him stolen away, lost forever.

But within that anger lied a sadness so deep and untouchable that it rotted into resentment.

As the young boy with the aura of an ancient soul bit by bit rose to his feet, the unfamiliar Rip slowly but clearly spoke out the only line in his act.

"Why should it be only me? It should be them, too."

He closed his eyes dripping with unspeakable sadness.

A calm but soulless voice. It held not a hint of anger or resentment. Yet it incited a mysterious and deep hatred within the hearts of those who heard it, as if they empathized with this young man in front of them. This young man who lost his family, lost his home… lost his heart, and lost his soul. To hatred and revenge.

Ian was stunned by Rip's performance. It wasn't just because of how realistically Rip acted or because of Rip's unexpected talent in acting that he never knew about. 

Ian had been genuinely touched by that one line, eleven words. It simply spoke straight to his heart.

Now Ian understood why he felt that look in Rip's eyes was so familiar. In his dark and bloody past, he had seen similar gazes like that of those in Rip's eyes too many times to count. 

From the victims whose families they destroyed.

From the dulled and dimmed Chase.

And from…

…himself.

Ian recalled the time when he had just been reborn back to his childhood. For a period of time, his eyes were always raging with hate, vengeance, and violence. It was bad to the point that his brother had no choice but to hire a psychologist to see him, afraid that the kidnapping incident had affected him too much in his fragile age.

Luckily, Ian was able to quickly adapt to the second life he was given, which was filled with the familiar peace and calm it had always had in his childhood, besides the occasional kidnapping and kidnapping attempts. The unchild-like gaze in his eyes was one day replaced by a gentle and polite veil.

It draped over the hate and the twisted violence, wrapping it up and hiding it in the deepest corners of Ian's old soul.

Tonight, Ian came face to face with it once again, but not from himself, but from the unexpected Rip.

For what reasons could a young child of 10 years old act in such a convincing way as though he had experienced such feelings himself. Could it really just be his talent in acting?

'Was he also reborn?' Was the first thought that came into Ian's mind. But then he immediately denied the possibility. Before Rip started his act, he did not have any darkness in his heart.

Ian was unusually sensitive to the darkness in people's hearts, so he knows. Rip has not been contaminated yet, unlike in his last life.

After Rip finished his performance, the entire auditorium was unnaturally silent. It was so silent to the point that it even made Rip have self-doubts about his acting. 

Thankfully, the sound of a single person clapping snapped everyone out of their daze.

Levi clapped. Slowly and elegantly. His fan that he never lets go of was down on the table in front of him.

His narrow eyes were upturned with a visible smile all over his face.

"Excellent!" Levi exclaimed, not holding back the amazement and thrill he got from Rip's performance at all. "Electrifying!"

After half a beat of pause, thunderous applause rang out from backstage—which was a first in this talent showcase—and from the judges at the judges' table and the instructors in the audience seats.

Rip beamed with a joyful smile full of pride and accomplishment. He had practiced really hard for this day and it seems his hard work paid off.

The only one who didn't clap was Ian. His face was shrouded in the shadows of the lightless auditorium room. Only the stage was brightly lit, casting its limited light onto those below.

Ian's eyelashes flickered, casting shadows on his conflicted light purple eyes. 

His voice was a little hoarse as he spoke.

"Who you played as just now… did you perhaps want to act the role of a person who lost his family to an enemy… and who vowed vengeance upon them?"

Rip was astonished. He never thought that someone would understand exactly what it was he wanted to express with his acting just now.

Excited, Rip couldn't hold back and blurted out, "Yes! Exactly! How did you know?"

With twinkling eyes, he stared with anticipation at Ian.

Ian hesitatingly said, "It… spoke to me."

"Wow, really?!" Rip exclaimed. Even he was amazed with his performance thanks to Ian's words. 

Up on stage, the audience seats appeared to be covered in darkness to Rip and too dim for him to see clearly, so he did not notice the complicated expression on Ian's face.

Ian only smiled and said nothing more.

Since his performance was over, there was no extra time for him to chat with the judges as the next applicant must come up to move along the test. So Rip bowed in respect and thanks to the judges and left the stage with a spring in his steps to where he was welcomed with an arm over his neck by Chase who ruffled Rip's hair with a call of "Rascal!"

Rip laughed childishly. 

Below the stage, next to Ian, Levi noticed the abnormality of the teenager who in his heart he considered his little brother. He was worried and was about to say something when someone interrupted.

Instructor Mary called, "The next applicant, please come up!"

It was almost the end of the talent showcase.

It was almost the end of the test.