My Noisy Roommate

Chapter 5 – My Noisy Roommate

The Cube.

The only government-recognized, approved and funded facility for training the younger generation of Hunters.

The Cube had a lot of backing since it was the child that was nurtured by The United Government and has produced several outstanding Hunters for them.

I didn't get to know much about this place in my past life as I had just breezed through my Hunters' Program without putting much thought into it.

Cough~

Truth is, I didn't remotely like anything that was similar to school and so I couldn't wait to graduate from the Cube back then. Thus, I didn't really care what happened to me as long as I kept my grades above or at the pass score and graduated.

But now; now that I knew so much, the way my life had turned out then was owed to the Cube, to an extent.

Had I not come here, then I wouldn't have run into that bastard.

Had I not revealed my Skill here, then Terence wouldn't have suddenly had an interest in my person.

An intense feeling of nostalgia and familiarity washed over me as I looked at the place, my eyes moving side to side as I stared at the many different yet familiar structures, fields, hallways, rooms et cetera.

The Cube was simply ginormous.

We were about one thousand young people who were brought into the Cube this morning as part of their New Recruit Program, the N.R.P.

The N.R.P usually took two batches of students in a year, the second batch usually lesser and comprising people who weren't considered but showed even the slightest of skill and potential to be given a chance to fight against odds that were not in their favour from the beginning.

There were two ways of gaining entrance into the N.R.P: by recommendation or by actually gaining admission and paying the school fees. If one came through the former like I and Casandra had done, they would simply study under the scholarship program.

We walked into a large hall led by three Instructors of the Cube, like flocks of sheep moving mindlessly behind their shepherds, yet trusting the shepherds' lead.

This hall was square-shaped and generously spacious with metallic walls surrounding its four corners.

"It's so hot in here," said a redhead who was just a few steps in front of me.

Beads of sweat started to gather on my forehead and when I looked around for a bit, I noticed that it had not just been me alone.

Pretty much everyone was feeling the heat inside the hall.

In my heart and mind, I asked the same question I asked in my previous life and never got an answer to.

Why the fuck are the walls made of metal?

The sun was scorching down on the outside world and now we were trapped inside this hall; if my memory serves me right and everything happened as I remembered them, we would be here for about three hours.

Three freaking hours, eek! Three hours of boiling inside this place!

I might as well melt.

"It's so hot in here," Casandra complained as she wiped her forearm across her face.

The agony and distress was evident in her eyes. She was not comfortable with the heat at all. With how profusely her sweat pores were pouring oceans of sweat from her face, she was having it worse than all of us.

As I watched her, my eyes slightly dilated with shock from realising something that I had known.

I had a light-bulb moment and smiled.

Casandra and I will awaken our skills soon and as I saw how uncomfortable she was with the heat, it all made sense.

It had to do with the Skill she would soon have.

Tsk, tsk. Very interesting!

Elated at this knowledge of mine, I unknowingly chuckled, causing her to threaten me with a wicked glare since she falsely assumed that I was laughing at her.

"What's so funny, Luke?"

I chuckled a second time and shook my head. "Oh, it's nothing. Don't sweat it."

"Lucas!!" she snapped at my unintentional pun of words.

I turned frontward and pointed in the same direction. "The Instructors are about to speak to us."

Thanks to that, the conversation died out and I escaped the awkwardness, and possible smacking, that would have followed had we prolonged the talk.

The oldest Instructor of the three stepped forward and cleared his throat loudly.

Instructor German Barns.

German Barns was the strongest Hunter in the room currently; at this time I believe he was at the Peak of the Copper Stage, placing him above the average hunter. His well-built physique was more than enough to enforce order and demand attention to his person even before he spoke.

German scratched his grey beard lightly and cleared his throat again.

"Welcome, young heroes!" he said, his voice easily reaching those of us who were at the back of the crowd. "Welcome to the Cube, where the young journey of heroism begins."

His voice was deep and motivating, causing little flame sparkles of passion to kindle inside the bellies of the young people that surrounded me.

Little did they know how dangerous the life of a hunter was.

A Hunter might be undoubtedly stronger and richer than a normal human being but a Hunter's lifespan was lesser than theirs. This was simply because of the kind of life that they led.

It was a life full of adventures, dangerous quests, riches, betrayals and many more.

A Hunter never slept with both eyes closed, like my Master in my past life would always say to me.

Tsk. They were the worst and I knew that better than anyone.

Unconsciously, I darted my eyes through the crowd as far and wide as I could, searching out the figure of Terence Kenton but I couldn't see him.

The thought of him had my blood boiling and my hands folded into fists.

How much more the sight of him?

Ignoring the uneasiness that the hot atmosphere inside the hall brought, the recruits cheered for German, chanting his name as he poured more fire into their hearts.

German Barns created this illusion inside their minds that made them believe that they had made the best decisions of their lives and were on the best possible paths they could ever take.

I shook my head in disappointment at the Cube because I knew what had happened.

None of the decisions that anyone here had taken was from their free will even if it looked so.

They were primed.

We were all primed.

Some through their parents and families.

Some by false good deeds that they received from unknown individuals, who promised to better their lives and families if they had any.

Some from personal interactions with the Instructors.

Some also were as a repayment of their debts to a person, who was linked to the Cube.

Some were handpicked from the underworld of this world, et cetera.

They continued to cheer and shout.

I released a sigh.

This wasn't what I needed. I needed a fan or something to start with at least.

It's so damn hot.

German continued to talk for several minutes and when he was done, every one of us lined up in four ranks and the registration of my fingerprints and scans started.

The registration was simply to help us gain the prestigious Cube ID, that could be used within and without the facility. At least, that was how it seemed to us, recruits, who had been oblivious to its true purpose.

The Cube ID was a literal small, black cube that was registered exclusively to one recruit. It was a multi-functional material that could take any shape or form.

The other purpose for the registration which I hadn't known until later in my time as a recruit here was that the cube that we received was a means to keep a tab on us wherever we were and your details that had been scanned could be used to track you down wherever you were.

The black Cube ID was so important to students of the Cube that we wouldn't do anything without it.

It was the key to several locks that were connected to us. If one ever wanted to make any purchases, they had to use it in its card form as well.

Although they didn't know this yet, every one of us would come to have this ID as a companion until we have completed this New Recruits Program and beyond.

The whole registration process lasted a little beyond two hours and once it was done, German made a final address and introduced himself as the Instructor who was in charge of our batch above all else.

The Head Instructor.

That was good news for me.

'Truly nothing changed. Everything was the same as I had lived it,' I thought as my lips rose slightly into a grin.

It was good that German Barns was still the Head Instructor for my year because his Skill was something that I had liked to possess.

In my previous life, I had not been opportuned to take hold of such an ability because German had been wary of me after witnessing me foolishly reveal my Skill to all in that life.

As I recalled the events that would happen in German Barns' life, my hands were folded and I sucked my teeth.

'Only to fall prey to Terence's Skill. What a bastard that Hero really is.'

That was not going to happen this time around. I will be there to make sure that Terence never gets his hand on the Copper Stage Hunter's ability.

"Thank you for your time!" German's voice resonated throughout the hall.

"On your IDs now, you will see a number. That's your room number which you will share with another recruit. Kindly go there as that would be where you will be staying until you graduate!

"Am I clear!"

"Yessir!" We chorused loudly in assent to his instructions, our voices reverberating and nearly shaking the metallic walls of the hall.

Turning my cube around, I already knew the room that I would get and of course, it was still the same old Room 434, one of the rooms on the topmost floor of our dorm building.

And of course, the noisy brat of our batch was still my roommate.

Somewhere else within the same hall, a white-haired recruit sucked air through his mouth and into his belly before shouting at the top of his lungs.

"WHO ELSE IS IN ROOM 434!!!!"

'Fucking twat. Now, I have to get used to his noisy personality all over again. Fucking Bright Holden.'

A smile formed on my face when I remembered the name I started calling him.

'Fucking 'Brat' Holden. Maybe I would rename him earlier than I had done in my past life,' I thought with a chuckle.

Knowing that Bright wouldn't stop shouting for his roommate until I appeared, I stepped out and identified myself just to save everyone's ears.

"Nice to meet you too, man," I said as I shook the white-haired boy.

Bright Holden, my fucking noisy roommate.

Now that he was standing face-to-face with me once again, I realised how much I had missed his shouting and energy.

—––

Author's Note:

Thanks for reading.

Welcome the life of the party, Brat—no, Bright Holden! Lol

Enjoy!