4 Assignment

Two years later…

"Alright class, be sure to hand in your technical report by the 20th of June!" The professor said to his students as they streamed out of the classroom, "Anything later than 2359 shall be an immediate zero!"

Of course, no one really heard what he had said. Today marked the last lecture of the semester, before exam week. Everyone was rushing out of the class to have one last meal with their friends before their reading week. By then, everyone's heads would be deep into books and no one would be free to hang out with others.

"Ash! Ash!" A crisp and clear voice called out from the back of the young man. This year, Ash was 20 and in his second year of university. The young man was 172cm tall and has a pale skin colour. With his slightly frizzled hairstyle, coupled with his cute and wholesome face, Ash is a killer with the female students in his classes.

"What?" Turning around, he matched the voice with his best friend in the university. Kaiser Ling, aged 20 and studied in the same course as Ash. Kaiser was similarly skinny to Ash, but he had brown hair as compared to Ash's black hair.

Throwing his arm easily around Ash's shoulder, who he was taller than by over 10cm, Kaiser grinned in excitement. "It is finally our student vacation! We can go party every night!"

"Who said I was going to go party with you?" Ash smirked as he looked at his best friend. From the beginning when he had entered the National University Z in Country Z, the very first person to approach him was none other than Kaiser. The boy had no shyness and awkwardness at all. Rather, he radiated confidence and carefreeness in everything he did.

"Come on bro! You promised me that you would go with me to the club scene!"

"I promised you that I would go with you one day. Not today, not tomorrow, but one day."

"Why can't that one day, just be this whole week? We have no more lectures or tutorials for the rest of this semester!" Walking in front of Ash, Kaiser stopped Ash in his footsteps as he spread his arms out wide.

Of course, Ash did the right thing. He pulled Kaiser's ear and dragged him along.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow! Stop pulling my ear!"

"If I do not pull your ear, would you have allowed me to pass you and go for lunch?"

"Ow, ow, no, ow, ow, I wouldn't!"

The pair eventually reached the university's canteen. Ash bought himself a simply ham sandwich, while Kaiser never once stopped trying to convince his best friend to follow him to club.

"Please bro! Come on! Just this once you go with me to Odyssey and I promise you that it would be the greatest night of your life!" Praying hands, Kaiser made it look like he was talking to a deity. Odyssey was the night club that the young man frequent by himself.

"I got to study for the upcoming engineering paper. Don't you have to too?" Ash gave a cursory glance as he munch on his food. The words that came out of Ash's mouth made Kaiser hiccup, "Didn't you get a D on your last paper? If you fail this time round, you do know that you would have to retake the entire semester right?"

"I know that! That is why I need to destress before the exam period!" The phone by Ash's side started to vibrate. On it, it wrote 'dad' as the caller ID. Seeing who the caller was, Ash's face formed a slight frown that wasn't caught on by Kaiser.

"Um.. Kaiser let me answer this call from my dad. We can discuss this later."

"Alright, alright."

Ash stood up from his seat and left the canteen area. He went even further up and headed to the track and field spectator seats. Only then, when he confirmed that there weren't anyone around, did he answer the call. A voice that Ash had not heard from for a long time spoke in a cheery tone.

"It took you a total of 2 minutes and 20 seconds for you to vacate your premises to answer this call. You have gotten slow, Zero."

"What is it that you want?" The happy expression on Ash's face from before had changed a hundred and eighty degrees. He now spoke in a melancholy and apathetic tone.

"You know exactly why I had called, Zero. What other reason would there be?" The caller spoke in a teasing tone.

"Our agreement from before was that I get to study for four years. It has only been.."

"Indeed, it has only been two years. However, HQ decided that this mission is far too important and difficult for other field agents to handle."

"There are other S ranked hitmans inside the organisation."

"Yes, but only you have assimilated into Country Z for a prolonged period of time."

"The mission would be carried out in Country Z?"

For the first time, Ash's attention was piqued. Typically, a hitman does not get a choice in where they would have to go for their mission. If it was in Country Z, the difficulty of integrating into the society is close to none. After all, Ash was now a student in National University Z.

"Yes."

"What do I get out of this mission?" That was the only part that the young man was interested in.

"Hoho, that sounds more like the Zero I know," A light laugh came from the phone, "If you choose to accept this mission, you get to extend your break in civilisation for another 4 years. Though, you can decline it now, but the offer to extend your break would be voided."

"I'll take it." From the point when the person over the phone had told him that he would be given an extension on his break, Ash knew that he had to seize this opportunity.

"Okay! Perfect! I shall tell the higher ups about your decision! The relevant information would be sent to yo.." Before the caller was able to finish his sentence, Ash ended the called.

Holding onto this phone tightly, Ash continued to sit by the track and field seats for a short while. Only when Kaiser had messaged his phone, did Ash wake up from his stupor. The young man headed back to the canteen and came up with a half-assed excuse about his father forgetting his bank account password.

Of course, Ash did not agree to his best friend's outing proposal.