Escape

He would have earned $5000 and now because of the cops, he would have to wait till the next time? And the next time for him would probably never come as this place was anything but Japan, right? The crowd started to thin and the players had left too. He should leave too before he got caught.

"Which way out?" He asked out. His voice drowned since it was so loud. The footsteps echoed while all the people seemed to have something to say to each other.

[You should follow the crowd.]

He looked at the display. So, it was going to help him now? He would have done the same thing, anyways. Nevan started to walk towards the door where everyone was headed. The mass was not in panic, surprisingly. They were eerily calm. As if this was a routine.

He made no sound as he followed along. Even if he had, it would have been nullified. The people were chatting with each other. Everyone was engrossed in their own little world. The fact that this was an illegal game they had visited was just a side not without any apparent importance.

His feet carried him. Nevan had this hoodie on which concealed his face. He looked uo at the display before speaking.

"Can you show me the stats?" He asked. He could barely hear his voice. Normally, he would plug in an airpod to seem unsuspicious but now, it was not required since his ear was concealed.

[Sure.]

---------------------------------------------------

[Stats]

⇢Possession percentage - 36 % (Lv. 1)

⇢Pass accuracy - 56 % (Lv. 2)

⇢Shots on target - 3 % (Lv. 1)

⇢Ball control - 6 % (Lv. 1)

⇢1v1 defending - 36 % (Lv. 1)

[i: Stats are available after every match.]

[Teams]

N/A

[Teammates]

N/A

---------------------------------------------------

He was in no real team so it was blank. At least, he could see his stats now. They were low. He had to admit this. He needed a lot of training. It was possible, he was this low because of his hesitancy. All lead back to this one weakness of his. There were moments, it was right to hesitate. Like earlier, when he had seen the man being armed. In other cases, such as when he was up against Ryota, he had no reason to hesitate.

This thought was lingering in the back of his mind. He wondered, if Ryota had made it to SPC. It was a no-brainer, wasn't it? He had an outstanding performance. Maybe, he could find out about this in one way or another.

Something caught Nevan's attention. The mass was splitting up. He wondered, what this was about. He looked around. He decided to ask. "Mister." He tried to get attention of one of the men. "Why are we splitting up?"

The man who had just laughed at something his friend said, looked at Nevan in a surprised manner. "You are new? It is necessary so that there is no explosion of the people at one place. Or the police will get suspicious."

He inspected Nevan before grinning. "You were quite good for a rookie. Keep it up, Ace of the field." He had expected people to speak this long, heroic name in a mocking way and yet it sounded genuine. He was not making fun of Nevan for choosing a childish name like this. It almost seemed like this was normal.

"How do you recognize me?" He asked while walking beside the man.

"A hunch." He spoke with a content smile. Then his finger pointed one of the many doors. "Go that way. You will get directly at the Plaza."

Nevan followed his stretched finger before nodding. He had no reason to mistrust the man. He followed the path. The crowd had gotten smaller now. Everyone seemed to have distributed evenly. So, it was all planned, it seemed. They were all told what to do when an alarm like this happened. These people were in this too. Not only the organizers. Was it the Don who liked soccer who planned this out? He didn't know.

He walked up the stairs and then heard a metro. They had come to a station? He looked around in the spacious place. Everything was written in english. The second thing he noticed was that the stations seemed very much from the US. It was a hunch, really. But then he heard the accent. That was how the world imagined, an american person would talk.

He sighed and looked at the screen. He took off his hoodie and simply threw it into a dustbin in a casual way, to not draw any attention. He started to walk out then. Now, he was very confused. How had he teleported from Japan to the US like this?

"How will I get back?" Nevan asked, his question was directed to the system. He stared blankly at the systen. Come to think of it, the system was written in english too. How had he not noticed it until now? And he talked in the same language too when it was directed to the system.

[Trust me.]

This definitely didn't sound very convincing. How was he supposed to trust something that was messing up with his life and doing things that made no sense?

He had walked out of the station. He finally looked up. His gaze fixated a clock. It was 4 a.m right now. His eyes narrowed. He sighed and decided to just walk on the plaza.

To explore this place while he got the chance. He was in New York. He was sure of this by now. Nevan had been here once. With his family on vacation. It was a long time ago, though.

It almost felt like a vacation. Not even half an hour had passed as he started to get weary. He should go home. He had told Keisuke, he would be home by dinner. It was proabably around 5 p.m. there. He would need some time to get ready for dinner. He wanted to be at Sato residence by 6 p.m.

What he couldn't understand was, how he would get back there. Another uncomprehensive thing was the fact how he had made it here. Teleportation? This was possible?

"Nevan!" Someone called out. He was confused. Who would know him here in NYC? The voice sounded oddly familiar.

It was very early in the morning. Despite this being a fact, so many people were walking around. This was truly a city that never slept. He turned around to look for the person who had called out for him. His heart beat faster.

He turned around. The people were disturbing his line of vision. And once it cleared up, he found himself staring at someone. She was standing away from him but she had recognized him, nonetheless. His heart skipped a beat. How long had it been?

He started to walk towards her. It was a difficult task, considering so many people were here. He opened his mouth to say something. He blinked. And everything turned black in front of his eyes.

The same tickling feeling spread out through his body. A warmth surrounded him and he felt like he was wrapped in cotton which was soft and comfortable. He could sleep in here for days if he had to.

Suddenly a wind blew. It was the same warm sun that had given him the warmth which had made him fall asleep earlier. Before he opened his eyes and looked around, he stretched his body while humming in a content way.

He finally opened his eyes and stayed in this position for a while. What had he just dreamt? Was that really a dream? It had felt so real. Every sensation, every emotion had been eerily close to reality.

And then the encounter in the end. Had it really been her? Her name had lingered at the tip of his tongue and yet he had been unable to blurt it out. And then, he had woken up.

"Was that a dream?" He asked. The display showed the default screen.

[No. The host had been teleported to NYC in order to complete the 'PENALTY TASK'. When the right time had come, he was teleported back to Japan.]

His throat dried. It was real. He slowly stood up. Nevan would have texted her if he still had her number. But he had no way to do such a thing.

His feet carried him back to Keisuke's place. He still felt like he was wrapped in cotton. He could feel his pulse in his ear and it was utterly discomforting. He held his head, ignoring all the weird looks he got.

This place was so idle. So different to the city he had been at just now. This was an ability, he had always wished. To teleport to wherever he wanted. Gaining it now seemed ominous.

Nothing had changed in the neighborhood. Everything was calm and unchanging. He opened the door and started taking off his shoes. He noticed Sumire's shoes as well as Keisuke's and Hiroshi's.

"I am home!" He spoke out. For as long as he stayed here, this was his home.