A Fateful Encounter Or An Intentional?

The night was dark and moonless. An eerie silence was enshrouding the surroundings. It was more so in the dark maze-like alleys of the slum area.

In the current era, the big cities were divided into two provinces. A region where only the riches lived and a godforsaken portion where only common people like Asher lived.

At night not a single soul dared to venture into the rural areas because of thugs and criminals. The crime rate in the slum area was exceptionally high due to the negligence of the government.

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The shadows danced on the walls of the narrow alleys of an unknown area as an old man was running for his life.

The darkness of the night seemed to swallow up the poor soul who dared to venture out tonight.

Even though he was inhaling and breathing heavily, he did not dare to stop.

*crack

Opening a broken door of a neglected small house, the man entered inside to hide from the group of unknown people who were chasing after him.

'Why are they hunting me? They should know my identity, don't they? Are they sent by someone to kidnap me? Or are they trying to rob me? Damm this place! I can not even find a proper connection to make a call.'

Hiding in a corner of the room, the man kept murmuring to himself. Even in these precarious circumstances, he did not think for a moment these anonymous people wanted to kill him, exhibiting his egotism.

But seeing that no one seemed to enter the rundown house, he somehow calmed down to analyze the situation. But abruptly,

Boooom!!!

The door cracked open revealing four masked black-clothed individuals under the veil of darkness.

Noticing the old man's frightened face and shivering, these men could not help but laugh out loud in a menacing voice.

"My, my... The renowned Benjamin Nova is trembling like a vibrator. Jac.. cough...Number 2 go and check if he is pissing right now."

One of the masked men pointed out in an odd voice looking at the old man whose name seemed to be Benjamin Nova.

One of them nodded in response and began to approach Benjamin.

The man called Benjamin who had an egotistical look on his face before, froze. His face turned rather ugly instantly when he heard these words.

"Wh-why are you doing this? Who sent you? I can pay you double the amount. No triple! Just let me go."

With red teary eyes, Benjamin began to plead for his life. His previous arrogance was nowhere to be seen.

But instead of answering, they began to laugh more hazardously. Pulling Benjamin by the collar as if he was an object.

Without caring about the old man's protests, they proceeded to drag him out of the house.

At that moment when Benjamin had already lost all hope, a young boy entered the house from the window.

The young boy's face was not detectable clearly because of the shadows.

The newcomer looked toward Benjamin without caring about the four masked figures and asked in a calm voice.

"Hey old man, how about this? If I help you get out of this situation safely, will you be able to get me a scholarship at your university?"

"It's impossible. A kid like your background can not get there." Benjamin replied with a confused expression, looking at him with disbelief.

He did not understand how could someone ask such a question in this kind of situation. He could tell with a single glance that this young boy was from the slum.

But the mysterious young boy did not seem to care and responded while keeping on a smile, " I said, I want you to get me in there. All you have to do is take care of the official procedures and the higher-ups using your name."

Benjamin did not seem to notice that while he was having a conversation with this unknown boy, the others did not do or say anything. They just stood there. His mind was in turmoil to think properly right now.

Suddenly remembering something Benjamin asked, "But what about the exam? Even I can not help you with that."

"It's simple really. I just have to pass. Easy right?" The boy thought for a moment and responded like he was talking about the easiest thing in the world.

Benjamin listened to him and thought about the options. He did not know what fate awaited him, but if he could be saved in this way, he did not want to take any unnecessary chance.

'Well even if you take it seriously you will never be able to pass it', Benjamin thought for a moment and decided to compromise for now.

"Tell me your name boy and your examination number", Benjamin asked smiling at him.

"Asher Ignifera and my number is 100212. And I've already recorded our conversation, so do not try to be shrewd or I wonder how much your reputation will get tarnished if it gets uploaded with a little editing."

This time Ash replied in an impassive voice sending chills to Benjamin. He could not help but broke out in sweat. He only nodded his head in confirmation silently.

After getting assurance, without wasting any time, Asher pounced on the masked men with the intention of fighting. His movements were swift and nimble.

While the men appeared to be surprised by his quickness. They also try to retaliate.

However, each blow hit the air.

"What the hell is going on here?" One of them shouted in confusion.

Before they knew it, Asher had kicked the one holding Benjamin by his collar, sending him flying.

Then he ran outside the house while holding surprised Benjamin toward the safe area.

Benjamin was unable to believe what was happening. He had never imagined someone like this would appear.

"Old man there are many people in that direction. Go away before they come again. And don't forget the promise you have made. I'm waiting." Asher said with a serious expression.

The old man only nodded and left the place in a daze. He still could not believe everything that happened.

After watching the old man leave, Asher walked back inside the house and closed the door behind him after checking if anyone was following him.

"Well guys you can stop pretending now" Asher said chucking. "I'm impressed by your acting skills."

After a while, one of the men began to talk with an angry expression, "Hey Ash you f*cker! Why did you hit me so hard?"

He was the man who was holding Benjamin and got kicked by Asher. His name was Roy.

Asher shrugged his shoulders and answered in a mocking tone "My bad dude. But that Arnold almost ruined our plan by exposing your name".

"What do you take me for? A real criminal! This is the first time I'm doing something like this you know!" Arnold, the one who spoke first in front of Benjamin, rebuked embarrassingly.

The remaining men laughed at him in response.

"But Ash do you think he will hold on to his words? I do not believe these wealthy f*ckers" Roy suddenly spoke out in concern.

Everyone looked at Asher to see if he would say anything.

"For these kinds of people, reputation is everything. They won't even think twice before selling their own parents. So let's see if this is true or not"

Asher responded indifferently. He was not worried at all.

All of them were orphans like Ash. Even though each one of them came from a different background, they were still a family.

A small family but a family nonetheless.

Looking at the distant skyscrapers that were shimmering like stars in the moonless night, Ash pointed out in an emotional voice.

"Let's just hope I'll have enough time to pay off the debt for the orphanage."