Classmates' Visit

--- Chapter 3 ---

I'm lying down on my bed lazily.

Yes, free time! Finally!

No sparring.

No learning.

And no Medicinal Baths!

BANZAI, WOOOOHOOOO~!

I breathed in my freshly washed blanket and was about to hit the dream world when someone pressed our house's doorbell.

Ding~! Dong~!

"For fuck sake!" I instinctively turned around. My room was on the second floor, so I looked down to see who it was. 

And to my surprise, I saw two young kids my age at the front door. 

They seemed to be my classmates, but I didn't pay much attention to them because I wasn't interested in kids. 

The school's English Teacher is my type, though.

God, why is it always the English Teacher? 

Even in this Alternative Reality. 

Anyway, back to my classmates. 

The first is a young boy in a green hoodie and long black cargo pants. He has short black hair and green eyes. 

If I'm not wrong, his name is Rowei.

And the second is a young girl in a pink floral raincoat. She also sported a white skirt and brown shoes. She has red hair styled in twin tails and brown eyes. 

Her name is Elizabeth. Her friends called her Lenny or Lezzy, I forgot. 

Oh, yeah. These kids also wore face masks.

It seems their parents are as overprotective as my parents.

As I was in deep thought, Lenny or Lezzy girl noticed me on the second floor. 

"Gates, oy! Please open the door. We want to play with you!" 

'Fuck, but I don't want to. You guys are kids!' I thought while closing the curtain. 

"Don't stop the curtain. We saw you!" 

'No, you didn't see me...' I ignored their pleas and jumped to my bed again.

However, my free day is short-lived. 

My grandma opened my bedroom door and said giddily, "Theo, your friends are coming to play with you." 

"..." My honest reaction is to swat them. 

But my grandma forced me to play with them. She dragged me from the heaven-called bedroom and showed me to the living room, where Rowei and Elizabeth already sat down with tea cups.

I crashed onto the sofa and clicked his tongue, "Tsk, what do you guys want?" 

"See, I already told you he would be unfriendly. Even in the Academy, he doesn't have friends." Rowei whispered, but I could still hear him.

Thank you for the compliment. I don't want to befriend you guys anyway. 

"Shush, we are here to get to know him better. I recently knew he lived near us, so why don't we become friends?" Elizabeth smiled and replied with the same audible whisper.

No, no, I don't want to be your friend.

Elizabeth coughed after saying that. She smiled at me and said, "Gates." 

"You can call me Theo, aih." I sighed helplessly. 

"Theo. Why don't we play with each other from now on?" She fixed her words. 

"And why should I?" I crossed my arms. 

Elizabeth put on a thoughtful expression and replied, "Because you won't get any friends at this point." 

"..." I don't mind having no friends. Friends are mosquitoes anyway, they are sucking you off your time.

"Hey, Liz is asking you. Why don't you just come and play with us." Rowei crossed his arms like he was a big shot. 

The corner of my mouth twitched. Impressive, you can lick someone's boots at such a young age. 

How could I not see your discontent with my presence, kid? 

You clearly like this girl.

Also, her nickname is Liz. Not Lenny or Lezzy?

I rolled my eyes, "I'm not interested in your plays. I was training hard and preparing myself for the Gifted Young Hunter Program, so if you may. I want to get some rest." 

"Wait, you wanted to enter the Gifted Young Hunter Program?" Rowei was the first to be shocked. "Even though the minimal age is seven, you're going to compete with upper-class seniors..." 

"And?" I didn't care. 

"Woah, you're going to fight with seniors two to three years older than us and act this unfazed." Rowei admired him.

Elizabeth tilted her head in confusion, "What's the Gifted Young Hunter Program?" 

Rowei nodded and explained, "The Gifted Young Hunter Program is like the Gifted Hunter Program. My father said the Alliance holds it every five years since Humanity's First Order." 

"He said it was a trial filled with iron and blood, and those who survived are the best out of the best!" 

"Of course, this Gifted Young Hunter Program is for juniors and much safer than the latter." 

"But still..." 

"From what I heard, only the top 10,000 could advance from each Numerical Ground." 

Kid, your network is quite advanced. I couldn't help but praise Rowei in my head.

Also, you're spouting complicated stuff for a kid your age. 

Then, again. Rowei said he heard this from his father.

"Wow." Elizabeth's eyes lit up.

"Theo, you're amazing." 

"I'm not. The program hasn't even started yet." I said as a matter of fact.

"Oh..." Elizabeth got caught in her tongue. "Well, um, good luck!"

"Yeah, good luck," Rowei added with a smile.

Kid, you're changing your view of me very quickly. 

Where is the detest earlier?

After that, Elizabeth dragged the conversation to their school matters and told me teachers in the Academy were holding some tests for the seniors. 

Yup, it's probably related to the Gifted Young Hunter Program.

She also told me that one of Humanity's Pillars visited Ground Zero a while ago.

"Humanity's Pillars." That's a term that wasn't new for me. 

Since my reincarnation, I've tried my best to gather every information about this world, and the twelve pillars are the most interesting. 

Humanity's Pillars are the oldest experts. 

They survived the Age of Ascension's first wave and guarded humanity against the Sylumans. Their fighting prowess is godlike, and a rumor said that even the last-ranked guardian could part the sea apart like Moses.

And that rumor didn't stop there. The last-ranked guardian also could turn those parted seas into immense sea serpents that stood higher than Mount Everest from my previous world. 

Pretty insane, right? 

I'm excited to get my hands on the Leveling System.

"Oh, what pillar visited the Ground Zero?" I asked out of curiosity.

Elizabeth pumped her fist, "It's 9th Pillar, Lady of the Dancing Petals, Cosette!"

"Cosette..." I rubbed my chin.

"She should be 9th Ascension Expert. As for her class, controlling plants and earth."

'Why would she visit Ground Zero?' I thought to myself. 'I don't think there is a disaster near us.'

'No, no, why should it be a disaster? It could have been a big event...'

'Like Gifted Young Hunter Program! Damn, who would have thought this program is more important than I originally thought?' 

'No wonder dad and mom are so desperate. They are getting me into this because there was a hidden intention behind the program.'

I looked at Elizabeth's brown eyes and smiled, "Thanks for the information, Elizabeth." 

Elizabeth had never seen me smile before, so she blushed a little. 

Yes, my handsomeness is flowing through generations. 

Unfortunately, I am only attracted to busty women!

We talked about mundane things and didn't realize the clock had reached three PM. 

"Ah, it's this late already. My father is going to scold me!" Elizabeth panicked. "Uh, thanks for inviting us, Theo." 

"Let's talk again in the future~!" 

"Rowei, let's go!" 

"Yes." Rowei gave me a nod and then followed Elizabeth out. 

I watched them running outside and shook my head. I have to admit, letting them in actually has some benefits.

What adults don't realize is that kids also have ears and mouths. In fact, they are great listeners every time they aren't asleep. 

Heck! I'm sure some kids even listened to their parents' conversations in their sleep.

I cleaned the dining room and brought the tray with teacups to the sink, washing them off with a cleaning solution. 

My grandma crept behind me, "So, how was it?"

"How was what?" I placed the clean cups and kettle on the rack.

"Talking with your friends, silly." 

"They are not my friends. They are my classmates." 

"The same things."

"No, they are not. But I did enjoy talking with them, just a little." 

"Back in my days, you would get called Tsundere." She teased while leaving the kitchen.

She probably thought I'd be confused about what Tsundere is.

'Sorry, grandma. I'm from the 21st Century.' I shook my head at her ignorance.

'Also, I am a man of culture!'