Those Left Behind (1)

The girl had her raven-black hair cut short, just like her height, which measured about 155 cm. Her chest was flat, well, not that flat, and also had brown skin, just don't ask me how I know her height. She was slim and had a hyperactive personality, the type where they can just keep on going even though it's too tiring.

Such girl was running towards me with a scary expression(for me). Her eyes were crying huge droplets of tears while snot was going out of her nose. She even had her hair disheveled while her shirt was showing a huge amount of skin, not minding the gazes of other people walking by the sidewalks.

"… Whoever you are, I don't know you so please stay away."

With that, I turned tail and ran for my life. No way in hell am I going to be caught by that beastlike person!

"HEYYYY!!! WAAIIITT!!!"

And just like this, the touching reunion(not) turned into a game of tag, with me running for my life, and her with crying bloodshot eyes chasing me with no pause.

"I'M TELLING YOU I DON'T KNOW YOU SO STAY AWAY!!!"

I gathered up the air in my lungs and shouted with a strong enough voice to let her hear. Of course, this did nothing to the beastlike girl chasing me.

"JUST HEAR ME OUTTT!!! REEEENNNN!!!!"

'Yeah, last time I did that, you had me hanging upside down on a tree branch, so nope, not falling for it again.'

I recalled the time when I listened to her during one of her so-called favors. The result had me hanging upside down on a tree branch next to a cliff. This is the Bermuda Triangle after all. Of course, I didn't say that out loud.

I just kept on running like my life depended on it, and finally, I noticed something strange.

'… Is it just me, or is my breath not running out after sprinting for a good 3 minutes…?'

If it was just the regular me, I would have fallen face down after about 20 seconds of sprinting. There was no way I could outrun the girl who joined the track and field team as the star of the relay.

"REEENNNN!!! STOP RUNNINGGG!!!"

Although because of her low IQ(literally), she wasn't able to notice the difference in my body. But what was more shocking was that she was still not out of breath even after sprinting for 3 minutes straight.

'… You're more beastlike then I expected.'

We just ran around for a good 5 more minutes before she started slowing down, and before I knew it, fell down with a thud. Her breathing was out of order while her clothes and hair were more disheveled than before.

When I saw her fell down, I stopped my running too and walked towards her, while also calmly judging the characteristics of my body.

'I'm not out breath even after 8 minutes of sprinting in fact, it felt like I just walked for 10 seconds. I didn't even sweat. What is going on here…?'

While I was contemplating on why I was able to do something out of my regular capabilities, I came on an answer.

'Was it because of my Status Card? If so, then just like games, has my body been modified to show results the same as the numbers shown on the Status Card?'

If this was true, then I could probably squeeze the living daylights out of a lion. Since running was no problem, maybe I could even outrun a speeding cheetah.

While thoughts roam inside my head, my feet brought me to my destination. The sight of the pitiful girl crawling on all fours while trying to grab my ankle made me look like a villain. Good thing that she collapsed inside an alleyway near my apartment.

"Finally… Haa… Caught up… Haa… To you… Haa…"

"…"

'Is something wrong with her head…?'

Catching up to someone and willingly getting caught was two different things, but judging that her head was full of muscles and flowers, I ignored it and proceeded with my question.

"Why did you keep on chasing me, even though I told you before not to do that…?"

"Haa… Let… Me… Haa… Haa…"

"… She fainted…"

Her eyelids closed shut and her body refused to move. Hell, she was even drooling out of the corner of her mouth.

"… Whatever…"

I placed her on my back and gave the sleeping girl a piggyback. Next thing I did was head towards my apartment while avoiding the gazes of the people glaring at me because I came out of an alley with a sleeping girl on my back with disheveled clothes and hair.

For some reason, she was also light, very, very light, just as light as a feather, literally. If this is thanks to my Status too, then aren't I superhuman already?

I arrived at the door of my apartment and entered the code for the lock. With a click, the door unlocked and I headed in without any hesitation. The usual sight greeted me, messy living room, clean kitchen, incredibly messy bedroom, clean bathroom.

I laid the fainted girl on the sofa and headed to the kitchen to whip up some grub. While cooking however, I heard a grunt and took a look towards the living room. The girl, Michelle de los Diaz, a Filipino citizen and student in the Bermuda Triangle University, opened her eyes.

"Oh, awake now?"

With perfect timing, the dish I was cooking finished and all I had to do was set up the table. Once that was done, I invited her to the dining room(a.k.a. living room) to eat.

"Muu… Ren…?"

Her unfocused eyes made her a tad bit cute, but if you knew her personality, then you might say otherwise. By the way, I didn't change her sweaty clothes. Who cares if she gets a cold, she's a superhuman in that regard. Also, it's bad for my eyes(and heart) to see her naked.

While she was getting herself together, I placed the food I cooked onto the table. The smell permeated through the room and brought her back from the world of dreams. Her eyes shone once and in just 20 seconds, the newly cooked food entered her belly.

"… That's a new record if you ask me…"

"That's because I was so hungry after chasing you all this time Ren. Why did you keep on running?"

"Who wouldn't after seeing your face like that?"

"…"

Realizing that it was also partly her fault that Ren ran away, she went silent.

"Anyway, the reason I was chasing you was because not for a favor, but a different thing."

The seriousness in her voice made me flinch as I had never seen this side of her before. Judging by the atmosphere around her, I could tell that what she was about to talk about was something serious.

"Then what is it?"

"Remember how you were brought to court after being judged as a suspect for the disappearance of the school?"

"Yep, but actually, I was more disappointed than scared."

"Hm, Why?"

"Well, because of the lawyer and prosecutor. Did they even broadcast that trial live?"

"Ah right… I remember their faces. It was actually funny to watch, but nevermind that. What I want to talk about is about the students and people affiliated with the school that was among those that disappeared."

"…"

I went silent once I heard it.

'How come I never thought of it before…?'

"Ahh… That's why…"

"Hmm…? What's why?"

"… Nevermind that. Anyway, you said that there were people who were left behind?"

"Yes and… wait a minute… Did you say left behind…?"

'What a sharp girl…'

Well, excluding her low IQ, she was actually sharp in some occasions. In any case, since she was able to notice my wording, her suspicions went up as she stared at me with questioning eyes.

"Yes, I said left behind."

"And what do you mean by that?"

Her curiosity was at its peak. Maybe because she had a friend that was included in the disappearance, she wanted to know more about why it happened.

"Do you know what I experienced there?"

"Yes, back in the trial you said some ridiculous things---"

"I was not lying about it. Everything I said there was all true."

"…"

Noticing the seriousness in my voice, she clamped up and didn't retort back.

"If you want some proof, then how about our little game of tag. You, a star in the track and field relay, were not able to catch up to me, a regular person with no athletic ability."

"…"

Seeing that she went completely silent told me everything I need to know. Right now, she was in deep thinking about the reason why she wasn't able catch up to me.

'You finally noticed… You need to raise your IQ more…'

Keeping that thought to myself, I continued staring at her silent self.

"… Okay, I'll believe what you said back in court. So if that really did happen, then presently they would be in some sort of dome where a God was training them for an upcoming war?"

"Yes."

"My god…"

Her eyes trembled for a bit before returning back to her calm demeanor.

"… Alright… We won't get anywhere with this, let's meet up with the others."

"By others, you mean…"

"Yes, the ones that were 'left behind.'"

She stood up and went outside after thanking me for the food. Because of the urgency in the situation I left the plates as they were and vowed to clean them when I return. I got up and followed her, although, I didn't trust her one bit.