"What are you doing here?" I exclaid in surprise, my eyes fixed on Hugh.
"Close the door again," Kai interjected before Hugh could speak up, asking to shut the door as he slumped back on the sofa.
"Oh, sure," I replied with a polite smile and closed the door. Then, I turned back to them and exclaid in shock once again.
"No, seriously, what the fuck is going on here?!" I yelled, my voice laced with a mix of bewildernt and puzzlent.
Hugh, who was still sipping on his boba tea, finally turned to Kai, who was seated on his left, and asked, "Did you not tell him anything?"
In response, Kai rely shrugged his shoulders, as if it was the most natural thing to do to answer Hugh's question.
Because of that, Hugh couldn't help but let out a deep sigh, pressing his fingers to his forehead.
After a while, he let out another sigh and looked up to face .
"Pardon him," Hugh said to , pointing at Kai with his thumb. "He has a thing for being dramatic."
Yeah, I figured – I thought to myself.
"So, what is this place?" I repeated my question for the nth ti, my patience on the edge.
"This is the hideout of a next-generation elite shadow organization known as the New World Order," Kai responded. "I'm the one who created this organization to achieve my goal."
"A shadow organization?!" I blurted out in utter shock. "But you weren't–"
"But I wasn't supposed to do sothing like this?" Kai interjected before I could finish my sentence. "Yeah, that's why every mber I recruited in this Order did not play a major part in the original tiline."
…Oh, I see.
Extras!
In a long-running story, there are hundreds of extras and thousands of unnad characters.
So characters are only there to be in the background – only there to add a dialogue or two and never appear in the story again.
While so are rely small stepping stones in the protagonist's path who would not play a major role in the story after their part is done.
If I have to give an example, think of that Jake guy who ca to during the Flag ga.
Now, I'm not saying I'm a protagonist or sothing, but he was only there in the ga to be a stepping stone for .
Small characters who wouldn't affect the flow of the story in any way with their appearance or disappearance – those are Extras.
So, does Kai want to say he recruited Extras to be in his organization?!
"But why?" – was the only question that escaped my lips. "Why did you go through so much trouble?"
"Isn't it obvious? I can't save the world alone," Kai retorted matter-of-factly. "The smart move is to have as many pawns in my ga as I can. That way, I can easily control a multitude of scenarios to my advantage."
After a heavy silence that lasted a couple of seconds, I was about to ask sothing.
However, before I could even open my mouth, Kai stopped in my tracks and spoke up, "I know what you're going to ask. I will tell you now."
In response to Kai's words that held a vague aning, Hugh turned to him and gave him a look of disbelief.
"Wait, are you really going to tell him about the Book?" Hugh asked, a hint of surprise evident in his tone.I think you should take a look at
"Yes," Kai nodded. "I kind of have to."
"But didn't you say that showing it to people is very risky since we can't predict how it may affect the tiline?" Hugh leaned forward with a frown on his face.
"I know what I said, Hugh," Kai said. "But the situation has changed now. Besides, I have reason to believe that Lucas is 'The' Spearman."
"Wait…" The frown on Hugh's face deepened upon hearing Kai's words. "No, how are you so sure?"
"Because he has a Phoenix in his possession," Kai revealed.
Hugh's eyes widened to the point where it looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets.
With mouth agape, he yelled out, "He has a what?!"
"Hey!" I hollered at Kai, taken aback. "I asked you to keep it a secret! Whatever happened to that talk about the token of trust and all?!"
"Calm down, Morningstar," Kai waved his hand nonchalantly. "Hugh is trustworthy."
As if that was a cue, Hugh turned to , his jaw still hanging from the shock, as he yelled out at this ti, "You have a what?!"
After patting Hugh's back as a gesture to calm him down, Kai got up from the sofa and walked over to a small golden vault on the wall.
After he placed his thumb on a biotric sensor on the wall and aligned his eye in front of what looked like a retina scanner, the vault unlocked.
Before opening the vault, however, Kai turned to and started speaking:
"When I was little, one day I went out to play in a park with my friends. There, I t soone. She was an old lady. Old, wrinkled, tired, lonely. She had no friends, no family, and no one to rely on as I would co to know.
"Yet, she had a smile on her face. A smile that wasn't the brightest in the world, but it was enough to tell that she was at the very least happy with the life she had led.
"That day, my friends left early after I had a fight with them. Because they left , I started crying. The old lady ca to and gently patted my head.
"She asked why I was crying and I recounted what happened to her. She silently listened to my petty, mundane problems and lovingly consoled .
"After I was done crying, she said that I should apologize to my friends and makeup with them. I refused, saying that I don't need them.
"In response, the old lady said that no matter how grand of a life I live, it would an nothing if no one is there to notice it. I, of course, was dumbfounded by her words which were too confusing for the little to understand.
"Seeing my dumb face, the old lady laughed and asked if I wanted to see my future. I said yes, being the curious little kid I was."
Kai took a pause, causing to ask, "What happened next?"
As if waiting for that question, he resud, "The old lady touched my forehead, and suddenly, mories that were mine yet quite not, of a ti that I have yet to live, began to flood in my head."
…Wait a second!
"I saw my future. Actually, I saw quite a few futures that could've been mine. But you know what? In all of them, one thing remained the sa. I died without being able to accomplish anything– without being able to reach my goal.
"From the sudden surge of all the information that overwheld my mind, I stumbled back and fell. When I looked ahead, the old lady was gone."
It was only then Kai opened the vault and took out a book with a red cover on it.
Showing the book to , he said, "In place of her, this book was on the ground."
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