Chapter 85: Friend I almost regret making
’Now, let’s hope this works...’
Aside from finding the base he was looking for, he also had to dig into Asher, and this was the perfect opportunity.
It felt a bit like something out of a movie, sure, but brute force wasn’t an option. Not here. Not if he wanted to avoid drawing suspicion... or worse, disciplinary action.
Student files cabi — Year 2125/1126.
Carefully, he bent one open until it formed a clean niy-degree angle, then peeled off the small rubber tip from the straight end. With the second pin, he bent the closed end the same way.
’I hope I’m doing this right, just like in the tutorial...’
’Please, I beg you, be a standard lock,’ he thought. ’If it’s more than five pins, this is going to take forever...’
Blake focused, searching for the binding pin, the one that would resist just a bit more than the others. Starting from the outer edge, he pressed each pin carefully, moving inward, inch by inch.
Then, the fourth one resisted.
He nudged it up and down, testing it, feeling the slight tension. His pulse quickened, anxiety creeping in despite himself.
Blake froze for half a second before a grin tugged at his lips.
Being a spy in broad daylight, inside a school, wasn’t exactly smart, but he’d come this far. He wasn’t backing out now.
’Asher, Asher, where are you... tsk, too many A’s...’
But it didn’t take long.
’There it is!’
"...Huh?"
It wasn’t like Blake hadn’t experienced shock before, but this...
Blake’s mind raced.
That changed everything.
His grip tightened on the papers, crumpling them slightly before he caught himself.
Then, he heard footsteps, so his head snapped up.
He walked toward the door, opening it just as the footsteps reached him.
It was Asher and, for a brief moment, he froze.
There was something off. Asher couldn’t quite put it into words. Blake was smiling, but something about him felt different from usual.
As he walked by, his jaw clenched so tightly it almost hurt.
"We’re sorry..."
"I’ll also call Anthony separately," the teacher added, standing up. "For him, your heads should be on the floor!"
"Alright, you can all go now."
Blake and Asher stepped out together, the door closing softly behind them.
The hallway was completely empty, since the other students were in their classes.
"Yeah," Blake replied, keeping his tone light. "Can’t skip forever."
Blake nodded. "You too."
"See you later," Asher added, turning away.
They parted ways.
One step, then another.
His hand came up, covering his face as he bent forward slightly, shoulders tightening.
His voice was barely audible.
Why, just why did it have to be Anthony?
Blake bit down on his lower lip, hard enough that he nearly tasted blood.
It was so obvious now, Asher had been searching for UD since the start of the school year, so, even in the novel, this happened.
He knew Asher never suspected Myles.
Not until the very end, when everything unraveled and Myles was revealed as the final boss.
Blake wasn’t the catalyst for all of this, like he assumed he was. This was supposed to happen from the very start.
’I ruined everything.’
The moment he became friends with Anthony, Asher’s cousin, he became the bridge.
A direct line between Asher and Myles.
His shoulders trembled slightly as he dragged in a sharp breath, his vision blurring at the edges.
Myles’ words echoed in his mind.
Or maybe just not at all.
Blake’s chest tightened as panic crept in, cold and suffocating.
Blake let out a shaky breath, lowering his hand slowly as he stared at the floor.
Thinking back at everything that he did so far, he felt a strange feeling in his chest.
The thought slipped in before he could stop it, and it was nothing short of pathetic.
One step at a time, the nearest bathroom wasn’t far.
Droplets slid down his skin, dripping from his chin into the sink.
Slowly, he lifted his head.
’...Who do you think you are?’
This wasn’t just some small plotline he could tweak and fix.
Driven by determination.
It didn’t matter what the reason was.
And he had just... stepped right into it.
His fingers tightened slightly against the sink before relaxing.
Panic wasn’t going to undo what he’d done.
’I’ll just have to push harder.’
He exhaled slowly.
Blake reached for a paper towel, drying his face.
He was not much calmer, really, not even lighter.
He paused for half a second, then, finished it anyway.
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