Chapter 41: Ch 41: Ace is back - Part 3
’Who the heck is that? He looks familiar sohow...’
The more I looked at the barely visible face in front of , the more familiar he seed to look. I was more than sure I knew that person.
But Rose was a new face for sure.
"Ace, now that you are back, what are your expectations for the world?"
"What about the S-ranked dungeon? How did you survive there and how did you make it back?"
"Where are the others? Did they manage to make it back as well? Or did they sacrifice themselves?"
The questions kept coming, but the Ace did not respond.
Ultimately, he raised his hand and everyone stopped speaking.
"I would rather not talk about the dungeon or what went in there. Just know that you are all safe from the threat of the S-class dungeon for now. The details of what happened inside the S-class dungeon will be revealed to the public soon. As for now, I would like to work with the association and make this world a better place."
The fake-Ace spoke to the dia and I felt like cringing.
’Tsk, I do not sound like that, right? Surely, I am not that corny... then again, the association used to give
a script to follow for these things, and they told
what to say as well.’
I recalled the ti I spent as a puppet of the association and felt a shudder go down my spine.
Those were not the tis I wanted to recall.
Especially not now.
"Now that you are back, will you be participating in the hunter’s championship? Everyone must be eager to see your performance."
A reporter asked, and Ace on the screen paused before he replied without missing a single beat.
"I would love to participate, but I have too much on my plate at the mont to participate. Maybe I will participate next year."
The Ace on the screen spoke, and the more he spoke, the angrier I felt.
’The hunter’s association has gone too far this ti. How dare they try sothing this shady... fuck-! I will show them... I wish I could fuck them over...’
Well, there was one way I could fuck them over, but I did not want to do that, and that was to secretly participate in the hunter’s championship.
Since the Ace on T.V. had already announced he would not participate, if I were to sohow appear during the competition, it would screw him over.
Especially if there were more than one Ace at a given ti.
Was it a stupid idea? Of course.
But was it tempting? Also yes.
As I was fighting with myself, Theo decided to walk behind
and wrap his arms around my middle. I got startled enough to hit him back.
"Ouch-! Sorry, I should not have startled you. Hey, who’s that?"
Theo asked as he pointed toward the screen where Ace and the mbers of the hunter’s association were addressing the public.
"That’s Ace... or so the association says. What do you think about this? Are you excited to have Ace back?"
For my own sake, I should stop letting people know I doubted the association’s claim toward Ace being back, but I could not help it.
There was just a certain itch in the back of my mind that wanted to speak like this.
I looked at Theo’s face to see what he thought, but he had a frown on his face as well.
"Ace... that’s Ace? For so reason... he doesn’t feel like Ace... not that I know who Ace is anyway outside what I’ve heard. But I just have a feeling that the Ace on the screen is fake."
Theo spoke in a calm voice and I felt proud of him for that mont. It felt like my existence had been acknowledged by soone.
"You know, whenever I try to imagine Ace, your image flashes across my eyes. I just have a feeling Ace would be soone like you. He’s even an oga like you."
I suddenly coughed and choked on air when I heard Theo speak those words.
’W-What the hell-? I think Theo just dropped a bomb on my head.’
"W-Won’t you say that I am more like Ace in that case? Besides, aren’t I too young to be Ace? He was in his late teens when he went to the dungeon. He would be in his late 20s or early 30s by now. I am too young."
I tried to distract Theo, and he looked surprised.
"Oh, you are right. I did not take that into account. I guess you just feel like such a capable person to
that I cannot imagine soone better than you out there."
Theo finally decided to let the topic rest and I cald down my racing heart as well.
’Phew, that was a close call. That makes
more and more certain that I should not try to regain my identity as Ace. But this does make it easy for
to swoop around for information on the network.’
"Kyle, break ti is over. You need to eat sothing or you will lose all your energy."
Emma ca into the break room with an annoyed look on her face. She passed
the sandwich and I ate it quickly.
Her care almost made tears sting my eyes.
All those who cared about
from my past are gone now. But I had found a new family to care for
in these people from the café.
’Yeah. It’s ti to leave behind the tough life and enjoy the benefits of this life.’
That was what I decided while I followed Emma out of the break room and back to work. At that ti, I was so sure that this newfound happiness I had found would not be taken away from .
However, the sentint did not last even a single day before reality ca crashing toward , and it happened when I went back to my room to sleep.
I spotted the red eyes outside my window even before my head had hit the pillow, and I felt my nerves tense.
’What the... what was that? I need to check.’
I pulled out my signature mask out of my system inventory and changed quickly into my Ace cloak. It had a lot of protective features made especially for
and my powers.
"System, activate night vision."
[Activating Night Vision]
I followed the trail left behind by whatever that red-eyed thing was, but it was pretty clear that I had lost track of that creature.
"Darn it-!"
I almost yelled before I felt sothing sharp touch the back of my neck. The cold and tallic touch told
that it was likely a weapon, and I regretted not pulling my hood up now.
’Luckily, it is dark enough for my hair to not show. But I need to be careful here. Whoever snuck up on
is not an ordinary person.’
I was sure of this, so I did not take any sudden action.
"Who are you? Turn around and face . Otherwise, I will be forced to take action."
The other person spoke through a mask’s filter as well, so they were at least smart enough to hide their identity.
’Tsk, did I fall into a trap?’
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