January 19th, 2250
It had been 10 days since the tournament ended. I had won the prize, but because of the severe injuries, I was in the hospital. I only remembered the events vaguely. When I asked old Shroud, he brushed it off as "unimportant." But for the last five days, the attitude of my friends at the gym had changed. And drastically. They had always admired me—after all, I had no power. But this was different… more like fear. When they looked at me, they turned their eyes away. When I asked for a match replay, they said it wouldn't be provided. There were more than 1000 people there; someone had to know. But no matter how much I investigated, no one talked. When they saw me, they ran away in fear and slammed their doors in my face.
At first, I thought the girls were doing it because they didn't find me attractive, but when I looked at myself in the mirror in the hospital, I realized I had an average appearance. White hair, red eyes… not bad, honestly. As for the guys, well, you know… I respected them, but I'm not their type anyway, ahem.
My thoughts were interrupted by the door opening. The person who walked in was none other than Doctor Who himself. Dark-eyed, glasses, an adult—just a normal doctor.
We talked a bit. He explained my condition, then discharged me. Thanks to the prize money from the tournament, I was in a good hospital. With the help of soul stones, healing processes that would normally take 3–4 months now took around 10 days. Ah, money works wonders…
I walked out and took a taxi. First, I had to visit my little sister, then the club. After a 20-minute ride, I paid the wei. I had won 30,000 from the tournament—about three times an average yearly salary. I got out of the taxi. Our house was a one-story place with a monthly rent of 600 wei. The landlords treated us well. Yes, the house was small, but perfectly enough.
I knocked on the door, and a warm, familiar voice answered. A moment later, the door opened. It was my little sister, Helen. Fifteen years old, smart, a promising student. She had white hair and red eyes just like me.
After a brief stare, she raised an eyebrow at me and said:
"Hey, don't just stand there like an idiot. Come in, you'll freeze." Then she turned her back with a pout.
I couldn't help but chuckle. Not because she was my sister, but because I genuinely thought she was the cutest sibling ever, despite acting like that. A smile spread across my face and I patted her head. She immediately blushed.
"H-hey, stop it!" she said, pushing me away.
We sat at the already prepared dinner table, ate, and she told me about her day—how school was going well and all that. The conversation was nice, but the food was even better. It was ezogelin soup. Delicious, fragrant, perfect.
Anyway… after the meal, I stood up, opened the door, and said, "See you later." I was about to step out when she kissed me on the cheek and said:
"See you, big brother."
I couldn't stop myself from smiling. Then I left the house and headed to the gym using my bus card. I had a heavy training session—it was leg day, my favorite day actually. And the gym was empty. I laughed and went upstairs. Unlike other "princesses," I didn't hate leg day.
Anyway, after 1–2 hours of training, I changed my clothes. Just as I was about to leave the gym, he arrived: old Shroud.
"Hey Yhazem, kid. Got a minute?"
I was surprised and asked curiously:
"Ah, yes. Why?"
Shroud took a breath and added:
"To be honest, I'm proud of you for what happened that day, but…"
"But?" I asked, curious.
He stopped, then said:
"It's not the right time. You're tired after training. Go home and rest, kid."
I didn't understand at first. Then I nodded and took the bus home. It took around 30 minutes.
When I arrived, I knocked on the door. 1, 2, 3, 4… But no one opened. I got worried. I called my sister Helen, thinking she might be asleep. But she didn't answer. In the end, I had to force the door open.
Inside was silent, but there was a strange smell. I didn't know why, but I slowly walked toward the source of the scent. My worry grew; I was starting to sweat. Then I kept going—toward the door of my little sister's room…