Maverick (Blank)
Chapter 33: NGNL Collaboration Event (7)
[Come out, you bastard!]
The voice shattered the silence. Willie was scared half to death, his body leaning against the wall, his face instantly paling.
"Who are you!"
Blank gritted his teeth hard, his eyes reddening, and his teeth visible. "Come out!" Blank answered in a heavy tone.
Willie swallowed his saliva. His eyes moved left and right; there was a bucket with detergent at his feet. "This..." The sound of water could be heard from inside. Blank, hearing it, couldn't bear it any longer.
Bang.
Blank punched hard, making the metal door dent slightly. His hand reddened, and veins became clearly visible. "Bastard! Get out now."
Click.
The lock opened. Blank prepared his fist, but as the door gap started to show, a small, foamy bucket splashed his face. Blank covered his head; his eyes reddened from the soapy water and began to sting. (Damn.)
His vision blurred. As Blank looked forward, Willie came and kicked Blank's sensitive area. "Ack..." Blank closed his legs together. A hard kick with a sharp bone made him groan.
As Willie tried to escape through the door, Blank grabbed his collar and threw him against the toilet wall. "Ugh..." Blank endured the pain in his sensitive area. With unclear vision, he said, "Hey, why did you do that?"
Willie, sprawled and leaning against the wall, cleaned his clothes. "So what? Are you her partner?" Blank blinked rapidly, clenching his fist. "You're insane."
Willie laughed. "Hey, kid, you know, Viera is a very beautiful social media star. I'm her number one fan." Blank's footsteps approached. Eyes with optic nerves red as blood stared. "You're more like the number one trash." Blank kicked forward, but Willie escaped first.
Blank's vision still hadn't recovered. Willie entered the toilet again, and Blank quickly chased, but the opened door was forcibly closed, causing Blank's face to collide.
Crack.
Blank held his nose; blood began to flow. Willie came and pushed Blank's head toward the mirror behind him. Very hard, his head hit the mirror.
Crash.
In the villa, Boyka, the closest, woke up. "Huh, what was that sound?"
The toilet mirror shattered with Blank's slightly bleeding head. His body fell, but his hand grabbed Willie's shoulder, causing them to fall together.
Blank's vision faded again. Quickly, his right hand punched Willie's body swiftly and repeatedly.
Thud, Thud, Thud.
Willie protected his ribs with his left hand until it reddened. His right hand strongly choked Blank.
Blank resisted with both hands squeezing Willie's arm. However, Willie was on top of Blank, sitting on him. A knee kick from above landed right on his sensitive area again.
"AAACKK!"
Blank screamed. Pain enveloped his body and spread. His hands weakened, allowing Willie to break free from Blank's continuous punches.
His knee was raised again and hit a third time on Blank's sensitive area. His vision blurred, and Blank's mouth opened.
His hands lay on the floor, and he was seen motionless, silent as death. Willie looked at him and held his ribs and left hand. "Ugh... His punches are strong." His body began to redden, and his body weakened.
Footsteps were heard by Willie's ears. (Someone's here?) Willie immediately pretended to faint beside him.
Boyka arrived and saw both Blank and Willie sprawled in one place. "Hey! What's going on here?" His steps approached. Blank's nose was bleeding, and choke marks were visible on his neck. "Oh my."
His eyes looked at Willie. Willie's left hand was swollen, and his left cheek too. "Did they fight?" Broken glass was scattered from the toilet mirror. Boyka carried Blank first because his injuries were more severe. Boyka's body wasn't enough to carry two large people at once.
As Boyka left the toilet, Willie woke up and bit his lip. (Bastard, all because of that kid.) His steps were slow as he watched Boyka enter the villa door. (I have to leave. Damn, everything's messed up.)
Willie looked around and found the forest behind the villa. (Damn.)
On the other side, Boyka placed Blank on the large bed in the central room. He checked Blank's pulse. "He's still alive." His clothes were wet, and blood stained his collar. Boyka took spare clothes to change him.
"Sorry, Kaelan. This is so you don't catch a cold." His clothes were slowly changed. Boyka left Blank and intended to return to the toilet to get Willie.
But as he exited, the sound of footsteps was heard from behind the villa. Boyka ran quickly to the toilet. Willie was gone.
Boyka saw footprints heading toward the forest. "Willie escaped!?" Boyka ran into the forest, chasing Willie. The atmosphere grew darker without any lights at all. The moon was covered by clouds, and vision narrowed.
Boyka could still hear a sound from afar. Leaves moved, leaving rustling sounds, so Boyka ran following it.
For over 5 minutes, Boyka followed the sound. There were even a few stones thrown to divert his attention.
Willie kept running, panting heavily. Now he had to climb a hill to escape.
Boyka saw someone from the darkness. "Stop there!" Willie was startled. Boyka's voice was behind him. Willie forced his legs to keep running forward no matter what, until it turned out the direction led to a waterfall with a large pool below, about 50 meters high. (Damn, a dead end.)
There was only one slightly large rock to his left. His eyes saw dense bushes behind. Instinctively, he pushed the rock over and ran toward the bushes.
Boyka heard the sound of water splashing, so he quickly went to the source. Willie moved slowly so the sound wouldn't be heard by Boyka. He covered his mouth and lowered his face.
Boyka looked down the cliff. The waterfall pool was below. He held his head. "Wait, did he jump?" Boyka didn't believe it. He circled around searching for Willie.
Willie closed his eyes and didn't move a bit. (I beg you, don't come here.) Boyka's steps approached, making his body tremble, but he endured it.
Boyka passed the bushes. His foot almost hit Willie, but it didn't happen. The condition darkened again as clouds covered the moon; his vision was limited. "Damn, where did he go?"
Suddenly, the sound of bushes at the foot of the hill was heard. Something moved, so Boyka quickly ran after it. His feet descended the hill.
Quickly, Boyka ran and approached the source of the movement, but... There was only a rabbit moving, and he caught it. Boyka released it. "Damn..." Willie remained still for dozens of minutes while Boyka kept searching around the area.
However, nothing could be found. Boyka saw no signs of Willie at the foot of the hill, while Willie restrained himself on the hill. "Did he run very far now?" There was no answer tonight. "I have to return. Kaelan needs medical help." Boyka looked around. "Willie, I'll look for you later."
The night passed with the silence of a mystery without an answer, until slowly the sun began to rise, illuminating the world and gradually dispelling the darkness.
---
In the morning, the clock showed 06:00. Blank was seen surrounded by his team and Erna.
Lirie scratched his neck, looking at Blank sleeping in the central room with foam on his nose. "What's wrong with Kaelan?" Navas saw the choke marks on his neck. "Is he okay?"
Robert bit the flesh inside his mouth. "His clothes are so big." Lirie patted Robert's head. "Hey, Robert, you're not asking about his condition... But you're right..."
Navas approached his two friends. "They're Boyka's, apparently." Robert grumbled, "But why do the pants fit?"
The three of them looked at Boyka outside enjoying the view.
Navas teased Robert. "In gym terms, that's called chicken legs." Lirie nodded. "Oh, so that means..." His eyes looked at a corner of the room.
"Where's the CCTV footage!?"
Tap.
"Ouch..."
Robert flicked Lirie's forehead. "Idiot."
Erna, who had just woken up, saw Blank's condition and held her forehead. "Oh dear, I don't know what happened." Then a voice came from behind her.
"Miss... Miss Erna..."
Viera held the door, her body weak with a hand on her stomach.
Erna, seeing from the central room, immediately approached. Viera was embraced and brought to the central bed with a pounding heart.
The trio stepped aside slightly to give Viera a place to sit.
Erna made room for Viera to sit. "Are you okay, Viera?"
"I don't know. My stomach has been hurting lately." Viera lowered her head.
"I'll find medicine for you later. Rest first, okay."
Viera sat and stayed quiet. Not long after, Boyka called, "Miss Erna, come here." He waved from outside.
Erna's gaze turned to Viera. "Viera, you can lie down for now." Viera nodded. "Yes, Miss," she said weakly.
Viera then lay on the same bed as Blank, while Miss Erna approached Boyka.
Boyka pointed to the outdoor toilet. Erna raised her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
"Don't look at me weirdly. See for yourself in toilet number 2."
Erna looked inside. Her eyes widened seeing women's underwear lying there. Her steps went back out, and she approached Boyka.
"Whose is that?"
Boyka sighed. "I don't know. Let's wait for Kaelan to wake up."
"What happened last night?"
"Kaelan and Willie fought. When I arrived, they were both unconscious. But when I brought Kaelan in, Willie disappeared."
Erna's eye twitched. Her hand covered her forehead, and she took a deep breath. "Huh... What the hell." Her face turned to Boyka.
"At least, get rid of that first."
"But it's women's underwear..."
"And?"
"Alright."
Boyka's task this morning was to clean up the entire outdoor toilet until it was clean and neat again. There were still many glass shards and soapy water everywhere.
Erna waved. "I'll look for a pharmacy first. Viera has stomach pain again."
"Can you find one? There's no tour guide right now."
"I'll look for it via maps. And I'll contact the second tour guide."
Boyka raised his right hand. "Be careful."
---
Inside the room, the trio was standing in front of where Blank lay. Lirie nudged them. "Hey, what are we doing?"
Navas turned. "Our schedule is at 9 AM. That's still 3 hours away, right? Seems we woke up too early."
"True. Are we leaving Viera here with Kaelan?" Robert patted both his friends' shoulders, cutting off Lirie's talk.
"Let's go to the private room until we're called."
They all followed his words. Now the situation had calmed down again. This morning, they all rested again, and only Erna and Boyka were working.
Blank's face was slightly scrunched. His eyes were tightly closed, and his lips moved. It seemed he was having a dream.
[Blank's Current Dream]
In an empty place where white and black colors clashed, Blank was seen in the middle of both colors.
Even though Blank tried to walk, both colors kept staying at the center of his feet. Blank became the center of the existing colors.
"Where am I now?" Blank asked.
Blank kept walking in an endless void alone.
Suddenly... from the front, silhouettes of humans made of clashing black and white colors began to form.
Blank was startled. His body froze looking at the situation before him. The face and body of the silhouette were unclear and vague.
"Who are you?"
Silence enveloped his body. Slowly, the floor began to move shadows. Three more silhouettes awakened and showed the same strangeness.
The second silhouette, made of white, was on Blank's right side. The third silhouette was made of perfect black. And the fourth silhouette was behind Blank; it was a mix of colors, same as the first silhouette.
"Wait, what is this!?"
They all seemed not to see Blank right in the middle of them. Then the four silhouettes began to argue.
The first silhouette raised his right hand from below to above, palm open. "There will be light behind darkness, there will be darkness behind light."
The second silhouette opened both hands as if to hug. "Hope will always exist; light will bring it."
The third silhouette raised both hands wide like the letter T, symbolizing power. "Despair will always exist; darkness will bring it."
The fourth silhouette raised his right hand from above to below, palm closed. "Nothing is perfect; everything will run as it should."
Blank observed all the words of the silhouettes around him, but he himself seemed ignored. Slowly, all the silhouettes vanished and disappeared, leaving Blank alone.
His head felt heavy. His hands held his temples, and his ears began to hear a heavy sound from nowhere.
"Everything begins from emptiness and ends with emptiness."
Blank searched for the source of the sound, but there was no one except himself. "Who's that?"
One word passed through his mind. There was only one, nothing else. That word was...
[Empty]
"HUH!?"
Blank woke up. His face was sweaty, and he felt a severe headache at the back. "Ugh..." He saw his nose stuffed with foam and removed it. "Where am I?"
His sensitive area throbbed painfully, and Blank closed his eyes again. (Argh... This hurts.) Blank endured the pain for over 15 minutes before trying to sit up again. Both hands reached his forehead and pulled his hair back. "What happened..."
He was panting, and his body felt stiff and sore. Blank didn't understand his recent dream. Blank shook his head and looked at his body.
"Wait, whose clothes and pants are these?"
His hand held his left temple, and a memory flashed in his mind: last night when he and Willie were fighting.
"Ah... I remember last night's incident."
Blank saw a foot to his left that wasn't his. "Wait, whose foot is that?"
Blank turned. It turned out Viera was sleeping beside him. "Viera? Since when was she here..."
Blank stared at her for a moment. His eyes looked around.
"Huh. Where's Willie now!?"
The atmosphere was so quiet without any sound. His hand held his neck tightly. "Ugh, my neck hurts. Am I still dreaming?"
Blank tried to get up and leave the bed, but before he could leave, suddenly Viera curled up in pain.
Her face paled, making Blank crawl to look at her. "Viera? Are you sick again?"
Viera's body lay on her back, clearly holding her stomach with pursed lips.
Blank was startled. "Wait a moment, I'll find Miss Erna."
But at that moment, Blank's right hand was pulled by Viera, who was in pain. Viera placed that hand on her stomach and returned to a sideways sleeping position.
Blank, being pulled, immediately fell. That position would look very much like Blank hugging Viera from behind.
"Wait, Viera, what are you—"
"Don't leave, Mom~"
Blank tilted his head. Viera was beginning to hallucinate. Viera's grip was very tight on his wrist. "Ah, wait, Viera, seems like you're delirious. I'll call Miss Erna."
At that very moment, a door opened. Emma, who had woken up, stepped out and rubbed her eyes.
"Morning, Brother Kaelan. You're awake this early?"
Emma's eyes widened seeing Blank hugging Viera from behind. Blank froze. (Emma... It's not like that!)
Emma's mouth began to open. A loud voice was heard instantly.
"BROTHER KAELAN!!!"
The loud sound in the villa broke the silence. And that morning, the drama began.
---
Meanwhile, in another place, a village not far from them, from a second-floor balcony with a wooden railing.
A young man in neat but disheveled clothes was seen sitting in a village inn.
His eyes looked at the large mountain before him. The morning sun began to shine on his body, and the wind blew slowly, brushing Jarvis's hair.
He looked at his phone. Jarvis clenched his fist, his teeth meeting.
[From Miss Erna]
[Mr. Novan, currently we need a tour guide to go to Lake Logano and Almandhubel Garden tomorrow. Because the previous tour guide cannot continue the journey at this time, we hope for confirmation as soon as possible for today at 09:00. Thank you.]
The young man scratched his cheek with his nail. His eyes were sharp, looking forward. One sentence was uttered in a heavy tone.
[There's a variable]