A new day begins with a new enlightenment of hope.
Is this world really normal? And if it isn't, can it ever become normal?
Today's weather was rainy. It had been raining since morning, and the roads were almost empty, with only a few vehicles passing by. The entire Arisa family was at home today, including Kye.
Saito and Elena, however, had already returned to their hideout.
Volume 2nd [ The truth they buried ]
Chapter No.15 - unveiling - begins....!
Hollow wakes up and looks around from the bed before suddenly shouting:
Hollow: "You bastard! You brought me here? Do you even know what I'm capable of?"
Kye: "Getting beaten up. What else can you do? Shut your mouth, kid. You're alive only because of me."
Kye had already told Arisa everything about Hollow.
Hearing Kye's words, Hollow falls into deep thought and says:
Hollow: "It doesn't matter anyway, does it? Maybe it would be better if I just died. I can't even show my face to Master Null anymore. What do I even have left? Please, Kye... kill me."
Arisa sits beside Hollow and gently places a hand on his head.
Just then, Ren and Luca also arrive.
Luca: "I used to think the same way. But look at me now. I'm actually much happier than I used to be."
Kye: "If you want to die, I can kill you..."
Arisa: "Kye! Shut up!"
Arisa continues:
Arisa: "Hollow, your life isn't that short. Nothing is over for you. You were being used, but you don't understand that yet."
Hollow: "Whatever happened, at least I had someone who helped me. If you people are really so good, then why didn't you come to save me earlier? Master Null saved me. Even if I never get to meet him again, I'll always respect him."
Kye: "Look, kid. Whoever you owe something to, they keep giving you whatever you need. I only need information. And one more thing—I didn't set out to save anyone, understood? I simply do whatever I believe is right. That's all."
"Now tell me the truth. What does Null and all of this actually want?"
Hollow was still depressed. Without thinking much, he replies:
Hollow: "I don't really know much. They always gave me safety missions. As far as I know, they're working on some kind of project. That's all."
Kye: "Oh, that's it? What a load of crap. Does anyone here actually know anything?"
"I'll have to figure everything out myself."
"And listen, Hollow. From today onward, you're going to stay with Saito and Elena. Help them with everything."
"If you want to live a normal life, that's possible too."
Hollow: "I'm not normal. I don't want to live any kind of life. I just—"
Kye interrupts him:
Kye: "Listen, Hollow. They need you right now."
"Help them, and I guarantee we'll give you a good life as soon as this mission is over. Understood?"
"And Arisa, I'm leaving. For now, let Hollow recover properly."
Just then, suddenly out of nowhere Arisa hugs Kye
"Kye was shocked - by arisa's sudden action"
Arisa says:-
Arisa: "Bye...! Whenever you need us, you can come here, Kye."
"You have no idea how many people's lives you've changed, yet you still refuse to accept it."
Kye: "Don't say anything else, understood? I haven't done anything for anyone."
"And... thanks for everything. I'm leaving."
Scene shifts!
We see our dear president once again, looking at the two men standing in front of him.
President: "So, you two finally made it? Are you going to handle the job?"
Null: "Yes, sir. Our Vorington base has been destroyed, but there's nothing to worry about. We had already removed most of the important things beforehand, so there wasn't much useful left there anyway."
"I already knew my disciple wouldn't be able to accomplish much there because the opponent was actually strong."
President: "I see... It's nice to see that someone has finally stood against us. Let's see how far that little bird can fly."
We see a man with almost the same height and build as Null. He had no beard and long black hair, along with a pair of strange, heavy-looking gloves.
Fang: "My lord, I am from one of the biggest organizations, just like Null. I am Fang, the Special Executive Chief of SS Partners."
"By the way, Null? This is exactly what I expected from you. That little kid of yours was completely useless. You should've sent me instead."
Null: "Shut up. You would've gotten beaten up there too, understand? It would've been better for me to go myself than send you."
Fang: "Aww... Am I really that bad?"
President: "Enough, you two. Don't you have any manners? You're standing in front of the president."
"Anyway, come inside. Some other leaders from different countries will be joining our conversation as well."
---
Scene shifts!
Kye was looking through the documents he had found.
Kye: "Seriously? It's the same thing again? There's nothing particularly useful in here."
"Wait... What's this?"
We see a document titled:
SPECIAL GOVERNMENT OPERATION — EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE FORM
Kye: "There's absolutely no information about this on the internet."
"There's not much written in these papers either. It's mostly just basic introductions to the research centers. The rest of the documents were probably destroyed."
"What exactly could all of this be?"
"Could this have some connection to the research labs? And the child experiments?"
Kye: "My training time has already arrived. It'd be better if I do that first."
Scene shifts to Kye, who had arrived at an open area on the outskirts of the city.
Endless green fields stretched before him, surrounded by forests.
A light rain was falling as tiny droplets descended from the cloudy sky.
Kye: "I train every single day... and for some reason, I feel like I've become even stronger. There are still so many things I don't understand, but one thing is certain... my body isn't normal."
Suddenly, the sound of rustling bushes echoes through the quiet field.
Kye: "Hey, little rat. Why exactly have you been following me? Did I say something to you?"
We see that Hollow was actually hiding behind the bushes. He had secretly followed Kye to watch his training and hopefully learn something from him.
Hollow: "Umm... Well... I want to become stronger too, so I thought I might learn something by watching you."
Kye: "I don't have anything worth teaching anyone."
"If you want to learn something... you'll have to figure it out yourself."
---
With powerful winds sweeping across the fields, the scene changes once again.
We see Fang, the Special Executive Chief, addressing the meeting of world leaders.
Fang: "First, we have the Base Executives..."
"Those are the guards who were stationed alongside Hollow."
"Above them are the Special Executives of SS Partners."
"For example, Hollow was one of them—but among the lower-ranked Special Executives."
"Above them are the Special Executive Chiefs."
"There are only four of us in total... including me and Null."
"And finally... the highest rank."
"To be honest, even we don't know how many people belong to that rank... or who they really are."
"They simply give us orders."
"In fact, we don't even know whether they're actually strong or not."
Null: "Why does that even matter? Whether they're strong or not makes no difference to me."
"My goal is to reach the highest rank."
"So meeting them is inevitable."
Fang: "Oh? You think it'll be that easy while I'm still around?"
"How exactly are you planning to pull that off?"
Null: "Fang... it wouldn't even take me a second to kill you, got it? So keep that filthy mouth of yours shut whenever you're talking to me."
Fang: "Really? And why's that? Am I really that awful?"
One of the world leaders sighs and interrupts them.
Leader: "You two can continue your romance later, understood?"
"What's important right now is that we continue our research while keeping it hidden from the rest of the world."
"Otherwise, things could get out of hand."
"First, we need to send another signal so we can establish contact once again."
"Reactivating the radio waves would be our best option."
President: "Exactly. That was my plan as well."
"Very well. We'll resume the operation starting next month."
"And one more thing... what are you planning to do about that man?"
Fang: "That man?"
"I'll leave him to the Special Executives under my command."
"I've already assigned the four Special Grade Special Executives to deal with him."
President: "Remember... I want him alive."
The meeting comes to an end!
---
We see Kye and Hollow walking back home together along the rain-soaked streets.
Suddenly, Kye's phone begins to ring.
The caller was Saito.
Kye answers the call.
Kye: "Go ahead, Saito. What happened?"
Saito: "Kye... we found something important. I think it might be useful for your investigation. Come to our base as soon as possible."
Kye thinks to himself:
"Working alone is such a pain. Having two or three slaves around really makes things easier..."
"…Just kidding."
"Seriously though... thanks, Saito and Elena, for helping me."
Without saying anything else, Kye immediately heads toward their hideout.
And that's how the chapter no.15 - unveiling - ends...!