• Chapter #34: [NEXT PHASE]

The tea-time was quite useful. I had long left the old man to his devices, but not before sealing him to the chair. It was my form of retribution.

No worries though, the seal breaks after the other Union members find him. Though when is still questionable.

Thanks to him, I had learned some information regarding their organization, the Black Zodiac. Turns out, they worship 6 Evil Deities, while they have 12 Executives which represent each of the animals from the Chinese Zodiac.

Although I wasn’t able to learn his name, I had known that he represents the Snake, hence the title of ‘Bound Serpent’. I also recall that the previous one I encountered, the expert of Cloning Magic, represented the Rabbit, hence ‘Lunar Rabbit’.

He didn’t disclose the names of their Deities, but he said to me the titles of the others. Namely: Wisteria Tiger, Carnival Monkey, Diabolic Goat, Horse of Cavalry, Hog of Gluttony, Rat of Pestilence, Inversed Hound, Juggernaut Ox, Wailing Rooster, & the Dragon of Cycle.

The ‘Dragon of Cycle’ was supposedly the leader of the 12, which means that he’s quite powerful if he’s able to make 11 other Supreme Ranks obey him.

Welp, let’s worry about that for later. For now, I neeeeeed to relax for a bit.

…

*Ping!*

A notification had sounded from my phone. Pulling it from my pocket, I was met by the reminder that the task had been finished.

[Task 2/2 – Completed]

[Congratulations! You have successfully passed the introduction phase!]

… Introductory…?

I blinked, a bit dumbfounded. I then removed my now blank gaze from the phone and to the horizon.

That shit was just introductory…

*Sigh…*

Well, it’s no use worrying it. Though, I’ll still make HolyMaiden hunt down that scheming Plotter when I can.

I had continued on scanning the message.

[Rewards Received!]

[Union Significance Emblem]

[Notes: Emblem which represents the highest position a Union member can achieve, it’s rarity is highest too, as there’s only 2 of this created. One at the hands of the Union Chairman and one for a person that the Ancient Gods favors. (Reminders: The Union now knows that the 2nd Emblem is active and is on someone’s possession. They will try to find it, so better improve your hiding skills. *Wink*)]

My body twitched for a bit. Though I liked the influence that the Emblem had given me, I don’t think that it outbalances the ridiculous fame that it would give me once they had found that I’m it’s possessor. This just made things harder for me.

[Skill Acquired: World Hop]

[Notes: Ya really think that Earth is the only world with life? Wrong boya, go out there and get some exploring going. There’s more out there if you’re tired of your world.]

Woah, this quite cool. In fact, this is much better than the Emblem.

Wait… Does this mean that I could be an isekai protagonist on several worlds? If so, then hell yeah!

I was grinning at the prospect of isekaing myself when another notification had popped up.

*Ping!*

[New Phase Unlocked!]

[Requirements: World Hop – ✓]

[…]

[Scanning… Confirming…]

[…]

[Requirements Verified.]

[…]

[Please Wait… Uploading Missions… ETA – 5:00]

The introductory phase has been finished, so I guess it just makes sense. Still, I couldn’t help it as excitement crept on my body. I was giddy as a child on a candy store, as this would mean more adventures and mysteries for me.

Ahh, too bad though, I still need to get up and prepare for the quiz competition. It’s still the second day, after all.

*Sigh*

Welp, time to go back as a student…

Afterall a shinji is a shinji.

…

Somewhere, a mysterious man sat on the edge of an unfamiliar building. His feet was dangling, as he stared at the horizon of the skies. It was peace and quiet.

Well, not really. While the scene above looked peaceful and serene, the scene below was chaotic. People were frantic, all pointing at him and screaming.

“Look! Its an A – Smith!”

“Did something happen?”

“I don’t know man…”

“Still, the S – Rank rarely go out. Especially, the man up there has rarely been seen in public.

However, he ignored the commotion below, only giving it a brief glance before he returned to gazing the skies.

His brows lightly furrowed.

“A Hopper…?”

…

“Sect Elder…!”, A young man, panting and out of breath hurriedly ran inside some temple. 

“T-There… T-There’s changes happening in the Celestial Realm…!”, He panted out, dropping on his knees.

“I know, little one…”, An old man replied, never disrupting his focus on his meditation.

…

“A Hopper…? Woah! The light on this one’s blinding!”

…

“Dragonkin! Rejoice!”, A massive blue, western dragon roared to the other dragons, who also proceeded to roar in joy and accordance.

Still, as he watched his kind go frantic with victory, his eyes narrowed, staring at the distance. Growling silently, he muttered.

“A Hopper…?”

…

“HO! HA! HO! HA!”, Came the repeated cries of naked soldiers, all training on a harsh desert.

“What’s this…? A message from the War God…?

“Another Hopper had been born…”, He stared with furrowed brows for a moment, before shrugging.

“Ha! Well, who cares. Alright! Back to training!”

…

“Disciple of despair! Oh hear thy cries! I’ll abide not of the Sun God’s bidding, but your bidding! Darkness upon all of eternity!”

“The water carries words?!”

“Another Hopper has been born… This had been the 7th one…”

He stood up from his worshipping position, holding a grim look

.

“Darkness is eternal…”

…

“Nya…?”

“Nya?!”

…

Different worlds, different persons, different feelings. Yet, all of them received the same message. It did not matter, through earth, wood, water, air, metal, fire, all of them received the message as long as there’s a platform.

Change is upon c...

…

“Hori-san!”, Someone was pulling my sheets. It was one of my roomates.

Letting out a groan, I stripped the blankets of me and looked at him with sleepy eyes. I flinched when the sunlight had hit me, looks like it’s late in the morning now.

“Dude, make it quick. It’s late 7 already and the quiz is starting at 9.”, Another one of my roommate popped up, reminding me.

“Yeah, yeah…”, I grumbled out, rubbing my eyes and sitting up the futon lazily. They seem to be satisfied and just left me for now.

*Sigh*

I stretched for a bit, cracking some bones here and there. I then opened up my phone. It was 7:50 already, though I’m a bit surprised, the group chat was still updating.

I paid it no mind, and proceeded to organize myself. Giving my face a cold rinse, I then changed out of my sleep wear and headed down to the cafeteria.

As usual, as soon as I arrived, Hiro was still the center of the attention. Though, it really couldn’t be helped with. It seems that they also are missing some of their members, quite probably due to the battle last night.

I left them to be. They seem to focus on their meeting right now. Taking food, I proceeded to eat my breakfast, which consisted of omu-rice, a simple miso soup, some vegetables, and an coffee ice-cream for desert.

Enhancing my hearing with mana, I had zoned in on what Hiro and his group was talking about.

…

“The man last night…”, Hiro grimly stated. “He had multiple abilities from the Ancient Gods…”

He remember the lightseeker who aided them.

“Though, it seems that he had helped Lady Yumie and us last night. But we still need to investigate, we don’t know his alignments…”, Emilia added.

"But, putting aside the regards of the lightseeker who help us last night, I'm more concern about the shadow man who shows up in the LightWays." One of the Mozu brothers, Arima said.

“It appears that he has the ability to travel through shadows… We need to be careful…”, Hayami added further, her tone flat. “More importantly, Yuki and Yumi had been infected by that miasma, that person aside from the light seeker who shows up that night, he also weild a same shadow ability.”, She added, her look becoming one of guilt and regret.

They looked at each other. The night before, Yuki and Yumi had been hit by the miasma that greatly weakened them. It corrupted their Light, and disrupted their mana flow to the point that the magic they cast could explode if they tried. The effects were unfamiliar for them, and they had been trying to wrap their heads around it.

Until, a frown came to Kogi’s face.

“Void Walker…”, He muttered, and everyone looked at him. However, he ignored it and continued.

“Agony of despair. It’s one of the most complicated and hidden Ancient Being. I think this is the one that we need to find information first. It won’t be easy though, we need to travel to Korea…”, He added, furrowing his brows and closing his eyes at the last statement. He then let out a huff of annoyance.

“Will you be okay with going back?”, Misa said, eyeing Kogi with concern.

Ayumi also looked at him worryingly, as well as the Mozu Brothers, although it was unclear to them. They all only knew his past vaguely. Born half Japanese and half Korean, Kogi was raised by his mother at her homeland, on Korea.

Meanwhile, his father had been a Union member on the Japanese Branch, though unknown of rank. However, tragedy struck and Kogi lost his mother at a Black Zodiac incident, forcing him to travel to Japan.

“It’s alright guys… Those happen years ago anyway…”, Kogi sent them a smile of reassurance, which they quickly returned with a smile of their own.

“It’s okay Kogi.”, Hiro said, patting Kogi’s back with a smile. “We’ll definitely get revenge for what they did to your mother.”, Hiro finished, in a reassuring tone.

“Yeah…”, Kogi smiled, his eyes a bit misty.

…

As I heard that last statement of Hiro, I couldn’t help but mutter.

“Then good luck on your endeavors, Kazuto Hiro…”, I whispered to myself, taking a spoonful of the omu-rice, it was rather tasty? Maybe some annoying characters will not show up for a while now?

[Plotter Discernment: Activated]

[•END•]

Revised by BaNaeNae.