2023-05-29 15:37:43"Ugh!"
Andrew jolted, his eyes snapped open. He looked around and the bloodstains on the walls reminded him of the altercation with Orlando. Strangely, Andrew didn't feel any pain in his body. In fact, he felt much fresher now.
His hand reached for his head, still leaving traces of blood. But the wound has healed. "Shit. How is this even possible? I thought I was badly hurt."
As if disbelieving the situation he found himself in, Andrew rose and approached the mirror in the corner of the room.
"I'm okay. But... Where's my necklace?"
Andrew felt his neck, and the necklace that had been with him for almost 20 years was gone. He had no idea that the heirloom necklace from his family was what gave him the power to be reborn.
"Oh no, I lost the necklace from my great-grandmother. Argh! Everything I had is gone!"
However, the bloodstains on the walls and his body that felt so different slowly brought Andrew to memories of decades ago, to be precise just before his grandpa died.
“Andrew, wear this necklace. Take care and don't lose it. It will help you, when the time comes, no one will be able to beat you.”
Andrew then widened, he again felt his neck and muttered. "Is it all because of the necklace that grandpa gave to me?"
The ringing of the cellphone was then heard and interrupted Andrew's reverie, he immediately went to take the cellphone and found a call from the deputy director of the company where he worked.
"Hello, sir."
"Andrew, can you come to the office now? There are some things we need to discuss."
"Yes, sir. I'll be there soon."
"Great, I'll be waiting for you at the office."
Andrew furrowed his brow and muttered, "Maybe I should tell them what I heard from Orlando earlier. I can't stay silent and let them trap me."
He threw his phone onto the bed, then walked toward the bathroom to clean himself up. The photo of him and Nadine displayed on the wall near the kitchen in his apartment seemed to emit a different vibe. Andrew used to always feel excited when he saw his lover's smile, but now, it only left him with disappointment.
"You're the worst woman in my life, Nadine," he murmured.
**
Thirty minutes passed, and Andrew arrived on the fifth floor of his office to meet the deputy director. His steps appeared confident and self-assured, disregarding the cynical and condescending gazes of the other employees.
"Good afternoon, sir," Andrew entered the deputy director's office, bowing his head.
However, his confidence was disrupted when he saw Orlando, who was none other than present in the room as well.
"Ah, Andrew. Hello, thief!" Orlando greeted sarcastically.
"Andrew, please have a seat."
Andrew tried to stay calm and focused on the deputy director, who invited him to sit next to Orlando. However, Andrew's mind began to suspect the purpose of this summons.
"Mr. Douglaz, you should just speak up to Andrew. It's not good to let a thief like him stay in this company for too long. Surely, you don't want him to successfully take all the employee data, right?"
Andrew turned to Orlando, his anger no longer containable, and he said, "What do you mean, Orlando?!"
"Andrew, you're fired."
Andrew's eyes widened as the words came out of the deputy director's mouth. His gaze shifted away from Orlando. He looked at the white-haired deputy director and asked, "I'm sorry, sir, but what happened? What did I do? If this is all because of the adult videos found in the presentation earlier, it's all a misunderstanding. I didn't do it, and it was a trap set up by Orlando. I heard everything he said to bring me down, sir!"
"I'm sorry, Andrew, but we found evidence that you stole Mr. Orlando's data and sabotaged his identity, causing harm to Orlando and his family. There is enough evidence to make you leave this company," the deputy director replied.
"I didn't do anything, sir! Clearly, this is all a trap orchestrated by Orlando to get rid of me! Can you explain what benefit I would have from sabotaging Orlando's identity and files that I didn't even know existed?"
"Enough, Andrew! You're just jealous and bitter because Nadine no longer wants to be with you. You deliberately hacked into my social media accounts, changed the existing identities, and sent numerous embarrassing portfolios to my colleagues! Don't deny it! Do you want to destroy our family? Well, my father really liked you and wanted to give you a better position than what you have now."
Andrew stood up and pointed at Orlando. "I never did any of that, and you know it!"
"Andrew, calm down! Fighting against what has been decided will only worsen the situation. Our decision is final and cannot be questioned. You have to be fired. If you still don't believe it, let me show you the evidence," the deputy director said. He handed Andrew several sheets of paper filled with photos.
There, a social media platform displayed a user with Andrew's name and photo offering a significant amount of money for Orlando's data. The next sheets showed conversations between Andrew and a man believed to be a hacker hired by Andrew to hack and sabotage all of Orlando's social media accounts.
Orlando wore a sly smile and said, "Looks like he wants more evidence. I'll bring it to you, Andrew."
The man in the blue shirt got up from his chair and left the room. Meanwhile, Andrew spoke to the deputy director again, clasping his hands and saying, "Sir, you have to believe me, this is all Orlando's trap. He's angry because his father wanted to give me a good salary and position. Besides, he also attacked me. The wound on my head can serve as evidence of his cruelty earlier. I--."
The door opened again, and Andrew stopped his sentence as he saw Nadine entering with three other men.
"Okay, Andrew. This is real evidence of all your crimes. I prepared this so that you can't deny it and admit your mistakes. Nadine knows about your plans, and everything is recorded in the conversations on Nadine's phone. Furthermore, these three people are a group of hackers who have breached my data. So, what other excuses do you have, Andrew?"
Andrew looked at Nadine, the woman he loved, as she raised her head and put on a scornful expression. Andrew clenched his fists and turned to the deputy director. The thick-mustached man shrugged his shoulders and said, "Andrew, you are fired. And you will pay the company for all damages. Total 500,000 dollars."
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4-26
The Gate shifted again, ripping away the shattered echoes of Andrew’s past and reforming itself into a labyrinth of twisting hallways made of shimmering bone-light that pulsed like a thousand dying stars trapped under glass. Each corridor reflected pale gold and eerie emerald hues, weaving together like veins of crystallized memory and fractal visions that bent unpredictably with Sahara’s every breath.Sahara stumbled forward, her hands trembling violently, gripping Yuki’s arm tightly enough to leave faint bruises as the Emerald Shadow inside her thrashed like a beast caught in a too-small cage. Her blind eyes glowed in waves—now emerald, now white, now streaked with shades no human tongue had words to describe. Every step she took left trails of shimmering energy that flickered and dissolved, as though time itself rejected her presence.Yuki steadied her desperately, drawing protective sigils around them while her own body shook under the Gate’s oppressive psychological pressure. “Sa
4-25
Andrew hit the ground inside the next chamber with a force that nearly knocked the breath from his lungs, though the surface beneath him felt disturbingly soft, almost like falling onto layers of cold moss mixed with skin. The darkness around him thinned just enough to reveal a vast expanse shaped like a cathedral made of bone and fractured glass, each shimmering shard reflecting different moments of his life like scattered pieces of stolen time.He pushed himself upright slowly, every muscle trembling from the combined weight of Sapphire pain and the Gate’s crushing psychological pressure. His heartbeat thudded irregularly, echoing inside his ribcage like a dying drum desperately trying to keep tempo with a melody that no longer existed.The chamber felt colder than the previous two—colder in a way that reached into the marrow of his bones. This was not a test of strength or body. This was a test of truth. A test of identity. A test of the memory he had spent most of his life trying
4-24
Andrew stepped into the next chamber, his breaths ragged and shallow as the corridor behind him sealed like a closing wound, leaving him surrounded by darkness so complete it swallowed the faint glow of the Sapphire inside his chest. The air felt cold and damp, as though the Gate’s walls were exhaling frost directly against his neck, and the silence pressed against his ears like thick, suffocating cotton.The ground beneath him was no longer fleshy or pulsating like the Gate of Flesh. Instead, it felt like smooth obsidian, polished to mirror quality but somehow absorbing light rather than reflecting it. The sensation of walking on shadow made his skin crawl with instinctive unease.Jiro’s voice reached him first, echoing faintly. “Andrew? Can you hear me? The Gate separated us again.”Andrew turned toward the sound, relief striking through him. “I’m here! Are the others safe?”Jiro appeared from the gloom, but his form flickered like an unstable projection. “We’re alive, but scattered
4-23
Andrew regained consciousness inside a world that felt wrong in every imaginable way, a place where the sky pulsed like living muscle tissue and the ground writhed in slow undulations as though breathing beneath his unsteady feet. Every surface glistened with a wet sheen, reflecting sickly hues of red, gold, and obsidian that dripped like liquid marrow down walls made of shifting organic structures.The air tasted metallic, thick, and warm, carrying the unsettling scent of blood, ash, and unfamiliar chemicals that reminded him of laboratory halls where William once conducted experiments on relic hosts. Andrew forced himself upright while fighting waves of dizziness that made the entire landscape twist like molten bone reshaping itself with unnatural elasticity.The Sapphire inside his chest throbbed painfully, each pulse echoing like a fractured heartbeat trying to synchronize with the Gate’s warped rhythm. Andrew clenched his teeth, breathing deeply as he looked around for the others
4-22
The ritual circle had been carved directly into the plateau, its lines etched so deep into the bedrock that even if a hurricane swept across the region the sigils would remain untouched because the markings were fused with relic energy. The seven heirs stood in specific positions around the formation, each aligned according to the ancient instructions extracted from the Map of Seven Gates before Noir stole it for safekeeping.Andrew stood at the eastern point of the circle with trembling legs, his breathing shallow and his body barely maintaining structural integrity due to the Sapphire cracking further with every passing minute. The light inside his chest sputtered like a candle drowning in its own wax, yet he forced himself upright with sheer stubborn determination.Noir took the western point, flames gently spiraling around his wrists as he struggled to keep the Phoenix residue and Abyssal whispers under control. Every pulse of his heartbeat felt heavier, like something ancient pre
4-21
The atmosphere inside the abandoned military hangar felt suffocating, heavy with tension so thick it clung to the walls like oil, refusing to dissipate no matter how long the desert wind howled through the broken steel shutters. Every heir stood scattered across the space, separated physically by distance yet mentally separated by something far more dangerous: doubt.Andrew remained near the center, resting against a metal crate while his body shook subtly, the Sapphire’s glow flickering in chaotic pulses that made the cracks across his chest spread slightly wider. Yuki hovered near him with trembling hands ready to channel healing, yet Andrew kept pushing her away with quiet insistence because he did not want to appear weaker than he already seemed.Noir stood on the opposite side, flames simmering around his fingers as he refused to meet anyone’s gaze, especially Sahara’s, whose trembling vision had nearly driven the entire team into panic earlier. The prophecy hung between them lik
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