Kaizen headed home as soon as he left Crimson dusk. He didn’t wait behind for anyone else to question him. He could clearly see how everyone looked at him with curiosity. The new had spread amongst dusk hunters that he survived an S-rank portal alone, so a lot of people had questions, but the one thing everybody concluded was that he got lucky. .
The house was awfully quiet when he stepped inside. He just hoped his parents didn’t hear about what happened, he didn’t want any unnecessary worry or them grounding him once again.
He understood they were just looking out for him, after all, they still saw him as their little helpless and fragile son. With how much they looked out for him, it was hard to believe they weren’t his actual parents.
"I’m home." Kaizen announced, stepping inside the house and heading straight to his room. He didn’t want to go meet them inside or they’d see what a mess he was. His clothes looked like some rags meant for sacrifice, infact...it’d be rejected for sacrifice.
"Your dinner is on the table, hope you’re not injured?" His mom’s voice echoed from inside her room.
Not like he’d tell her about the horrible hallucination Elf made him see, or how he had awakened some disastrous power that was rumored to be cursed, or how his head had been severed but it magically stuck back to his body like it never happened.
"Make sure to take a bath before eating. I can already tell you reek of Beasts." His father called out, his tone teasing.
"Sure." Kaizen replied lazily, already heading to the bathroom. He already planned on taking a bath anyway.
He dropped his bag and dagger on the floor just beside his room, then walked into the bathroom. It took a while before he was able to scrub off all the dirt and dry blood. Once he was done, he ate the food kept on the table. It was a little cold at this point but it tasted fine. Perfect infact, after a tiring long day.
He was finally able to retire to his room, he collapsed on the bed, exhaling deeply from the relive he felt. Somehow, he felt a lot lighter.
That was when he finally had the time to observe the floating texts that had been following him around all day. He had thought the thing would eventually leave, but it was stuck with him the whole time. Wherever he turned his eyes, the text followed. Ignoring it was the only reason he hadn’t snapped at how the damn texts refused to get out of his sight.
What would happen if I choose yes. Become a host to what? Hell no, I ain’t ready for anything weird tonight.
[ARE YOU CERTAIN OF YOUR CHOICE?]
[ANY CHANGES ALREADY MADE BEFORE NOW WILL BE WITHDRAWN, INCLUDING HEALING.]
[DO YOU WISH TO PROCEED?]
Kaizen paused for a moment, what exactly did it mean by changes, healing...
Wait, did that power come from this thing? If it did, that means it is also what healed and revived me. If I choose to proceed, wouldn’t that mean... I’ll die once again?
No way in hell was a taking any chances.
[DO YOU ACCEPT TO BE THE HOST AND COMPLETE PROCESS?]
Kaizen remained quiet, waiting and watching what would happen next. His heart raced with anticipation as he nervously watched the screen.
[SYNCING IN PROGRESS]
Kaizen waited patiently, still lying on the bed. After several minutes of waiting, his eyes brightened when new texts appeared on the screen.
TITLE: NULL TILL AFTER FIRST KILL
[FIRST TASK HAS BEEN ASSIGNED, WOULD YOU LIKE TO PROCEED?]
Kaizen almost laughed at all the ridiculous shit he just read. First kill of what? And the damn thing even knew all about his body, his strength, his stamina?
How did it know all this? Was it even accurate?
"Agility, strength, stamina... Who the hell even measures people ?" he muttered under his breath, dragging a hand across his face.
But deep down, he knew this wasn’t a joke. Not after what he experienced today. Coming back to life after his head was cut off from his body. That would have sounded like bullshit if someone else had told him it were possible a few hours before it happened. Even an S-rank healer wasn’t capable of performing such miracle.
His fingers brushed along his neck as he tries to observe and figure out how it happened. There were no sign of scars or anything to show that his head had separated from his body. It almost felt like a dream, but he knew it wasn’t.
Kaizen exhaled, staring at the glowing text still hovering in his sight.
"First task," he muttered again. "Of course there’s a catch."
There’s always a catch. Nothing ever comes free, not even life.
He clenched his fists, his jaw tightening. Part of him regretted saying yes so quickly. But really... what choice did he have? The second he tried rejecting it earlier, it threatened to undo whatever saved him.
"So it’s either die again or say yes to this invisible freak and do whatever it wants..."
He sat up, rubbing his temple.
He wasn’t ready for this. He was barely holding it together, pretending to be okay in front of his parents and everyone. Since Elf broke the seal, he was still yet to find out what exactly the power could do, he was afraid to test it out, not wanting to draw any attention or suspicions.
But this thing, whatever it was, was waiting for him to make a decision. He was reluctant, wondering what kinda task he would get. Kill someone? Kill something? He just knew it would be related to killing, seeing what the title said.
He looked back at the floating message, exhaling softly. He just needed to say yes and wait, and he’d find out what exactly this thing wanted from him.
I just hope I don’t regret this.