Felix had just stepped out at the top of his beast ride, to the grand view of a massive crowd that went as far as his eyes could reach, completely blocking off the entire road except for the path designed for the luxurious vehicles every candidate had to their name—to drive in and out the other way—connected to the long aisle.
Then the world paused.
Everything stopped, as soon as it was realized that the person who had come out as the most anticipated SSS-Rank Sage candidate was not the speculated candidate, Felix Thomasville.
Then the media blew up.
Social media apps and sites began crashing one after the other as millions of people jumped on their phones and PCs and began typing frantically—including those live at the event. As soon as one social media platform crashed, the population jumped onto the next, and when that one crashed, they were already onto the next.
Everywhere around the world, no matter where you looked, everyone’s eyes were glued to their phones with their fingers flashing across their screens.
Social media companies were working overtime trying to restore and back up their apps. While every press company worked overtime digging up the past to see if they had anything on the white-haired lady while coming up with varied speculations to the most asked questions of the century:
"Where is Felix Thomasville?!"
The Sage council’s site wasn’t spared either and had to be momentarily taken down or it might suffer irreparable loss, having crashed more times than they could keep track of. Their PR team instantly jumped onto the various media and began releasing their statements on the matter.
Felix also paused with the world just after stepping out to spot the image of him that held many memories, being displayed on a high-rise building LED billboard just opposite the Sage HQ, with a live feed comparison of him now.
He felt nostalgic as memories resurfaced in his mind of his childhood, his high school days, all the times he spent in the arcade gaming with his best friends, and the embarrassing and funny moments of him as him—the real Felix Thomasville.
"You looked so chopped."
Felix almost spat blood on hearing the familiar voice of Lilith ring in his head. He tried hard to maintain his composure as he was just about to lash out at her when he remembered where he was.
At that moment, the statement of the Sage council’s PR team began circulating throughout platforms and a reporter replaced his image on the LED billboard which drew everyone’s attention.
"... The Sage council has just released a statement clearing up the confusion that Felix Thomasville is indeed the SSS-Rank Sage candidate as speculated. They also claimed his SSS-Rank class system is nothing humanity has ever seen before. It is stronger, faster, and much more powerful that it had come with a secret skill not listed in the manual: a complete and utterly mortifying transformation.
The beautiful white-haired lady we can all see in the ceremonial dress is indeed Felix Thomasville. And Felix Thomasville is her.
Taking a closer look at the face of the white-haired lady now, we can all see the burden of a man carrying the fate of the world on his shoulder. A man who has sacrificed his body for the liberty of humanity. A man who is willing to embrace a new identity for the sake of mankind. He is the true image of a Sage and what they stand for.
Felix Thomasville, is him. And she is Felix Thomasville."
Felix’s face indeed had a red hue, and his eyes might have been a bit watery as the camera zoomed into his face, but that was because he had almost choked on his saliva after Lilith roasted his looks.
Felix was also stunned at the nonsense the reporter was spouting about ’a man willing to embrace a new identity for the sake of mankind’. He wasn’t given a fucking choice. Follow current novels on novelꜰire.net
But it seemed to be working. On hearing the words of the female reporter, the expressions of the crowd that had gathered to welcome the Sage candidates softened and turned solemn. The raging media platforms quieted down and everyone just stopped to stare at the live feed of Felix in silence.
"Let’s all give a minute of silence to the boy who has taken a man’s decision to show us that being a Sage is more than what we’ve come to know..." The female reporter added and sealed her lips.
"Okay. That’s it. Let’s get the fuck outta here," Felix was just about to kick his beast ride to keep walking, when the national anthem suddenly began playing.
This wasn’t even in the fucking script.
Felix was very much tempted to ignore everything and just leave, and could only roll his eyes as the crowd began placing a hand on their chest with the other pointing at him in respect like he was some veteran retiring from his Sage position.
As soon as the anthem ended, Felix slapped the beast to start moving and the crowd began cheering loudly once more, throwing flowers onto his path. Some were even screaming his name and trying to reach out to him from the front row, but Felix didn’t react or spare them a glance—according to script.
He hopped off the beast ride as soon it got to the other end and a chauffeur quickly ran up to take care of it. The door to the black luxurious jeep—the kind a president rolled in—was already open and Felix could see its red interior that screamed luxury.
Just as he stepped a foot into the car, he turned to look at the crowd cheering at him and the front row where a group of high school girls were screaming his name and winked at the prettiest one of them, before entering the vehicle, and watched in amusement through the tinted glass as she fainted and her friends tried to revive her.
Felix laughed and sighed as the car drove off towards the hotel, and he looked forward with a heavy heart.
It was time to meet his mother.