Chapter 80 An Explanation Is Needed

Olivia had stopped talking and Lee Seng brought the phone back to his ear.

"Ah, yeah... about that, Olivia..." Lee Seng said. He turned to look at his older siblings staring at him. Lee Seng scooted closer to the wall and turned to face it. "Something weird happened to me. I got pulled somewhere else and couldn't come back after the second time. Sorry that I couldn't come back. I tried my hardest. I did."

"Where are you then?" Olivia asked after a while with a sigh.

"I was at the school, but walked out the school and found myself back at home. I-I don't know how to explain it to you. It's... strange."

"You're home then? Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah." Lee Seng answered, taken aback. He didn't expect her to barrage him with this many questions and concerns. He and she barely knew each other. She had already formulated her own opinions about him and she did seem taken aback by his polite nature. Granted, Lee Seng knew most people acted that way. He didn't know what category he should put Olivia in.

"Oh, yeah. You left your bow here. What do you want me to do with it? Ritsuka keeps asking to see it, but I told him I needed to figure out what happened with you first." Olivia asked.

"Oh, he can hold onto the bow for me. I have a feeling I'll see you guys at the Academy."

"You're that confident we're all gonna be accepted into the Academy?"

"Mmm. You guys, technically, placed in the Top 3 of the Solo test. I think I'll definitely see you guys again."

"A-alright. I'll let him know. I hope you're okay."

"Mmm, I'm fine."

"I'll let you know if I get in. See ya!"

"Bye." Lee Seng hung the phone up and turned. Akio and Akali narrowed their eyes at him, grinning as Lee Seng pushed his back against the wall. "W-what?" The twins looked at each other with the same grins before turning to look at Lee Seng, again.

"Who's that?" Akio leaned in. His face passed the edge of the bed and moved closer to Lee Seng. Lee Seng shoved his older brother's head away, watching him rock back into his place.

"My partner from the last portion of the test." Lee Seng flusteredly answered.

"Your partner, eh?" Akali grinned. Lee Seng rolled his eyes and pushed himself into a sitting position, facing the twins. He pulled his rip shit off and crumpled it together and sat it in-between his legs.

"Mmm, that's right. My fighting partner. That's all she is."

"Was she good? What about this Top 3 I heard?"

"She placed third. The other two we fought were first and second place. I made it to fifth place."

"Oh, fifth place. Not bad!" Akio complimented.

"Mmm, not bad. Could've been better if I didn't meet a Blood Puppet." Lee Seng acknowledged.

"You met a Blood Puppet? Isn't that a bit high for exam takers?" Akali asked, looking at Akio. Akio nodded.

"That's pretty high. Did you beat it?" Akio asked. The twins both leaned in and Lee Seng nodded. The two begin to squeal and Lee Seng, embarrassed by their squeals, waved their excitement off.

"It hid in a freaking blind Elf-lookin' archer with a cool ass enchanted bow that I took, but left it at the school. Turns out, I'm a Fighter and Glass Specialist cause my negative did not hurt when I fired that bad boy." Lee Seng happily recalled.

"It just sucks that I got caught in its blood spike circle spell." Lee Seng continued. "I passed out and don't remember much after that. Apparently, the Protocol activated and I almost killed two students."

"YOUR PROTOCOL ACTIVATED AND YOU ALMOST KILLED TWO STUDENTS?!?" Akali repeated loudly.

"Oh, after I wiped out an Academy squad, but yes."

"'After I wiped out an Academy squad.'" Akio mocked Lee Seng. The twins smacked Lee Seng hard and Lee Seng childishly started to whine.

"You killed actual people while under the influence of the Protocol. That's a HUGE deal, Seng!" Akali shouted. "Who saved you then? Did the Numbers step in if the Academy squad got wiped?"

"Don't worry, the Numbers stepped in to retrieve me. Apparently, this watch didn't execute its teleportation trigger when I got spiked. Must've taken some damage from the Blood Puppet." Lee Seng pointed at his watch. "Oh, I have a new phone too "

Lee Seng pulled his phone out and waved it at his older siblings.

"Who got you that?" Akio asked.

"Carter."

"Ahh, it's always Carter. Why does he like to spoil you?" Akio complained. Lee Seng puckered his lips and shrugged like he didn't understand the question. He handed his phone over to the twins. Akali snatched it and unlocked the phone.

"This is your new number?" Akali asked.

"Mmmhm. I forgot to ask how many creds that thing is cause... Oooo girl, it's Adventure grade and that's already easily a couple hundred thousand creds!" Lee Seng hollered in delight. The twins quickly updated Lee Seng's contact info and handed the phone back. They both sent texts and Lee Seng nodded pleased.

"That's to see if the number did work." Akali pointed.

"Mmm, it worked, Kali." Lee Seng answered.

"So is that the reason why you're in Academy gym wear?" Akio pointed out. Lee Seng picked up the burnt and torn shirt and waved it in the air, nodding.

"Yup. Any more questions before I go to my room to grab clothes and make a beeline for my car and go home?"

"How do you know you're gonna get in?" Akali asked. Akio turned to look at his sister and then looked at Lee Seng.

"I know the Creator is gonna get me in whether I know or not. I'm pretty sure you two would know this." Lee Seng answered.

"Did you do well on the exam overall?"

"Mmm, I guess I did." Lee Seng nodded. "They redid my Power Assessment stuff. High B-ranking with a SS full power possibility." Lee Seng regurgitated the information back at the twins.

"Woah." Akio let out.

"C'mon, he has gravity as his power. The negative was way too brutal too. Anyone with enough screws in their head would know he has great potential." Akali slapped her brother's arm.

"That's not even the coolest part." Lee Seng waved his finger in the air. "The lady who did my Assessment said that as a Specialist I should only register in two areas. I managed to get a C-ranking in everything else but Glass and Fighter."

"A Specialist who ranked high in two aspects but lower in the rest..." Akio summarized with his fingers brushing his chin. "I haven't heard anything like that before."

"The closest thing to that is California's SS Adventurer Specialist, 'Typhoon.' She specializes in Glass, Observer, and Tank. Someone who is SS capable at Fighter and Glass but ranks lower at a C with Tank and Observer?" Akali thought aloud.

"There are the very rare cases of people who have Specialized in all four areas but their capability was ranked low. Records never had anyone that ranked all four at a high level. That would be a lot of Dark Matter." Akio continued Akali's thought aloud.

"Yeah, well, that happened. Other than that, everything was okay." Lee Seng waved his hand and slapped his thigh. "I'm gonna grab clothes now cause I just realized I'm not wearing any boxers." Lee Seng shifted forward off of the bed and set his feet onto the carpeted floor. The twins stood up as Lee Seng stood up and moved past them.

"Oh," Akio snapped his fingers. "You only saw the hat man, right? Nothing else?" Lee Seng turned to look at his older brother.

"Y-yeah, just him. No one else." Lee Seng answered.

"Did he see your face at all? Did you take the mask off?"

"I kept the mask on because I thought if it was like the stories Mom used to tell me about the Shamans and all of the ghost stories, I shouldn't reveal myself to them."

"Smart. I didn't think you were this logical." Akali chimed in. Lee Seng shrugged and turned towards the door, again. He reached the door handle and pulled it down before pulling it open.

"If the fantasy books became reality then Limbo or whatever exists, right?" Lee Seng spoke.

Lee Seng took off back down the way he came. The spotless and lit hallways surrounded him yet he couldn't shake off the run-down look of the lab. His head would keep on replaying this in his head if he let it.

Minutes went by and he found himself entering his room. His room was attached to a lab. They had modified the space to help ease traveling for Lee Seng and the Creator during check-ups, injections, and whatnot. Lee Seng closed the door and entered the lab. He ignored the dark lab and walked forward until a hallway opened up to his right. He rounded the corner, twice and then followed the hallway to the end. He turned left at the end of the hallway and put his hand on his bedroom door and opened the door.

Lee Seng flicked the light on and wandered in. He went to his closet and pulled off all the clothes on him and started to pull on new clothes. Boxer briefs, pants, a white t-shirt, a button-up shirt he left unbuttoned, black ankle socks, and a pair of casual shoes. He fished for the phone in the pile of burnt Academy clothes and stuffed it into his jeans. He put his shoes on and stood in front of the mirror nearby.

"Much better." He nodded as he fixed some loose hair strands. "Time to leave before I'm caught."