Soon after I left the testing room, I was taken to another room to get my ID. Apparently, all returnees get different IDs based on their strength. I was a bit confused as to why since everyone is retuned at level 1. The lady at the counter finished printing the ID with a look of pity on her face. She gave me a rectangular card with my name on it, its primary color was white.
I asked her how the different IDs and she said, "Returnees are given different color cards based on their current strength and potential. The color grades are, from the top: Gold, Orange, Blue, Grey, and White. You have received a white card, so its very unlikely for you to become a successful Hunter."
"So I was placed in the lowest category, huh?" I say in a low voice.
*ding*[Its only natural, other returnees get full support from the system after all. The blessings from the gods give them strength directly.]
I decide to completely ignore that because I'm used to it by now.
"Hey, where can I find information about my family?"
"Just go to the one of the Kiosks in the lobby, and look it up. If you have any trouble, just ask the receptionists." she said flatly.
I leave the room and go back to the ridiculously large lobby. Since I have no idea what I'm doing, I go directly to the receptionist that helped me earlier.
I look around and find...what was her name again? It started with an M, right? Anyways, that's not important right now.
I ask with the most polite tone I can, "Hello, I was wondering if you could help me with something?"
Ms. M looks at me and sighs, "Sure, what can I help you with?" she says tiredly.
"I need some help finding my family's current address."
I was wondering what was wrong with her but it was none of my business, so I just asked my question to get out of her hair as soon as possible.
"What are their names?" she says as she pulls out a tablet.
"Scarlet Axiom, Daviom Axiom, and Shelby Axiom."
"I found Shelby but I can't find the other two."
"Tch, they better not be dead, or I'll go to hell and kill them myself." I said with a bit of worry. "Can you give me my sister's address? I'll ask her."
"Sure thing, here you go. Take care of Matilda, ok; she is a bit accident prone!" she yelled as I walked away.
I walk out of the building with a map that she gave me. It was about 5 miles away. It appears that dungeon really was close to home.
I walked for about a mile, then I realized, why don't I just get a taxi? Its not like I have to walk everywhere anymore. Man, 5 years away from civilization really does a lot of damage. Then, I came to yet another realization, I have no money. Oh well, I'm used to walking anyway.
I continue walking for about 2 hours until I finally found her building. It wasn't a super building, but it was still something to marvel at. I look at the map one more time to make sure I'm in the right place. I walk in and go to the apartment number the receptionist gave me. I ring her door bell....no one comes to the door. I ring it again.....again, nothing. I take in a deep breath to keep myself calm. This time, I knock on the door, more specifically, the secret code we used as kids.
*knock**knock*...*Knock**Knock*...*Knock**Knock*
I keep drumming at the door rhythmically as I finally hear something from inside. It sounded like glass breaking and some one falling over. After a few more stomping noises, the door opens. What I see is a blonde haired woman with a slender figure, just a little bit shorter than me. Her messy hair was a different color and she has bags under her eyes, but I recognize her right away. I start feeling a bit emotional and was about to speak before I was interrupted.
"Kilo?! You're Alive?!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Hi Shelby, its been a while." I could feel my eyes tearing up a little as I look at my younger sister.
"Is it really you? It can't be...everyone else from your group returned 3 years ago..."
She stops talking as I interrupted her with a hug, "Yes, its really me, I can't tell you how much I've miss you."
I start crying despite trying not to. She sees my crying face and starts to cry as well.
"Yeah, its you alright, I couldn't forget that ugly crying face if I tried. Hurry up and come inside." she said sniffling and laughing at the same time.
I walk into the well lived in apartment, it was a bit messy, but I didn't care. We sit facing each other at the dining room table. After we both finish crying, she speaks to me.
"So, what happened? Why were you gone for so long?" she says, still sniffling a little.
"Well that's a long story, so I'll give you the short version for now."
"I want to hear the full story." she says, pouting a little.
"Fine." I sigh. "You know how all the Returnees got a system when they were sent over right?"
"Well yeah, everyone got a system when the dungeons appeared, we just didn't know how to use magic."
I'm a little irritated at that fact, "Well, when I was sent to the tutorial world, I wasn't given a system. I just got back earlier today."
"Hold on, what do you mean you didn't get a system? Everyone got a system, why didn't you?" she says, confused.
I explain about the three different groups that were sent in every batch of Returnees.
"What the hell? The disposable group? That explains a lot actually. In the first group, everyone came back except for the 1,000 people that you mentioned. Well, except for the people that actually died. They were presumed to be dead last year after not returning for 4 years." she said with a sour look on her face. "How did you survive in that world without a system? What happened?"
I start telling her my story, not everything of course. I spent the next two hours telling her about my near death experiences, my genocidal 'comrades', and how I fell in love. She cried when I told her about how my first love died.
There was one thing she was confused about though, "I thought all demons were evil? Everyone who came back said that all demons and people on their side are enemies. According to you, they were just normal people trying defending themselves. I mean, you fell in love with the Demon Lord's daughter of all people."
"That's what my so called 'comrades' were trying to brainwash me with. Their nation was a Theocracy, it was in their doctrine that all demons and 'demon worshipers' are to be killed immediately." I say, annoyed.
"Also, I've heard about that Tribulation you were talking about. Most of the Returnees were talking about it online as soon as they got back."
"That's not too surprising. Anyway, that's enough about me. Tell me what happened after I was kidnapped."
"Well, a few days after you disappeared, we called the police to look for you. We figured you were at your girlfriend's house or something, but it turned out that over 100,000 people around the age of 18 had disappeared off the face of the Earth. Conspiracy theorists were having a field day until about 5 months later when the first returnee came back. He told everyone what was going on, just to be thrown in with the pile of other conspiracy theorists. Then, people started popping up left and right, corroborating his story..."
Before she could continue, I stopped her, "That's not what I mean; I don't care about that. What happened to you, mom, and dad?"
She looked down a little, "Right...the first 5 months were incredibly rough. Mom and dad did everything thing they could to find you. Then, they saw on the news about all the people going missing, they calmed down a little. After the second batch was sent over and you still didn't return, everything went downhill...."
I grab her hand and ask, "What happened?"
"They started to get into fights more often, arguing over the smallest of things. They started talking about a divorce when dad found out that mom was cheating on him. He wasn't too surprised as he himself was cheating too. The truly baffling thing is that they were both sleeping with the same woman..."
"THE SAME WOMAN?!" I scream, surprised to no end.
Shelby looked like she was about to break into a fit of laughter as she looked at my face.
"Yeah, I know right!? Bringing us back to the present, mom and dad got a divorce, and the three of them traveled to a country that allows polygamy to get married. The three of them are currently taking a trip around the world using the consolation money they got from the government due to you death." she said, cackling.
"What the hell? I can't believe I missed that while I was away. I'm gonna have to grill them about this when they get back. When are they coming back exactly?"
I swear, leaving to travel around the world as soon as I get back is a cliché. Well, I guess that doesn't apply since I'm not a protagonist.
"Hmm, around two months, give or take? That's what they said anyway."
"Haaaaah, oh well. What are you doing these days anyway?" I say, exasperated.
"Well, I'm about to start my first semester at UMA in about two months. I don't have a job, mom sends home money every month for me to live on."
"That explains a lot..." I say while looking around the apartment.
"You got something to say?" she said with a glare.
"Ahem, no, nothing at all. What should we do for dinner? I'm starving."
"Ah, right, let me order something real quick."
She walked up to a black panel that was imbedded into the wall. It looked so natural there that I didn't notice it. Shelby starts tapping away at it, then looks back at me.
"And done, it'll be here in about 5 minutes. By the way, what are your plans tomorrow?"
"Well, I need to get a few things done. First, I need some cloths. Second, I need to get a stable income. Lastly, I need to register at UMA."
"Wait, you're going to UMA also? That's going to be so weird, I never thought I'd be going to school my older brother."
"Yeah, I don't really have any plans for the future right now, so I figured I may as well trying to go to college. I don't know what to do about the tuition though."
"Tuition? That's a relic of the past. College is free for everyone, they do have a maximum capacity though. I'll help you register online really quick. Take out you ID."
I hand her my ID as she pulls out a tablet. She pulls up a website with the college logo on it. After hitting a few buttons, she puts the card on the screen. Then she hands me the tablet.
"We are both going to be in the same basic courses, but you need to pick some other classes to fill up the required course hours."
"Oh, cool."
I look at the selection of classes. I didn't hesitate as I clicked a few to fill up my course hours.
Classes Selected:
Basic courses(Math, Sci., etc.)
Magical Physics(The laws of physics are easily bent and broken with the use of magic. This class will tell you how and why.)
Magic Lab(For all of your magical needs.)
Extreme Physical Education(EPE. Time to bulk up!)
Modern Technology(For you oldies that aren't keeping up with the times!)
"Alright, that should do it." I say as I hear the doorbell ring.
"Coming!" Shelby yelled. "Eh, Stacy? What are you doing here?"
"I was in the city so I figured I'd stop by, do you mind?"
"Yeah, sure. Actually, some one else is here that I know you would love to see."
They walk in as they continue talking, they make it to the dining room and Stacy stops in her tracks upon seeing me. I'm not in a much better condition as I froze up.
"Ki....lo?"