Peter hadn't seen, or heard from her, in years, but yet, here she was, standing in front of him. Kelly had always been someone who hated behind tied to a single place for long, an explanation for her disappearance for so long, but still, Peter wasn't buying it.
He wanted to know why he had decided to leave just like that, without giving him or Andrew an explanation, or even bothering to keep in touch. Sure, he was glad he could finally see a familiar face, that didn't mean he would just let her waltz back into his life without a proper excuse
"Oh, that? Haha, I'll explain everything later today, but for now, let's just focus on who out third roommate will be," Kelly said.
'I need to prepare for the competition tomorrow. At this point, I can't care less about what her motive could be. Unless she wishes to assist me, or she won't get in my way, I have no problem with her.'
Peter had bigger fish to fry, and remember that other false Quest the system had given him, he inwardly cursed at the system for wasting his precious attention in something so meaningless. Still, pulling up the system message, Peter realized that wasn't exactly the case.
[Quest Received]
[Beware the living more than the dead]
[You have accepted an invite into the AST. Form your own group to help you succeed in the tournament]
[Members: 0/5]
Reading through the system messages, Peter didn't want to admit it, but the system was really being a saving grave in his current predicament. Judging from the members' tab, he could only add a total of five people, but that wasn't the most difficult part, as that would be how he could convince those people to assist him.
Eventually, the crowd had relayed their decision to the ASA worker regarding who would stay in which rooms. After which, he used his phone to assign the rooms to each person present. Finally, handing everyone a keycard, he exited the building, leaving them to get used to their respective rooms.
Peter and Kelly would be sharing the same room. Their third roommate was a young kid who looked to be a little over sixteen. Realizing their roommate would be someone younger than them, they decided to take the best side of the room, leaving the young highschooler nothing but a small portion of the large room.
'What the fuck?! These guys are treating me like I'm some dog. Just wait until tomorrow, I'll wipe the floor with you!' the teenager cursed internally, glaring at Peter. The latter didn't even pay heed to his presence, his gaze fixated on Kelly, waiting for her explanation.
"Kid, get outta here before I do something to you you might regret!" She shouted, getting up from her he'd as she moved towards the teenage boy.
The teenager looked terrified as he quickly got up and exited the room, not bothering standing his ground against the young woman. Although he didn't know if the ASA would have a problem with him being outside his room, right now, he was more worried about his sociopathic roommate.
"It's a long story," Kelly started off, locking the door behind her as she walked back to her bed.
For three hours straight, Kelly spend telling Peter the events that had taken place in her life, starting from her reason for leaving, up till her reason for participating in this tournament. After listening to her story, Peter's expression looked to have softened as his mind pondered about something else.
[Members: 0/5]
'I wonder if I can trust her.'
"Sto? Aren't you going to say anything?" Kelly asked, realizing Peter wasn't even paying attention to her, seemingly staring at nothing in particular.
Receiving no reply, she got close to his face and snapped her fingers, at which point Peter finally fazed out of his thoughts.
"I'm sorry for your loss, and I get your reason for joining this tournament," Peter said. "I was thinking about something."
"What is it?"
Peter took a deep breath before opening his mouth, however, what came out of it was something different. Instead of telling her about his system and the current Quest it had given him, instead, he told her about a crush he had on a famous Patha Influencer.
"Hahaha! What?! You, Peter Martin, actually have a crush on Delilah Belle! Just what happened to you after all these years?!"
Although what he had said was a lie, Peter decided to let her mock him all she wanted. Besides, it was better than letting her know he had some mysterious system even he didn't know really came from.
"Man, if only I knew her, I would've shipped you two together. You could've made the perfect couple."
Peter almost fell over upon hearing this remark. Peter didn't even like Delilah Belle, and although she was a year younger than him, and we'll endowed in all the right places, Peter didn't swoon over her like the thousands of men in her DM.
Changing the topic, Kelly began telling Peter all the places she had visited while she was away.
Over a decade ago, the young woman had left The Red Continent with her parents to go and live in the neighboring world region. The continent was named Greenhorn, as it was one that had only gotten it's independence not too long ago.
There was a lot of politics involved in the matter, and not being one who loved to dabble in the art, Kelly only had a vague knowledge in that department.
Peter was listening intently as this was his opportunity to gain free information regarding another continent. Although he had browsed such things before, it was more informative hearing it from someone else.
After a while, Kelly's story had come to an end.
It was already 3:00pm, and the two were hungry. Luckily, the ASA worker had briefly given them instructions on where they could go to get some grub.
In a large dinning room in the building, a bunch of long tables were set with readymade food for the AST participants to help themselves. Since the worker was no where to be seen, the fifty people were chaotic, pushing eachother aside, trying to get to the best seats in the room, even though every seat was served with rich, high-quality food.
Peter and Kelly chose whatever seat was left for them, not wanting to stress themselves for no good reason.
Once lunch was over, the two gradually made their way back to their room.
Since there was nothing else to talk about between the two of them, Peter decided to use this time to formulate a plan to conquor this tournament.
'Money. I don't have much money with me. These guys will not listen to a broke guy like me. Gosh, how could I be so forgetful?
'I could try threatening them, but that would just lead to dire consequences after this tournament, and I might end up revealing that I'm a necromancer.
'I would like to practice using my powers a little bit, but we aren't allowed to leave the building, talk less of our rooms.
'Still, with how much energy it takes for me to resurrect the death, I'm not sure if it's really a good idea for me to use my powers anyhow I want. Besides, I've already made my decision before.
Peter decided to spend his time sleeping. Although it was unnatural for him to sleep in the day time, after a while, he dozed off.
Opening his eyes, his gaze shifted to the clock on the wall. As his eyes widened in shock, he sprinted out of bed, rushing to wake up the sleeping Kelly on the other side of the room.
"Wake the fuck up! It's already 6:30am!!!"
With her eyes widening in shock, the young woman looked irritated, but, taking a glance at the mirror, her expression changed to that of shock as he rolled out of her bed, rushing to get ready for the AST while Peter did the same.
The ASA had provided them with clean clothes they could wear on their second day while their own clothes would be dry-cleaned. Putting them on, the two rushed out of the room, realizing the hallway was practically empty, the made their way to the building's entrance, where they could see their fellow contestants.
They never expected to see everyone already lined up so early in the morning. It was only their adrenaline rush and perhaps sixth sense that warned them they should get ready quickly and head out.
Seeing Chris Sen at the forefront of the crowd made Peter sick to his stomach. But still, he remembered he had to bear with him for a little while, forcing himself to step forward and re-join the crowd.
Chris gave Peter a brief glance before turning to address the crowd.
"Today is the at you all will face eachother in a one-on-one tournament to determine who among you will be joining the ASA. Now, if you would just follow me, I will lead you to the venue where the tournament will be held.'