Knowing Ike planned to have an encounter with his former bullies, he exerted a bit of effort to make a quick, last-minute preparation. Hiring the guys after making a quick search on the internet didn't need a lot of talking as long as the money wasn't a big issue.
Initially, Ike hired them to back him up if a brawl rose. If not, Ike still has a backup, to say the least. It just so happened that most things wouldn't go as planned and he had to improvise, telling them to harass Holly while they were outside the establishment just so he could play the hero. Quite twisted and manipulative, but it worked! Compared to what these bullies had done to Ike, manipulating the situation just to fuck a girl wasn't that cruel.
"What a useful site," murmured Ike, closing the app where he found those guys and hired them while entering his dimly lit home.
The guys offered Ike a ride home after getting paid extra for their services. Ike accepted the offer, but he asked to be dropped off at the nearest bus station since he didn't want others to know where he lived.
"Five stars." He grinned, leaving a review just because his mood was great. After a few clicks, Ike locked his phone and left his house keys on the old credenza, jogging his way to his room.
Ike went straight to his computer, stretching his fingers and arms while waiting for it to startup. It took quite a long time, but considering his computer was an old model, it was understandable. He had gotten used to it by now, so the wait didn't bore him immediately.
When the computer had completed its interminable startup, Ike didn't waste another second doing his research.
According to those guys, a person's combat points could be checked on the government's official website. Upon checking, there were more websites and blogs that offered summarized current rankings and stuff that wasn't important to Ike at the moment.
All he wanted to know was his own current points. He expected it to be bad — just as bad as those guys who sold their battle points in exchange for money. He input his national identification number to see his personal record; checking other people's battle points was easy as they only needed to put one's name, but that was all there was. Others couldn't check more personal information. Ike wanted to see a more detailed profile.
Name: Isaac Lobo
Age: 17
National Security Number: 2818–066–6413
Ike skimmed through his personal profile, barely taking notes of information such as his address, date of birth, place of birth, nationality, and such. His profile wasn't long, having only a two-page profile. The first page was his personal information, which had nothing to do with his agenda but was also relevant since he didn't know half of them. Knowing more about himself wouldn't hurt.
The second page contained duel records; an entire page of losing streaks. Well, he won once. His first duel. The location of these duels and his opponents were recorded, as well as how many points he had lost with each battle.
"How interesting…" Ike rested his chin on his knuckle, eyes on the screen. "So I initiated my first battle, huh?"
His lips stretched into a smirk. "As if I'd buy this information." — if anything, Ike already guessed how he won the only battle he won. The second duel recorded gave away everything he needed to know.
The rules of these battles were simple. If one proposed the duel and won, the losing opponent could request a rematch. If the latter won the rematch, not only they would regain their lost points but also a generous amount of their opponents.
Ike was certain that was the scheme that went down in this. The third match was also up against the same person, after all. And since Ike was a challenger, his stakes were quite high, but obviously, he lost. More than half of Ike's basic points were drained by this person named Desmond Larza
"There's also this guy Finn…" Ike glanced up momentarily, recalling where he heard that name. "That guy with Holly is called by that."
He nodded in understanding. No doubt that guy was the person on this record. Ike skimmed through the list; Holly was also on the list. All of these people depleted Ike's points until it was zero.
"Well, it's not like I didn't expect the worst." — and this expectation was met.
Right now, Ike didn't have any battle points. These points were important, but one could get by without them either. Especially if the individual didn't have any ambitious goals. For instance, wanting to take part if the Colosseum appeared. It had been centuries since its last appearance, so many people weren't hopeful.
Therefore, these points in today's time just became one's status symbol. The more points one had, the more fearsome one was. Most of the people who highly regarded these points were young and adult teens who wanted to have a bright future and wealthy and influential individuals who needed it for their own reasons.
"Though these rankings…" Ike went on to check the rankings that were divided into many divisions, such as district ranks, local ranks, global ranks, and so on. His brow raised upon seeing the names of the top ten people dominating their district.
"Desmond Larza… top eight — heh." A laugh slipped past his mouth upon reading the name. "Now that I think about… huh?"
Ike cocked his head to the side, catching the ninth place on the list. "Bernis October…" his eyes scanned the names attentively, only to catch another familiar name on the fifth spot.
Ashley Sinclair.
"Haha! Now, that's interesting. I didn't know I have such interesting classmates." His lips stretched from ear to ear, eyes gleaming in interest. This information was enough to forget he got laid for the first time since his rebirth. "Seeing that guy Bernis on this list isn't surprising since he has such an imposing aura, but this girl Ashley…"
Ike leaned forward, linking his hands in front of him. "... I wonder how did she get that spot? Hmm... this will be fun."