[Ray's POV]
"So you're saying that if we don't win the hearts of these 5 girls, your Goddess will punish you?"
Not MY Goddess but yeah, I was doing this to avoid punishment.
Currently, I was in the middle of convincing Taeyang to join my side.
"Yes. She sent me your name by a divine message. I know this all sounds very sketchy but I have no one else to turn to for help."
"Aren't you a Saint? Why don't you ask your Bishops to do the job for you?"
"I discovered my Saint identity quite recently. Right now, other than you, only a handful of other people know."
He looked at me like I was some con artist.
"Trust me, if I had a choice, I'd be sleeping on my bed right now. I have no desire to play the role of a scammer, 2AM in the morning ."
Having been convinced slightly, he asked me,
"So then, what do you want me to do?"
"Have you heard about these girls?"
I wrote down the names of the 5 girls.
He immediately took the paper from my hands.
"Sophie? How did you know about her?"
I gave him an expression indicating that his question was stupid.
"I...I'm sorry, you just said that your Goddess told you."
"Do you know her?"
"She was my classmate in middle school. She's currently living abroad with her parents", he spoke as if in a trance.
I saw that he clenched his fist.
'She must be someone important to him...'
"And what about the others? Do you know who they are?"
He got out of his nostalgia and looked back at the list.
"Ling is currently an idol. She has an idol group with Chen, who is in my class."
Chen? I've heard that name before.
"Did those guys ask you to hack Chen's account?"
He gave me a surprised look.
"How did you know?"
"I heard them when they were hitting you."
He looked in the direction of the alley and raised his fist.
"Those bastards..."
He turned to me again and said, "It's not that Chen is a good girl but hacking into someone's privacy is despicable."
He had morales.
But he didn't have the strength to uphold those ethics.
"I understand."
I looked at his room. It was filled with hyper realistic figurines and digital posters. Is this what they call an otaku's room? It was my first time experiencing something like this.
Curious about where the dirty adult books were, I asked him,
"Taeyang, I don't see any comic books or other novels. Do you just collect figurines?"
"Books take up alot of space. I do have a few but I usually just prefer to read on my tablet screen."
That makes sense.
"Do you like anime too, Ray?"
"I grew up without much money so I never had much access to entertainment but I've always wanted to watch them."
This was true from my previous life.
"Liar, your clothes look costly."
"Oh these? I got them by killing a drug peddler."
"Yeah right, you got them from...killing...a... what...?"
He was apalled. He pinched his cheek to check if this was a dream.
"What?! You killed a drug seller?"
"Yeah, I had to. He was supplying date rape drugs to a student of Ishiyama High."
Although, I only killed him because he posed a threat to Enna.
"Shit! The police can be coming any time! Why did you come here?!"
"Don't worry. I made sure the police won't be able to follow my track."
Thanks to Lianne guiding me, that is.
"What?!?!"
"Yeah, I also took his phone and money. I used it to buy these clothes."
He seemed to be beyond shocked. He had entered a realm much higher than that.
"We need to stop that student right now! He could be out to hurt others!"
"Again, don't worry. He died of overdosing on his own recreational drug. You can call it suicide."
"Oh thank god, he's dead... he's...what?!?!"
Everything I said seemed to shock him more.
Did I have a natural talent for this?
"Who was that student?!"
"I don't know, he was short and wore a necklace with diamonds in it."
"Alphonso?!"
"Oh, you know him?"
"He is the son of the owner of the biggest corporation in Reji city!"
Okay, that meant bad news.
Taeyang spoke again, "His father is known to be ruthless and his hand in the underworld is deep."
Interesting, I had entangled myself in deep shit as always.
"Ray, you have no idea what you have done."
Now, it felt like everyone was saying this to me all the time.
"It's not like I killed him. Oh, you're a hacker right?"
"Uh...yeah. Why?"
"I also took Alphonso's phone and smartwatch. I'll give them to you. Can you look into them for me?"
"What?!?!"
Baek Taeyang was a smart and handsome guy, but he had an odd emo haircut and this frequent desire to scream.
"I'll bring both Apholonso, uh alpohonoso , uh yeah him and his seller's devices tomorrow."
"Why are you involving me in this?!"
"You read in Ishiyama, right?"
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"You're parents aren't here. They must be out working somewhere. Since both of them are working at night, I'm assuming your family is tight with money?"
They could be on vacation, but the condition of his house spoke otherwise.
"Looking at the contents of your room and how you're so possessive about your belongings, you must have an anti social life."
He said nothing and kept staring at me.
"Since those two bastards were the closest things to what you could call 'friends', you had agreed to meet them so late at night."
He gritted his teeth.
"You're smart, but you hide your face with all that hair. You keep your body weak and drown yourself in technology.
Your intelligence is masked by your oddly twisted morales. You sit in here, like a refuge, hoping things will become better one day. This place is your fortress against your demons. And you, the King of this abandoned Castle."
He finally spoke, "So what? Are you going to mock me for that? Like them, are you going to say I'm uncool?!"
I smiled and shook my head.
"No, I don't think you're uncool at all."
"What?", he looked at me with widened eyes.
"You have something you genuinely desire and want. The room I just covered with light, that experiment room",
Taeyang had kept hitting me till I showed him that my mana had no deleterious effects on his devices.
"I'm sorry I did that but I learnt from there that you had ambition. You wanted to build something, although I don't know what."
Taeyang's expression softened.
"You also have someone you like."
His cheeks became rosy pink.
"How..how did you know?", he asked.
"And finally, you stand by your code even when you know you cannot follow it through. I respect that. I respect how as a human being, you have the will and compassion to care for someone else."
He was stunned by my words.
"And that is why, I don't think you're uncool at all. Your life, your past and future. I think it's really cool."
I extended my hand to him.
"So Baek Taeyang.
From rags to riches, I want to be a part of this journey. I'll help you in any way I can. In return, can I call you my friend?"
He looked at me. There was a fire in his eyes.
Our heights were different.
But our wills were united.
He returned my handshake.
It was a solid grip.