In the morning's tranquility, sunlight weaves through trees, painting patterns of light and shadow. The gentle rays delicately kiss the face, creating a warm, ethereal glow wishing the forthcoming of the new year
Fragmenting into colors, the light scatters across the skin, casting a serene aura. It forms a captivating dance, illuminating every contour with a peaceful beauty.
Leon who took a nap at the riverside woke up by the sun's rays and stretched himself, only to be startled by a circular shade.
"Huh!" Leon raising his chin saw Hector standing aside holding a huge umbrella.
"What are you doing here Hector?"
"Making sure that you don't get harmed," Hector answered but feeling something wasn't right, he added.
"I am doing this for myself as if something happens to you, my neck is gonna fly so I was just guarding you."
Leon yawned and patted Hector's shoulder with an understanding look.
Walking alone, he came to the river bank of Silvermist. One, where he disposed of William's corpse.
Laying on the bank and staring at the sky filled with stars gave him a sense of comfort that he was neither alone nor that his efforts were futile. The stars were always watching over him and cheering on his venture.
Leon then called the system.
Last night he heard a notification ring but he wasn't in the mood to look at it.
[Congratulations! You have stirred the heart of a heroine named Sophia Rosario, making her pay attention to you. Gained 1 counterattack point.]
[You have made heroine Irina Woods aware of her fault, and in doing so you managed to clear her mind and make her worry for your wellbeing. Gained 3 counterattack points.]
Leon wasn't surprised by the first one but the second one startled him.
'That means she is a heroine. With that age, doesn't that mean she is a sugar mommy? You discarded your son to be a mommy.'
"Fucking Hell!"
"Huh!" Hector suddenly took a step back in fear of hearing Leon cursing.
'Damn! What did I do now?'Hector was already in tears.
For the past two days, he was Leon's sparring partner and Leon left no leaves un turned in hitting him.
'Now that his mood seems off, am I going to get beaten on the New Year also?'
"How much did we earn?"
"I combined 10 million dollars with 1 million from yours and 500k from Helena. After deducting taxes, we made 178 million along with a 10 million winning fee."Hector said, jumping aloud.
Leon stood stunned and blurted aloud"They even deducted the taxes. Nice!"
"Take out 20 million. You take 16 and give the other 4 to Helena.As for the rest return to Sophia."
"Why?"Hector blurted out with a flabbergasted look.
"Just do what I say."Leon squeezed a deadly smile emphasizing each word.
"Okay!"
"Where is Helena?"
"She is preparing lun..."
Hector's words stopped abruptly by a loud scream.
Hector turned his gaze towards the cry and saw a boy carried by the currents of the river.
Hector, then felt a gust and saw Leon dashing ahead madly.
.....
In a frantic moment, along the river's edge, a boy struggled against the relentless force of the water, his panicked cries barely audible over the rushing current.
His small arms desperately reached for something, anything to cling onto. The water was cold and quite turbulent, due to which the boy's futile attempts to stay afloat grew weaker.
On the banks, a crowd of people ran along.
Some in worry, some in excitement and hopeful for new content that might explode.
Without a second thought, Leon pushing aside emerged from the crowd watching on the banks and leaped into the river's turbulent embrace.
The boy's terrified eyes locked onto the approaching figure and he extended his arms with a painful cry.
"BR…BRWDR!"
"Uwuuuu!SAve ME!"
"Please Save..!"
Weak cries of despair emerged from the trailed boy's lips.
"Don't worry, I am there."Leon with a powerful stroke, swam agilely like a fish and hugged the body, then he kicked his legs generating momentum to battle against the cold turbulent water and reached the banks.
Gasps of relief echoed from onlookers as Leon emerged from the water carrying the drenched and shaken boy over his shoulders.
The boy nestled his arms around Leon, still shocked by the sudden scenario.
Leon heard several clicking sounds and glared furiously at the crowd who were recording the video.
Feeling a dense murderous intent, they stepped back in fear.
'These bastards still had the nerve to record this while giving fucking speech of righteousness. If not for my sanity still intact and no prior enmity, I would have hacked these fuckers into pieces.'
"My grandson...My grandson.."
After a few moments, they saw an old man running frantically towards them followed by a group of men in black suits.
Leon was startled by seeing the group hiding their powerful aura ranging from Grandmaster to Martial Lord.
His eyes were particularly fixed on the old man galloping here.
Name:Alexander Smith
Age:79
Realm:Half-Step Martial Emperor[Regressed to Martial Grandmaster]
'Holy shit! Why is this old man's family name the same as the guy I killed? Wasn't he an orphan? Or did he have that background story of parents losing their children that ended at the orphanage? But that's the story, belonging to Soldier King.'
'Even if it wasn't.I am sure this is a typical plot of gaining backing which also comes with a trap that the backing family would have an enemy creating a chain of conflicts. After all, isn't this too much of a joke to let a kid fall into the river even after having such a lineup.'
'Let's just run. I don't want to interact with braindead people led along the nose by the protagonist Halo.'
Leon didn't know if this was a coincidence arranged by heaven or not. It's better if he just leaves as quickly as possible so when all eyes are on the kid, he shifts back to mingling in the crowds
"Grandpa!"
Leo's shouted as eyes glistened seeing his grandpa
"Leo!"The old man screamed in horror seeing his drenched and shivering grandson.
Leo, who had already left Leon's embrace, ran towards the old man who carried him by hugging him in his arms.
On the eve of New Year, he went for a walk with his grandson but he encountered a group of assassins. The bodyguards acted swiftly but one of the inexperienced guards hid Leo to avoid trouble who sauntered out of the park and fell into the river somehow.
It was only after they dealt with the assassin did they found Leo missing which almost burst his heart.
"Grandpa! That brother saved me."Leo shouted pointing in a certain direction.
Alexander then looked around for the man who saved his grandson but there was none.
"Where is that kid?"Alexander asked in an intimidating voice, scaring everyone.
"He...He just left, Sir."A man in the crowd spoke.
"What? He left...Did I scare him?"Alexander then looked at his men dressed in black suits.
"Go and find this benefactor. A life-saving grace should be repaid."
Alexander then took Leo and left, after which a young man jogged on the river with a pleasant expression.
He saw the crowd dispersing and asked a man.
"What's going on here?"
The man gave him a brief. He even showed the video, but the man's face wasn't entirely clear from afar, and when the man came up, the boy he carried covered his face and then everyone put down the phone getting a cold glare from the man.
Instead of feeling relief, the young man frowned.
'Damn! Did I just miss a chance to show off and gain publicity? Why is my luck so bad?'
As he thought about it, he felt his heart stirring in pain as if he had lost something precious causing him an irreversible loss.
'Shit! If only that guy hadn't acted and stolen my chance, I would be famous now.'
Meanwhile, Leon, who was rushed home pulling Hector along, suddenly got another notification.
[DING]
[You have intercepted Lin Fang's opportunity to gain strong backing and change the future. Gained 4 counterattack points.]
'What the hell is going on? It's raining counterattack points.'