The uncertainty of what laid at the end of this drive was present in the car. Eiran seemed unbothered. He had been whistling or humming to the music the whole time. Nevan had folded his hands and just watched the road. The car was moving at a steady speed, the signs of the city they had left were nowhere to be seen. They were surrounded by nature. Rice fields, the enormous trees. It looked so peaceful.
"It is really in the middle of nowhere, huh?" Nevan asked. He wasn't too surprised, considering how Eiran had said, this was a secret project for now.
Eiran's attention moved to Nevan. He stopped humming. He didn't answer, instead choosing to throw something else at him. "I almost forgot." He started. "You won't be allowed to leave the place until you are either disqualified or the project is over. And you will have no phone there, who no way to contact anyone."
Nevan's eyes were directed to the trees they kept passing at a high speed. They had blurred into an unrecognisable picture of green, a warm yellow and brown. "Are you sure, you are not sending me to prison?"
"No, definitely not." A small smile played at his lips. The car had slowed down now. Trees began to take their shapes. " We will arrive soon."
As soon as these words were registered by Nevan, he sat straighter. His hands still folded in his lap, he smiled slightly. "Finally, I was starting to get bored."
His gaze was fixated on the road once more. Eiran turned the car and soon they had come off the main road, now following a street that was narrow. It was narrow in comparison to the road they had been at before. This one could still let two vehicles drive next to each other comfortably.
Finally, he saw it. The building that had been made in the middle of nowhere, just like he had been told. It was held in a dark blue color. It seemed to be made of metall and it was tall with no windows to be seen. Not even a single opening was there, expect for the main entrance door. Despite having no indications of how many floors there might be, Nevan would say, at least four.
"This building is built like a small honeycomb." Eiran spoke. "I saw the maps once. And it is divided in six hexagons."
A clear picture started to form in his mind. He took a moment to think about it. Eiran kept driving to a parking lot which was empty expect for one car. "Hexagon. Like the shape of one honey comb?"
"Exactly." Eiran confirmed. "I know, it looks unbreakable but I don't think you are going to be a slave or a prisoner there. I have never heard anything bad about this place by those who stay here."
"Very reassuring, thank you." Nevan spoke dryly as he got out of the car. He took his suitcase and looked at the legend waiting for him. "Lead the way?"
"As you wish." He bent his back downwards to indicate a bow with a playful smile before leading the way to the entrance.
They didn't say a word now. Eiran slowed down a bit as he saw someone standing at the entrance, seemingly waiting for someone. It was a woman in a black suit. She held a tablet in her hands which she wasn't using. She was looking around, instead. She has a layered bob cut and her brown hair was shining in the sun. She looked rather young, 26 at most.
Her eyes darted to Eiran and Nevan. She approached them. "Just on time. It is nice to see you again, Mr. Sinclair. How was your trip to Seoul?"
They seemed to know each other. While they made a small talk, Nevan took his time to look at a perfect stone garden surrounding this building. The effort of the gardener could be seen, even to someone who had no idea about gardening such as Nevan.
"Unfortunately, you aren't allowed to enter the base. I hope you understand. So, I will be taking..." A small pause occurred. A typing on the screen before the voice spoke again. "...Nevan with me."
Nevan's head cocked back at the two as he heard his name. He felt a pat at his shoulder and looked at Eiran. "I will be leaving you in their care then, Nevan."
His eyebrows shot up. "Oh?" His attention turned to the woman. She looked beautiful and kind. As if he couldn't harm even a fly. "Thank you for everything, Eiran. I would be lost without you."
"Don't say such words. We will see each other again." A brief hug followed before he made his way back to his car. Why were all these farewells this brief? As if they meant nothing.
"You are Nevan, right?" The woman asked. She held out her hand which Nevan took and shook it slightly. "My name is Izumi Hoga. I am Mr. Tachibana's assistant. He is in charge of this project and the one I will be guiding you to."
"It is nice to meet you, Ms. Hoga." He spoke with a polite tone and smile. "Thank you for having me here."
Izumi Hoga typed in a code. After confirming it the door opened. It seemed rough and heavy. Just how secured was this place? As if they wanted the participants to be as far away as possible from the rest of the civilization. Why? He understood this was a secret project and yet, this whole security seemed a bit too much to him.
The inside was air-conditioned. This place looked like it had never seen sunlight. But he wasn't going to complain. It didn't look rundown. Instead it looked sci-fi. A modern building held in cool colors and the light had a cool white color, making it all seem well-lit.
"This building will be your home for quite some time now." Ms. Hoga spoke. "Though, I am not sure which group you will be assigned to. It was a short note yesterday but he decided to take you in despite knowing you lack a lot of skills."
This was like a direct hit. Why did everyone have to criticize him? His eyes wandered to the screen for the first time since he had finished his daily tasks.
[Syncing . . .]
He had been unable to use the system like he usually would. "Groups?" He asked with a hint of curiosity laced to his tone. He looked over at the woman who was shorter than him.
"Oh, Mr. Tachibana will explain it to you. What I wanted to say was that you should keep your things to yourself for now. Usually they are seized and put in the lockers assigned to your group. You will get them back when you either disqualify or get chosen."
He had no idea what to think of it. Instead he just hummed in approval and entered an the office with her. The probably only room with a window.
The light made it look like some sort of temple, directly falling onto the small statue of Buddha that was on the desk. And a man was sitting there. His eyes were sunken, his exhaustion more prominent by the bags under them and he looked malnourished. And he looked deeply focused on some documents.
"You can leave him here, Izumi." He spoke in a rough tone without even regarding the intruders in his space with a gaze. Izumi flashed a smile in Nevan's direction before leaving him alone with the man.
Mr. Tachibana didn't say anything. He scribbled small notes on the pages, disregarding his presence completely. "Why don't you sit down, Nevan?"
That was exactly what he did. And then, he kept looking at the workaholic man. It was obvious. "You have quite a figure talking for yourself, don't you?" He started. "Eiran Sinclair. The legend whose performance impacts the soccer industry even to this day, after over a decade since he retired."
Nevan knew what a privilege it was. He considered himself lucky for this. Knowing, because of Eiran, he had been taken into this secret project. "I guess, I had luck."
"Yes, consider yourself lucky." Mr. Tachibana's voice dropped to a more sarcastic tone. He put the documents away and leaned forward, looking at Nevan intently. "You might have made it until now with luck by your side but it doesn't work in Golden Hive. This is an elite project to train the most elite players for Japan for the next qualification round of U20 World Cup which is in two years."
That was the purpose of Golden Hive? "This means, if I qualify, the chances of becoming a professional athlete with a contract are almost certain?" He asked, his heart thumping in his chest.
"Almost certain?" He let out a scoff. "It isnas certain as the fact that after day the night falls."
He leans back and looked at the documents he had just been studying. "You took part in the SPC selection and didn't make it. I requested your file and was studying it just now." He revealed. This man was no-nonsense. He seemed to work effectively without wasting any time. "Your skills are lacking. You are no match for the top players of this facility."
"I wasn't having a good day during the selection and the team wasn't following the same goal-" He was cut off.
"Stop making excuses. You will have to deal with a bad day or uncoordinated team players. Even both. You will start at the very beginning." Mr. Tachibana turned to his laptop and typed in something. "Your rank is #396 in the whole facility. And #66 in your group."
A sadistic smile appeared on Mr. Tachibana's face. "At rock bottom. Because, dear Nevan, we have 396 players in this facility and 66 in each group."