At the same time, outside Fugetsu Restaurant
A certain man was lying on the ground, groaning in pain after being thrown out of the restaurant unceremoniously.
"Hmph! You should count yourself lucky that we were the ones who dealt with you, not Miss Rin. The last guy who faced her is still hospitalized." One of the burly guards sneered, "Go away now, trash like you don't belong here, you will only taint the beauty of this place."
The guards paid no more attention to him and turned around to leave, leaving him sprawled on the cold pavement, his pristine suit along with his so-called expensive shoes were now drenched in broth and dirt sticking to them.
The man lowered his head, his slicked-back hair was a tangled mess, and his face still bore the sting of humiliation. The expensive clothes he was wearing before were now covered in broth and noodles and his hairstyle was nothing like it was before.
His hands scratched on the ground, clenched into a fist so tight his knuckles turned white.
'They think they can humiliate ME and get away with it?' his breath came in a ragged burst. The man pulled out a burner phone from his pocket and dialed a number with shaking hands.
Cold breeze flew by, the sound of the call ringing was the only thing to be heard beside the man's hitched breath until the person on the other side of the phone picked up the call."It's me, I need your services, right now."
The man paused for a good while, his eyes swept over the glowing restaurant building before him, his hold on the phone tightened as he added through gritted teeth "…yeah, I need a lot of firecrackers. Bring a few and the bigger, the better"
After speaking for a few seconds, the man hung up the phone and threw it on the ground. He destroyed the burned with his feet, kicked away the carcass, and turned to walk in the direction of the parking lot on the side of Fugestu.
The parking lot was covered in concrete walls, preventing the expensive cars parked there from getting damaged by the harsh environment. Outside the block was a single Valet taking care of them.
Taking the keys from the suspecting Valet, the man made his way inside, the dim light inside barely illuminated the cars inside but as he walked deeper inside, the sensors increased the intensity of the lights.
Only after walking a couple of steps, the man came to a stop, not only because he found his car but also because he heard something.
…Crying?
The first thought came to his mind when he heard the faint sound. Sneering the man wanted to ignore it at first as he was already preoccupied with his own rage. But when he realized that it was a woman crying, a thought flashed through his mind making him turn to look at the farthest corner of the parking lot.
There, curled up against the black door of a black sedan, was a woman familiar to him, crying with her head buried in her knees.
With his lips curled up dangerously, the man walked to his car, a red sports car, and reached out under the driver's seat. Pulling out a small object, he made his way toward the crying woman.
Hearing the sound of footsteps coming closer to her, the woman stopped crying for a second and looked up to face the person coming towards her. Her face was covered in snot and she was instantly drained of color when she saw who it was.
Her eyes widened in horror when she saw light falling on the person standing before her, the face she hated the most right now was standing before her face.
"Did you think you could walk away with humiliating me like a fool?" the man spoke, his voice eerily calm. The woman was so scared that she forgot to scream. "I did not become the leader of the Axe gang by forgiving my enemies."
Bang!
The man calmly pointed his gun, its nuzzle equipped with a silencer at her forehead and pulled the trigger without giving the woman to snap out of her daze. With a single shot, a lifeless body fell to the ground.
The sound of the shot was so light that it was barely heard before the concrete walls absorbed them.
But the man did not immediately turn around to leave, he looked around and dragged the woman by her leg deeper under the cover of the huge cars parked there.
After fifteen minutes, the man emerged from the gaps between the parked cars, a grin etched on his dirtied face. He made his way back to his car while tidying his loose shirt and messy pants.
He drove out of the parking as if nothing happened and stopped under the shade of the dense trees in the nearby forest. He stepped out of his car and looked at another vehicle standing there, it was a suspicious-looking van.
The man walked up to it and opened the sliding door of the van. Without saying anything, he pulled out a duffel bag and closed the door. As soon as the man took a step back, the van drove off.
With a dark glint flashing through his eyes, the man made his way back to the restaurant.
Inside the staff room, Alvin eagerly waited as the oven warmed the bread.
When the 'Ting' alarm finally went off, he jumped from the table, his excitement barely contained.
He quickly retrieved the bread and placed it on a ceramic plate. The aroma hit him, the scent of melted cheese oozing between the slices.
Alvin's stomach growled as he tugged at the bread, only to yelp as the heat burned his fingers. He tossed it between his hands, blowing on it frantically before attempting another bite.
Just as he was about to sink his teeth into it—
BOOM!
The entire restaurant shook.
A series of deafening explosions went off, and an explosion ripped through the walls of the staff room. The force sent Alvin flying, his body crashing into the lockers.
The garlic bread was flung across the room, forgotten.
Dust and debris filled the air as another BOOM followed—then another.
With a high-pitched ringing in his ears Alvin slumped against the cold floor.
His vision blurred.
His consciousness faded.
And then—
Darkness.