That ugly mood from Asha's text finally got pushed back down.
The reason was simple.
Goblin Hero gave me the backbone to face whatever came next.
I wasn't the weak guy from three years ago who could only take fate as it came.
If Asha really crossed a thousand miles and showed up in front of me…
Fine. Let her come.
If soldiers come, block them. If water comes, dam it.
Me, dodge her?
Hell na.
Once I accepted that, my head slid back into the normal high school student track.
….
The next few days were strangely quiet.
Seraphina stopped giving me any extra attention.
Sometimes we'd bump into each other in the hallway or in class, and she'd toss me that trained sweet smile out of habit.
And every time, I'd put the insecure virgin mask right back on.
I'd dodge her eyes, my body would go stiff, and I'd act like I didn't know what to do as soon as I got near a goddess.
After a few rounds of that, the last bit of interest in her eyes faded completely.
It was obvious.
My toy had one boring play style, so she tossed it in the trash.
That was exactly what I wanted.
Another Friday afternoon. PE class.
The southern fall heat still hung in the sky and baked everything.
After the usual two laps and dismissal, I found a step under the shade of a tree and kept working through the physics problem I didn't finish this morning.
The two clowns, stuck to me again.
"Bro, big news, big news!"
Monkey's pimpled face was lit up with that excited look gossip addicts get.
"Seraphina skipped class again!"
"Yeah, I saw it myself," Baron added while he fanned himself with the hem of his uniform.
"During break, a black sports car stopped at the back gate, and she got in right away."
"The driver was our school's campus heartthrob, senior Zane Ziegler."
"Zane?" Monkey smacked his lips, and jealousy mixed with filthy imagination in his eyes.
"Damn, that guy's rich and handsome. I heard his family's in real estate."
"These two… they're probably headed straight to a hotel, huh? Tsk. On the bed, who knows what our saintess turns into."
I leaned on the railing and half-listened to their dirty talk.
I tossed out a couple lazy replies to keep their mood up, just so I could keep my "fits in with the group" act going.
My eyes drifted over the empty soccer field in the distance, unfocused.
Their spicy gossip meant about as much to me as the corner shop raising bottled water by fifty cents.
It was just background noise.
Monkey was about to go deeper into his made-up hotel room details when a familiar smell washed over us, mixed of sweat stink and cheap perfume.
The two idiots beside me, who were still snickering, froze like someone grabbed their throats, and the laughter died in their mouths.
I lifted my eyelids and saw Leo's dark face.
He wore a nasty smile, and his eyes locked on me.
Behind him were three or four guys from Class 8, all in basketball tank tops and all looking like trouble.
They spread out in a half-circle and boxed the three of us in, and every face had that this should be fun look.
"Oh, so you guys were whispering here," Leo said.
"Isn't this the Mouth King Luke?"
His voice was rough, and he chewed those words like he wanted them to hurt.
"What, you've been quiet these days, so I thought you went mute."
Last time, I played him around with words and made him run off to buy drinks in front of other students.
That had clearly turned into a thorn in his head.
Under the shade, I leaned on the railing and didn't even change my posture.
"What do you want?"
"Damn, still acting tough." The blond punk beside him snorted.
Leo waved him off.
He stepped in closer and stared down at me with his size.
"Kid, I'll admit it. I lost to your mouth a few days ago," he said, word by word.
"In that area, you're a damn pro."
But the malice in his eyes almost spilled out.
"But here? This is the basketball court. This is my territory."
"If you've got balls, stop playing dead and come play."
"Let me see what you've got besides that mouth."
He slammed the basketball by my feet, and it hit the step with a loud thump.
The ball bounced up and dropped again, and the dull sound kept echoing.
I looked at the ball rolling near my shoes, and my brows tightened just a little.
So annoying.
Why aren't you chasing Sera instead of coming for me?
"Don't joke around please" I said, and I lowered my tone like I was backing down.
"With my build, I can't even hold the ball steady, so how am I supposed to play agiant someone like you?"
That was the truth.
My limited energy didn't allow me to waste time on pointless sports.
"How about I just take the L?"
I surrendered first, trying to end the mess the easiest way.
"Bro really can't play." Baron Wallace forced out the courage to speak, and he shook as he said it.
"Yeah, yeah, you picking him is just bullying," Monkey added, and he tried to back me up too.
Leo shot them a dangerous look.
Baron swallowed the rest of his words and didn't dare speak again.
Monkey dropped his head like he was suddenly studying how to tie his shoelaces.
Leo turned back to me.
"Quit that crap. Luke, if you don't dare play today, then don't let me see you in this school again!"
The air turned sharp.
Then a few voices cut in from not far away.
"Hey! Leo! Why are you Class 8 guys on Class 3's turf? Looking for trouble?"
The speaker was our sports rep, Hugo Harris, and he was also on the school basketball team.
He wasn't as big as Leo, but he looked upright and solid.
A few other guys followed him, the ones who were sick of Leo Vance's usual behavior too.
"Enough already. Picking on our Luke is supposed to make you look tough?"
"Yeah. You run wild every day just because you're on the team. You really think you're something."
Leo's face got uglier.
"Fuck off Hugo. This isn't your business."
"Luke is our classmate," Hugo fired back, not moving an inch.
"If you mess with him, you mess with Class 3."
"You're only acting big because I was on leave a few days ago and wasn't in class."
"Either settle it on the court, or quit bullying people!"
"Who the fuck are you calling a bully?!" Leo snapped, and his side started getting heated too.
With Hugo jumping in, the whole situation shifted.
The yelling got louder and louder, and it started pulling the attention of most of the field.
Girls from Class 3 stopped chatting, and the boys put down the soccer ball and badminton rackets and crowded over.
Things escalated into exactly what I didn't want.
The focus changed from "Leo picking on Luke" to "a class-versus-class fight."
And I was the eye of the storm.
A bad feeling crawled up in my gut.
And of course…
While both sides were screaming over each other, Hugo suddenly pointed at me and shouted to the whole class.
"Boys! A few days ago, Luke was the one who chased Leo off, so this asshole couldn't keep acting big in our class, and he protected Sera from getting harassed!"
"Now they're coming again, and are we really going to stand here and watch our class hero get bullied?!"
"No!"
Someone yelled first, and then the response exploded from all directions.
"Yeah! They can't bully Class 3!"
"Play with them! What the hell are we scared of!"
"Luke, get out there! We've got you!"
More and more students gathered.
Whistles and shouting piled up.
With Hugo, the big brother of the class, leading it, the anger Class 3 had been holding about Leo finally lit up.
That class pride hit max level, and I could feel the wave swallowing me so I couldn't get out.
"Luke, you're playing with us too!"
Hugo grabbed my arm, and he didn't leave room for debate.
His face was lit up with that hot-blooded teen excitement.
"You're the one who talked him down last time, so this time you've gotta show him we're not just good with words. We're good with our hands too!"
"Me?" I pointed at my own nose and tried for one last struggle.
"I can't. I really can't play…"
"This isn't just about you anymore. It's our whole class's face," Hugo cut me off.
"As long as you stand on the court, that's already the biggest support you can give!"
He kept pushing the guilt trip.
Fuck. Are there really no other guys in this class who can play basketball?
It was hard to keep my face straight.
"Luke, go!"
"Bro, you got this!"
"Crush Leo!"
The cheering got louder and louder.
I was boxed in by the crowd, and I couldn't back out.
My eyes scanned all those faces, red with class pride.
If I refused now, what would it mean?
It would mean I'd go from "a shy guy with guts who helped a classmate" to "a useless coward who betrayed the group when it mattered."
Every bit of setup and acting I did would be wasted, and I'd get isolated by the whole class, and I'd become someone even more despised than Leo.
That went straight against my core strategy: stay low and survive.
If I played, I might show some ability and get attention for a short time.
If I refused, I'd never have peace again.
Between two evils, pick the lighter one.
I looked at all the eyes watching me, and I could only nod.
"…Fine."
That one word dropped into the situation like water into hot oil, and it made everything boil.
"Hell yeah! That's the spirit!"
Hugo pumped his fist and shouted at Leo Vance's side, "You asshole! Three on three. You got the guts?!"
Leo grinned and yanked off his jacket, showing his hard upper body.
"Why wouldn't I!"
So, pushed by the class's crazy energy, this rough, personal grudge turned into a full three-on-three class showdown, and it got locked in fast with no way back.
Hugo acted as organizer and picked the lineup right away.
He was the main player, and he also picked the most agile guy in our class.
Me, Hugo, and that other guy would face Leo and two other big guys from his crew.
My two goblin buddies, Baron and Monkey, got swallowed by the cheering crowd.
They looked worried and excited at the same time as they yelled for me.