The meeting ended.
Just like that, the Valeines walked out of Longhorn headquarters as if nothing happened. Calm. Composed. Untouchable.
But oh… something definitely happened.
Joshua Travich? Yeah, he wasn't walking anywhere. He was dead, murdered, incinerated down to ash with a skill that erased every trace of him. Twenty years old. Not a child. Old enough to face the consequences of his many, many sins.
The vigilantes didn't just kill him. They sent a message. And that message landed like a nuke.
The shareholders who witnessed that little live broadcast? They would never sleep the same again. The entire ordeal spread through their ranks like wildfire. No matter how hard they tried, this was not something they could sweep under a rug and hope no one noticed.
The garage where the murder took place was subsequently destroyed to hide any traces.
Meanwhile, Yuron Travich, the old president of Longhorn, didn't handle it well. The combination of shock, age, and illness sent him straight into a vegetative state. Machines kept him alive; his empire was already slipping through his fingers.
Rolan Travich was furious. Screaming for justice, burning money on investigators, hacking teams, mercenaries, anything. But no matter how much he clawed, he found nothing. The vigilantes left no trail.
The company bled. Shareholders who had witnessed Joshua's torture quietly pulled out, selling stock like rats fleeing a sinking ship.
As a last desperate move, Rolan went public. He admitted his son's death. He admitted the vigilantes' attack. He thought exposure would give him power. Instead, it opened the floodgates.
Victims came forward. One by one. Each with proof. Each with stories of Joshua's crimes; sexual assaults, hidden murders, drunken rampages. The media feasted on it. The public turned rabid.
The stock price plummeted.
The once-mighty Longhorn became a joke.
And Mico? She cashed out at the perfect time. Millions rolled into her accounts from shorting their stock. To her, the collapse of Longhorn wasn't just revenge, it was business.
Ah, sweet, sweet profit.
…
Weeks passed.
The empire of Longhorn still stood, but it was cracked, hollow, mocked by the world.
As for Axel, nothing really changed. Life went on as normal. Students whispered about the masked vigilantes for a few days, but gossip dies quickly.
However, Axel wasn't relaxing. He had… problems.
First problem: his poison objective.
The toxin he ordered had arrived, and he drank it without hesitation. Objective cleared. Easy. But the next task…
[Become One With the Venomous Burn]
??? Rank ★: Owner has slight fire resistance. Owner has slight poison resistance.
Mastery: 20% / 100%
Objective: Make someone feel the burn.
Make someone feel the burn.
Axel stared at that line, and his face said it all. How exactly was he supposed to find someone to burn without, you know, getting into trouble?
He doubted the system would accept "accidentally touching a candle" as a solution. He had to press his hand on a molten stove to get his previous task counted. No way he could convince anyone to replicate that pain.
That objective would have to wait.
Second problem: Selene.
She was… acting strange. Too close. Too clingy. Possessive? Maybe. Whatever it was, she was stepping on boundaries he didn't even draw yet.
She was always touching him. A hand around his waist. An arm around his shoulders. Fingers always finding his hand like it belonged to her.
And the stares… she watched him like he was something she owned.
Her questions were soft, casual, but Axel's paranoia didn't let them slide.
"Axel, you didn't reply to my text last night. Were you chatting with someone else?"
"How are your classes so far? Did anyone meet your eye?"
Perfectly normal questions. To anyone else.
But Axel knew better. Or maybe he was overthinking. Who knows?
Still, he was sure of one thing: It was too early in the story for Selene to catch feelings for him. Right? At the very least, it was too early for a confession.
Luckily enough, one of the main characteristics of a main character was being as dense as a black hole. So, Axel should be fine if he kept ignoring her subtle advances.
However, Selene wasn't even the biggest issue.
Above Axel's head glowed the number: 20 / 100 OOC.
The kidnapping incident doubled his Out Of Character score. He knew what had to be done; he needed to get kicked out of Ravenveil.
But that came with a price.
Leaving would wreck his favorability with Mico. She was the reason he was even at Ravenveil; she made him an exception. The whole Cael incident was because that happened. Quitting would probably tank his favorability with Yanin too by affiliation.
Not to mention, he was now a city-wide wanted criminal. Axel exhaled.
He was done for. Toasted.
But what's done is done. No rewinds here.
Oh, right. There was one more thing. The other club he joined ages ago. The one he completely forgot about.
The Swords Enthusiast Club.
Luckily for him, meetings were bimonthly. Unluckily for him, the first meeting was tomorrow.
Yeah, he had no idea what was waiting for him there.