He headed home quite quickly.
Back at the library, things had been hectic. His friends rushed over to him, and a bunch of people gathered around to stare at the situation, including a teacher. When they asked what happened, Ren explained exactly what occurred and said that someone had pushed the shelf on purpose. He didn't know who the guy was, but he described him as best as he could.
Seeing Ren's state, the teachers decided to let him leave school early.
As Ren walked home, his thoughts began to spiral.
Shit. Why the hell did that guy try to kill me?
Could it have been those guys?
But that didn't make sense. They were just some muscleheads—guys he could beat up. Even if it was them, he couldn't imagine them making someone else do it instead of handling it personally. And that guy… he didn't look like he was forced. It felt casual to him.
How could that be casual?
Is he—
Ren gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, forcing his thoughts to stop before they went too far. He needed to get home quickly. He could think about this properly once he arrived.
Eventually, he did.
He sat down on the couch, trying to relax and think about the situation logically.
If they were really after him—the guys from the gym—then none of this made sense. Setting up something like this days later didn't fit them at all. And if they were truly behind it, then didn't that mean Kai was involved in this situation as well?
Then he heard a knock on his door.
A jolt of fear shot through Ren's body, but he swallowed it down and stood up from the couch. Being scared wouldn't help him here. Anyone else might've done something stupid in this situation—like jumping off the balcony out of panic—but Ren wasn't the type to be ruled by fear.
He walked to the door and opened it.
Standing there was someone his age, a student with blonde hair and green eyes.
Speak of the devil.
It was Kai Mercer.
Can I come in?" he asked.
"Yes, you can," Ren agreed. He didn't want to waste time, especially with everything going on.
They entered the apartment and both took a seat. Before another awkward silence could spread between them, Ren immediately cut to the chase. He didn't care about the silence—he just wanted answers.
"Why are you here right now?" Ren asked suspiciously.
Kai looked straight into his eyes. "Did someone try to injure you… or take your life recently?"
Ren was surprised. How the hell does he know that?
Did he know about the incident? Does he have some kind of connection to this? No—maybe not. He said recently, so he didn't really know whether it happened today or days earlier.
"Yes," Ren answered. "But how do you know that?"
Kai sighed. "Because someone also tried to severely injure me today."
Ren's eyes widened. "Wait, seriously? Does that mean—"
"Yes. It's exactly what you think, and probably what you already suspected. It has something to do with those guys from the gym. You probably guessed this already, but those guys are just morons who only know how to punch things. They can't do something like this. And if they wanted revenge, they would've done it themselves under normal circumstances."
He continued, "But those guys weren't acting alone. I did some research on them. They're from a small gang called Gunshot. And now, because of that fight, we're being targeted by them."
Ren felt a headache forming.
On his first day on Star Island, he got entangled with a gang. Why? Just… why? He didn't want this. What the hell was he supposed to do? Should he call his grandma? Oh God, what would she think when she finds out? She'd probably pull him out of this place immediately.
I've only been here a couple of days, and now I'm going to leave? What—
"Hey, are you listening?"
"HEY!"
Kai raised his voice, snapping Ren out of his spiraling thoughts.
"Sorry," Ren said. "This is really bad. I overthink too much."
That was true. His overthinking was a constant problem—whether in casual situations or extremely serious ones like this. He almost always ended up drowning in his own thoughts.
But that wasn't important right now.
"What's important," Ren continued, "is this—why are you here, Kai?"
Kai looked confused. "What? I already explained why I'm here."
"No," Ren said. "That's not what I mean. Why are you here, in this situation?"
Even though his overthinking was usually a problem, sometimes it was a blessing. Anyone else in this situation would've only thought about themselves or the gang—but during his tangled train of thoughts, Ren thought about Kai, and how suspicious his situation was after the day of the fight.
Ren had been curious.
And he had done some research on the Mercer family
And what he found was very interesting.
The Mercers aren't just a popular hero family—they are very infamous and very powerful within the community. That reputation mainly comes from Kai's grandfather. He was a very influential and powerful vigilante back in the day, before the hero system ever existed. In fact, he fought alongside Blue Light multiple times. So even though he wasn't on the same level as Blue Light, where even very young children could recognize him it didn't make him any less infamous.
But while most of that influence came from the past, there was also influence in the present—mainly through Kai's father. Despite his grandfather's disapproval, Kai's father, Leo Mercer, joined the hero system and gained influence within the government. He also brought in most of the Mercer family's wealth. But that part didn't really matter.
The main point was this: his grandfather's influence within the hero community alone should have automatically placed Kai in an advanced school.
And yet, he was in a normal one.
That wasn't all.
The guys at the gym targeted Kai knowing exactly who he was—and they weren't afraid. Ren was pretty sure they weren't stupid enough to mess with him for no reason while knowing his identity. The fact that they targeted him anyway, and the fact that Kai was talking about this situation with Ren instead of letting his family handle it—something they could have done easily—made everything even more suspicious.
Ren explained his entire thought process to Kai. He explained why he was suspicious of him, and why he didn't fully trust him.
Kai sighed.
"I really hoped you wouldn't catch onto this," he said.
"It's true. The Mercers are very influential and a high-ranking hero family. But my family weren't really heroes outside of their jobs. My parents wanted a legacy. They wanted their influence to grow. They didn't care about saving people—they cared about the benefits that came with it."
"That's why my grandpa really hated the fact that my father joined the hero system. The public thinks it was just an old man refusing to accept the change of time—but no. It was because my grandfather hated the greed he saw in my father. He hated seeing someone like him being called a hero."
Ren stayed silent, listening.
"They pushed the Mercer legacy onto me," Kai continued. "They trained me every day, nearly without rest. I studied every day without rest. All so I could become a powerful and influential hero one day and enhance their influence. I barely had a childhood."
"The only reason I had even a little happiness was because of my grandfather and grandmother. They were great. They were the only reason I could actually smile."
For a moment, the memory actually made him smile.
"But anyway, that's not important," Kai said, shaking his head. "I never awakened my power naturally. So when I arrived at Star Island, I took New Life… and I awakened my power."
Kai stretched out his arm.
A fire sword appeared in his hand.
"And This is my power."
(Kai image)
(Author's Note:
This is great—this is my third chapter in a row with a word count between 1,200 and 1,500. I think I've finally figured out how to pace my chapters properly, so you can expect this to be the average length going forward.)