I trudged to the lift lobby of my home, feeling absolutely exhausted after today's events.
After stepping through the portal that Avatasia had made, it seems like she had teleported us right outside the CBD area in Chinatown. We went our separate ways after that to draw less attention and Olivia told me to lay low for the next few days while she deals with the fallout of this assassination attempt.
Just in case, she made me change out my clothes into the ones she had appropriated from the store earlier before I went on my way.
I already sent a quick message that I would be home soon and I was just about to press the button to call the lift when my gaze went to the staircase that started everything.
Feeling a little sentimental, I went over to the staircase just to take a look.
I wasn't really sure what I was expecting. Maybe I was expecting to see the hoodie girl there or something but… All I got was an empty staircase.
I could still see the part of the stair railing that I had broken off was still not repaired yet.
The place was completely empty with no signs of what happened that day aside from the broken railing.
Seeing that there was nothing for me there, I turned around and headed back to the lift lobby.
But as soon as I stepped away, I suddenly felt like there was a gaze coming from behind.
When I turned around, however, I saw no one there.
Hmm… Could it be the hoodie girl?
I mean… She was attacked here so it should be logical to assume that she lives around here. Maybe she came here because she thought she accidentally caused someone to die because of her powers and felt guilty?
But I guess she never expected to see me standing here all alive and well and hid herself when I turned around.
Or… Maybe he thought I was a ghost or something and got scared when she saw me.
Feeling that it might be a little awkward for me to talk to her face to face, I decided to do the next best thing.
"I forgive you!" I shouted in the direction of where I felt that gaze from.
There was no response nor any movement, so maybe everything had just been my imagination but whatever, that didn't bother me.
I took the elevator up to my floor and found my mother standing at the door with the door already open.
"Come back already ah? Eat already or not?"
As if on cue, my stomach growled.
"Haven't…" I responded.
She gave me a wry smile, "I made some soup. Go wash your hands and eat."
"Orh," I answered noncommittally as I entered the apartment.
When I stepped inside, I found the TV was turned on and the news was currently being broadcasted.
"I'm at the scene of the explosion where the Ministry of Anomaly Management used to be! Just a few hours ago, right after the convoy for our Mortal God had entered the building, an explosion occurred and the building collapsed. Thankfully, local superhero Captain RV managed to hold the building up long enough for everyone to escape. However, our Mortal God is now reported missing. Police are still investigating the cause of the explosion and also combing the debris for our Mortal God. Stay tuned."
I'm not surprised to see that this was already being reported on the news considering the fact that this was basically akin to a terrorist attack in the heart of the city.
My sister was watching the sitting in front of the television and she noticed me coming in.
"Gor Gor! You got hear or not? Got big attack leh! I thought you went with that God guy to the rift?"
"I did… But I did not go to the Ministry so I didn't see what happened," I lied, pretending not to know anything about it. "What are they saying?"
"They say is some terrorist or something targeting the God guy. Scary sia! The whole building collapsed, you know?!"
"Hmm… Sounds pretty serious. What about the Mortal God?"
"He's missing, apparently. Got some people say is he die already but the government don't want to admit he died so they pretend he is missing. Got other people say he probably got kidnapped by the terrorist and they want a ransom."
"Who is even saying this stuff?"
"The online people lah, who else?"
"Hmm… What do you think? Is he dead?" I asked, trying my best to assume neutrality.
My sister scoffed, "Pfft~ Of course not lah. He's supposed to be some Mortal God right? How can he get so easily killed? And if he's actually dead, confirm will have some group shouting it out online one. I bet he's still alive and our government just hiding him so that they can catch the people trying to kill that God guy."
Huh… I would say she pretty much guessed it correctly.
I'm not surprised considering my sister is pretty smart anyway.
She turned to me, "What about you, Gor? You went with that guy right? Is he strong?"
I shrugged, "I guess so. He fought some big monster with some other guys and took it down pretty easily. I would say the entire expedition was relatively smooth and one of the most relaxed ones I've been on for that level."
It wasn't a complete lie since I was definitely more relaxed on this expedition after clearing out the mobs as compared to the times where I was still just a random, lowly Vanguard.
She grinned at me, "So… He handsome or not?"
"I dunno. He was wearing a mask the entire time."
"That means he's either really, really ugly or really, really handsome. Why else would he wear a mask right?"
"He could just be hiding his identity so that he doesn't get swarmed by people outside you know? He'd be instantly recognised on the streets."
She tapped the side of her cheek, "Hmm… True, I guess. But I still believe he's just really, really handsome and they're scared if he shows his face, all the girls are going to mob him~"
I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, sure, sure. Whatever you say, sis."
At that moment, my mother came in and huffed at me, "Still haven't wash hand yet ah? I put your soup on the table liao, hurry up and drink."
I made a humming noise and did as she asked before I went over to take the bowl of pork broth my mother prepared for me. With the bowl in hand, I sat down beside my sister to start drinking it, sometimes taking a few bites of the pork ribs she had also added in the broth.
My sister looked up at me mischievously, "Eh, Gor Gor~ You can tell me, you know?"
I raised an eyebrow at her, "Tell you what?"
She leaned closer to me to whisper, "You can just tell me that you're the Mortal God."
I actually felt my heart sink for a moment before I managed to calm myself and turn to give her an incredulous look, "You crazy ah?"
"Come on lah, Gor… They went on the expedition four times… The Guardian candidates only needed to go two times… You are the only one who went all four times. There was only one person there who needed to go for all four expeditions. Wanna guess who it is?"
I managed to maintain my poker face throughout her explanation and changed it to look at her like she just told me something stupid.
"There's more than one person you dumbass. I was also participating as a support personnel because they're paying more especially for this expedition. You think I'm going to turn down such a good offer for standing around and doing nothing? Of course not. I only went into the rift on two expeditions but the other two I was staying outside as a support. Understand or not?"
Honestly though… My sister is too sharp…
She hummed before shrugging her shoulders, "If Gor Gor says so~ But… Just saying… If you really are the Mortal God ah… You can tell me."
"Even if I am, I won't."
Unexpectedly, she grabbed my knee and gave me a serious look which surprised me.
"Gor… Really… Whatever you do… Please be careful… If you don't want to do anything, just don't. Please don't sacrifice yourself."
I wanted to assure her again that I won't but my voice caught in my throat.
I then realised that if she figured out I was the Mortal God, then it means that she knew I was the target of the attempted assassination today and could have died.
If Olivia hadn't protected me from the first explosion, I might have already been blown apart.
My family would have learned that I was a Mortal God in the worst way possible.
I sucked in a breath, "Don't worry sis… I know what I'm doing."
She nodded and said nothing more, allowing me to finish my food in silence.
I… Need to get stronger.