He opened the door softly and walked in without asking for permission. And what he saw left him speechless.
A group of men dressed in black suits with intimidating auras stood by the guild master's table.
They noticed his entrance and immediately turned toward him, examining him for a brief moment before one of them spoke out.
"I'm guessing you're the extra everyone has been talking about?"
A shorter man with a well-built body and a more intimidating aura spoke out as he walked out of the crowd. He seemed like the leader or head of the group of individuals that stood there.
"Yes I am, my name is Kael though. Not 'extra,'" he responded, shifting his gaze slightly to the guild master to check for any signs of aid, but he didn't seem to be in trouble from his expression and body movement.
"Oh, you're worried about him? Don't worry, we're no threats. I am just simply interested in you," the man walked forward, gesturing for the others to leave the desk so it wouldn't call for an alarm.
"Yeah, they're here because I called them," Guild Master Chang spoke, standing up from his chair and walking toward him.
"What, why?"
"Because we wanted to test Reon as per his father's request. Mr. Wong here wanted to admit him into Grimlight Academy, but he wanted to test him first to see how he fares in real-life battles, which his father approved of. And like we expected, he came out unscathed. But your survival is the one thing that surprised him."
The shorter man, now introduced as Mr. Wong, came forward toward Kael, raising his hand for a handshake. "How would you like to be admitted into Grimlight Academy and train to be better than you already are?"
"We're looking for exceptional kids—not just strong or weak teenagers—but those who can go past their limits, and you both just survived a very difficult test. So what do you say?"
Kael stared at the both of them in shock. "So this whole dungeon raid, the deaths no matter how mild they were, the injured hunters... was all just a test for Reon? Do you know we could have died in there if we didn't have luck on our side?!"
Mr. Wong felt the pressure in his words and bowed his head. "Indeed, we didn't expect any of this to occur. The dungeon was ranked D+ when you got in, but it shot up to A+ with five mini bosses and a level 50 boss at the end of the trial."
"We tried getting you guys out, but the gates refused to open after you got in. And so, we gave up on your survival—and that's why I'm curious how you made it out alive."
Kael's eyes widened and his brain almost shut down. "So the battle ogre we fought was just one of the five mini bosses in that dungeon?"
Guild Master Chang nodded slowly. "Yes, and we are indeed surprised how you all survived, especially you both. Reon is only a Rank B+ individual who can fight level 20 beasts at mid difficulty, so we aren't really surprised that he defeated the ogre."
"But you? Yes, we can assume you hid somewhere mid-fight like the rumors say, but a guy with this attitude sure doesn't seem like the type to hide during something like this."
Kael stood there, his brain numb. He didn't know what else to say to this absurd information they just fed him.
Were they just playing with him to get a reaction from him? Or was this all just a plot to keep him from getting his reward money? Because they could have literally gotten anyone else from the raid to fill in for his school if that's what they wanted so bad—since they were all elites.
Then he raised his head and asked:
"Did Reon know all about this?"
"No, we kept it all to ourselves. We intended to watch and evaluate him from a distance without his knowledge so we could see him fight for real and not for the camera."
"So basically, you sent us—teenage kids, excluding our ranks—away from our homes into some shit-ass hole to evaluate some guy because you wanted to see him fight for real?!"
"What happened to judging him based on normal school tests and evaluation processes? You could have literally gotten him to spar with an elite teacher or something to gauge his abilities—there was literally no need to put anyone in danger because of this!"
Kael shook his head and turned toward the door. "Nothing you guys said to me made sense and I'm glad it didn't. Just send me my money via postcard. I'm leaving this place."
Mr. Wong glanced at his bodyguard and gestured something to him, in which he nodded in response, then walked up to Kael as he walked out.
"In case you change your mind, here is my phone number. Your whole time spent in my school will be on scholarship, including everything—it's my way of apologizing."
The man opened his hand forcefully and handed him the card without saying a word, then he moved back to his position.
Kael glanced one more time at them before he turned, opened the door, and banged it forcefully behind him.
"I can't believe those guys, putting us in real danger because of one individual just because he's rich?"
Kael mumbled with anger as he walked out the gates, his hatred for rich guys—especially people like Reon—increasing by the minute.
He walked past Reon as the cameras glazed him, and the journalists surrounded him like flies.
Some cameramen came up to him to ask about the dungeon raid, as a survivor.
"Uhm, sir, could you tell us about how you all survived an A+ dungeon raid that takes elites above your level time to clear through?"
Kael stared at them with a glare, but his expression changed into something soft.
"Sorry, I'm currently not in a good state of mind to be questioned at this moment. Could we do this another time?"
"Understood, sir. Please carry on."
Kael moved along, though it had always been his dream to be on live television—but definitely not like this.
He got home later that evening and saw the mail with his payment on the front porch of his little apartment.
"That was way faster than I thought."
Below the envelope with the payment were the address and number of the school Mr. Wong founded and wanted him to join.
"He's way more persistent than my father."
He sighed a bit before he bent low and picked it up as well, then unlocked his door and walked in.
He stared out the door before he shut it—long enough to make sure he wasn't being followed by anyone. Not that anyone would want to follow someone like him, but you never know.
Afterwards, he moved straight to the floorboards in his small living room and pulled open a tile square, which revealed all the payments he had been receiving, both big and small, all piled up inside.
"This is the only place safe enough to keep these valuables."
He dumped it in and closed it back, before he relaxed and dropped to the half-torn couch. Then he raised up the card and stared at it.
"Should I really accept this offer? Even after everything they did?"
He laid back and glared at the ceiling, remembering when his family was still together—before they broke off from each other.
"I shouldn't look at it like that. I should reason this from a different angle. I need money to survive. I need a better place to live in. And I do need somewhere I can level up faster and this school offers all."
"If I take on this, I might actually be in a win win situation and not a loss."
He stared back at the card again for a long while before he shut his eye. After a while of thinking, he slowly opened his eyes.
"I'll make my decision after dinner.."