Click! Click! Click—! It felt like a full-blown celebrity event. Cars pulled in one after another, a red carpet laid out to greet them as a butler opened each door, only to be t by a sea of reporters.
"Please look over here!" "Over here!" "Look my way! Look my way! You look absolutely amazing!" "This way!" Cara flashes went off in blinding bursts, and people dressed in all kinds of strange outfits paused to have their photos taken. This was no different from the events that I was used to back in my world, and just the re thought of having to step onto such a red carpet made feel sick. "...Do we have to go?" "There's no other way." Kyle shrugged, "You need to move past the red carpet in order to get to the entrance." "Surely there is so sort of back entrance." "Hmm, maybe so, but it's too late now." Kyle pointed at the back, where I saw several other cars lined up. I then looked at the front, where another car appeared, and realized that we were trapped from both sides. Even if I wanted to leave, I'd still be surrounded by reporters and photographers. I want to puke. Not even anomalies made feel this way anymore. '...So many strangers.' Rubbing my stomach, I reached for my pocket and took out so indigestion pills. Taking a bottle of water, I downed them in one go. Halfway through my motions, I stopped, feeling a certain gaze directed my way. I hesitated before showing her my bottle. "Do you want so?" "....." She didn't answer. Instead, her eyes narrowed further. I gulped silently. "Don't tell ..." "I'm still not satisfied." "—!!" I moved to the side. No, not this again... "Nevermind, get ready." Looking away, Zoey reached for the door as the car slowed down. And soon—
The car stopped, and Zoey opened the door. "Let's go." Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! I was t with a sea of light. *** "Luthor! Luthor! Look this way, Luthor!" Click! Click! Click! The sharp clicks of cara shutters echoed nonstop, mixing with the shouts of paparazzi and photographers calling out from every direction. Standing at the center of the red carpet was a tall man, nearly two ters in height, his dark hair slicked neatly back as his broad fra towered over those around him.
His presence was no joke. Despite not being close to him, his presence felt suffocating for the many reporters standing. It was almost as if they were standing before a warlord from ancient tis. But—
Click! Click! "Just a little longer!" "Please stop for a little longer!"
"Yes, please just stay like that." "What do you think about the upcoming rankings? Will you finally crack the top 50?" "I heard that you're thinking of moving Guild. Is there any truth in the notion?" Work was work. As suffocating as his presence felt, it wasn't anything that the reporters weren't used to. One after another, they each threw a question. From rumors about his Guild allegiance to even dating rumors. They asked just about anything they could think of. "Wheeeew." Wiping the sweat from his brow, Reporter Song glanced at his cara and scrolled through the photos he'd taken.
'This is good. This is not bad. I guess I can work with this." Luther was quite famous. He was ranked within the top 100, and whilst he hadn't participated in the Malovia incident, he had been on his way to support. Whilst his general image amongst the public had dipped, it was still fairly high. "I guess this will do." Reporter Song was confident his boss would be satisfied with the pictures that he took. "Oh... Not bad. Not bad at all." Suddenly, a head popped up next to the reporter, startling him for a mont. "You—!" "Haha, it's ." With a cara hanging from the strap around his neck, dressed in loose clothes and sporting an unkempt beard and hair, the man slung an arm around Reporter Song's neck.
"It's been a while, Reporter. I see that you're taking photographs of everyone." "That's because I'm employed, unlike you." Pushing the hand away, the Reporter fixed his clothes while glaring at the man standing next to him. Reporter Song was all too familiar with him. In fact, he had even worked with him. It was just that the man was too unconventional. He was soone... who had too high a standard. "How did you even get invited to the event?" The Reporter looked at the man up and down. "Especially dressed the way that you are." "Who said that I got invited?" "....." "I'm fucking with you." Crudely smiling, the man glanced toward the red carpet while absentmindedly fiddling with the cara in his hand. Luther was still standing there, posing for the caras, but the man showed little interest. If anything, he looked outright bored.
"You really haven't changed, Simon." Reporter Song sighed. "I don't get it. You're actually quite good at your job. In fact, you're probably one of the best in the business."
This was no lie.
As infamous as he was, Simon was a sort of legend in their industry. At one point, he had been dubbed 'Midas Eyes'. In the sense that he never failed to spot a talent when nobody else could. He was also the one who had predicted that the current top-ranked Paragon would take first place way before they were even famous. But alas, all legends eventually faded. From never missing a talent to always getting it wrong. His na faded into obscurity not long after. "Still, even if your eyes aren't the sa as they were in the past, if you just wrote a random article here and there, you wouldn't be out of a job. You wouldn't even have fought with the boss and gotten fired. Why can't you just..." "It's not that I have high standards, it's just that everyone has low standards." Simon answered, still fiddling with the cara in his hands as the smile slowly faded from his face. "You see, I have very special eyes." Simon turned around, looking straight at Reporter Song with his gray-ish eyes. "...I can just tell when soone is special." "That's..." Reporter Song wanted to rebuke him, but seeing his current state, he could only hold his lips shut. "Well, sure." In the end, he gave up. He didn't want to argue further. It was also at this point that the surroundings grew rowdy. All of a sudden, another one of the cars opened, and several figures began to show up one by one. Click! Click! Click! "Over here!"
"Look this way!" "...Please look this way! mbers of the Severed Guild! This way!" The commotion was nowhere near as loud as when Luthor had arrived, but it was still quite rowdy, especially after the events that had occurred in Malovia. The Severed Stars Guild's fa had skyrocketed, and they were now just a hair's breadth away from reaching King Grade.
Stepping out of the cars, several people instantly grabbed the attention of all the reporters and photographers. Kyle, Zoey, and Catherine. The three of them simply stood out the mont they got out. It wasn't just their looks, but the way that they carried themselves. Everyone present could tell that all three of them had massive potential. Click! Click! Click! Click! "Hmm, not bad." Even the usually indifferent Simon couldn't help but praise them. But then—
Another figure stepped out of the car. The mont he did, the clicking paused for a mont. No one could really explain it, but the mont he stepped out, it felt as though the air itself had grown colder. His appearance was striking, yet that alone wasn't what made everyone pause.
His eyes... Yes, his eyes. There was sothing about his deep eyes. So dark that it seed to hold no light at all. To so extent, his eyes almost made it seem as though he wasn't alive, so that so shuddered at the sight. But that was all there really was to it. He looked intimidating, but his presence was nowhere near as large as that of everyone who had appeared before him. Not even Kyle, Zoey, and Catherine. But still, the surroundings turned chaotic. Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! "Over here!" "It's him...!!" "He's the one!!" "Oh my god!" For everyone had recognized him. He was Severed Stars' newest Ace. Seth Thorne. Click! Click! "Not bad. Rumors about him are definitely exaggerated, but he's definitely not bad. I can see why they're pushing him." Taking photos, Reporter Song turned to look at Simon when he froze. Especially when he noticed the sudden change in his expression. "Haa..." A chuckle escaped Simon's lips, his hands trembling as he brought his cara to his eye. What others couldn't see, he could see. The endless darkness that surrounded the man. A darkness so vast that it almost seed like it wanted to swallow everything. Click—! "Fuck ."
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