The Author's POV

Friday, 9:00 P.M.

Sitting on a bench waiting for the air train to arrive, I absentmindedly stared at my phone.

Looking through the files smallsnake sent me, a strange feeling welled up inside of me. The more I read the files, the stronger the feeling became.

「Galxicus - Information」

Guild grade :

[Bronze] [▼Silver] [Gold] [Platinum] [Diamond]

History :

Guild was established in 2045, with 10 years to its name. Currently graded as a silver ranked guild and is under command of current guild leader Ronald Dover <D+> ranked hero. Under his guidance, the guild was able to rise from a bronze-graded guild to a silver-graded one.

Current situation :

'”Financial distress [Debt - 95,000,000 U]

'”Risk of guild relegation [Silver ▷ Bronze]

'”Internal power struggle [Current guild master under heavy scrutiny by board members]

More information :

...

...

Looking through the information and after pondering for a bit, I somehow got the gist of what was happening.

After going through my phone, I found out that the three-year lock enrolment fee was 30,000,000 U.

To some, it may be spare change, but to regular people, it was an absurdly astronomical sum.

Prior to when I reincarnated, Ren's parents must've taken a 30 million U loan under the guild's name to finance 'Ren's' tuition fee for the lock.

After a long and heated debate, Ren's parents must've been able to convince the board to loan them 30 million U as a form of investment.

However, after Ren took the test and was judged to be a <D> ranked talent by the lock, the guild executives must've started pressuring Ren's parents into paying back what they owed.

...As soon as they saw that Ren wasn't talented, they immediately ceased all formalities with their own guild master and took it as an opportunity to take over the guild.

The fact that they were withstanding such a heavy burden yet letting me attend the lock at the same time, went to show how much they loved me. Their 'son'

As I thought more about it, another question emerged in my mind.

What happened to the original Ren?

After thinking long and hard about it, my face became grim.

My current hypothesis was that after receiving his talent grading, he fell into a deep depression due to the guilt he felt towards his parents and chose to end his life, allowing me to take over.

...But this was just a hypothesis I came up with only the report as a reference.

Perhaps after going back home and assessing the situation more carefully, I could find more about the previous Ren.

Maybe, there was more to the story than the report told.

...

9:15 P.M.

After having gone through the report a couple of more times, every second that the train wasn't here felt oddly agonizing. It was as if a part of me really wanted it to arrive and quickly send me to my parent's house.

...but why did I want to meet people that I had never met before so badly? It's not like they were my real parents

Was I perhaps longing for a family that much?

I quickly discarded such thought.

Although yes I did want to once again feel the love I felt from my parents back in my previous world, it shouldn't be to the point where I would start longing for it from strangers that I've never met before.

Perhaps...

Right.

What if a part of me still contained the emotions of the previous Ren? What if this longing feeling I was feeling towards my new family was due to the old Ren's influence...

Just how much influence did the previous Ren have over me?

Clenching my heart, I couldn't help but feel the slow rhythmical palpitations that would increase whenever I dug more onto the previous Ren's family.

...it hurt.

It was the same feeling I felt whenever I thought of my parents back in my previous world.

Once I began to think along those lines, it just didn't seem to end.

I just started remembering the happy days I spent with my family back in my previous world. When everything wasn't as fucked up as it was now. Their home-cooked meals, their nagging, the fun holidays...

All of those memories came flooding down like a dam that had broken into pieces.

"Fuuu..."

Wiping the corner of my eyes that had slightly reddened, I closed my eyes and tried my best to hide the tears that were threatening to fall at any moment.

"ah...just what are you doing to me Ren? and why now?"

...

[Station, Lock square '” boarding]

A crisp and pleasant voice resounded across the train platforms.

Boarding the train, I took a quick glance at my surroundings before choosing a seat on the right side of the train.

Sitting on a seat next to the window, I took out my earbuds and played some music.

After calming down, my thoughts became more clear.

Although I don't know what went over me back then, I knew that the previous Ren had something to do with it.

Perhaps he had still not fully died and a small part of him remained inside of me.

...perhaps he wasn't and it was just my imagination, I wasn't sure, but...

whatever it was, I hoped it wouldn't influence my future course of action. If by chance I was forced to do something I didn't want to do due to the old Ren's influence, I wouldn't know what I'd do.

[Station, Lock square '” Departing]

As I was in deep thought, the voice coming from the train speaker echoed throughout the whole train and the doors slowly closed.

-Clank!

[Central District, Lock square ▷ Northen District, Veril square]

-Vuuuuam!

Lifting in the air, the air train slowly picked up speed and headed towards my destination, the northern district.

Ashton city had a cumulative population of 50 million people.

Being the safest and most centralized area in the human domain, it naturally attracted a lot of people.

It was massive.

Because of its size, Ashton city was divided into five different districts.

Northern District, Southern District, Eastern District, Western District, and the Central District.

The reason why they were split that way was simple.

Because apart from the Northern district, every other district was under the jurisdiction of one of the four Diamon graded guilds present in Ashton city.

Rank 1. Demon Hunter ▷ Southern district

Rank 2. Starlight Guild ▷ Central district

Rank 3. Black Hammer ▷ Western district

Rank 4. Eclipse of Dawn ▷ Eastern district

Although the union and the central government were the main powers that kept humanity in check, they still allowed the top four guilds to take control over certain areas.

This way the union could keep their power centralized and keep guilds satisfied at the same time.

...and unfortunately for me, the northern district, where I was headed, was under the jurisdiction of the union.

The annoying bunch...

If I remembered correctly, Emma also lived in the northern district.

With her father being the Vice-director of the union, as well as the mayor of Ashton city, her house was situated in the northern district.

Fortunately, because each district was humongous, the chances of us meeting weren't high.

After the incident in Hollberg, though I didn't talk to her, I would occasionally see her staring in my direction.

Back in the lock, she held back her interest because the others were with her, but if by chance met outside of the lock...

yea, better not think about it.

Considering her personality, I wouldn't be surprised if she suddenly started digging into me more.

...

[Northen District, Veril square '” Arrival]

Exiting the train station, I took out my phone and loaded the GPS app.

I had no clue where to go from this point on...

"This way"

Following the GPS, turning right of the station, I followed the red dot on the map and headed towards where my parent's house was located.

Night had already fallen and the crescent moon high in the sky was gradually being covered by dark, drifting clouds.

The lamps around the crosswalk I was walking brightly lit the areas, and despite it being late, people walking their dogs or having a jog were seen everywhere.

"Should be this?"

After walking a further ten minutes, I stopped in front of a residential compound. After being allowed in by the guards I headed towards villa [259].

"Fuuu...."

Taking a deep breath, I looked at the large villa in front of me. Painted in white all over, the villa had two balconies and a large garden. Large wooden fences covered the perimeter of the garden, and at the entrance of the villa stood a large wooden door.

Looking up at the windows, I could see that the lights were still on. Evidently showing that everyone was still awake.

It was clear that they were still awake waiting for me

"fuuu...alright"

Hesitantly, I reached for the doorbell of the house.

This was it.

It was finally time for me to meet my new parents.

-Ding! Dong!

As soon as I pressed the doorbell, on the other side of the door, the sound of rushed footsteps rushing for the door was instantly picked up by my ears.

-Clank!

Opening the door, brilliantly smiling, a beautiful woman with golden hair and blue eyes greeted me at the door.

"Welcome home Ren!"