Chapter 3: Pushing Forward

  Watching Leo dash back into the temple, Yeri’s face remained cold and expressionless as he followed the fading silhouette with his eyes.

  Calmly, he walked over to the MP5K hanging from the tree branch and took it down. He slung the belt of grenades back over his body while his sharp gaze slowly surveyed the ancient temple.

  The fight had dragged on longer than he expected.

  He clicked his tongue in mild annoyance. He hadn’t wanted to go this far. Leo was a difficult opponent—his ability to adapt and improvise in the middle of battle was almost unnatural. By all logic, Leo should have died the moment Yeri used Eternal Stillness.

  But somehow… he hadn’t.

  Yeri let out a long breath.

  Then the cold expression on his face twisted into a faint grin.

  Consider it a sign of respect—for the worthy opponent he was about to personally eliminate today.

  “Front… back…”

  He had six grenades left.

  The seventh one—the one he hadn’t expected—had been the grenade that killed him.

  Thinking about it still felt surreal. He had died once… and then awakened in this place with supernatural powers.

  It sounded like a dream.

  That man in the orange robe…

  Just who the hell was he?

  Who would dare encourage him to slaughter people without restraint?

  That figure was powerful. Mysterious.

  And above all—

  “God, this is exciting.”

  Yeri pulled the pin on a grenade but kept the safety lever clamped in his hand.

  His eyes measured the temple’s interior.

  Two grenades for each section would be more than enough to blow this place apart. And if that wasn’t enough, he still had points to buy more.

  Thanks for that, by the way.

  This insane game rule.

  Meanwhile, Leo slipped into a shadowed corner.

  His body was battered, but he forced himself up the stairs of the temple anyway. Sooner or later, the entire place would explode into rubble.

  He had to think.

  Right now, the most important thing was escaping alive.

  But more than that—he still had to kill Yeri.

  They had been clashing back and forth for so long, yet the only real damage Leo had managed to deal so far came from that belt strike.

  And now he was about to be reduced to ashes along with the temple.

  Leo dragged his exhausted body through the rooms, breathing heavily.

  Around him there was nothing but Buddha statues, incense burners, wooden tables, and old furniture.

  The temple was tiny—barely bigger than a shack.

  If grenades went off in here, the entire structure would collapse instantly.

  “Yzy!”

  Leo tried calling the fly again.

  Nothing appeared.

  Had it been killed?

  “Yzy!”

  He called out again, more desperately this time. His hand slammed against the wooden floor.

  That strange fly probably knew more about this place than he did. Maybe it had answers—some hidden trick that could turn the situation around.

  But it had already been blown to pieces.

  Leo’s face twisted in frustration. Sweat streamed down his sharp features.

  His vision was starting to blur now.

  His eyes struggled to stay open, his eyelids heavy like slabs of stone.

  “Back then… when he stabbed my father… was he afraid? Did he regret it? Or was he satisfied?”

  Leo’s foster mother covered her mouth, stunned by the calmness of the boy’s question.

  Leo hated the man who had killed his father. Darkness and despair filled the eyes of the twelve-year-old boy. When children experience such a devastating shock, they often grow cautious… even extreme in their thinking.

  Leo was no exception.

  He had known the day might come. He understood that being a police officer meant danger. Even if his mind had prepared for it, the fragile soul of a child was never mature enough to truly accept such news.

  His foster mother gently stroked his hair and pulled him into an embrace.

  Leo didn’t understand.

  Why wouldn’t she answer his question?

  Why wouldn’t they let him attend the trial?

  Why wouldn’t they let him see the face of the man who had killed his father?

  On the day of Richard Haruno’s funeral, nearly the entire town attended.

  The man had been respected by many.

  His son stood quietly before the gravestone.

  Among the crowd was the Maria family—a young couple named Juliet and Kareth. They had already spoken with the mayor beforehand about adopting Leo.

  There were other families willing to take the boy in. No one in town was poor enough to refuse feeding an extra mouth.

  But the Maria family had one condition that surprised everyone.

  They wanted Leo to let go of hatred.

  To them, raising the boy didn’t just mean supporting him financially. It meant protecting his mind as well.

  The Maria family wasn’t perfect.

  But they were willing to do everything they could for Leo.

  The boy was an orphan now, and his father had once been their benefactor.

  And more importantly—Leo still had a future.

  Why shouldn’t they raise him?

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  If the boy grew trapped in hatred… if he fell into depression or worse… how could they ever face Richard in heaven?

  Juliet Maria carefully laid out several possibilities.

  If Leo learned about the killer right now, he would have the right to attend the trial.

  But was it too soon?

  The boy’s mind was already collapsing under grief. He was still trying to make sense of his tangled emotions. If they forced him to face the man who murdered his father so early—who knew what kind of person he might grow into?

  So their decision was clear.

  First, separate the boy from the killer.

  Let his mind stabilize.

  And when he grew old enough…

  What he chose to do about his father’s murder would be his own decision.

  After all, the boy was bright.

  Very bright.

  Life in the warm home of the young couple was not easy for Leo at first.

  The first few weeks were miserable. He even tried to run away several times.

  But no matter how stubborn he became, Aunt Juliet refused to give up on him.

  She believed in him.

  Slowly, under patience and care, the chaos inside Leo’s mind began to settle. Hatred and resentment faded, replaced by questions.

  At some point, the world around him started to feel warmer.

  Not because the world itself had changed—

  —but because Leo had learned to understand others.

  One day he noticed the wrinkles in his foster mother’s smile.

  And then he realized something.

  If he hadn’t been taken in that day… where would he have gone?

  He remembered everything they had done for him. It wasn’t just gratitude—it was salvation.

  They had listened to him. Guided him. Educated him.

  Education had shaped him.

  Education could save people.

  And so Leo made a decision.

  One day, he would become a teacher.

  So that fewer people would lose their way.

  At eighteen, the boy had grown into an outstanding student at the Capital University of Education.

  Top scores in every category.

  Calm. Composed.

  And deeply empathetic.

  Now he sat in a visitor’s room at the prison.

  Between him and the man across the table stood a sheet of perforated glass and two microphones.

  The prisoner sat down.

  He wore an orange uniform. His hair was cut short, his face hollow and lifeless. Thin, exhausted hands rested on the cold metal table, shackled in cuffs.

  Leo looked at the man who had murdered his father.

  There was no hatred.

  No disgust.

  He did not pity him either.

  Leo simply understood that the man had already fallen.

  The law—and his own conscience—had tormented him enough.

  There was no reason to carry it further.

  The dead were gone.

  The living had to keep moving forward.

  That was the lesson Juliet had taught him.

  Jason Koppler had been arrested only a few days after killing Richard Haruno.

  It had been a moment of madness.

  Drugs.

  Violence.

  Impulse.

  Whatever the reason, he had still killed Leo’s father.

  Now he couldn’t even look the young man in the eyes.

  He was ready for whatever words Leo might throw at him.

  Go ahead.

  Hate him.

  Curse him.

  He had abandoned his own dignity long ago. A murderer deserved to be condemned.

  But for more than six years, he had never once seen the boy.

  Part of him wanted Leo to curse him—so he could be sure he was being punished.

  Perhaps after today… he would hang himself.

  Go on.

  Say it.

  Leo Haruno.

  “These past years, your conscience has already punished you. Your body and soul are exhausted and broken.”

  Leo spoke calmly.

  “I don’t forgive you.”

  He paused.

  “But I hope… you can forgive yourself. Live on. Do something meaningful for society.”

  The neatly dressed young man spoke those words with quiet sincerity.

  Jason’s pupils trembled.

  His vision blurred.

  Suddenly he collapsed forward onto the table and began to cry like a child.

  Why did he react like that?

  Leo hadn’t forgiven him.

  But Jason understood.

  The boy had grown up.

  Leo’s refusal to forgive was his sentence.

  What he did with the rest of his life—if he was ever granted freedom—would be his responsibility.

  Death would only be a coward’s escape.

  He had to pay for his crime by living.

  His hands trembled as he clasped them together, thin fingers intertwining as if begging for mercy—thanking the young man for those words.

  Leo stood up and left.

  His eyes never wavered.

  He didn’t look back.

  The past was behind him now.

  From that moment forward, he had only one path.

  The same ideal he once mocked in his father.

  To bring more smiles into the world.

  To save more people.

  “I’m not a hero,” Leo thought.

  “But I’m not afraid of being a good person.”

  Because if he didn’t try—

  he knew he would regret it.

  Leo let out a cold laugh.

  Thinking about ancient memories like that at a time like this… if he died in a few minutes, he might as well spend eternity these reels over and over again in limbo… Oh, maybe Limbo level 2.

  He brushed a hand through his hair.

  Never in his life had he been pushed this far.

  And Yeri… that demon.

  Could Leo really punish him? Could he make him pay the price he deserved?

  If he died now, then all those ideals he carried—weren’t they just childish lines from some na?ve movie?

  Leo sighed.

  In the end, everything required strength.

  Up until now, life had simply been too easy.

  “Sorry,” he muttered softly. “The kids… the old man… you might see something ugly.”

  Leo forced himself to stand, dragging in ragged breaths.

  Outside, he heard the unmistakable metallic click of grenade pins being pulled. The sound rang as clearly as a church bell.

  What was coming would come.

  But once again, Leo steeled himself.

  His eyes burned like fire as he stared into the empty air.

  Watch closely.

  Watch your teacher shine.

  And behold—

  my knowledge of physics.

  Outside the temple, Yeri watched for movement.

  Then—

  BOOM.

  The grenade exploded, its roar echoing across the forest.

  Another explosion followed.

  Tiles shattered. Dust and powdered stone burst into the air. The collapsing structure groaned beneath the relentless detonations, the sacred temple filling with the violent sound of destruction.

  BOOM.

  The third blast thundered.

  By now, more than half of the temple had collapsed.

  Yeri had already thrown all six grenades.

  But something still bothered him.

  Yzy spat out six more grenades from thin air.

  Yeri hurled them wildly into the ruined structure and the sections still standing. Explosions chained together, sending beams and wooden debris flying past him.

  He breathed it in.

  This atmosphere.

  He wondered if Leo was still alive.

  If the boy hadn’t been blown apart by the blasts, he was probably crushed beneath the rubble by now.

  Superpowers, huh…?

  And that fly of his was gone. Not permanently dead—but unusable for the moment.

  Fine.

  Then I’ll watch with my own eyes.

  Let’s see how you survive this.

  Dust swirled through the air.

  Explosions faded.

  It should have been over.

  But suddenly—

  Yeri’s eyes widened.

  He raised the MP5K, a twisted grin spreading across his face.

  From the cloud of smoke—

  something came flying.

  Fast.

  A sharp whoosh tore through the air.

  A wooden table burst out of the smoke.

  Yeri laughed wildly.

  “You’re that insane?!”

  Behind the table—

  Leo.

  He used the heavy wooden table as a shield, blocking Yeri’s line of sight.

  Behind him, a shattered plank of wood clung to his back, his trembling hands pressing it tightly in place.

  Moments earlier, surrounded by death, Leo had thought he was finished.

  A grenade had fallen at his feet.

  He could have tried to throw it away—but who knew how long the fuse had already burned? His instincts told him it would explode instantly.

  But Leo wasn’t the type to accept death.

  He had prepared for this moment.

  First—sandwich his body between two solid objects. Even without the grenade, the structure might protect him from the collapsing building.

  Second—as expected, he had been sitting near the center of the room.

  The grenade had landed directly beneath him.

  He slammed the wooden board down over it.

  The table stood in front.

  It sounded ridiculous.

  But even if it cost him an arm—

  he could still kill Yeri.

  The explosion erupted.

  The violent pressure blasted Leo forward like a human cannonball—

  straight toward Yeri.

  Yeri opened fire.

  The MP5K roared as bullets tore into the table.

  There was no way he would let Leo get close.

  The terrorist’s pupils shrank.

  The wooden table began to splinter under the relentless hail of bullets. Cracks spread rapidly as it started to break apart.

  “Eternal Stillness!” Yeri shouted.

  Nothing happened.

  Leo had gambled—and won.

  The ability required him to clearly recognize Leo’s body within his line of sight.

  The shattered table still covered most of Leo’s form.

  For a fraction of a second, sunlight flashed across Leo’s hands—

  holding the dagger Yeri himself had casually tossed to him earlier.

  For the many time in the day.

  Yeri felt death calling.

  Leo hurled the knife straight toward Yeri’s throat.

  “YZY!”

  Yeri’s fly burst into existence from thin air.

  The dagger pierced straight through it, embedding itself in the creature’s body.

  But Leo didn’t stop.

  His fist was already ready.

  “THIS ENDS HERE—YERI!”

  He slammed his fist into the knife handle, driving it deeper into the fly’s body.

  The creature exploded.

  Flesh and blood scattered—

  but along with it came a burst of thick smoke.

  “DAMN IT!”

  Yeri had never expected his earlier purchase—a smoke grenade hidden inside the fly—to save his life.

  If he primed the smoke grenade, stuffed it into Yzy, then dismissed the creature, the object inside would remain.

  Smoke erupted everywhere.

  When the haze cleared, Leo stood alone amid the ruins.

  He scanned the surroundings, biting his lip.

  Yeri had escaped.

  Leo slammed his fist down onto the cold stone floor.

  Then he let out a long breath and collapsed onto his back.

  Somehow…

  he was still alive.

  The great banyan tree still stood in the middle of the temple grounds. Its shadow shielded Leo’s exhausted face from the scorching sunlight.

  Leo breathed deeply, filling his lungs.

  His eyes hardened as he slowly sat up.

  “Yzy.”

  The fly appeared, buzzing in circles around him.

  “Explain everything,” Leo said quietly.

  “About this world.”

  Meanwhile, Yeri staggered through the forest, clutching his neck.

  Even though the dagger had been blocked, it had still nearly slit his throat.

  Humiliation burned inside him.

  But strangely—

  he also felt exhilarated.

  He wandered through the forest until suddenly—

  he saw them.

  More than ten figures dressed in black stood effortlessly atop the tree branches.

  Their eyes were cold as they stared down at the strange intruder.

  Each of them wore a mask.

  Silent.

  Strange people in a strange world.

  “So… other players… huh?”

  Yeri’s twisted smile widened.

  They looked at him like he was vermin.

  Yet somehow—

  his presence made them feel uneasy.

  Yeri burst into laughter.

  Blood seeped through the wound in his neck, dripping over the hand that pressed against it.

  His laughter echoed through the forest…

  -----

  Next chapter will be a long talk about the world of SCB, but stay tune! it will be hype!