The Extra of The Lunerra

When there were almost fifty meters between me and the green dots, three people suddenly jumped out in front of me and I almost jumped out of my skin.

"Zero thirteen."

When I spoke without giving them a chance to open their mouths, the three looked at each other, then nodded, stepped aside, and led me to where they were gathered.

There were twenty-one people gathered in the field.

Obviously, they gathered quite fast... I had expected there to be about ten of us.

But that doesn't really matter. What's important is... why isn't Justin here?

"Where's Justin?"

A boy, who I think was the co-leader, made a face like he was angry with what I said.

They don't like me calling him Justin in a straightforward way.

"We don't know, there are three people left who are far away from here. He's probably one of them."

I took the device out of my pocket, examined it again, and then, with a sigh, showed it to the boy.

The boy looked at the screen, then his eyes widened. He snatched it out of my hand and brought it closer to him, but he still couldn't believe it.

"Justin's not coming, he's been eliminated."

Everyone who heard what I said, including the boy I showed the device to, went into shock.

"B- but how can that be? He's... second-ranked!"

One of them snapped. They saw no way Justin could lose to anyone.

"Even if he's in the top two, if he's ambushed, he's out. Of course, he also might have run into someone in the top five."

So he couldn't escape his fate, even if the preliminary changed...

In the original story, Justin is eliminated by being caught between about seven creatures. If he was careful he could have defeated them, but because he was completely ambushed, even if he reacted, he was badly injured by their first attack. So he couldn't avoid elimination, but why was he eliminated this time? Not that I don't wonder...

"There's nothing we can do, everyone else seems to have been eliminated. So I'm going to take over the leadership, any objections?"

No one made a sound, after all, I was the one who came up with this plan in the first place.

"Then get ready, we're moving."

They were all grim-faced, most of them panicked because Justin had been eliminated, but they stood up anyway, obeying me.

With that, we headed toward the blue dot glowing on the device - Adrian.

*******

I leaned on my spear, breathing deeply into my lungs, which were constantly rising and falling.

Meanwhile, the student kneeling in front of me with a large scratch on his chest dissolved into particles before my eyes.

"Haaa... That was tough."

I was tired. Because this time, I had to fight five students at the same time.

"How many was that?"

'Thirty to be exact.'

I raised my eyebrows involuntarily when Lithoa angrily complained. Then he suddenly started to shout at me.

'You've gotten so strong and you've only just eliminated thirty people, speed up Adrian!'

Ah... So that's why.

"Okay..."

He was right. After all, there was a huge difference between me and these kids. I couldn't deny what he said.

First I regulated my breathing, then I started walking through the forest, slowly and without wasting any energy.

For a few minutes, I couldn't find anyone, as if there wasn't a single living soul in this part of the forest except me. Yet I didn't let myself relax just because of that but focused even more intently on my surroundings.

Then a rustling sound entered my ears.

Quickly grasping my spear, I took my stance and turned to where the sound was coming from.

"Come out."

I squinted my eyes as I saw the bushes moving, about ten meters away from me, but then, suddenly, my eyes widened. Because what I found in front of me was a familiar figure.

"Aiden?"

"Adrian?"

He looked as surprised as I was.

When I was sure that it was Aiden, I paused for a moment, my mind just went blank.

Uh... what should I do?

I didn't expect to meet him here, I don't want to fight with the first friend I've ever made... But the situation we're in... I don't have a choice, do I?

I gripped my spear tightly and focused completely on him.

"I'm sorry, Aiden, you shouldn't have run into me."

I don't want to hurt him... I don't even want to eliminate him. Would he reject me if I tried to take his watch directly? I might as well give him the opportunity to leave...

"Hey, hey! Stop!"

Aiden panicked and threw his hand in the air.

"We're not supposed to fight!"

I couldn't help but frown at his actions.

Isn't the point of preliminary for students to fight each other? What is he talking about?

"Think logically Adrian. The professors told us that we would fight each other, but they didn't say anything about grouping together."

Ah... True, I didn't hear anything like that either, but...

"Don't worry. Even now there are so many people in groups that it's hard to find anyone traveling alone."

Everything he said was an answer to the question I was thinking at the time as if he was reading my mind, and so I couldn't help feeling awkward.

"Okay... Fine."

I don't want to fight him anyway.

Trusting him, I lowered my spear and let my body relax. To be honest, I was relieved to meet someone I knew, I felt calmer than before.

"Wow, you've eliminated thirty people already? You didn't get first place for nothing."

He smile wickedly while looking at the number written on my suit, then I looked at his.

"You eliminated one person too."

I tried to smile back, but I couldn't tell if I managed it.

Aiden looked at me and smiled again.

"You're comparing one person to thirty? I just caught one person by surprise, that's nothing compared to what you did."

I opened my mouth again, but this time I couldn't find anything to say. There was a short silence between us, which Aiden quickly broke.

"Then let's get moving, it's not safe to stay in the same place for too long."

He turned in a random direction and walked slowly as if he was waiting for me.

What he said made sense, so I didn't argue with him.

We walked for about five minutes, talking between us, and time passed so fast that I forgot we were at the preliminary.

It was really fun to chat and spend time with him, I felt like I had the brother I never had. I could have even said that it was… refreshing.

When we entered a clearing with these thoughts in my mind, my eyebrows raised at first.

Shouldn't we have gone through the trees? I thought he valued stealth more... Does he trust me with this?

No... He must know something. I shouldn't question him. After all, he's smart, he's not one to make mistakes in such an important place.

On top of that... He's my friend, my first friend, so I trust him.

Aiden kept walking ahead of me, carefree as if he wasn't afraid of anyone. But when we got to the center of the clearing, he suddenly stopped.

"Hmm? What happened?"

I asked curiously, but I didn't get an answer.

Aiden continued to stand where he was, glanced briefly to his left and right, and then calmly bent down.

I didn't understand what he was doing.

"Aiden?"

Again, he didn't give me any answer. After almost five seconds of him bending down, he slowly stood up, but he still wasn't facing me.

I was even more confused by the fact that he was suddenly acting strangely, so I approached him and tried to put my hand on his shoulder, but as I did so, he slowly turned away.

I froze in my tracks.

The smiling, affectionate face he had just been was gone in an instant. Instead, he was cold and calm. It was almost... scary.

"I hope you don't mind."

With those three sentences, he looked at me in such a way that I wasn't sure if he was really the 'Aiden' I knew.

I looked into his empty eyes and felt like my world was going black.

'Do you want revenge?'

It wasn't Lithoa's voice, I was imagining it... No... It wasn't an imagination, it was one of the memories etched deep in my mind, never to leave.

'Then get stronger. And when you think you are strong enough to defeat me, find me.'

The darkened world suddenly became a field of flames, and in the center of it I saw the person who had spoken those words to me, the person I hated so much, silhouetted just behind Aiden.

The same eyes... The color may have been different, but what was hidden behind those eyes was exactly the same. Right now, Aiden looked like a cold-blooded killer capable of anything… just like that man.

"Wh- what's going on, Aiden?"

The look in his eyes suddenly turned to pitiful pity and I involuntarily took a step back.

No... No, no, no... He looks like him, more and more like that man...

I don't want to... I don't want to lose my only friend... I just... I don't want to... Please... say something... say one thing...

"Ahahahah!"

I heard the voices of students echoing around me and my world, surrounded by flames, suddenly returned to normal.

I barely noticed the almost twenty people surrounding me.

"A- Aiden?"

I called out to him, but neither the look in his eyes nor the expression on his face changed. He didn't even hesitate or tremble, he just stood there with that look on his face.

No... It's a lie... I'm imagining it, Aiden wouldn't do that. He's a good person...

I remembered the first day we met. The advice he gave me, the lectures he helped me with, the times I really had fun as friends...

I looked at the boy standing in front of me again, but there was such a big difference between the way he was in my memories and the way he was now, it was like he was someone else.

No... I'm definitely having a nightmare... He's not Aiden... He's not the 'Aiden' I know.

He's a demon, he's a cold-blooded demon, but...

"Aiden... You... What do you think you're doing?"