BXBX NOVEL Chapter 161: An Old "Friends" Invitation
161 An Old "Friend\'s" Invitation
Lunch only lasted an hour and he did not have much time to waste.
As he ran through the hallway, he noticed that those same looks were not niche to that one part of the school, they followed him everywhere he went as people moved out of the way immediately after they saw him come near, something that he fully expected. Some even got extremely startled, clenching their hearts as soon as they saw Moby speed right past them as they did not notice him at all before loudly breathing out, wiping the sweat off their face in relief.
However, out of those looks of terror and unease were a few mellow smiles sprinkled in the crowd. Moby\'s actions of saving an E rank bald kid in the morning had already spread to nearly every corner of the school, especially amongst all of the weaker students. The news came as a shock to everyone, most thought that it either must have been a fluke, a lie or that he had a bigger plan at work. There were only a few people in the entire school that were genuinely nice, one of whom was of course none other than Alex Hart.
The idea of Moby being on their side felt like a delusion as it was too good to be true. They thought that the only plausible explanation must have been that he must have had a bigger plan to lure them into trusting him. It was by far the more popular opinion.
However, the other side also existed.
Some people really did believe that Moby did what he did out of the pure goodness of his heart. After all, he was also of course a bullied, badly treated F rank just like them before gaining his ability, making him probably sympathize with their conditions. Not to mention the fact that Alex Hart was his roommate who had probably rubbed off on him and inspired him to use his newfound powers for the sake of protecting others.
That small group saw Moby as a hero, no, a messiah who had come to save them from their high ranked, selfish, power-hungry, almost demonic abusers.
Of course, Moby did not notice those looks that were too few and far between as they were too subtle to pick up on. He instead tunnelled everything out and focused his attention on getting to the cafeteria as fast as possible alongside examining the faces of the many short people he passed by to see if he could find Ray in the hallway, he had absolutely no idea that his previous plans were actually working right under his nose.
At the edge of the blockade, there was a short, pink-haired student facing a much taller and skinnier black-haired student, his hands firmly planted against a locker as he prepared to punch him, it was like the most stereotypical bully situation imaginable.
Moby did not at all find that to be an odd sight, the sight of a larger person being bullied by someone half his size. 100 years ago before the discovery of abilities that might have been extremely bizarre, but in this age, size differences meant nothing in the face of greater power.
Moby smiled as he knew that he could use this situation to his advantage, running straight at the bully, not even slowing down in the slightest.
"Pay me your daily $50 now or else I\'ll eat yo-" The short bully said, ready to punch the weaker, larger kid in front of him before suddenly, he felt an intense pain crash right into his face, his jaw completely shattering as he was launched far away like he was a football, sliding on the ground as every other student dodged his incoming unconscious body, faces of shock, fear, and admiration looking straight towards him after what he had so easily and nonchalantly done.
[ System Alert! ]
[ You gained 2000 XP for defeating a low C rank enemy ]
"Get out of my way dickhead! Take care kid! Hopefully, he doesn\'t bother you again!" Moby casually said as he bolted right past the scene, the tall kid looking at him with a mixture of shock and admiration, too speechless to even properly thank him.
\'Damn, not even a thank you… maybe I am taking the wrong approach when doing this,\' Moby thought with a long sigh as he reasoned that he could have both made a path for himself and shown his "good will" more around the school.
Then Moby shook his head, pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind as he had arrived at the cafeteria, even faster than he expected as he thought that he would have been stopped or approached on his way there but that was luckily not the case.
\'Now that I think of it, this is my second time ever actually entering into the cafeteria ever since the first day of school,\' Moby thought, looking around the familiar yet unfamiliar area.
The cafeteria was very large, almost the size of a football field in order to accommodate every single first-year student in the school, it did not at all feel empty even when knowing the fact that a good portion of first-year students died from the first exam. The entire room was mostly white with somehow clean marble flooring despite the overwhelming amount of students inside eating at the various long metal tables. Just by looking at the people sitting at each table, it was clear to determine the divide between the various different students. Most of them were divided by their gang affiliation and strength while only a very small minority seemed to be sitting with each other because they shared a common interest.
Moby casually walked around, surveying the area trying his best to keep a low profile and blend in with the crowds. Luckily, the few people that noticed his presence kept quiet and did not make a big deal out of anything as they were too scared to anger him by making a huge commotion. Sadly, in the end, he managed to find no sign or lead of Ray\'s location, making him extremely disappointed as he headed back towards the entrance of the cafeteria to continue searching.
"H-hey! Moby old buddy! It\'s been a while since we last talked!" A nervous yet recognizable voice came from right behind him.
When Moby turned around to see who it was, he saw a familiar, decently tall, red-eyed, black-haired boy with a few strands of white that were not very easily seen, his skin was pale with a few subtle signs of ageing, making him look slightly older than he actually was which was definitely due to their last encounter.
It was none other than Travis Ligmus, the only actual living survivor of his team from the first exam.
Behind him were 2, intimidating somewhat hairy men with a scowl on their face, looking like they were ready to attack at any time. From their watches, Moby could tell that they were both high to mid B ranks which did not intimidate him too much as he was confident he could take them both out with moderate difficulty.
"Who are you calling old buddy? Me and you were never friends! If you don\'t have something important to tell me then fuck off! I am really in a hurry now!" Moby said in a cold attitude, not even batting an eye.
This made the two men standing beside Travis lift their eyebrows in surprise as they looked at each other before focusing back on Travis with an ugly, doubtful look, making him awkwardly chuckle as he twiddled with his thumbs, looking straight at the ground with immense fear and nervousness, gulping down all the saliva in his mouth as sweat began running down his face.
Just from their movements and mannerisms, Moby could probably assume exactly what went down, making him inwardly let out a sigh. Those were probably gang members that either convinced themselves that he and Travis were on good terms with him during the exam or, he was the one that had convinced them that he was on good terms with him in order to get more on their good side. However, he was leaning more towards the former as Travis knew very well that Moby didn\'t exactly like him.
"Hahahah! What\'s that look about? Of course, I am just playing around! What is it that you need?" Moby said, his mannerisms immediately changing as he played it off as a joke, making Travis look up with a happy look in his eyes, nothing like his previously depressed-looking state.
"Hahahaha! Yeah! It\'s always like you playing jokes like that!" Travis said, going along with Moby\'s words, making the two men next to him greatly lighten their expressions.
"Well, I just came here to give you an offer to join the greatest and most esteemed gang in the entire school! The Zexis gang! Our great leader has even chosen to appoint you 3rd in command immediately if you chose to join, no one has ever been offered something like this before! It is a once in a lifetime experience! So, what do you say?" Travis asked with immense expectations in his now even more weary eyes.