Chapter 69

Chapter 69:El visit.

Finding his bubble burst like that, Gil was genuinely annoyed. Pulling out his earbuds and sitting up slightly in bed, he listened closely, ready to give a piece of his mind to whoever had ruined his moment.

Wait... who would even come to bother me at this time?

He stood up completely, swinging one foot out of bed.

But when the knocking at his door stopped, he waited for a long moment. Hearing nothing further, he figured it was probably just a joke or a mistake.

Feeling lazy and having no desire to leave his bed unless absolutely necessary, he crawled back under the covers, popped his earbuds back in, and decided to resume reading.

Ugh.

His mood was somewhat ruined, so he decided to switch genres. Now that he felt better and had shaken off the bad memories from his earlier nightmare, why not dive into a good adventure light novel this time?

Why not that one about the guy who goes back in time and decides to build his own guild from scratch, slowly climbing the ranks until he reaches the top of that other world in that other realm?

Gil's eyes lit up at the thought.

And it's not even without humorous moments either like—every time he steals something from someone or an entity far stronger than him and has to face the repercussions, he always finds a way to complain. "Is there any need to be this ruthless?"

That always made him laugh. I mean, you just stole an artifact from them!

Of course they would be ruthless to take it back.

Instantly in a better mood, Gil quickly searched through his library.

Ah, here it is.

Finding the novel in question, he picked up right where he had left off and began reading.

Very quickly, he immersed himself in the story once again. After a while—he didn't know exactly how long he'd been reading, though it felt shorter than the first session—he reached a truly intense part, packed with twists and turns.

The main character was facing off single-handedly against multiple strong opponents of different origins.

Gil was clenching his fists in suspense.

Yet something had shifted in how he viewed the battle.

Hmm... Still, these fight scenes are way longer than I remember, or is it just my imagination? The combat feels so drawn-out. In real life, it doesn't happen like that. In real life...

He couldn't help but pause at the thought.

Where have YOU ever fought like that in real life?

Brushing it off, assuming he was still under the lingering influence of his nightmare, he kept reading, keeping his internal commentary to himself.

But once again...

Knock, knock-knock-knock-knock... A brief pause. Knock, knock.

At first, as the knocking started up again, Gil sat up, thoroughly and intensely irritated.

He decided that unless whatever was behind that door was extremely important, he was going to give whoever it was a piece of his mind.

For once I actually get some peace and quiet...

But once he heard the rhythm and that distinct pause between the knocks, a large part of his irritation vanished—though he couldn't help muttering to himself: "What does he want this time? And at this hour, no less!"

Getting up and dragging his feet, he opened his bedroom door and stepped into a rather minimalist entryway—one that served as both a makeshift kitchen area and a parlor to entertain guests whenever he had any over.

One might wonder why someone in Gil's financial situation had decided to rent a two-room apartment, especially considering that the area he lived in wasn't exactly cheap.

Yet he, who usually made do with so little, had insisted on it, gritting his teeth and tightening his belt just to secure this exact place.

And why?

To that, one could simply attribute it to Gil's sheer stubbornness.

When his friend,El had asked him about it, he had replied that while he couldn't stop the outside world from bothering him, it was absolutely out of the question for the very first thing visitors encountered to be his bedroom—the place where he relaxed and rested.

So, he had gritted his teeth and taken this two-room apartment just so the first room could serve as a buffer zone between the two, ensuring that whoever came by couldn't intrude on his privacy without his permission.

As childish and somewhat idiotic as that might sound, that was his reason—nothing more, nothing less.

Passing by the few pieces of furniture that served as the room's sole decoration—nothing extravagant, just a simple table and four chairs—he approached the door, which was strangely the most solid and formidable structure in the entire apartment.

He slid back the latch and opened it.

"What the hell do you want from me at this hour El ?"

When he opened the door, he found a handsome young man standing on the other side—well-dressed, though neither flashy nor showy.

He wore a black top and pants, sports sunglasses even indoors, and had well-groomed black hair. The dark lenses concealed striking, handsome green eyes. With his head tilted to the side, he carried a bad-boy aura and a perpetual smirk that seemed to suggest he was up to no good—or at least harboring mischievous intentions.

Although, knowing him, Gil leaned heavily toward the latter—at least when he was concerned.

He immediately stepped back, retreating a pace while eyeing him warily. "What do you want this time?"

Elaïjah—or rather, El—looked him up and down, then placed a hand over his chest as if he had been deeply offended.

"Sniff, sniff... I come to check on my little brother after he quit his job yesterday, wanting to cheer him up and ask how it went. But here I find him, suspecting my motives and assuming I'm up to no good. Sniff, sniff... I'm so heartbroken. "

Gil sneered and rolled his eyes. "Save it, El."pausing, he added "And you are not my big brother."

He turned around and walked back inside, leaving the door open for El.

Seeing that his act wasn't working, El dropped it with a pout and stepped inside. For a split second, something flashed in his eyes as he looked at Gil, though he said nothing at the moment. He simply closed the door behind him, grabbed a chair from the living room, and followed Gil into his bedroom.

The whole exchange unfolded completely naturally; apparently, the two of them were well used to this little routine.

Gil went back to his reading, though this time he didn't put his earbuds back in. He just kept reading, waiting to see what El wanted coming over at this hour.

At first, El didn't speak right away, scanning Gil from head to toe as if searching for some hidden detail.

Gil was particularly sensitive to his gaze, and after several long minutes of silence, he couldn't take it anymore. He paused his reading and set his phone down with a sigh.

"Agh! What is it?" he asked bluntly.

Curiously enough, El didn't answer right away. Continuing to observe him for a moment, he leaned back slightly in his chair and said, "Yeah, well... I was just thinking I'd drop by to check on you. After all, that bastard who was breathing down your neck at the construction site was giving you a pretty hard time, if I remember correctly. And then out of nowhere, you just quit like that. I was worried he might use some shady tactics to cause you trouble, so I dropped by."

Feeling a warmth in his chest, Gil's expression softened. "Don't worry," he declared proudly. "That coward... if he dares come mess with me outside the worksite, he won't even know what hit him."

Then, his brow furrowed for a moment.

Though... he's dead, isn't he? No, that was in the dream.

And El, who had been watching him intently from the start, caught this subtle shift immediately.

"Hmm, what's wrong?" he asked, appearing nonchalant. "Did he really give you trouble?" he added lightly. "If you want, I can take care of him for you."

The words were as casual as ever, but carried an underlying intent to probe. Gil, lost in his own thoughts, failed to notice it.

Knowing his friend was worried about him—and that he was indeed fully capable of taking care of that bastard—Gil snapped back to his senses and pulled himself together.

"No, don't worry. I don't think he'll cause me any trouble."

"Then why did you look so preoccupied? I've been knocking for a while now, and you're only just opening up. Don't tell me you've been glued to your earbuds all night again. Maybe I shouldn't have given you those..." El murmured with mock regret.

Gil knew him well enough to recognize he was just pulling his leg.

Keeping the expensive earbuds safely out of El's reach, he replied, "That's not it."

Knowing he needed to give El a reason to get off his back, he added, "It's just... I had a nightmare, and I needed to blow off a little steam."

"Oh?"

As if picking up on a key piece of information, El's eyes narrowed imperceptibly for a fraction of a second. "What kind of nightmare?" he asked casually, yet with a persistent edge.

"If I remember correctly, you rarely ever have them." Seeming to recall something, he probed cautiously, "Was it... a nightmare about—"

"No," Gil cut him off instantly. "It wasn't about that day."

His brows furrowed with concern as he realized he had subconsciously raised his voice at his friend.

Sighing, he softened his tone: "It was about something else. I just can't figure out why I'd have a dream like that."

Relaxing upon sensing that while the topic was bothering Gil, it wasn't the sensitive memory he had feared, El asked

. "Wanna tell me about it? Maybe I can help."

After a moment of hesitation, Gil saw no harm in it and nodded and began:

"It began like this..."