Chương 20: Jade Lotus

Gray shot to his feet, the leather-wrapped hilts of his twin daggers already tight in his grip. Beside him, Hyun barely reacted. He calmly set his ceramic coffee cup onto the table, the quiet clink slicing through the tension, and extended two fingers.

"Whoa, whoa!" Ivan shouted, tossing both hands up in a theatrical surrender.

"Easy there, we aren't looking for a fight. It's not like we need the points anyway. Business. We're purely here for business!" Looking to be in his early twenties, Ivan wore a mane of verdant hair that streamed down to his waist. More unsettling, however, was his armor. It was alive. Thick, intertwined tree roots formed his chestplate, expanding and contracting with his every breath.

He leaned casually on a knotted wooden staff, its branches spiraling upward to cradle a pulsating green crystal, and encased within the glowing gem bloomed a perfect jade lotus flower. Beside him loomed Kim Gwan. He seemed young, but he possessed the broad, intimidating build of a standing minotaur.

He wore a traditional blue silk hanbok, reminiscent of the Joseon Dynasty, and embroidered over his chest was a circular insignia: a vermilion bird, a white tiger, a black tortoise, and an azure dragon locked in an endless spiral. Gwan carried no visible weapons, but his stoic, unblinking expression radiated the heavy aura of a chained beast—silent, but ready to snap.

"My associate and I," Ivan continued, his tone light and playful, "are the representatives of our respective guilds for this trial. Our goal is simply to network among the elite of this competition. To possibly extend an invitation."

"If you were to accept, you'd find the transition to our world remarkably smooth. Having the backing and resources of our organizations opens quite a few doors, you see." Gray cut a hard glance toward his brother, tilting his blades just a fraction. Calm down and put those away, Hyun's voice transmitted directly inside Gray's mind. Let's hear them out first. Gray flinched for a second at the sudden telepathic message, but he quickly offered a stiff nod and slid the steel back into their leather sheaths.

Ivan's eyes narrowed, his green pupils darting between the brothers.

"Mind control and telepathy? What an invasive kit of skills. It's a shame Quantis Corp has already implemented countermeasures against such… violations of privacy." Hyun exhaled a slow, measured breath, mirroring Ivan's earlier gesture of surrender.

"You caught me. I'll be direct, then. What exactly does joining your ranks entail?"

"Well…" Ivan tapped his cheek thoughtfully.

"It entails everything you can imagine. The hierarchy in this new reality of yours is absolute. You either work with us, or you work against us. Falling under our umbrella will only be a net positive for you two, naturally." Agitating these two was out of the question. Both were ranked inside the Top Ten. Whether this recruitment pitch was genuine or laced with hidden poison, Hyun knew appeasement was their best survival strategy. He could navigate the fallout later.

"Sure," Hyun agreed, his expression flat.

"It couldn't hurt to have a faction guide us through unfamiliar territory." Gray whipped his head around, shooting Hyun a bewildered scowl. He didn't understand why his brother would submit to them like that especially with a power like his. With Ivan's sickly pale skin and the faint, glowing green veins crawling from the corners of his eyes, the man practically radiated danger. Fighting there way out was the only way. Hyun met his brother's stare with a familiar, steadying look.

It was the exact expression he used whenever he needed Gray to stand down—a silent promise that he had the situation handled. The message landed. Gray's rigid posture slacked, and he reluctantly stepped back.

"I'm thrilled we've reached an understanding," Ivan chirped.

"We'll finalize the details of your recruitment once these trials conclude." Ivan raised a hand equipped with a silver dimensional ring, and flicked his fingers. Two thin glass vials materialized and sailed through the air toward the brothers.

"Power elixirs! One for each of you to breeze through the rest of this race."

"They temporarily boost your strength and constitution, enhancing your abilities for thirty minutes. Do use them wisely, though." A shark-like grin split his face. Gray caught his vial, holding it up to the cafe's dim lighting. A purple liquid sloshed inside, glittering with suspended, crushed herbs that drifted like embers. A sudden, violent tremor took his hand as recognition slammed into him. It was the drug his parents had been investigating.

For a grueling year, Gray had spent every waking hour obsessing over the police reports and crime scene files regarding their murder. He had burned every minute detail of the case into his brain, including a high-resolution photo of this exact substance. The same luminescent purple hue. The same suspension of organic matter. Even the unmistakable, shape of the slender glass matched perfectly. Gray snapped his head up to look at Hyun. Hyun offered a knowing nod. I know, he mouthed.

Pivoting back to the verdant-haired man, Hyun maintained his neutral facade, though a razor-sharp edge bled into his polite tone.

"Would you mind sharing how you acquired these elixirs? If it crosses a boundary, I won't press." A smug smirk tugged at the corner of Ivan's mouth.

"Ah, so the merchandise caught your eye! Like I said, if you were to become our subordi— partners, our guild can supply anything you need to flourish. I could even arrange an endless supply of those exact elixirs for you. My family is in charge of the manufacturing, after all."

"Your family?" Hyun echoed, his voice even.

"Are they the ones running your guild?" Ivan's smirk blossomed into a full, arrogant beam.

"Of course. I am the second son of the Guild Master, after all." This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"What is the name of your guild?" Gray blurted, unable to contain the irritation in his voice.

"The Jade Lotus," Ivan answered brightly. The Jade Lotus. It was the same name of the crime syndicate that spread a mysterious stimulant on Earth. The very organization directly tied to their parents' murder. It has to be a coincidence, Gray told himself. It has to be. But the damning evidence rested in his palm. Was he misremembering? Was grief feeding his confirmation bias? What were the statistical odds that two organizations—separated by dimensions—shared both a name and the same narcotic?

"Hyun! That's the name of the—" Gray started, stepping forward. Hyun instantly raised a hand, cutting him off with a sharp, warning flash of his eyes.

"Ivan," Hyun continued smoothly, deliberately ignoring his brother's spiraling distress.

"May I inquire further, if it isn't an overstep?"

"By all means," Ivan said.

"I imagine you Earthborn have endless questions about your new reality."

"Does the System summon participants who aren't native to Earth in this race? Everyone I've encountered so far possesses names from earth and are all human, yet you bear a Russian name, and seem as though you are a native to this planet." Gray's patience violently snapped. He was suffocating on Hyun's polite act. The careful diplomacy. The endless verbal chess.

"Hyun!" he barked, slamming his fist onto the cafe table. The wood splintered under the impact.

"Stop beating around the bush and ask him about the damn elixir! Ask him about Mom and—""SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Hyun's sudden roar rattled the cafe windows. Gray recoiled, stunned into silence. Hyun had never cursed at him before. He never raised his voice in such a fury. The boiling rage inside Gray instantly iced over, replaced by a hollow shock. Ivan lifted his palms, amused by the sudden hostility.

"Easy now, boys." Hyun inhaled sharply. Slowly, painfully, he forced a polite smile back onto his face, rebuilding his diplomatic mask.

"My apologies," he said, dipping his chin in a shallow bow.

"I hope you could overlook my outburst." Ivan waved it off with a chuckle.

"No harm done. I lose my temper quite often… especially toward the help." He clicked his tongue, shaking his head as his gaze swept over Gray.

"To answer your question, the System exclusively selects the natives from Earth for these games. Gwan and I are born and raised in Astoria. Yet, here we are, competing. It was only made possible by exploiting a rather clever loophole."

"And what might that be?" Gray practically growled, fighting to keep his voice from shaking.

"By simply being present on Earth when the selection process begins." The answer didn't come from Ivan. It came from Gwan. His voice was a rumbling baritone that carried a heavy, undeniable authority, demanding the attention of the entire room.

"How is that possible?" Hyun furrowed his brow, abandoning his smile.

"You said you were natives of Astoria. Does that mean—""We traveled to Earth roughly four years ago," Ivan interrupted smoothly.

"We lived comfortably among your kind. When the summoning process initiated, we were naturally swept up and returned here for the race."

"Wait, there's a way back?" Gray asked, his eyes widening.

"You can travel between worlds?"

"Absolutely. Though interstellar transit is strictly reserved for VIPs and elites. Perhaps if you climb high enough within our factions, you might earn the privilege someday."

"But why bother traveling to Earth in the first place?" Hyun pressed. Ivan raised an eyebrow.

"To join this competition, of course! The rewards and opportunities for progression are astronomical. It's also an excellent way to gain real battlefield experience—even if our opponents are mostly fresh, out-of-water fish from your barren planet." A nostalgic glint entered his eyes.

"And, naturally, we had business matters to attend to on Earth. The summoning was merely a convenient return ticket."

"How does someone ensure they get intentionally summoned for this race?" Hyun probed further.

"That's a tightly kept secret," Ivan mused. Then, a grin stretched across his pale cheeks.

"But I suppose it wouldn't hurt to tell you."

"Astorian natives cannot access the System, nor their class, until they turn eighteen. Once we reach that age, genetics heavily dictate what class we obtain during our awakening. It's all determined by the core instilled within us at birth." Ivan pointed the glowing staff tip at the brothers' torsos.

"Those cores don't exist for the Earthborn. The System is forced to artificially implant them inside you upon your arrival."

"To select its participants, the System scans the entire population of Earth, hunting for candidates who possess the highest compatibility with their designated Kaiser mentor's class." He jabbed a prideful thumb into his own chest.

"My mother is the Guild Master of The Jade Lotus—a Kaiser herself. She genetically influenced the biology of my core through her DNA. When I resided on Earth, and the System scoured the globe for the perfect match to my mother's class, I was undeniably the best candidate. I had, after all, already awakened with the Jade Lotus class prior to my trip." Gray was only half-listening to the monologue, his mind locked onto one singular detail.

"What was your business on Earth?" he demanded, his voice dropping to a whisper. A disingenuous, pitying frown crossed Ivan's face.

"I am not inclined to share internal family matters with you, Earthborn. But you might learn in due time. As I said before, once you prove your loyalty and fetch our—" Hollow Ivan's world vanished. His sight went completely black as a thick, volatile plume of smoke erupted directly over his head, enveloping his entire upper body. The magical smog swallowed him in a split second, forcing him into a violent, hacking fit. Gray's body trembled, vibrating with homicidal fury.

Raw mana surged from his core, flooding his bloodstream and relentlessly feeding the Primordial's smoke. Choking Ivan wasn't enough. The man had to die. In defense, Ivan's living chestplate activated. The wooden, vine-like seams holding the armor together snapped out of their woven formation. Hovering in the air like coiled serpents, the roots lashed swiftly toward Gray.

Razor-sharp tips bit deep into his skin, and fresh, bleeding cuts opened across Gray's cheeks and arms as the roots sheared his flesh in rapid succession. Gray didn't flinch. He just stood there, unblinking, letting the fury smother the blistering sting. Then, without warning, the living roots froze mid-strike. The assault halted entirely. The wooden vines began to tremble, vibrating at an impossible frequency until they shattered, disintegrating into thousands of green mana sparks that drifted in the air.

"What?!" Ivan rasped.

"What… did you… do to my spellplate?!" His legs gave out. Ivan collapsed to his knees, his fingernails tearing at his own neck as he desperately clawed for oxygen. He flailed his hand in front of his face, trying to bat the magical smoke away, but every frantic swipe only caused the dense shroud to weave back together, thicker and darker than before.

"Gwan," Ivan gurgled.

"Do… something—" Gwan finally moved. He lunged across the space, and the glowing, spectral arms of a massive White Tiger blinked into existence over his shoulders. The ethereal construct extended from his back, drawing a paw backward to cleave Gray in half.

"Stop. Sit down." The giant tiger paws vanished mid-swing, blowing away like white dust in the wind. Gwan instantly aborted his charge. His fierce expression melted into a vacant, glassy stare, and slowly—mechanically—the giant of a man turned around, pulled out a chair, and sat down. He stared blankly out the window, completely paralyzed.

"Gray!" Hyun shouted, panic lacing his voice.

"Stop this! This isn't what you want! This isn't what Mom and Dad would have wanted!" Gray shut him out. He simply pushed harder, forcing more mana into the suffocation spell. The dark smog churned, thickening with every wave. Every muscle in Gray's body screamed in magical exhaustion, but he tuned out the pain, zeroing in on the one single, destructive desire. A stream of blood ran down Hyun's upper lip. The immense mental strain of overriding the willpower of an Awakened in the Top 10 was frying his mind.

The edges of his vision blurred with haze, and an excruciating migraine bloomed behind his eyes.

"Gray! Please!" Hyun begged, his normally composed voice cracking in desperation. The pleas bounced right off him. Gray already made his choice. Ivan was going to die today. And absolutely nothing was going to hold him back. Stop.