The Man Named Liqin

"Ah, it's really nice when there's no class," Yami stretched his body after waking up at noon. He was currently in one of the houses in the forbidden area.

Yami got up and looked at his naked form under the torn blanket. "Oh, I forgot to dress up."

Yami opened his inventory when he realized he had no clothes besides the school uniform. He opened the system's store and searched for male garments.

"Ha! 500 lucre for a single pair of jeans," Yami exclaimed in disbelief. He never expected the clothes to be that expensive, but there was nothing he could do.

Yami bought the cheapest one in the store and went out to buy breakfast since he skipped dinner last night. When he was going to the same mart, a bunch of police cars was parked along the road, and police officers were scattered around the area and interviewing people.

'Let's see how good they are,' Yami thought while glancing at the police. He went into the mart and bought the same noodles he hadn't eaten from last night.

"Hello," Yami greeted the female cashier and put the items on the counter.

"Hi, you're the kid from last night," she giggled. "Have you heard about the news?"

"What news? Though why are there so many police officers around?" Yami asked innocently. He took a single lollipop from the counter and popped it into his mouth.

The cashier leaned forward to whisper. "Those gangs were found decapitated."

"Oh, really?" Yami gasped in surprise. "That's really cruel."

"It is," the cashier gave the plastic bag and slid the change toward Yami. "Be careful on your way home."

"You too," Yami waved at her before leaving.

When Yami got out, a police officer went inside the mart. Their eyes met for a few seconds before they parted ways. The officer turned around to look at Yami, not because he was suspicious of him, but to the way, he dressed.

Yami was wearing sailor-styled clothes with a pair of blue and white striped shorts.

"Hey kid," the officer called out and ran towards Yami.

"Hmm," Yami hummed and turned around to see who called him. "may I help you?"

"Where are your parents? Where do you live?" the officer asked softly as he crunched down to match Yami's height.

Yami looked at him for a few seconds before pointing at the back. Then he proceeded to walk away without answering the officer.

"Kid, it's unsafe to walk alone. Be careful," the officer spoke firmly.

Yami glanced at him and nodded before walking away while sucking the lollipop. He was about to return to the forbidden area, but his curiosity won.

Yami went to the location where he killed the three men. Nobody was allowed to go inside, and newscasters were flocking the site. Since it was morning, Yami couldn't use his skill to blend into the darkness, and he didn't want to risk his identity just to look at their clean-up.

Yami left the site and returned to the forbidden area to relax, but his nerves were not calming down. "I should jog."

Yami jogged in the outer part of the forbidden area since it was far from the Defender base. He arrived at the place where they were bullied. The vast crack of the soul beast still remained.

"It would be amazing if I reencounter a soul beast," Yami muttered and activated his stingers. He was still amazed at how powerful and unique looking the weapons were.

Yami deactivated the skill and walked further when a rattle got his attention from a distance. He saw a snake tail crawling behind the blocks of cement. Yami would have ignored it, but the tail isn't made of flesh but metal.

Yami dashed to the location and took hold of the snake. "Oh, an Ophi!"

The soul beast Ophi squirmed on Yami's hand to get away. It snapped at Yami and attempted to bite his hand.

Yami let go of the soul beast, and it instantly crawled away in an attempt to escape, but before the soul beast could go far, Yami stepped on its head like a pest.

"Oh, they can't fight," Yami muttered and picked out the dead Ophi.

"Ying, why are you here?" a familiar voice spoke behind Yami.

Yami turned around and saw Shun with another guy. They were wearing civilian clothes and were walking towards him.

"Shun!" Yami hid the soul beast behind his back since Shun was with someone else.

"Yo! You are so small," the other man went in front of Yami and patted his head.

Yami looked closer at the man's face and noticed that he was the one he had met before that killed a high-level soul beast.

"We meet again,' the man laughed wholeheartedly. "I'm Qin Liqin."

"Oh, you're a Combatant. I'm Yin Ying," Yami stated with a smile.

Liqin instantly grabbed Yami's left hand and shook it aggressively.

"You two know each other?" Shun asked. He was confused at the comfortable atmosphere between the two men in front of him.

"I met this little guy when a Raider appeared around this area. It was a funny encounter," Liqin laughed while remembering the past events.

"What are you two doing here?" Yami asked and looked at the two men with confusion.

"I should ask you the same thing," Shun muttered. He was surprised to see Yami wandering alone in the forbidden area and worried that his identity as a Raider would be exposed if a Combatant were to stroll the area.

"We are here to find the cause of the abnormal portals that kept popping everywhere," Liqin stated with a deep sigh. "But I think our search is over."

Yami scoffed with amusement when Liqin looked at him with a knowing gaze. He raised his hand holding the soul beast and threw it in Liqin's direction.

"I saw that Raider crawling around here. That might be the cause of the abnormal portals." Yami explained while showing his signature smile.