19- NOT JUST 64

Meyer sat beside the collapsed body of the Black Tiger for an hour. The icy chill of the snow-covered concrete barely affected him anymore. Or maybe his legs had gone numb. His hips and hands had stuck to the frozen ground. His eyes were fixed on one point—on his old friend. The tears rolling down his cheeks froze the moment they fell.

Huyger's giant frame still burned with a fire that seemed to blaze from his chest. Meyer felt its heat, as if reaching into his own soul.

After what felt like forever, a sharp sound broke through his thoughts. The ring's hidden doors swung open wide, and a furious doctor entered with a grim expression. He grumbled in a strange, incomprehensible voice:

"You didn't complete the stage."

His voice boiled over with rage.

"You freak! A worthless shadow of the devil! Get over here now!"

With the doctor's arrival, an even colder air seemed to drift in.

The doctor lunged forward and grabbed Meyer's solid arm like a pair of pliers. Meyer didn't resist. Maybe he just watched. His eyes opened and closed slowly, drained. As the doctor dragged him away, Meyer looked back—like he had dropped his precious pearls. Sometimes, friendship was like that. His gaze was still on Huyger, sprawled like a rug on the ground. He cried again, and frozen tears hit the floor like ice cubes.

He was removed from the ring and thrown into a prison cell at the edge of the platform. He had cried like a whimpering child the whole way and had seen nothing. Soon, he was surrounded by rusted yellow bars that seemed to wink at him. The musty scent of dampness filled his lungs.

He remembered the days he had spent outside.

Free brawls, chasing a little money, putting on shows with obsidian blades... All that and so on.

Not ready to blame himself, he blamed his father instead.

"I wish I had a normal family."

The bars were suffocating him. Like dark hands pressing down on his chest. He sat on the floor. Inside, there was a toilet, a sink, and a filthy bed. The stench was overwhelming. A mix of sweat and metallic odor. Spiderwebs clung to the walls. The more Meyer tried to remember his past, the harder it became.

He prayed for enough time to think in this place.

He laid on his back and clasped his hands under his head. His body was tired. As soon as he closed his eyes, a calendar page appeared before him.

2048.

Meyer couldn't understand what had happened in that year. No matter how hard he tried, all he saw was a vast emptiness.

And then, deep in his mind, a voice rose to the surface.

Demon Chip: Rookie, do you want to go back to that year?

What? I can still return to that time?

Demon Chip: By the command of Code 43, yes. Kill the Black Tiger and earn a Memory Capsule!

Meyer felt like he had been struck in the brain. His teeth clenched tightly at the brutality of the request.

No way...!

Demon Chip: Don't you remember how many lives you took for money? This is just one more of them. Just another one.

It's not.

For the first time, Meyer wanted to cry with all his might. He knew—deeply and painfully—that nothing was right. He wanted to return to those memories so badly. If he could reshape who he was back then, maybe he could see the present more clearly. He could finally rid himself of those glasses that kept everything so far away.

Suddenly, an idea came to him.

"The Hair Thief... I can kill him."

That rough voice answered immediately,

Demon Chip: No one can kill the Hair Thief. Not even Agent J.

There was a harsh, merciless tone in the Demon Chip's voice.

You don't want to believe that, do you? You think your fists, some blood, and your body can save you from everything. But they can't. The Hair Thief is the first criminal chosen by Code 43.

Its voice faltered slightly at the last words.

Agent J? One of the officials from Crystal Channel 7...

"What are the Hair Thief's abilities?" Meyer asked.

Abilities:

100% endurance

100% intelligence

100% combat skills

100% movement prediction

"No matter what, I'll beat him," Meyer said.

Demon Chip: A little injury from trying wouldn't hurt.

Suddenly, a bell rang inside Meyer's cell. Sharp and wild, like a predator bird's scream.

"Alright, kid. I'm taking you to the ring."

The iron bars slid aside.

Blinking from the dust, Meyer looked up and saw Agent J standing before him.

His tongue was tied.

"Sup?"

Meyer stared carefully at Agent J's long face.

I know you.

"It's been 8240 years since we last saw each other. Strange, right?" Agent J said without hesitation.

"Also, you haven't been up to Crystal 7 in a while…"

Meyer's stomach turned. He staggered to the toilet and vomited everything inside him.

"I don't believe this..."

Time travel.

Demon Chip muttered, almost surprised:

Your brain's getting seriously shaken, buddy.

Meyer ignored the chip's mockery. His nausea hadn't passed.

That moment, floating in the void, replayed in his mind. He felt it again throughout his body. That time in the darkness, drifting through what he once thought was ether. Though scientists had dismissed the existence of ether years ago, Meyer remembered something hitting him violently.

He opened his aching eyes wide.

Agent J smirked crookedly.

"Kill the Hair Thief and earn 100 memory points. The total quota is 5000. That way, you'll learn 2% of your past. In other words—about 165 years."

I thought I was only 64! Damn me!

"You're lying," Meyer said, just to deny it. His breath trembled. His knuckles were red, clenched tight like gripping a rope.

"This isn't real! You're messing with my head! Everyone's messing with my head!"

His rage peaked, his voice thundered. His chest rose and fell violently. Each breath he took sounded like the sky was splitting open.

Meyer's body began to expand under Agent J's increasingly distorted face.

His arms and legs doubled in muscle and bone. He grew taller. His bones branched like tree limbs.

Agent J stepped back.

"The devil's curse has returned," Agent J muttered through clenched teeth, backing away. Before him now stood a creature tall enough to reach the ceiling—Steve Meyer.

"Bring me the Hair Thief!"

His voice nearly tore the roof apart.

Agent J stopped on the platform plate.

"As you wish."

A moan-like sound echoed again. The plate carrying Agent J vanished, and in its place, a giant shadow fell upon everything. It belonged to a death born in darkness. Each step crushed the ground, each breath seemed to devour the air. A gust of wind blew through the doors. Clenching his fists, Meyer stared at the massive figure. He whispered to the Demon Chip:

"I will kill the Hair Thief!"

His nails dug into his palms. He felt like a lion unsheathing its claws.

"I am Steve Meyer!"

End of Chapter