Prince -ORIGIN

A Cold Reality

Through their journey to the Haikom planet, Prince remained lost in his thoughts, while Aria and Karry explained to Lym why they had left Prince alone.

Lym asked with concern, “Do you think it’s a good idea to leave him alone?”

Karry nodded. “Yes, Lym. He needs some time alone. Let him be, and I hope he will be fine soon.”

“Okay, I hope that too,” Lym replied, though he couldn't help but glance over to where Prince was sitting, lost in thought. As he tried to peek at how Prince was doing, Aria gently stopped him.

“No, brother Lym, don’t worry so much,” Aria said softly. “He’s strong.”

Lym agreed reluctantly and turned his attention back to the journey.

Soon, all twenty students and their mentor, Era, reached the planet Haikom in Universe 9, another beautiful and mysterious location for them. The planet was icy and cold, with a thin atmosphere composed mainly of nitrogen gas, giving the environment a strong and faint bluish hue. The ground was covered in layers of frozen nitrogen and methane, creating a glistening, mirror-like surface in many areas.

Everyone looked fascinated as they took in the stunning scene before them. Era smiled at their awe and announced, “So, you all, welcome to the planet Haikom.”

They were led to an underground hotel where Era instructed, “You can go to your rooms now. You will be notified soon about the next procedure.”

Aria, Lym, and Karry decided to check on Prince and went to his room. Aria knocked gently on the door and asked, “Can we come in, brother?”

Prince, his voice subdued, replied, “Yes.”

They entered the room, finding Prince sitting by the window, his eyes still glistening with tears. Aria approached him with concern. “Are you okay now, brother?”

Prince tried to smile, but his eyes betrayed his emotions. “Yes,” he whispered, though tears began to well up again.

Karry sat beside him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “You can cry if you want,” she said softly.

At first, Prince hesitated, but then, unable to hold back his emotions any longer, he let the tears flow. Lym moved closer and gently rested Prince’s head on his shoulder.

“Prince, why are you crying? You know, if you cry like this, it will make me cry too,” Lym said, his voice filled with empathy.

After crying for a while, Prince wiped his tears away. Karry gave him a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. We are always here for you. Right, Aria? Lym?”

Aria and Lym both nodded in agreement, offering their silent support.

Just then, a notification arrived on their KEJs—a device similar to a smartphone, though with more advanced features like faster communication and a longer range. Lym checked the message. “It says that only the team leader can read the full letter.”

Prince looked around at his friends. “So, we need to choose a team leader to be able to read it.”

Lym nodded. “Right. Who should be our team leader?”

They exchanged glances, and after a brief discussion, they all agreed to make Lym the leader.

Lym filled in the necessary details on his KEJ and soon announced, “Okay, so I, Lym, leader of Team ALP-K, will read the rules of the competition. This competition will have 200 participants, divided into groups of four. Each group will be assigned to one of the five mentioned stages. There will be both good and bad teams, and whichever team performs better in each stage will be considered the winner of that stage and will advance to the next level. That’s all that’s written here.”

Aria's eyes sparkled with excitement. “Sounds thrilling!”

Karry nodded, a grin spreading across her face. “Really! I’ve never done a mission like this before.”

Lym added, “I can’t wait for it! Whenever our match is going to happen, they will notify us 20 minutes before. Until then, we have to stay in our rooms, and we can’t watch other participants’ matches.”

Aria frowned slightly. “Isn’t there any kind of opening ceremony or something like that?”

Prince shook his head. “Probably, they want to keep it hidden from the outside world.”

Karry agreed. “That could be a reason.”

Meanwhile, in another part of Haikom, Yaduro was planning his interference in the competition. He called out, “Rei, Rei, where are you?”

Rei appeared, quickly responding, “What happened, sir?”

Yaduro smirked. “Rei, do you know what’s happening here?”

Rei thought for a moment. “Here? I guess we’ve made a lot of progress. Soon, we will be able to execute our plan.”

Yaduro nodded, pleased. “Well, that’s good, but I just got another piece of news from my sources.”

Rei raised an eyebrow. “What news?”

Yaduro leaned in, whispering conspiratorially, “It’s about Merey on this planet. They are organizing a competition to test the potential of their new students. The competition is going to be held in secret.”

A sly smile spread across Rei’s face. “That’s more good news for us.”

“Absolutely, Rei,” Yaduro replied with a grin. “You’re starting to think like me, and I like that. So, you probably know what I want you to do.”

Rei nodded confidently. “Yes, sir, I will go there now.”

“Great,” Yaduro said, watching as Rei swiftly left to carry out his orders.

Rei arrived at the Merey competition site and easily bypassed the security system using his poison ability to conceal his presence. “Ah, it’s easier than I thought,” Rei muttered to himself. “Now, I need to check where it’s happening.”

He released his poison again, allowing it to spread throughout the Merey grounds, mapping out the area. “I can see them now. They have five different stages, and they’re going to use them simultaneously. Well, I think I need to divide myself too,” Rei said, a cunning smile forming on his lips.

With that, Rei used his ability to split his body into five different parts, each heading toward a different stage. “Okay, so the game has started now,” he whispered, ready to interfere in the competition in any way he could.