32 Club

"Enough. If you want to accuse me, bring me the proof."

"Why do you think I need proof to accuse you?"

"Because you do. No matter how high your background is, you won't be able to do whatever you want with me because there is law and order."

"It's true that I can't put you behind bars or kill you but I could certainly trouble you."

"You are still in the age to play childish games? How mature."

"I will play childish games with you. What are you going to do about it?"

"Oh, sure. I'll be waiting."

"Rewen, this is your last chance. Spill the beans or I will do what you can't even imagine."

"You're underestimating my imagination. Also, I think I have already made it clear that I'm not someone even closely related to you. Why are you so hooked up on me? Just think in a clear and concise manner without any weird tangents in your thoughts and you'll figure that out." Rewen was uninterestedly conversing with her while having the steak.

The devil woman smiled mysteriously. "You might be right. Maybe I'm just overthinking but conversely, the chance that you're deceiving me still exists…"

"Go on."

"Which is why I'm going to place you under my observation 24/7 for the time being. Do you agree?"

"Oh? What kind of observation?"

"Daily life."

"Oh." Rewen's eyes widened a bit before calming down. "Previously, I thought that even if you are an overthinking freak, you still have an ounce of intelligence left but now, it seems I have to re-evaluate yourself."

"What do you mean?" Her eyebrows squinted.

"You are saying you will observe my actions for the time being, if your purpose is really to find the traitor, then you are stupid. Let's say I'm a traitor for now. Do you think I would make any suspicious moves knowing that I'm being observed?"

"I don't want to know your thoughts. I just want to know if I would agree or not. Yes or no?"

"You did ask for my thoughts though but let's ignore that. I'm now certain that you are cooking something up. In fact, I even think that the main goal of yours in this conversation is to make me agree to your 24/7 observation and I don't wish to participate in that so no."

"You are too stubborn for your own good. I'm giving you one last chance to redeem yourself. Agree to my conditions and you'll live in pleasure of all forms. Else, you will put both yourself, your friends and your family at risk." The devil woman didn't hold back with her threat this time.

"Sure, go ahead." He replied with a carefree smile.

"You can always pretend like you don't care but I'm serious."

"I don't think we have anything else to talk about. You want me to agree to your conditions? I won't. You are threatening me, my friends and family? I'll see if you can continue to do so after I report this to the authorities." He flicked out his smartphone which was recording. While chatting with her, he sneakily recorded the rest of the conversation. He knew there is no better weapon against people with authorities who threaten others other than recordings.

"I see. Are you really that stupid to think that this would work?"

"I don't know. I don't know how corrupt the government is. I don't know how much power your background holds. I don't know if recordings would even work because of how easily it's faked." Rewen admitted with a sigh. "The only thing I know is that this is my last piece of straw and I'm willing to gamble on it."

"You are really going all out, aren't you?" Seeing him vulnerable, the devil woman smiled and moved her seat closer to Rewen and touched his hands. "I promise you won't suffer ANY kinds of losses."

Rewen didn't take his hand away and directly looked at her eyes. "I'll say this once. Don't scheme against me. Halt all the secret operations you are doing and we could still be friends, maybe even lovers. From your mannerisms, I surmise that you are a big shot. You see, I'm not a big shot. I can't have assassins all around my corner. I'm a feeble guy who can be killed at any second. That's why I request that you don't pull some crazy shit on me. Look, I'm trying to be polite and humble because I don't want myself, my family and friends in trouble." Rewen tried being realistic and humble despite not wanting to lower his head.

"Yes, you can do that. You can certainly avoid any kind of trouble if you agree to my condition. Do you agree?"

Rewen snapped. He stood up abruptly but didn't shout out curses but instead, spat at her face.

*Spat*

Time stopped. The onlookers who were curiously looking at the "arguing couple" had now stopped chewing their food. The devil woman was in a trance.

Rewen didn't care anymore about her and left the restaurant. He had already paid before eating. Coming out, it was still snowing. However, this time, Rewen wasn't as happy seeing it as he was when he first saw it. He felt a bit depressed and he had so many new worries. 'I stepped back so many times yet there was no compromise made for me...

'I have a cousin at home who dislikes my guts. I have overly-strict parents who care little about my own thoughts. I have friends who are borderline untrustworthy. Is this a normal teenage phase? Perhaps. But gone were the days I used to lead a carefree life in what they call the virtual world.'

"Ah. I have to toughen up!"

*Bang*

He lightly punched against a wall. He didn't really want to smash anything.

"Woah bro, you've got some real muscles." A guy wearing a white jumper jumped from the wall Rewen was punching.

"I guess."

"Broooo, I have this really good idea to help you make good use of that muscle. Wanna hear?"

"You sound shady but sure."

"So there's this newbie Club our Club is up against and we are a tiny little bit short on the numbers. For that reason, we are recruiting people. But not just any average Joe, our people are full of bad muscular men who can kill someone simply with a glare. Although you're not the manliest one, you have got some skills."

"Hmm… what do I get by joining though?"

"Brooooooo… you are asking THAT out of so many interesting questions? You've got to be kidding me man. You have lost your chance at joining the Grand Ultine Kapile Club. Aight, I'm out. Peace."

"Wait. Are you talking about the Grand Ultine Kapile Club?"

The guy in the jumper immediately turned around. "Yes. I will give you three seconds to confirm your decisions. 3."

"I'm in."

"Good. Now fill-up the form and come with me." He gave Rewen a form.

Rewen looked at the form. "Isn't this the form to participate in the Club Fight? Are you sure you haven't mixed this up?"

"Yup."

"What about the form to join the Club?"

"Fool. Did you think that the Club would accept you before knowing your prowess. This could be considered as some sort of test before entering. Even I, who had been running errands for the club for two years, couldn't enter the Club officially. Did you really think it's that easy to join the most influential Club in the Travil Town?"