Fear has returned

I didn't know where I was or why I was there. At that moment I didn't know but, that dark and terrifying room full of mysteries (or unfamiliar things), where the senses are completely overshadowed by the dense layer of darkness, would become fundamental in future. 'What is this...where am I?' precisely in that instant I remembered what happened 'The test!!! have I passed it?'other fleeting memories flooded my mind 'Ah...That's right...I fainted.' I didn't know if I had made it in time or not, but having fainted without remembering if I passed the test, wasn't a good thing. 'Did I fail...again?' A sickening familiar feeling of helplessness and anguish began to run through my body. I didn't want to think of anything else, my thoughts were only suppressed by the deafening silence that governed the empty space all around me. Soon, a voice began to rumble from the darkness, my heart started beating faster and faster, droplets of sweat started pouring from my whole body, my discomfort increased as I heard the voice getting closer and closer.

"Hey...are you...hey" I finally got to hear it, but I couldn't understand what it was saying or where it was coming from, my consciousness was still recovering from what happened.

When the voice stopped sounding this whole place started to shake like an earthquake 'What is happening now!!!' I thought nervous about the situation, the trembling continued and got stronger and stronger, 'I can't even have a normal break!!!' my last thoughts faded away along with my mind, dragging me back to reality.

I opened my eyes slowly, my mind was confused and sore, I brought my hand to my head trying to relieve the pain. 'Well...at least I got out of that nightmare' I thought to convince myself that it wasn't all bad.I was lying on something quite hard, I turned my head to find out where I was, the sun was on the side located a little lower than the last time I saw it, so it shouldn't have been long, I was still on the field, but I wasn't on the grass as I expected, I was on one of the benches located on the sides 'Did someone bring me here? ' I thought sore as I tried to sit up, once I was seated I began to reflect on what had happened, a bead of cold sweat began to slide down my face, "Profile" I said with a shaky tone, I could hear the wind begin to form and flow across the field, moving the leaves chaotically back and forth, blackened clouds began to gather just above. I ducked my head slightly after a few moments with no response, until an unexpected message appeared in front of me, a slight smile replaced my once defeated expression with joy and hope, [You have leveled up].

[Your MP has increased] [You have accumulated 6 stats points].

'6 stats points??!' I was surprised at the amount of points I was given, 'Isn't that too good a thing?!' I thought euphorically 'If 1 point is for the reward then it's 5 for leveling up?!' I was starting to get excited and began to see light at the end of the tunnel, I began to have real hope and I could watch my development from here on out. "Calm down Tech" I said to myself trying to suppress my excitement, going back to thinking in a calm way, 'I have 6 points so...what stat should I use them on, Shooting?, Maybe physical? I almost died running today...'.

I was thinking about it for a few minutes, until I finally decided 'I'm a striker, so first I should use them all in shooting' I thought confidently, honestly at that moment I thought it was a good idea, 'My role on the field is to score goals, I don't need to focus on anything else', unfortunately I didn't know the consequences that such a naive and childish thought would have in the future.

[ Tech Yale----Level: 2 ]

[ MP: 20----Fatigue: 0 ]

[ Shoot: 7 ]

[ Speed: 1 ]

[ Dribble: 1 ]

[ Physical: 1 ]

[ Pass: 1 ]

[ Defence: 1 ]

[Skills: None ]

I didn't notice any real change after increasing my stats.

As I was arguing with myself, I could hear footsteps heading towards me, I turned my head instinctively, "Oh you woke up?" asked a familiar voice, I was still feeling a little dizzy and my vision was not at its best, but I could make out her face and considering her voice sounded familiar, I remembered who it was.

"Oh, you're the girl from before!" I said in surprise as I turned in her direction.

"You remembered" she said cheerfully with a smile as she approached.

"Were you the one who helped me?" I asked her genuinely, truthfully I was grateful to her, if I had stayed in the field passed out I would have been roasted like a KGC chicken.

"Yes, when I saw you lying here I tried to wake you up, but you weren't answering" her expression was serious yet worried, which made me a little funny, I don't know if it was the emotions held back during the ordeal but it caused me to let out a small disguised laugh.

"I thought you got heat stroke from the heat, so I took you to the bench" she said as she raised her arm performing a proud posture and keeping a firm tone.

"I appreciate that" I replied with a smile, frankly I was happy, I was able to pass the first target and finally moved up a level, although this was only the beginning I was relieved to see how I had managed to progress even a little, 'I don't notice any difference though...I should check?' I thought as I tried to stand up, but as I was standing upright and separating myself from the bench, my dominant foot failed, causing me to lose my balance and start to fall forward.

"Watch out!!!" shouted the girl, in spite of this my body did not respond to my attempts to stand and continued to rush towards the ground.

When I thought my fall to the ground was inevitable, the girl intervened by getting in the way, falling on top of her, however, contrary to what I expected we did not fall to the ground, instead we were able to stay standing, we were in a position similar to an embrace, my head was going through her trapeze towards her back and my arms were straight out thrown forward with intentions of having cushioned the fall in case it had happened.

When I realized the situation I panicked and quickly took a step back, "Sorry" I said simultaneously, trying to impromptu hide my embarrassment, my movement caused me to lose my balance a little, causing me to almost fall backwards, although I could feel my bones shaking and my muscles ached, I was still able to keep my composure and stay on my feet.

"It's nothing" she said with her arms raised to chest height exercising an embarrassed posture.

"But what happened to you before to be on the ground like that?" she asked curiously.

"Eh? Well...I trained too much and...passed out" I replied, trying to look convincing as I ran my hand up and down the back of my head downplaying it 'I couldn't tell her any more after all'.

"You shouldn't train so much" she said showing a bit of indignation.

"Haha I'll keep that in mind" I replied with a smile that turned to a small laugh.

"I mean it" she replied squinting her eyes and pulling down the corner of her lips.

Closing my eyes I nodded "Yeah yeah" still keeping a smile on my face, 'He's a good person' I thought as I shook my head observing the field 'Not everyone would help a stranger' my head stopped moving as the ball matched my line of sight.

"I'm going for the ball" I started to turn and move in its direction.

"You shouldn't move too much" she replied as she approached from my right "You might fall again".

"It went a little too far I think..." I said as I looked at my own legs dubiously, subsequently I looked back at her.

"Ahhh, you sure do bounce back fast," I could tell the sarcasm was flowing in her words.

The ball was still where I left it when I was given the target 'Tomorrow I will have another test' a strange shiver ran through my whole body as I remembered today's test and how hard it was, but there was something I was sure of, that little shiver I felt was not fear 'I'm...anxious?' I had never had that feeling before, so I didn't know how to feel...Without realizing it I finally reached the ball, I noticed it because I gave it a little touch unintentionally, I tried to bend down as I could, I felt pain, but it wasn't comparable to the one I had before.

"We haven't introduced ourselves yet, have we?" she said as she cocked her head slightly and stood to my right.

It's true, I didn't know this girl at all, I didn't know anything about her, not even her name and yet, she had the good will to help me "Nope, but since you say so, it's never too late to introduce yourself...My name is Tech Yale", I tried to hide my tiredness by spreading a smile across my face, by her expression I knew she didn't notice.

He slowly brought her two legs together until they were perfectly aligned, she lowered her torso to the height of my chest with her hands in front of her torso in the form of a bow, as we were the same height more or less it looked a little strange, it was too formal a greeting for the place and the moment we were in which surprised me, just when I was about to tell her that there was no need for such formality he finished her greeting, "My name is Eun-ji Dorik."

"Eh? Dorik?" I mumbled, words of surprise came out of my mouth without me being able to control them, a cold sweat started to slide down my forehead reaching my eyelids, the last name I wanted to forget, the last name I didn't want to remember...My mind was starting to cloud, my body couldn't interpret the cascade of emotions I was feeling at that moment, without even realizing it I started to tremble, my heart was contracting and stretching rapidly, I noticed how my chest was swelling, I couldn't help looking at her with wide eyes full of fear.

"Hey, is something wrong Tech, are you not feeling well again?"

I didn't hear what she said and honestly I didn't care , still I couldn't stop watching her, I was staring at her, well to be exact, I was staring at him, the person standing right behind her, my lips moved in tune with my throat without me being able to stop them, a sound, a name, "Kwan.... Dorik" even my own body had left me, I knew it was impossible, there was no way he was here, I couldn't see his face properly but my brain had made it so real that I could watch him with his stupid, self-centered smile again. He began to laugh with his stupid haughty smile as he watched me, and then whisper something I could not understand, to finally, disappear like a fog vanishing into thin air.

Gathering what will I still had left and was reluctant to submit I asked her still trembling "D-Do you know Kwan...?"

When he received my question the corners of her lips lifted slightly "Kwan...Do you know my brother?!!!" he innocently stated, unaware of the weight that, on my shoulders, that statement exerted. What little hope I had that it was simply a coincidence that they had the same last name was shattered with the last thing she said.

The fear I felt long ago and thought I had left behind, intensified as it manifested itself again as a disastrous storm that would not stop until it swept over its target, which was undoubtedly me.

I could observe how she had an innocent smile as she waited for my answer, her eyes were full of emotion for what she thought was a friend of her brother, pitifully for her, it was the opposite, although she couldn't know it or she knew it and was only pretending, she was not to blame for what her brother did to me, still I couldn't help but feel rejection.

"You..." turning to her with a pathetic and panicked expression, "Don't ever come near me again" I told her flatly.

"Huh? Why? What do you mean?" she asked with a dubious face without understanding anything.

Ignoring her questions, I turned and headed for the exit of the field.

"Hey, why are you leaving...what's wrong!?" she said behind me, I still didn't answer, shortly after I noticed some steps and a hand on my shoulder, which made me flinch, I didn't know what to do, by the time I wanted to realize, I pulled my shoulder and ran away, I heard a small 'Auch' when I ran away, which made me turn my head a little, the pull I had made threw her to the ground, despite this and even knowing it wasn't her fault I closed my eyes and continued running.

I didn't have a place in mind, I just wanted to get out of there, everything in my head was chaos, I passed many places I didn't know, I was exhausted both physically and mentally, because of this, I fell several times, even so, I continued running even though I had already gone far enough away from the field, when I could see my room in the distance I slowed my pace little by little until I finally started walking. The clouds that had formed earlier collapsed, ending their process with an intense rain that spread everywhere, getting me wet in the process, I cursed the rain for that, although now that I think about it maybe that was what I needed the most.