Chapter 30

“Champworld”

The huge imposing sign stands on an incomplete pedestal as Denzo looks at what was ahead of him, unsure on whether he should proceed.

It was already nearing nightfall and he had noticed that the place had no lights installed around it making him feel that he had fallen for a trick. The area he was summoned to make an appearance in was within an old abandoned carnival near block six -one - six and it was desolated enough to have wild shrubbery growing in between the cracks in the asphalt and thick vines vandalizing the old rusted structures around him. The only saving grace he had was that there are construction equipment scattered all around the area and all of them looked like they were recently used, which meant there indeed “was” some form of activity.

The only question he has now was “what” that activity was.

‘If at 7:30 no one comes I’m leaving’ He thought to himself. Deciding to leave after an hour of waiting, giving himself some semblance of hope that something “good” might happen if he made an effort to wait.

While waiting he decides it would be a good time to plug in his earphones. He remembers that it was around this time where his favorite Saber Streamer would be streaming live.

SABER is a streaming service site that was created a couple of years back to compete with TWITCH. For the first few years of its life it didn’t get much attention; it was only when big name Twitch and Youtube streamers transferred into it, that it started getting notoriety.

Now famed for its anarchy system where anyone can stream whatever content they like with no copyright and DMCA restrictions, a lot more content creators have jumped ship and chose Saber as their platform of choice. On the downside the sponsor support is not as lucrative as the other streaming sites but it makes up for it by allowing lesser known startup companies to push their adverts more frequently without competition from bigger companies, allowing them to thrive and gain traction along with the content creator they support.

One of the content creators that Denzo was keen on following was a V-tuber named “J3TTAH VEE DUBZ”. An anime girl streamer who has a small following on Saber where most of her content is about cars and racing games in particular. Today she is continuing her playthrough stream of an old racing game that was released fifty years ago. A game which was now considered as a classic game from the old Playstation era of games, when games were still bought from a store as opposed to how it is nowadays where they just stream the game they subscribed to from the internet through their network provider.

The game was “Need for Speed: Most Wanted”

She even went out of her way to find an abandonware mod for the game and installed it over the base game just to spice up her content. It was a long lost mod from the early 20’s called “Pepega mod”

She was just about to start her gameplay when Denzo heard a car honking at him from a distance as a single champagne colored tesla shone its headlamps towards him, rounding the corner from the entrance gate. It rolls to a standstill near where Denzo sat as the passenger side window rolls down, revealing who was inside.

‘Sorry for the wait kid, had to stop by the doctors. This old lady needed a checkup on her blood pressure.’ The lanky looking man said, recognizing him as one of the people running Jack & Barry’s. He pointed at the woman beside him who gave him a stern look and a swift elbow to his side.

‘Miss Val, Good evening.’

The woman turns to look his way, not changing her death glare expression.

‘Huh, you’re being polite now kid, what happened? Lost your balls?’

‘No--I..’

‘Just joking, follow us…’ She said, as she rolled up her window.

The car drives forwards, slow enough so Denzo could follow, as they round another corner behind what seems to be a grandstand of some sort. At the far end of the path the car stopped, right in front of a building made up of cargo containers. They alighted the car and entered the building as the lights inside opened room by room as soon as they entered.

Denzo seeing all this felt a bit excited and intimidated at the same time as many questions with no answers pop into his mind.

As soon as he arrived he took a deep breath as he touched the doorknob. He twists it and opens the door and inside, he was surprised that the office was bigger than what he thought it would look like. He counted to see that it was three containers deep and two containers high with a mezzanine floor directly above the entrance where he currently stood. Everywhere else was a two container high space.

The walls were not painted but stripped of it, revealing the metal as its finish. A pool table at the center with various tools on top of it and directly across from him were two garage sized openings with Go-karts lined up and parked facing outward. Everything else looked grungy but homey and the smell of grease was everywhere from the moment he had stepped foot inside.

‘Come in!’ The lanky man said as he took off his jacket to hang it on the door behind him. Denzo steps away to let him through and follows his footsteps inside the building.

‘So… what’s up?’ He asked.

‘Oh.. I believe I haven’t briefed you yet.’ The man said, looking a bit flustered. ‘You can call me J2 and I’ll be your supervisor in this place.’

‘What’s a supervisor?’ He asked.

‘It means he's your boss, kid.’ Val said from the mezzanine balcony, puffing smoke from her cigarette she had recently lit.

‘And you?’

‘I’m his boss so that makes you my bitch.’ Val said as J2 gives her a “WTF” look on his face.

‘Sorry. But I'm not in the brightest of moods. My back hurts and my face stings. I got bruises all over and we’re opening in a week.’ She said sternly. ‘Can you please get this place up and running for next week? Okay J2?’

J2 takes a deep breath and sighs as he nods and turns his attention back at Denzo.

‘Don’t mind her, she’s not this grumpy most of the time.’

‘I disagree all the time she’s like this to me.’ Denzo replied.

‘Anywho, The job. As you can see this place is our recent little project after our success with J&B.’ J2 said as they walked out of the garage doors.

‘This is Champworld!’

He said the words with his arms raised as if he was introducing something grand and spectacular but all that Denzo sees is darkness and a winding ribbon of asphalt.

Nothing too amazing. An expression that J2 noticed.

‘Well it might not be much now but we’re just waiting for the light suppliers to install the flood lights and we’ll be up and running in no time.’

‘Cool… so what am I gonna do here?’ Denzo asked flatly as J2 sighs. He really wanted to install a sense of wonder over Denzo and hoped to impress him but as he looked at the current state of the place it just wasn't as eye catching as he’d hoped, which made him even more depressed inside as this was his first project where Val kept her meddling at a minimal, wanting to see how her partner would fair when starting a new business.

So far he felt that he was getting a mediocre grade from her, making him feel even smaller considering that this was his own idea after all.

‘Ugh… well your job here is to be the track marshall of the… track.’ He said, whilst giving himself an invisible palm to the face. ‘You’re familiar with racing flag systems right?’

Denzo thinks for a moment before answering. ‘Ugh… I think so.’

‘You know… black flags, yellow flags....’

‘Ahh yes, I know, I know.’

‘Good, for a second there I was starting to think you might not be a race fan.’ J2 said teasingly.

‘I am! It just slipped my mind that’s all.’ He answered while J2 laughed telling him repeatedly that he was just playing a joke on him.

‘By the way, How much am I gonna get paid?’ Denzo asked eagerly, stunning J2.

‘Wait… you haven’t talked about it yet?’

Denzo frowns his brows. ‘No…’

…

…

‘Nothing…’

Val said as the two people in front of her stood dumbfounded with her answer.

‘What?! You’re not even gonna pay me? I thought you’re gonna give me an opportunity that I’ve been waiting for?’

‘I am.’

‘So what is it?’ He answered back with an agitated tone. Val stares him down with a still expression. Her face filled with scratches and gauze looking like she was fresh from a street fight as Denzo looked back at her, feeling like he should add more reasons to put gauze on her cheeks, before feeling the crushing aura coming from her presence.

She shifts her gaze to what was behind him. ‘See those?’

Denzo frowns and follows her gaze in confusion. ‘What?’

‘That’s your payment. You get to drive them.’

At this very moment a strange confusing feeling came upon Denzo.

His heart skipped a beat knowing very well that he can now have the luxury of finally driving something; but also in the back of his mind there was no way he could use this as an excuse to escape his mother’s grasp knowing she’ll only listen if the deal was something logical to her.

In short, she won’t be suspicious if he was, at the very least, getting paid.

Deep inside if nothing else was in the way.

He’d fully accept the conditions.

He puckers his lips before answering. ‘I like the deal but…’

‘You’re afraid cops are watching?’ Val interjects, leaving Denzo surprised.

‘How did?’

‘Former Colonel Thorasis Elvin, your grandfather. He used to be in the army yes?’

‘Y-yeah…’

‘I dunno if the police have told you but the raids have been targeting certain people in certain positions of power in this country.’ She said as she leans back on her chair, making herself comfortable. She looks back at Denzo as he looked even more confused than he ever was when he came inside her office.

‘Your Grampa, believe it or not, still has his connections with other prominent people in this country, who, coincidently have been targeted themselves--’

‘W-wait!’ Denzo shouts. ‘How the hell do you know who Uncle Thor was?!’

‘Cuz I’m the same. I know someone related to a position of power and I’ve been attacked. Just last week.’ Val said while pointing to her wounds.

J2 on the other hand was giving her a look that looked like he was silently questioning the words that she was telling the boy.

‘So you know all this cuz you’re a victim as well?’

‘Yes, a bit late to the party but, yes… Now back to the topic. You have nothing to worry about, this is not like the J&B.

This operation is legit.

You can come and go as you please and the cops won’t question. If they do… I know someone.’

Val said with full confidence to keep Denzo at ease.

But it was not the reason why Denzo was worried. He lied.

Part of it was the police, but the person he was most afraid of was his mother. If she ever knew that he was taking steps to get his hands on driving and racing instead of keeping himself dedicated to his scholastic studies, she would do everything in her power to stop him from doing so.

Abolishing the last remnants of his autonomy for good.

So with a deep breath and a shallow sigh, he smiles and answers. ‘I accept.’

With full knowledge of the consequences. Afterall if things do not go again his way he figured he would just force the issue and defy everyone who stands against him. This was the split second decision he came up with. He knows he can’t bother Val with his problems and she has already given her support when it comes to handling things with the authorities, should the need arise. So without any deep thought, he agreed, and everything else that might come with it, good or bad, will be handled by his own swift justice.

‘Good then!’ Val smiled as she reached out her hand to him to give the boy a handshake. ‘Welcome aboard!’ She said.

‘So Denzo…’ She pauses to lean forward on her desk.

‘To commemorate this night, how bout we have a race?’

…

…

Three pairs of feet walk along in unison as the sun is settling in for the night, and out of the three, one of the pairs starts to lag behind. At that exact moment Pai came to his senses that he was walking home with two mesmerizing ladies in the form of Nica and Aida who pulled him from his commute home to come spend some time with them at the posh coffee place near the school. Even though Pai didn’t have enough cash, the girls insisted, as the two ladies split his bill amongst them so that he could join. A scenario that split his heart into two halves. One, being thankful that anyone would actually go as far as treating him drinks to spend time with him. And two, his pride as a man being shattered in pieces as he failed to provide for himself and let two girls take the bill for him.

Nonetheless he still had a great, but awkward time chatting with the two, especially with Nica. He never thought someone with a calm cold exterior could actually be warm and expressive once you get to know them.

It was a lengthy afternoon with most of them talking about girly stuff that Pai could not relate to but sooner or later the conversation shifted to the main topic.

Neil.

And surprisingly… Denzo

It was also the main reason why he was invited as well, as he was the one whom Aida first conveyed her feelings to when her issue with Neil happened so it automatically deemed Pai as one of the people she could trust. The only thing that didn’t make sense to him was Nica, which he also found out as her new trusted friend. For some reason She and Nica had a talk during their girls night out and had things settle between them. Things and words that Pai could not understand fully, but since Aida seemed to be happy telling him, he felt happy just to hear and see that she was.

‘So when are you gonna… you know?’ Nica asked curiously as she sipped on her cold brew.

‘I honestly have no idea…’ Aida replied, looking uncertain on what she should do. ‘I rarely see him during break times.

‘Yeah I-- same…’ Pai reacts. Which made the pair take notice of him and his relationship with Denzo.

‘Pai, besides Neil you were also hanging out with Denzo right?’ Aida asked with an inquisitive tone as she slightly leans forwards, making Pai feel uncomfortable.

‘You two been friends for long?’

‘Uhh… no, n-not really?’

‘Really?’

‘Yeah…

I mean I just met him around the same time everybody did…’

‘True.’ Nica chimed in. ‘To me he just appeared outta nowhere but even weirder was that ever since I met him I’ve been meeting more people than I used to… I mean now I’m hanging out with you guys.’

‘Really? Same with me!’ Pai exclaimed. For a split second he felt a strong connection with Nica knowing that Denzo and he had a similar scenario when they met. Aida on the other hand:

‘Oh that’s nice…’

‘No It’s not like that Aida…’ Nica reacts after hearing Aida’s reply. She placed her hand on Aida’s shoulder to try to ease her back into her happy mood.

‘Things take time okay? I know Denzo is making himself scarce now but, we’re all on the same boat on that. Just because me and Pai had similar experiences doesn’t mean it de-values your time with him.’ She said as Aida’s face slowly brightened up after hearing her kind words.

Pai just sat there across the table looking astonished at how quickly Nica got Aida back from the abyss. As far as he was concerned, when Aida cried in his arms, it took a whole afternoon, Tisha, Yukino and Pete, just to get her to seize her tears.

Nica immediately caught her before the floodgates overflowed.

‘Wow…’ He thought. As the conversation about Denzo and Neil continued. In the midst of it all Pai wondered if he should tell them the words that Neil had said from his point of view but he was afraid of the consequences if he ever did. Also the fact that Neil asked him to keep his lips sealed added to his resolve. He would never try to betray a friend who had entrusted their secret to him. The only thing that comforted him was the thought that one day Neil will be able to tell her himself about his own feelings and his own views about what happened.

Before any of that could happen, He decided to just let things play, without interfering on anyone else’s matters.

An hour passed by, and another. Soon the sky had grown dark and they had to leave.

They stepped out of the establishment as the streetlights sparkled dimly aligning the streets while they walked back towards their school. Just as they were about to cross the road, Aida stopped and turned towards the bright lights of a 24/7 convenience store. Something had somehow attracted her eyes towards it.

‘Oh my god Nica!’ She said with an air of excitement in her voice as she tugs on Nica’s uniform, grabbing her attention.

‘Oh wow it’s on stock?’ Nica replies as her expression suddenly lifts up to that magical glow once more as Pai becomes curious at what has gotten the girls so excited. He approached where they stood and saw a notice board right by the store's entrance. It said that Zebra bars were now being sold at all of their branches and Pai couldn’t understand what the fuss was all about.

‘Oh Pai how can you not know?!’ Nica said to him with vigor as she and Aida rushed inside the store, once again pulling Pai with them. He was glad that he is getting more than enough attention that he would normally get but everytime he looks at his watch he begins to worry about upsetting his mother who might be worrying that he is still out at this time of the night.

As the two girls line up at the counter to buy the candy bar, Pai strolls around the store to occupy himself as he waits for the two to finish their business. He spots the magazine rack near the entrance and checks if there they have the latest manga issues from his favorite mangaka. Sadly most of the books on the shelf were outdated by months as he sighs in dismay. He also questions why he even got his hopes up for a moment, he knew fully well that stores like these rarely have the latest issues in stock. If he really wanted one he could’ve just walked in to bookstore to get his fix then maybe he--

‘wHat ArE yoU LoOKinG At PAi?!’

A sudden loud voice echoed through his eardrums accompanied by his arm being violently shaken as Aida deliberately startled him while in the middle of his thoughts.

‘Uhh… Manga?’ He said, his voice nervously shaken.

Aida stares directly into his eyes with a large grin on her face.

‘Really? These? Manga?’ She said with a teasing tone.

Pai follows the direction where Aida was pointing to see her finger laying on top of a gravure magazine. With the very tip of her nail deliberately touching the voluptuous chest of the bikini clad model on the cover.

‘No… n-not that… b-but good suggestion… I might buy it.’ He replies, as he tries to emanate a confident aura.

Pai’s mind had wandered once again that he failed to notice where his eyes were looking at. It was only at that moment where he realized that he was looking at the direction of those “literary” works of anatomical art.

Deep inside he can feel the embarrassment creeping up his spine to the point that he wanted to cry and disappear out of sight, but because he was trying to be a new reformed “strong man” he endured and tried his best to keep his cool. Which somehow Aida thought was cute as she leans in close and pinches his cheeks. ‘Aww you trying to act like Denzo? I’m flattered.’ She said as she left with a teasing smile on her face. Pai could only stare at the two of them from afar as his feet were frozen in place.

He never noticed it before because he was too confused and elated that “he” was the one being invited to hang out after school hours that he forgot that he is with actual “real life” girls. The kind of situation that other boys could only experience through the realm of anime and ecchi manga was being experienced by him and he only took notice at that moment.

When he got a whiff of Aida’s perfume as she pinched his cheeks.

Something awakened within him.

Just below his belly button.

‘Pai aren’t you gonna join us? We also bought you one!’ Nica said as she waves him to come towards the table but Pai just stares on, smiling nervously at the two from afar. Nica just rolls her eyes thinking that he got shy once again and approached him. Going around to his back and pushing him towards the table as he tries his best to keep his stance at a certain angle to avoid “detection”.

As he sat down Aida was staring at him with evil looking eyes which made Pai sweat bullets. Somehow Nica notices this and asks what was wrong to which Aida replies with a notorious looking smirk.

‘I'll tell later…’

…

…

‘You lost… again!’ Val said proudly as she stood from her kart with Denzo following suit although a bit struggling as he was not used to sitting that low to the ground before.

‘Well no shit we were racing without lights!’ He reacted.

‘Whaddya mean no lights? We have lights here!’

‘Yeah lights, “here” but there, none!’ He said whilst pointing at the only lightsource the whole track ever has.

‘It should be enough, If you're good behind the wheel.’ She replies with an evil smirk.

Denzo could only grit his teeth knowing it was an unfair race, but then again the more he thought about it, the more he questioned what was unfair about it, which irritated him further.

‘Anywho, J2 will be here for the rest of the week while I take up the post at J&B’s and since you’re technically an employee I expect you to come here after your school commitments.’ Val continued.

‘So you mean I can also use the karts while I'm here?’ He asked.

‘Since there are no customers yet, yes go ahead. But mind your Boss there since he’s my only mechanic for now, so you have to ask him.’ She replied, pointing her finger at J2.

‘Can I?’

‘We’ll see. For now it’s best we get ourselves home. I mean don’t you have a cop problem?’ J2 asked, trying to avoid Denzo’s queries.

‘As long as I can still make it home by eight I’ll be fine.’ He answers.

‘Oof tough luck kid it’s already 7:30…’ Val reminds him as Denzo quickly grabs his phone to confirm.

‘Shit…’ He said as he quickly said his goodbyes and disappeared out on the driveway sprinting as fast as he could. The two of them, meanwhile, look on as Denzo runs in a rush. Val sighs looking a bit more relieved after him leaving as J2 asks her what was in her mind.

‘Nothing it’s just weird and strangely fun seeing yourself run around like an idiot all day.’

She said, sounding nostalgic as she spoke the words to J2.

‘What? You mean Denzo?’

…

‘Let’s go J2..’

‘Wait what?’

‘I’m starvin let’s stop by a mcdonald’s on the way back.’

‘No seriously?’

‘J2.’

…

‘Mcdonald’s… yes… got it.’

J2 replied as he felt a sudden weightiness in the atmosphere as beads of sweat formed on his forehead. He gets the car ready but before he could roll out, Val stops him as a call comes through her phone.

‘Yeah?’

…

‘You paid them already?’

…

‘They agreed to the schedule?’

…

‘Okay, thanks Lor…’

She ends the call and signals J2 to roll out of the parking lot.

‘Lorna?’

‘Yeah…’

‘What was that about?’ He asked, intrigued by the tone of their conversation.

‘A last favor.’ She replies as they exit the premises of the empty lot.

The next time she would talk would be after they had their dinner.

In between that and now.

Only silence.

…

…

Hundreds of kilometers away a lone woman had just done talking on her phone as she walked back to her green Lamborghini carrying a bag of freshly picked fruits she had just bought from a roadside stall. It was already night fall and she didn’t feel the need to get home in a hurry, for as far as she knows, her days of grinding for a cause she doesn’t care about has ended. Everything ahead of her is nothing more than a long vacation.

For now at least.

As she drives away from the fruit stand and out into the narrow pass that rejoins back into the highway.

As she stops on the junction, her car’s headlights shine on a derelict sign on the side of the road as she smirks thinking about what was about to happen here in a couple days time.

The traffic cleared ahead of her, as she leaves and rejoins the highway. Leaving the ominous unlit ribbon of road behind her, blowing the vines and the shrubbery away from the derelict sign as she takes off.

On it, it reads:

-You are now leaving-

The Old Zig Zag Road

…

...

(were watchin u P33 BOI >:] )

(U don’t lyk b0obs now dontcha?)

(HaAHHAHHahahahHAh)

(U fuking P33 B0I)

Pai stares in horror as he receives another text from an anonymous source. It was not the first time that he had received such messages, but each time he does it brings a shiver up his spine. The messages started right after Denzo had rescued him from those boys who tried to bully him again.

Boys from his former school.

St. Francis High School.

There had been numerous messages suggesting to him that he’ll be ambushed on his way back from school.

Telling him he was being watched.

But so far none had come to fruition.

But today was different.

He was out late.

The current time was 8:05 and the girls were getting ready to depart.

He felt annoyed and scared at the same time.

How a single text could alter his mood from happy to nervous wreck in a matter of seconds. But since he is trying to be his new self now, he has kept his composure after reading it. Making it look like he had just received a text from a friend.

Afterall, he does have friends now.

He thought.

‘Hey guys where - you commuting to?’ He asked.

‘Oh… I’m gonna take a taxi back and Nica’s gonna get picked up by her mom back at school. Why?’ Aida asked.

‘Ohh, nothing…’ He replies, bowing his head down.

‘Why? Do you wanna walk us back?’ Aida said in her teasing tone.

‘Kinda…’ He said but in his mind he was thinking of the exact opposite.

‘Aww that’s sweet Pai but you already walked us plenty today. We’ll take it from here.’ Nica said with a smile as she takes her backpack over her shoulders, getting ready to head back.

‘How bout you Pai? How are you gonna get home?’ Aida asked.

‘Usually I take the bus but it’s late, I think I have enough for a taxi ride.’ He said. Lying through his teeth.

The truth was he didn’t have enough money for a taxi ride, he only had enough for the bus just as he always planned. But the turn of events had forced his hand to take a different way home, hoping he could get his parents to pay the taxi fare once he got back, bearing the lecture that would inevitably come after.

They walked out of the convenience store and said their goodbyes to each other. Nica walked back to the school and Aida immediately got a taxi home leaving Pai standing outside the store alone.

He figured it was the safest place to wait as it was the brightest spot in the whole block.

But it didn’t take long before shadowy figures started appearing from the corners of the street. Each shadowy figure had a malicious smile on their faces as if they were looking at their prey all helpless and surrounded.

‘Pee boy…’ One of the shadows said in a ghastly tone as he appeared from the shadows exposing his grinning face as he pulled the neck of his shirt down to expose a scar near his shoulder.

‘See this pee boy? You did this to me! And you think you can escape without being punished?!’ The big burly teen shouts as he cracks his knuckles, readying himself for inflicting tremendous amounts of pain towards his victim as Pai looks around him and sees his once bright beacon slowly dimming from the shadows that were encircling him. The voices from the other teenage boys were getting rowdy as they closed their distance step by step. Slowly tightening the noose around Pai’s position, shouting profanity and disgusting phrases at him as his legs start to shake from the fear and intimidation.

Deep inside his mind, he has finally accepted his death.

‘Hey what’s the racket about scram you fuckin bums!’

A booming voice towers over the insults that were being thrown at Pai as the store manager marches out of the store with a shotgun in hand. Everybody quickly scrambles away in fear as the manager cocks and aims the gun towards the fleeing crowd but it seems a handful had stayed in place and is now harassing Pai, trying to drag the scared boy with them as he begs and pleads to be left alone.

‘You fucking--!’ The store manager shoots his gun at the teenagers as the buckshot fires a bundle of hard plastic pellets at the troublemakers, leaving them rolling on the ground in pain.

‘FUCK YOU!’ Shouts the boy with the scar, as he shrugs off the painful buckshots and charges directly at the store manager. The store manager fired a couple more shots straight at the boy's body but he didn’t flinch and continued his charge, eventually landing a punch to the store manager's face.

‘DON’T YOU FUCKING INTERFERE OLD MAN! I’M IN CHARGE HERE. I’LL KILL YOU IF YOU DO!!’ He shouted as the manager stumbled back in pain. The boy then turns his attention back towards Pai, but he is nowhere to be found as he shouts in anger at his subordinates for letting him escape. His subordinate meanwhile, looked at him in fear as they hurriedly scrambled away from him as he felt powerful seeing how he affected their actions. To his surprise this was not the case as he feels the cold hard steel of a handgun smacking hard on his cranium.

He loses his balance and falls prone on the pavement. It took him a minute before coming to his senses but when he did, he was looking at the barrel of a real gun.

‘You gonna kill me old man? You wanna go to jail?!’ He threatens him knowing his age as a minor. The old man smiles and cocks his weapon.

‘Kids these days don’t watch the news.’

‘Fuck you!’ The boy shouts.

‘It’s the raids kid…’ The manager replies with a smile.

‘And you threatened my life! I’ve got video evidence.’ He said as he pointed his finger at the store's CCTV camera.

Meanwhile Pai was clutching his bag in fear as he barely escaped certain death. He was lucky enough to run into a taxi mere meters after escaping the group's grasp. He clutches his bag in fear as the taxi speeds away from the scene.

As the lights of the convenience store fade from a distance, Pai faintly hears shots fire from behind.