77 Return to School

1:00 AM, Hayden woke up with Eun-ha in his embrace. They were both butt naked, albeit covered by Hayden's white comforter. The first thing he did when he opened his eyes was reach for his phone and check his Chatbox.

"Goddammit…" Hayden sighed in dismay. "I guess I won't be able to acquire the land…"

Shrugging, Hayden reminded himself that he should only consider this as a minor setback. Regardless… "I hate my luck…"

Kissing Eun-ha on the head, he sighed. "Well, at least I have her as a supporter… That's really the only good thing that's come out of this…"

Hayden launched the Home Control System (HCS) app on his phone that controlled the entirety of the appliances of a house. Opening the TV, Hayden set its volume on 1. He then switched to the Worldwide Cable (1), tuned in on the Global Gaming Channel, and rewound it to the earlier Gaming World News that he missed.

Leisurely, Hayden was listening on the news with his Divine Perception activated. A few seconds later, Daniel texted him. Apparently, he was finally out of the sick bay of Puting Araw just now, gaining plenty of rest in it.

Hayden replied with a plain 'Good for you, bud. See you later at school.' He proceeded to browse his phone following that.

As Hayden hung out with Eun-ha for the totality of the day yesterday, Hayden didn't have the chance to open his phone at all. In addition, he set his phone on no disturbance mode, not giving Hayden any kind of notification at all from any app. With the sole exclusions being on text messages from people.

Therefore, he grabbed this opportunity to do so. Scrolling, Hayden encountered a trending post involving him. It was a picture of him in the Global Gaming Channel Hub, thanking the staff and shaking hands with him succeeding the recording of his interview.

'It's probably the post from the woman that snapped a picture of me that time…' Hayden recalled the flash he perceived back in the Global Gaming Channel Hub. 'Huh… There are also numerous posts regarding my walk to exit the hub…'

Tapping on a few posts, all the fans he had only had praises for him. As for the haters, they were hurling all sorts of insults at Hayden, such as 'show-off,' 'fake,' and 'attention seeker.'

Needless to say, Hayden wouldn't respond to any hate comment. Doing so would be suicide. As long as he wasn't maligned with an outrageous accusation, Hayden wouldn't speak up in social media. Why? Well, it was the mature thing to do.

Anyhow, it wasn't like the haters were truly out to get him. Besides, those haters were always drowned out in the flood of commendations that Hayden received.

At that moment, his ears perked up as he received the trending news of him in the Gaming World News. Eun-ha also groggily woke up at that second.

"I was featured in the Gaming World News." Hayden rapidly blinked, signaling his head to the TV. "It's from a trending post after the interview."

"Ooh. Play it." Eun-ha shifted to face the TV and rest on Hayden's arm instead of his chest.

Winding the TV by five seconds and switching the language to English, Hayden played the news.

The woman anchor spoke, "And now, for our Gaming Celebrity Segment… A video of Hayden Emperador, a Filipino internet personality viewed by many as a deity when it comes to the popular MOBA game, War of Honor, has become viral all around the world."

A video played of Hayden shaking hands with the production staff of the Global Gaming Channel Hub. It was different from the one that Hayden saw in the trending posts as and was taken from the perspective of a staff member.

Turning on his phone in confusion, Hayden dug up a few seconds and found the video. He muttered, "Huh, there are three trending posts that involves me…"

"What a humble young man." The male anchor was the one who opened his mouth this time. "Intelligent, athletic, skilled, and now, polite. What else can you find in a man? To think that he's merely 16 years old, 17 this year, is baffling."

"What an astonishing young man indeed." The woman anchor said with enthusiasm. "By the by, what do you think of Hayden's chances when it comes to defeating the undefeatable Eternal Gladius in the incoming Pro Assembly?"

"I think we're in for a ride this year at the Pro Assembly." The male anchor replied. "For the past few years, the team of Eternal Gladius was undefeatable, yet Ares, the ace of the Italian e-sports team and the champions of last year's War of Honor's championship stated that he may not stand a chance against Hayden!"

"Whether he's joking or not, I guess we'll see in April at the Pro Assembly and World Championship in Andong, South Korea, huh?" The woman nodded her head.

That was the end of the news segment. Eun-ha teased Hayden, "Look at you. Becoming one of the big names, huh? Being shown on international news."

"Well…" Hayden thought back. "Prior to us getting together, I was already highlighted in that Gaming World News. This is the fourth time actually. The first was back when a fan of Ares brought me into his attention. Consequently, I was applauded by Ares. Many people were asking of my identity. The second was my big identity reveal, and the third was when the studio that brought us War of Honor released their statement of me not using cheats at all. A testament of my micromechanical skill."

"So you 'are' a big name!" Eun-ha grinned at him, kissing him on the lips. "You say you hate the attention, but you secretly like it, don't you?"

"Who doesn't like being praised and acknowledged?" Hayden indirectly admitted. "What I find objectionable is the popularity that comes along with it. It is annoying. Especially later, when I go back to school…"

"Fighting!" Eun-ha hugged Hayden. "You can do it. I can see it already, the future where Hayden Emperador is a household name."

"Oh, please, god, no…" Hayden was sure that this would happen, however, it doesn't mean that he was okay with it. "Well, I guess I can come to terms with it… No matter what I do, fame will come with success. Even if I do all sorts of illegal activities, I'll still gather popularity, albeit it's infamy. No matter what, you can't flourish without fame tailing you."

It was true. At his age, no matter how small the success he achieves, fame will follow him. On the contrary, it was stupid to be bothered by fame as it was solely lucrative, specifically for his career of gaming. And if he was scared of fame, Hayden would never get to places. A genius will always be celebrated.

More so since in modern day, people actually respected celebrities' privacy, hence his fame wouldn't bother him 'that' much. The Privacy Law warded off paparazzi to spy on eminent personalities. Though that didn't stop people from spreading rumors and gossip. Such is the nature of human beings.

"Exactly." Eun-ha took Hayden's phone and switched to the Korean satellite and rewound it to watch a soap opera. "Your school's seven hours away, right?"

"Yep."

"Let's have some fun then." Eun-ha sat on top of Hayden and made love with him. The two made romance for a couple of hours.

...

"Hey Hayden." Daniel greeted Hayden in front of his porch. The two was wearing their black school uniforms. "Or should I say, Heyden? Get it? Heyden."

"Shut the fuck up." Hayden rolled his eyes at Daniel as he locked his front door with his phone. Hayden then muttered, "I shouldn't have visited your stupid ass."

"Come on man, don't be like that." Daniel sighed, acting dejected. "I just got back from suffering, and that's how you greet your best friend?"

"Correction. Only friend." Hayden coughed, his face emitting its usual insouciance. "Be thankful that I'm keeping you around."

"No hug?" Daniel attempted to hug Hayden, who ducked and moved forward. Twisting and rushing at Hayden, Daniel jumped whilst shouting, "Come back here! I have to thank you for everything!"

Turning around, Hayden pushed Daniel by the face. "Thank me by not doing that. It's as if you don't know me at all. I'm reconsidering the paradigm of our friendship. You have a heavy sin that you have to atone for."

"Oh, I don't like where this is going…" Daniel gulped, slightly horrified of Hayden's tone. "Let me ask, what is my 'sin?'"

"You leaked the power of my Divine Perception." The ceased their mischievous acts as Hayden emanated extreme dissatisfaction. "I know that you know how I view my power. Nevertheless, that doesn't give you the right to roam around and disseminate what my Ability is capable of doing."

"O-oh… Y-you mean that…" Daniel was akin to a frightened little puppy in front of Hayden and his words. "Okay, I apologize for my actions. It won't happen again."

"You're damn right it wouldn't." Hayden let it go easily. He wasn't a close-minded idiot that would stay angry at someone in spite of them apologizing. Although that didn't stop him from giving Daniel a stern warning, "The next time you do, well, be prepared for the consequences. Be grateful I don't view this worthy of my grudge."

"Thank you then." Daniel recovered from his fright. "Anyways, congratulations on your fame. You're a genuine celebrity now!"

"That's a matter that shouldn't be celebrated." Hayden impassively replied as he walked side by side with Daniel. "You understand that I hate social interactions."

"Yet you decided to become a celebrity. Whose fault is that?" Daniel laughed out loud, noticing people were looking at them. "You were already quite a celebrity in the Philippines after your flashy showcase of skill in basketball. It was augmented when you were revealed to be 'the' Supremacy. Tsk, you seriously got to tone down your usage of Divine Perception."

"That'd be an absurdly stupid thing to do." Hayden smiled at the phone's camera in front of them that was pointing at him. "If anything, I have to take advantage of it as much as possible. Absorb everything that I can without stopping. What's the use of an Ability such as mine if I don't exploit it?"

"Yeah, yeah." Daniel couldn't even begin to understand why he tried to give advice to Hayden, the inanely mature person. "So, how are you going to handle it in our school?"

"The usual." Hayden put on a delighted fa��ade and politely waved back at the people waving at him. "Absolute nonchalance if not bothered, and politeness when approached. I can't possibly wave off people, can I? That'd be detrimental for my career. One wrong step and it's the end of me."

"Indeed." Daniel nodded his head in agreement.

"On an unrelated topic." Hayden veered the conversation into a different direction. "I'd want to make a proposition involving a career."

"And what is that?" Daniel's curiosity was piqued. Hayden was someone who never joked when it came to career.

"Join me." By this point in time, they were out of the considered-suburban neighborhood of Makati and entered its busy and bustling morning streets.

Stopping for a pedestrian light, Hayden continued, "I'll introduce you in my channel, you learn to play War of Honor and Steel Storm, and we collaborate. I can't believe I'm saying this… But it's going to be fun, don't you think?"

"Wouldn't you be more convincing if you advertise this career with a sincere smile?" Daniel shook his head in disapproval of Hayden's indifferent expression. "What kind of a person tries to sell a house without a smile on his face?"

When the light became green, the two started to walk once more. While walking, Hayden argued, "Psh, not like you won't join me."

"Who's to say I will?" Daniel chuckled. "I mean… I'm not celebrity material, right?"

"You?" Hayden had a confounded look as he stared at Daniel. "You of all people don't have the rights to say that. Your personality is perfect for the industry. Besides, you are kind of in a dire need of money, right? Without the Puting Araw Trainee allowance, your only source of money is your parents."

"Tsk, a person that can read everyone like an open book is so annoying…" Daniel muttered with annoyance. "Yeah, yeah, I'll join you."

"That's settled." By the end of their conversation, the two arrived at the school. When Hayden entered the buzzing assembly hall jam-packed of students and teachers, many was caught by his dazzling apperance. "Ahh, here comes another long day…"

Muttering that, Hayden bade goodbye to Daniel and lined up on his class, where he was eyed by myriads of people, not just from the 9th Grade students, but also from the higher and lower grades. Countless people were murmuring and throwing glances at him. However, none dared to approach him.

The aura of intimidation that Hayden emitted paired with his sharp gaze and stunningly good looks warded off the people who had the idea of initiating a conversation with him.

That was when Faye entered the hall, immediately excusing the ladies on the line to stand next to Hayden.

"Good morning Hayden." Faye greeted Hayden with glee. To this day, she can't believe that Hayden was the big celebrity that he was. After all, Hayden's fame in the Philippines exponentially rose subsequent to his reveal as Supremacy. To many Filipinos, Hayden was pretty much the personification of a genius. "How's our big celebrity holding up?"

"It was good." Hayden nodded his head expressionlessly as a form of recognition and to return Faye's greeting.

"I see, we're still as reserved as usual, huh?" Faye wryly smiled, not at all bothered since she comprehends how introverted Hayden was. It was as if no matter how much you wanted to communicate with him, he'll politely answer using the shortest possible line. "So, how was your Christmas vacation?"

"I'm good." Hayden revealed a genuine smile. The female onlookers were taken aback upon witnessing this, much to the irritation of Hayden's male peers. It went without saying that, as she was the closest person to Hayden when he flashed that smile, she was the one flustered the most, utterly blanking out.

What people didn't know was that what's playing in Hayden's mind was his sweet time with Eun-ha and CHORUS. All those experiences truly made his Christmas vacation something special this year.

Meanwhile, what Hayden didn't know was that people perceived this smile as a sweet smile. They misunderstood that there was something going on between him and Faye, the muse of the school.

"Though this much public attention in school is… Wildly inappropriate." When he stopped skimming through his memories, Hayden unemotionally extended his answer.

Faye didn't hear this as she remained speechless and petrified of Hayden's smile. This was the first time Hayden smiled at her!

As a result, her mind went to full-on overthinking mode, 'Does he secretly like me? Is he in love with me? Is he finally the Mr. Right? He's so tall, dreamy, and handsome!'

In that instance, he noticed the dazedly gawking ladies and the jealous gazes of the men surrounding him. Coughing, Hayden activated Divine Perception to not let any emotion escape from him again.

At that moment, Courtney entered the school with a spring in her steps. She had her Spectral Fantasy actuated. She figured that, since her Ability doesn't have a cost, why not activate it all the time?

Taking that into account, she has modified her appearance to appear into that of a breathtaking supermodel. Many people feasted their eyes on her and was enthralled as her body proportions were exceedingly sensual and provoking.

Perky and not overly huge breasts, wide hips, a perfect hourglass figure, flawlessly smooth skin, she reimagined herself to be that of her own ideal woman. The sole body part that she didn't touch that much was her face, simply removing the impurities on it and changing it to make it appear slimmer.

Confidently, she walked to the line of Class 3-7, the adjacent section of Hayden's section. She was instantly flocked by her friends asking of what happened to her and complimenting her. Promptly, she laid her eyes on Hayden. 'Prey is spotted…'

…..

'What the hell is happening…' Hayden's sense of danger was triggered the second Courtney walked into the building. Surveying his surroundings, he locked eyes with Courtney behind him, an unobtrusive frown plastered on his face. 'Who the hell is this?'

'Success! He's staring at me with extreme fascination!' Courtney was filled with elation when she made eye contact with Hayden. 'I didn't know that he's far handsomer than Z… Wow…'

If Hayden could hear her thoughts, he'd doubtlessly leer at her. Fascination? Excuse me, I'm suspicious of you! I'm not at all fascinated!

'Tsk, if only I am a Level 3 wielder…' Hayden clutched his hands, shaking with frustration. 'My sense of crisis isn't subsiding… My anxiousness is acting up… What the hell is happening to me?'

The action of Hayden was seen by Courtney, who misinterpreted this as Hayden being secretly ecstatic and was delighted of witnessing her beauty. 'Hehe, he's falling into the trap! Oh… The idea of being taken by such a smart, attractive, muscular, and rich man is so titillating!'

Hereafter, Hayden didn't pay attention to her any longer, merely focusing on trying to figure out what was triggering his own anxiety and worry. Without a warning, Faye tugged on Hayden's sleeve, nearly startling Hayden.

"Um… Hayden…" Hayden noticed Faye's cheeks getting increasingly rosier. She stammered, "C-can we talk later? Alone?"

A strong scent of attraction originating from Faye slowly waltzed inside Hayden's nose, surprising him. 'Faye is infatuated with me, huh?'

Hayden didn't really know what to do in this situation. On one hand, he wasn't attracted to Faye one bit. Sure, she was an astounding dancer and was one hell of a beauty, howbeit, he was in a relationship and wasn't planning on making his relationship a polygamous one anytime soon.

On the other hand, if he turned her down without a word in this setting, he'd definitely be seen as a jackass. Taking this latter into mind, Hayden spoke, "Yeah, sure. What time?"

Plus, Faye wasn't even a wielder. It'd be foolish to involve her in his business. That being the case, if he was planning on courting another woman, he wouldn't even take her into consideration.

"Can you…" Faye couldn't look at Hayden in the eyes. "Meet me in the gardens behind the school after class?"

"Yeah, sure." Hayden casually responded without looking at Faye. Following this interaction, there were no other people who bothered Hayden.

At 7:00, the flag ceremony started. 20 minutes fleeted by, with Hayden automatically singing whilst preoccupied in his mind.

When it was time to go upwards, Hayden caught wind of a peculiar sight. The figure of the woman, Courtney, he stared at earlier seemed to glitch out, momentarily reversing back to her true form in Hayden's vision.

Picking this up, Hayden activated his Heavenly Sense. One must know that his Heavenly Sense gave him the 'shape' of a person, or the outline of their figure in his mind. This shape is enveloped by the aura that Hayden can see with his Heavenly Sense.

Comparing the body shape of Courtney in his Heavenly Sense and his eyesight, Hayden concluded, 'Ahh, she's an illusion-user.'

…..

World Lore Time – With the establishment of the World Government, and the releasing of 7G, Worldwide Cable has been implemented. Worldwide Cable is literally cable TV for televisions worldwide. Its broadcast times are in sync with the Greenwich Mean Time and can be rewound to any point of its broadcast, which is on the internet as well. Worldwide Cable features tens of entertaining channels that rendered cable companies useless, especially with the generous feature of rewinding the broadcast at any point in time and that every spoken word on all the channels can be translated into any language and is translated into your local language by default.

In addition to that, every country gets a channel that shows news, highest rated tv shows of that country with subtitles (Because dub sucks and that modern literacy rate is 100%), and many more. Only the best of the best can be shown on each country's specific channel, except for Japan's animations as that has its own channel.

Some of the more known channels for Worldwide Cable is the Global Gaming Channel that broadcasted gaming news; the World News that covered the most important news in the world, and as it literally only covers the most important news, there will be a notification on the top right of a screen instead. The World News channel also covered the World Government's World Summit; the Kids' Cartoons channel that showed the best of the best of kids' cartoons translated into the local language; the Animation Channel that featured anime and any studios' anime showed in there is a great honor for the studio and the anime produced as it is the highest; Porn Channel that gave free porn. As most technologies are controlled using cellphones anyway, the Porn Channel can only be accessible by someone with a confirmed age of 16 years old through their Identity Number. Much like the Animation Channel, any porn actresses and actor shown there is only the best of the best and it is a great honor to be featured in it. Meanwhile, genres such as 'staged chikan,' 'staged r*pe,' and 'public sex' is not shown as it is too vulgar, not to mention that 'chikan' is basically sexual assault, which is illegal. As for public sex, it is not shown due to it encouraging having sex in public spaces, which is illegal, but only needs a fine when caught.