Dragon Raja: Reboot

Chapter 151 A Fate That Remains the Same?

"Wise ruler, go back and rest. I'll handle the rest."

The increasingly tall and muscular man grinned, his large, jade-like hands gripping the shovel and prying it into the ground. What would normally require a dozen shovelfuls of work, he easily accomplished by himself.

"Kenshiro's strength is getting greater and greater." Akira Sakurai looked enviously at the muscle lines on Kenshiro's arms that even long sleeves couldn't hide.

Kenjiro Miyamoto put down his shovel, struck a Popeye pose, and proudly declared, "This is the result of my long and arduous training!"

"Tch, big guy, ugly as hell." Ryoma, who was passing by, curled his lip, put his hands behind his head, and walked by boredly.

"Hey, isn't this the future Principal Ryoma?" Miyamoto Kenjiro said with a grin. "Skipping class again?"

Principal Longma sneered, "I'm inspecting future territories, what do you know?"

Miyamoto Kenjiro smiled with narrowed eyes, saying nothing, just looking at him in a meaningful way, making Principal Ryoma feel uncomfortable all over.

"Don't look at me like that, I always feel like you're secretly cursing me in your heart!" Ryoma said irritably.

Kenjiro Miyamoto shrugged. "Be confident. I like you when you're confident."

"Alright," Sakurai Akira interrupted the two with a smile, "Don't forget to attend the party tonight. It's almost time, we need to get ready."

Upon hearing this, the two men composed themselves, and a solemn atmosphere filled the air. They nodded slightly at the same time, saying nothing, but their calm, still eyes seemed to say everything.

Sakurai Akira, his hands gripping the shovel, looked with a touch of melancholy at the patch of sky above that hadn't changed much over the years.

From the time they met the adults until now, the square sky above their heads has remained the same. Many things seem unchanged, but only they themselves know that their fate has been subtly altered.

It has only been half a year since they met the adults, but for them, it has felt like several years or even more than ten years.

Every night, after they fall asleep, they enter a strange and eerie space.

It was a world without light, where the sun never rose. In the darkness, only the brilliant golden eyes shone like fire, and whispers like evil spirits murmured from the depths of darkness.

Countless monsters lurk in the darkness, seemingly neither alive nor dead. They are mostly made of bronze-colored bones, with their ribs interlocked like chains.

The monster that Akira Sakurai first encountered had a ferocious, crimson face, a long, straight nose, and golden, menacing light flowing in its pupils, just like a tengu from mythology.

Each time they encounter monsters, they emit a shriek that is somewhere between joy and crying, and lunge at them with their bronze claws exposed.

The monsters certainly didn't want to give them a loving hug; they wanted to tear them apart and drink their fresh blood.

Later they learned that what opened for them every night was the "Gate of Demon Extermination".

That was the destiny that the Snake-Headed Eight Families bore.

Behind the door lies a world of "ghosts".

Throughout history, all out-of-control ghosts have been thrown into this world, from which they can never escape, and eventually degenerate into mindless monsters.

For the past six months, they have been fighting to the death with the ghosts there every night to hone their martial arts skills.

"My Lord...you seem to be feeling a bit off lately, are you not feeling well?" Miyamoto Kenjiro suddenly asked.

Sakurai Akira paused for a moment, then looked up and smiled, "It's nothing, I just had a strange dream and I'm feeling a little down."

"Dreaming?" Ryoma rolled his eyes. "You have time to dream at night?"

"It's a nap," Sakurai Akira said helplessly.

He recently had a very strange and very long dream during his afternoon nap.

The most peculiar thing about this dream is that it seems to be a TV series; he has been having the same dream for several days in a row, and the development of the story is still closely connected.

In his dream, he did not encounter any adults. After meeting with the prosecutor, he received a poisonous hope. He ultimately could not resist reaching out to that hope and, in his ultimate sublimation, headed towards self-destruction.

Poisonous hope ignited his blood and life. After losing his mind, he cruelly defiled and killed his loved ones, then fled, killing many innocent people along the way...

In his dream, he was completely corrupted by his bloodline and transformed into the very thing he once feared most.

He's been thinking about this dream lately, feeling that it's too real, so real that it terrifies him.

He desperately wanted to forget this damned dream, but he couldn't help but recall every detail of it.

"A nightmare?" Miyamoto Kenjiro gripped the shovel again. "Well, it was just a dream. Don't worry about it. Cheer up. You're our temporary captain."

Just as Sakurai Akira was about to say something, the principal, who was not far away, suddenly called out to him, "Sakurai Akira, someone is looking for you."

"Sorry, I have to go now." Sakurai Akira put down the shovel, waved his hand, and walked quickly towards the old principal.

"Why does the principal want to see him?" Ryoma asked suspiciously.

"...It seems like it's almost time," Miyamoto Kenjiro murmured, as if he had remembered something.

"When is it time?" Ryoma turned around and looked at him.

"His birthday," Miyamoto Kenjiro said calmly, his gaze fixed on the man who was gradually walking away.

For ordinary people, every birthday is a day worth celebrating. You were born into this world on this day, beginning your life; how could such an important day not be celebrated properly?

Life needs a sense of ritual, and the word "birthday" itself is full of ritual.

But for the students detained in this care school, their "birthday" often means the arrival of law enforcement officers.

The law enforcement officers were dressed in impeccably tailored black suits, the linings of which were adorned with dazzling and grotesque depictions of ghosts and deities.

They may be nonchalant or intimidatingly stern, but to the students, it makes little difference. Whether the law enforcement officers are kind or stern, they will ruthlessly execute dangerous targets like them.

Because they are ghosts.

It is an unacceptable error to exist; we are born burdened with sin.

Longma remained silent for a while before asking in a low voice, "What questions did the law enforcement officer you met last time ask you?"

"No different from before. Do you ever lose control of yourself? Do you have a girl you like? Is there anyone you hate so much you want to kill... Oh, and you even asked me if I masturbate." Miyamoto Kenjiro shrugged.

Longma frowned and said, "I understand the rest, but what's this about 'hitting a plane'?"

Kenjiro Miyamoto slowly raised his eyebrows.

This care academy is very small, and the students there are destined to be out of touch with the increasingly advanced internet age; all they can access is what is permitted.

Therefore, neither action movies nor beautiful women's photos exist.

Once they were hired as school janitors, some unreliable law enforcement officers would bring them special gifts to celebrate their entry into a new stage of life.

Kenjiro Miyamoto stared at the boy in front of him and said meaningfully, "A simple, repetitive mechanical movement in the pursuit of self-satisfaction."

Longma's eyes were filled with confusion.

……

……

Sakurai Akira returned to his dormitory, exhausted.

He didn't turn on the lights because the sudden downpour tonight had caused problems with the electrical circuits in this old, dilapidated school campus.

He and several other school staff members tried to save him for a long time, but they were unsuccessful.

It's worth mentioning that the law enforcement officer who came to see him this year also joined their emergency repair team, but unfortunately, they still failed. The law enforcement officer sighed regretfully and turned to leave.

This year's routine inspection was no different from previous years. Every question from the law enforcement officer was like a sharp scalpel, meant to dissect him into thin slices and examine him carefully under a microscope.

At the end of the inspection, the law enforcement officer smiled and told him that his condition was very stable. As long as he continued to maintain this, he could leave when he turned forty. No one would ever question him through the tempered glass again; they would only visit his home once a year and bring him greetings from his family.

Forty years old...

That's really far away.

Who would want to start a family with him when he's forty?

In the original course of his life, forty-year-old Sakurai Akira had no skills, had never left the school in the mountains, was an old man who hadn't had time to grow up, and a lonely man without any relatives.

Akira Sakurai seriously imagined what he would look like at forty.

The novel must have been at least a dozen volumes long by then, right?

I just don't know if any readers will read this...

Well, I suppose there are at least a few people in this world who would be willing to read his novels, such as Kenshiro and his friends, as well as editor Mr. Sawa, and... the "girls" that adults talk about.

"Is this how I'm going to spend the rest of my life?"

In the darkness, Sakurai Akira, who had just returned to his dormitory, heard a man's voice that seemed to come from a very distant place.

His voice sounded so gentle and languid, even with a hint of femininity, yet his authority surpassed that of any law enforcer.

He sat there simply in the darkness, yet he seemed to be sitting high on a throne!

Akira Sakurai silently lit the candle.

The candlelight illuminated the dark room and the face of the man in the chair.

A face that could captivate all, more radiant and graceful than any woman's.

The man pushed a set of twelve vials of potions in front of Sakurai Akira. These potions gradually transitioned from a bright red to a somber purple, like the colors of a rainbow cocktail.

Kazama Ruri said softly, "Someone asked me to give these things to you. If you don't want to end your life so hastily, then accept them and try to get your blood boiling."

He was entrusted by a woman to deliver this medicine to her brother, so that this poor man, who had been imprisoned his whole life, could make his own choice.

He found it somewhat boring.

Because he didn't believe there would be a second outcome to this trip.

How could a moth that has been trapped in darkness its whole life give up when it finally has the chance to touch the light?

If a moth in the darkness finally senses even a tiny bit of light, it will surely do anything to set the whole world ablaze, just to warm itself.

Because he had never owned anything.

What does the world have to do with him?

Kazama Ruri suddenly became alert.

He suddenly realized that there were seven heartbeats in the small room!

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Akira Sakurai slowly raised his head, his golden eyes sparkling with tiny lights.

Behind him, five people were standing or sitting; the small room had been filled with people at some point.

Among the five people were men and women. Some were smiling, some were watching him warily, some had a half-smile, and some were indifferent to his appearance.

The flickering candlelight inside the room cast the shadows of the six people.

They exist behind Akira Sakurai, as if foreshadowing a new era of passion and legend.

Sakurai Akira, who was at the front, stood up, picked up the glass tube on the table, and the candlelight reflected off the tube, making it look as beautiful and colorful as a world they had never seen before, a gem overseas guarded by snakes.

Looking at that "poisonous hope" in his dream, he felt a chill run through his body and soul.

So this is fate...

The trajectory of fate unfolded as always.

That was not a dream. In another trajectory of fate, he injected himself with colorful potions one after another, letting the potions awaken his bloodline. In the end, he was completely devoured by boundless black desires and turned into a demon who fell into hell.

At that moment, he believed he had entered a completely new world and leaped into a new social class, and then, in order to witness the light he had never possessed, he took the lives of countless innocent people.

Really...

How hideous!

"Click."

He crushed the glass tube with a blank expression, the colorful cocktail liquid flowing into his palm and finally dripping to the ground.

"Yuan-kun, if hope was poisonous from the start, then everything that hope brought about should be completely eradicated!"

He slowly turned around, his voice hoarse and deep, like a horn that had been withered for a thousand years, his burning golden eyes like the light that moths yearn for, enough to illuminate that dark nest.

The moment he made his stance clear, even the most nonchalant woman in the white dress among the five raised her head, her golden eyes gleaming with a fierce and icy light.

This clearly demonstrates their stance.

Kazama Ruri stared at Sakurai Akira in front of her, shocked.

He was not afraid of these six people. Even if they fought in this small room, he was confident that he could escape unscathed. What shocked him was the resolve in the eyes of these six people.

What enlightenment that was! Fearless and undaunted, with only a detached indifference to life and death, as if saying, "I've thought about this for so many years and finally understand. I'm ready. If needed, I can die for certain people or certain things at any time."

What truly shocked and baffled him was how six such people could have been born in this prison!

They should have been like moths dwelling in the darkness, yearning for that dangerous, deadly, yet dazzling glimmer of light outside the prison, even willing to burn their remaining lives for that light, dying in the embers of the flames.

Moths that have never seen the light of day will naturally fly towards fire when they encounter it. They don't care if others are burned to death, they don't care if they are burned to death, and they don't care if the whole world is burned down. This is the fate of moths.

But now they disregard life and death, like ancient wandering knights who uphold righteousness and courage. These knights, carrying swords, roam the world, seemingly carefree and dissolute, yet with a resolute awareness of facing death.

They can die at any time without regret, without hesitation, without remorse.

As long as the person who changed their lives makes a request to them.

Who changed their lives?!

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Gen-kun. We've been waiting for you for a long time."

In the darkness, the man who defied fate reached out his hand, his blazing golden eyes like a beacon in the night, illuminating his way home and the road ahead.

(End of this chapter)