Chapter 959 - 17: The Advancing Hero

Chapter 959: Chapter 17: The Advancing Hero

"Uh..."

Kusanagi Hikotou was completely at a loss.

And maybe because of the inexplicable pressure the other guy gave off, his words carried a weird amount of persuasion—

So by the time Hikotou snapped out of it, he realized he’d already stuck his hand out like an idiot and, on reflex, taken that Stone Tablet. His expression changed slightly at once. Feeling the heavy weight in his hands, worried out of his mind, he lowered his head to look at the Stone Tablet he was holding, and forced a smile.

"You’re joking. What do you mean it ’originally belongs to me’? I don’t have the slightest impression of this thing... and you don’t even know me, right?"

He forced himself to calm down and tried to play it off with a laugh.

Meanwhile his heart was wailing. This time he’d really been roped into something, and he had no idea if the money he’d saved up from all his part-time gigs would be enough to get him out of this mess... Unlucky! Way too unlucky. How could something like this happen today of all days!

"I know you. Of course I know..."

Gu Mo said with a smile, his gaze roaming up and down Hikotou’s body as he gave a meaningful follow-up—

"Epimetheus’s bastard son. Of course I know that much."

"..."

"..."

"Uh... w-what bastard son?"

Kusanagi Hikotou froze on the spot. When he heard the guy say he knew him, he’d reflexively started wondering if this was someone he’d met before but just failed to recognize now. Or maybe some relative or family friend who’d spotted him and come over to tease him a bit.

He was still guessing, his taut nerves not yet relaxed, when the follow-up explanation slammed into him.

Epimetheus’s bastard son?

What the hell was that supposed to mean? And who the hell was Epimetheus?!

A bit dazed, he couldn’t for the life of him remember what that name stood for.

Which was perfectly normal. If you don’t deal with myths all the time, you’re not going to know what that name means off the top of your head. And even if you did, at most you’d only know a few superficial stories—that’s all just surface-level.

"You don’t know yet, but you’ll find out soon enough..."

Gu Mo waved a hand, then turned and left, clean, decisive, and stylishly smooth.

"I have a feeling we’ll meet again... boy."

His acting went into full swing at that moment as he tossed out that line full of déjà vu mystique. Without looking back, he walked straight off into the distance.

He left behind only the bewildered boy standing in the night wind, stunned for a long while before he suddenly felt all kinds of disoriented.

"..."

"..."

Kusanagi Hikotou felt like his brain just couldn’t keep up. He lowered his head to look at the Stone Tablet in his hands, which had the vibe of some freshly excavated relic, and only then reacted. When he tried to chase after the man, he discovered the guy had already vanished into the crowd, no trace to be found.

"What the hell is going on..."

Cradling it like it was a hot potato, he stood there on the street, at a complete loss, feeling like what had just happened was way too weird.

"Whatever. At least if I try to think positive, I didn’t actually lose anything..."

Muttering that to himself, Kusanagi Hikotou felt a bit relieved, but in turn his confusion only deepened. Because if the guy had been a liar out to swindle money, blackmail him, or extort him, that would at least make sense—there’d be some kind of logic to it.

But the way things had unfolded now just left him muddleheaded, and he couldn’t figure out the reason behind any of it.

He glared at the Stone Tablet in his hands for quite a while, until another gust of cold wind blew over. Feeling the chill, Kusanagi Hikotou finally realized how late it really was.

Whatever! Forget it...

For now he should just go home first. If he happened to run into that guy again later, he could just give it back then...

Kusanagi Hikotou stopped dwelling on it. He quickly put the Stone Tablet away and briskly headed in the direction of home.

—A few minutes later.

Passing an open lot by the roadside, the boy suddenly stopped walking on instinct.

The place was empty now, but up until just last year he’d been practicing baseball here all the time... It used to be a lively sports spot in the neighborhood. Ever since his shoulder injury, though, he hadn’t really come around here anymore, always subconsciously going out of his way to avoid it.

He was only cutting through tonight because he was in a hurry to get home and had to take the shortcut. Seeing the field lying empty in the night, he couldn’t help letting out a long sigh as he recalled how lively it had been before.

A thought flickered through his mind—

Maybe he didn’t have to completely cut baseball out of his life. Even if his shoulder really was done for, there were still ways he could keep playing. Worst case, he just couldn’t be a catcher anymore... When you get right down to it, you don’t walk away from nine years of passion that easily. He’d even seriously thought about going pro before all this.

With his level and talent, it hadn’t been totally impossible, so...

He really was a bit unwilling to let it go!

Blowing out a heavy breath, Kusanagi Hikotou made up his mind. He mulled over whether he should come back in a few days and see if he could still find that feeling.

......

"Fate really is something marvelous..."

From the rooftop of a distant high-rise, looking down at the endless flow of cars and people, taking in the city of ten thousand lights, Gu Mo watched Kusanagi Hikotou’s movements from afar—watched the kid linger by the edge of the baseball field, pacing there for a long time before finally leaving.