[...And for a while there, I almost believed that was where I belonged. Well, I don't—]

"Yeh kya chutiyapa hai?! Saala!"

Adam's image on the large screen shattered into a web, and the bottle of liquor that was used to crack it also shattered on the floor just a few moments later.

Dr. Aniston's hand trembled as he watched Adam's face flicker and disappear from the broken screen—still, his voice echoed through the speakers. Each of his words, causing Dr. Aniston to want to pull out each of his thick, dark hair.

"Damn it." He stared at the broken screen. "This boy—no. This man thinks he can just do this? He does this… right when I'm the one—no. No, no. No. Calm down, Rajesh. No. Dr. Aniston. You are Dr. Aniston."

Dr. Aniston forced his breathing to slow. Panic wouldn't help. He'd handled worse situations before. This was just... unprecedented.

"Calm down… Calm—"

And right when his breathing was slowly turning normal, the phone on his desk rang. He slowly turned toward it, his gulp loud enough to whisper in the air.

He let it ring twice more before answering.

"Hello, this is Dr. Aniston."

The voice on the other end was cold. Dr. Aniston listened, his expression growing grimmer with each passing second. He nodded occasionally, forcing a smile even though there was no one there to see it."

"Understood. Yes, sir. I'll handle it. He has nothing on us. No proof. I… won't make the same mistake as my predecessor."

He hung up gently, setting the phone down as it might explode.

Then he screamed.

"Bhenchod!"

The sound tore from his throat, raw and frustrated, echoing through his office.

"Saala! Saala!" Papers scattered as he swept his arm across the desk. His carefully maintained composure cracked completely, and his perfectly combed hair was tousled everywhere.

"...Saala."

But after the outburst, silence settled over the room. Dr. Aniston's gaze drifted to the corner, where shadows seemed deeper than they should be. Something shifted there—not quite human, not quite animal.

"Should… I send you?" he whispered to the darkness… and the darkness lightly grumbled and groaned.

"No... no, too early. Too early."

Dr. Aniston straightened his tie and smoothed his hair.

"Ooh, Mr. Adam," he said with a hum while shaking his head. "You think you are the only one who can play in the light, hm? No, oh. No, no. No…

…two can play that game."

***

"Kat?!"

"Ms. Thorne?! Has anyone seen Ms. Thorne?!"

Somewhere else, Katherine's makeup artist and the production crew had been looking for their lead star for ten minutes.

But Katherine was hiding behind her trailer, crouched on the ground as tears streamed down her perfect face. She couldn't move, couldn't even breathe properly as she stared at her phone.

"It's… it's you…" she whispered. And although her tears trailed endlessly, a smile was stuttering across her face.

"I… I can't believe it."

She pressed her back against the cold metal of the trailer. She closed her eyes, calming her breath as she stood up.

"Adam," she whispered, wiping her tears as she nodded to herself several times.

"I'll… come and find you."

And while the entire world was moving because of one single man, the one responsible for this chaos… was currently examining a motorcycle.

Several motorcycles, to be exact.

Adam walked through a showroom, hands in his pockets, seemingly unbothered by the storm he'd just unleashed. Even with his stunt back at his old apartment, he still had enough cash on him that he could consider himself… well-funded.

And so, he decided that it was time.

"Can I help you, Mr. Adam?"

Adam turned. A middle-aged man with grease-stained hands approached, smiling broadly.

"You… know me?"

"Are you kidding?" Joe laughed, thinking Adam was being modest. He reached for Adam's hand to shake it. "My name's Joe. I noticed you've been walking around for a minute now. Any bike that's interesting to you?"

"Oh, uh… I was thinking that one." Adam pointed at a bike in the corner. Joe paused, studying both Adam and the machine. It was an adventure bike… which stood nearly as tall as Adam himself.

"Ah, g-good choice. The BMV R 1450 GS Adventure DCT. Black and Red," Joe explained, leading Adam over. "No clutch, so it's more comfortable for long rides. It's surprisingly very light to handle, so even if you're on the short—I… I mean, since you're a Hero. It shouldn't be a problem for you."

Adam nodded, running his hand along the fuel tank. "I'll take it."

"Great! I'll just need some ID for the registration."

"My… ID." For the first time in a very long time, Adam's heart… fluttered. He stood frozen for a moment, then slowly reached for his wallet. His fingers found the Hero license—the first official document he'd ever owned with his real name.

"Here you go."

"Thank you. I'll process everything for you, Mr. Adam. Just sit back, relax, and congratulations on your new bike."

And several minutes later, Adam held the paperwork in his hands. There it was, printed in black ink: Adam Smith.

"Huh…" A smile almost crept across his face. Almost.

Joe and Adam then watched as a mechanic wheeled the bike outside.

"Ah, by the way, Mr. Adam…" Joe then showed Adam two helmets, one black and the other quicksilver. "...Which one do you want? On the house."

"Oh, uh… right." Adam squinted at his choices for a moment and then grabbed the silver helmet from Joe.

"We also added free saddlebags for you, Mr. Adam," Joe smiled, watching Adam approach the bicycle. "Maybe you can go to our social media page and like us?"

"Oh… I don't have social media."

"But the freebies—" Joe wanted to say more, but then saw Adam casually lift the entire motorcycle to turn it around toward the driveway.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, Mr. Adam! R-riide safe!"

"Oh. Thank you."

***

Hours later, Adam rode through a ruined street. The buildings were damaged, and blood marks decorated the walls… still.

This was where it had all started for him and other people—when he was summoned to the 242nd Game.

Even after two months, cleanup crews worked among the rubble. There were also people obviously belonging to scavenger teams; he would recognize them anywhere.

But… most of these people were volunteers. The city had been trying to rebuild, but progress was slow.

Adam parked his bike and approached a tent where a man sat at a folding table, coordinating volunteers.

"Good afternoon, Sir. I'd like to help with the cleanup."

"You can sign here." The man looked up from his clipboard. "There is soup in two hours and—what…"

And when he saw Adam's face, the man's eyes instantly widened.

"You're... you're Adam the Endless!"

Almost everyone there turned their heads when they heard the coordinator raise his voice.

"A Hero is here…? Why?"

"Who...?"

"Is he here for a photo op?"

"Isn't he… the new Hero?"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.