402: Photo.

Photo.

Somewhere in Irio.

In an ordinary two-floor building with four bedrooms, a Christmas party was being held.

Middle-aged men, women, and the elderly discussed with each other in the midst of eating and drinking.

Children played together with their newly-gained Christmas presents, making the atmosphere cheerful.

Currently, an adorable black-haired girl in her 14s was sitting on a couch with a brand new phone in her hands.

She was messaging with her friends and scrolling down any interesting gossip until finally, something interesting popped up in a group chat that was formed with 10 of her friends.

The message was a simple photo about a black-haired youth walking out of the church.

At first, she didn't understand why her friend sent the picture but soon found out the reason.

The individual was inhumanly handsome, and she often sent messages with her friends about handsome idols they had seen in magazines, but the current young man in the photo was otherworldly.

If it were only that, she wouldn't be as surprised, but she soon found out the identity of the youth after her friends started messaging rapidly about his return.

A return of a youth that single-handedly brought Irio to fame.

A youth that still hasn't been erased from Irio's younger generation's memories.

She, like many others, are die-hard fans of him, and seeing him in the flesh had been a dream of many.

When he finally became an individual that was admired by many, it was too late.

He had already moved out of Irio and entered a vast world where people with strength rule.

But now… He had returned!

Her eyes widened in shock, and she felt like screaming her heart out, but she remembered that she wasn't the only one in the building; but there was someone else in the building who knew the youth personally.

She stood up from the couch and rushed towards upstairs, but when she reached upstairs.

Her mother shouted from downstairs, ''Amy, stop running in the house!''

''Sorry!'' Amy, the adorable black-haired girl, apologized and quickly walked towards a white-colored door that had flower drawn on it.

Without knocking, she opened the door and entered the room.

The room was a standard girl's room, with pinkish walls and most of the furniture either in the color of red or pink.

In the bed, bunnies, dogs, cats, and all sorts of stuffed animals were gathered around the pillow.

But, Amy's attention wasn't on them but instead on a black-haired girl sitting in front of the desk with a laptop in front of her.

''Big sister!'' Amy shouted, which caused the beautiful black-haired girl to flinch.

She turned around, and her youthful face with slick eyebrows, cute pointed nose, and blue-colored eyes became visible.

''What is it?'' Amanda, Amy's big sister, asked after getting jumpscare from her little sister.

''Look!'' Amy grinned and showed a picture on her phone.

Amanda narrowed her eyes and leaned closer to the picture, but then… Her eyes widened in shock, and her face became pale like he had seen a ghost.

She swiftly took the phone and kept looking at the photo with trembling hands.

''When… Was this taken?'' She asked with a shaky tone.

''Now!'' Amy replied with a giggle and sat down on Amanda's bed, ''He visited Christmas Church with his family; he had returned!''

''Kyaa!'' She squealed with excitement and couldn't believe she could actually see her idol.

Amanda lowered the phone and bit her lip after noticing someone else in the picture.

A beautiful black-haired girl with gem-like eyes and a face that overshadows everyone else.

…

Inside a simple one-floor building.

Four figures were gathered around a table, and delicious-looking was gathered on it.

One of the figures on the table was a middle-aged man that has earned an excellent reputation in Irio for one reason.

He used to be Kurogami Ichiro's Coach and was currently Head Coach of Irio's Middle School's Martial Arts Club.

He was before Club Advisor, but his position as Head Coach was agreed upon almost instantly after Ramu's tournament.

Three other figures on the table were his wife and the two children they had.

The children were twins at the age of 14.

They had remarkable similarities between each other, except their gender was different.

Both of them had brown hair, eyes, and adorable faces.

Suddenly, his son exclaimed and shouted, ''Father, look!''

''Hmm?'' He frowned and grabbed the phone that his son offered.

At first, he couldn't really make any sense of the picture, but soon his eyes widened in shock.

''Honey, what is it?'' His wife asked with worry while her son was whispering with his sister, who exclaimed in shock after hearing about the appearance of certain black-haired youth.

He lowered the phone and put it back on the table with a deep sigh, ''Well… I guess peace in Irio will be gone, but I also think exciting times are ahead.''

''Hmm?'' His wife tilted her head, not understanding what her husband meant.

He smiled and shook his head, ''My old student returned to Irio.''

''Oh, who?'' She casually asked while taking a tiny piece of her food before putting it inside her tiny mouth.

''Ichiro.'' He replied with a wry smile.

''Cough!'' His wife coughed out the food and quickly grabbed a glass cup before gulping the water down.

He looked outside the window and saw how the snowflakes slowly dropped down from the sky.

'I wonder how much he has grown…' He closed his eyes and remembered Ichiro's weird conversation with other legendary figures, like Slych.

Back then, he was relatively unknown, and many even protested letting him join the tournament.

But, after the tournament, everyone was silent.

No one dared to protest or even laugh at him for losing.

Because he had done something no one in Gensa managed to do.0

He managed to fight Slych and almost win!

Now, he can only imagine how far Ichiro has reached, and he has a hunch that Ichiro will once again shock Irio's citizens and make countless other legends.

With a smile, he opened his eyes and continued dining with his family, who grabbed their phones and started texting with their friends.

It didn't take long for half of the Irio to know about Ichiro's appearance, and soon, there won't be a soul who didn't know.

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