Chapter 177: Overwhelmingly met all of them...

’What kind of situation is this?’

Blake’s eyes fluttered open.

The ceiling, the bed, the unfamiliar room.

For a few quiet seconds, he simply lay there, still caught between sleep and wakefulness.

His mind felt sluggish, unwilling to piece together where he was.

The blanket was warmer than he expected, and the pillow beneath his head smelled faintly of clean detergent.

’Right, I’m in Myles’ base. Huh, where is he?’

He palmed the little space right next to him, but found none of that cold body.

Then, he noticed someone standing beside the bed.

"AH?!"

Blake jumped, hand over his heart.

’The grocery store clerk??’

It was the same guy from that day, the one who had been behind the counter before Blake and Myles went on their mountain date.

He was standing there with his arms crossed, openly staring down at him, not saying anything.

Just, watching.

Blake immediately jerked upright.

"Ow..."

A sharp pain shot through his head.

He grabbed his forehead with one hand, blinking several times as the room spun.

Alexis didn’t move, he simply continued staring.

The silence dragged on so long that Blake began wondering whether the man intended to speak at all.

’Why is he looking at me like I’m some animal at the zoo...?’

Feeling increasingly awkward, Blake carefully peeked toward the doorway.

"..."

The door was wide open, not just unlocked, but completely open!

’Damn it... I’m pretty sure Myles said I can’t meet Zlatan, let alone this dude!’

He instinctively tried swinging his legs off the bed, but the moment he put weight on them...

"...Ngh."

His knees buckled. Fortunately, he caught himself on the mattress before he could fall.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t stand.

He probably could, it he forced himself.

But after spending days restrained, his legs felt weak and unfamiliar.

His injured ankles screamed in protest the instant they supported any weight.

Every joint felt stiff, even moving his toes made the muscles in his calves tighten painfully.

He slowly sat back down, rubbing absentmindedly at one ankle.

’Right... I’m still recovering.’

At this point, there was no way to avoid speaking with him.

"...Hi?"

The greeting escaped awkwardly.

Alexis finally moved.

Without answering, he casually walked toward the bed, his expression never changing.

He leaned forward slightly, studying Blake’s face with open curiosity, as though trying to compare him with the image he’d built in his own mind.

Then he reached one hand toward Blake’s head.

Just before his fingers made contact...

"For God’s sake, Alexis!"

A woman’s voice echoed through the room.

"Why the hell did you open the door?!"

Alexis’ hand stopped in midair. He clicked his tongue before glancing toward the entrance.

"There’s no point hiding him. Besides what are you yelling for?! I’m just taking a look!"

Estelle walked into the room.

"..."

’Ah, so his name is Alexis.’

Blake silently stored the name away.

Estelle walked straight toward the bed.

Without even acknowledging Alexis, she shoved him several steps backward with surprising force.

Alexis stumbled.

"...Hey! What the hell are you doing?! You just said my name in front of him!"

Estelle rolled her eyes.

"As if it matters. He probably already knows all our names."

She folded her arms.

"He’s Myles’ favorite."

Blake quietly looked away.

’Actually... I didn’t know a single one, apart from Zlatan’s, until about three seconds ago...’

He slowly reached one hand toward Estelle.

"Are you the one Myles mentioned?"

She blinked, then immediately accepted the handshake.

"Well. I’m surprised, I didn’t think Myles said more than one word about me."

She proudly placed both hands on her hips.

"Then again, I’m amazing, so naturally he had to."

She grinned.

"Yep, I’m that Estelle."

Blake smiled politely.

That was surprisingly easy.

"So?"

Estelle looked down at him.

"Can you stand?"

Blake awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

"Not really. My legs still don’t cooperate."

He hesitated.

"...Can I leave the room?"

"No way!"

Alexis immediately shouted.

Estelle instantly slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Keep your voice down!"

She hissed before looking back at Blake.

"As for leaving..."

She shrugged.

"You should probably wait until Myles gets back."

"Where did he go?"

"That’s classified."

Blake blinked.

"Huh?"

"If you weren’t told, then you weren’t supposed to know."

"...I guess that’s true."

Blake sighed.

There wasn’t much he could argue against.

He looked around the room instead.

Compared to the previous days, it felt strangely peaceful.

The contrast was oddly unsettling but... he couldn’t exactly say he was in a better position, surrounded by people who probably didn’t like him all that much.

"I see you’re in good health."

A familiar voice entered, it was Zlatan.

Blake instinctively relaxed.

"..."

Then immediately remembered who he was almost smiling at.

His expression stiffened.

’He’s one of them... he technically doesn’t have any reason to pretend anymore.’

Zlatan noticed the awkward reaction and laughed quietly.

He casually walked over to Alexis, then patted him on the head.

"Once Myles gets back, everyone who came in here to satisfy their curiosity is getting beaten during training."

Alexis immediately slapped his hand away.

"As if I care! He can try!"

He cracked his knuckles confidently.

"We’re not under him, so why should I obey such a pointless order? We’re not exactly under him."

A calm voice drifted in from the hallway.

"But you could call him our leader."

Everyone looked toward the doorway.

Tania stood outside with her eyes closed.

She hadn’t even stepped inside.

Zlatan laughed.

"I see, so your strategy is keeping your eyes shut and pretending you never looked, Tania."

She gave a small nod.

"It minimizes risk."

"Smart, as anyone might expect from you."

Blake stared at all of them, one after another.

Alexis.

Estelle.

Zlatan.

Tania.

"Wow. This really is a villain team.’

They joked, teased each other and argued.

Yet somehow they got along surprisingly well.

It was strangely... normal.

Blake slowly raised one hand.

"You don’t really need to worry."

Everyone looked toward him.

"Why would Myles beat you over something like this?"

Silence.

Every single one of them stared at him with identical unimpressed expressions.

"..."

Estelle laughed first.

"Oh, no. He absolutely will. Probably during training."

Alexis grinned.

"I’ll just beat him back."

He suddenly jumped nearly high enough to touch the ceiling, then landing effortlessly.

"He can try."

The room somehow became even more competitive.

Blake looked between them.

"If you want... I could just ask him not to."

Alexis snorted.

"How arrogant. You think he’ll listen to every tiny request you make?"

Zlatan laughed louder.

"Oh, that’s not nearly as impossible as you think."

Tania suddenly turned around.

She opened her eyes, then immediately froze, her complexion paled.

"I..."

She quickly shut her mouth, looking to the side.

"I kept my eyes closed."

Nobody had heard footsteps.

Nobody had heard a door.

Yet somehow, Myles was suddenly standing in the middle of the room.

Blake visibly flinched.

He looked around.

Nobody else seemed surprised, not even slightly.

Myles calmly looked toward Tania.

"Hearing his voice is enough."

"..."

Tania let out a defeated sigh.

"What."

Without another word, she walked away.

Estelle immediately pointed at Alexis.

"It’s his fault."

Alexis looked away.

"...Tch."

He didn’t deny it.

Myles looked around once.

"Leave."

Nobody argued.

Within seconds, the room emptied.

The door quietly closed again.

Blake watched every single one of them disappear.

’Seriously? You’re just going to leave me alone with him? This whole thing was your fault!’

He slowly turned back.

Myles was already walking toward the bed.

"I literally woke up, the first thing I saw was that Alexis guy staring at me, it—"

"How do you know his name?"

Blake blinked.

"They thought I already knew everyone’s names. So... they accidentally told me."

Myles frowned slightly.

Blake scratched his cheek.

"I mean... what exactly was I supposed to do? They’re all stronger than me. What difference would asking them to leave have made?"

"They’re foolish."

Myles answered calmly.

"But they aren’t stupid. They would’ve listened."

He looked directly at Blake.

"...You simply didn’t want them to leave."

Blake immediately shook his head.

"That’s not it. It’s not like I desperately wanted to meet them."

Silence.

Myles simply stared.

Blake slowly looked down.

"...Please... don’t beat them during training, like they said you would. They were just curious, that’s normal. You don’t need to punish them for that."

Myles’ expression didn’t change.

"Don’t concern yourself with it."

Blake frowned.

"I don’t want them get hurt over something this small."

"I won’t, if you can tell me that nobody touched you."

"..."

Blake sighed in relief.

"...No—"

The word stopped, his eyes widening

’Wait. Technically...’

Estelle had shaken his hand.

Alexis had almost touched him.

More importantly, he had reached for Estelle first.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Myles quietly nodded once.

"I see."

He turned toward the door.

Blake’s eyes widened in panic.

"Wait! I touched her first!"

Myles stopped and turned around, walking back toward the bed.

Before Blake could react, one hand pressed lightly against his shoulder.

He was pushed backward onto the mattress.

The movement wasn’t rough.

But it was firm enough that Blake couldn’t sit back up.

Myles leaned over him.

His dark eyes remained fixed on Blake’s face.

"...Where?"