The Author's POV

"How pathetic..."

Looking back at those two emotionless eyes, Jin's mouth opened and closed a couple of times.

...Though he tried, no words came out from his mouth.

-Thud!

Kneeling on the ground, Jin lowered his head and stared at his blood-soaked clothes.

Those words hit him straight into the heart.

No matter how much he wanted to refute...he couldn't.

He couldn't even defeat a bunch of nobodies, and yet he dreamt of people erecting statues of him?

'How pathetic'

...No other words better matched how Jin felt at the moment.

Expresionesly staring at Jin's sorry figure, Ren spoke

"Is this all your pride amounts to?"

"..."

Staring at the ground, Ren's words went from one ear to the other...the world around Jin became dyed black and white, and all sound around him became faint.

Seeing Jin's state, walking next to him, Ren looked down on him

"So this is the real Jin Horton huh?"

An insecure brat with an overly inflated ego.

That's who Jin Horton was...

Only in his darkest moment did his true personality become evident.

People around him thought of him as a genius and a prodigy.

They lauded his talents and efforts continuously...but in the end, all that did was fuel his ego and insecurities.

Just like a castle made out of cards, all it took was a simple push, and everything came crashing down.

-Bam!

Staring at Jin's sorry figure for a couple more seconds, Ren raised his foot and kicked him in the stomach.

"kaahhh.."

Feeling a strong force on his abdomen, Jin curled on the ground as he gagged multiple times.

"To think your pride only amounted to this much...all it took was a couple of setbacks and this is the result...pathetic"

Walking over to Jin, Ren grabbed him by the hair and dragged his face towards his.

"You disappoint me"

-Pa!

Slapping Jin on the face once, Ren released his hair and flung him to the side as if he was a piece of garbage.

"I honestly couldn't care less if you died, but..."

Looking at Jin's pathetic figure for a couple of more seconds, Ren turned around and headed towards the exit of the room.

As he left, in an almost inaudible voice, he mumbled

"...I didn't want to discard such an important chess piece"

Watching Ren's figure leaving, leaning against the wall, Jin looked up and weakly said

"Y-ou y-our that guy called Ren Dover right?"

"..."

As if he didn't hear Jin's voice, Ren kept walking towards the exit of the room.

as confirmation, bitterly smiling, Jin looked down and softly

"It's you isn't it?"

haha.

another person stronger than he had shown

the full extent of his power, he knew he killed those two black-clad

was so fast that even he, someone who specialized in speed, couldn't

he couldn't react to it, didn't that

ceiling of the room,

me? What did I deserve

pride

his goal, another obstacle showed up to screw

-Bang!

punching the ground, Jin

why!! Why is this happening

footsteps halted. Looking back at him, he

shouldn't this be happening to

staring at Ren, Jin glared at him

do you know! you

Jin, Ren opened his mouth and coldly

wouldn't I understand?...What did you actually do to make yourself stronger? Train? Spar? or suck onto your family's wealth

"What ar--"

mouth to refute, cutting Jin off, Ren

ever fight with your life on the line? Did you actually ever think about what the others had to sacrifice in order to get to where they were now? You keep comparing yourself to Kevin, but do you even know what he

had their own

most part of her life...Emma and Melissa too

all of those setbacks, they fought through it and got to where

Jin?

did he ever

family shielding him, Jin comfortably lived his life as a rich second-generation young master that was

an easy life with no setbacks or reality checks that helped him mature. He

have to be prideful and claim to

fiercely glared at

telling me all my

he trained? All the days where he would sacrifice his sleep to train

room. Pointing towards the

useful or not? In the end, you're

Jin looked at the corpses of the

bullshit! you've blabbering nonsense since coming here, what do you

stomach, with the aid of the wall, Jin

I've been through! What I did to get

step at a time, jin walked

me as if you

closer he got to Ren,

are you to criticize me when you hide your power like a sewer

ignoring Jin's words as he slowly moved closer in his direction, Ren's

of anxiety nor fear

if you

step at a time, Jin slowly made

-Halt

front of Ren, Jin looked at him straight into the eyes

me

from him, Ren extended his

"uh?--kghhh"

in the air, Ren coldly

all the time,

"Khhhh...let go!"

struggled to speak as he swung his

"It's useless..."

on Jin's neck, Ren looked at him in the eyes and

whatever you are doing...I want you to remember this moment...I want

emotionlessly looked at Jin who kept trying

"Khhh...damn it! Let go!"

matter what Jin tried to do, he couldn't free himself from

"khhh"

strength of his grip to shut Jin

that stupid pride of yours...whilst everyone around you

whole life...I want you to remember this moment...this humiliation...remember the moment where your pathetic self almost lost to a bunch of henchmen...remember me, Ren Dover

to Ren's powerful voice, the less Jin

stopped

he ever felt

strong grip on his neck, Jin realized at this moment how truly

Ren spoke, the more Jin wanted to deny what he was saying. He wanted with all his being to release himself from his