For I Am A Side Character - 61: Preparing for a Concert.

Walking into the gymnasium, Soril and Jessica found dozens of workers, working through the process of completing the event, from preparing the stage, the lights, the special effects, everything had to be prepared before 7 PM.

Along with these workers, a certain group aligned in the front center of the court was gathering. Those groups were the top ten students gathered from the first year to the fourth year students, these people gathered to listen under one person.

As Soril noticed, the difference in each year level was clear as day…

Already, he can tell that most of the strongest students at the fourth year has reached a level of an S-rank, while the lowest was an A-ranked student.

You can’t reach this form of level if you didn’t go to the academy. The academy knows whats its doing to raise such a powerhouse of people, with that said, once Soril came in line with Jessica on the first year’s row, he met eyes with certain faces that were very wary of his presence.

“There he is…the guy who beat Jessabelle. Bastard must be acting all smug because of what he did…” whispered some of the people who were in line.

“I bet you he cheated against her, from what I know, he was still ranked below E while Jessica was probably around C-rank then…how can a bastard even do that? Its obvious he cheated.” said the others as they continued to talk smack to him.

“…” hearing this, Soril could only sigh on how some people can’t accept fact. If he tried to confront them now, it’ll only bring conflict and it’ll ruin the whole meeting of this place.

So he acted mature and only waited as the meeting would finally start.

Not long after, Jason and his friends came by to join the row of the first years.

“Sorry we were late.” said Jason to the others.

“…” and in response, silence was only met.

Now that everyone was here, with not a single person missing. Even Conner O’niel was here. The delinquent.

With that said, the meeting was finally going to start.

One person came to the front and greeted herself.

“Good morning everyone, to some who doesn’t know me, I am Raya Zuggler, student president of the student counsel. I came here today to assign each and everyone of you a position for security for the upcoming event. I expect everyone to comply to my request and handle your respected duties well. If anyone has a question they would like to say, please say it now.”

“Um, yes…can we ask why it’s necessary to do this? I mean, the school is already filled with security guards all over the area, should we even get involved?” asked one of the third years.

“Its always been the case that in certain events where famous celebrities are involved, some hard core fans are always willing to go do the extreme. Its especially noteworthy of cases with certain hunters who are fans of these celebrities. In recent cases, the idol group, [Black/&/Blue] was recently being stalked by a group of hunters who went too far from simply asking for an autograph. Since this school is filled with Hunters, we expect that there will be some similar cases other than stalkers.” said Raya.

“I see.” said the third year.

“We’ll be mainly focusing our attention at the Stadium where the event will be held. I’ll be splitting you into ten groups with each group holding 1 student from each year. So in other words, in one group, there will be four students. One 1^st year, one 2^nd year, one 3^rd year and one 4^th year student. Each group is assigned to a certain position in the event, if you’re lucky, you might even be assigned to each of the guest we have performing at the stadium.”

Hearing the last part, everyone got excited.

“Here are our guest. We have five Guest coming to perform.”

As the Student Counsel lead the briefing, she showed all of the forty students the guest that were supposedly coming to the event.

The first person was Ryan Josling…a one man actor who starred in mostly drama and sci-fi movies, he even had a musical play he starred in.

The second one was the most recent viral idol group, [*Black/&/Blue*]. an all female dance group that performs with 10 members. Known for their dynamic performances, catchy songs, and bold fashion sense [*Black/&/Blue*] quickly rose to fame both domestically and internationally. They are often hailed as one of the biggest Idol group acts globally, breaking numerous records and garnering millions of fans worldwide.

The third guest was Michael Tactson, often referred to as the “King of Pop,” was an iconic singer, songwriter, and dancer who revolutionized the music industry. Beyond his musical achievements, Tactson was also a philanthropist, known for his charitable efforts, including supporting various causes related to children’s welfare and humanitarian aid.

The Fourth one was a Boy-Band group, the [Backstreet Direction Boys or BDB.] The band comprises five talented members, each bringing their own unique personality and style to the group. Jake: The charismatic heartthrob of the group, Liam: The “bad boy” with a heart of gold, Daniel: The sensitive soul of the group, Max: The energetic entertainer, Theo: The lovable goofball of the group, Together, The Backstreet Direction Boys deliver a mix of catchy pop anthems, heartfelt ballads, and energetic dance tracks that resonate with fans of all ages. From sold-out stadium tours to chart-topping albums, they quickly become a global sensation, leaving a lasting impact on the world of pop music.

The Final guest to arrive and perform was a one-woman performer, named Gypsy. the enigmatic and captivating adventurous music artist who brings a fusion of mystical sounds and modern beats to the stage. Gypsy is not just a musician; she’s a storyteller, weaving tales of adventure, love, and self-discovery through her music.

All of these guest are expected to arrive at around five in the afternoon to practice their performance and to be secured, out of the ten groups, half of them are sent to guard these celebrities. And although each celebrity has their own bodyguard, the students are merely acting as an added measure.

With that said, Raya Zuggler didn’t say much about anything other than this. As she divided each group, she picked them out certainly out of pure interest.

Due to the incident with the Golem attack last week, she witnessed all of these hunters fight in the battle against the golems. Despite the numbers that grew with the enemy, the line where these students stood never faltered. Seeing such strength, she thought it could be a perfect chance to associate each year with one another and form some kind of camaraderie.

One of the people she had an eye on was Jason Emory, who caught her eye during the event with the Golem terrorism a week back. If she were to pair him and make him as a sort of representative, to the first years, him along with the other students from different years, they could form some kind of relationship that could create a friendliness.

This was the purpose for this part of the story. For Jason to meet with the each representative of each years.

Here, he’ll meet the one person who will symbolize his very identity to become a person of respect.

That person being Alfred Grayson. The strongest and most courteous student of the third Year.

And seeing as how it was just an introduction to such a character, Soril didn’t really had anything to do. There was no mission or a side mission, just a simple meet up and nothing else.

And like so, the pairing was made. Jessica was paired with a group that was tasked to handle the entrance of the stadium, Jessabelle was tasked to guard the Boy-band group, Audrey was tasked to guard the Ryan Josling and Jason was tasked to guard the Idol group, Black/&/Blue.

While Soril was paired and tasked with guarding Gypsy…which was strange yet no so strange.

At around five, the celebrities finally came and each group went to assist the guest in security. Likewise, each guest came with their own bodyguard, especially the Idol group, who came with over 20 buff men who acted as guards.

Seeing that, Jason felt pretty hopeless with how the group was already secured.

“Geez…do we even need to guard them?” asked Jason to Alfred Grayson who stood beside him.

“We should, its not a guarantee that those guards are capable of protecting the guest. You can sense it don’t you? Most of those guards are below C-rank…if an enemy that is stronger comes by, those guys won’t have the chance to handle the enemy.” said Alfred as he looked ever so determined.

“…Right, so I guess we should just take our place?”

“Yes.”

With the Idol group making their way to the stage to prepare for their practice, Jason and his group followed by as necessary.

***

One by one, the celebrities were lead to their dressing room to prepare…and finally the last person to arrive was a blonde-haired woman with dusk-colored eyes and a white dress that simply spoke of grace and divinity, for some reason, she reminded me of an Angel…Gypsy…unlike every other artist that came by, she was the one who simply had this different presence around her, who for some bizarre reason, she came her on her own car and she did not have a single bodyguard with her.

“Why doesn’t she have a bodyguard?” I asked to my recently acquainted senior, the fourth year who he stood beside with. His name was Arnold and his class was a swordsman.

“I don’t know, but we should lead her to the dressing room.” said Arnold who was very nervous to meet the beautiful Gypsy.

“Right…” as me and the other three students guided the Artist to her room, as we made our way there, with me following her behind, I noticed her stare as she looked back at me and she gave me a smile…one aspect that simply made me overthink.

“…??”

Soon enough, as we got to the dressing room assigned to her, in just about two hours from now, the performance would start.

As Gypsy was preparing herself to go out and to practice with the other Artist to learn their plan for the performance, she herself…took a lot of time to prepare.

With the second year and third year student standing outside to guard while me and Arnold took our position inside the dressing, we took our initiative to heart and only waited and guarded her as necessary.

During that time, as I stared at the wall, being present in everything, I always noticed that she kept looking at me as if I was an interest to her…

And yet somehow, I reacted with a nervous feeling in my chest. This hasn’t happened in a while…ever since I gained the Ethereal Will of the Dark, I barely ever feel a sense of nervousness ever, but now it was coming back…and the reason for it was because of her.

And all of a sudden, Gypsy turned her way to me, from where she sat, she smiled and she raised her hand.

*Snap*

With a snap of a finger, Arnold fell to the floor like a chopped tree. Arnold, an S-ranked student feel like he was nothing.

*thud* falling into completely unconsciousness. I suddenly felt threatened by her presence.

Falling down, I could only watch in quite a shock as Gypsy stood from her chair, looking at me with a fresh face.

“Hmm, don’t worry…no one will notice what’s going to happen inside this room.” said Gypsy as she approached with a devious presence.

*Snap* with it, she snaps her finger again and all of a sudden, I felt magic cover the entire room.

“…” I tried to analyze what form of magic she used, but to my ignorance, I only remained cautious as this unknown magic surrounded every crevice of the walls.

“What are you trying to do?” I asked as I see her simply stand with her arms crossed, looking as if she was implying that she wouldn’t hurt me.

“Can I ask you something?” she said as she took one step forward.

“…” but I remained silent as I tried not to comply to her words.

“How is God by the way? Is he doing well enough?” she asked as she had this look on her face. The kind of face that spoke of truth and wisdom.

“…W-what?” I asked as I turned to find tht something was coming out of her back.

‘feather?!’

Black feathers…as black as ink could mimic…

As soon as I noticed that black feather, it soon spread into the air, like wings of an angel…yet its black color simply defied the very nature of what made angels divine.

“…You’re an angel?” I asked as I stood shaken by her reveal.

“Fallen…I’m a fallen Angel, just like Atlanta.” said Gypsy as she called to the name of one of the angels that fell from God’s graces…the person who started the very foundation of this world.

Atlanta.

“You don’t have anything to hide from me Soril, I know who you are… the angels talk about you a lot and some of those gossip fell from the heavens and it made its way to me.” she said as she tries to act innocent and harmless…but those words of hers can’t fool me, the moment she brought out her wings, I feel no sense of trust ever from this moment.

“So you know me?” I asked.

“Yes…yes I do.” she said.

“So why? Why reveal yourself to me? What reason did you have to show your identity to me?” I asked as I know she had a motive to reveal herself.

“…Hmm, for being the only person to have a direct conversation with God, its not odd to want to meet you and reveal myself. To us who even as angels, who are graced by our very father who rarely makes contact to us…meeting you is similar to me meeting a celebrity.” said Gypsy as she had this infatuated gaze on her eyes.

“…” I remained silent as I could feel er gaze stare at me even at a distance…I could not escape those eyes.

She was strong…stronger than any person who was at this school…from the teachers and even the professors, no one could match her strength of magic.

“Don’t be too scared. I may be an fallen angel, but I’m an angel nonetheless…”

“…”

“…and as for my reason for revealing myself to you, I’m only here to warn you.”

“Warn me?”

“…Come to this location.” as she pulled a piece of a glass shard out of a subspace similar to that of the magical spacebag, she gave the glass shard to me.

“Before the final end of the first volume happens, before Miles Millard is met with his doom, an enemy far beyond your expectation will come. You cannot fight him alone in your current condition…So you must conquer this hidden dungeon and gain the skill at its shrine. That will be the one thing that will secure your victory.”

“…Wait, does God know about this?” I asked.

“…No, with the divine magic I displayed all over the walls, I made sure that not even God can make contact hear our words.” as she said this, she felt sinful as she defied the very nature of God’s ears to listen to everything.

“Then I can’t trust you.” I said as doubted that going against God’s plan was Good idea.

“Trust me…Trust me Soril. You have the free will to do this…you are not associated with his plan.”

“…I know the enemy in the end of the novel, I know what I have to do.” I said.

“You can’t handle him…you have changed so much about the flow of this story, not even with all the miracles made will you survive. The enemy has changed, so you must as well.” said Gypsy in a pleading voice.

“How would you know about God’s plan?” I asked as I continue to doubt her.

“…You’re free to do whatever you want in this would…you know this, God knows this…and he will not interfere. All I’m asking is for you to prepare yourself.”

“…Why are you going this far to persuade me?” I asked.

“Because you’re the only chance that this world has in surviving the next war. You may not know what happens at the end of this story…but I do. The world doesn’t survive when you were still brought into this world…but when you did, changes are necessary. God knows that change is the one thing that will fix everything.”

“So you’ve read the books?”

“…from start….to finish.” as she said this, a guilty expression only remained as she felt very burdened by saying those words.

“Is that why you have fallen?” I asked.

“…” she remained silent from my question…it was clear that that was the truth.

“…”

“…” I remained standing in thought…thinking of what was necessary.

“fine…I’ll consider your offer.” and I agreed.

God doesn’t show me everything, he doesn’t know the effects of my change because I’m not bound to his plan…only what was written by him. And since the change I’ve inflicted hasn’t been said to me, things will occur out of his plan as well because of my interference. Trusting an Angel is my only choice for now. I’m free to do that.

“Thank you…” as she thanked me, she reached her chest with her hand and she had a sigh of relief. Seeing how relieved she was, it felt like a miracle was blessed upon her.

As I accepted the shard, she then started pulling back her black wings and she slowly removed the magic around the walls.

“I have one last thing to say Soril…after the first volume will end, changes will be shown…and once they do, everything that I know will all be pointless. But this interaction…this is the only thing that will surely secure our hopes in survival.” as she said this, her magic was now fully canceled and everything was back to its original position.

“…” I didn’t understand what she meant by those words…but then again, these Angels were just as troublesome as any other.

“I hope to see you again.” as she said this, she only bowed in front of me and left the room…leaving me to my own.