Sword Rankers
Fear and Despair

Enzo and Bagas were both eventually carried out on stretchers, both severely injured and had to receive treatment. Ran looked at Enzo who was taken away on a stretcher with a sad but also relieved look.

"Crazy... I didn't expect it to be like this, the damage from the fight between the two of them was so great, even the fight between Eduardo and William was not this severe."

The next fight that would be Ran's turn, was finally postponed for a while as his arena was destroyed. And the staff is calling the party who will fix the arena.

But Ran did not go outside the colosseum, but instead chose directly to the waiting room of the participants who were going to fight.

Inside the waiting room, he meets Ranker Emily. Ranker Emily who saw Ran, greeted him flatly, like just a pleasantries, "Hello... You're the one who's gonna fight next, huh? Surprisingly, I thought you'd go out first to eat."

Ran lowered his head slightly as a sign of respect before answering the question from Ranker Emily, "Ah yes, after this it is my turn. I went straight to the waiting room for fear of missing the schedule."

"When it will be called immediately, why worry. Or maybe... You scared dad?" Ranker Emily's tone suddenly changed, her tone was still flat, but it felt even more gripping, as if she was talking while strangling her interlocutor.

Ran felt goosebumps hearing a voice from Ranker Emily which was very scary.

Ranker Emily approached Ran slowly with a suppressive flat expression, "Yes right? You must be scared, right? I've seen the info about you, you don't have great powers like your comrades, you rely on tricks more often by utilizing the environment, but in this arena, your tricks are useless. So then... You must be scared, right?"

Ran's body seemed to shiver at hearing it, this was the first time he felt goosebumps until he almost fainted just by hearing his voice.

Ranker Emily was getting closer, she brought her face closer to Ran, her expressionless face was very scary. Cold sweat also flowed from Ran's forehead.

Seeing Ran sweaty, Ranker Emily immediately realized that Ran was frightened by it, she took a few steps back, "It seems like I've been overdone, don't be taken heart, sometimes I'm pretentious. See you soon."

Ranker Emily went out of the waiting room, leaving the frightened Ran.

When Ranker Emily left, Ran was able to breathe a sigh of relief, he immediately fell on the floor.

"Well... Heh... Huh... Heh... What the fuck is that? Sinting, crazy man. Don't be so pretentious, you're not... Know.. anything. about me." Ran was bored after falling, his heart was racing and his breathing felt very tight. He tried his hardest to calm himself.

...****************...

Ran sat pensively in the waiting room, 15 minutes had passed and his turn had not yet begun.

In this empty time, Ran so thinking about many things, he recalled the words of Ranker Emily about her being afraid.

In retrospect, Ranker Emily's words were not wrong, to be honest, they were very true. I was really scared.

After seeing the strength of the other participants, Ran again scared again, his confidence that he had cultivated with the help of William had already disappeared after there was no one else by his side.

Ran becomes aware, he is nothing without William, he is still a child who is unstable and timid. He is still himself who is susceptible to provocation and irritable, he is still a coward who was bullied for years in school.

In short, it has not changed much.

He does not hesitate anymore to compete and drop each other, but he is still a person who is afraid of something that is uncertain.

I'm pathetic, Inner Ran blames himself.

A few minutes passed, the door to the arena opened, a sign of the start of Ran's fight.

Ran entered with a heavy and restless heart.

Inside the arena, his opponent had already entered first and was waiting for the start of the fight. While Ran walked in slowly.

Ran's opponent named Andre Hermawan, a boy who looks as good as Ran, he has dark skin with black hair with short cuts, he also wears glasses. Andre's appearance looks normal, he wears a school uniform consisting of a white shirt wrapped in a brown unbuttoned suit, and trousers similar in color to his suit.

At a glance, Ran did not feel anything from him, so he subconsciously lowered his sense of caution and entered the arena without being careful.

"Eagerly Ran!" A familiar voice suddenly called out to Ran.

Ran turned his head and saw William smiling as he waved his hand.

An Ran's uneasiness became vanishing, he felt calm with the presence of William who supported and encouraged him. At least with that, Ran felt not alone anymore.

Ran, who was initially lethargic because of fear and anxiety, returned excited, the presence of a friend who accompanied him re-awakened his spirit. Ran put up the horses when faced with a boy named Andre who became his opponent, then Ran unsheathed his katana sword.

While Andre was responding to Ran's attitude casually, he kept putting both of his hands into his pants pocket.

Then...

Dengg...

The bell tolled, signaling the start of the fight, however... Before Ran could do anything. His opponent disappeared from where he stood.

Shuuttt....

Andre suddenly appeared in front of Ran, without being able to react, Andre launched a fatal attack.

With one hand, Andre pushed Ran's sword down, and with one more hand, he pushed Ran's head backward.

Cretek

The sound of broken bones sounded from Ran's neck, Ran immediately collapsed onto the floor.

In an instant Ran became helpless, he could not move, his breathing choked to the point of making his head dizzy.

With the last exertion, Ran tried to swing his sword towards Andre, but Andre instantly disappeared and appeared hovering above Ran.

Bruaks

"Bwogh..."

Andre used his entire body to step on Ran, making Ran even more helpless.

H-How could he disappear and appear suddenly without being seen? No-don't, teleport?

Ran's guess is right, his opponent, Andre Hermawan has the ability to teleport himself or his objects within a certain range.

However, it is too late for Ran even though he already knows Andre's abilities. Absolutely, he had already lost.

Bhuaghh

Andre stomped on Ran's stomach hard, adding a fatal wound to Ran, now Ran didn't even have the strength to shout anymore. His gaze Ran became blurred, he could not move anymore, slowly, Ran's consciousness disappeared. The last thing Ran heard, was just a shout from William, and a bell signifying his defeat.

...****************...

"Where is this?" Ran opened his eyes, the thing he saw first was the white ceiling of the room that looked foreign to him.

When he looked around, he saw things he had seen in the hospital.

Ran realized the thing that had happened, he raised his arm and then covered his face, "I see... So then... I see, I... Lose."

Thus, Ran can only cry over his failure alone, in a white room that is unfamiliar to him, without anyone accompanying or calming him.

...****************...

3 Days passed.

Ran has returned to his district.

Drrkkp...

Ran walked out of the airport dragging a suitcase filled with his clothes with a flat face like a person who had lost everything.

Outside the airport, Bob and Amy greet Ran with a face filled with worry. They both know what happened to Ran.

"Ra-Ran... You okay?"

"Don't think about it, man, you can try again."

Tell them both to comfort Ran.

But, words of entertainment were not the right thing for Ran who was now, words of entertainment filled with motivation that came from human-created fantasies, cannot encourage someone who has just been beaten by the cruel reality he has faced.

"It's okay, Bob, Amy, you don't have to bother here, you guys must be busy right? Go, I'm fine." Ran said in a voice filled with despair and sadness.

"Ta-But-"

"I told you, I'm fine. You can go." Said Ran coldly.

Bob and Amy are forced to shut up, they know that Ran currently can not be entertained with anything, the only thing they can do is to shut up and wait for the time that heals Ran.

Ran arrived at his house.

The condition of his house is much worse than the last time he was left by Ran. But Ran ignored that and threw his suitcase violently in any place.

Then Ran sat in the corner of the house, he did not know what else he had to do, his efforts so far in surviving in the midst of the rigors of the test, now it is gone. His failure that Ran got gave a hollow feeling in his heart. Ran became oblivious to what his motivation was all along.

Evening has arrived.

Ran did not move from his place at all, he just stayed in the corner of his house, no matter how dirty his own house was.

The night is over, a bright morning arrives.

But Ran was still silent, his grim face was inversely proportional to the bright morning in his residence. Ran even ignored his stomach that had rung due to hunger.

Days change again, but Ran still stuck in the day of his failure.

Ran's condition increasingly sad, his body is thin because he does not eat, his face is getting gloomy and his body was dirty and smelly.

Ran still lamented his failure, in his head still continue to appear moments of defeat that are very embarrassing. Everything was clearly recorded in his mind.

The night returns, the weather changes drastically from the originally sunny to a dark rainstorm, as Ran's feelings and thoughts are filled with failure.

"What is the reason I want to become a Ranker? Do I have a reason? I don't know, I've forgotten" murmured Ran in a soft voice.

Then suddenly, a paper fell near Ran due to being blown away by the wind. It was a shabby, scuffed paper like a crumpled scar. Ran ignored the paper, or rather he was not aware of the existence of the paper.

But it seems like the paper is eager to get the attention of Ran, thanks to the stormy wind that entered into Ran's house from the window that was not closed, the paper circled in front of Ran, thanks to the stormy wind that entered into Ran's house from the window that was not closed, as if to draw attention from Ran.

Wanting to not want to, Ran also noticed the paper circling before him, pushed out of curiosity, Ran grabbed the paper and opened it.

The shabby-looking paper was a letter from Ran's father, the last letter given to Ran before his father left.

When reading it, Ran recalled his motivation again, "True, it's him! Why can I forget about that. That was my reason, the reason I wanted to become a Ranker, so that I wouldn't be underestimated anymore, so that I wouldn't be looked down upon anymore, and so that I could avenge the person who had snatched the important thing from my life." Slowly Ran recalled what his motivation was to become a Ranker.

With a limp body Ran tried to stand up, "Ukhhh..."

With fatigue, Ran managed to stand by making the table as his support.

Ran was reminded of someone, that person was Ran's last hope, he was the one who had offered Ran an alternative option, "Pak Bon! I have to meet him."

Ran walked with a stagger, he recklessly broke through the rainstorm alone, no matter the sound of lightning or the rush of rain, Ran remained reckless to go to Mr. Bon's house.

On the way Ran faced many obstacles, he repeatedly fell because his body was very weak due to not eating for days, but he still dragged his body to walk.

Brucks

Ran fell down the asphalt road, his nose nose nose nose, but he kept getting up, "Must! Now too!"

Several times there are objects that fly due to the storm, whether it's a garbage can or broken glass, Ran ignored it all and kept walking to Mr. Bon's house.

Ran dragged his body many times, enduring the pain of the sharp object piercing his body, only for the sake of meeting with Mr. Bon.

His efforts paid off, after falling awake to endure the pain, Ran arrived at Mr. Bon's house.

In a hurry, Ran banged on the door of Mr. Bon's house violently.

Doc Doc Doc Doc Doc

"Sir, please open the door."

The sound of footsteps that sounded riled up from inside the house, then the sound of a key that was opened, then the door opened, Mr. Bon emerged from behind the door with the appearance of just waking up from sleep, wearing pajamas and a sleepy face.

"Who are you!? Don't you have any manners, these nights you've been meeting with no manners." Said Mr. Bon in an annoyed tone while rubbing his eyes.

Only after Mr. Bon woke up completely did he realize that the one in front of him was Ran, "Geez, Ran! What's wrong with you? Why did you get to this? Someone's scaring you again, huh? Who's the guy!?"

Ran was silent.

Anxious Mr. Bon asked Ran to enter first, "That's it, the important thing is that you enter here first."

"Sir, I want to be a wild Ranker." Ran said suddenly.

Mr. Bon was surprised to hear Ran's sudden words, he asked again to make sure, "Oh well, I think I understand the outline. So are you really sure?"

"Knew!" Ran said in a soft voice, but full of confidence.

"I see, then go in first. We'll talk about that later, the important thing is that you get treated first."

Ran went into Mr. Bon's house, felt a warm atmosphere from inside his house that felt very soothing for someone who was desperate.