My Tribrid System: More than a Monster

Chapter 157

It was morning.

After returning from the successful completion of his daily quest, Ray took a quick, bracing shower before administering another dose of his healing ability on Van.

He needed to ensure his friend was stable enough to get through the day’s rigors without collapsing.

This temporary fix would last long enough for Van to eventually seek professional help from the Corps’ healers in the clinic later, a move designed specifically so it wouldn’t arouse any unwanted suspicion.

The day proceeded as usual: grueling physical training, a hasty breakfast, and then homeroom class.

Sony was currently discussing various topics that, to Ray, felt entirely irrelevant; consequently, his mind drifted toward the scenery beyond the window.

Kai sat directly beside him, while Van occupied the seat on the opposite edge.

Both were seemingly engrossed in Sony’s lecture.

"And that serves as the definitive evidence of just how powerful some meta-humans from the elite factions truly are," Sony uttered before turning back toward the board to jot down a few more notes.

Even though his conscious mind wasn’t fully present, Ray’s sensitive ears picked up on a single word that caused his entire body to freeze.

"Evidence."

’Hm? Why is that word recurring in my mind? What about it is bothering me?’ he mused inwardly.

He began rubbing his temples in deep, frantic thought, trying to pinpoint exactly why the concept of ’evidence’ was suddenly triggering a sense of dread.

’... Did I miss something? Come on, think, think, think, Ray. What is this nagging feeling about "evidence"?’

Kai, being positioned right next to Ray, immediately sensed the subtle change in his friend’s posture.

Lifting an eyebrow, he watched as the boy massaged his temples with increasing intensity.

Leaning closer, Kai whispered in a barely audible tone,

"Hm? Developing a headache?"

Hearing the voice, Ray paused for a brief moment before shaking his head.

He replied in a low, strained whisper.

"No, it’s not that."

Kai cocked a brow, clearly unconvinced.

"Then what is it?"

Ray shook his head again, let out a weary sigh, and leaned back into his chair.

"Let it be. It’s practically nothing worth mentioning."

Kai shrugged indifferently at the dismissal.

"If you say so."

A few quiet seconds passed before the blonde-haired youth groaned silently to himself.

".... I really don’t know why my family has to be like this," he whispered, his tone laced with genuine annoyance.

Ray’s expression remained neutral, and he didn’t even turn his head to acknowledge Kai, yet he still offered a response.

"What did they do this time?"

Kai sighed heavily before replying, careful to keep his voice below the radar of the instructor.

"They are refusing to support me with enough credits. I mean, the pocket money they’ve been sending lately simply isn’t sufficient for what I want."

Ray lightly tilted his head, narrowing his gaze on Kai out of the corner of his eye.

"And what exactly is it that you want so badly?"

"A new mobile phone, of course. My current phone’s camera is far too low-quality for my liking. It’s simply not sharp enough to properly capture my elegant features."

Ray blinked slowly for several seconds.

His lips parted as if he were about to speak, but he instead opted to drag his palm across his face in exasperation.

’What a total fool. I don’t even own a mobile phone, I’ve never even used one in my life, and here he is—complaining about the one he possesses just because of a mediocre camera? What a complete dimwit. Yeah, a total dimwit.’

The boy just shook his head with a frustrated sigh before turning his gaze back toward Sony, who was still lecturing at the front of the room.

Another second passed, and then Ray froze once more.

’Huh? Evidence? Camera? Why the hell are these two words stu.... Fuck!’ Ray shot upright from his laidback position, his chair screeching against the floor.

Beads of cold sweat immediately gathered around his forehead, and a slight, uncontrollable tremor began running through his body.

His heart rate spiked in an instant, thumping like a drum against his ribs.

This sudden, abrupt movement caused Kai to jump slightly and raise an eyebrow in total confusion.

Even Van noticed the shift, leaning significantly to the side to check if his friend was truly okay.

"Is there an issue? You have been behaving quite weirdly for a while now," Kai asked, his voice laced with genuine concern.

Ray gulped, his throat feeling like sandpaper, before stiffly turning his neck toward Van, who was also watching with an intrigued expression.

"Va—Van..." he called out, his tone turning grave and hollow.

"Tell me, does the tech aspect classroom have anything like a camera in it?"

Van lifted an eyebrow in confusion, wondering why his friend would suddenly ask such a bizarre question, when the reality of the previous day’s incident dawned on him with the force of a tidal wave.

His eyes widened instantly, and even his own heartbeat spiked for a frantic second before settling back down into a dull thrum.

"Uh—no. There are none inside the room itself, and even if there were, they would have been utterly vaporized by that blast."

Hearing the reply, Ray let out a long, quiet sigh of relief.

His body finally began settling back down as he proceeded to rest his head on the back of the chair, closing his eyes for a fleeting moment.

’What a relief....’

"Wait. There is a CCTV camera positioned in the hall just a few doors away from the class entrance," Van added, his voice dropping to a terrified whisper.

Ray’s eyes snapped open with a sharp intensity, almost like glass shattering, as he whipped his head around to face Van.

The tech guru was already trembling in visible fright.

Kai, listening closely to their frantic exchange, didn’t take long to put two and two together.

"Which means our faces must have been captured," Kai realized, his voice low and cold.

"The footage would show us entering the hall and coming back out later with those deadly injuries."

Ray groaned a bit too loudly, the sound echoing through the room and causing all eyes in the class to swivel toward him—including Sony’s.

"Am I boring you, Dawson?" the instructor asked, a prominent frown deepening on his face as he paused his lecture.

"Yes... uh... I mean, no!" Ray accidentally blurted out, the slip of the tongue earning him a lethal scowl from the man at the front.

The boy immediately shrank back into his seat, withered by the look the instructor was giving him at that moment.

"Please carry on, sir. I won’t cause another distraction."

"Tsk." Sony clicked his tongue in annoyance before turning back to the board to continue with the class.

Van was currently mumbling frantically under his breath, his face pale.

"We are dead. We are so dead. They’re going to trace us back to that room."

Kai, on the other hand, didn’t even show a change in his outward expression.

He remained seemingly indifferent to the looming disaster, but his mind was currently spinning on high gears, racing through variables and trying to formulate a solution.

Suddenly, a spark of an idea hit him.

"Dan, your ability. You mentioned you can hack, right?"

Van’s gaze narrowed as he shot the blonde-haired youth a frustrated frown.

"It’s Van, not Dan. And yes, I can hac... I see exactly where you are going with this."

Kai nodded slowly.

"Can you hack into the central CCTV footage and scramble it before anyone sees it?"

At that specific moment, the boys were so utterly absorbed in their silent, desperate discussion that they didn’t even realize the class period had ended, with Sony already gathering his materials and leaving the room.

"I—I can certainly try. But we would need to get to the main control room, the location of which is completely unknown to us in this huge facility.

Even if we miraculously discovered the location, I highly doubt it would be left empty or unguarded," Van replied, shaking his head in a defeatist manner.

Ray remained silent for a long moment as he processed their words, his jaw clenched tight.

"So, in other words, there is no feasible way to mess with the CCTV footage from here?"

"Huh? Mess with the CCTV footage?" A voice was suddenly heard repeating his words, causing all three boys to stiffen in their seats.

They slowly, gingerly turned their heads toward the source of the voice.

"Gulp."