CHAPTER 115: A MAN WITH AN AXE

Joshua stared at Nine’s message on his phone screen.

In the previous world... what were he and Henry to each other?

From the fragmented memories Joshua could piece together... that day, Henry had confessed to him.

To be honest, Joshua could still vaguely recall how he’d felt at that moment. Since childhood, he had always relied on Henry, always seen him as his closest friend.

But then, one day, that very friend had confessed to him — even leaned in to give him a kiss. Just a brief one, light as a dragonfly skimming the surface of water, yet it had left him utterly stunned.

He had never once imagined Henry could love him.

Of course, Henry had always been caring and gentle — but Joshua had never sensed any romantic feelings from him. Henry had hidden them too well. Far too well. Or perhaps Joshua had simply been too oblivious when it came to such things — that he wasn’t confident enough to deny.

Joshua wondered what had happened afterward. That confession marked the end of their peaceful days.

But what came next? He couldn’t remember a thing.

"Shua, I told you to stop spacing out. Look — you just shrank five centimeters."

A hand suddenly ruffled his hair. Joshua blinked and looked up, only to see Luther grinning down at him.

At that moment, Henry also walked over. His gaze briefly fell on Luther’s hand atop Joshua’s head before he lowered his eyes and said coolly, "Let’s go. Elly said we’ll need to change outfits and redo makeup once we get there."

Hearing that, Joshua quickly got to his feet.

Just then, something lightly tapped the top of his head. He looked up in confusion and saw Henry’s serious expression. Henry said softly, "Your hair’s a bit messy."

Almost instinctively, Joshua reached up to smooth his hair, then frowned at Luther. "I told you not to mess with my hair!"

Luther froze, looking completely innocent. Before he could even say anything, Joshua continued, "If I do get shorter, it’s because you keep patting my head too much."

Luther protested helplessly, "Why are you listening to Henry? Your hair isn’t messy at all!"

Today, they were scheduled for a photoshoot and recording session at Idol Radio. This episode would air before their album’s release, serving as a small preview to build hype and anticipation.

After that, they’d have a short two-day break to prepare for their upcoming promotions.

Throwing an arm around Joshua’s shoulder, Luther smiled and asked, "Joshua, wanna come over to my place?"

Joshua couldn’t help glancing at Luther, only to see him tilt his head with that infuriatingly smug grin. "Kiss me, and I’ll take you to my place. Great way to deepen our friendship, don’t you think?"

Joshua immediately shoved Luther’s face away. "Don’t talk like that."

Luther looked utterly dissatisfied. "We’re best friends! What’s wrong with a cheek kiss? Don’t let Leonard’s weird influence rub off on you."

At that, Leonard frowned. "Luther, you should realize you’re the gayest one here." Then he turned to Joshua. "Joshua, you’d better be careful around him."

Joshua couldn’t help but laugh, pretending to nod thoughtfully in agreement.

Eventually, everyone split up, and Joshua naturally returned to his dorm.

The current mission he’d received was to collect another 700,000 fame points. Since that day, his progress had risen to about thirty percent — but to finish it, he’d have to wait until ShineOn officially debuted.

Joshua buried himself in his blanket and opened his phone. Nine’s chat was still pinned at the top — he’d insisted Joshua set him as a "special contact" — but there hadn’t been any new messages since their last exchange.

Joshua frowned slightly, finding it strange.

Blue: [Nine, where are you?]

He tapped on Nine’s profile picture a few times but still got no response.

Outside, the sky was pitch-black, and a business car sped along a mountain road.

The driver focused on the wheel while Henry spoke in a low voice over the phone. After a few curt words, he hung up.

On the other end, his grandfather’s voice had been cold and stern — a tone Henry was all too familiar with.

He’d known it was only a matter of time before his family found out he had joined the entertainment industry. He understood what they expected of him — the kind of "perfect heir" they wanted him to be — and indeed, he’d grown up to fit that mold flawlessly.

But that perfection wasn’t born from their control. From a young age, he had known that to pursue anything freely, he first needed the strength to withstand the weight of the world.

Now that he had found the person he’d been searching for all this time, he wasn’t going to let himself be restrained any longer.

Just then, the driver suddenly slammed on the brakes. Even though the car slowed down quickly, the abrupt stop still made Henry lurch forward slightly.

He frowned just as the driver’s anxious voice came from the front seat. "Young Master, there’s someone ahead."

Damn it — on a dark night like this, seeing someone standing in the middle of a deserted road out of nowhere — they’d nearly hit him!

Henry’s gaze shifted forward, catching sight of the lone figure in the headlights.

The man was dressed entirely in black, his face hidden behind a rabbit mask. Yet, something about his build struck Henry as oddly familiar.

At some point, rain had begun to fall. The driver, gun in hand, was just about to step out and deal with the situation when Henry suddenly ordered, "Reverse!"

Startled, the driver froze—right as the masked figure lunged toward the car. He leapt onto the hood, and in the glare of the headlights, a massive axe came into view, gleaming wickedly.

CRASH!

The windshield shattered with a deafening sound. The driver’s eyes went wide with disbelief as shards of glass exploded in all directions.

This—this was impossible!

The car’s windows were reinforced with special materials; ordinary physical force shouldn’t have been able to break them so easily.

And yet, the glass was destroyed entirely. The axe blade missed the driver’s shoulder by mere millimeters as it slammed down, cleaving through the air as though to split space itself in half.

The driver’s heart pounded wildly, adrenaline surging through his veins until his mind felt both dizzy and frighteningly clear.

Without hesitation, he raised his gun and fired directly at the axe-wielding figure!

BANG!

The gunshot echoed sharply. Time seemed to slow—

The masked man tilted his head. At such a close distance, it was almost impossible for a bullet to miss, and absolutely impossible for anyone to dodge.

And yet, he did.

It all happened in a flash.

In the blink of an eye, the man was already inside the car. The shattered glass had cut thin lines of blood across his body, but he didn’t seem to feel any pain.

He kicked the driver viciously. The blow to the head knocked the man unconscious instantly! At the exact moment, the giant axe swung down again—this time straight toward Henry!

Henry’s face remained utterly emotionless.

The more dangerous the situation, the colder and more terrifying his expression became.

He dodged swiftly, the axe slicing the car seat clean in two!

In an instant, Henry lunged forward, aiming to seize the weapon.

But the axe-wielder moved with inhuman speed—so fast it defied logic. Just like when he’d dodged the bullet at point-blank range, he lifted the axe again in a blur the human eye could barely follow and brought it down toward Henry once more!