Back at the dorm, Vernon went on and on about how cool it was to watch me fight, despite him going on an adventure with me not too long ago. I swear, he is such a little kid. Just like the previous night, a gray package was sitting on my bed. Thankfully, Vernon wasn’t attempting to open it. I tore the horrific thing open and took out the letter.

Dear Jeon Wonwoo,

You have won your second match against Hoshi and now you get to fight Seungkwan from the freshman class. Unlike Hoshi, who was incredibly fast, Seungkwan has the ability to become possessed at any given time. However, there is a way to stop him. Since his ability takes control over his body, whatever is possessing him will use his body however they see fit. To beat Seungkwan, you had better hope that luck is on your side and something that doesn’t want to fight takes control of him. This may seem like an unfair advantage but don’t fret just yet, I’m not finished. Unlike the letter after your first fight, you get a description of two of their powers. In this case: things that can possibly possess the crazy kid.

Meet Baby Tantrum! Don’t let the name fool you, when this demon takes control of Seungkwan, nobody wins. The more damage his body takes, the stronger it becomes. You can keep an eye on how powerful it gets by the color of its skin. Typically, Baby Tantrum takes on the color of red. The darker the red becomes the higher chance of your death!

Meet Grim Reaper! Well, hopefully you DON’T meet Grim Reaper. It wouldn’t be much of a fight and frankly, Professor Suarez hasn’t figured out how to bring the dead back to life in his visions. If you meet Grim Reaper, call out to Professor Suarez and forfeit. Unless you enjoy having your soul reaped, then by all means: fighting!

The fight will take place tomorrow at lunch in the North Gym. Get a lot of rest and work on your game plan!

-Principal Nguyen

P.S. Every student received a letter with information on their opponent’s powers and weaknesses. You’re not special

“Still reading those blank pieces of paper, I see.” Vernon threw a ball into the air and played ‘catch’ with himself.

“Are you stupid? It’s enchanted so that only I can read it. It’s telling me about Seungkwan’s power, though it didn’t really mention how to beat it. Just to forfeit if things go bad.” I folded the letter up and put it back into the envelope. At the bottom of the package, another ring waited for a finger to strangle. It was the exact same ring as before, except it was a duplicate.

I set both rings under my bed, in fear of them being hexed. To keep them from just resting on the floor, I placed them into a pot of dirt and entangled them in vines. I turned the lights off and closed my eyes.

“Wonwoo, I’m coming for you.”

My eyes opened wide as I looked around my dark room. Vernon lay sleeping on his bed, nothing abnormal about that. I know I’m dreaming right now. Why can’t I wake up? I stood up and poked my head outside my dorm room. The lights in the hallway were flickering and I just knew this was going to end terribly. This entire scenery reminded me of a scary videogame that you had to walk through, despite you knowing the creepy jump scare was going to appear at the end.

“This isn’t a dream, Wonwoo.”

I knew this voice, this voice was extremely familiar.

“It’s your father, Wonwoo.”

“Would you let me add some anticipation into my own life? Please? Okay, thanks.” I thought about who it could be. “Dang it, you ruined the jump scare!” I yelled at my father.

Slowly, I made my way down the creepy corridor. At the end of the hall, a large collection of rock golems waited patiently to be played with. Was this a hint to his army? I picked one of them up and it squirmed in my hands. It tried breaking my finger but it didn’t have enough power to do so. Looking at the sight of something so small, but macho, made me laugh.

The mini rock golem began growing in my hand and I dropped it on the floor. The hard impact didn’t stop it from growing. I took a few steps back as its full-sized body filled the large corridor. It let out a roar that sounded like metal scraping against a chalkboard.

Before it could grab me, I ran down the corridor towards my room. As I approached the door, I took out my large collection of keys and frantically flipped through them. Every now and then I would glance over my shoulder and see the massive thing push its way forward. Just before it reached me, I managed to find the right key and let myself in.

“Vernon, we have company!” I slammed my back against the door in attempt to keep the beast at bay. Vernon stood in the middle of the room with an obsidian helmet on his head. His face had a wide smile but his eyes looked angry. His cheeks puffed as he sprayed liquid fire directly into my eyes. I saw a bright red coloring but as the seconds went on, the color got darker and darker until it was complete darkness.

“Wake up, champ!” Vernon’s hands found my chest and my eyes shot open. I looked over to the marvelous, non-possessed Vernon and smacked my lips up against his. His hands pushed me away and I realized what I had just done. “NO! NO! NO! NO!...... NO!”

“I’m sorry. I had a nightmare and the sight of seeing you healthy excited me.” I covered my blushing face.

“In that case, you are forgiven.”

“Really?”

“NO!”

. . .

“WELCOME TO DAY TWO, OR THREE, I FORGET, OF OUR FIRST EVER SCHOOL TOURNAMENT!!!”

The crowd’s cheers were all too familiar. Again, they placed us in our small waiting room. Though, there weren’t as many people as there was yesterday. I’d say two-thirds were missing. Is it possible for people to tie and end up both losing?

“Alright, I have my information organized today!” Aubrey twirled around the room and hummed a nice tune. “First up: Seungkwan versus Wonwoo. I wish I could watch.” She seemed to sob as she waited with us by the door.

The announcer announced our names and we took our positions across from each other. Professor Suarez read the rules and the match begun. Seungkwan’s eyes went completely black and his body turned purple and he grew scales.

HissssSSSSS!!!~~~

The letter from the Principal didn’t mention anything about a snake possessing Seungkwan. I did not have a game plan. Instead of allowing the thing to make the first move, I encased it with roots and tried pulling it into the ground. My powers are stronger than I make them out to be. The purple demon-snake was completely swallowed by the earth. All that remained was root flooring.

The ground rumbled all around, causing me to lose my balance and fall onto my . Underneath where I sat, a widened mouth shot out from the ground and bit me at the torso. I struggled as purple liquid dripped down the snake’s fangs. Its eyes were void-black and they looked right through me. Since pain couldn’t be felt in Professor Suarez’s visions, I had to assume I was poisoned and bleeding out. Thing are not looking good.

Without much thought, I conjured up the only thing I knew snakes were afraid of: a Mongoose. Its size was nothing compared to the snakes’ but it startled it just enough to release me from its death grip. My pants seemed to be dissolving from the snake’s stomach acid and I was beginning to see a bit too much skin. Without thinking, a banana leaf skirt wrapped around my waist, covering just enough skin to not be taunted all throughout my university life.

“S-s-such a s-s-small Mongoos-s-se.” The snake slithered over to the Mongoose and devoured it whole. “You can’t defeat me, child of the earth.” It tongue the air as it tried sensing me. How could I be so stupid? This snake is blind.

The long creature slithered around the gym, ignoring the audience that was no longer cheering. In fact, as the snake got closer, Professor Suarez extended the gym, causing the snake to feel like it was a wide gym. As the snake came towards my direction, the gym reclaimed its normal shape.

Its tongue sensed me for some reason and a purple liquid shot at my direction. The gym floor dissolved, leaving a grimy earth underneath it. There was no way I could allow myself to be hit with such a lethal poison. Every few shots, I would have to conjure up a leaf wall to prevent any real damage. From all of the melted holes on the ground and the leaf walls, it prevented the snake from finding me with ease. For a few minutes, I managed to hide from the beast as it slithered around to find me. Eventually, it found my general vicinity.

When it was a few feet away from my face, I waited for the right time to strike. As its tongue the air, a tree shot up, piercing the snake’s tongue.

“You evil hissss!” The snake began morphing back into Seungkwan. His tongue wasn’t pierced, luckily for him. However, the slithering movement Seungkwan endured came flooding back to him and he fell to the floor. I watched as he glanced around in confusion before passing out. As normal, I blinked and we both stood facing each other in our positions.

The crowd went wild as I took my third victory, only one more to go. Seungkwan congratulated me but had no memory of becoming a snake. Maybe that was one of his restrictions?

“Jeon Wonwoo, where is the ring?” Principal Nguyen stood in the waiting room with her arms crossed.

“Oh, yeah about that. See, I was going to put it on but I forgot about it last minute. I will wear it tomorrow, I promise!” I lied to her again. Considering the fact that she was so persistent about me wearing the ring, it really made me feel suspicious.

. . .

Back at the dorm, I decided I wouldn’t open the gray package until the next morning. I thought it would make for a better surprise. Besides, I didn’t want a third ring under my bed. Before I went to sleep, I took out the pot containing the rings. The vines I had wrapped around the rings had melted, leaving a purple substance at the bottom of the pot.

If she thinks I am going to wear this, she has another thing coming.

QUESTIONS:

What do you think Wonwoo’s nightmare meant?

Do you like Seungkwan’s power? I added a bit more to it, hope you don’t mind.

Now that Wonwoo knows the rings are no good, what do you think he will do with them? Will he just not wear it? Will he confront the Principal?