Versatile: Alternate World

Today is the last day of the tests. For me, it passed by like a breeze, but for the others, it didn't pass by without giving them hell, heck, they even looked like they have been under pressure due to it. Knowing everyone, once the final day arrives, everyone would be a lot more pressured than they should be due to how the hardest tests are also placed during the final day of the exams. To everyone, this is the final hurdle they have to pass through just to win their freedom from the torturous devices called tests.

Thankfully, the final tests would only be in the morning and the afternoon will be the time they can relax as the teachers will give them the time to relax after a week of grueling tests.

Right now are the final hours for the final tests. Most of the students are still reviewing their test papers while some are already closing their eyes, relaxing their minds, and waiting for the bell to chime. I am part of the latter as I am done already.

A few seconds later, the bell chimes, and the students are either sighing in relief or groan in frustration. The final tests are finally over at long last. The gang gathered in the cafeteria after the long test and I can see in their faces the sigh in relief that the test is over, well, except for one. Janus has a look on his face that is indescribable enough to know what happened to his test papers.

"F*CK. I am quite sure, 100%, and absolutely positive that I flunk the tests! All of them!" Janus ruffled his hair in frustration as he face-plant his face to the table.

"Seriously Janus? You are still not confident of acing the test despite the fact that we sacrificed our time playing and doing unnecessary things just to study and rack up our brains with books?" Riko shook her head.

"Hey! It wasn't my fault that the test has these confusing words that did not appear when we were reviewing the lessons! It was like all of the things I memorized were not even part of the test!"

I turned to look at the siblings and from the looks on their faces, it seems they aced the tests.

"You guys are confident in your test scores?"

Akira bashfully scratches his head and answers, "Honestly, I don't think I did well but I answered religiously and made sure that all of the questions are answered without a fail. Still not sure whether I aced the test but I am confident I didn't flunk it.

"Well, that is good enough. As long as you didn't flunk the test then that would be good already. How about you, Sora?"

"It's not that hard. Our tests are not that long either since we have to answer and read the questions in braille. Thankfully, all questions are easy to answer so I didn't have any problem with it," Sora smiled.

"Haha, looks like someone is confident. Anyways, everyone. Since the grueling test is over, let's go eat somewhere. Just us peeps who survived the exam. My treat since I got enough to treat us all for food."

"Haha! Alright! Meat! Let's go and order Yakiniku!" the sad Janus immediately changed gears the moment he heard that we will be eating somewhere. This guy is a walking meat eater, even at home, I can see him sneaking into the kitchen at midnight to eat some meat all by himself. No wonder the amount of meat I bought slowly disappears on the fridge. Oh well.

Because the afternoon is just free time, we spent our time just enjoying them. Since we didn't join any of the clubs, we are part of the Going Home Club and are stuck in the classroom either talking to others or just sleeping just to pass time.

As for me, I am currently on my phone, scrolling through the internet. Most of the things that happened around this time are just pretty casual and nothing groundbreaking. The Reality Verse is still pretty popular and since the device is getting a sale, the sales also spiked up for everyone and almost all of the buyers who didn't get to buy the device are now ready to own one too. The new surge of players will also come soon enough.

Then, live news coverage popped out from my view. I frowned since this news suddenly became pretty familiar to me. The news is about the hostage-taking incident currently happening in one of the biggest banks downtown. 30 people are currently held hostage by 7 armed men. Half of them are employees of the bank and the rest are people who are there to conduct a transaction on their accounts and who happened to be there in unfortunate times.

Because it is live coverage, it was happening in real-time, and it is happening right now downtown. It's not too far from our school, no wonder I heard the blaring siren of the police cars not earlier. So this was the main cause?

"Bro, what are you watching?" Janus came back from the bathroom and is wiping his hands with his towel when he took a peek at what I am currently watching.

"Live coverage of a hostage-taking that is happening on that one big bank not too far from here. We pass by there whenever we are going home, you know?"

"Huh? Really? A hostage-taking is happening there?" Janus immediately got his attention caught.  He likes news for some odd reason so hearing something like this is one of the things he would be interested to see.

The camera is focused on the inside of the bank because the armed guys took out the blinds and one of them is outside, guarding the entrance, and communicating with the police who are bargaining to let the people inside go.

"Damn, I don't like where this is going. Are the swat team already on the way?"

"No idea. I just tuned in just now so I am still not sure what is happening just yet," I answered as we continue to see the news coverage.

Then, all of a sudden...

BOOM!

A loud explosion happened inside the bank, destroying the glass and causing everyone to duck to avoid the glass shards from hitting them. Of course, the hostage taker who was negotiating with the police was not safe from the blast and caught so many glass shards on his body that it lodged right through him, killing him instantly.

The camera shook for a bit but it immediately recovered after the explosion. The cops panicked since they didn't know an explosive is inside and didn't know that it will just explode without warning them without even saying anything. Due to this, the police entered the bank after the explosion. They no longer care whether or not the hostage takers are still there and entered to ensure that there are still survivors from the explosion. The drone that is being used for the broadcast also followed suit by entering the broken glass window and inside, which is something I didn't expect to see.

One of the civilians, a guy is holding one of the rifles the hostage takers are using but he is not holding it to shoot, he was holding onto the muzzle of it and it was clearly broken like a pipe bent from the sheer force.

Not only that but the shocking thing is that despite the explosion, the only thing that was burned are the hostage takers. Half of the bank is burned after the explosion while the other half seems to be fine and it was like some kind of shield protected the other side where the hostages were held.

"Put your hands up from where we can see it!" The cops point the gun at the guy who was currently holding the gun.

"Sir, I am innocent here, I just protected everyone from the hostage takers."

He then raises his hands up to ensure he is no longer going to fight back.

"Tell me what happened. Was that a bomb that explode here earlier? What is going on?"

"Umm... actually it wasn't a bomb. But... me..."

That's when everything clicked and I realized what happened. No wonder it keeps me bugging on why this is very familiar and I finally realized it. Because from the time I learned about this news, it wasn't from a live coverage but just a piece of news from the usual nighttime news flash.

This incident will soon be called the Magic Power Incident. I didn't realize that it was already time for the Magic Power incident to occur but didn't realize it was at this hour that it happened. This also means one thing, with this incident, magic power users will soon appear and the connection between the awakening of magic abilities and Alternate World will soon be established. This is the point where the rise of using magic will now begins. The Age of Magic has now arrived.