Chapter 181: Valra’s Father Caught Me Stealing?! Part 1
The brown-haired man bent lower, his thick and hardened fingers brushing over the broken shards of glass.
The fragments crunched faintly beneath his touch, glinting in the light. His eyes narrowed as he scanned the dark patches of liquid that stretched like veins beneath the sofa.
"Tsk. It spread under it, too," he muttered with an annoyed expression, "All because of that useless thing!" With sudden violence, he slammed his fist against the ground.
The shards quivered from the impact, but none pierced his skin, as if time and struggle had hardened it beyond what was human.
Anyway,
Leo, under the sofa, wore a twisted, tearful expression, ’It’s you who spilled it? How the hell am I supposed to take the blame?’ he screamed inwardly, his face dripping with sweat that rolled down like bullets under the heat of fear.
His trembling hand crept into his pocket... fumbling for his phone. He switched it off instantly!
He had already suffered from unwanted calls before... ringing at the worst possible moment. He wasn’t going to fall for that shit.
Not again.
He had almost been caught last time... almost dragged out in his previous world. That mistake wasn’t going to repeat itself.
Honestly, he hadn’t even come prepared for something like this.
This situation — this nightmare — was something he had never expected, not in the wildest corners of his imagination.
However, the single second of his screen flickering alive had been enough to mess up.
That faint glow reflected against the shards of broken glass.
The man flinched as his gaze caught it... a shimmer beneath the sofa.
Those broken pieces... they glowed like diamonds for a fraction of a second.
"Hmm?" His brow furrowed, eyebrows arching with suspicion. He tilted his head, lowering it further, scanning the floor, "What’s that light...?"
Leo blinked in horror, his heart slamming against his ribs.
He was so utterly fucked right now.
The man’s gaze hardened like fire as he slowly leaned down and peered beneath the shadows. His movements were deliberate, like a predator preparing to strike.
And then he saw...
Nothing!
Meanwhile, Leo’s hands clenched tightly against the back of the sofa, his knuckles pale and rigid, his face twisted and stiff as though he was about to shit himself in fear.
He pressed into the sofa’s side with everything he had. His body screamed from the strain, trembling like a bowstring drawn too tight. He dared not inhale mana to strengthen his muscles... even the smallest slip could expose him. So he clung there, strained and shaking, like a lizard plastered against the wall, praying not to be noticed.
The man frowned deeply. He was sure... absolutely sure, that he had seen something.
That glow wasn’t his imagination. Yet, when he stared again, there was nothing but thick darkness and the acrid stench of spilled beer.
"...Hmph."
The sound rumbled from his chest. He straightened his spine slightly. For a moment, he looked away, then slowly lifted his gaze upward, scanning the sofa. His eyes narrowed when they landed on faint traces.... the fabric of the sofa slightly creased, as if clenched tightly by unseen hands.
His expression shifted. His face turned serious, deadly calm, like a beast moments before baring its fangs.
He lowered his head again, staring into the suffocating dark under the sofa, expecting to find trembling prey... but again, he saw... nothing!
Lifting his head once more, his sharp gaze caught only those faint traces on the sofa.
His lips curled into a smirk, not of amusement but of cruel curiosity. Slowly, he looked down... then up. Down... then up. Down... and up again, eyes gleaming with the patient hunger of a predator who knows the prey was still within reach.
Meanwhile, Leo, who was moving like a lizard beneath the sofa, shifted back and forth, his body twisting against the tight frame... more like some desperate parody of Spiderman....
Or maybe... Sofaman?
Anyway, his face was drenched in sweat, droplets running down into his mouth and stinging his eyes as his trembling fingers struggled to hold on.
’The hell does he want?!’ he screamed inwardly.
He struggled to move, down again, up again... his grip slipping with each motion. If this kept up, he was going to lose it — lose his strength, lose his hold and... lose everything!!
He needed to do something...Anything!
His eyes darted around, desperately searching for a solution. There — the switch. But it wasn’t within reach.
It was near the damn T.V., glowing faintly in the distance.
Which meant... he’d have to face the man to get past him. He’d have to show himself, cross the open space, and turn off the switch right in plain sight.
Leo clenched his teeth. His shoulders screamed with pain, his forearms burned, and every tendon stretched to its breaking point. His body rose and sank, up and down... up and down... the rhythm of the man’s movement!!
Just then, the man’s patience snapped. His eyes glinted, and his voice thundered like a hammer crashing down,
"Caught you, damn mouse!!" he roared as his gaze shot upward.
His hand shifted. Thick veins bulged under his sleeve as his palm pressed against the edge of the sofa. With a single flex of monstrous strength, he lifted the entire piece of furniture off the ground as though it were no heavier than a wooden stool.
But on the ground.... There was nothing.
Only the stained carpet, dark with spilt alcohol, and scattered shards of glass glinting faintly.
Because under the sofa, four limbs were stretched and locked onto the frame like hooks — Leo clung there like a frog, body pressed tight to the wood, hidden in the narrow void.
His face was slick with a mix of beer and sweat. The stench filled his nose, making him gag silently, while his bulging eyes stared at the man who scanned the ground below, expecting to see an intruder crawling there.
’What the hell?! Did he power up like me?’ Leo screamed inwardly, his expression twisted in horror. He forced himself to gulp silently, not daring to make even an inch of sound.
"Hmm? Nothing?" The man frowned, his lips curling into an annoyed sneer as his eyes combed the empty ground.
Maybe... maybe he was drunk?
But no!
Even when he drowned himself in barrels of liquor, even when his body reeked of alcohol, he never fell into illusions, never conjured delusions out of nothing.
’Don’t look up... don’t look down... oh gods, why am I doing this?!’ Leo screamed inside his head. His body trembled violently, arms quivering, legs begging to give out. His grip was slipping, every muscle tearing under strain.
And then.... disaster.
A single droplet of beer, still clinging to his nose, loosened. It rolled, slowly, painfully, and slipped free, falling soundlessly into the air before splattering against the floor below.
The man’s head snapped instantly, his neck twisting back toward the underside of the sofa like a predator locking onto prey.
Fuck!!
But when his eyes searched...
Nothing.
The only thing glistening beneath the sofa was the wooden foot of the frame, drenched in spilled beer.
He narrowed his gaze,
"...Strange."
Meanwhile, Leo, who had moved up toward the top like a lizard, clung to the slanting sofa, trembling like a cornered cat.
His muscles ached, sweat poured from his skin, but his eyes caught it... the switch. Clear view. His heart pounded. He needed something, anything... but damn it, he hadn’t brought a single trick up his sleeve!
Just then, he noticed the sofa starting to lower. The man’s strength was giving in, or maybe he was setting it back down.
If Leo missed this one chance... he was dead.
Absolutely dead!!
His chest heaved as he patted himself in panic, his face twisted into the expression of a man staring at his own grave. And then — his fingers brushed something.
Oh, right. Buttons.
Without hesitation, he ripped one from his shirt, the thread snapping under the force, and flung it toward the switch.
The button spun through the air like a tiny, ticking time bomb. For a breathless second, it seemed to hang, then —
Tuck!
The switch flicked down. Darkness swallowed the room.
The sofa slammed back onto the floor with a heavy thud, shaking dust loose as the brown-haired man frowned. A sharp snap echoed through the silence... The lights blazed back to life in an instant, flooding the room once more.
His face twisted into suspicion, then curved into a dangerous smirk.
"Whoever you are... I’ll let you live if you surrender yourself now," he said. His voice dripped with menace, and as he spoke, flames flared to life in his hands. The temperature surged, heat rolling off him like a wave.
His eyes darted, scanning every corner, every shadow, hungry for the faintest sign of movement.
"Come on..." the man drawled, lips curling further as his steps echoed against the ground.
"I won’t harm you if you surrender yourself."
He prowled slowly, circling, searching... yet nothing stirred.
Not a single sound... Not even the scrape of a breath.
The man’s frown deepened. He closed his eyes for a moment and let his senses unfurl like a net. Mana seeped outward, invisible threads spreading across the house, reaching through walls and shadows, searching for the faintest disturbance, the smallest trace of an intruder.
But there was nothing.
No ripple... No spark!!
The man’s eyes snapped open, confusion flickering across his expression.
He couldn’t feel anything.
"Come on... show yourself," he shouted.
Someone had been here — he was sure of it. If he couldn’t sense them, then that meant only one thing: This intruder was a mage.
Someone like him... or worse, Someone stronger?
Who could it be?
How could such a dangerous figure enter his home undetected?
Sneak inside, stay hidden, mock his senses? For what purpose?
Were they after his head? If so, why hadn’t they struck when his guard was down? They had the chance.
They could have ended him already.
Then why linger? Why hide?
Perhaps... they came to steal something?
Who was this dangerous entity?
The man’s lips curled into a snarl. His face darkened with fury. "I know who you are... Just come out!" he spat, his body coiled like a beast, ready to strike.
His flames licked higher, his stance turned sharp, his gaze snapping from shadow to shadow as he spun, vigilant, ready for anything.
Meanwhile... the danger entity lurked just behind him.