BXBX NOVEL Chapter 184 A Car Ride With A Celebrity
Lee Seng zipped his suitcase and stood it up on the rollers. He stood up, stretching as his body cracked. He grabbed his backpack on the bed and started to double check the bag. Once everything was in order, he zipped the bag up and put the backpack on. He slipped his shoes on and rolled the suitcase behind him to the door.
Knock, knock, knock.
There was a long silence after his knocks, but he eventually heard someone coming to the door. The door beeped and unlocked, revealing a soldier in a hazmat suit. The soldier opened the door all the way and motioned for Lee Seng to step out. Lee Seng moved into the hallway and noticed the sparse amount of doors with tight security.
'This place is under tight security.' Lee Seng glanced to his left. He noticed a set of double doors at the end of the hallway.
"Follow me." The soldier spoke. The soldier crossed to Lee Seng's left and started down the hallway. Lee Seng followed after the soldier, passing soldiers standing at attention.
'I wonder if anything interesting happens for these guys to do anything. Probably get hired from a rigorous background and get to roam and stand six feet apart from each other, in these halls.' Lee Seng thought as the double doors grew larger in front of him. The soldier opened the door and let him through first before they continued down the hall. They turned right and followed the hall until they reached the front entrance.
"There's someone who will take you back." The soldier told Lee Seng. Lee Seng nodded and bowed. He continued out the doors, pushing it open and lifting his suitcase. He pushed himself through the two layers of doors and stepped out into a chilly Autumn day.
"Good thing I'm wearing my jacket. It's cooooold." Lee Seng shivered as he set his suitcase down and continued to roll it as he followed the concrete path forward. The sunlight embraced him and he sighed in relief. "At least it's sunny." The sound of a car idling to the left, caught his attention. He followed the path left and saw the car roll the passenger window down.
"Lee Seng?" The voice asked. Lee Seng ducked to look into the car. It was a woman in sunglasses. She wore business attire clothes and lowered her sunglasses.
"Yeah?" Lee Seng answered.
"I'll be taking you back to the Academy. Put your stuff in the back and get in." The woman instructed. She popped the trunk open and Lee Seng moved himself to the rear of the car. He lifted and slid his things into the trunk and closed it. He unslung his backpack and opened the backseat and slid to sit in it.
"Academy has valet drivers or something?" Lee Seng asked.
"I have some business with the Academy and happen to be near. One of the staff members asked for a favor and asked if I could pick you up one my way over." The woman answered. The car pulled away from the curb and started its journey towards the Academy.
"Who asked you to pick me up? I could've gotten a ride from one of the ride apps."
"An old friend. Scarlet asked me to grab you."
"Ahh, you're friends with Four."
"Mmmhm. The situation that happened at the Academy has the city on edge and you seem to be the center of all the attention, right now. I thought I might as well come pick you up myself and see what you're all about." The woman told him. Lee Seng gave her a strange look and slowly nodded.
"Not the first time I've heard that… But what's your name?" Lee Seng asked.
"I'm Dinah. Dinah Stryker." Dinah introduced herself. Lee Seng leaned forward. The brunette hair woman did look familiar to him and now he knew why.
"Ah, you're Dinah Stryker? Wow, I didn't think I'd meet a celebrity." Lee Seng geeked. Dinah smiled and kept her eyes on the road as they came to a stop. She looked both ways before continuing forward.
"Dinah Stryker in the flesh. I see you're a fan?" Dinah smiled.
"You could say that." Lee Seng nodded. "I liked watching you on 'Adventurer Follow.' Seeing you out on the field wiped me away. Your Silverflash ability is quite interesting in battle."
"I haven't heard anyone mention 'Adventurer Follow' in ages. People usually bring up recent stuff."
"Mmm, I think the newer stuff doesn't showcase your abilities as well as 'Adventurer Follow." Lee Seng told her. She nodded as she flicked the left turn signal and pulled over to the turn lane and stopped.
"Am I the reason why you're becoming an Adventurer?" Dinah asked.
"Hmmm..." Lee Seng thought aloud. "No." Dinah frowned and Lee Seng leaned forward to say something when Dinah smiled.
"You don't need to apologize. It's fine." Dinah chuckled. The light turned green and the car turned left and continued its path to the Academy. "I get a lot of that. 'You're the reason why I want to become an Adventurer.' I'm grateful that loads of people want to be in this field, but I'm not sure if they know all of the risks by watching the TV shows. It doesn't show everything that an Adventurer does, but you're actually in the Academy after going through your Awakening and passing the exam after what, one or two weeks? That's an accomplishment in itself."
Lee Seng blushed. He smiled and shifted in his seat. Hearing a celebrity compliment him and one that ranked in the top 30 Adventurer's list, made it feel even more special. Dinah had noticed Lee Seng blushing and smiled.
'Interesting kid. Can't believe he's one of the younger ones who's always in the spotlight.' Dinah thought.
—-
A Couple Hours Later
Dinah slowed the car to a stop at the northside gate entrance. Lee Seng decided to spend sometime in the car, doing homework. Dinah rolled the window down and looked up at the rearview mirror.
"Hello, is it just you?" The guard asked.
"There's one more with me in the back." Dinah pointed.
"I'll need to see both of your IDs. Could I ask what you both are trying to do in the Academy as well?" Lee seng pulled his student ID card out and handed it to Dinah.
"I'm here for business with Number 4 and I'm taking a student back." Dinah handed the cards over to the guard.
"Ah, Ms. Stryker. We have been informed that you would be coming today. Didn't think you'd have Mr. Chang with you, too."
"Scarlet asked me to grab him and he was on the way, so I thought I would kill two birds with one stone." The security guard handed the cards back to Dinah. Dinah snagged her card and took a glance at Lee Seng's card before handing it back to him.
"Thank you," Lee Seng grabbed the card and stuffed it back into his wallet.
"You two have clearance to head in. You may go." The security guard motioned. The large gate opened and the car slowly rolled forward.
"I'll take you to your dorm before I head over for business." Dinah told Lee Seng.
"Alright, sounds good." Lee Seng nodded. He packed his tablet back into his bag as the car quickly moved through the main road. Dinah snaked her way to the right and Lee Seng watched as the dorm grew larger. He checked his watch and noticed it was about 8am. It was Monday and classes were in session. The car pulled into the parking lot of the dorm and made its way to the front. Dinah stopped at the front door and looked into the rearview mirror.
"Alright, this is your stop." Dinah said. Lee Seng unbuckled his seatbelt and grabbed his things.
"Thanks for the ride." Lee Seng unlocked the door and moved out of the car.
"Hopefully I can see you in the future. Have a nice day." She waved at him as he peeked down and waved. The car trunk popped open and Lee Seng rounded the corner and grabbed his suitcase and set it down.
He closed the trunk and moved up onto the raised sidewalk and started towards his dorm.
'I should get ready for the day and head to class…. Ugh, I should eat something.' Lee Seng clicked the elevator, waited for it to come down and moved inside and hit the second floor button. The dorms were scarce with people so he didn't have to wait long enough for anything.
The elevator doors opened on the second floor and Lee Seng moved towards his dorm room. He moved to his dorm room and remembered the scratching noises. He checked the door for any scratch marks, which there wasn't and inputted the door code in.
'Three weeks have gone by, so repairs would've happened by then.' Lee Seng shrugged as he shouldered his way into the somewhat dim room. He put his things onto his bed and stripped his clothes off and grabbed his student outfit and put it on. He slipped his school shoes on and grabbed his sneakers off of the floor and stuffed them into his backpack.
'Welp, let's just take a quick bite on the way to class.'