Strongest Hammer God

Chapter 1156: Masked Face

Time passed, and Kyle learned more about the advancement process.

'I can't go back in time. I can only see each moment once. However, I can speed up time as much as I want. I can even skip parts. That means I'm not stuck here. If I wanted to, I could just leave and return to the real world.'

However, Kyle kept watching his life.

Eventually, the police found out about the drug business. When the police raided their home, they found Kyle and his mother.

Both parents were put in prison. Kyle's father got a bunch of charges, while his mother was put away for child neglect and abuse. After a short stay in the orphanage, Kyle was put into foster care. He had been a polite, well-behaved, quiet, and friendly child during his stay in the orphanage, which was why he had quickly been chosen by a foster family.

His initial stay within the foster family was very nice. His new parents were loving and supportive, giving him all the space and time he needed to come out of his shell.

Over time, Kyle became comfortable, and that's when his troubles surfaced. Anger, mistrust, sadness, and fear lived inside him. Taking care of him became troublesome, but the two foster parents still supported him. It seemed like nothing could break them apart.

Yet, as Kyle looked at his foster parents, his eyes became colder. He could see the truth.

'I thought that I was at fault for how life with my foster family developed, but in retrospect, it's obvious that you can't blame it on me. I was just a broken child.'

While his foster parents supported him, they weren't doing that for him. They had an image of a perfect family in their mind. Their support and care were seen as an investment. As long as they supported him for a bit longer, their image of a happy family could become a reality.

Whenever the two parents were alone, they didn't talk about how Kyle felt or how difficult his life must have been. Instead, they just complained to each other.

How much longer would he remain troublesome?

Couldn't he finally get over his past?

Couldn't he just be happy, for a change?

They wanted a happy family. They wanted to go to amusement parks and play with their happy little angel. Everyone around them would envy them for the happy family they had created. Whenever anyone else would complain about their unruly child, they could smile and say that they didn't have such issues. After all, they had managed to fix such a broken child.

Kyle wasn't in their mind. The only thing in their mind was the empty painting of the happy family they dreamed of.

For now, they would keep supporting him. Eventually, it might pay off.

Kyle entered primary school, but his dark past gave him a distorted view of society and how people talked to each other. Remarks that seemed innocent to him terrified other children. Herd mentality did its thing, and he soon became an outcast.

His foster parents heard about the troubles, sighed, and decided to move closer to the city. Might as well. The two parents also wouldn't need to commute as much anymore.

Kyle entered a new primary school, and this time, he didn't mention any dark topics. Instead, he just smiled and talked about the fun things in life. That worked pretty well, and he got a bunch of friends.

Yet, whenever he was home, he lost all Energy and became quiet. His parents encouraged him to go out more, hoping that his new friends would help him recover.

Kyle did just that, but that didn't fix things.

Eventually, they sent him to a child therapist, hoping that they could finally fix their son.

However, things started to get even worse, at least, in their opinion. Kyle was acting out much more. Instead of being quiet, he was starting to become angry and loud.

This was actually a good thing. The therapist slowly managed to convince Kyle to confront the negative emotions buried within him, and these negative emotions were now actually coming to the surface.

Sadly, his new parents didn't see it that way. They had invested so much in fixing him, but things only seemed to get worse. Finally, they had enough, and they canceled the sessions.

They gave up.

They couldn't fix him.

They still treated him well, but they essentially just did what they were supposed to do. Kyle was no longer their child but a task. They had to take care of him until he was an adult, and they would do just that.

After searching for a while, they chose a pair of orphaned twins and included them in their family. They poured all of their effort into raising the new twins, but they were also taking care of Kyle to an acceptable degree.

Kyle wasn't being mistreated. On paper, his new home seemed very normal.

Sadly, he could feel the truth. There was no warmth in his new parents. At least, he couldn't see any warmth when they interacted with him.

He left his home more and more frequently, and eventually, the happy mask he put on for his friends became his new face. He wore this mask for longer and longer periods of time without taking it off, and eventually, it became him.

It became even easier to wear it when he became a teenager. Teenagers often laughed at dark and edgy jokes, and due to his past, Kyle had enough of them. His dark past was masked with a loud laugh and a shrug.

"Whatcha gonna do?"

Despite being surrounded by friends, he felt lonely. He had many friends, but he didn't feel close to any of them.

Yet, he didn't mind. His entire life had been like that. He was used to it. This was just life.

"Whatcha gonna do?"

His grades were horrible. His parents didn't force any boundaries on him. He wanted to be an adult, just like any teenager, right? Fine, he could live his life how he wanted, then. As long as he didn't interfere with how they raised their other children, he was free to do whatever he wanted.

When he turned 18, Kyle was told to move out and find a place for himself.

For a while, he lived with a couple of friends, but he didn't truly try to make something of himself. He was fine with chilling the entire day.

Eventually, he forced himself to get a job when another friend gave him an ultimatum, but Kyle just called in sick constantly. He lost the job, got another one, lost that one, and so on.

Finally, he landed on the streets and stayed with a couple of homeless veterans. They taught him a lot about discipline, and for the first time, he actually managed to retain a job for several months.

Sadly, the job was horrible and didn't pay well.

Then, someone offered him some money to deliver drugs from place A to place B, and he accepted.

He also met Lindsay soon after.

Things developed. He married and created his drop-shipping business to launder money for one of the gangs.

Kyle watched his mortal life on Earth like a spectator.

When he saw Lindsay, he just shook his head.

'No wonder we hit it off so well. In a way, both of us are the same. Both of us are constantly wearing a mask.'

'Yet, deep inside, we are different. My mask has become my face. As for Lindsay...'

'She doesn't have a face at all. Her inner world is completely dictated by the outer world and her most basic desires. She wants things that everyone else wants, and she doesn't want things that others don't want. She wants money, a nice house, a good husband, power, and status. However, she only wants those things because that's what everyone else wants.'

'And when something doesn't go well, she wants revenge. She is angry, and therefore, the other side is wrong. Why scream and shout to vent your anger? She doesn't want to vent her anger. She wants the other party to hurt. They have hurt her, which is why she's going to hurt them.'

Kyle sighed.

'I knew she was bad, but she's even worse than I had thought. It's almost like she isn't even human anymore. She acts like a machine, but she thinks like an animal.'

Eventually, Kyle reached the point at which his life on Earth ended.

His eyes narrowed as he saw the beautiful lady with red hair appearing in his apartment.

The Red Witch.

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