"If I want to kill you, I would've done so, got it? I'm Jasper Langford, your friend! If I am an evil cultivator, why would I steal the identity of a non-cultivator and persuade you weak assholes who are still in the first stage of the Body Tempering Realm!? I could just kill you and eat your memories as well if I have that ability!"
His words were loud and reverberated in his friends' ears.
Justine cried loudly, "So, you want to eat us too!?"
Jasper slapped his face. Looks like these two are too scared to think properly.
"Alright, I'm stronger than you. Either I'm an evil cultivator at the Golden Core Realm or your friend, Jasper, you'll still have to listen to me, is that correct?"
Martin, who still has a semblance of sanity, understood this and lightly shook Justine's shoulder.
"Dude, we can only listen…"
"Iek- wehadx–"
"What"
"Just give me the clothes I asked you." Jasper said, "I don't like being naked."
Martin gulped. Good thing he had a 'what if' thought and still brought clothes with him.
"Are you really… Jasper?" Martin tried to stand up while avoiding the snake's gaze and handed Jasper the clothes.
"Yeah, I am. A lot happened since I was called out by Dereck again."
Jasper spoke while he put his clothes on.
"Ah, it feels oddly comfortable and uncomfortable to be wearing clothes again."
Martin was stunned to hear Dereck's name. Jasper's attitude and story aligned perfectly.
"Hey, Justine, you nerd, how long are you going to curl up like that?" Jasper lightly kicked Justine to the side and led the way back to the town.
Justine snapped back to his senses. The Jasper he knew would also kick him on the ground when he curled up due to fear.
"J-jasper?" Justine saw that the two were already meters away so he forced his feet and chased after them.
"Wait!"
The three walked back to the town by the river.
"Hmm, where do I start?"
Jasper was about to share his story when they heard a shout from the distance. Three men in uniform were walking towards them from afar. Each of them brought a flashlight and a gun. One guy even has a trained dog.
"The rangers… they must've heard the gunshots!" Martin exclaimed.
Jasper looked at this stupid fellow with an empty gaze.
"Let's hide. I can't afford to be seen," he instructed as he pulled the two deeper into the woods, perpendicular to the river.
With his impeccable physique, Jasper was able to carry the two and was still faster than the approaching rangers.
Easily, they evaded being seen and have reached the edge of the town.
"That scared me! Why are we running away from the rangers?" Justine asked.
"You'll learn once I tell the story. First, let's get somewhere safe and private."
Jasper thought that going back to the apartment seemed to be unfeasible since he had an unrecognizable face now.
He hadn't fully gained the trust of these two idiots so they would not let him in their houses like how it was usually. Thus, he had to find another private room.
Karaoke room.
"Ugh… Martin, help me out here. My dad is asking why I'm still not home." Justine looks at the terrifying [99+ unread messages] from his notifications.
His parents must be scaldingly angry at him.
Justine glanced at Jasper and decided, "Let's order alcohol!"
"Where did that come from!?" Martin said.
"It's more believable for teenagers to be late at home because they were partying rather than going out with guns to hunt for bullies but instead met a strange man who claimed to be their dead friend and has a beast at the Gold-"
"Okay, okay, I got it! We're going to pick the lesser of the two evils. Let me talk to your pops and apologize as well."
Justine nodded and called his parents.
As expected, as soon as the call was picked up, his parents went on a non-stop barrage on how he much deep in trouble he was. Thankfully, Martin was there, his 'savior', saying that Justine was too drunk so he'll sleep at Martin's place instead.
Once all of that was done, Jasper gave a thumbs up.
"Thanks for that! It would've been a bigger deal if they found out about me."
"Y-yeah…" Justine scratched his lowered head, "I hope you're not lying to us."
"I'm not."
'A little bit,' Jasper thought. He couldn't tell the complete story as that would be too unbelievable. Thus, he had to tone it down.
His story goes like this.
After being beaten up by Liam, he was thrown into the river and almost died. He was only saved by this one-of-a-kind gentle beast. This beast burned up his cultivation to save Jasper. This also made Jasper jump up in cultivation.
"C-crazy…!"
They couldn't believe his story, however, the 'truth' is in front of their eyes. There is a speaking snake beast right there on his shoulders and Jasper also went through a tremendous transformation.
"That's correct. I saved Jasper because I wanted to befriend a human." Nyx went along with the story. It's not false that he did save Jasper.
"A beast at the Golden Core Realm who wanted to befriend a human…"
Both were dumbfounded. Gentle beasts are not unheard of. Many beasts who are strong enough to have a humanoid form are cooperative with humans in the highest realms. They are treated like celebrities because of how strong they are.
They are more violent than humans, generally sure, but there are a select few who are kinder than most humans.
Jasper was just that fortunate to encounter this gentle beast.
Justine couldn't help but comment, "You're like a main character with plot armor, dude!"
"Hehe, it's because I'm the main character of this world."
"That god complex… you really are Jasper," Martin replied with a banter but his face was so full of awe that it looked like he was complimenting Jasper.
"You said that you're a cultivator now, right? At what stage?"
Jasper rubbed his nose, "Peak of the Body Tempering Realm!"
"P-peak!?"
Both almost fell off their seats.
They feel like going to Dereck not for revenge but to be beaten down and thrown into the river as well. Maybe they would have a similar encounter to Jasper.
"That's godly fortunate!"
"Right!? It's all thanks to this little fella– I mean, great benefactor of mine!"
"Dude, you should respect your benefactor more," Martin said with a straight expression.
Nyx felt awkward.
Martin and Justine glanced at each other and went in front of Nyx to kowtow.
"Senior! Thank you for saving our friend!"
Nyx felt even more awkward.
"No worries, humans. I hope we can be friends as well." he maintained his character.
"Of course!"
Meanwhile, Jasper was sniffing.
"Uhh… he's tearing up."
"That's Jasper, alright. He's emotional to these kinds of things."
The two laughed while Jasper denied, "Fuck off!"
"But senior, you didn't have to make him this handsome!"
"Yeah, the Jasper we know is ugly! If only his new appearance was ugly as well, we would've believed him much earlier!"
"Shut up, you two! Are you really my friends!?"
Nyx couldn't help but laugh as well with the group's banter.
They didn't hold themselves back and drank that night as they'd already ordered alcohol. Although they are minors, age restrictions no longer matter once they've become cultivators.
"Since we're here, let's sing as well!"
Just like that, the night ended with a party.
…
Next morning.
"Ughh… my head!" Martin held his head and looked at the time.
"Shit, it's already 10:00 AM. I have to go home now."
"Me too," Justine shuddered thinking of how he'll have to explain himself to his parents.
"What's your plan, Jasper?" the two of them looked at Jasper and almost jumped off from their seats.
"Jasper, your face!"
Jasper smirked with delight.
His face has returned to its original appearance!
"My benefactor helped me. I wouldn't be able to return to my apartment with my previous face."
"Wow…" the two looked at the snake with complete reverence.
They didn't doubt it. For them, beings in the Golden Core Realm are very mysterious. If they thought of something as impossible, it should be possible for beings at the Golden Core Realm.
Nyx has to take credit again for which he didn't deserve. What actually happened was entirely different.
Last night, because of the difference in cultivation, Jasper wasn't fully intoxicated and was still wide awake. He looked at himself in the mirror, curious about his new face.
When he saw himself, Jasper almost shrieked like a fangirl.
Fuck, I'm handsome now! I'm like a male idol!
He felt his face.
It's not like he was ugly before. Some could say his fierce face is quite handsome. But compared to this, he truly was ugly.
Although he was happy to have improvement even if it's superficial such as looks, Jasper didn't want this face. It's good that he can get another identity but it was also causing him trouble. For example, his friends were unable to recognize him. What about his family?
Jasper sighed. The desire to revert his face to before intensified.
"If only I could change back," he hopelessly pushed his nose and it moved!