Outer: Return of the Tenth Commander

Nom—! Nom—!

Case continuously devours the food that his mother prepared for him as if it were the very last thing he had to do, while his father and sister watch him suspiciously from the sidelines.

Finally, as the father watched Rose's worried face, he couldn't help but speak up.

"Uhm Case, you look like you aged so much. What happened to you, son?"

On his left was Case's father, known as Edwards Kellys.

He had dark brown hair, which is something that Case inherited from his father, and dark eyes that his sister inherited.

"Yeah, he had gone insane."

On his right was his sister, Yelena Kellys.

She had the same auburn hair as their mother Rose and the dark eyes that she inherited from their father, which seemed to mesh well altogether.

She was a beautiful and smart person, and even though she acted tough, Case knew she actually cared for her family.

On the other side of the table was Rose, Case's mother.

She said nothing, her eyes filled with worry as Case remained quiet, shoveling food into his mouth.

But if they only knew what was going through his mind, they would've already left him be.

It's because Case was the only one who could comprehend what was to come.

'There's a week prior before we'll get a 'visit' from Outer. It's not enough time to prepare. It means that I'll screw some agendas aside from now and go straight to urgent ones that we'll be definitely needing,'

Case glanced towards his family before adding.

'The mistakes I made last time will not happen anymore,' 

Who could've thought that Case would be returning in time?

He, who was in this situation, was the most flabbergasted as he should be.

But there's no point in dwelling on what has happened.

To him, focusing on the task at hand was important.

And because of his haste, a problem had arisen.

'How should I convince my parents that the influence of Outer is coming in a week and that will change the fate of Earth entirely?'

Looking at his family's clueless, worried faces, Case shook his head in defeat as a disappointed sigh escaped from his lips.

He already knew the answer to his question.

'I shouldn't convince them. They will see it eventually anyway.'

That's why he changed his manner of thinking.

'I should do the preparation alone. It's not much of a plan anyway since all I have to do is procure basic necessities that could last for a month.'

At last resolved, Case embraced his choice and made up his mind. After all, this was how it was supposed to happen.

"Father, Mother,"

Case gave his parents a serious look, instantly drawing the full attention of his family.

"I have two requests to make." 

Though they couldn't quite grasp what caused the change in their child's behavior, Rose and Edwards were there to give him at least proper support by agreeing to his demands.

"What is it, Case?" Rose asked calmly.

Case appeared deep in thought, fully aware that his parents still saw him as their naive, innocent son.

However, Case has no time to explain that they were already looking for the future him… a future that didn't already exist.

"Can you help me borrow money from the bank?"

Rose, Edwards, and even Yelena exchanged baffled glances before his parents finally agreed to his terms.

Case isn't someone to make requests such as this, and if he wanted to borrow money from somewhere, he would definitely put it to good use.

"What's the second request?" Edwards asked.

With a brief cough, Case didn't dilly-dally any longer as he stated his second demand with confidence.

"About school. I'm dropping out."

…

About three hours later, after Case suddenly and seriously declared dropping out of school, he found himself being led by his father in their car to borrow money from the bank.

This is something they can agree on in the first place since it was just borrowing money, which Case promised to pay for himself since he will start working.

It was a lie, of course.

There was no way Case would start working part-time when The Visit would happen.

Another thing with Earth's money is that whether it's from the poorest nation or the wealthiest, it no longer holds value.

All that mattered now was anything related to the Outer.

Everything that has been Earth will collapse, and Case will be one of the few who will be ready.

"Case,"

Breaking the long silence, Edwards finally addressed Case, clearly intent on convincing him not to quit on his school.

But Case beat him up to it.

"I'm not changing my mind,"

Case then added.

"There's no point in going to school now,"

Hearing it from his son, who was the smartest of their family, made Edwards worry that he had been influenced by his friends at school to drop out.

He wanted to say something since what he's doing is very impulsive.

Rose and Edwards had done everything they could to secure a bright future for Case, but he saw things differently, a truth they would only come to understand once The Visit occurred.

That's why Case cut off the unnecessary actions, such as going to school.

Edwards opened his mouth, yet no words came out.

Adjusting his posture, he remained silent while they drove toward the bank that Case had requested to go.

It didn't take long before they reached their destination.

World Bank Center, also known as WBC

Case chose this particular bank from the city since any kind of currency from the world can be exchanged, deposited, or withdrawn from it as long as one has the right amount.

It is also the most popular out of the banks he had remembered before.

But soon, it will face its downfall once Outer comes.

Case will have no problem using it as much as possible as long as it is still functioning.

Case entered the huge bank with Edwards right behind, fearful about what was to come since he had been duped by his own son.

Case only mentioned to Edwards the bank right beside the World Bank Center, not the bank itself.

His fear stemmed from the fact that the WBC wasn't just any bank.

It handled massive sums, and failing to pay back what you owed could lead to real trouble.

Only the wealthy walked in and out of its doors.

And The Kellys aren't the richest and wealthiest people out here.

"Excuse me, where is the section where I can borrow money?"

He walked straight to an open receptionist lane, which was fairly empty—after all, the bank didn't see heavy crowds every day.

The only people who came here are the people who have money in their name.

So the receptionist didn't doubt and immediately led Cesar to a room where he could do his dealings.

His father tried to imitate a façade of a confident guy, but failed to do so, which Case could see and made him console his old man.

"You don't need to try anything. I'll handle it."

Seeing his reliable son speaking out for him, Edwards calmed down and walked calmly before sitting right beside Case, who took a seat first.

Case let out a tired sigh, remembering that the agenda for today it to convince whoever the guy they were about to meet to borrow money.

He didn't have anything—money, fame, or even a title—that could boost his chances of borrowing.

However, he has one thing, and he believes that's the only thing he needs.

'Confidence is the key…'

To convincingly trick someone, something he used to do almost instinctively, he had to exude and deliver a confident appearance.

He doesn't want his dealer to underestimate him in any way.

And finally, the dealer entered the room and sat down right in front of Case.

"I heard you're here to borrow money?"

Case nodded.

"How much?"

Case delivered a confident smile as he pointed his finger up.

"One million dollars."