Actor.
Literally described as someone who acts.
These people put on a role, wear a face, and speak lines that may not be their own.
Wearing faces that are a far cry from what they normally were.
Having a different personality… all for the sake of being another person.
There are a lot of actors in the world.
Actors who carry their own weight through the harshness of lives. They smile and nod towards other people, but deep inside, their hearts carry certain darkness.
There are also actors who live their lives as their own person… These people are rare, to be able to live as your own and not of other people's expectations.
These people are fortunate, successful, free, and most of all… happy. They are who they are. No masks. No hiding.
Another type of actors are those actors who pursue acting as their career or hobby. These people are humans who want to be another human. They do not hide their yearning for another mask, yet they use such masks to bring joy, tears, anger, and a multitude of emotions to people.
These people are successful. Since they learned how to use their own face… their own masks… for their profit.
No matter the type of actor people are, they would use it on a daily basis in their lives. Just like our protagonist.
Our protagonist had lived thousands of lives through thousands of faces he had used. He was an assassin. In fact, the greatest assassin.
His disguises were flawless, his act, his words… He lived through killing, through harshness, through blood, sweat, and tears.
He had lived a life different from other people from a young age…
But reality is different…
To others, he was a cold blooded killer… but to him… he is just a teenager, longing for love, longing for the beach, longing for games, longing for acceptance…
And here he is… Our protagonist… Resting his head on the back of the sofa… day dreaming…. Yes, an assassin is day dreaming.
An actor huh…
You probably thought that our protagonist is a cold and ruthless person… no, he is a proper teenager… although traumatized.
The teen looked outside…. It was the same blue sky that he sees everyday. It was a hot day as usual… yet strangely, it was cool…
He thought of the different scenarios in his head, like the way he was doing when he was still an assassin.
Yes… the world now is a very peaceful place...…. But… Damn… be an actor??
I can do disguises but... to be another person while still being me?...
Does he think I have the face value that most actors need.....?
He touched his chin and imagined his face…..
Well…. Hmmm…. I'm quite handsome....
Unbeknownst to the outside world… the deadly assassin known as the ultimate assassin, nicknamed "Gespenst", is a closet narcissist.
You see, Gespenst is not what people think he is. He is quiet, yes… but his mind always works into overdrive. Day dreaming, night dreaming, thinking of others…. Thinking of what to eat….
People, most of them from his 'professional' work, knew him as a cold and ruthless person. But deep inside, he is a soft and mushy dog…. well… more like a cat.
Yes, he is a cat......…
He's swift and fierce… yet soft…. Both outside and inside...…
Anyways, the reason why Gespenst's mind is well into overdrive, but failed to speak his thoughts, is because he was traumatized… yes, trauma.
He was born into a nice family. A family of a loving father and mother. He was happy. He was smiling… He always talks with his parents whenever something happens… He always talks about his future… He sings… plays the guitar… He imitates the dramas that they see on TV… He was a vocal and happy kid.
However… Gespenst would not always stay that way…
One day, while on an outing.. As usual, he and his parents were singing while acting inside their family car when suddenly…. Gunshots arose from all angles…
His parents were killed. Trapped in between a gunfight of two rival factions… They were killed mercilessly… Underneath them was their child… Bathing from the bath of blood from his parents that were protecting him until their very last breath…
The last thing his parents told him was…
Be happy….. My love…..
He cried streams of tears. It didn't stop… His crying didn't stop…
His bloodied hands swiped the tears off of his face… In place of tears, blood replaced it.
After the gunshots ended, The two rival factions left… bringing with them corpses of their own… while leaving the other corpses that were caught in the crossfire.
They didn't show remorse to the corpses… They didn't show regret… They didn't…. spare… any… attention to them…
The kid Gespenst continued crying… He cried his heart out. His life…. His parents… all destroyed… Due to the actions of people they do not even know… People they didn't even meet…
Unperceived by others… Like a Ghost... the kid continued to cry. His vocal chords continued to rasp… until it was no more…
When his tear ducts dried out, a hand reached out to him. The kid slapped it away.
"Oooh feisty."
It was an adult. It was Bruce Kang.
Bruce raised his right hand again and reached it out to the kid. The distance of the hand to the kid was not quite far. It was far enough for it to not be slapped by the kid.
"Tell me… do you want revenge?"
The kid continued to stare his red teary eyes towards Bruce.
Bruce knew those eyes… It was the eyes of anger… Eyes of revenge… Eyes of fury… Wrath… It was the eyes that longs for his enemy's death…
Bruce continued to reach out his hand.
"If you want revenge… then come with me."
"A…. a…"
The kid continued to stutter… His only words… no… the letter that he could only speak was… "A"...
But Bruce knew what he meant…
Bruce reached out to his phone and dialed a number.
After a few seconds, the person on the other side of the phone answered.
"Manager Kang… how can I help you?"
"Bring me two janitors to give two corpses a proper burial."
"I understand, Manager Kang."
Bruce put his phone in his pocket.. He then looked at the kid who was passed out in between the two corpses of his parents…
"The kid had a long day…"
Bruce looked at the end of the street… ambulance vans and police cars continued rushing towards the scene of the crime…
Bruce knew that this is the time to dip… So he did.
He picked up the tiny kid and slung him onto his shoulders.
"Time to go kid, you'll see them again later."
Bruce ran towards an alleyway… He faded into darkness… blended with the dark night…
When the kid woke up, he saw an unfamiliar ceiling. He knew what had happened… He knew who died… He wanted to cry again… but not now. He needed to plan his revenge.
He then felt a hand covering the top of his head.
He looked at him and saw the uncle that gave him a chance for revenge. The kid looked at him with determined eyes. Eyes longing for revenge… eyes full of fury.
"Don't worry kid, you'll have your time."
Bruce invited the kid to be an assassin, and the kid accepted it without any hesitation.
Since then, the kid has trained his heart out. He trained two times… no… four to five times harder than the average trainee…
When the others rested in order to be ready for the next day, he was still toiling in the field, running, going through obstacles, practicing his knife work…
When the others were finding love and hoping for the future, he trained his body to be strong and indestructible.
When the others were studying at the school, he instead studied strategies and house blueprints.
All of these contributed to him becoming the greatest assassin had ever known. Instead of being a normal teenager, here he was… a total stranger. Instead of finding love and playing with his friends, here he was, drenching in his enemy's blood.
He was alone… but he never was…
Right beside him was his new father figure….
The person who stood right beside him… even to the point of no return…
He stood with him even through the disbandment of their agency.
He was with him when he got his revenge…
His wounded heart was then stitched together…
And now… he wants to repay his new father.
Actor huh…?
Well… what's so hard about being an actor.
I had lived thousands of lives through different masks.
Thousands of different stories accompanied each mask.
Each story was unique, and… it was fun.
The kid… now a teen, went to one of the shelves on the wall… He grabbed a picture compiler, and he opened it. He saw a picture in one of the files within. That picture involves a man standing as a guard inside the white house's oval office, with the president right beside him.
I had even infiltrated the white house, and stood beside the former president of the United Federation of States…. Even though it is only for training… I did pretty well huh, I am quite handsome too….. But not as handsome as my real face… Ahhh fun times.
He rested the compilation down and looked outside.
He had already decided.
Although 'I' cannot speak… For sure… 'The others' can speak for me…
Anyways, I'll watch some movies for now.
He then stepped outside the door…
Who would've known, this single step could change someone's destiny.
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Hey, I changed places names, in order for it not to be "Earth".
Gespenst means Ghost in German… I think?
I hope you like my story so far.
Thanks.