Ren opened the door and greeted the deliveryman, who was young, somewhat chubby, and dressed in clothing with graffiti designs as he carried a large, thick bag that had Ren's food. The deliveryman looked a bit concerned at Ren's state.
"Are you okay?" The deliveryman asked, bringing out a plastic container that had fried rice and chicken- Ren felt even hungrier.
He was graceful for the deliveryman, as without his intervention, it was unknown what would happen to him. "I am sorry for taking up your time. I am not feeling so well, and what is your name?"
The deliveryman shrugged, more focused on Ren's disheveled state. "Just call me Smally, it's no problem at all. Are you sure you won't go to the hospital?"
Ren gave out a smile and pulled out a two-hundred-year bill from his pocket to give to Smally, who accepted it in shock.
"This is my way of apologizing," Ren said, and Smally just nodded as Ren checked his phone to transfer the money for the food.
"Say Smally, did you notice anything weird when you were coming here?" Ren asked, to which Smally frowned and shook his head.
Ren was now curious about something. "Smally, did you notice anything weird?"
Smally shook his head again, confused about the adamant asking. "You look dirty."
Ren was confused by the statement, staring at the lazy eyes delivery man.
"My grandma would say that to people who have something sinful about them. It's like knowing someone is doing something." Smally said.
"You are religious?" Ren asked, showing apparent dislike of Smally's words so far.
"No, you don't need to be a scientist to know water is polluted, nor do you need to be a chef to know that food isn't good. Whatever you're going through, I hope you are not doing it alone." Smally asked.
Ren shrugged in response.
Smally shrugged too. "There is no such thing as a lone wolf; that's only propaganda for elections and stuff. Whatever you are in that involves your life, there is no such thing as too shameless, too careful, or too nice. You die, then that's it."
Ren didn't know what to say anymore. He didn't want to associate himself with Smally anymore, at least not until he was sure that when he called his parents and looked at the picture, it would prompt them to want to come out of the shadows. Although they would deliver cakes, it could still provide a good sense of security, and this made him understand that each picture required different triggers to activate.
He transferred the money, collected his food, and entered back into his apartment, before that Smally would give the number of a friend doctor who see him, Ren thanked him, but what he was relieved for was that he now had a certain level of backup for later, not enough to his satisfaction but it was something, plus he had Renu, even if she was absolutely absent from the previous scenario; he still had a dangerous and trustworthy person by his side.
Finishing his dinner, he was about to fall asleep on the couch as he was listening to the rain before. No matter what he had gone through, here he was finally sleeping in peace. He liked that. When was the last time he appreciated a good sleep? He was proud of himself.
He woke to the sound of knocking. He groaned and checked his phone to find out that it was just 5 in the morning. Who was it? It was still raining as he peeped through the door to see who it was.
He saw that it was Renu, wielding an umbrella, who was knocking, and frowned.
"Renu, for the love of my sanity, why are you here this early?" He asked, wanting to crash back instantly to show how exhausted he still was.
Renu smiled. "We are going to Big Daddy Studios to edit some games, especially to see if my game would affect me." She said, her voice full of excitement.
He was pretty confused, "What are you talking about? I deleted all of my games."
Renu showed a bitter smile. "The game that I came from was an important game, right?"
Ren nodded, not knowing or liking where this was going.
Renu continued. "Ren, there are multiple backups of those types of games in case of emergencies."
Ren felt everything was a bit fuzzy from that information. He wondered why Pope would let that happen so easily; he never really thought of an extra backup.
"It doesn't matter, since it's from you that scenarios are created and not the physical form of games. We should move now. The earlier the better." Renu said.
Ren was still tired, but he knew that he had checked every possible means for them to seek an advantage in this journey. Smally didn't need to tell him that going in this alone was an idiotic thing to do, plus he valued his life.
Ren looked at himself. "I have to take a bath, I will be fast."
They had to move on no matter what.