The whole warehouse fell silent. I stood there, taken aback. What the man in the hologram had just said weighed heavily on me. I felt as if a skyscraper had fallen on me.
Velvet stood there, unsurprised by the current situation. Then she turned her head towards me. "Master!" Her subtle voice rang in my ears, pulling me out of my distorted state of mind.
"Avoid what? Don't just leave on a cliffhanger. That wasn't helpful. Now I have a lot more to uncover. And how did you know my name?" I slammed my hands on the table and broke it. It was a solid metal desk. No normal human could destroy it with just a slam.
I turned towards Velvet. "Hey, Velvet, who are you? What's going on? And who put you in that pod? Wait, I thought cyborgs were extinct. What the hell are you?"
She flexed her fingers. "So that's what I am—a cyborg. Master, you are so wise. I don't remember anything apart from my name. Let me try to access my databank." She placed her hands on her head. "Databank cannot be accessed."
"Unfortunately, I can't help you with any information. My databank has been locked. I woke up with the instruction to make the first person I made contact with my master."
She was stark blank. She didn't have any memory of her past or information that could help me.
Though she was a cyborg, she looked completely human. I could barely notice.
I barely had any energy left to process anything. But first things first, I left the warehouse before some group of acknowledged swooped in. We headed to the Larmark bus station. From there, we took a ride to the commercial district to get her some clothes.
We finally got to the commercial district. Velvet was so curious she stopped to scan everything on the way to the Harpin Mall—from ants to food—ramen, rice, seafood—down to buildings and traffic signs.
Finally, we got to the mall. "Listen, Velvet, don't call me master when we are around other people or in public. And also, if you are asked about your relationship with me, you are my distant relative. Got it?"
She saluted me.
"Don't do that also."
She quickly dropped her hand. "Affirmative. I will save that to memory."
Hissss....
We walked towards the shopping assistant station by the right-hand side of the receptionist desk. "Excuse me, could you help me select some clothing for my distant relative?" Luckily, she agreed. I didn't have any idea what kind of clothes to buy, so I had to ask for help.
We walked towards the clothing section, and the shopping assistant helped us select some clothes. Velvet tried multiple outfits, all of which looked stunningly breathtaking on her.
"Mas— I mean, Touma, can we get all of them? I searched on the web. These types of clothes are trendy."
My account suffered a heavy blow, and the worst part was I was currently unemployed.
"Whoa, you look so cute." She wore a beautiful green and black dress.
After we were done shopping, "Thank you so much for helping us out." I tipped the shopping assistant.
Velvet had quite the stamina. She carried all the shopping bags by herself.
It was time to pay, so we walked up to the cashier's desk.
Beep!
The cashier scanned the clothes. "That would be ¥1700, sir."
I paid with my credit card.
Hissss....
The door opened. We left the mall. Just look at her smiling as she carried multiple bags in her hands.
"Why don't we get something to eat?" I turned towards the delighted Velvet.
"Yay!" she smiled brightly.
We went to a close-by ramen shop. We sat down on a bench by the corner.
The waiter approached us. "May I have your order, sir?" He passed us the menu.
"Two bowls of pork belly stir-fried ramen."
I gave him back the menu. After a short while, he returned with our orders.
"Mmm, tasty!" A delighted smile played across her face as she had her first bite of the ramen.
After a few minutes, we were done eating. I called for the waiter. The bill was ¥400. After I paid, we left the premises and headed to the Harpin bus station, where we boarded a bus to Seokul, the area I lived in. I had two tickets remaining, so I didn't pay for the bus ride.
We got off the bus in front of my street, No. 87 Seokul. I saw Arle walking out of the street.
"Arle-chan, what are you still doing around here? I thought you'd be in bed by now?" It was 9 p.m., and she usually sleeps by 8, so I was curious.
"Nothing really, just had to get some emergency fertilizer. Who's that beautiful lady beside you? Don't tell me you have finally decided to get yourself a girlfriend." She had this excited look on her face.
"Nah, she's my distant relative who just got back from overseas. Her parents aren't in Japan, so she's crashing with me for now."
"Oh, that's great. Hello there, I'm Arle, Touma's neighbor." She turned towards Velvet.
"I'm Velvet, his distant relative. A pleasure to meet you, Arle." She bowed in a courteous manner.
"Oh my, you are quite the elegant lady. The pleasure is all mine. See you guys around." She continued her journey towards the bus station.
Velvet and I headed down the street towards the last house, which was my apartment.
Clack…
I opened the door and turned on the lights using the switch by the side of the door. "Welcome to your master's not-so-masterly abode."
Immediately after opening the door, I sat on the couch. I was so tired. I just remembered I hadn't even read the first page of the codex. So I picked it from my bag.
"Dranus Arcadia."
That's when it occurred to me that it was a spell book.
A huge hole opened and sucked both me and Velvet into it.
"Where the fuck are we?" I checked my phone for my location.
We were in the fucking Midwest. A doom-rated zone. A breeding ground for high-grade ex-spawns.
All the extermination teams that were sent here didn't make it out alive.
Over five extermination teams were defeated.
Hence, it was nicknamed:
The Peak of No Return.
"Master, master."
"What the fuck is it, Velvet?"
"I sense an incoming heat signature.
Approaching us rapidly."
I turned my head. I could see dust rising from the far end.
"Holy shit."
"So should I prepare for combat?"velvet turned towards me with a battle ready face.We couldn't run away even if we wanted to."Prepare for combat. I will support you."I stood upright ready to face whatever was approaching this time —i won't run
"Affirmative."her voice echoed in the brief silence.