Chapter 9

"I lost my younger sister in this chaos. My parents were buried under the ruins of a destroyed city. I couldn't save anyone." 

I was silent. I didn't know what it felt like to lose like that, but I could see from his eyes—it wasn't just a memory. It was a wound that still bled.

"This world has already collapsed more than once. I just want to know... what's left for me now," he said, taking another drag of his cigarette. 

I gazed at him for a long time. "Do you really think you'll find it?" I asked. 

Fujita smiled faintly, a smile that looked more like a reflection of exhaustion than happiness. "I don't know, but at least I'm still looking for it."

We fell silent again. Two people standing in the same place, but viewing the world in different ways. Me, who just wanted to live my life without getting involved in this chaos, and him, who was still trying to find meaning from the destruction that had consumed him.

However, in the end, I knew one thing. No matter how far I tried to avoid all this, a world that had already been destroyed would never let anyone truly escape from it.

The night wind blew gently, I caught the scent of iron and ozone faintly from the city in the distance. Fujita had already left, his footsteps disappearing behind the shadows of the trees, leaving me alone in the midst of a garden that was almost untouched by time.

I remained standing there, gazing at the city sky lit up with neon lights. The buildings towered high, shrouded in a web of holographic lights that flashed in blue and purple, creating an illusion of beauty over a world that was slowly decaying.

I opened my mouth, uttering something, a sentence that only echoed in my mind. But before my voice could take shape, the wind blew stronger, swallowing my words as if nature itself refused to let them be heard. Maybe it didn't need to be heard. Maybe it was just something that even I didn't want to acknowledge.

I sighed and let my body lean slightly against the wooden bench behind me. Fujita... There was something about him that bothered me, something that felt familiar in the way he spoke, in the way he viewed this world.

It was as if I was seeing a reflection of myself, someone who knew that this world was broken, but wasn't sure if there was still a reason to keep going. But I was different from him. I wasn't searching for a purpose. I wasn't searching for answers. I just wanted to be left alone, to live my life without having to choose sides.

But... was that really possible?

From a distance, the sound of air vehicles passed over the city, echoing like the hum of mechanical bees. Their lights glowed briefly before disappearing among the skyscrapers. I gazed at them expressionlessly, then finally stood up.

The night was getting late, and I knew... this calm wouldn't last long.

********

A few weeks later - ETHAN STORE. 

Year 3452 AD.

After the incident yesterday, I was busy back at the store, organizing this year's video tapes that were quite best-sellers. Because of that, my store was always crowded with visitors hunting for video cassettes and video tapes. As a result, I had to work overtime.

The incident yesterday was still fresh in my mind. Due to that incident, I was always unlucky, especially after I stayed overnight at the hospital and met Freya, the seductive girl, until she and Alexandria agreed that I would temporarily stay at her old apartment, since my apartment was destroyed in the battle.

My reverie was shattered when suddenly someone familiar approached me. 

"Alexandria?" I muttered, seeing her approach with a worried face. 

Why did she come here? It was impossible that she came to buy something from the store.

"What's go—" 

"Ethan! The leader of the anti-solaris organization is calling you!" Alexandria exclaimed, leaning her body forward until her face was right in front of mine. 

I suddenly stepped back due to shock. My heart was racing as the girl closed the distance between our faces to just a span. I could even smell the vanilla scent emanating from her.

"Damn!" 

My body was sweating, I had never been this close to a girl before, especially since Alexa's body had a seductive posture and her breasts were perfectly rounded, making any man struggle to keep their faith. I swallowed to moisten my dry throat.

"I-I'm busy." 

I tried to act as normal as possible, although my tone couldn't hide my nervousness. Alexandria didn't say anything, but her eyes gazed at me seriously and for a long time, as if I was a strange person.

"Sorry... I have to go to the back for a moment," I excused myself with a hot face. 

Damn, my face must be blushing now. Alexandria's face looked confused.

Once I closed the door, I shouted in my mind, 'This is really crazy! I've never experienced this before! Why do I have to be part of a harem, when my life isn't that young anymore? I had anticipated that the right time would come, not to mention an organization like anti-solaris seems to be hiding something from you while you were at the hospital. Even the doctor was mysterious, since his expression made me doubt he understood this game!'

I secretly peeked at Alexandria through the door crack. At that moment, I understood that she might not be dangerous. However, why did she have a strange expression during working hours?

"Enough spying on me from back there," Alexandria said, still focused on playing with the hologram smartphone. 

I jerked back. How did she know? She'd been focused on that weird thing the whole time. 

For a moment, I admired her sharpness. 

"If you don't mind, that's fine, but you should remember you won't be safe," she added. 

My mouth suddenly struggled to speak again, then I decided to approach her. 

"Ethan, you understood yesterday's problem, so you didn't want to talk to me," Alexandria guessed seriously while putting away the hologram smartphone and pulling out a one-handed weapon and a small cloth. 

I immediately backed away, adopting a cautious stance. 

"I don't intend to attack you," Alexandria explained, though unasked. 

My eyes focused on her hands busily cleaning the weapon. "Then what do you want? Why did you come while I was still working?" I protested firmly and boldly. 

"Hmm... wise question." Alexandria smiled slightly, then holstered the weapon at her waist. 

She crossed her arms, making her chest appear even larger. For a moment, I held my breath seeing that. 

"My goal in bringing you is only to make you a soldier," Alexandria explained briefly. 

"I refuse," I said bluntly, glaring at her sharply. 

I don't know how many times I had to refuse for Alexandria to stop forcing me.

"Not because I don't want to be a soldier, but I don't want to regret it later." 

I didn't want to be disappointed since losing something precious in childhood. Alexandria lowered her arms, resigned. She turned away from me, leaving me stunned as she walked away. But she suddenly stopped at the doorway and looked back at me. 

"If you change your mind, come to the underground area border." 

The girl left and disappeared behind the door. 

Soldier? I sneered. That sounded weird. Me becoming a soldier? Just imagining it made me want to laugh.

"The Valkyrie Force is currently struggling against monsters, despite using Helix Industries Corporation's Vanguard robots." 

I immediately turned towards the TV showing a man in a suit with a serious face. Behind him, the videotron displayed a battle between large Vanguard robots, like Gundams designed to save humanity, against hundreds of giant monsters. This news was shocking enough to stun the world. 

"Some Valkyrie units have lost connection with Earth after battling Chimera monsters near the space station in the solar system. But this is just the beginning. People will likely question whether Valkyrie can save the world from Honkai energy destruction threats," the reporter continued. 

For a moment, my eyes were fixed on the TV, a severe headache hit me. Watching the news made my headache worsen. As time passed, I became increasingly unfocused at work, as if a strange energy had invaded my body. 

I decided to go to the staff break room and lay on the sofa, closing my eyes to rest, hoping my headache would improve after a short break. Oddly, the room felt extremely hot, despite the air conditioning cooling the entire room. My body was sweating profusely, my clothes were drenched. 

'Am I feverish?' I muttered in surprise. 

My head was pounding harder. 

'Damn! Why is my head still hurting? I'm rarely sick this badly.' 

I changed my sleeping position, turning left and right, even on my back and stomach, but my head kept pounding. 

"ARGH! DAMN! WHY DOES IT HURT THIS MUCH?!

I realized my voice had changed to a heavy tone, shocking me. I rushed to the mirror. My eyes had turned black like a monster's, and I felt an agonizing sensation, like something wanted to kill me. 

crazy! 

"What's happening? How could I— 

I suddenly collapsed to the floor. A strange silence haunted my mind. 

'Damn! Damn!' 

I tried moving my body, but it suddenly stiffened, as if my body refused to obey my mind. I wanted to scream for help, hoping for assistance, but only my breath escaped. This was weird and

I rarely felt this hot and sick. What was happening to me? Why couldn't I move my body at all?! Was my body really this weak or was something weird happening like at the hospital?! 

**** 

UNDERGROUND AREA BORDER AND SURFACE 

A while later. A quarter of the way, the girl sat casually accompanied by a man wearing a scary mask. The masked man felt bored after killing bandits around the underground area. 

"Hahahaha... do you think he'll come here? Are you sure?" the masked man jeered in a coarse tone while stepping on a bandit's body. 

"Of course. Let's see how he reacts when using that power," the girl replied in a cold tone while grooming her nails.

.....BERSAMBUNG.....