Endzone: Simulated Apocalypse

By the time Cyanide finally went to eat breakfast after Luna called for the fourteenth time, he had achieved a Rank 3 [Kitchen Knife] and a Rank 3 [Officer Pistol]. To hit Rank 4, he needed 25 duplicates of the weapon, which he regrettably did not have after already Enhancing both of them twice.

Someone else would've laughed at that loadout, especially the [Kitchen Knife] part, but to Cyanide it was more than enough.Did he need stronger base weapons? Yes. But was he satisfied with his current simplistic but effective loadout? Well... also yes.

"Mmnnnn, this is delicious!" Kirika exclaimed, wolfing down her food in an extremely unladylike manner. "Luna, you sure this is your first time in a physical body?! How can you cook this well?"

"Er... well, I did do plenty of research on the internet in my own time," Luna replied, a touch of smugness and shyness in her voice. "I studied and researched cooking a lot, watching top chefs from around the world cook and the like... all so that the first meal I cook for Cyanide would be top-tier."

"Mmnph, werow! Whell, wu hertainly did it!" Kirika praised, though her voice was muffled due to her mouth being stuffed full with food. No one seemed to particularly care about her bad manners, though.

"... Where's the old man?" Cyanide asked, looking around for any sign of Doctor Finch.

"Well aren't you an expert at subtly changing the topic..." Luna muttered in sarcasm, sighing deeply. "But that aside, I locked him up in his own room. He deserves some punishment for leaking so much information about us, so I'm thinking of keeping him in there forever unless we need him for anything."

"Sheeeesh, Luna, didn't know you were such a harsh character as well," Kirika said with a snicker, finally swallowing all her food. "Wonder where you got that trait from, huh?"

Cyanide pondered Luna's decision for a moment, listening to the desperate begging sounds of 'I'm sorry' coming from a room further down the hall, then gave a brief nod.

"... Hm. An adequate solution."

"See?" Kirika rolled her eyes as if to show her earlier point was correct, but once again, everyone just ignored her.

"In any case... Cyanide, I believe we should be careful of the man from last night," Luna said, turning serious. "I am very aware of just how many enemies you have made over the years as a result of your job, but this one... he seems different. Something tells me he is not simply seeking revenge."

"You're quite an expert at subtly changing topics too, huh?" Kirika continued, still not realizing literally no one was listening to her, like she was on mute in a voice call.

"The man from last night..." Cyanide narrowed his eyes a bit, trying to search his extensive memory for any sign of that person. "His voice... I faintly feel as if I have heard it somewhere before, a long time ago, but I cannot be sure. In other words... I believe he and I may have met each other before on one of my jobs, but if we truly had, the meeting must have been very brief. I believe I may have just completed a target kill, and he was chasing after me, but… my memories are hazy."

Even though Cyanide's memory was insanely good compared to a normal person's, he still could not remember the details of things did not bother remembering.

"Oh? There are very few in the world who have encountered your assassin persona in-person and lived," Luna said, now intrigued as she rested her chin on her hand. "How peculiar… that man is not just your average weakling, it seems."

Cyanide gave a brief nod. "It is best to be on guard. There are very few people in this world who have an air to them powerful enough to make me be cautious, and he… is one of them."

"Alright, alright, that's enough of the ominous talk," Kirika interjected, forcibly putting an end to this conversation. "Where are we off to today?"

"Heading to the next Sentinel's location," Cyanide replied. "The sooner we collect them all, the better."

"I like the sound of that," another voice interrupted, swooping into the room (literally). "It was not a mistake choosing an initiative young man as my vessel."

"Understood, Cyanide," Luna said, setting her hand on her chest. "I was going to ask if you were feeling well enough to do that, but… since you have made up your mind, there is no point doubting your decision."

*****

After cleaning the dishes and freshening themselves up, Cyanide, Luna, Kirika, and Lust headed out. Silverfang was left behind as a guard in case anyone else tried anything like what happened last night, and he was quite happy to be a guard dog, actually.

"Hm… that guy from last night said he was looking forward to the day you fight him, right?" Kirika asked Cyanide as they walked up the stairs from the basement.

"Yes."

"So, are you going to fight him?"

"No."

"… Wow, I thought you liked violence a lot," Kirika muttered, folding her arms.

"Cyanide can be cruel when needed, but he does not take any unnecessary and pointless fights," Luna explained. "If that man shows up and gets in our way, then he will get rid of him like an obstacle. But if he never appears before us again, then it's not like we will go hunting him down in particular either. It's that simple."

"Huh, I see… well, I doubt that man's going to encounter us again this so-"

"… Yo. Looks like you're feeling all better, huh?"

"… You've got to be kidding me, right?" Kirika muttered as Luna gave a deep sigh.

"Speak of the devil…"

Indeed, just as they stepped outside the rotating doors of Aterra HQ, they found themselves face-to-face with the same man who had just left them last night: The Titan of Shadows.

He had a black greatsword on his back, made of stone and presumably created using the Crafting function of the game system. Slowly, he hauled it off and pointed it at Cyanide, narrowing his eyes.

"If you're ready, then… let's fight."