Julian and the two girls left the roof after deciding to eat something light at the food court.
The gang members left groaning and bloody after Taesung abandoned them.
In the lift, Julian dusted himself off, while Sena leaned against the cold steel and panted, her lips curved into a wide smile. Maria silently observed the pair, while focusing her gaze on Julian with a faint smile as she watched him.
"What do you fancy eating, Sena?" He tried to lighten the mood by asking a question.
Because his mind remained a little conflicted because of the watch and the flicker of annoying information, including the goddess meddling with the game rules constantly.
’I am getting sick of Solaria…’
The woman he loved was Sena, but those stranger memories and old emotions remained for his fiancée, Eleanor.
"How about we eat something dirty, like a burger?"
Sena ate whatever the maids cooked on a set menu most nights. She rarely got the chance to eat fast food or other meals. Her eyes shifted to Maria, who was still focused on Julian, who leaned against the lift and wafted his shirt, sometimes flashing his abdomen.
Her smile trembled when she noticed the subject of her focus, but Sena didn’t make an issue and asked a second Maria in a loud voice.
"What do you think, Maria?"
"H-Huh, What?"
Confused by the sudden noise in her ears, Maria’s eyes darted to Sena, and she seemed unable to answer easily. "Yeah… sure?"
"Wow, I never expected you to eat a burger on your strict diet!"
Maria worked as a model part-time to earn extra funds for her clothing and makeup. Her father hated those kinds of things and always wanted her to remain pure and untouched by society’s dirt.
"Well, since we’re here with a special guest… call it a whimsical choice?"
Updat𝓮d fr𝙤m ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com.
"Tsk, you just want to look gawp at his amazing body…" Sena muttered in a mouse-like whisper.
"Did you say something, Sena?"
"N-no, nothing Maria."
The girls seemed close at times, but at others they rivalled each other for no reason, and Julian couldn’t understand them.
Julian’s mind became calm, the violence, and anger fading now that he could focus himself.
"Well, if a burger is too much we can go somewhere else." Julian wanted to avoid arguments or having the two fall out over something so pointless.
However…
Sena glared at him after he spoke and turned her head away with a huff.
Ping! Pong!
The lift arrived at the foot court as the doors opened, and a wonderful mixture of scents and aromas filled the air.
Julian stepped out first, followed by the girls who chatted behind him about what to eat. He led them through the crowd of people towards one of the fast-food restaurants where they served burgers, fries, and milkshakes.
’This is a nostalgic place…’
He gazed back and noticed the sparkling in Sena’s eyes. Julian’s chest thumped because he remembered a memory, something small and insignificant, but now he knew it was probably the most important thing that returned to him.
This is where they first met, after finishing club during middle school.
She had been a girl who loved to play video games and often skipped classes to do so.
The teachers gave up on her because she always scored well on tests, and her parents were the executives of their families at Kang Group.
But Julian regularly found her around the city and dragged her back to class.
The first time they met was in a complete accident.
After his parents passed, he rarely came to this place. However, before they did, he would visit once a month with his mother as long as his grades were in the top five of his class.
’I was a total nerd back then, haha.’
The three of them sat down at an empty table near the window overlooking the street below.
It would soon be early evening, with the sun setting and the time to part coming rapidly. Julian was in no rush and suddenly, his phone vibrated, a message from Sena.
[◊ Hey~ do you remember this place? ♡♡ ◊]
Julian’s eyes narrowed, his lips curling into a warm smile.
The memories of Sena became dear to him after he remained beside her and stopped resisting his feelings.
[Of course, you were so arrogant and pretty!]
When he gazed over the table, her cheeks became red, before turning away, and tapping her keypad furiously. Then she stood up and pointed at him, then Maria.
"I’ll go order!"
The moment she stepped away, after whispering something to Maria, Julian’s phone vibrated twice.
[◊ Idiot!!! ◊]
[◊ I love you ♡ ◊]
"Haha… she’s still shy and cute."
However, when she left, an awkward silence remained. Maria tapped her phone while flicking her glance at Julian every few seconds. Her cheeks were flushed, and her breathing was shallow. She appeared locked in thought about something.
"Are you okay?" Julian asked, trying to break the ice.
"Ah?" Maria looked up and smiled faintly. "Yes, I am fine… thank you for asking."
Julian nodded and turned his gaze to the window.
The sky was clear, and the clouds drifted slowly across the blue canvas.
He wondered about the future and whether he was being stupid by thinking that Maria could be Eleanor, but all the facts and clues pointed towards it being true.
Though he could ask, he did it when Sena was absent.
So for now, he watched the bounce of Sena’s hair tied in a ponytail, while almost skipping back with their tray of burgers, fries, and milkshakes.
’Her taste never changes…’
The meal ended quickly, and before Julian realised it, it was time to part. Sena and Maria needed to get home before curfew, and he needed to make progress at home.
"Do you really have to leave me~ come sleep over again." Sena’s soft voice purred in his ears, but he knew that doing so would cause them to jump right back into bed again.
Julian’s lips curled into a smirk before leaning close to her and whispering. "It’ll hurt if you overdo it on the first day, little pervert."
"Ack! Julian!!"
Sena’s face turned bright red, her small hands hammering his chest as she chased him across the car park, shouting and squealing his name.
However, when he let him catch him, they slipped onto the back seat of Maria’s car as she mounted him and rolled over, pressing both palms against his chest, her breath ragged.
Their gazes became fixated on each other.
"Julian…"
"Sena." His fingertips brushed across her smooth cheeks, threading them through her damp hair, pulling her closer and parting each other’s lips. The sweet and slightly oily taste of their mouths mixed as their tongues brushed together.
"Mm~"
"Nnnph~"
"Can you stop touching each other in my car please?"
Maria’s low, nasal voice shocked the two… their hands slipping from each other’s pants, as Sena covered her bright red face with both hands and squealed.
"Julian~ ahhh!"
He couldn’t help but blush himself, noticing the gaze of Maria. Her glossy lips slightly parted as she leaned on the passenger seat and flicked a silver-coated lighter in her hands. "Hey…"
"What?"
She continued gazing at him for a few minutes, but instead of speaking again, she shook her head and showed him a faint smile. Then she turned the engine on and put some loud retro metalcore on the digital radio.
The car’s low electrical hum echoed before it pulled out of the parking spot. Sena hung out the window, blowing him a kiss and cupping her mouth with both hands.
"See you tomorrow, Julian~ don’t miss me too much!"
Julian watched them leave, his eyes narrowing as the car rushed down the road, and zoomed towards their apartment.
"Well, I guess I should go home."
He didn’t drive back with them because he wanted to exercise and the distance from the shopping mall to his home matched his 10-mile distance. Well—it was 13 miles (20.92 kilometres), but he didn’t mind that.
With a light stretch, Julian started jogging at a light pace, his mind sorting through all the events of the past few days, and planning for the future.
Two days before the auction house opened, the supplies remained in his storage.
’Maybe doing another shop in a few days might be good, since the item storage keeps up to 999 of each item, we could store enough rare foods for a long time.’
Step!
Step!
His pace increased, much faster than in the past… thanks to his evolution, Julian realised the changes in his body and needed to discover his new limits.
Because he wore normal clothes, the slight chafing of his pants caused a slight discomfort, but watching the passing city felt nostalgic to him.
’I wish there was a way to stop the apocalypse…’
However, that wish wasn’t something that even a goddess could grant him. The devils were too powerful and couldn’t be stopped by weak and fragile things like wisdom or hope.
Only bloodshed, training, and complete dedication would give him a chance.
With a determined gaze, he noticed his phone buzzing…
The strange message caused his eyes to narrow because it contradicted the previous messages he received about Sena, almost like the goddess wanted to separate him from her.
[◊ Urgent Quest Given! ◊]
• During Tonight’s Emergency Nightmare Bring Maria Sinclair!
• Penalty: Bonus entrance cancelled for 7 days!
• Bonus: Experience gain boosted by 100% for 7 days