Julian’s cold breath formed a misty fog around his mouth as he jogged in the cold night air. His muscles tightened and burned with each step, but he didn’t mind. He had been running for miles, and it was a good feeling. It made him feel alive.
He slowed to a walk as he approached his apartment building.
"Phew… haa… haa…"
The familiar entrance appeared as he tried to forget the task at hand. Julian didn’t know how to invite Maria to play.
What could he tell her… sure he could learn about her true identity, but what then?
He climbed into the lift, the warm heating of his apartment lobby quite soothing, but the feeling of sweat made him feel dirty.
The system notification remained on his mind, but losing a week here would be fatal in his preparations for the first devil’s appearance.
’Solaria… what are your plans?’
"Damn it, let’s just contact her, whatever happens I will resolve it."
Thankfully, Maria gave him her number before they left earlier. He tapped the number for his apartment on the fifth floor before grabbing his phone.
’Let’s send a goodnight text to Sena, it’s already bad enough to message my past-life ex.’
He sent a brief message telling her he missed her and to have a pleasant sleep.
A second later, her response came.
[◊ Mm~ I’m already in the pod sleeping hehe. This is so strange! I will miss you too. Mwah ◊]
"This girl is so free."
Julian then hovered over Maria’s number, tapping to open the messaging application, wondering if the two were playing together. A fear that she might tell Sena. Or that she would ignore him and then leave him unable to enter the game for a week.
"How fucking stressful!"
He tapped the screen as the lift arrived at his floor, the high-class and quiet apartments that were half the reason he still lived here.
The moment he entered his home, he tossed his shirt and jacket and jumped onto the sofa before switching on the television.
A news reporter was interviewing two guests, and the background image was an ambulance and something related to gangs.
"The source of recent serial deaths in the capital District 2 has risen to 10—"
Julian’s eyes twitched when he heard this line, his gaze leaving the phone while he whispered to himself, "No way, it’s starting already? It can’t be…" His voice expressed disbelief as he rubbed his palm across his face with a frustrated huff.
’The pace is faster than before, those murders started a week before the devil first appeared in my last life, have we already lost two weeks?’
"Bullshit, this is total bullshit! How can humanity stand a chance this way?"
The news broadcast continued.
"Two suspects have been named, one named Eugene, a member of a known gang and thought to be linked to the mafia, along with another who remains unknown."
"The police have urged witnesses to come forward, to stop these heinous criminals."
Julian’s arms dropped as he closed his eyes tight, letting out a long, drawn-out sigh before his eyelids snapped open, revealing his determined gaze.
"I can’t fuck around, let’s just send the message."
He texted her, "Hey, gorgeous, are you looking for some excitement in a world you’ve never seen before?"
Despite his attempts to contact her, the unread icon remained for over fifteen minutes before he tossed his phone to the side and dragged himself from the sofa.
He quickly went for a shower and drank some fruit water to recover himself and touched his treadmill. Any exercise would help him focus and pass time. Julian set the race to maximum difficulty and instead of a marathon, chose a sprint.
"Let’s get started."
Julian closed his eyes while fixing his breathing method and pressed the green start button.
His legs moved like lightning as he ran at full speed, but his expression remained calm and collected. The treadmill simulated different terrains, including hills, plains, and even deserts.
The loud thud of his steps echoed, and thoughts and memories of his past few days flashed through his mind. He recalled Sena’s smile, the warmth of her touch, and the way she looked at him with love in her eyes.
But amidst those happy memories, there were also darker ones.
Before he could become consumed, the vivid memory of her body, the taste of her lips and the warmth he felt when they became one relieved his stress.
However, the system notification about Maria had been weighing heavily on his mind. He knew he needed to take action soon if he wanted to survive, let alone save Sena.
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[05:34 — remaining]
The time on the treadmill decreased, and his muscles started to ache and burn as he sprinted at almost double the current world record for over ten minutes. But Julian didn’t slow down. He kept pushing himself harder and harder.
Sweat dripped down his forehead and neck, soaking his training clothes, which became skin tight and revealed his body shape as he continued to run.
"Haa… Haa!"
• Attack has increased by 1
• Speed has increased by 1
How long did he run for? The blinking red light signalled that the race had finished a long time ago. Over 1300 calories were burned, and while in a sort of trance, Julian’s body reached its limit and collapsed onto the soft running platform.
He lay there, panting and exhausted, trying to catch his breath.
"That was… too much," he said between gasps.
Suddenly, while on the brink of consciousness and exhaustion, he noticed his phone’s flickering screen.
’She replied!’
Julian sat up abruptly, his heart pounding in his chest as he saw the notification on his phone. Maria had finally replied to his message after what felt like an eternity of waiting.
"Ugh…"
But then his thighs suddenly tightened, before his entire body started cramping up. Julian gritted his teeth, trying to endure the pain. But there was no enduring this pain. His pupils shrank as he gasped. The immense agony from his inner thighs, lower calves and crotch cramping at once caused him to lose all sense of reason.
"Ahhh! Fuck!" he yelled, rolling off the treadmill and onto the floor with a loud thud.
He clutched his legs, feeling as though some invisible force was trying to tear them apart. No matter how much he attempted to follow the trainer’s instructions for stretching and straightening his muscles, nothing helped.
It took nearly thirty minutes for the pain to subside enough for him to move again, but even then, every step sent shockwaves of agony through his body.
"Damn, what did she say?"
Julian fumbled the screen and checked her response. His eyes widened, and he cursed his stupidity for not checking it sooner and expecting her to act like a normal person.
She replied with an unexpected and strange message.
[The little girl is sleeping. Are you ready to show me a good time, big boy?]
[Come over, I also have one of those couple pods.]
Her tone differed from the aggressive and arrogant tone from earlier in the day, but it almost seemed too intimate… making Julian wary.
However, he didn’t have a choice because when he tried to call her phone, it wouldn’t connect.
.
.
.
Julian needed to ensure that Sena wouldn’t find out.
No… he would tell her the truth once the morning came. But, right now, to clear this quest, he couldn’t afford to lose access to Avalon.
’Why does it always feel like the world and system is against me?’
He climbed into the shower and leaned against the cold wall, waving his hand across the cold sensor as the ice-cold water fell upon his head. It was freezing, but it woke him up and helped ease his muscle pain.
After a quick shower, Julian put on a pair of black jeans and a grey hoodie before grabbing his keys and wallet.
"Let’s go…"
The night was dangerous, especially after he learned the events from the past started two weeks early. Soon, he would probably need to move the girls to his place or move in with them.
’Though I don’t want to, it’s best to get the capsules transferred, but how long will this world remain?’ he wondered.
"Another thing to speak to Sena about," Julian muttered as he started jogging towards their apartment.
Julian stood outside Maria’s apartment door, his heart racing with anticipation and nerves. He hesitated for a moment before knocking on the door.
Click!
Only to find that it wasn’t locked, and the sound of Sena’s VR unit hummed with a loud vibration.
’Is she really playing?’
A sense of unease washed over him as he cautiously entered the dark apartment. The only source of light came from the glow of the VR pod, illuminating the room in a soft blue hue.
[Occupied — Solo]
[Wife]
The LED display on the unit showed who entered, allowing a partner to know where the other was in case their work schedules didn’t match, and they began to worry.
Julian closed the door to Sena’s room, sneaking through the living room towards Maria’s door. His chest tightened as it thumped, and a dark feeling of guilt made him nauseous.
’I’m sorry…’ he thought.
He knocked on the door gently, but there was no answer, but only for a moment.
"Come inside."