She tilted her head.
And those impossible eyes.
Studied me.
This person was Hoshino Ai.
"I'm Hoshino Ai."
Her voice was lighter than I had expected. It was softer. The kind of voice that made you lean in to hear better.
She tilted her head.
And those impossible eyes.
Studied me.
This person was Hoshino Ai.
The award-winning genius.
And my potential future employer.
"Just making sure, but you are the person who applied, right...?"
Her voice was light.
But there was an iron edge to it.
The smile didn't waver.
But it felt like a mask again.
A different kind of mask.
The kind worn by someone who was used to being in control.
But I moved on. I knew the kind of world I was in. A world where you couldn't be weak.
So I looked her right in the eyes.
A normal person would have been intimidated. Star-struck. Speechless.
I wasn't.
The orc instincts didn't care about fame or wealth.
They cared about power.
And only power.
"You do have the credentials, right...?"
Her question was a knife that was trying to dig into me.
"Yes... Would you like to take a look at it?"
"Mhmm."
My voice was flat and professional. I had known who this was. And I needed this job.
As it would provide a place and money I couldn't normally have.
Though I had lied.
The system provided it to me.
Fabricated information that couldn't have existed.
I had handed it to her. Her small hands grabbed onto it. And she started to read.
The lie was that I was a bodyguard for a Yakuza leader and had succeeded. The only reason I wasn't working for them anymore was that they all had been killed by the police. And I had no other choice but to move and get a new job.
This was the lie that the system had made, and I had given her.
She read it.
Her eyes scanned the page, taking in every fabricated detail.
And then she looked up.
And I saw it in her eyes.
She didn't believe it.
Not for a second.
But she also didn't care.
"You're hired."
The words were so simple.
Though I was hired.
For some reason.
Even though I knew she knew that I was lying.
She had still...
Given me this chance?
Was she stupid, or just desperate?
But I didn't have any more time to look around.
Nor any more time to think to myself.
She had handed me an extensive amount of paperwork.
The paperwork was thick.
Not like a binder for school work.
It wasn't a school packet.
Or anything of the sort.
It was a thick legal document that had been printed off and reviewed, rewritten many, many times, by people whose entire job was to make sure that nothing slipped through the cracks.
I flipped through the first few pages.
The font was small.
Dense paragraphs, subsections, with clauses within clauses.
I looked up at her.
She was watching me with those gradient eyes, her chin resting lightly on her folded hands.
The smile was still there.
And she was very comfortable waiting for my reaction.
"This is an NDA, right?"
"Mhmm."
"A very long one."
"Mhmm."
I turned to another page.
And all the information regarding and about the client's personal life, schedule, residence, relationships, associates, friends, colleagues, medical history, and even physical appearance, outside of normal public spaces.
Was there. If I signed this, I wouldn't be able to share anything.
This was truly a prepared individual.
I turned to another page.
There was no existence of words in this document; the preparation was clear.
All related information must not be said or spoken about regarding family members. One cannot speak or disclose information regarding the client.
I could easily do this.
As.
I didn't even have parents.
From what I remembered.
I was abandoned at birth.
So I never cared about my parents.
I was always by myself.
I was given to my grandparents, but they also did not care about me. They came every once in a while, but I really didn't know them other than their appearance. They were a mystery to me.
So this was an easy thing to do for me.
I looked back down.
And turned another page.
...any observation of CLIENT in a state of emotional distress, illness, fatigue, or vulnerability is strictly confidential and may not be referenced, discussed, or implied in any context outside of direct professional communication with CLIENT...
I read it all at once.
And understood.
That she was truly prepared in this case.
I turned to the last page.
And saw it.
A signature line.
And next to it was neat handwriting that was filled in on her copy.
Hoshino Ai.
The star-like pupils caught the light as she watched me.
"Do you have any questions?"
"Mhmm, not really."
The lie was so easy. It was natural for me now.
"Are you aware of the compensation?"
"Yes."
I was not.
But I had to act like I was.
I would take anything to get a place to live and food to eat.
The words had tumbled out before I could stop them.
This wasn't me.
My face had no nervousness.
Nor was I nervous at all.
This was the orc-like side of me.
The confidence. The lack of hesitation.
The directness.
It was a performance. But it was a convincing one.
Because a part of me was starting to believe it.
She didn't flinch.
She just kept smiling.
And that smile was starting to feel like a weapon.
"Then sign."
She slid a sleek, expensive-looking pen across the table.
It stopped right by my hand.
My new, larger hand. A hand that looked like it could snap the pen in two without trying.
I picked it up.
The weight was all wrong. It felt delicate. Fragile.
I uncapped it.
The ink flowed smoothly and darkly.
I signed on the line.
The name looked foreign.
My name is one of a nobody.
Amamiya Hikaru.
One that didn't exist before.
But now exists here.
But it was mine now.
I pushed the paper back towards her.
She didn't even look at it.
She just nodded.
"Welcome to the family."
The word hung in the air.
Family.
It was a word I had never associated with anything but disappointment.
But the way she said it...
It wasn't an invitation.
It was a statement of fact.
Like I had already been absorbed into her world. Into her gravity.
"Your first shift starts tonight."
Her voice was still light, but the words were heavy.
"Be at my residence by 8 PM. The address is on the card."
She slid a plain black business card across the table.
It was matte black.
The kind that absorbed light.
Hoshino Ai was printed on it in a simple, elegant white font.
Underneath, an address.
And nothing else.
No title. No company name.
Just her name.
And a place to be.
I picked it up.
The card felt cool in my hand.
"Now then."
She stood up.
Her small frame seemed to expand in the empty space of the coffee shop.
She pulled her hoodie back up.
The shadows returned to her face.
She put her sunglasses back on.
And the mask went up.
She was Hoshino Ai, the idol, again.
Hiding in plain sight.
"I have to go."
She gave me a small, almost imperceptible nod.
Then she turned and walked out of the coffee shop.
The bell chimed again.
And she was gone.
I sat there for a long time.
The middle-aged woman behind the counter started cleaning again.
The noise of her movements filled the silence.
I looked at the contract.
My signature was next to hers.
Amamiya Hikaru.
Hoshino Ai.
Two names.
Two worlds.
And now, they were connected.
I looked at the card in my hand.
The address was in a part of town I knew only by reputation.
A place where the houses were hidden behind high walls and long, winding driveways.
A place where people like her lived.
Normal people like me.
Didn't have the luxury of being in a skyrise building, a penthouse.
She'd be insanely rich.
I had known that.
After all, she was Hoshino Ai, the genius idol.
And the award-winning genius.
We were in both worlds, which were so different.
My world was both dark and dangerous.
And her world existed in the light, with shadows below it. I was one of those shadows.
I was like a street rat to her.
And I knew that.
The world of the supernatural didn't fit well with her.
And I knew that.
If I kept intervening in fate.
That would pop up.
And then...
A blue screen materialized in front of me.
Dyeing my world red.
A constant red.
The color of death.
[The Erotica system.]
[Pick 1 of the 3.]
[The difficulty of the task will have more rewards. And the easy one will have fewer rewards.]
[Difficulty A+]
[Make Hoshino Ai fall in love with you.]
[Reward: Upgrade of A Skill of Choice.]
[Reward: Sun Breathing+ Affinity of Fire.]
[Reward: Severed Universe]
[Time span: 104 weeks, 2 days, 1 hour.]
[Difficulty C]
[Protect Hoshino Ai from her fated death.]
[Reward: Reverse Cursed Technique]
[Incomplete Domain Expansion.]
[Difficulty E]
[Fondle Hoshino Ai's Boobs]
[Reward: Irresistible Charm.]
Reverse Cursed Technique or Irresistible Charm. Even the incomplete Domain Expansion was tempting.
But.
I knew what I had to do.
I had looked at my options.
And I knew the first one I would choose.
Yes.
I would feel bad for playing with someone's emotions.
I knew it was bad.
But.
This was a thing that decided my fate.
My existence.
Yes, I could take Reverse Cursed Technique or Irresistible Charm, even the incomplete domain, but I needed the best options at my hand.
And the first one shown was my most obvious choice.
Though it was giving me two years to do it.
And nothing more.
I had to take the risk.
I needed those abilities.
I was going to charm Hoshino Ai.