Nothing much happened after the barista died.
We called the police, telling them that another assasin tried to kill us, and stood by as they investigated the scene.
Unfortunately, we didn't get to see Police Chief Subaru, as she was still handling the previous case. Nevertheless, the investigation went along smoothly.
It was identified that the cup was spiked with hydra poison, one of the most lethal poisons money can buy.
Why a barista was handling such a poison, and why they intended to use it on us, was beyond me.
Aqua was shocked, but again, she seemed unbothered by the fact that someone just tried to kill her, as if it happens all the time.
It was such a vast difference from how she usually acts that when we were finally let go, I couldn't help but satisfy my curiosity.
"Say, Aqua..."
"?"
We were walking down an alley, following the GPS to another nearby Cafe.
"For someone who struggles so much with human interaction, you seem rather unphased by death."
I'm aware that the two aren't mutually exclusive, but Aqua doesn't exactly give off the vibe of someone who would be unaffected by human suffering.
To put it bluntly, she's a wuss, but surprisingly cold-blooded.
"Huh? Well... My main profession before coming to this world was..."
"Was...?"
"Ah, nevermind! It's not that important!"
I disagree, but whatever. It seems like she has a bit of a rough past, so I won't ask.
Still, it just now occurred to me that these people had lives before the hotel. Of course, I knew that before, but it only really hit me now.
These are people from worlds so vastly different from my own, and they've had experiences that I couldn't even imagine, experiences that built up the person that they are today.
So it really makes you wonder, what kind of life have these people lived to have such nuclear landmine personalities?
When I thought about what kind of experiences could have made Aqua such a nervous wreck, what kind of people she might have met, I felt a little bad for her.
Feeling my pitying gaze, clear violet eyes turned my way as Aqua looked at me with confusion.
"Sorry, was I staring again?"
"Ah! N-no, it's fine! Were you thinking about something?"
"Hmm, I was just thinking we don't really know each other very well."
The only things we've discussed are jobs and death, yet we never even discussed each other.
"Now that I think about it, we've barely even introduced ourselves."
I stopped walking, and Aqua stopped soon after me.
"Hm, the timing is a bit off, but why don't we get to know one another? Better late than never, right?"
"Uh... I suppose it wouldn't hurt?"
I fixed my sunglasses and put on a professional smile.
"Sup, my name is [DATA EXPUNGED]. I very recently came to this world under mysterious circumstances, and am now working at the hotel as a manager."
The introduction came out smoothly and with no flaws.
"My hobbies consist of working and philosophical introspection. I like money and hate troublesome matters. Nice to meetcha!"
"Huh? Does working count as a hobby?"
"Probably not, but then I'd have to confront the fact that I might be a workaholic."
Aqua chuckled before introducing herself.
"Uhm, my name is Minato Aqua. I came to the hotel a couple months ago, and uhm, I really like it here..."
Aqua's face and tone was steady, but as she continued, she became a little more downcast.
"Before I came here, I... Wasn't really accepted by the people around me, and I struggled a lot with meeting people, much more than I do now."
Woah, now that would be a sight. An Aqua who's even more of an anxious wreck? How would she not have a heart attack every time someone talked to her?
"But, thanks to the people at the hotel, I've managed to make a lot of precious memories! These people are invaluable friends to me... I can't imagine a world without them."
I smiled and tapped her shoulder.
"Well, I'm glad you're having a good time here, it fills me with confidence to hear that the hotel has so many good people."
Really, you have no idea how glad I am to hear that some of these people actually have souls.
It's one thing to be crazy/dangerous, it's another to be completely lacking in empathy.
"So, do you have any hobbies? Or just something you like or dislike?"
"Well, my hobbies are..."
Please stop trailing off like that, you're making me curious.
"Uhm... Promise you won't laugh."
Oh shit.
Wait, if it's something ridiculous, Im absolutely gonna laugh.
"...okay."
But can I actually say that? If I behave honestly, wouldn't she just not tell me? That would reset my progress with her to zero.
Aqua, please, just this once, defy my expectations.
"My hobby is... Watching live streams...!"
...
Oh.
That's totally normal.
"... And playing Fps games!"
Again, nothing much.
"... Aqua..."
"And anime!"
Why does she think anyone would laugh at these?
"And..!"
"Aqua."
"Eek!!! Yes-yes!?"
I've seen it before, but this girl seems to have a habit of getting carried away.
"Aqua, these are totally normal hobbies."
"... Really?"
"Yeah, like top five most common hobbies in the world."
I literally do all of those things. Not quite to the extent that it could be called a hobby, but if you're on the Internet often, there's a good chance that you're the same way.
"Oh."
Aqua, having gotten worked up, visibly deflated as the tension left her body.
Were you really expecting me to laugh at you? If I actually did, what would you have done?
... Let's not think about that reality.
"... But Fps games huh?"
"Yes! I really like them!"
"Interesting."
"W-Why?"
"You don't seem like the type to like fps games, I wouldn't have assumed you played video games at all actually."
"I see..."
Me personally, I like video games, but I'm not very good at them. While other kids have been playing on their Gameboys and PlayStations since they were born, I only got into it once I got a job and could afford a PC.
Meaning up until I was an adult, I was a gameless chud.
"Are you any good?"
"Well... It's a bit embarrassing to say with my own mouth, but... I'm pretty high ranking on the Epoch Legends leaderboards."
"Epoch? Not Apex?"
"What is that?"
To think other realities have ripoffs of games from my world... Or is it the other way around?
"Hm, it just sounded similar to something I know. I've never played that game before."
"EH!?!"
Aqua grabbed my shoulders and shook me violently.
"How could you not have played it before!?!"
"A-a-a-a-a-a-a!!!"
Why she shaking me so hard?! And why is she so strong!? Her grip is gonna break my shoulder!!
"No, Epoch Legends was the number one battle Royale shooter for 3 months straight! Everyone was streaming it! And it's free to play!! Have you been living under a rock!?"
"S-s-sto-o-op!!!"
"Eh?"
As if my desperate cry suddenly broke through, she suddenly stopped shaking me and watched as I collapsed to the ground.
"Ugh..."
"Oh no!! Mister! I'm so sorry!!"
"Blehh~~~"
I ended up vomiting.
To think a woman that doesn't even reach my shoulders could do this to me.
This world is fucked.
.....
....
...
..
.
Aqua and I walked out of the alley without saying a word of what happened.
It was extremely embarrassing for her, and it wasn't exactly pleasant for me either.
We simply pretended it didn't happen and moved on.
"Where are we going?"
"To be honest with you, I completely forgot."
I set the GPS to another nearby cafe since the first experience was ruined, but after what just happened, I needed something to fill my stomach, and coffee would not do it for me.
"In the first place, didn't we go to the cafe to discuss different job opportunities?"
"Oh yeah."
That's what this whole trip was about. I came to help aqua with the interview, which turned out to be a trap.
And instead of just riding an Uber home, we went to a cafe, which was another trap.
Several life threatening experiences and one vomit later, we've achieved absolutely nothing.
It's not for a lack of trying either, it's just there's nothing to achieve. This place is absolutely barren.
"Should we just go call it a day?"
"Huh?"
"I mean, why are we still out here? It's not like there's much we can do. Plus, I'm starving."
"Well, when you put it like that I guess you're right..."
She seemed a little disappointed, but it can't be helped. Running around anymore than this is just pointless.
"I'll call an Uber then. The slow one this time."
"Slow...? Ah! Yes, that's... Probably for the best..."
"Yeah."
"Mm."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Ho-ly FUCK, this is awkward.
We were conversing just fine a couple seconds ago, what the hell happened?
I looked at aqua out of the corner of my eye, and saw something odd.
She was looking down and playing with her fingers, while slightly pouting her lips.
Is she... Sulking?
Why does she seem so upset? It reminds me of a kid who was just told that they have to leave Disney land. Just without the obnoxious crying.
Did I fumble without knowing it?
"Uhm, mister?"
"Hm?"
"D... Did you have fun today?"
"???"
What.
"Why do you ask?"
"Well, I just wanted to say sorry. I know we came out here expecting to achieve something, but in the end we only just wasted energy..."
Oh, is that how it is? She wasnt sad that it was over, she thinks I wasted my time by coming out here with her.
"It's fine man. What can we do about getting tricked?"
"Even then, you nearly got killed several times because of me..."
"So what? Its not like you influenced it directly."
While it could be said that I got in harms way because I followed Aqua around, that has nothing to do with Aqua herself. Blaming her for other people's influence is just outrageous.
"Still-"
"Stop. If you say you're sorry for something that isn't your fault again, I'm leaving you here."
I felt a little bad for being so harsh, but that seemed to shut her up.
"While it might be true that we achieved nothing, that doesn't mean the time spent was worthless. After all, didn't we get to know each other? You realize this makes us friends right?"
"F-F-Friends!?!"
"Yeah. What, you don't wanna be my friend?"
"N-No, I'd love to!!! I-I mean, if that's W-What you want—I-I mean, sure...?"
She's so desperate, it'd be cute if it weren't so sad.
"I'm glad to hear that. So, to answer your question earlier Aqua..."
I gave her a big wide grin.
"Yeah, I did have fun today."
At my words, aqua froze completely.
Yeah, in hindsight, that might have been a bit too much for a severe introvert.
Deciding that I should just call the Uber already, I whipped out my phone and booted up the app.
I saw aqua slowly transition from an onion to a tomato, but I didn't pay it much mind, as I was still battling with the awful UI for the UberSheep App.
But for a moment, it felt as though the somber atmosphere was lifted.
Aqua buried her face in her hands, and I silently fiddled with my phone, slightly proud of what I did.
The silence that spread between us wasn't awkward at all, it was actually pretty comfortable.
*THUD*
Which made it all the more disheartening when it was broken.
*THUD*
I looked in the direction of the distant sound, confused.
"What the hell is that? Who's making all that noise? Wasn't this place practically abandoned?"
Aqua merely looked in the direction of the booming, the emotion and color wiped from her face as if it were never there.
*THUD*
The noise was getting louder.
I took cautious steps back, while Aqua remained in place, her hands in her pockets.
"Aqua... I think we should go-"
"You were right, Mister."
"Huh?"
*THUD*
"This place was practically abandoned."
"Aqua?"
"And it was abandoned for a reason."
*THUD*
There was no point in pretending not to know anymore.
Gates.
Extra dimensional passages to other worlds.
Aqua told me why the areas around them were abandoned.
And honestly, that should have been my first sign to get the fuck out.
*THUD*
It's honestly surprising we hadn't run into anything for this long.
But I guess, as usual, my luck ran out.
I don't need to mention the approaching sound anymore.
After all It's been standing over us for a while now.
Aqua calmly pulled her hands out of her pockets, revealing a desert eagle and a golden knife held in a reverse grip.
"Mister. Run."
...
... I see.
The second curse, [Elders Gaze], has activated nearly everyday since I arrived here, causing people to attack me in a blind fit of panic.
And the third curse activated earlier this morning, under the name [storm watch]. I'm not entirely sure what it means, but it activated hours ago, it's unlikely that it created this situation.
So the cause for the 3 story tall grotesquely shaped ogre standing over us right now...
-First Curse, [Monster Magnet] has triggered!-
Was it you?
Curse number 1?
×Chapter 13: Monster Magnet×