Chapter 18 - The Day Is Set

[One Week Later]

"Ahh…"

He yawned out, opening his eyes slowly to be greeted by the brightness of the morning sun seeping through his window.

Waking up to find two girls sleeping at his place was still something he wasn't used to after a week, seeing them up and already living the morning. Myung-Hee was doing push-ups, already clad in sweat and focused enough that she didn't seem to notice him waking up.

Kamou, unseen, was easy to decipher what she was up to by the unmistakable fragrance of breakfast emanating from the kitchen.

"Breakfast…?" He yawned out, covering his mouth.

As he yawned, Myung-Hee halted her morning routine, standing up as he wiped the sweat from her body, clearly using one of his bathroom towels.

Ah, that's totally not what's for, he thought.

"You're a late sleeper, you know that?" Myung-Hee smiled cheekily.

"...Excuse me for sleeping in during the apocalypse," he muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," he said, "is she cooking?"

They both looked towards the kitchen, which was only separated by a singular wall from the main space of the complex.

"Yeah," Myung-Hee answered, "She always handles the cooking between us."

"Is that because you can't cook?" He asked with a nervous chuckle, scratching his cheek.

The black-haired woman raised an eyebrow at him, folding her arms across her voluptuous chest, "I can cook, for your information. Eggs, rice, and noodles–that's all you need, isn't it?"

"Variety is the spice of life, my friend," hs sighed out, getting up from bed at last.

As he stretched, he felt his body yell at him as it was completely stiff and sore, causing him to wince a bit as he rubbed his neck.

[Daily Quest: Defeat Three "End Crawler" | 0 / 3| Reward: 500 EXP, 20 Angel Gold]

We've just been doing dailies the past week. Today is the day we head out, though, he thought, checking his status.

[Remaining Health Points: 2200/2200 Remaining Spirit: 2600/2600.]

[EXP: 800/2000.]

[Remaining Skill Points: 0]

"Damn…I guess this is the aftermath of a boss right, isn't it?" He muttered, still feeling slightly sore after a week.

"Was that your first fight like that?" Myung-Hee asked, sitting down with one knee raised.

He nodded, picking his glasses up from his bedside table and placing them on, "It's a pretty clear, unspoken rule for solo players in MMORPGs not to take on raid bosses, you know?"

"Sorry, kid, you lost me there," The woman waved her hand a bit, completely unfamiliar with the lingo used.

"Ah, right, sorry…" He chuckled embarrassedly.

Coming in at the right moment, Kamou presented herself with a proud smile as she served their breakfast.

"Oh!" He let out in a delighted surprise, "Egg toast? It looks like it came out well!"

His compliment spurred a small blush from the silver-haired, meek girl as she twirled her hair with her finger, averting her gaze slightly as she smiled, "Really?"

"Yeah! A light sprinkle of brown sugar, too? I can't wait!" He held his hands together, preparing to dig in.

Normally, an apocalypse would mean there would be a complete shortage of fresh ingredients like this, but for some reason, it seemed our genocidal God has some compassion–I like to think of it as God giving us our "last supper". We can use our "Angel Coins" at Angel Shops to get food, if we want. Normally, you should be buying equipment and other necessities, but…I can't blame anyone for buying comfort food at a time like this, he thought.

It was a relatively large serving that Kamou had prepared for each of them, herself being the first one to dig in as she seemed to thoroughly enjoy her own creation.

The space between both, finely toasted pieces of bread was completely filled with fluffy, golden eggs that had happily shoveled into his mouth.

After taking a few bites, he noticed that Kamou was constantly eyeing him, watching him with the blue jewels she had for eyes as if waiting for something.

"This sandwich…" He said.

"Y-yeah?" Kamou looked at him, gulping.

He smiled, "It's wonderful!"

"Really?!"

"I agree," Myung-Hee added in, "It's been a long time since I've had a warm meal–we've just had to use cans and prepackaged crap on-the-go from the Angel Shops."

Is that what you meant by "cooking"? My inner chef wants to call you a donkey, you know, he thought.

Though as he sat there, eating beside others, he felt a certain happiness that was soon accompanied by melancholy.

…This will all be gone soon. After these six months are over, this world won't exist. The memories made, the rich history of this world, and the little interactions like this…they won't exist. Even if I make it to level twenty, is what's really waiting up above better than the simple life down here? He thought.

"What're you thinking about?" Kamou looked at him, wiping the crumbs from the corner of her mouth with a napkin.

Being brought out of his thoughts, he looked at her blankly before smiling, shaking his head, "Just wondering what I should get from the shop today. Actually, I was looking into something with the system…"

"Oh?" Myung-Hee looked at him before taking a large bite out of her egg sandwich.

He nodded again, bringing up his personal interface, "I got a few of these "Stygian Ore" materials, apparently I can forge a weapon out of them at a smithing station."

"Those are usually connected to Angel Shops, right?" Kamou asked.

"Yeah, I think so…I honestly haven't really given much thought to forging until now, but whatever these ores can make is probably better than what I could buy," he answered, scratching his head.

Kamou nibbled on the large, filled sandwich a bit, nodding as her silver, luscious locks cascaded down her slender shoulders, "You're probably right. Speaking of which–are we heading out after this?"

"I'm always ready!" Myung-Hee answered with jarring enthusiasm.

He nodded, but added his own question, "If we're going out, we should take care of our daily quests at the same time…on that note, what are both of your dailies today? I've got to hunt three End Crawlers…I think those are usually in the subway areas."

After asking this, both of the women checked, manifesting their interfaces as well that were unseen to him.

"Looks like I've got to take out an "End Behemoth", damn, that's an annoying one," Myung-Hee scratched her head, looking at Kamou, "What about you?"

Kamou was still looking at the prompt before answering, "I've got End Crawlers as well, five of them."

"Five?" He asked, a bit surprised.

"Mhm, looks like we've got the same quest," Kamou smiled.

Myung-Hee huffed, "Dammit, why did I get the different quest? Mine is pretty damn annoying, too!"

Both he and Kamou laughed at the short-haired woman's obvious disheveledness.. After cleaning their dishes away, it was time to set out.