Chapter 60

Hiro woke up after three hours of sleep with anxiety because of his stomach’s unusually loud protest.

So hungry. Winter made him feel hungry faster than usual.

“Ugh…”

‘Why can’t humans hibernate like bears so we don’t need to eat in winter?’ Hiro rubbed his empty stomach.

He headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face. He then decided to get out of his apartment for some fresh air before heading to Kira’s supermarket to buy something to eat.

“Yo!” a gothic geisha lady greeted Hiro with a smile. The lady seemed to be enjoying a bowl of hot ramen on one of the tables in front of Kira’s supermarket. She was wearing a set of black sportswear with a headset on her neck today.

“We meet again,” Hiro muttered, not knowing how to react. He was too hungry, and it impeded his brain’s ability to work properly.

“Are you going to eat? Buy something and eat with me here.”

Hiro frowned.

‘Why would I eat with you?’

“My treat. Take it as repayment for what happened that night.”

Of course he’d accept.

“I’ll go pick my food then.”

Hiro walked into the supermarket, but Kira wasn’t behind the counter. Instead, in his place was a robot who greeted him as he walked in

A Merchant Autobot. A lot of supermarkets nowadays used this robot as a cashier in place of human labor. The robot was very clever and was equipped with a secret weapon underneath its iron hands shaped akin to tongs.

Robbing a supermarket guarded by a Merchant Autobot was equal to committing suicide.

“Here.” Hiro pushed the most expensive bowl of instant ramen to the robot in front of him. “That lady will pay. Give the bill to her.”

The robot understood and sent the payment barcode to the gothic geisha lady’s android bracelet and waited for the payment to be completed.

Next, Hiro poured some hot water into his bowl of ramen and walked out of the supermarket to keep his promise to eat with the lady he helped that night.

“You like ramen too?” the lady commented with a chuckle when she saw Hiro walk out with the same bowl she had in front of her.

He still needed to wait five minutes for the ramen to cook and be ready to eat, so he had no choice but to look at the attractive lady in front of him while he waited.

“I just finished jogging. You have to exercise sometime, kid.”

Hiro couldn’t help but frown a little in confusion.

‘Does someone who eats instant ramen after jogging actually exist?’

“Ah, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Alice. I live around here with my parents. In case you’re wondering, my mom is American and my dad is Japanese, so I can speak both English and Japanese fluently.”

The lady supported her chin with her left hand on the table.

Hiro was surprised when he saw a familiar tattoo on the lady’s wrist. When he finally realized where he saw it, he reflexively tapped his forehead feeling silly.

“You’re that motorcycle lady! What a coincidence.” He felt stupid for only realizing what happened a few days ago now.

“Ah? I thought you knew!” Alice was also surprised by Hiro’s late reaction.

“Thank you for saving me back then, miss.”

“Just call me Alice.”

“Okay, Alice. You really helped me back then, Alice. I didn’t even know who the people after me were and what they wanted. They looked like they wanted to kill me.”

Alice leaned her back on the chair’s backrest and seemed to fall into thought as her slender fingers stroked her own chin.

“Relax, you’re safe here for now,” she muttered.

Hiro was quickly suspicious of her words.

‘Safe here?’

How would she, a lady whom he had only recently learned the name of, be so sure of that?

“By the way, do you live alone? Where’s your family?”

The question that came out of Alice’s lips felt like a direct attack that struck his chest.

Hiro didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he opened the paper lid of his instant ramen bowl and began eating before it became soggy like the Alaskan Bull Worm.

After a few minutes in silence, Alice once again asked a question.

“So you don’t have a family. Even though you’re still this young?”

His silence was an affirmation to her.

“How about I become your family? I happen to be an only child, and I’m lonely too. I can be your older sister!” Alice energetically snapped her fingers.

BANG!

The lady looked at him surprised. Hiro hit the table so hard that some of his ramen spilled out. Alice’s empty glass even fell from the table.

“I don’t need it. I already have an older brother, and nobody in the world can replace him.”

His mood was quickly ruined, and he no longer had any appetite.

Despite being treated so harshly, Alice still had a beautiful smile on her face. Her usually serious gaze even softened.

“You’re really like him, even when you’re mad.” she muttered to herself.

However, Hiro no longer cared about her.

“I’ll be going now. I have work to do.” Hiro had stood up from his seat and walked away when Alice suddenly shouted at him from behind.

“You can do it!”

…

Hiro’s body felt hot due to the sudden change in emotion, so he decided to cool down with a cold bath.

Intentionally or not, he couldn’t understand how a stranger could be so brazen as to try to get involved in someone else’s life like that. He hoped to never meet that lady again, even coincidentally.

He was still disappointed by Alice’s words of wanting to replace his older brother’s position. If she had said to become his younger sister instead, he wouldn’t have reacted that way.

And after cleaning himself, Hiro put on his VR gear and logged in.

[System Linked]

[Welcome to Last Shelter Online]

…

Hiro once again spawned in front of Jack’s tavern. Upon logging in, he received a notification.

[1,750 LSC has been added to your balance]

The LSC was from the players grinding in his regular plot, W2801.

His efforts to make the place popular worked. He was sure that in just a while, his plot would be visited by many and he would profit a lot from it.

The easiest way to convince people was indeed with strength.

The daily quests had reset. Even though the server time showed that the next day had arrived here, Hiro decided to continue doing the main quest first.

He headed to a low-level mining area located on Beginner Town’s map to get the minerals the quest required.

Ding!

[You have learned a new life skill, Mining (Level 1)]

He immediately opened the Smelting menu to combine the minerals he got following the quest’s instructions.

Ding!

[You have learned a new life skill, Smelting (Level 1)]

[Go back to the Blacksmith and show them what you can do!]