Nightmare is calling you. Answer?
I looked at the call for a second. I was still at the gym, running like crazy on the treadmill. It was fun to work out. I wonder why she's calling me. I thought to myself before I decided to answer it. Her cheerful voice emitted, "Heya, Huntress. What're you doing? Are you free? Do you want to hang out today?"
I chuckled, "Slow down a bit. I'm working out right now. I'll be free in about 15 minutes and yes, I can hang out with you today."
"Nice. You're really chill."
"Thanks for the compliment. What do you want to do today?"
She seemed to go quiet for a second before replying, "Well, how about we go for a coffee first before planning there?"
So she didn't make any plans... I replied as I held back my chuckle, "Sure. You're gonna come and pick me up, right?"
"Yes. I'll come pick you up in 15 minutes."
"I'll be waiting. Here's my coordinates." I sent her my coordinates.
"Got it." After chatting for about a minute more, I hang up. I still had to take a shower. I went to the locker room and took a shower there. Thankfully, the gym shower was free to use. As I was showering, I had a sudden thought, Wait, is this a date? I shook my head and laughed. That couldn't be. We only just met yesterday. After showering, I went outside just as Eliz arrived. Perfect timing.
She jumped off her bike and hugged me, "Raven!"
"Whoa." I was caught off guard by her hug. Wasn't she moving a tad too fast? I didn't know we were in the hugging phase of the friendship. Welp, since she's hugging me, I should also hug her back. After hugging, I greeted Eliz. "Hey, how're you doing?"
She was a little embarrassed, "Heh, sorry for the hug. I got excited meeting you."
I shook my head and laughed, "It's okay. I don't mind. Shall we get going then?"
She agreed and we started riding towards a local coffee shop. The shop surprisingly looked down-to-earth and didn't have that... corporate or punk feeling. Instead, it felt like a cozy coffee shop where you just relax and read or something. I felt myself relaxing as soon as I stepped into the shop. The girl excitedly greeted the receptionist, "Heyyy, Aki. How're you doing?"
"Konnichiwa, Eliz. Who's this?" The Japanese girl curiously looked at me.
"Raven," I introduced myself.
"Nice to meet you, Raven," she nodded at me before turning to Eliz again. "I'm assuming you'll be getting the usual?"
"Yep."
"What about you?" Aki asked me.
"A Latte."
She nodded, "Alright. Your order will be delivered when it's ready."
Eliz led me to a table to sit. The chair was very comfortable. I almost melted into it due to comfort.
She started asking me, "How did you train to be so good with the blade and web weaving?"
Me? Good with a blade? I was confused but I answered, "I was trained by my friend. She's so much better than me with her blades. Like, it isn't even fair. Anyway, I self-learned web weaving. What about you? You're pretty good with a sniper."
She blushed, "I'm not really that good."
"Don't be humble. You're the best shot with a sniper I've seen." Well, it isn't a lie since she's the only one I know who has used a sniper in front of me.
"Thank you. Well, I may be a little bit good with a sniper but I know nothing about fighting. I can't fight if my life depended on it. Trust me, I've tried," she sighed. "Thank you." She said to Aki as she took the coffee from her. I also took my latte. Eliz continued, "I noticed during our last mission that you don't kill unless it's necessary. Is it perhaps your first mission?"
I nodded as I took a sip, "Yes, it was my first mission. Why?"
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She shook her head, "When you do a mission, you shouldn't really leave anyone alive."
If an enthusiastic and positive person like Eliz is telling me that, something must've happened to her in the past. Seems like something terrible. I nodded, "I'll take your advice."
We drank our coffee in silence for a second before she seemed to regain her mood. I asked her, "What do your parents' do?"
She seemed surprised at the question, "Huh?"
I remained calm, "Well, I was just curious."
She replied with enthusiasm, "It's okay. Both of my parents are streamers."
"Oh? Can you tell me their names? I want to check them out."
"Of course," Eliz shared. "LuminaryGaming and GamerLily."
Sounds like gaming streamers... obviously. I'll check them out when I get the chance. I nodded and smiled, "Sounds like you have wonderful parents."
"Of course I do. Sometimes, I even do cameos in my father's streams."
"Oh, really? Nice."
We talked for one more hour before deciding to go to a private gun range that Eliz knew. Apparently, it was a gun range that she owned. Quite convenient.
We practiced shooting. From what I noticed and saw, Eliz was very talented with big guns. All kinds of assault rifles, shotguns, snipers, etc. But she couldn't shoot straight with any smaller guns like SMGs and handguns. Even with an advanced targeting system, she missed quite a lot of shots with those smaller guns. After saying goodbye to her and returning home, I went to sleep, tired from spending an entire day with the optimistic lady.
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Nova panted as she leaned on the wall in her room. Her eyes flickered red, and she made a growl. She immediately grabbed a syringe from the desk and slammed it into her body. With a long exhale, she slowly relaxed as she slumped to the ground. "Fucking cybernetics..." she muttered to herself as she recovered. That was a close call. She felt the lump in her arm receding into her body. "Fucking mutations. Never stop." She was glad that she was still very good friends with... she sighed. Let's not think about him, yeah? She felt something awakening in her mind. It was Hyacinth.
Nova muttered out loud, "Sorry. Yeah, almost fell. I know, I know. I shouldn't get more cybernetics. I won't. Don't worry."
She sighed again as she stood up. She heard distinct voices in her head that didn't sound like Hyacinth. She ignored them. She was not someone who would make such a rookie mistake and lose touch with reality. She knew. She understood. And thus, she stayed away. She had seen many people go crazy and she wasn't going to be one of them. Not anytime soon.
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The next morning, instead of my usual routine, I went to Lil' Betty's place. The last time I was there, I saw a robot similar to the one in the gym holding a training sword. So I figured that it was a training bot designed for Bladeworks. I also wanted to test out some guns and maybe even upgrade my gun with a better gun.
I went into the familiar neon-lighted room. And as always, Lil' Betty was sitting behind the reception table with her legs on the table. The guns behind her had changed, showcasing just how many different types of guns she had.
"Ciao, bella Raven. What brings you here?" She smiled, showing her sharp and white teeth. This time, her hair wasn't spiky but her hair was still green. She still had that punky feeling to her, mostly because of her clothing style.
"Hey. I saw a training bot with the sword the last time I was here. I was wondering if I could use it?" I asked her.
She jumped off the chair, "Of course, bella. But a signore is using it right now so you'll have to wait."
I nodded, "Of course. In the meantime, I would like to try out some guns. You see, I just earned some money so I wanted to upgrade my gun."
She looked up at me with shining eyes, "Si! What guns would you like to try?"
I thought for a second, "Mostly handguns. I don't have much credit so I want to use a cheap but effective gun."
Seeing her thoughtful expression, I almost wanted to hug her. She looked so cute! She took a deep look at me before saying, "I have a perfect gun for you. Come with me."
We went downstairs towards the gun range. And then, she picked up a gun. It had a sleek design, just like the Whisperer I tried before. It had a very futuristic design. She then handed it to me, "The Accord MkII. It was developed by the Accord multinational corporation in 2047. It can hold both the standard 9mm to 10mm and electric rounds. So if you get hit with an EMP grenade, you can still use standard ammo to continue the fight. Well, that's the standard version. I have a modified version here. It is equipped with a multi-purpose muzzle that can be used for stealth, speed, and power. To switch between the settings, just swipe across the muzzle once. It also comes attached with a magazine extension that extends the standard ammo from 16 to 24. I also modified it so that it can connect with the smart targeting system I gifted you last time."
I took it and shot it. I grinned. It was very comfortable to hold it. It also had great handling and hardly had any recoil at all. I felt that it was the perfect gun for me. I asked her, "How much is this?"
"The normal one is 500 creds. The modified is 600. Don't ask for a discount. It's already discounted for you."
I transferred the money to her instantly, "There you go."
Her green eyes seemed to resemble dollar signs. Then I asked her, "Can I use the gun range for a bit?"
She nodded, "Sure, it's free for you."
"Thanks."
I started practicing. I immediately started with moving targets. I was a bit more accurate with my shots. Even without Assisted Aiming, I could hit the target. Although not the bullseye, it was still quite good, considering that my Handgun skill was only at level 2. It was probably because I practiced a bit with Eliz at her gun range last time. I continued shooting. I could hear nothing but my heartbeat and gunshots.
Handgun leveled up.
Handgun - 3
The familiar rush of knowledge assaulted me. I held strong against it as I absorbed every bit of it. I was granted knowledge on when to shoot, the best place to shoot, and how to reload slightly faster. I thought to myself, The knowledge may overlap with other perks. Like, if I selected Fast Reload last time, would I have overlap knowledge on how to reload faster? Or would it give me a different but equally useful piece of knowledge? That's interesting. I shook my head. It didn't really need to make sense.
Then I sighed. I don't have a plan yet. As a person with this godlike system, I should have a plan. What do I want to do? Since I've come here, I haven't even thought of that yet. Do I want to continue being a mercenary? Do I want to create a corporation? I shook my head. I don't want any of that. Instead, I want to make new friends and get new experiences that I never had the chance to have in my past life. Make new friends. Having fun. And... just go with the flow?