Human beings, through having vast experiences, build up a perceived notion about the world around them. This helps humans to make the most optimum choices and further reaffirms their beliefs. However, the moment when their reality goes against their preconceptions, they tend to reject it as their minds try to link it to something that they have experienced before, creating a lapse in judgment. The same thing is currently happening to Cray. He, who has experienced something previously unknown to him, was rejecting it.
The moment he returned to the environment that he was used to, his brain has linked the experience to dreams. After all, without even noticing how much he felt like throwing up, he used his right hand to pinch his face and felt pain. This was something that is opposite to what dreams are, as they do not conform to the rules of logic, meaning that the pain that he was feeling proves that he is not in a dream.
“That just now-”
It felt like madness had taken over him as he lost power over his body, which caused him to lie flat on the floor face up.
"Hahahahahahahahahahahaha. I think I'm turning crazy.”
"Warning. There is a chance that the host will experience slight pain due to the forced brain wave transmission. Scanning incapable, insufficient power. It is advised for the host to rest and wait for the body to adjust for about 1 to 3 minutes before once again utilizing your body."
Hearing this, Cray unconsciously followed the instructions when all of a sudden,
"3% remaining entering sleep mode."
A sharp pain flashed throughout his head. It felt like his brain was expanding and wanted to burst out from the constraints of his skull.
"AHHHHHHHH! WHAT IS THIS?! WHY DOES IT HURT SO MUCH?"
This snapped him out from his previous state, returning him once again to reality. After a couple of minutes, he finally settled down and once again regained his strength to stand up. His hand now resting back on his chin.
“What happened back then?”
Without any distractions and noises, he began his focus and tried to recall all the things that he saw back then. Of all the people who were there, he only knew one person and that person was Charles, he was the one who looked after him and raised him like he was his own son. Aside from that, he also remembered the fact that Note told him his biological father was supposedly related to that momentary flashback. It was a no-brainer connecting the dots.
"Ah, the pain is gone." Belatedly realizing this, he decided to remain vigilant against Note, after all, with unknown origins, he really couldn't immediately put his trust in it. With a sigh, he scratched his head and felt his stomach grumbling.
“There's a lot of information that's flooding my head right now and I’m not sure of the validity of them all. I think I need a rest.” After mumbling such, he began swaying his head back and forth before eventually coming to a stop.
Come to think of it, today is my birthday, right? I'm also getting hungry. Alright, I'll stop thinking about this and eat some breakfast first.”
Cray stood up and looked at the box that he just opened and was suddenly surprised because he couldn't seem to find the hologram that previously gave him an inexplicable headache.
"Note? Where are you?"
But before Cray got any more clues as to Note’s whereabouts, he heard some knocks on the door.
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"CRAY! WAKE UP! TODAY IS YOUR BIRTHDAY!" A female’s voice was calling out to him just outside the door. As soon as he heard her voice, all of Cray’s worries suddenly disappeared. He stood up and went towards the entrance to welcome his guest.
"Hannah? Why are you shouting, it's still early in the morning you know? You might wake up the neighbors."
He immediately opened the door only to see a girl who looks about the same age as him wearing a bright red sundress that suited her blonde hair and snow white skin. She was carefully holding a tray that had a small cake on top. It was covered on the side to prevent the wind from blowing the candle out and had a lit-up candle right in the middle.
She looked surprised as she didn't seem to expect that Cray would wake up this early, he usually wakes up about an hour from now. But after making a sweet smile, she suddenly looked as if she figured out something.
"Hmmm... looks like a certain someone was too excited and woke up a little too early." Hannah giggled and went directly inside his house, placing the cake on top of a table and taking a seat as she gestured to Cray to do the same, which he did. After that, she sang a song that was vastly different from what people from the old era would recognize as a birthday song. She then smiled and stared at Cray as a signal for him to blow the candle. "I made that cake y'know? It was really hard, it took me a whole week to finally make something that tastes like one, so you better eat it all up!"
Cray jolted as if he was hit by a thunder and started thinking.
His train of thought goes along like this. ‘Hannah made me a cake. So, it's homemade huh? Does she have to make such an effort just to bake a cake for a friend? Is there some hidden meaning as to why she is doing this? Come to think of it, we’re at the age where it's normal to have some potential love interests. If she is making this much effort for me does she actually consider me as one? Since when? Why didn't I notice it before? Well, she is cute. She also smells nice. And she lives just across the street. We've also been together all throughout our childhood. I guess I’m fine with it if she’s fine with me.’ Cray suddenly felt that he was being a little narcissistic and this wasn’t like him so before he’s thinking spiraled out of control, he decided to look at Hannah directly in the eyes.
While all this was happening, Hannah’s cheeks, on the other hand, were slowly turning into a pout as she started to glare back at Cray for not even trying to eat the cake that she worked so hard to make.
"If you don't want to eat it then just say so from the beginning. And here I thought that my dear childhood friend would surely appreciate all my hard work.” With a sly expression, she turned to look at Cray.
“What a bummer. If you can't even appreciate the things that I do for you, then I'll never come back here again." Hannah then started to slowly stand up and acted as if she was about to leave.
Cray who knew all about Hannah’s weird antics didn’t really think that she would do as she said and leave, so he laughed in his mind and decided to play along with her. "My dear childhood friend, how could I possibly eat something that is handmade from you? My heart would break after-” Before he could finish, Hanah threw a nearby pillow at him straight in his face.
She knew that he would simply tease her ability to cook and her hands moved before she could even think about it. She really did her best this time around.
“Alright, alright, I’ll eat it, okay?” Cray snickered at her. He always teased her about her cooking because he was once fed her cooking when they were younger and it was really bad, however, he also knew that she had improved a great deal after that and he really likes her cooking. Of course, he wouldn’t say that out loud to her because it was too embarrassing. This time though, he will make an exception and be honest because it is his birthday.
After taking a quick scoop, he realized the smooth and fluffy texture of the cake and he looked forward to taking a bite. “Hannah, Thank you for the cake. You even made it out of chocolate, my favorite!" Cray then started stuffing his mouth with the cake to hide some of his embarrassment.
They looked at each other and laughed. They both spent time talking and eating with each other, not caring about their loud voices.
"Hey... Cray, it's about that time, right? Are you really going to join the military?... Can't you just live life like this? Are you really not satisfied with what you have now?" Hannah started to become a bit emotional as she started to sob midway.
"Don't cry, Hannah. It's not like we wouldn't see each other anymore, right? Look at the bright side, if I were to join the military, I might even have a chance at becoming at least a Rank 8 citizen, right?" He bashfully rubbed her hair, then swept away some of her tears.
He smiled with conviction. He had already told this to her before and has already made up his mind so nobody else can change it.
The two continued to spend time together for the whole day and were making idle talk. When the sun was about to set, Cray walked Hannah back to her house and bid farewell to her and her mother. He then returned to his room.
He spent time thinking about his future.
He slowly sighed and whispered in a low voice. "I hate this..."
He opened the window near him and started to look at his surroundings. He saw a couple of rugged-looking old houses, some had holes, some were too small and cramped to even live in. Even his own house was shabby. He looked at the huge banner on the far distance, only visible to him due to its sheer humongous size, with the royal crest of the empire. He slowly read each word out loud. "Welcome to Zone 9, Division 12, Sector 2, Main Island of the Western Continent."
He then looked at the emblem that was pinned on his shirt. It shined with a golden sparkle with the words "Rank 9 Citizen" written on the surface.
He looked agonized as he slowly caressed those words that were embedded. "I definitely wouldn't let Hannah remain a Rank 9 Citizen. If I were to climb up the military ladder, then I would definitely be able to bring along 3 people with me all the way to the 8th zone. I really owe Hannah and her family a lot."
He made another sigh as he remembered how Hannah's mother took care of him and Hannah when his parents had just died, leaving him alone without any other relatives to count on.
“I guess I need to start preparing soon. The camp starts within 3 days after all.”
He then straightened his back with clear resolve reflected in his eyes. He was about to start washing the dishes when he heard,
"I'm back, Host!"