The developer, who had departed Nathan and Lilith's home, had paid Zack a visit. Still torn up over the death of his 'friend,' Zack slouched on his couch and stared gloomily at his ceiling.

"Ugh, have you been like this the entire time?" The developer questioned as he covered his nose with his hand. "You smell horrible! Have you taken a bath!?"

"My friend is dead...do you expect me to be myself?" Zack questioned as he kept his gaze on the ceiling. "And it's all my fault. If I had killed Ada when I could, Jack would still be alive."

"Heh, that's how I expected my game characters to act," The developer remarked. "Nathan and Lilith are too normal yet uncaring."

"It's not their fault. All my friends have their personalities," Zack remarked. "But the pain of losing the person who killed my parents and freed me...is hard to bear."

Yeah, you're not the only one having a hard time bearing it. The developer pondered. Olivia's been balling her eyes out ever since.

"Heh, that means you want revenge, right? That's the development I want to see in my game characters!" The developer exclaimed with excitement. "Revenge will give you the motivation to improve!"

"...This isn't about the game anymore, developer. Jack's death is far more significant than a game," Zack stated. "But even if I want revenge...I'm too weak to avenge Jack."

"C'mon, when you're feeling down in the dumps, didn't I tell you to remember where you started?" The developer questioned. "In this case, I should jog your memory on where I rescued you from when I invited you to my game."

"Huh?" Zack uttered as he finally shifted his gaze to the developer. "You mean the group that showed me how to use my blessing?"

"Exactly. Wouldn't it be best to visit that group? I'm sure you could get stronger that way," The developer suggested. "You have a powerful blessing, offensive-wise. You need that group, who already helped you, to show you more."

"But...why can't I receive training from the NPC like Nathan and Lilith?" Zack questioned. "I don't...want to see those guys again."

"The NPC is not very helpful outside hand-to-hand and weapon combat training. He is well...naturally talented with his blessing, so he's a terrible teacher," The developer explained. "That shady organization you got forced into is better for you."

"That sounds like a terrible idea..." Zack muttered. "If I show myself after 'escaping,' they'll kill me."

"Oh, no need to worry about that, my game character," The developer assured. "I took care of all that."

"Huh?"

*

The sun shone over the horizon as another day blessed the land. The chirping of the birds, which came in short bursts, roused Nathan and Lilith from their slumber in their separate rooms.

They started their day similarly, as the duo looked after their hygiene and performed stretches. The presence of each other put smiles on the duo's faces as if their day already started right.

"Good morning!" Lilith greeted them as they met in the living room.

"Good morning, Lilith," Nathan replied. "Since you've normally made our meals, why don't I prepare breakfast this time."

"Oh? Are you sure?" Lilith teased. "You don't have to push yourself, you know."

"H-Hey, I can cook too, you know," Nathan retorted. "Looks like I must pull out my chef skills to show you."

"Heh, I can't wait!" Lilith responded in an attempt to stimulate Nathan's motivation.

Nathan showed his chef skills, and by skills, he prepared an exquisite breakfast - a bacon and egg sandwich with chocolate tea, of course. Lilith couldn't help but giggle slightly at the dish while they sat around the dining table.

"Pfft, bacon and eggs," Lilith muttered as she attempted to restrain her laughter. "Fufu..."

"N-No need to laugh. You should appreciate the simple things," The visibly embarrassed Nathan remarked.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"I'm just in awe of your cooking skills, my dear Nathan."

"Yeah, yeah. Just eat up," Nathan, who had enough of getting teased, advised.

Lilith obliged, and they dug into their meals. Just as Nathan always enjoyed her meals, Lilith happily ate Nathan's cooking. Its simple nature never mattered to Lilith despite her teasing. After satisfying their hunger, Nathan washed the dishes with Lilith's help.

They should become a couple based on how they've been doing everything together. Either way, this simple life is clearly what the two wanted. The audible humming of Lilith as they washed together proved how happy they were.

KNOCK, KNOCK!

"Huh?" Nathan uttered as he and Lilith heard audible knocking on their home's entrance. "Sigh, please don't be the developer."

"I don't think it's the developer," Lilith remarked. "The developer normally barges in."

"...That type of shit pisses me off now that I think about it," Nathan replied as he walked towards the door. "Has that bastard never heard of privacy!"

Especially when Lilith's here.

He opened the door and was greeted by most of the developer's NPCs: the doctor, the blacksmith, and the original NPC.

"Hello," The NPC greeted. The duo also noticed the doctor waving at them.

Lilith's eyebrows furrowed almost immediately as she noticed the blacksmith's presence. She couldn't help but remember how much she'd talk with Nathan, despite their conversations about materials and resources.

"You guys?" Nathan questioned as his expression relaxed. The NPCs' presence was much more welcome than the developer, after all. "What brings you guys here today?"

"Well, I'm here to see if you have any new materials for me, partner!" The blacksmith stated.

"Oh, other than car metal and other property I've stored, I haven't gotten anything worthwhile," Nathan responded.

"Tsk, what kind of a business partner are you!?" The blacksmith snapped. "You're supposed to bring me good stuff so I can have fun crafting new things!"

"Sorry, I was too busy fighting for my life..." Nathan sarcastically apologized. The jealous Lilith watched in silence as they conversed.

"Sigh, at least you understand your mistake," The blacksmith stated, and Nathan rolled his eyes in response. She simultaneously pulled out two long-length gloves from her pocket. "You're lucky I'm nice, so I made these for you."

"What's that?"

"Force Gloves!" The blacksmith excitedly answered. The gloves had a grey metallic shine and several blue streaks running down from the fingertips to the glove palms. "These come with built-in shock absorbers, which lessen the impact on your hands, but that's not the main feature. Here, come outside."

"Uh, okay?" Nathan awkwardly obliged as he stepped outside, with Lilith following close by. They followed her until they arrived at the middle of their lawn. "Uh, so what's next?"

"Stretch your hand out and say 'Push!" The blacksmith stated. Nathan gazed at her excited expression. After staring at her suspiciously for several moments, Nathan reluctantly outstretched his hand.

"Sigh, push."

WHOOSH!

A large gust of wind was fired from the glove's palm in response to Nathan's words, much to his and Lilith's surprise. The wind pressure was so strong that it rustled the grass, trees, and other plant life around their plot.

Nathan's arm recoiled backward as he never expected the glove to shoot out an air blast.

"Oh, my," The NPC uttered.

"What was that!?" Nathan questioned with widened eyes.

"The main aspect of the force glove. I programmed your voice into it, so if you say push, the gloves will release a force blast from their palms," The blacksmith explained. "But it takes a couple of seconds to charge up, and you can't use it frequently, or the gloves could malfunction."

When did she even record my voice to program it? Nathan thought. "Well, thanks for the gloves."

"Yeah, I'm sure someone as smart as you will use it effectively," The blacksmith assumed. "But next time, you better find some good stuff for me!"

"Sure..."

"Nathan, you're talkative with her, huh?" Lilith muttered as she pulled on his sleeve. "Aren't you a bit close with her?"

"What?" Nathan exclaimed. I-Is she jealous?

"We are partners, after all!" The blacksmith stated as she smacked Nathan on the back. "He's just a bit lazy when bringing resources."

"...I see," Lilith replied. Sigh, I know there's nothing between them, but my heart can't help but sink...

"Anyways, I have come here to train you two," The NPC interjected. "The last time we trained was before you traveled to England to complete your mission."

"I'm here to ensure you two don't get too injured," The doctor added. "I know how reckless you all are."

"O-Oh, you want to train now?" Nathan awkwardly questioned as he scratched his head. Man, I was getting used to relaxing with Lilith. "Lilith and I were going to spend the day in pe--"

"No, it's fine, actually," Lilith interjected. "We can't slack on our training, after all."

"You sure? It wouldn't hurt for you to rest some more, you know?" Nathan stated. "We could train tomorrow or something."

"Don't worry, we don't have to spend the whole day training. I want to keep up the training routine we had," Lilith replied. "We don't know what the developer has in store for us, so I want to improve slowly and steadily."

I don't want anything to ruin what we have now. Lilith thought. There's no reason to push ourselves right now, but we should keep our regimen. I can spend time with Nathan this way, too.

"...Yeah, you're right, my bad. I gotta stay strong to protect you," Nathan agreed before shifting his gaze to the NPC. "We're ready when you are."

"Nice."