"G-3 is dead?" A silver-haired man lazily slumped in front of the screen, watching how he died.
"He was just an experiment anyway, though quite a successful one," another man with glasses standing beside him remarked.
"A failure is still a failure. I planned to choose him after he killed a few more people there, but if he died like that, he wasn't worth it." He pulled out a lollipop and popped it into his mouth.
"Well, at least he managed to take down that many people. Not everyone can be as perfect as the first one, right?"
"Speaking of the first one... where is she?" He swiveled his chair around, looking at someone standing nearby.
"Sir, she's happily eating away in some nameless village."
"Human flesh or something else?"
"...Candy."
"What a disappointment. G-1 may have been perfect, but that flaw was why I abandoned her. What I need is something that devours everything. G-3 almost succeeded..."
The man with glasses let out a sigh.
To this mad scientist, emotions were unnecessary in his creations—they would only turn into ticking time bombs.
"By the way, that black-haired, blue-eyed kid... What was his name again?"
"If I remember correctly… His name is Baron Libert. I assume his abilities are related to electricity."
"Say no more. We've found our next target. Baron who? From now on, call him P-7."
He smiled faintly, then lay back in his chair and drifted off to sleep.
***
"B-Banana... Can you peel it for me?"
"No."
"But my hands are bandaged..."
"Your hands aren't broken."
"Hey, what kind of attitude is that?! I just fought a man-eating dude and protected everyone (kinda), got seriously injured, and now all I want is a little peace. And THIS is how you treat me?!"
"Yeah."
"Alright, alright! I'm sorry, okay?! I'm begging you—just peel the banana for me!!"
Kai kept shifting around despite being covered in bandages.
Yeah, my hands weren't broken, but my back and legs definitely were.
That's what happens when you keep getting thrown around in fights. My bones barely had time to heal before taking another beating.
That was the short version. I left out the unnecessary details.
At least I got three visitors.
First was Tyler. I swear, that guy just showed up to cry all over the place—what kind of villain does that?!
Second was Alice. She came to thank us.
And third... Aura.
That one confused me. We weren't exactly close. Acquaintances, sure, but friends? Not really.
Well... a visitor is a visitor, I guess?
The weird part was... Aura seemed really pissed at me.
"Hey, why are you so mad? I remember when we first met, you didn't even like me that much."
"...Sigh. How much of an idiot are you?"
"?"
"I mean, you're ridiculously weak, and you KNOW that. So why did you jump into a mission to hunt down a man-eater or cannibal and go all in?"
"Hey, I'm still alive, aren't I?"
She glanced at my body.
"I said, I'm still alive."
So she's mad because I was too weak to play hero, huh?
Umm... she's not wrong. I WAS pretty dumb.
If I hadn't wanted that sword, none of this would've happened.
And to top it off, that sword was CURSED. Talk about a scam.
But seriously... why does Aura even care?
"Hey, why do you care so much about me?" I asked bluntly.
"Huh?"
Aura looked shocked.
We stared at each other for a while.
"Uh, well, I—"
"Yo yo yo! Kai! You hungry?!"
Tyler popped out of nowhere, pushing Aura aside.
Tyler, PLEASE go away.
"Having a nice little heart-to-heart, huh? Forgot I was here?"
Kai turned to the bed next to him. Baron was lying there, his stomach wrapped in bandages. His waist was injured, but surprisingly, he only had a fractured bone.
Honestly, out of all of us, he was the least injured. (I forgot he got deaf)
"You kids these days sure are affectionate. Man, I wish I had a thick-ass woman right next to me!"
Rocker, meanwhile, was bawling his eyes out, trying to wipe his tears—only to realize he had no hands left. Both were wrapped in heavy bandages.
"Oh... right."
Rocker definitely got the worst of it. His body was torn to shreds, he lost a ton of blood, both hands were gone—blah blah.
Long story short, he had it way worse than me.
The door creaked open, and Alice walked in with a bag of food.
"Here! Food for the three of you!"
"Ohhhhhh!!"
The three of us stared at the apple pie, drooling at the smell.
"KAI?! YOU HAVE YOUR TEACHER'S FOOD?!"
"Sorry, teacher, but can you let me enjoy this moment in peace?"
Oh yeah, this was a private hospital room. Baron paid for it in advance.
At least this whole mission helped me bond with those two.
So yeah... not bad?
The door opened again, and in walked a familiar doctor.
Oh, it's that Mustache Guy!
"Knew you'd end up back here," he said.
"You did?" Kai asked, surprised.
"Just a feeling."
...Why do all doctors talk like they KNEW I'd end up hospitalized?
Aura sipped her tea, watching the scene unfold.
...Well, she seemed to like this atmosphere.
Maybe there was something strangely compelling about Kai?
Whatever. Not important.
Meanwhile, up in a tree...
A gray-eyed girl scribbled something in her notebook.
"Hmm... He's brave even tho he's weak. Another reason not to kill him... Good!"
She snapped the notebook shut and continued observing Kai.
Her stomach rumbled.
"..."
She reached into her small pouch, revealing a collection of bugs and wild plants she had gathered.
Then, she looked at the apple pie inside the hospital room.
"..."