Chapter 010
Unable to overcome the awkwardness, I awkwardly raised one hand.
“Uh, hi?”
And I regretted it the moment it left my mouth.
Dammit. What do you mean, ‘hi’? That line was way less cool than ‘I’m your employer.’
The strength drained out of my back, which I had been holding straight and proud. Meanwhile, the man—now Novann, my first assistant employee—was staring at me blankly with an expression of utter disbelief.
The reddish light of the sunset streaming through the window poured over his pale face. His pitch-black pupils, so dark it made me wonder how human eyes could look like that, wavered like a night sea cradling the stars.
“…….”
Staring at that sight in a daze, I suddenly flinched.
‘W-what.’
I had thought he was a handsome guy who would be popular with users when I first saw him. But facing him properly now that he was awake… this was beyond imagination.
How should I explain it? The man looked like a solitary old tree standing atop a pristine snowfield.
The final ink-wash painting of a master’s life, only known to the world after his death. The last divine statue guarding a deserted temple. The ashes remaining after burning the world’s most precious treasure.
The man, who looked as if he had been carefully drawn by grinding black pearls, evoked such sorrowful and fleeting things. Anyone who faced him even once wouldn’t be able to help but reach out.
Thus, I was certain.
‘This guy is definitely not an ordinary NPC.’
He must be hiding some monumental backstory. Otherwise, the development team would never have produced him with such visuals…!
So, I wanted to shake all the information out of him right now… but.
‘I should calm him down first.’
Judging by his expression, he seems incredibly shocked. It’s better to soothe him for now.
‘Kind and gentle. Kind and gentle.’
It was at that moment, just as I was trying to make the softest expression possible to talk to him.
“……!!”
Novann sat up and recoiled at a terrifying speed.
“Hey, watch out!”
Before I could even say ‘watch out for the bed,’ he was already slamming his body into it.
Thud—!
“Oh boy.”
He hit it so hard that the whole room seemed to ring. Even so, Novann didn’t even blink and just stared intensely at me.
‘Is he that terrified?’
No. Is it understandable? Well, I guess it would be a bit scary to wake up and find a stranger in front of you.
“Are you okay?”
I reached out toward him, intending to check his physical condition. But Novann flinched and pulled his body back even further.
Like someone who had finally faced the monster they had been avoiding for a long time….
“…….”
Only then could I perceive it. The fact that the emotion dominating Novann’s pale face wasn’t just simple bewilderment.
“Now.”
Something embedded deep within his entire face, revealing its vivid presence. That was none other than deep despair.
“Now, stop it. Just leave me alone like this.”
His voice was cracked like someone being strangled, but strangely, it sat defensively as a clearly recognizable voice.
Novann’s black eyes, filled with the sunset light, somehow looked as if they were crying. The darkness settled under his eyes and his red, raw eyelids must have added to that effect.
It was a sorrowful sight that brought to mind a deserted puppy.
‘I feel like I’ve become some kind of great scoundrel.’
Let’s try to soothe him for now.
“Now, calm down.”
I spread my two hands wide, showing them to Novann, and stepped back slightly.
“I’m not trying to hurt you, Novann. I….”
“Novann?”
Novann muttered like someone who had just woken from a dream.
Then he looked down at the pocket watch he was holding. My gaze naturally shifted that way as well.
And I was a bit surprised. Novann’s pocket watch, which was originally silver, was now tinged with the same golden hue as my watch.
However, it seemed it wasn’t just a surprising thing for Novann. Novann gasped and turned to look at me.
Good heavens. Those eyes were now filled with complete hostility.
“What… what did you do to me?”
“What? No, I.”
My Assistant Employee No. 1 was truly quick-tempered. Before hearing an answer, he jumped up like a spring and bolted out of the room.
“Hey, where are you going!”
This is driving me crazy. Isn’t his level of vigilance unusually high? Isn’t it standard for the first helper character a player gets to have the lowest conquest difficulty?
At any rate, I couldn’t leave my sensitive and faint-hearted assistant like this. I belatedly stood up.
“Novann! Wait a minute!”
I tried to dash out and kick the door open immediately. However, there was something blocking the pursuit between Novann and me.
Whirrrr—.
For some reason, it was my pocket watch appearing again, doing the poppin’.
“Why, again, why.”
I opened the cover and checked the game window. A red pop-up had appeared.
《 Affinity level with assistant employee ‘Novann,’ registered as a partner, is 1. 》
《 You cannot be more than 3m away from assistant employee ‘Novann’ 🙁 》
《 Partner is automatically summoned! 》
“What?”
It was that moment.
A huge shadow loomed over my head.
“!!”
Reflexively, I rolled my body out of the way. At the same time, something fell with a crash onto the spot where I had originally been standing.
It was… Novann, who had just run away from me.
“No, Novann!”
A suspicious sound occurred when he fell. Is he okay?
I hurriedly laid Novann straight. Novann’s neck tilted limply.
“…….”
I placed a finger under his nose. Starting with that, I checked Novann’s vital signs one by one.
But I couldn’t feel anything.
Truly, nothing.
“…He’s dead.”
My first assistant employee died less than five minutes after we formed a bond.
* * *
I sat there dazed for a while, looking at Novann, who was stretched out like a paper doll. I was so dumbfounded and pissed off that I couldn’t think of anything.
“This… shitty game. Absolute piece of shit game.”
What kind of game kills off an NPC like this, you crazy bastards? Why on earth did I even play this?
‘Why? Because I was so curious about what the goal of this absolute nutcase game was….’
“Haaaaa.”
I roughly wiped my dry face and stood up. There was no point in sitting here imagining myself sparring with my past self; nothing would change.
Besides, according to what I knew…. Novann would ‘come back to life’ anyway when six o’clock tomorrow morning rolled around.
“…….”
I let out a deep sigh and lifted Novann’s corpse to lay it properly on the bed. Once again, moving this guy who was built like a door wasn’t the least bit burdensome.
‘This body, contrary to appearances, is quite strong. Is it similar to mine?’
Still, I missed my own body. My body with great skeletal muscle mass and long limbs. This body was too small and frail.
Sniffling, I opened the pocket watch. I intended to find out exactly what this ‘Assistant Employee’ thing was.
I entered the Assistant Employee management window and pressed the question-mark-shaped help icon. Soon, a new window popped up with a long explanation about Assistant Employees.
《 You can hire an employee without affiliation as an Assistant Employee! Assistant Employees serve the role of assisting the employer’s work. 》
《 Once the day’s schedule is over, the employer must pay additional hotel taxes equal to the number of Assistant Employees held! 》
‘Taxes? What taxes?’
You’re telling me to pay money out of nowhere? Isn’t this just highway robbery?
I was speechless, but for now, I continued reading the next explanation.
《 One of the Assistant Employees must be registered as a ‘Partner.’ You can increase affinity quickly with a ‘Partner’! 》
《 Depending on affinity, you can share the skills of the hired Assistant Employee. 》
《 Increase the affinity level to utilize Assistant Employees even more effectively! 》
Below that, explanations for each affinity level were written.
《 Lv 1. Getting-to-know-you Partner
: You can use some abilities based on the Assistant Employee’s skills.
(Condition for using ability: Contact)
When registered as a partner, you cannot be more than 3m away. 》
《 Lv 2. ???
: ??? 》
《 Lv 3. ???
: ??? 》
《 Lv 4. ???
: ??? 》
After reading every sentence meticulously, I clutched my head.
‘I feel like I’ve been scammed.’
Not only do I get money ripped away every day, but I have to be stuck with an awkward NPC all day long? Are you giving me this as a helpful feature right now?
And what is this about sharing skills and abilities? Why, am I supposed to fight or something? Studio Wonderland, what kind of game were you trying to make with Hard Mode?
“Ha… can’t I cancel this registration?”
No matter how important an NPC Novann seemed to be. I refuse to be pushed around by the system and only suffer losses.
I closed the help window and clicked on Novann’s profile. A new window popped up.
《 Novann (Partner)
Affinity Level: Lv 1. Getting-to-know-you Partner
Skill: Connection
Currently Available Abilities: Magic Pocket, Shortcut to Anywhere 》
Passing by the mysterious ability names, I saw a 《 Fire 》 button at the very bottom of the profile. I clicked the button.
Then, a red pop-up appeared, flashing like a warning.
《 Employees below Affinity Level 3 cannot be fired 🙁 》
“I didn’t expect much anyway, you brat….”
I tucked the pocket watch away and sprawled out on the floor. Nothing was going my way and there was a corpse next to me. The mood was truly peak.
‘It couldn’t possibly be worse than this….’
「Alice, did you die in that short span of timeee~?」
I take back what I just said. It can fall even lower than the worst.
Cheshire’s face, as big as a tray, appeared out of nowhere in mid-air and grinned right in front of my nose. I gritted my teeth for a moment and then replied.
“I’m alive.”
「Mmm~. Cheshire knows that tooo~. But that thing looks dead over thereee~?」
Cheshire’s tail pointed at Novann on the bed. Oops. Does it look strange?
Fortunately, Cheshire recognized Novann’s identity quickly.
「It’s Alice’s Assistant Employeeee. You know you have to pay more taxes if you take in an Assistant Employee, righttt~?」
“Yeah….”
「Then that’s enoughhh. Here, take this~.」
Cheshire, who had been chewing, spat out something flat. Between the clothes and this, is it really necessary to give things in such an unpleasant way?
Trying hard not to frown, I picked up the object Cheshire had dropped. It was a black tablet PC with a very standard design.
「It’s too late now, so start working tomorrowww~. There are lectures for new employees on that tablet, so watch them in advanceee~. Alice, you don’t remember a single thing from your training as a probationer, do youuu~?」
Ah. I had made up the excuse that I had amnesia.
I nodded my head.
“Yeah. Thanks.”
「Since Cheshire is the best, this much is only naturaluuu~. Then come to the front by nine o’clock tomorrow morninggg~.」
Having finished its business, Cheshire vanished magically, just as it had appeared. I stared blankly up at the air and then flopped down appropriately on the sofa to turn on the tablet PC screen.
It wasn’t locked. When I swiped the screen to enter the home screen, I saw an app labeled ‘For Training.’
“Is it this?”
I touched the app. Soon, a picture appeared against a white screen background.
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