Eating is one of the most things I did in my past life. Of course, I do need to cook because no one did it for me. It was then that I realized that some things were impossible to do.
'Well, compared to my cooking…'
I smiled and answered honestly.
"It looks good."
"Sharp-eyes, I don't need your damn sarcasm today! I'm never calling you oppa!"
"You idiot, stop yelling at Hyung!"
"Since when were you two that close?! I met him first!"
"The plant says it can't tell the difference between this sausage and charcoal."
"Who needs your wisdom right now, you shitty plant?!"
The four of us surrounded the table of cooked canned goods. Though, to be more precise, we were just looking at black, burnt pieces of what used to be edible food.
'Who knew none of us could cook?'
Also, it's been nearly a day since the real test ended.
* * *
< Good job. >
Then it returned to being a mechanic voice.
WHOOOOOOOSH!
Luna just said whatever it needed to say before we were warped into a manor somewhere. There was a crescent moon on the huge, golden gate where we entered so we knew it belonged to the company.
Luna's mechanical echoed in the air again.
< Welcome to the Crescent Moon Manor. Please address this place as the Moon Manor. This is the private property of the Four Moons. >
"For real? Holy hell!"
Polly, who looked like she was about to drop dead earlier, was now brimming with energy. Jashan just shook his head at her while mumbling 'idiot' repeatedly with sleepy eyes.
Ilya looked at me and I nodded at her gaze knowingly.
"The plant suggests we rest first."
"Mm. I agree. Why don't we talk tomorrow?"
After that, we went on our own separate ways.
Luna showed the structure of the Moon Manor in a half-transparent, hologram-like way. It was a cross structure with even sides and a circular center which served as the main hall. The main hall was the only place where others can access.
The sides, or wings, of the building pointed in four different directions. East, north, south, and west. This was our private property. No one apart from us four, Sir Deus, and the boss could access it.
'So these sides are like our own territory or something.'
I own the whole south wing.
The whole wing was a decent mix of silver-shaded colors. The furniture was also expensive-looking and there was a jacuzzi inside my room. A. Freaking. Jacuzzi.
what a shame that I have no camera.
'Wouldn't I be famous in instragrome if I had this kind of room in my past life?'
Ah, whatever. Past is past.
I sighed in relief before removing all my clothes.
'Mm. Am I in heaven?'
The pain in my body told me that I wasn't. But the relaxing feeling I had never once felt before contradicted this thought.
"Luna."
< What is it, Red Moon? >
Red Moon, my alias.
"Where are the bandages?"
< In the... >
That night.
Through Luna's knowledge and my endless questions, I was able to find out a lot about the Crescent Moon Company. I had thought it was just a new company because that was how it was described in the book but contrary to my expectations, it was just a new branch of a huge organization from the shadows.
When I asked Luna about the organization…
< Access to information denied. >
Information. Money. Connections.
Crescent Moon Company had it all. Then why did I not think most of the person who could give all of this?
Moon.
This was the alias for the real owner of the company, a person higher than the Crescent Moon boss. Whoever this person is, he or she must be part of that organization.
"Hmm?"
I rubbed the back of my neck. It was cold.
"Haaaaa. Why am I getting a bad feeling about this?"
All I wanted was to live luxuriously and avoid the supporting characters. I don't want to handle problems at all. Just one-sided, temporary jobs.
But still, the back of my neck is getting colder.
I decided to ignore it and go to sleep, then I fixed myself to meet with the others in the main hall. Luna was the one who delivered the message.
< Blue Moon is requesting an alliance. >
Blue Moon, this is Ilya's alias.
When I arrived, I saw them wrapped in bandages like me. I was the last one to arrive. Ilya was, as usual, gracefully holding a pot of plant in her hands. Jashan was holding a can of tuna and pointing at Polly who was pointing back at him with a piece of frozen bacon in her free hand.
'What is this weird view of bandage machines holding frozen goods?'
But even so, they look quite energetic, and if we remove the bandages from the view…
"What a great sight."
I smiled.
Polly sighed at me.
"Sharp-eyes, are you that glad to see us bandaged?"
"The plant is telling you to stop sneering."
"H-Hyung…"
Haaaaaa.
Should I stop trying to smile? I'm debating to stop being polite too.
When I smile, they tell me I'm sneering.
When I try to be polite, they tell me I'm being sarcastic.
Jashan looked at me and shook his head. He wasn't as cold to us as yesterday anymore, but he was still addressing everyone as 'idiot' apart from me he now calls 'Hyung.' Jashan was actually more accepting towards me than I thought. He's also much more energetic because of the nature of Polly's personality.
Polly, as usual, that loud-mouthed girl still curses. Ilya also went back to her sentences that start with 'The plant' like normal.
I think it was only me who noticed this one fact.
'We're hopeless.'
Moon Manor's cleanliness and security were being maintained by Luna, the system, so there were no guards or employees like a maid. It really lives to its privacy.
< We have no cook. Can any of you cook? >
We looked away from each other.
Jashan told us this, "I would've set the kitchen on fire."
"Do you like vegetables?" Ilya would've cooked only salad.
"All of my food looks white," and I would've served them ashes.
Polly was the least terrible choice we had.
* * *
< Charcoal acquired. >
"Fuck you, Luna!"
I shook my head in the air and grabbed the phone Ilya passed over. Jashan was writing a list of food in a paper.
And so, we just decided to order for delivery.
In the middle of eating.
I looked at them.
"Why don't we start the introductions now?"
PLOP.
CLANG.
PAT.
Polly dropped her chicken thigh down the plate, Ilya placed her fork down the bowl of fresh grass, and Jashan wiped his sauce-tainted face with a handkerchief. They looked back at me and nodded.
"I'll start."
I've practiced overnight for this moment.
Yeah, something light.
"Hello, I am Kaven and I'm a hypnotist. I like money. I don't like good people and I hate strong people."
'…strong people like the OP supporting characters.'
I didn't say the last part.
I finished with a quite satisfied smile which instantly dispersed when I saw them looking at me with wide eyes. I didn't know why, and I also did not ask but in their minds, this was how they interpreted my greeting.
"Hello, I am Kaven. I don't like anything but money. I hate people like you."
Of course, this is not what I meant but I had no way of knowing that.
These people considered themselves strong,. It was also true because if they weren't then they would not have been here with me. However, I forgot to take them out of the equation.
Polly cleared her throat.
"Ahem! I am Polly and I am looking for this."
She dropped a white handkerchief on the table. There was blood on it, none of us asked where it came from, but the most distinct part was the snake symbol in the middle. The snake's mouth was open, showing its fearsome embroidered fangs.
"I can't remember much of my past but unlike sharp-eyes over there, I have a goal in mind."
"Idiot, try asking Luna."
"Shut up, you blackie-bastard! You think I didn't try that?!"
"The plant says, calm down."
Polly closed her eyes and wiped her sauce-coated fingers in a nearby towel. She then took a gulp of water and cleared her throat.
"Ahem! Ahem! System Luna, tell me what you know about this mark."
< This is the symbol of another organization. Further access to information is prohibited. >
Our expressions turned serious when we heard this.
Another organization. One different from the one behind Crescent Moon Company.
Looks like the higher-ups of this company know about it but they're hiding it from us. Maybe Sir Deus knows but I'm not sure.
"Idiot Luna, does Sir Deus have access to that information?"
< No. Half-Moon cannot access the information. >
Polly sighed.
"Why are you asking about him? That Baldie Gramps knows nothing."
Somehow old-baldie became Baldie Gramps.
Then we heard a voice that surprised us.
< Gramps knows something. >
"Huh?!"
"…What?"
"The plant expected this."
"Ilya?"
We looked at Ilya. She shrugged her shoulders like it was not a big deal.
"The plant said that Luna is strict with terms."
My eyes widened.
'Right, he was calling Sir Deus whether Half-Moon or Gramps. I remember being surprised about that.'
Then I remembered the test itself.
'Half-Moon' could make us fail the test but 'Gramps' wanted us to pass.
Does that mean Sir Deus knows something about this symbol? It seems eerie. I'm getting a bad feeling out of it.
BANG!
Polly stood up so fast that her chair fell down, but none of us paid any attention to it. We were looking at her blazing pink eyes that glowed brighter than normal.
"System Luna! Call Half-Moon right now!"
"You idiot! Are you crazy?!"
< Cannot carry out the request. Four lower moons cannot order around the two upper moons. >
"What?!"
"Calm down, you idiot!"
I sighed and looked at the woman who was also watching the two cat and dog fight. She was holding a plant-like usual, but her overall demeanor had been weird since earlier. It wastill graceful but it has an edge.
I thought at least she would be like me who has little to no problems. But then this was also the person who was obsessed with having people owe her a debt.
'She must be the most troublesome out of them three.'
I need to be careful.
"Explain this, Ilya."
She looked at me and nodded, her hands are still arranging the leaves of the plant at different angles.
"The plant said that Ilya is in the company preparing for a huge fight. She cannot say who she is fighting but when that day comes, you must help her, only then will she help you with your businesses. One of her enemies is in the higher-ups of the Crescent Moon Company. She had seen that symbol before, it is also one of her future enemies, but Ilya doesn't know them. She was not in charge of it."
I recalled the time when Ilya said she would protect me during the test.
"Haaaaa. I already owe you."
Ilya nodded.
"The plant said, the other two losers were able to launch an attack because of me. They owe me too."
Jashan and Polly didn't mind that they were called losers. They were too focused on absorbing the new information.
Then, Jashan spoke.
"I… am an artificial test subject. The one to only survive the experiments. I am the only vessel for this power---hey, why are you all looking at me like that?! You idiots! Stop!"
But we couldn't.
'This little kid was experimented?!'
It's none of my business but still… my goodness, even I get angry at this kind of cruelty.
"Blackie-bastard, what does this have to do about this snake symbol?"
"Listen first, you idiot."
Polly opened her mouth to answer back but then she closed it again and sighed.
"Fine."
"The organizations' name, at least what I call it, is Venom. They were supporting the ones behind the experiment projects. Of course, they didn't expect me to go berserk. I've been destroying labs one after another but I did too much and now they're after me. I went to this company for protection."
There was a moment of silence that made me gulp.
Money.
Destroying an organization.
Future war.
Protection.
'Why am I the only one who doesn't have a deep reason? Not that I'm complaining…'
"For now, we have the same goal, right? Let's find out whatever we can about the 'Venom.' We'll need each other's strengths so why don't we make an alliance?"
I smiled at them again.
"I just want money for my effort."
"For me, just any information about that damn organization."
"I can't believe I'm asking protection from idiots."
"The plant wants as much manpower you can give."
In an oval table made of expensive marble, the four of us gathered with our own problems for an alliance with the same goal in mind. This was the start of our team that would go through heaven and hell in the soon future.
But at this time, we were just people who didn't know what was to come.