Jaden took the paper and looked closer. Yes, this was indeed her phone number, complete with a little heart beside it!? It seemed there was no mistake. This appeared to be an act of love. He desperately hoped that perhaps he was wrong. Perhaps this was her business card, maybe this was a completely businesslike interaction.
"What's this about?"
It was not that Jaden was completely uninterested in romance, or that he was so bad with women he couldn't possibly believe it to be true. He was an attractive man, with his muscular build, dark black hair, and piercing green eyes. He had dated before in high school, and had been quite popular among the female students.
But he did not want to date this crazy woman. No way.
Sofia blushed even deeper. Her cold and calculating voice couldn't match her expression less: "That is a phone number. It is often used if one person wishes to get in contact with another."
"I know what a phone number is. Why do I need this?" He waved the paper in her face.
"You appear to be a strong and brave man. I would like to work with you in the future."
So it was all business after all. He could deal with this.
"Ah yes, I have been training in martial arts recent-
She cut him off: "And your facial features are not unappealing."
What!?
"You can call me if you desire. I don't care either way. I would actually find it the most convenient if you don't contact me at all."
Your face is saying something different! Could this ice-cold woman get any more confusing!?
Jaden didn't have to search for an answer, for Sofia was already walking away very quickly. He breathed a sigh of relief. It appeared she had not realized he had a system.
As for the other side to her personality…he would try his best to forget about that. It was obvious they simply could never get along. He looked at his watch. It was just past 1:00. He would love nothing more than to settle into his office and get back to work. But that was not an option today.
Go through Sofia's "Special Training"? He'd rather not.
If she had any problem with it, complain to his boss! Jaden was going home early today. This was not something he had done before. But then again, he had never killed a monster before either. He deserved a long bath and a hot coffee more than anyone did.
Unfortunately, the train station was still under repairs from the catastrophe, so Jaden was forced to walk quite the ways to get to the next one. On his way there, he came upon an unpleasant sight. It was not uncommon for there to be strange cults and religions popping up nowadays, with people worshiping monsters, systems, Crisanto Cruz, and everything in between. So seeing some strange street preachers was not an unusual sight.
These ones were stranger, however. They were dressed in odd robes and holding up a paper mache sculpture of the Emperor Class monster that had created such a disturbance in the city earlier.
Jaden didn't know why, but he felt like he should see what they were saying.
He drifted closer to them, there was quite a group gathered on the street corner to watch the spectacle. The leader was holding up his hands to the sky: "Oh great Emperor! We, your loyal followers, await the day you destroy this horrible world! We know your disappearance is only one step in your grand plan. Please come back soon, we can hardly wait!"
They sounded more like whining kids waiting for their mom to come back from the store than proper acolytes.
But wait…this whole story of the Emperor Class destroying the world seemed awfully similar to Sofia's doomsday speech. Sure, Australia had gotten destroyed a few years back. But the whole world? Jaden simply couldn't believe it.
Just then he heard a familiar sound. He thought the system was never going to show up…
[Experience points gained: 100]
[Level: 5]
[Armageddon points: 10]
That was way too much! System, are you trying to kill someone!? Level 5 is far too high. Can't he lose some experience?
He hadn't been paying attention, but all of a sudden, he noticed the crowd was staring straight at him. The leader of the group was looking at him, his face looked like he was in awe.
In awe of Jaden!?
The leader spoke slowly, dragging out each word: "When the emperor returns, we'll be ready."
Then Jaden noticed there was a man lounging on top of the paper mache model being held up. He certainly hadn't been there before. At first glance he looked like a normal man, despite his long black hair streaked with blood-red, and his piercing golden eyes. But at a second look, one would notice his long black claws instead of fingernails and teeth sharper than knives.
This seriously was not normal! Was no one else seeing this!?
But the crowd wasn't reacting. Apparently Jaden really was the only one seeing this.
Oh for pete's sake!