Within the softly lit interior of Nexus, Aroa sat on the velvet couch in front of a table with awestruck eyes as she stared at a tray with a golden-brown roasted meat sprinkled with basil and thyme, marinated with a dark brown sauce - its fragrant aroma wafting through the room like a siren's call.
"I don't always make this, but this is a special occasion, so enjoy!" Emilia beamed with pride as she happily stared at Aroa.
"I-Is this human meat? Because I don't like the taste of-"
"No, no! Not at all! This was sealed tight and we kept it frozen afterwards, it's not the freshest but it's not the worst either… I mean, the men love it," Emilia grinned with pride.
"Heh. The men love anything that doesn't upset them or their stomach, so that's not saying much. But you can trust me, Aroa, it's really delicious," Sadie chuckled from the side while tapping away on her controller, half paying attention to Aroa's drooling expressions while she played video games.
Skouter was sitting next to Jin on the magenta seats, their backs against the counter while both of their faces were sharp and attentive.
Skouter narrowed his eyes at Aroa.
'Her hair's messy and her hoodie's concealing her body but… there is potential… With the right care, a cute angel will rise from her ashes! I made the right call recruiting her! This will be a utopia for my eyes!'
Jin's brow furrowed intensely at Aroa.
'She stopped that bag from falling by looking at it, so her powers could be suspending gravity within her vision… or is it freezing the things she looks at, similar to that snake woman from folklore? Tsk… That'd be annoying to fight against while solo, but a pincer strategy should work…'
Aroa grabbed the utensils in front of her - a silver knife and a golden fork - then stabbed both of them into the meat, picking the whole piece up to her mouth and biting into it. The utensils were simply there to hold the meat while she used her teeth to tear it apart, making her look like a wild animal being fed with a stick.
Emilia gasped when she saw the thick marinade dripping down on Aroa's pants.
"W-Wait, you're spilling it everywhere, people don't eat like that!" Emilia quickly rushed to bring her a couple of tissues then used them to wipe the stains as she placed the rest to protect from more savory juices dripping.
"It's fine, Emi. Walter's going to clean it up later," Sadie casually remarked with a chuckle.
"N-No, Walter already does so much for us, we shouldn't create more problems for him!" Emilia pouted at Sadie as she continued pulling more tissues out.
Jin sighed then stood up.
"Alright, listen up Aroa, while everyone's content with you just existing here, I'm still not keen on keeping a freeloader who eats through resources. I want to know your Wish and any useful skills you have to see what you can do to contribute to Nexus."
"And who put you in charge to ask that of her when I'm the one who goes out to gather stuff? She doesn't have to do anything, I'll just do twice the work," Skouter stood up with a glare.
"You're the last person I want working double the amount!" Jin wanted to punch Skouter, he was the only person who could easily irritate Jin by simply breathing, but he settled for just glaring daggers at him.
Aroa placed the remaining half of the meat down on the tray and gazed up at Jin with a lusterless glare.
"I'm not going to freeload, I said I'll wo-mph!" Aroa was cut off by Emilia's hand pushing a bundle of tissues against her lips and cheeks, squishing them clean.
"You should learn how to eat more carefully… What a mess..." Emilia frowned at Aroa while cleaning the thick sauce off her face.
Skouter's eyes widened as his cheeks glowed a soft rosy hue.
"Emilia actually babying someone who's more helpless than her… It's… kind of cute."
"S-Sorry…" Aroa looked at Emilia with a shameful frown but then moved her palm towards Jin.
"I said I'm not going to freeload and I'm not scared of showing my Wish and Skills if that's what you want. Show status," Aroa swiped her hand in front of her, spawning an ethereal silver window with a very familiar layout, except its beveled edges were visibly cracked.
Everyone's eyes widened in surprise; Sadie stopped tapping buttons causing the screen to shout "You lose!" while Skouter and Jin looked beyond flabbergasted with their eyes wide open.
While Jin's box was the size of a square monitor, hers was the size of a mini fridge, visibly and almost tauntingly bigger.
For the longest time, everyone knew those status panels existed but nobody could access another's freely, with only each other's words painting an image of what the invisible boxes held.
The existence of a "show" command that exposed all that information to the naked eye felt like a vulnerability, although in his current state Jin's status window didn't have anything the group didn't already know.
'Wait, no. Let's leave those thoughts for later. I need to look at this.'
________________________
Name: Aroa Etshan.
Energy Remaining: 1 month, 10 days, 21 hours.
Wish: Static View.
Grade: Blooming Star.
Titles:
Lost Twin, Hoarder Queen, Perfect-picture Shooter, Documenter of Death, Master of Solitude.
Skills:
-Dynamic Shot [2 days]
-Captured Memory [20 hours]
-Photocopy and Paste [5 days]
Collection:
-Digital Camera(1)
-"Art of Negotiation: an Adult Fiction" Book(1)
-Instant Noodles(30)
-Astral Energy 24-hours Pack(1)
-Tuna Can(3)
...
Quests:
-Collect 30 items [Completed]
-Take 5 new pictures [Completed]
-Capture a person's death [Completed]
-Find Leo (0/1) [Incomplete]
[Quests refresh in 2 hours!]
________________________
'Hmm... There's a lot of new stuff here… But as I expected, the titles are just descriptions of a person's habits, they're absolutely meaningless to their owner but give useful info to whoever else can see them.'
Jin scratched his chin.
'Like here, Hoarder Queen and Master of Solitude, they reflect the heavy bag she carries and the fact she had no one around her for however long she was out there.'
"Whoa! Look at these cool titles! I wonder how you got them… That Documenter of Death one gives me goosebumps," Skouter grinned while bending over to look through the list.
"Master of Solitude? That's a bit depressing," Sadie walked next to Skouter to look at the panel with her hand resting on his shoulder.
"Collections and Quests… I don't have those," Emilia poked her lips thoughtfully.
Walter glanced at the window from behind the counter with a dangerous glint in his eyes.
"Whoa! Thirty Instant noodles! It's been so long since I had some… Hey, Aroa, does Collection mean you're collecting them or is it like a storage system?" Skouter grinned at her excitedly.
"Here… One noodle in a cup," Aroa stretched her hand towards Skouter and a silver-hued flashing light suddenly coalesced into a container of instant noodles in her grasp.
"Whoa! Nice!"
"Heh. That's pretty cool."
"W-Wow, that's so amazing!"
"How wondrous…"
'That's useful…'
Jin cleared his throat.
"So… What is the meaning of your grade and the last list, the quests?"
"I don't know what my grade is but it kept going up when I did the quests… The quests themselves give you random rewards if you do them but it punishes you if you fail…" Aroa shrugged.
Jin rubbed his chin in thought.
'A reward and punishment system? How severe can the punishments get? Ah, that aside… It's just like I assumed, the system does give you batteries… If it didn't, it would've been an execution device. But since it's grading us then it wants us to live, not to die… But what is it grading us on? Doing these quests effectively? Why?'
"That should clear up any questions about my Wish and my Skills. I'm good at scavenging and haven't had any problems traversing the islands or even interacting with groups that want me dead."
Sadie laughed and nudged Skouter.
"She's like you, Scoots… except she doesn't need anyone protecting her, you obsolete mule."
Skouter chuckled bitterly then turned towards Jin.
"See, Jin? She's transparent and dangerous, and with that sales pitch who wouldn't hire her on the spot? Come on, Jinny. It sounds very lonely out there and I won't feel comfortable letting her go," Skouter placed his arm on Jin's shoulder while smiling at him faintly, as if pleading his pity.
Jin sighed deeply and patted Skouter's cheek with an irritated look.
"I was just telling her to work and repay her due, I wasn't going to kick her out."
"Alright then! With the majority agreeing, Aroa you're officially part of our family! And I promise you, you'll enjoy it here so much you'll grow sick of all the fun!" Skouter laughed and moved closer to her with a beaming face.
Aroa stared at Skouter with parted lips, a look of surprise on her weary features, but then she looked down somberly.
Emilia trembled while looking at everyone with an anxious look before her eyes darted towards the floor.
Sadie, who stood opposite of her, noticed her shivering.
"Hm? Emilia? You okay?"
Emilia took a deep breath and moved her index finger forward.
"Sh-Show status."
A violet window glittered into existence with its soft and round edges. It was more akin to a circular bubble than Jin and Aroa's beveled edges.
Everyone's eyes shot towards the new glowing source of light hovering in the air.
"A-Aroa showed us hers so… It's only fair that we…"
Emilia's eyes were glued to the floor while her face glowed a vibrant crimson with shame visible on it.
Jin gritted his teeth.
'This brat! She's going to create a domino effect! I need to stop this before I have to show–'
Despite his thoughts, his eyes were already scanning her window intently, curiosity taking the better of him.
________________________
Name: Emilia Rienhart.
Energy Remaining: 25 days, 3 hours.
Wish: Spatial Hug.
Grade: –
Titles:
Eternal Crybaby, Spoiled Little Sister,
Queen of Melons, Teleporter Princess.
Skills: –
[Warning: Collections Inactive.]
[Warning: Reward System Inactive.]
________________________
Jin's eyes smoldered angrily as he instantly grabbed Skouter by the hair and tugged his head back.
"What the hell do you mean 'Queen of Melons'!?"
"Why are you asking me!? I didn't pick the titles for her!"
"It's because of your vulgar comments! You tainted her status window!"
"As if! Look at the rest of them, they're all demeaning–"
Jin raised his hand up to punch him but Skouter suddenly vanished and appeared a few steps away from Jin with a surprised look.
Jin's eyes widened but they quickly shot towards Aroa whose silver wispy eyes shifted back to their dull cerulean.
'She used her Wish on me!? So she froze me and this idiot walked out of my range… But that felt so instant... She really is dangerous...'
"Infighting leads to death in the worst possible ways… Don't let your anger take over," Aroa glared at Jin before she grabbed the silverware to resume eating.
"W-Wait, don't fight! Skouter didn't do anything, it just… it just picks random and weird names…" Emilia held her hands outwards to calm Jin down.
Sadie leaned closer to Aroa with a smile as she watched her munch on the meat.
"What you did was cool, Arie, but you shouldn't worry about the boys fighting. Honestly, Scoots deserves more than just that punch, but I doubt Jin hates him enough to kill him. You'd know what I mean if you give it a few days, they're closer than they look," Sadie shrugged with a chuckle.
Aroa chewed while looking at Jin who hurled insults at a laughing Skouter.
"...in your sleep! I'll gut you in your sleep! I'll have you locate another person with a radar-like ability then I'll kill you myself!'
Sadie chuckled.
"Haaahh… Boys never change… Alright, my turn. Show status!"
Sadie swiped her finger across the air, revealing a scarlet window with black spiraling engravings on its edges.
Jin and Skouter's eyes instantly shot towards the crimson radiance. While Skouter was awe-struck by its grim appearance, Jin attentively took the information in.
________________________
Name: Sadie Williams.
Energy Remaining: 16 days, 17 hours.
Wish: Death's Gaze.
Grade: –
Titles:
False-Faced Prisoner, Deadshot Batter,
Back-alley Brawler, Deadbeat Gamer.
Skills: –
[Warning: Collections Inactive.]
[Warning: Reward System Inactive.]
________________________
Skouter's eyes kept shining brighter and brighter the more he read.
"These titles! They're so sick! Death's Gaze!? That makes your wish sound scarier than it is!"
"Drool, country boy," Sadie smirked and crossed her arms with pride.
But Jin's expression darkened when his eyes fell on False-Faced Prisoner. The other ones she did share with them, but even if she didn't anyone could see them manifest in her day-to-day actions. But she never mentioned the False-Faced Prisoner.
A false face could be related to lying or deceit, marking her character as untrustworthy, but Jin didn't know enough about how titles were formed to make assumptions.
'Honestly, she could just be an inmate who had plastic surgery for all I know.'
Jin grimaced even deeper when he realized there was a common link between the status panels, or rather… a lack of one that should've been there.
'That doesn't make any sense… We all ate– no, drank from the cores of Wishbearers, so why don't they have that title? Was I wrong about its actual meaning or… am I missing something? Devourer of Stars… Am I the only one who has it? But why? Because I do the actual killing…? Then wouldn't I be the Killer of Stars or something as dumb?'
"Alright, Jin. You're next," Sadie pointed at him, seemingly because he was closest to her.
Jin sighed.
"Sure. Show status," then swiped his finger in the air, summoning his familiar golden status window; it looked plain compared to everyone else's but it had a beautiful shimmering hue.
________________________
Name: Jin Shikabane.
Energy Remaining: 7 days, 19 hours.
Wish: Relocated Life.
Grade: –
Titles: Devourer of Stars, Undying Meatbag,
War Devil's Prodigy, Reliable Big Brother.
Skills: –
[Warning: Collections Inactive.]
[Warning: Reward System Inactive.]
________________________
Jin furrowed his brow and silently prepared himself for any questions about the Devourer of Stars.
'Just tell them I ate too many star-shaped cookies or… Wait, why am I trying to justify it? We don't even know what these titles mean, nobody does. I can just tell them the truth, that I don't know.'
"Undying Meatbag!? Ahahahah! What is that lame title!?" Skouter burst out laughing while pointing at the golden panel.
"I'll turn you into a dying meatbag if you don't shut up!" Jin gritted his teeth and huffed, he completely forgot about that stupid title while he worried about the Devourer of Stars.
'Dammit! Why did I get that dumb title…'
While Skouter was slapping the ground laughing, Sadie leaned closer while squinting.
"Reliable Older Brother…? Wait, Emilia had Spoiled Little Sister… Is that related?"
Sadie looked at Emilia who fiddled with her fingers.
"I-I mean he… he does feel like a reliable older brother… He always helps me when I need him…"
"Wait, does that mean Jin sees her as a spoiled younger sister? Oh. That explains a lot… I see now…" Skouter sat up with a serious look.
Sadie pressed her thumb against her lips.
"Wait… That means the titles formed around your feelings for one another? Then… Then who was it? Who thought of me as a deadbeat gamer?" Sadie instantly glared at Skouter.
"Hahaha, wow! These ones are cool… War Devil's Prodigy and Devourer of Stars… What could they mean?" Skouter's eyes lit up like a child in a superhero meet and greet, completely ignoring Sadie.
"I don't know," Jin shrugged. Even if it wasn't a lie, he used the earlier mental preparation to hide his worry and convince them of his disinterest with only three words and a shrug. Perfectly executed.
"I see…" Skouter kept rubbing his chin.
Despite that Jin didn't feel completely relieved. The truth was, no one else had that title even when they shared in the feast. A small part of Jin hoped it was straightforward but now that he had more questions, that small part of him wasn't satisfied. He knew what every single title meant and could make an educated guess as to why he got them, except for the first one.
Skouter sighed then stood up and moved his hand up.
Everyone looked at him expectantly but he kept glaring at his finger.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Scoots?"
"Hm?"
"Any minute now?"
"Ah. Right."
Skouter gulped and inhaled deeply.
"Okay… Show status… excluding name!" Skouter brushed the air with his finger, prompting a green box similarly plain as Jin's to manifest.
________________________
Name: [Excluded]
Energy Remaining: 27 days, 5 hours.
Wish: Seeker's Sixth Sense.
Grade: –
Titles:
Best Boy, Accurate Locator, Lifeline Radar,
Supply Mule, Optimistic Idiot.
Skills:
-Precise Pinpoint [2 hours]
[Warning: Collections Inactive.]
[Warning: Reward System Inactive.]
________________________
'Excluding name? You can exclude information during showing? How did he know that…?'
"Wow, it actually worked," Skouter chuckled.
"Skouter… What are ya trying to pull?" Sadie gripped his shoulder and glared at him.
Skouter clicked his tongue.
"I just… I just don't like my name, alright? Skouter's pretty cool… It's better than what my parents named me."
"I don't think your parents could name you anything worse than Skouter even if they tried," Jin shook his head.
"Ah… I thought I was the only one with bad titles…" Emilia murmured, a look of relief on her face.
"What was that?"
Skouter glanced at Emilia who instantly jumped and waved her hands dismissively. He cocked a brow, looking confused, before Sadie's palm pressed against his head and ruffled his hair.
"Ooh, you like this? Does this make you feel like you're 'Best Boy'?"
"Huh? Hey, don't–"
Jin grabbed Skouter's other shoulder with a smirk, his brow furrowed with desire for revenge.
"Does woof woof want a toy? Is the head patting making woof woof feel good?"
"Wha-!? How can you say that with a straight face!? It's so embarrassing!" Skouter's face slowly heated up with a crimson hue.
"What are you saying, Scoots, aren't you the best boy? Such a goood booy~," Sadie grinned while still petting him.
"Does little doggy want a treat? Shake, shake for a treat," Jin poked Skouter's arm with a devious smirk.
"Aaagh! Stop!" Skouter jumped away, flustered and steaming, his face as red as a tomato while they both snickered.
"You know what, Sadie? We should get him a nice collar," Jin pointed at his own neck.
"Oh, with cute little dog ears too? That'd make him a happy boy," Sadie chuckled.
"What about a dog tail to complete the look?"
"Heh… Heheheh…" they both bonded over Skouter's misery and embarrassment.
Emilia watched the whole thing unfold, her cheeks turning a soft rosy shade as she imagined Skouter in a studded black dog collar with real twitching dog ears on his head and a wagging fluffy tail behind him, his hands curled downwards near his chest to mimic a paw-like posture.
"Woof!" the imaginary Skouter beamed with joyful radiance.
"C-Cute…" Emilia covered her pink face that kept glowing brighter in intensity.
"Enough! It's Walter's turn!" Skouter pointed at the old man with an ashamed scowl, clearly trying to save what he could of his dignity through redirection.
But it worked, his words successfully turned everyone's head towards Walter.
Walter stared indifferently at everyone while cleaning a glass mug.
'This old bag… This should be interesting…'
"Walter, show us your status window," Jin turned to face him with a scowl.
"..."
Walter put the glass down then slowly moved his hand near his hip, pulling out a silver revolver from its holster, its metallic barrel possessing intricate engravings.
"I understand that this is an exercise in trust, and that showing each other our status creates a sense of ease and camaraderie. But I'm afraid that I can't contribute like the rest of you."
Emilia stepped away, her eyes widening at the drawn weapon.
Walter raised the revolver up.
Jin's reflex kicked in and he quickly pulled out his own engraved silver handgun and aimed it at Walter.
Skouter quickly backed away from Jin while looking at both of them with a worried look.
Sadie's smile faded and she cautiously looked at Walter.
Aroa observed cautiously while pressing the last quarter of meat inside of her mouth.
Walter moved the gun further up to his own head, pressing the barrel against the side of his temple.
"Huh?" Jin cocked a brow.
"I humbly ask you to trust me and let me keep my status frame hidden. Revealing it would only endanger the lives of everyone around here. Although, if you still can't help but perceive me as an untrustworthy threat to the group's unity, then I will ensure your comfort and peace of mind. I truly wish for nothing but the group's safety."
'What is this man up to? Threatening to shoot yourself because of your status window only makes you more suspicious! No one can trust someone like–'
Sadie's eyes glowed crimson momentarily then she suddenly gasped as her eyes widened, her face turning pale as if she saw a ghost.
Skouter and Jin quickly looked at her, sharing the same surprised expression as each other.
'She didn't see a ghost, she saw his corpse… Her Wish allows her to see how people die, so Walter's actually going to shoot himself… He's serious.'
"Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa! Easy, Walter! Nobody said anything about not trusting you. People have secrets, it's fine if you want to keep a few from us, e-especially dangerous ones. We still need your drinks around, buddy, so lower that gun," Skouter shuffled close while pointing his palms at Walter disarmingly.
Jin loosened his shoulder and put his gun back in its holster.
'Crazy lunatic… Without him distilling those cores into drinks, we'd have no way to survive as a group, he knows this…'
Walter slowly lowered his revolver then bowed his body.
"My sincerest apologies. I wish it didn't have to come to this."
'...But he can't use that as a bargaining chip without losing their trust, so the next plan of action is to commit entirely to shooting himself if even a single person said no… And he knew I'd do that… That way Sadie's ability gives him more credibility since he practically died for us.'
"P-Please don't do drastic things like that!" Emilia's hands trembled as she pressed them against her chest.
'Even if it makes them uneasy, this way they don't completely doubt him because he made it look like he cared about the group more than his life… Tsk… What insane information could be on his status window for this drastic approach? Ahh… I want to know so bad…'
While everyone was mentally reeling from what happened and trying to wrap their heads around it with anxious expressions, Jin stood there with a deep grimace.
'At least I know one title this old bastard definitely has.'
Walter stood up straight, looking at Jin with calm indifference, possessing a hint of sharp coldness behind his gaze.