Opening my eyes, I felt a weird clarity I have never felt before. It was on the opposite spectrum of having a dream and being awake. Double awake? Too generic and makes it sound like I am enlightened on something.
"Horns of the Apocalypse? Is that what it is? Why do I feel like this is just one fourth of a Mech Platform?"
[Hello Testing, 1 2 3! Nice to meet you, my name is XO. If you check your pocket you will find my calling card and get to know me better!]
Haseo felt around his head. The voice he heard sounded like it came from a pair of headphones. But his ears weren't covered, so it must be from elsewhere.
[AR 'ON']
A robotic voice sounded as Haseo's vision changed. The dump site came to life, advertisements everywhere. A woman who looked the same age as him was standing beside him.
"Oh you can see me now? No fun, I finally got to use the system intercom function and you just pick up the phone."
The woman was XO, who handed Haseo a name card. 'X.O. Dating Hive', more information was on the back of the card.
'Jaded lovers or madly in love stalkers, the range of relationships in this Hive is many.' "Current Dater: 2D Girlfriend. This is a lovely girl who only lives in your head. Dialogues of love can happen any time. Fully customizable Character design and long list of avatar models, you can try talking with any girl you want."
After reading aloud the current XO, he didn't know what to do. The digital girl smiled and made a joke.
"If it helps you get situated, I can let you name me? Or maybe I should name myself? Waifu or Kitten?" Haseo rubbed his eyes.
"Now I remember, I had a migraine before. I guess I signed up for that brain chip that could cure my depression. I knew I shouldn't of trusted that ruby mine man child, he just downloaded a dating sim to my brain. I could of just downloaded a game app to do the same!"
XO leaned over to Haseo and whispered something. Hearing what she said, he just gave a thumbs up.
"I played a few different dating sim games, so I understand the random ramp ups. So you are saying the higher our relationship level, the more our bodies can interact?"
Waifu, as Haseo sweared he wouldn't call any grown woman his kitty, game Haseo a thumbs up. "Yep, granted it is totally misusing the purpose of the gun you have. Hacking a rich group of corrupt bankers and forcing their public stocks to crash, or fooling around and depleting your virtual liver. You are just another idiot who got ahold of a weapon of apocalypse."
…
After wrapping himself in the blanket that covered him, Haseo made his way over to the city. "So Waifu, what is going on with me? My mind feels like I have been pushed and pulled in some weird dream waking dead state. Any idea?"
"Soul prodding and modding. I mean, you think fast progress comes with things feeling normal? The both of us are beings who were reborn using the Metal Element."
"If you noticed, you are a physical being, while I am a digital being. The other 4 girls you met, they are non-physical beings just like me. Having 5 beautiful girls spliced into your being, if you weren't drugged to foolishness, you might of ended up broken. Probably."
…
It turns out that the city was walled in. Haseo found a gate that leads inside, surrounded by guards.
"Making sure no one gets in or maybe out? Either way, my butt is chaffing with just this old blanket as clothing. Hm, wait should I even be walking around outside let alone into a populated city?"
Haseo can't remember ever seeing kids anywhere, but he couldn't take any chances. He followed along the wall and found a way inside the city. "A shit pipe? What is going on here, it looked like such a nice city?"
Luckily for him, it seemed the pipe was old and no one used it anymore. Going inside, he found there was a set of stairs.
Now inside the city, Haseo noticed there wasn't many residents. In fact he didn't run into anyone, maybe the guards at the entrance was for keeping people out after all.
Feeling more brave, Haseo adventured out to find a set of clothes. Even after stealing clothes and getting dressed, Haseo still hasn't seen anyone.
"Now that I am freaking out, I notice things more easily. Like how there isn't any noise in the background. Who were those people?"
A ding sounded out from a distant building. Hearing it so clearly and knowing the direction it came from, Haseo felt something off about the first noise he has heard in awhile.
Showing up at the building, he saw the noise came from a shop that looked pretty rundown. The neon sign that said open made Haseo feel a chill in his spine and look around. "Wow, that is the first sign of electricty I have seen. Maybe I should just not go in."
Waifu's voice sounded inside Haseo's head. "Are you just thinking out loud or were you leaving me voice messages to respond to later? But for real though, go inside the building."
Waifu and Haseo didn't spend much time talking. Even though she was downloaded into his mind, she still had access to other things. So she was busy most of the time and Haseo liked the lone wanderer vibe he was getting walking around all silent.
Going inside the store, Haseo found it had a few people inside browsing the store. No one payed attention and they were like mannequins, staring at the item they were holding.
"Creepy but at least they aren't looking at me. Now let's see, oh a beginners guide. Hmm, so I use the gun to scan the code on any shelf, sticker, or item. I had a game like this when I was younger."
Lifting the gun, he aimed at a sticker on the wall. Each trigger pull, was a reward. Sometimes a monster would appear and he had to shoot it down.
While checking all the free things he got, a hand strongly clamped down on his shoulder holding him in place.
"You are playing all wrong kid. You got to pick a starter pet first. The rewards you are wasting is getting to much for me to bear."
The person who approached Haseo was the worker who was standing by the cash register a second ago. "Let's see, Horseman of War pet that would be perfect for you. Hmm, your scanning skills were pretty quick. How about a key pet?"
Haseo noticed the hand was still on his shoulder. She started walking with Haseo, dragging him to another section of the store.
"This is the best thing we have in the store, for key pets at least. Key of Damocles;Pandora Chest. This key pet is special as it is a giant satellite. Most are sword or pen sized, a truly beefy boy like this is one of a kind."
Haseo looked at the display of the Key of Damocles, it was pretty terrifying looking. A dead satellite, pieces floating around it. Just space debris waiting to fall.
[Congratulations!!! 3 more pets of the apocalypse and you shall qualify for your Divers License!!!]
"Hey is this key faulty? This thing says I get a Diving License for having pets but how does that make sense? Maybe a driving one could make more sense but-."
A strong smack sounded out from him back. The woman walked back to the counter. "A Diver is someone who is able to digitize their bodies to spend their lives in video games."
The woman frowned for a bit and looked at him. "As a Diver, you can compress your data and make yourself weaker. The upside to this is when you go to collect more data, it gives a boosted amount. So it helps you make up for being dead so late, giving you options to reach and surpass those that came before you."
"Yeah I bet there isn't anything bad about it. Sure its name is not really inviting, but the rest is good right?"
Her hand was on his shoulder and she brought him outside. "Do you want to see a surprise? If you look up, you will see satellites. I will hold you so you don't fall and bite your tongue."
Not knowing why he needed to be held, what was a raindrop going to come down and scare him or something?
As he looked up, his knees immediately buckled and his body went limp. His eyes and mouth was wide open, freaking out from the sky. The millions of visible satellites was scary, they were way too close. The real problem was Haseo's Key Pet, who looked far in the sky while also being an inch away from his eye if he looked directly up.