Ignoring the sour taste that attacked my taste buds, I closed my eyes to hold back the thick sour taste.
The combination of green tea and lime is undoubtedly very natural acidity.
My taste buds which had long been dead due to a coma had come back to life along with the response of my hands that had started to move actively. The twitching of the sour taste moved my toes which had previously seemed stiff, making me want to stand up and try to walk around.
"Thank you. That's quite helpful for my body, which has not moved for a long time. The push from the piercing sour taste has made my body's sensors active again after not using them for so long," I said while moving my fingers, which were already moving responsively.
Amagi looked at me in amazement.
Does it look strange when trying to move my stiff body to move freely like this?
If only this place had an Adrenaline syringe, maybe I could use it to increase my heart rate and nerves that were forced to be active because they received a strong stimulus to work hard.
I immediately stood up from the small table decorated with Sakura Empire's signature flower ornaments.
Long hair, thick mustache, and unkempt beard had been bothering me. At least I wanted to tidy up this homeless appearance to look more well-groomed. The clothes I was wearing were just patient clothes dominated by navy blue.
"Uhm, do you have a razor to trim hair skin and beard?" I asked the ship girl from Sakura Empire.
"I have a razor but it belongs to my beloved Admiral, if you have enough money, you can buy it at Akashi's Shop," replied Akagi who was not interested in lending the razor that had become his Admiral's property.
Ugh... is this what it feels like to be a side character when the main character has become an Admiral?
No, this is more than just a side character. My position is lower than the NPC behind the scenes who has been given a fixed dialogue cut. I am just an outsider who accidentally became Shinano's prisoner and patient.
"Akagi, you don't have to be rude like that to guests or patients from Shinano. With just a little polish, I'm sure his handsome face won't be inferior to our Admiral," Amagi replied to support me who wanted to borrow the hair-cutting equipment.
"I know this will be troublesome, sometimes I feel uncomfortable because this long hair is unkempt," I said while taking one of my long hairs that looked tangled and damaged.
"If it's a burden for you, I don't mind, it's just that... I will do in my way," I then opened my smartphone which was in my pants pocket.
My fingers moved toward the Azur Lane software and saw a large map of the Azur Lane main military base. Various small icons containing Azur Lane characters appeared and showed their positions, I was fixated on my smartphone screen to find Shinano's whereabouts who was undetected.
"When I needed her, Shinano went on duty," I complained in annoyance after not finding her presence.
On the large map, I could only find Shinano-chan who was away with the ship girl from the Destroyer Sakura Empire ship.
My body was starting to feel hot and the signs of life after death were felt again. I could feel my legs filled with a tingling sensation that I could start to feel, by jumping a little and doing light stretching. At least I could feel my stiff body had become limp and responsive to my brain's commands.
"Then I'll find another way," I said as I headed to Amagi's balcony to feel the fresh air flowing from the outside room.
Tapp...
Tapp...
When I stepped onto the balcony of Amagi's room, I felt a small touch that pulled my arm and it came from Amagi-chan. Her small body posture that was still a little girl carried a hair trimmer complete with a mirror.
"Maybe this can help you, honored guest," said Amagi-chan awkwardly.
"Honored guest?" I accepted the wooden box from Amagi-chan which contained a simple hair trimmer that did not have an electric razor, it was just scissors and a beard trimmer that seemed to have not had its blades replaced.
"I-I don't know your name, so I use the word honored guest to you," replied Amagi-chan with a small smile that made me want to hug her body.
If only I had a daughter like Amagi-chan, how many times would I have been hospitalized because of the excess sugar intake from her sweet smile?
I shook my head to get rid of the thoughts filled with the fantasy of that happy dream.
This was not the time to be caught up in fantasy after I returned to my old body which was much weaker than a normal person in general.
"My name is…" I almost said my real name in the previous world but was stopped by my awareness of the Azur Lane world that had become reality. Using a real name and a fictional name as an identity in the game were two different things.
"My name is Karl Doenitz," I said as an introduction to Amagi-chan, perhaps she was the first ship girl who had a formal introduction with me without any unnecessary disputes and hostility.
"I-I am Amagi-chan, a Battlecruiser from the Sakura Empire. I have a dream to grow big and strong like Amagi to be able to protect everyone. Uhh… in other words… I will do my best to eat and sleep regularly to quickly grow big and strong!" Amagi-chan said in a high tone, whether it was a coincidence or not, I was a little stressed by the pronunciation between Amagi and Amagi-chan as if they were two of the same individual but had separate self-awareness.
Amagi-chan's fox ears and fox tail moved around after her self-introduction was complete. Unconsciously I stroked her head and gave her a gentle touch to tidy up her messy hair after being hit by the wind.
Wuuusshhh...
The slow-blowing wind made me feel an extraordinary calm as if the burden I felt in my body had disappeared for a while. However, reality is not that beautiful.
There are many things I have to do, especially with the light interrogation for Shinano who coincidentally can bring my old body into the Azur Lane world. Logically, it is impossible because the dimensions of the real world and the game world are only separated by a smartphone screen.
The mystery of my body consciousness trapped in the Seawolf project body and Shinano who has a body in my old world along with my equipment, it has become a big mystery for me to find out the answer to all of that.
"This will be a long journey for my second life, huh?" I muttered in a small tone while gently stroking Amagi-chan's hair.
I pondered for a moment about my words.
"No, this will be a long journey for my third life, huh?" I muttered to correct my previous wrong statement.
Twiich...
"Did something happen?" asked Amagi-chan who looked at me with her two clear shining eyes.
"It's okay, I was just thinking about what happened to my body earlier," I then released my hand on Amagi-chan's hair.
"Ahh..."
Amagi-chan let out a small sigh as if disappointed about something.
"Can you help me with my long hair?" I said while try sitting on floor Amagi's room balcony.
"Ah! With pleasure!" exclaimed Amagi-chan while moving her fox ears and fox tail she looked very happy. Her sparkling eyes dazzled me a little, it looked like a row of stars in the night sky shining brightly.
"Ugh, so dazzling," I immediately dampened the dazzling light by closing my eyes and moving my arm to cover my gaze from Amagi-chan.
Thump...
I immediately sat on the wooden floor and prepared small scissors to shave my unkempt mustache and a long beard. The reflection in the mirror showed that this face looked ordinary without any handsomeness that could melt a woman's heart.
Speaking of women, I have dated several times in the virtual world, and my ability to communicate in the virtual dates makes a big disaster because some women seemed to misunderstand the meaning of my words that I wanted to live with them.
It was just a polite and formal compliment, but it seemed to affect the emotions and instincts of women who were thirsty for affection too much.
Following the reflection in the mirror, I directed the sharp tip of the scissors to clean my mustache and nose hair that grew beyond my nostrils.
Ctaassss...
Ptasss...
With careful movements and full concentration, I managed to shave my thick mustache and nose hair that looked long. I then shaved the hair that grew under my lips and my long beard which gave me an itchy feeling. I tidied up my mustache and beard a little before cutting it all off using a sharp blade from the beard trimmer.
After becoming a volunteer soldier serving on the battlefield, I didn't care about my messy appearance like this. Since the ship girls in the Azur Lane world prioritize appearance over skill, I had to go with the flow that emphasized appearance.
My hands rushed to the razor and tidied up the untidy scissor cuts on my mustache and beard. There was no lubricating foam, so I did it roughly and concentratedly so as not to scrape my skin with the razor that was no longer sharp.
Sraaakkk...
Ctaass...
Ptaass...
It didn't take long before I moved on to shaving my long hair which looked messy. There was no special hairstyle, I just cut it short and matched my simple facial appearance.
Amagi-chan helped me by shaving the back of my hair which was a little difficult for me to reach with the razor.
"Wooah!! I didn't know Karl Doenitz-sama had an appearance like this!" exclaimed Amagi-chan who suddenly entered my line of sight to see the shape of my face from the front.
"Is it too bad?" I asked to make sure the shape of my haircut didn't feel out of place in this world.
"It suits you perfectly! Really like an elegant man!" Amagi-chan exclaimed in a tone that attracted the attention of the Sakura Empire ship girls who were in Amagi's room.
I ignored all that and rushed to tidy up my messy haircut.
One by one my neat facial features were visible in the reflection of the mirror.
I could comment that it wasn't too bad because I rarely saw my reflection in the mirror.
After feeling satisfied, I immediately stood up and tidied up the hair-cutting equipment given by Amagi-chan after cleaning it from the small hair pieces that were stuck to it.
Amagi had been holding a small broom with a dustpan to clean up my hair that had fallen on the balcony of her room.
I don't know why but Amagi, Akagi, and Kaga stared at me sharply.