The shock quickly faded and a smile formed on Mark's face. He was sure it would happen eventually, but now that it did, he couldn't help but feel conflicted. At long last, he has finally lost his mind. Only it was nothing like what he expected it to be.
Standing in front of him was a girl. She was of medium height, wearing a black and white classic maid uniform that covered everything below her neck. Her silver hair flowed on both sides of her head, straight without a single wave or split-ends.
Her perfectly symmetrical face, with skin as white as marble, was the epitome of beauty, and her ruby eyes were simply captivating, making the act of looking away almost impossible.
"Master…" The girl let out a sigh and averted her gaze. "Staring for too long brings me discomfort. I would much appreciate it if you refrained from doing so."
"... Is this what being crazy feels like?" Mark muttered.
At first, it seemed like he was doing as she asked, taking his eyes off of her and looking away. However, a couple of seconds later, after rubbing his eyes a little, he began studying her closely while ignoring the cold glare she threw his way.
"Whoa… the human mind sure is amazing…" he said, leaning toward the silver-haired maid with a hand on his chin. "To think a crazy person can see all of this… so many details…"
Due to time and budget constraints, Mark asked his illustrator to use a simplified art style, much like the ones used in anime. It omitted a lot of details and used a cell shading techniques, but looked good nonetheless.
That said, if someone tried to create a 3D model or cosplay any of the characters, they would have to add a lot more to their design just so they wouldn't look bland.
Mark believed that his mind understood that very well as instead of animating a magnified version of the character sprite, it opted for a more realistic approach, if one can even consider the otherworldly beauty in front of him realistic.
As the maid stood in her place not moving an inch, Mark went around scanning every part of her hair and outfit while making amazed sounds whenever he caught something interesting.
"Can you raise your arms a little?" He asked, his eyes on the white apron.
The maid glared at him for a few seconds then heaved a sigh, reluctantly doing as he instructed.
"I'm not sure what you find so interesting." She said. "Weren't you the one who made all of it?"
"Well, Kobayashi did most of the art," Mark replied. "He's really good, but not this good."
After getting a really good look, the youth stood straight with a smile on his face and nodded.
"You look even better than I imagined." He said with a regretful look. "Kinda sucks that you aren't real."
Despite looking like a really well-done cosplay, the girl standing in front of him was definitely hallucination. If he remembered right, before passing out from that extreme headache, he was looking at her character sheet.
He took that as an explanation as to why he was hallucinating about her, and though he was intrigued by what he was seeing, a part of him wished it was one of the other maids instead.
Celestia, his favorite, would've been a much better sight. Though he didn't mind having the silver-haired maid as well.
"Your praise is an honor, Master, but…" tilting her head to the side, the maid seemed a bit confused. "I do not understand what you mean by me not being real…"
"Yeah yeah. I'm not about to deal with this." He waved his hand dismissively. "I know I'm crazy, alright? I'm not going to a mental hospital, though. Try to not speak too much."
The maid stared back at him, not replying.
"Understand?" He added, urging her to confirm.
The silver-haired maid kept her lips tightly sealed. Mark decided to take that as a yes.
"Cool. Now let's get ready for school. I've already missed two entire days. Can't let that continue."
Mark felt quite refreshed, having had some decent sleep for the first time in years. It left him optimistic, believing that it might turn out to be the first time he goes through every class without sleeping in at least one of them.
It was a strange thing to get excited about but he didn't seem to mind.
He decided to start his day with a nice quick shower but ended up extending it longer than expected. He never expected to get so filthy just after not showering for a day.
Brushing his teeth came next. Once that was done, he went about preparing his breakfast.
"Master." The maid spoke after remaining silent so far. "I don't believe that would be sufficient for two people."
She was looking at the ingredients he took out of the fridge, and though her expression didn't show anything, for some reason Mark could tell she wasn't very pleased with him.
"What? You want me to cook for you as well?" He asked.
"That would be much appreciated." She replied. "I haven't eaten anything since I arrived."
"Is that so…"
Despite knowing she was just a hallucination, Mark decided to make another plate anyway.
As a certain green monkey once said, two eggs were necessary for a nutritious breakfast. He fried four, added some bacon, then a pinch of salt and pepper. Coffee was already brewing and the toaster was doing its work.
Once he was done, he placed two plates on the table, filled two mugs with coffee, and then took his seat. The maid in his mind sat on the other side facing him.
"Thank you for the meal." Without much delay, she took a fork and dug into her food.
Mark couldn't help watching, intrigued by the way the eggs were disappearing from the plate.
He began to wonder whether he really did cook an extra portion for his hallucination, or if he was imagining the whole thing including the food.
His empty stomach urged him to start working on his own plate so he quickly went for it. In just a couple of minutes, he was done so he leaned back and enjoyed his coffee.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
The maid was done with her food as well, but currently, she was staring at her mug with a complicated expression, the first one she had shown so far.
"It is… black…" she eventually said. It was then that Mark remembered something important.
"Aa, right, you have a sweet tooth…"
Putting his mug aside, Mark went and got the milk bottle from the fridge. He poured some into the maid's cup then added some sugar to it, steering the mix a little before returning to his place.
"Thank you, Master." The maid replied, picking up the mug and staring at it some more. Eventually, she closed her eyes and took a sip. A moment later her eyes shot open and her cheeks flushed a little, showing how much she enjoyed the drink.
"Better?"
"Yes."
Her thin lips curved into a bewitching smile causing Mark's heart to skip a beat.
'Whoa… schizophrenia is awesome…'
With each passing second he became more convinced that losing his mind wasn't such a bad thing. At the very least, it was much better compared to the torment of the incomprehensible whispers.
Even if she was nothing more than a hallucination, Mark found himself looking forward to interacting with one of the maids from his game.