The next day.
Donovan opened his eyes, being met with an unfamiliar ceiling.
Right... I remember pushing the Emergency Teleport button, and I instantly passed out inside the Healer Sanctuary...
The Healer Sanctuary is a place inside Umbrellas where Visitors who use the Emergency Teleport get teleported to automatically.
He examined the room he was in. It's very similar to a hospital from Earth... Donovan said in his mind. After that, he sat up.
And the Healers are so efficient, too... Why didn't I bring a Healer or a Tanker with me? Also, I should've won that fight. From the memories of the original owner of this body, Donovan has never been severely injured in his solo missions. So why did I not succeed...? Could it be... that because of my cowardice and incompetency, being mixed with Donovan's self, that I failed? If I didn't transmigrate into this body, I'm sure the original Donovan would've completed the mission... A bitter, self-deprecating laugh escaped Donovan's lips.
He then got out of bed, lifted his shirt to check his injuries, and as expected, it's like he was never hurt. Immediately after that, A humanoid robot rose smoothly from the floor, its metallic surface gleaming under the room's bright light. It was wearing a tuxedo, and its head had no facial features. It pressed its palm on its chest, and did a slight bow. After that, it began tidying up the bed Donovan slept in.
Such amazing technology... Although I know how great the technology here is through the original Donovan's memories, I still can't help but be amazed by it.
He watched the robot for a while. After the robot was done, it then said in a feminine voice, "Mr. Donovan Volgard, would you like your clothes brought to you?"
"Yes." He said. After that, the robot's chest glowed brightly, and Donovan's clothes from before suddenly appeared on the bed. His suit, which had been torn by the two Annihiliths, was fixed, as if nothing happened to it. His umbrella was resting on the bed as well.
The robot pressed its palm on its chest again, bowed slightly, and left through the door.
...
After fully changing to his suit, he heard a knock on the door. Who is it? He said in his mind, before saying, "Come in." The door opened, and Tiero walked in, closing the door behind him.
"What the hell happened, Donovan?" He said, shook his head while sighing, and continued, "You've never failed a solo mission before. What's the matter?"
I'm not sure either...
"...Bad day." Donovan said. "Bad day?" Tiero said. He shook his head again, and covered his face with his left hand. "Mission hasn't been taken yet. If you want, I can send you there again, but you have to bring someone with you. And because you failed the mission the first time, 80% of the mission rewards will be given to your partner."
80%...? Damn it!
"I won't be taking it." Donovan's expression remained calm. Ah, but I did say I'll investigate what happened in that city... The lack of people, empty buildings... Everything seemed too strange. But I still have the World Name Card for it, so I can go back anytime.
"Figured. Get some rest. Take the day off." Tiero said, before walking towards the door to leave. But before he reached the door, he turned around and said, "Oh, and, go find Dean. Tell him to stop screwing around and start doing his missions or I'll put him in Gert's team." After saying that, he opened the door and left.
Dean… One of the previous Donovan's closest friends. Yet every memory of him was laced with exasperation. How does someone so laid-back survive in Umbrellas? Sigh, I still can't believe I failed that mission... damn it...
After leaving the Healer Sanctuary, Donovan returned to his apartment with his umbrella, and through the memories of the previous Donovan, he remembered where he put his phone.
Heh... So they're using smartphones, just like Earth... But this is obviously more high-tech than the ones on Earth...
He found Dean's number, and tapped the call button.
...
In a restaurant called Jarloo's Eats, a man sat alone at a table eating his food while browsing through his phone. He had blonde hair, and brown eyes. He was about 5'9 tall, had a handsome face, a tiny mole under his left ear that one wouldn't notice unless closely examined, and a star tattoo under his right ear.
"Hey, 'sup Dean." A man passing by his table greeted him.
"Yo." Dean greeted back, and the man walked away. Just as Dean was about to take another bite of his burger, his phone rang throughout the restaurant. He immediately picked up. "The f**k do you want, Donovan? I'm eating here, yo."
A deep voice—belonging to Donovan—sounded from his phone, saying, "Tiero's pissed. Said he'll send you to Gert's team if you keep messing around."
Upon hearing this, Dean frowned. Gert? Damn... That bastard Tiero... He said in his mind, before saying, "Alright, fine. Just tell the f**ker not to send me to Gert's team of perverts."
"Tiero's our superior. Be more respectful." Donovan said. Then, Dean laughed. "Don't care." After saying that, Dean hung up and continued to eat his food while browsing through his phone, looking at gravure idols...
...
After Dean hung up, Donovan felt that Dean was a bit too laid-back... Why is he the friend of the previous Donovan...? He said in his mind, but he already knew the answer to that since he has the previous Donovan's memories. He put the phone down on his desk beside the bed, as well as the umbrella. He put down his ID, changed from his suit to casual, comfortable clothes and he laid down on the bed.
But just as he did so, he felt his stomach grumble.
Right, I haven't eaten since I transmigrated yesterday...
He got up and walked to the kitchen. He saw a button on the wall with a single word on top of it, "Chef."
Seriously, why did no one invent this back on Earth? Oh, but then human chefs would lose their jobs... But since this exists here, I'm guessing chefs have gone poof...
Donovan pressed the button, and a robot with no facial features and wearing an apron emerged from the floor, and said with a masculine voice, "Good morning, Master. What would you like me to cook for you on this nice day?"
It was currently 8:06 a.m., and Donovan wasn't surprised anymore at the sight of a talking, robotic chef. He then said, "Vessie Chicken."
Vessie Chicken. "Vessie" means "bladder" in French. As the name suggests, the seasoned chicken meat is enclosed in a boar's bladder when being poached in a meat broth. The bladder will puff out during the process like a rotund pufferfish. As for where the ingredients came from, it's from a nearby planet similar to Earth, but is uninhabitable for humans because of very powerful monsters that live there, even more powerful than the Annihiliths. The planet's name was 535-Qerth-90.
I'm surprised French cuisine exists here. Could it be that this is really just future Earth, and I didn't really transmigrate but only got sent to the future, but in a different body? Uh, but isn't that also called transmigration? Time travel... Oh, but I can rule out the possibility of time travel because of the existence of a nearby planet called Qerth... Or am I in future Earth, but just in an alternate universe? Right, since I can teleport to other worlds, I can maybe find my home planet, Earth... Ugh, I don't want to think right now. I'll just find out about it in the near future.
After the robot "heard" the words Vessie Chicken, it bowed and said, "Very well, Master."
Donovan went back to his bed while his stomach was still grumbling.