“Really, Frank?”

  Old Man Sid’s voice echoed through the small living area once the introductions ended. He looked at Elise, then back to Jin, his brow furrowed.

  “To be honest, I don’t mind another guest in the house. But are you sure you’re alright staying with an old man like me and a damn crocodile in that fellow, lassie?”

  Elise cracked a lovely, radiant smile that seemed to push back the shadows of the cramped living room. “Aww, you’re not old, Sid.”

  The brunette didn’t wait for an invitation. She stepped in close to the landlord, looping her arm through his with fearless ease, despite having made his acquaintance less than ten minutes ago. She gave his bicep a lingering caress that turned Old Man Sid into a statue, her voice dropping into a playful, honeyed purr.

  “See? No old man is as buff as you, Sid. Not even close. You’re still handsome. Very handsome.” She shot a playful wink at Jin, who was leaning against the doorframe. “And don’t you dare say no, Frank.”

  Jin heaved a sigh, watching the masterclass in manipulation. In that instant, Elise had completely won over the landlord. Old Man Sid had been sceptical in the beginning – and rightly so. What was a foreign beauty who spoke fluent Japanese doing in a house with two middle-aged men?

  Jin might look young, but his demeanour was that of a man in a permanent mid-life crisis, and Old Man Sid himself was five years past his intended retirement. But Elise was different.

  Her bubbly energy acted like a warm, tingly breeze that countered the sweat-filled, musky atmosphere of the bachelor pad. Her people skills were top-notch; compared to her, the two men were socially prehistoric.

  “Well, we do need a woman in the house,” Jin said, breaking the silence. “You and me ain’t got time to clean or manage this place. Sid, remember that grocery list? Did I buy any?”

  “Ah, fuck you!” Old Man Sid’s eyes widenedas the realisation hit him. “How did you forget? Now, what’ll we have for dinner?”

  Jin shrugged, turning his attention to Elise.

  “Hmph!” The brunette stuck her tongue out at him. “I’m not your maid. But…”

  “But?”

  “I can’t be a freeloader, right?” Elise said, her eyes twinkling. “Alright. I’ll take care of the place while you boys go out there and work.”

  “How long would you be staying with us, lassie?” Old Man Sid asked, already sounding like he hoped the answer was 'forever'.

  Elise tapped her chin, reflecting a look of deep thought. “I don’t know. Maybe till I find a new job?”

  “What?!” Jin straightened up. “Did I hear that right?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  Jin facepalmed. He had asked about her sudden trip to Neo-Tokyo before, but she had dodged the question every time. He should have seen it as a red flag, but now it was too late. The luggage was already in the hall. Before Jin could protest, Old Man Sid sprang to his feet, hoisting the heavy bag and heading for one of the empty rooms upstairs, making sure to flex his bicep for his ever-admiring and cheerful guest.

  “What on earth happened to you?” he asked once Old Man Sid was out of earshot. “You had a solid job at the ACPS in New York.”

  “Yeah?” Elise shrugged, her playful expression hardened for a split second. “So what? Doesn’t mean creeps like that one bastard can come up to me and propose out of nowhere. I don’t even like him!”

  “Liam, was it?”

  Elise nodded.

  “So, you’re running away?”

  “Hehe. Kind of. After I taught him a lesson that his mama didn’t teach.”

  “Hahaha!” Old Man Sid barked a laugh as he came down from the stairs. “I’m already liking this girl. She’s got spunk, alright.”

  “Ohhh… I have more than just spunk, you handsome man,” Elise teased, much to the landlord’s growing delight.

  Jin heaved a deep sigh. He had assumed she was on a long holiday, but she had one way or another, transferred her life to Neo-Tokyo to escape the reach of the ACPS Discipline Committee – the so-called ‘police' from that part of the world.

  “If they can’t protect me,” Elise said, her voice turning quiet and serious as she looked at Jin, “who can? At that time, I only thought of you, Frank. So, here I am.”

  The weight of her words hung in the air. Jin’s promise to her at the airport was a constant reminder of the hole he dug himself in. Finally, he relented. If Old Man Sid was happy – and from the look of it, he was already caught in a vixen’s charm – there was no reason to fight the inevitable.

  “You two boys are hungry, right? I’ll cook!” Elise announced, breaking the tension as she rushed to the kitchen and grabbed the apron hanging on the wall. “I’ll use whatever you guys have left and make us something nice. It's the least I can do.”

  As she began rattling pans, Old Man Sid tapped Jin’s shoulder, whispering, “Say, do you think she doesn’t mind someone as old as me?”

  “Shut up, you perv. Ask her, not me,” Jin replied. He watched her for a moment before turning back to his friend. “But if she’s staying here for the foreseeable future, I think I need to tell her the truth. I don’t think we can keep up the 'Frank Stein' act when she’s living under the same roof.”

  “But is she trustworthy?” Old Man Sid asked, his playful tone vanishing.

  “So far, yes. Even Bee and Vee like her. That tells me everything I need to know.”

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  That night, the house smelled of actual food – the scent of sautéed vegetables and spices replacing the usual smell of stale air and dust. Old Man Sid was a lousy cook, and Jin usually preferred to eat outside rather than trouble his friend, though he was a skilled cook himself. But tonight, they had a reason to eat together – a rose between the weeds was a welcome change.

  Over dinner, Jin finally dropped the mask. He told Elise everything. His life in Neo-Tokyo before his ‘death’, his late wife, and his daughter, Eleana. He described the abyss – the endless expanse of hell that had held him captive – and the miracle of his reappearance in New York. By then, seven years had passed.

  Elise listened without interruption. Her eyes, usually so full of fire and mischief, reflected the heavy, silent sorrow of a man who had become a ghost in his own life.

  When Jin finally finished, the room was quiet. He expected shock. He expected Elise might come over to his side and pull his head to her bosom, patting him and reassuring him that all would be fine. Instead, Elise munched on a piece of broccoli, swallowed, and looked him dead in the eye.

  “So, if I want to be your new wife, do I need to talk to Eleana first?”

  Jin spluttered, spraying his dinner across the table. Beside him, Old Man Sid toppled backwards, chair and all, his legs kicking the air as he howled at the ceiling in pure, unadulterated joy.

  ***

  “Hey, Big Bro,” Saki asked, leaning on her garden shovel. “Why do you look so tired?”

  “Nothing,” Jin replied, short and direct. He crouched beside her, in the dirt of a recently cleared F-Class RIFT, his fingers moving with a grace that bordered on the unreal. “Instead of asking about me, why don’t you concentrate on the task at hand? The herbs aren’t going to pick themselves.”

  “Oh?” Saki let out a mischievous smile. “Changing the topic, aren’t you? If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it has something to do with a woman. Or women.”

  “Saki… shut up.”

  Jin had volunteered for this low-rank manual labour to escape the chaos Elise had brought into Old Man Sid’s home. Worse, that damned pervert took a day off, citing his home needed a ‘deep cleaning’. Jin knew the only thing that needed cleaning was the space between the bastard’s ears.

  But looking at Saki and the other bike gang members, Jin realised he had jumped from the mouth of a tigress into the gaping jaw of a crocodile. Saki was less of a flirt than Elise, but she was a massive headache in her own right.

  “Say, Big Bro,” Saki asked, wiping sweat from her brow. “Do Cleaners always have this boring job?”

  “What do you mean boring?”

  “Well, we’ve been picking herbs for days. Is this it?”

  “Can you fight monsters?” Jin asked without looking up.

  “Nope. I don’t have a death wish. Unlike Take.”

  Saki’s cousin, Onizuka Takeshi, was the only actual Player among the Saitama Mad Angels. He was currently suffering – or going through 'hands-on training' – under the guidance of the legendary Ironshield. Knowing the man's unorthodox, brutal methods, Jin had no doubt Take would trade places with Saki in a heartbeat.

  “Can you draw maps?”

  “Can’t draw for shit to save my life.”

  “Then do you want to mine ores or minerals? Are you strong enough?”

  “Umm… I don’t think so. I want to look lean and sexy, not buffy.”

  “Or do you like to…” Jin leaned over and whispered into Saki’s ear, turning her pale to the point of vomiting.

  “N-No way. T-That man… I've heard of his name. Doctor Frankenstein, right? The corpse beautician. No. No. Anything but that, please, Big Bro.”

  “Then you pick herbs,” Jin said, his long, slim fingers threaded through the soil, extracting a rare mana-infused plant without even a single bruise. “Besides, this is relaxing. And believe it or not, the better you get at this, the better your riding skills will be.”

  Saki’s eyes lit up. “Really, Big Bro? You’re not lying?”

  “Why should I?” Jin showed off his fingers, letting them dance in front of her. “You’ll feel the throttle better, down to the last millimetre. You’ll know exactly when to pull and when to let go without losing speed.”

  Saki beamed, nodding with renewed excitement. Of course, it was total codswallop. But it was a necessary deception to keep the gang from sliding back into their destructive habits. The girl wanted to press on but Jin gave her a sharp 'Big Bro' glance that silenced any further questions.

  They worked in silence after that, though Saki’s complaints punctuated the quiet at regular intervals. She grumbled about the soil beneath her fingernails and the unsettling shadows stretching from behind the trees, or the looks others gave her, especially from passing Players. Jin ignored the chatter, his focus remaining on the task at hand until the last of the harvest was secured.

  Once they finished with the day’s haul, Jin called everyone to return. Outside in the real world, the sun began to dip below the horizon, casting long, orange shadows over the buildings of Ward 4.

  “Big Bro,” Saki said as she followed Jin from the back. “You have plans tonight? Want to grab a beer? My treat. I got paid today.”

  Jin thought of the ‘new wife’ waiting at home and answered in haste. “No plans. Sure, why not? Let me report at the officer's tent and then we can–”

  “Help! Anyone! Please help!”

  Their casual conversation shattered. A SeComm officer burst from the command tent, her darkened face was a mask of panic. “Is there any Player here? Please! We need help! There’s an emergency in Section E, Ward 5!”

  “That’s the next block over,” Saki noted, her playful mood vanishing.

  Jin rushed to the officer. “You said there’s an emergency?”

  The officer looked him up and down, her eyes landing on his mask, then the gardener's gloves. “Are you even a Player? Name, rank, and class.”

  “Frank Stein. Bronze V, Level 15. Herbalist.”

  The officer clicked her tongue in blatant disgust, her eyes already searching past him for someone else. Anyone. Jin waited for a while. Unfortunately, for the officer, he was the only Player available.

  “Damn. I guess you’ll do. A body is better than no body.”

  “Done with the insult? Now speak.”

  The officer’s disgust never left her face. “Whatever. We need a search party for a C-Class RIFT in Section E, Ward 5. A group is missing, including a famous Star Rookie.”

  “Famous Star Rookie?” Jin’s face went pale. His paternal instinct, honed by years of loss, flared to life. “Who is she?”

  “How do you know it’s a–” The officer stopped, shivering under a stare that seemed to bore into her soul. “It’s not official yet, but everyone is calling her… Valkyrie.”

  Valkyrie.

  The name hit Jin like a fatal blow. It had once belonged to his late wife – a unique designation that hadn't been passed down in years. Fate had seen fit to give it to their daughter.

  Eleana.

  “Saki, lend me your bike,” Jin said, his voice dropping into a cold, terrifying tone.

  The girl didn't hesitate; she pressed the keys into his hand.

  “Go straight home. I’ll take a rain check on that beer.”

  “Yes, Big Bro. Be careful!”

  “Oi, oi!” The officer tried to stop Jin, “I haven’t finished the briefing! Damn it! Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  Jin had no need for warning. With Saki’s bike, he whizzed through the streets at speed and in less than five minutes, he reached the place. The bike came to a screeching halt.

  The area around the C-Class RIFT was a scene from a battlefield. Players were being carried out on stretchers, their bodies covered in horrific first and third-degree burns. The air tasted of smoke and scorched flesh.

  “We need healers! More healers!”

  Through the chaos, a voice boomed over a loudspeaker:

  < The headquarters will compensate all search volunteers with triple pay! But hurry! Form a party! We don’t have much time until the next eruption! >

  “Here! I’m a tank!”

  “Add me! I can scout!”

  Players scrambled near the shimmering threshold, shouting their roles like vendors at a street market. Hands were raised, their Player screens flashed, and desperate eyes scanned for anyone who was willing to join them.

  Jin didn't spare them a second thought or glance.

  There was only one thing in his mind. The only thing he cared about in this world, and she was beyond the swirling, violent maw of the portal. He had no time to wait or beg others to join him.

  He reached into his inventory, suiting up. The La’ Aeterna makeup he’d bought for Eleana yesterday stared at him from his storage slot, a silent reminder of what was at stake. He had been worried about how he would give it to her. Now, he had to make sure she lived to receive it.

  With a heart that beat only for his daughter, Jin stepped through the shimmering veil and vanished into the inferno.