Zeno stared at the frolicking man before him. It seemed like he couldn’t do any harm, but Zeno still felt apprehensive. As they boarded the bus, he couldn’t help but ask Doha some questions.
“So, we’re friends,” he said.
Doha excitedly nodded. “Yup! All four of us—Minji, Eli, you, and me,” he boisterously said. “We’ve known each other since we were kids.”
Zeno nodded to himself. It seemed like this guy wasn’t lying.
“And what is this head injury you were talking about?” Zeno asked.
“Oh,” Doha said. “Well, it was your last day in the military yesterday. We haven’t heard much about you in the past year, so we were worried when they suddenly called for us to fetch you. It seemed that you hit your head pretty hard on your last day on duty,” Doha said.
“However, the doctor said it was just a minor injury and that you would be more forgetful than usual. He didn’t say it was to this extent, though! I can’t believe you don’t remember my name again.”
“Hmm,” Zeno hummed, placing his hand under his chin. Well, at least he now had a good excuse for not knowing everything about his life.
“We’re really friends, right?” Zeno asked, still speculating.
“Yes!” Doha chuckled. “Best of friends.”
Even though this guy looked suspicious as hell, he decided to place his trust in him for now.
***
Meanwhile, back in the set of ‘Broken Chains of Justice,’ the team was already packing up. After filming the insert scene for tomorrow’s pilot episode, the clip was quickly sent to the editing team.
They still had a weeks’ worth of filming left for the latter episodes, so they were in a rush.
Man-shik PD entered his car but didn’t drive off straight away. Instead, he decided to contact Ari Bae, the talented writer of the drama and multiple other award-winning ones.
Ari answered the call with a yawn. “Man-shik?” she asked in disbelief.
“Ari,” Man-shik greeted with a small smile. “Why do you sound so surprised that I’ve called?”
“Well, the assistant director texted me saying that the extra backed out at the last minute. He asked me to take the scene off because you were already in a bad mood. I’m surprised you sound so cheery.”
Man-shik chuckled. “We’ve already finished filming the scene.”
“Oh, that’s fast,” Ari said. “I thought you would finish later on in the night. Did you find a new actor?”
“Not necessarily,” Man-shik responded. “It was a guy nearby.”
Ari’s eyes narrowed. “And that guy is an actor, right?”
“No, he was a beggar,” Man-shik chimed.
“What?” Ari exclaimed. “Director! Why did you let a non-actor, much less a beggar, on the scene that I crafted for Daniel’s character development? I told you this scene is essential, right?”
“I know. I know,” Man-shik said in a dismissive tone. “But we’ve found a hidden gem! The construction guy was quite the actor. You will see tomorrow.”
Ari pursed her lips. She wanted to argue further; however, she also knew that Man-shik PD was a genius in this field. With that, she settled with a question instead.
“So, what was his name?”
Man-shik was silent for a moment. Then, his smile quickly dropped.
“He never told me his name!”
***
“Live an ordinary life,” Zeno muttered.
They were still on the bus, with Doha passed out by his side. So, Zeno took the time to study his system for this particular mission.
The Rennis of Avalis shared a collective goal. Complete the mission, no matter the cost. However, they had tailored metric systems based on the given objective.
For example, in 25’s last mission, his system had been a ‘Death Meter.’ Once it reached a hundred percent, it meant his mission was complete.
Under this were key metrics that helped him reach the hundred percent.
[1. Health Deterioration Speed – How quickly is his body breaking down?
– (+) = Severe health decline
– (-) = Peak health, could live to 100.
2. Disease Vulnerability – Is he making himself prone to fatal illnesses?
– (+) = Compromised immune system, ignores symptoms.
– (-) = Takes vitamins, goes for check-ups.]
Something like that.
His last mission should have been quick. He tried avoiding doctors, thriving under stress, and living off of chips and soda, but his parents tried their best to make him stay.
The longer they clung to his life, the longer his mission dragged on. And if you ask him if he could have just killed himself, the answer was no. There was a singular instruction from his system that death should be from natural causes.
Another example was his aforementioned drunkard mission. His success depended on his ‘Sober Meter’ and ‘House Meter.’ It sounded simple enough, right? Except the system had a twisted sense of logic. Buying a house wasn’t enough; he had to build one from scratch.
And now this—live an ordinary life.
25 wasn’t a stranger to vague missions, but this one took the cake. What does it mean to be ordinary?
[Unawakened Meter. Needs self-discovery.]
Zeno shook his head. It seemed that he had yet to find out what it truly meant. This was another disadvantage of spawning in the middle of someone’s life. The Ascendants made you work harder since you would not have to suffer the life of a sentient baby.
However, there was something new to his system—a talent window. Well, a lack thereof.
[TALENTS]
None.
(Former: Sniping)