Chapter 2

"Senior… Senior…"

In a daze, it seemed as if someone was calling out to him.

"Senior… Wake up…"

The voice grew clearer, allowing him to distinctly recognize the owner of the voice.

It was a pleasant and light voice.

So, the owner of the voice must be a young girl in her prime.

Feeling the call of the voice and the shaking of his body, he knew that the other party was trying to wake him up.

However, it had to be said…

(I feel more and more like I want to have a comfortable sleep…)

The voice, more soothing than a lullaby, combined with the rhythmic and respectful shaking of his body, enveloped him in a sense of happiness that only infants could experience. His consciousness, instead of becoming clearer, sank deeper into the dream.

(Just a little… let me sleep a little more…)

Using this excuse to persuade himself, he indulged in his drowsiness.

Just before he was about to fall asleep, the shaking and the voice stopped.

(Why did it stop?)

Dissatisfaction began to well up in his heart.

It was an instinctive desire.

If it could just continue for even one more second, he would be able to continue sinking into the pleasant and soothing call.

"Chirp…!"

That's right, just like that.

Wait…

Chirp?

"Fuf…!"

Fuf?

"Fuf…! Fufu…!"

Within a few seconds of this sound reaching his ears, a "snap" was heard, and a force struck his face, waking him from his deep sleep.

"Ouch…!?"

With a cry of pain, the drowsiness finally dissipated.

A young man, holding his face, finally jumped up from the bed where he had been lying face down, and opened his eyes to look at the one who had woken him.

"Fufu!"

A rather peculiar creature came into his view.

It was a creature with a body as white as snow, pure without a trace of dirt, resembling both a fox and a puppy, making it impossible to determine its species. It was a very mysterious creature.

The creature was staring at the young man with a pair of round eyes and, maintaining the posture of a just-completed collision, leaped toward a graceful figure standing behind it.

It was a girl.

A girl around the same age as the young man, with shoulder-length pink hair, one side of her bangs covering one eye, wearing glasses, and with a face so delicate it seemed to be carved by an artist, making her heart-stirringly cute.

At that moment, the girl extended her hand to catch the mysterious creature that had leaped toward her.

"Thank you, Fufu."

The girl comforted her helpful friend.

Clearly, it was this mysterious creature named Fufu that had used its body to collide with the young man's face, waking him up.

And the one who had instructed Fufu to do so was, of course, only one person.

"Marish…"

The young man, still holding his face, looked at the girl with a resentful gaze and called out her name.

Unfortunately, the girl paid no attention to his resentment and instead responded with a serious expression.

"Good morning, Senior Rozhen."

The girl named Marish also called out the young man's name.

————"Rozhen."

This was not the young man's real name.

For some reason, people who were familiar with the young man now called him by the shortened name "Rozhen."

And the girl named Marish, clearly, was very familiar with Rozhen.

Holding Fufu, Marish looked at Rozhen, who was still holding his face with a resentful expression, and spoke as if scolding him.

"Did you stay up all night playing games again, Senior?"

Upon closer inspection, a laptop was lying on Rozhen's bed, still turned on, with the screen displaying a game interface. Additionally, Rozhen had not changed his clothes and was lying on the bed in his formal attire, indicating the state in which he had fallen asleep.

"Uh…"

The resentment on Rozhen's face instantly disappeared, replaced by an expression that seemed to spell "trouble."

This made Marish's expression become increasingly serious.

"Didn't we agree that you wouldn't stay up all night playing games, Senior?"

The eyes behind Marish's glasses emitted an increasingly intense look of reproach.

"An irregular sleep schedule is harmful to your health. If you don't get enough rest, what will you do if you get sick?"

Marish repeated the advice she had given many times before.

"Fufu!"

Fufu, as if echoing Marish's reproach, broke free from Marish's embrace, leaped onto her shoulder, and called out to Rozhen.

The call, though cute, sounded like adding insult to injury to Rozhen at that moment.

At that moment, Rozhen could only mutter.

"Anyway, I can sleep during the day, so what's the problem with using the night to play games?"

This was clearly an excuse.

"Senior."

Marish's expression tightened.

Rozhen quickly responded.

"Alright, alright! I get it!"

Rozhen raised his hands in surrender.

"Really…"

Marish sighed slightly.

If someone familiar with this pair of young people were to see this, they would know that the same scene and the same conversation almost always took place in this room.

On one side was a carefree and playful young man.

On the other side was a serious and well-behaved girl.

This pair, in the facility called "Chaldea," almost always engaged in similar conversations.

Rozhen could even guess what the kind and worried junior in front of him would say next.

It would be about two people.

The first was someone closely related to Rozhen.

"If I have time later, I'll complain to the doctor."

Marish said this with a serious expression.

Then, the serious expression on Marish's face faded, replaced by a hint of worry.

With this expression, Marish mentioned the second person.

"If the Director finds out that Senior spent the whole night playing games, they will surely be very angry, right?"

Marish spoke as if she was worried about such a scenario.

Since she mentioned that person, Rozhen understood.

"Was it the Director who sent you to wake me up and tell me to go there?"

Rozhen spoke with a tone of annoyance.

Marish, as if used to Rozhen's tone when mentioning the "Director," responded with a wry smile.

"Yes, today we need to conduct a simulation battle. The Director has been trying to contact Senior but hasn't received a response, so the Director sent me to wake you up."

Upon hearing this, Rozhen noticed that the bracelet-like communication device on his wrist was lit, indicating that someone had tried to contact him.

"I really don't want to go…"

Rozhen spoke from the heart, looking at this.

But Marish, who had anticipated this, advised him kindly.

"Senior should still participate. Otherwise, the Director will surely make you clean the entire control room, just like last time."

Hearing this, Rozhen, despite his reluctance, had no choice but to comply.

"Then let's get it over with quickly; I'm still sleepy…"

With a voice that sounded like he was barely mustering the energy, Rozhen, looking unwilling, and Marish, looking helpless, walked out of the room together.

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