The two exchanged breaths.
And now, they were alone in a suite at a hotel famously known as a lovers’ sanctuary.
What would happen between the two at this moment?
“Did you sleep well, Sonia?”
“Mmm…”
Amon, who had woken up early and finished his shower, asked Sonia, who was rubbing her eyes.
Unlike Amon, who was used to waking up early due to his morning prayers, Sonia was not a morning person.
The sunlight bathed her, illuminating her sleepy face and messy hair like a spotlight.
It was the morning after they had become a couple.
Sonia wore a cute animal pajama set.
It wasn’t a misunderstanding; it was literally an animal pajama set.
It wasn’t lingerie, a swimsuit, or something that easily fell off after one wear.
It was a cozy, comfortable pajama with no other functions or implications.
Despite the two of them being alone in a room as a couple, nothing happened between them.
There were several reasons for that.
First, they were both devout believers who valued premarital chastity.
But it wasn’t just for religious reasons.
In the unlikely event that they had a child, they didn’t feel confident in their ability to care for it.
They had no parents, no support, no wealth, and no home.
An unplanned pregnancy could throw their lives into chaos.
Moreover, both had memories of being abandoned by their parents and the pain that came with it.
Because they had been hurt, they wanted to do better for their child.
Thus, they had no choice but to be cautious.
‘At least we should have a safe home and stable income.’
Until then, they both had to wait.
But it didn’t bother them much.
They were still young, and it hadn’t even been a few months since they became adults.
There was no need to rush.
It wasn’t like that was the only way to confirm their love!
Sonia said this as she pulled out her cute pajamas.
And so, they welcomed the morning peacefully.
However, the morning they greeted was a bit different from usual.
For the two who had become lovers, everything was breathtakingly beautiful.
The morning sunlight at the resort, which they greeted for the second time, the ordinary breakfast, the view of the pool that was no different from yesterday.
Everything was fresh and enjoyable.
Unlike the day before, they played joyfully in the pool as real lovers.
A romantic atmosphere flowed between them.
The sight of the handsome man and the beautiful woman, truly happy, drew everyone’s attention.
Before they knew it, they had become the stars of the pool.
Influencers vacationing at the resort captured the scene of the couple and shared it on social media.
And their image was picked up by an AI image search at a large corporation.
***
[Target located.]
At the headquarters of the Hexen Group, the corporate executive who had introduced himself as a manager at an orphanage received the report in his office.
In one hand, he held a cigar, and with the other, he was groping a woman dressed in fancy clothes.
He stopped his groping and gestured for her to leave the office.
The polite man who had visited the orphanage was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, an arrogant man sat in his place.
The conceited manager put out his cigar, grumbling, “Those damn religious fanatics. They hide them well.”
He threw the burnt-out cigarette into the trash can and arrogantly crossed his legs, responding in his mind to the report.
“Prepare the special task force.”
But there’s the risk of clashing with the Holy Knights…
“I’ll handle it. Just move quickly.”
Aye!
The communication was cut off.
As soon as the line went dead, the executive called the prostitute back into the room.
Groping her triple-layered silicone-fat-latex-enhanced chest, designed to satisfy his lust, the executive muttered, “Soon, the Secret Wish will be…”
The prostitute pretended not to hear his muttering.
She knew all too well that was the way to survive in this world.
***
The darkness of the city ran deep.
The joyful time at the Blue Moon Resort came to an end after just two days.
For an impromptu trip, it was an incredibly enjoyable experience.
The fact that it was funded by someone else’s money only added to the pleasure.
They had played so much that as soon as they got into the car, they both passed out.
Sonia leaned on Amon’s broad shoulder and fell asleep.
The height was so perfect that she thought to herself that they were truly meant to be.
Amon, too, fell into a deep sleep, inhaling the lilac scent from the top of Sonia’s head.
Amid the gentle swaying of the car, Amon dreamed of his past life for the first time in a while.
Although calling it a dream of a past life, it was just a dream of him finishing work, booting up his computer, and playing a game.
‘Today, I’m going to play Punk City 3,’
In the dream, it was the day to play the third game in the series.
Why?
He didn’t know.
It was just the day to play the third one.
He clicked on the icon on the far right of the three Punk City icons lined up on his desktop.
After the familiar company logo passed,<This is a work of fiction…>
The usual legal disclaimers meant to avoid lawsuits appeared.
Once the familiar main screen came up, Amon clicked “Continue.”
‘Where did I leave off last time?’
Having juggled multiple characters and series in whatever order he pleased, Amon often found himself confused about where he left off.
Finally, the loading finished, and urgent music played.
The scenery passed by quickly.
Amon’s character was in a car.
“Car?”
There was only one scene in Punk City where a car sped off in a hurry.
Amon instinctively turned to the right.
A one-eyed figure, fully armed with assassin-grade cyberware and magic tattoos, was riding a motorcycle, glaring at Amon with glowing red LED eyes.
‘As expected.’
It was a chase scene.
From the third game, early on, the protagonist runs away from a corporation after stealing a valuable item.
If Amon’s memory was correct, the next scene involved the ninja’s left arm opening with a whirring sound, firing a steel bullet.
And, as expected, the one-eyed figure on the screen pointed his left arm at Amon, the arm’s panel opening, and…
‘Huh?’
An ultrasonic gun came out.
“Get down!!!”
Amon reflexively ducked at the priest’s shout that followed immediately after.
He didn’t forget to protect Sonia’s head.
Just as he ducked, crash! The car window shattered.
Feeling the glass shards rain down on him, Amon realized this wasn’t just a game or a dream.
“Why the hell is there a ninja all of a sudden?!”
Sonia woke up to Amon’s scream of frustration.
Seeing the shattered car window and the ninjas riding alongside the car, there was no need for further explanation.
She immediately regained her composure and looked for her gun.
“Oh, right. The trunk…”
The problem was that her gun was in the trunk.
The same went for Amon, leaving both of them unarmed.
Amon, still ducking, shouted toward the priest.
“Father, do something!!”
In response to Amon’s plea, the priest replied frantically.
“I’m an exorcist! I can deal with ghosts, but not people!!”
“Then what’s with that left arm?!”
“I can’t use this here! It’d be disastrous!”
Probably something like sealing away a demon.
If he wasn’t going to use it even in a life-threatening situation, there must’ve been a reason, so Amon stopped asking about the arm.
But he hadn’t lost hope in the priest just yet.
“What about the paladins?!”
“They’ve already done their part, which is why we only have this few pursuers!”
“Then, can’t you at least take off your glasses or open your eyes wider?!”
“Are you mocking me for having small eyes in this situation?!”
Guess not.
The squinting priest just had small eyes.
With that conversation ending, Amon gave up on hoping the priest would be of any help.
It was time for Amon to take matters into his own hands.
Before acting, Amon asked the priest one last question.
“Father! Whose car is this?!”
“It’s mine, but why-“
Before the priest could finish speaking, Amon kicked the door open and shouted.
“File a workers’ comp claim with the Vatican!!”
The ninja, who was about to overtake the car, went flying as the door suddenly opened.
As a result, the priest’s car lost its door.
Watching the detached door fade into the distance through the rearview mirror, the priest cried out in despair.
“No! I haven’t even finished paying off the installments yet!!”
Ignoring the priest’s cries, Amon wrapped a seatbelt tightly around his hand.
Before leaning out of the car, he shouted to the priest.
“Open the trunk!”
Pushing his grief for the door aside, the priest opened the trunk.
Amon tugged hard on the seatbelt to secure himself, then dangerously leaned out of the car.
While the seatbelt wrapped around his right arm kept him in place, Amon opened the trunk of the moving car.
With only the strength of his left arm, he pulled out a case.
Dragging the case slightly on the road, he made his way back into the backseat.
He took out Sonia’s weapon and his own from the trunk.
Sonia wielded a semi-automatic rifle, while Amon had a collapsible tri-fold knife.
Both were second-hand, and neither was of great quality.
But they were confident.
As she pulled back the bolt, Sonia asked Amon.
“Left or right?”
“From my perspective, the left.”
“Then I’ll take the right.”
As the priest had mentioned earlier, thanks to the paladins, there were only three pursuers.
Since Amon had just sent one flying with the car door, only two remained.
The priest, seeing the two of them prepare for combat, tried to dissuade them.
“It’s too dangerous! They’re corporate ninjas! Not just any mercenaries!”
“We know. They’re from Hexen Group, right?”
The priest was about to ask how Amon knew, but he stopped.
Honestly, in this context, there was no one else who would send ninjas other than Hexen Group.
It was so obvious it wasn’t even worth calling it a deduction.
With that response, Amon leaned out of the car again.
He wedged the knife between his fingers and analyzed the current situation.
Right now, Amon was being chased by Hexen Group.
Their goal was to capture him.
If their objective had been to kill, the left arm attack would’ve been a grenade or rocket, not an ultrasonic blast.
‘Lucky me.’
“I can do it under these conditions.”
Of course, no matter how talented Amon and Sonia were, defeating a Hexen ninja, covered head-to-toe in a major corporation’s latest weaponry and money, was impossible.
However, escaping from them wasn’t impossible.
Amon extended his arm holding the sword far behind him.
Then, like skipping a stone, he threw the sword horizontally.
Whizz!
With a sound that seemed impossible for a sword to make, the ninja’s bike exploded.
Of course, even with the bike blown up, the ninja was unscathed.
The corporate-financed creation, wrapped in special alloys instead of mere proteins, wasn’t even scratched by the explosion.
But, no matter how exceptional a ninja might be, chasing a car at full speed on foot was impossible.
If they could, they wouldn’t have shown up riding a bike in the first place.
The ninja, left stranded in the middle of the highway, could only stare blankly at the car of the bride moving farther away.
When Amon returned to the back seat, Sonia, who had been leaning out of the window, pulled herself back in.
The tire of the ninja’s bike on her side, which she had been in charge of, was also blown out, making further pursuit impossible.
“Good job, Sonia.”
Since the door on Sonia’s side hadn’t been torn off, her chest pressed awkwardly against the narrow window frame as she climbed back in.
Amon quickly etched that image into his mind and praised her.
“You’re amazing, as always.”
It was a compliment on both her marksmanship and her size.
However, since either way was flattering to Sonia, she responded with a smile.
After shaking off the ninjas, leaving their cleanup to the Paladins, they continued their journey.
One door was ripped off, all the windows were shattered, and there were scratches and sword marks all over, but the car still drove fine.
However, the priest driving the car couldn’t have felt more conflicted.
“My installment payments…”
Though exorcists made decent money, it wasn’t enough to justify turning a car, bought on installment, into a scrap heap in just a month.
As the priest was seriously contemplating whether to file an insurance claim with the Vatican while driving his almost-certain-to-be-scrapped car, he overheard a conversation between Amon and Sonia from the back seat.
Sonia, putting her gun back into its case, looked at Amon’s empty case with sad eyes.
“Aren’t you upset?”
Although it was second-hand, it was still quite an expensive sword.
Amon had spent all his allowance for several years on it.
But Amon didn’t seem to mind at all.
“Money’s important, but life is more important.”
It wasn’t an empty statement; he genuinely believed it.
‘There’s no saving points, after all.’
If the sword he had brought had been the one his fencing master gave him as a graduation gift, Amon would have hesitated.
But the one he brought this time was just a foldable sword for convenience, so he threw it without hesitation.
That wasn’t the only reason.
“And besides, you’re more important.”
“Amon…!”
Now that they were dating, Amon had no reservations about saying cheesy things, and Sonia blushed while the priest’s eyebrow twitched.
With Amon’s line, the back seat was filled with a pink atmosphere.
Already upset about his car being reduced to a wreck, the priest found the couple insufferable.
At that moment, Sonia turned to the priest and said:
“Um, Father, would it be possible for you to buy Amon a new sword?”
That comment finally snapped the priest’s already fragile sanity.
“Sonia.”
“Yes?”
“Do you have no shame?”