Apartment

Akihisa led Ren into the elevator. There were only two buttons inside: up and down. Akihisa pressed the up button, and the elevator slowly ascended.

"I don't know what Chief Sasaki said to persuade you to come in here. However, I feel I still need to remind you that this job is not as easy as you think. The mortality rate of a mercenary on just one mission is already quite high. You have one year before your first mission; use this time to consider if you really want to join us."

In Ren's eyes, Akihisa seemed to be trying to drive him away. Ren knew what Akihisa said might be true. The risks as mercenaries were high.

However, as a genomancer, Ren wasn't afraid. Even if he didn't have his abilities, he wouldn't fear. The specter of death had been close to him for years, and it no longer frightened him.

"I'm fully prepared for that," Ren responded to Akihisa's words.

Akihisa shook his head at Ren's stubbornness, "It's up to you."

The elevator finally reached its destination. Ren walked out of the elevator and found himself on the ground floor of an apartment building. Peering outside, he saw three other apartment buildings adjacent to this one.

"These four apartment buildings were constructed by Zoya Group and given to us. Now each of the apartment buildings has become the residence of a different squad. This apartment building is home to all members of Squad Four," Akihisa explained.

Ren continued to follow Akihisa. They climbed to the second floor with the stairs, then to the third floor. After that, Akihisa opened apartment number 18.

"You can stay in this apartment. If you have any questions, you can ask your neighbors. I've also posted the daily schedule of Squad Four inside, so you can check it yourself. Alright, it's already night; you can rest now."

"Thank you, Captain Akihisa."

"Just call me Captain."

"Okay, Captain."

Ren then watched Akihisa leave, closing the apartment door behind him.

Afterwards, he shifted his gaze to the brightly lit living room, adorned with warm colors and comfortable furniture. In one corner, a plush sofa beckoned for relaxation, while beautiful paintings adorned the walls of the living room.

The open kitchen was connected to the living room, equipped with modern appliances and a small dining table. The kitchen here was a thousand times better than the one he had in Komorebi Kuyo.

Ren entered the bedroom and found a comfortable bed adorned with a thick, soft blanket. A large window offered a view of the Enzo City from a side he had never noticed while in Komorebi Kuyo.

Opening the wardrobe, he was surprised to see various types of clothing filling it. Of course, there was still space for Ren's personal clothes.

The bathroom was connected to the bedroom. Ren opened the bathroom door and entered, finding a clean and elegant space. No disgusting cockroaches, no unpleasant smells—only a modern shower and nice toiletries.

Ren undressed, one piece of clothing at a time. He then pressed the warm water button on the shower and turned it on, letting the warm water flow over his body.

Ren cleaned himself thoroughly. After finishing, he dried his body with a towel, put on his pajamas, and lay down, drifting off on the bed.

The next day, Ren woke up from his peaceful sleep. Once again, he continued his previous dream. However, this time, he tried to gather more information about that world. Ren then discovered that his dream world wasn't the past before the world was attacked by monsters but more like a parallel world.

There were several differences in this world's history and even in terms of naming. The city names in Japan in the dream world were different from the city names in this world. Not only that, but many other things appeared similar yet had different names.

One striking difference was about the world's history. According to the world's history, the Fuhrer in Germany was supposed to be assassinated in an attempt in 1938. Despite the war still happening, its scale wasn't too large.

In the dream world, the war basically reshaped the world order, leading the world into an East-West divide for several decades before the large Eastern country crumbled, and the Oriental nations gradually took over as the eastern axis.

Ren sighed and tried to temporarily forget things in the dream world. He then opened the refrigerator and found 1 kg of beef. He cooked it with available seasonings and ate it.

After the morning shower and putting on casual clothes, Ren went to the shooting range as per the schedule. As he entered the elevator, Ren found a girl, likely a member of Squad Four, also entering the lift with him.

"Good morning," Ren greeted.

"Good morning. Hm, a new face?" the girl asked.

Ren nodded slightly, smiling a little.

The girl turned out to be heading to the shooting range like Ren. When they arrived, about 10 members of Squad Four had gathered, each holding a pistol and trying to shoot targets from a distance.

Akihisa greeted Ren and the girl next to him.

"Ren, Nishino, you're on time. Nishino, your mastery of firearms is quite good. For today, just take Ren around and give him basic knowledge about firearms."

Nishino nodded without saying much. She then turned to Ren and said, "Come with me."

Ren followed Nishino. Nishino took Ren into a weapons warehouse. True to its name, various weapons were displayed on the walls or placed on racks.

"How much do you know about firearms?" Nishino asked plainly.

"Nothing, I know nothing about it."

"Alright, then let's start with the evolution of firearms. You might already know that the rise of firearms slowly replaced cold weapons.

However, when the monster invasion began, we found that firearms were not very effective against monsters. They have tough skin and thick flesh. Even if a weapon could penetrate the tough skin of monsters, their thick flesh would absorb the kinetic energy of the ammunition.

Moreover, most genomancers prefer cold weapons, with only a few choosing firearms as their primary weapons, like Mizuha.

Despite the decline, for us, mercenaries, firearms remain our primary weapons."