The Tower X-4th Floor

An adorable expression that contrasted the way Silver treated Arthur.

"They seem to really like Luna huh?" I said.

"Can't blame them, she's a really pretty one, she's not weak either, or maybe it's the treasure she's hiding," Arthur replied.

"Treasure?" I asked.

"Yeah, it seems better than any of the ones I've seen too, definitely not something money can buy. I've seen her use it to make barriers but who knows what it can really do.." He muttered in an analytical fashion.

"You seem a bit too interested in it.." I couldn't help but narrow my eyes, I recognized greed all too well from my time in the streets after all.

"Don't look at me like that, it's just a bit interesting that's all," he said with a chuckle.

"I hope so, at least until this mission is done, don't fuck up the team," I said nonchalantly as I went past him and sat with Luna.

"A street mutt dares to order me around? If it weren't for the mission…"

Soon after, Arthur also joined the conversation.

We talked for a while until the sun was long gone. Three perspectives of the world, one found it glowing and beautiful and free, the other found it gray with bright moments and I found it dark.

A WHILE LATER.

"I'll get some sleep now, you guys can keep talking." Arthur suddenly said before leaving.

"Good night, Corpo heir." I joked.

"Don't let the dirt scratch your skin," Luna added with a chuckle.

"Yeah yeah, you guys are funny,"

After he left, we sat in silence for a bit, Luna was looking at the stars in the night sky, and I was looking at her.

"So, what was it like growing up in Heavy Rain? The so-called worst district in New-America." Luna suddenly asked.

"It was rough, tedious, and pointless," I answered.

"Is survival pointless?"

"It is once you have nothing left to live for when you have no one to care for you and nothing to achieve," I replied.

"Hmm, you must have had a dream right?"

"I did, but the best-case scenario in Heavy Rain was death, you know the saying right?."

"You mean 'There are no good endings in this world.'?"

"Yes but that's not all of it, the full saying is 'there no happy endings in this world, no smiles in daycity, and sure as hell no fucking life in heavy rain.' That's the full one."

"…ever had a family?"

"Parents and sister died to the dragons, my friends too," I answered.

"Sorry about that, let's change the subject then."

"Sure. What about you, did you have a dream?"

" I did, I wanted to be an actress." She replied with a smile.

I just sat there frozen looking at her smile.

"What is it? Am I boring you?" she asked.

"No, I think I just saw on the big screen…"

The night quickly faded away after that. And we ended up talking till dawn.

I woke up midway through the day after only sleeping at dawn.

[Mission [Survive] will start when the countdown reaches 0 :[ 4:05:29]]

"Status."

NAME: John Crane

LEVEL: 72

RACE: Human(#9998)

GIFT: [Transcendant].

CURSE:

[The Immortal]

[Shadow-Wolf Summoner]

STATS: Physique-109, Mana-110, Spirit-73

STAT-POINTS: 50

CLASS: [Curse Master]

SKILLS:[Enhancement(S-rank)],[Projection(S-rank)],[Pain Tolerance(SS-rank],[Cold Heart(SS-rank)], [Curse Absorption.]

[SHOP](Open)

"Distribute 20 points to Physique, 20 Points to Mana, 10 to Spirit."

Instantly the stats assimilated with my body.

"What is that light over there" I thought to myself as I noticed a tiny light in the far-off distance, coming from above one of the roofs.

I dashed towards the light and found a strange scene. Arthur had fallen asleep with his sniper rifle aimed towards the campfire.

"He was aiming at us…?"

I kicked his side to wake him up.

"Huh? Oh, John, I must have fallen asleep accidentally. Is the mission close?" He snapped out of it as his eyes booted up.

"There's still 4 hours, what were you doing posted up here? I thought you went to get some sleep."

"I did but I was bored so I started checking vantage points to follow and a good place to shoot from. Why knows what enemies are coming next after all."

"True… I'll be at the campfire then."

I left and returned to the campfire where Luna was, she looked to be doing something.

"What are you up to?"

She had a small rectangular thing in her hands connected to her personal link.

"Just listening to some music, it helps out when I'm stressed."

"You're using an Old-World-era device, huh?"

"It's called a Music-Pod, it stores music so you can listen to it anywhere, perfect for dungeons and the tower since you don't need reception for it to work."

"True, what are you listening to?"

All of a sudden I was trying to socialize, I must admit even I found it strange.

"Jack in and find out."

"Chrome."

[Mission [Survive] will start when the countdown reaches 0 :[ 3:20:29]]

I plugged in my personal link and instantly a scene formed in my head along with a song.

"I know this one, my sister used to listen to it a while ago."

"Sing along then, I couldn't wait for you to come and clear the cupboard~"

"I guess I'm doing this now. But now you're gone and leaving nothing but a sign~"

"Another evening I'll be sitting reading between your lines~"

"Because I miss you all the time~"

Gravity, a truly mysterious force that held the world together with its invisible grasp had somehow chosen me as its target.

That very force was pulling her lips towards mine and my own lips drifted forward, the feeling of everything just being perfect was inexplicable, as if everything just made sense. Maybe that was the reality of romance after the Calamity, especially among hunters. Quick, and short.

"You guys look like you're having fun!" Arthur suddenly cut in.

"…."

"..."

"What?" He asked.

…