Encounter

Gravius took a breather before opening his mouth again.

"You know," he leaned his forehead on the table. "A girl shouldn't just randomly enter a stranger's house and say she's here to take shelter," he lifted his head to face the girl.

Much to his dismay, she was still having an innocent look in her eyes. Their gazes met until Gravius quickly tore it away, thinking he might have stared too long. Nevertheless, the girl was still looking at him, perplexed at his reaction.

Did she come here in the middle of the night, all alone? Gravius couldn't help but wonder. He took a peek at the girl from the corner of his eyes and let out a deep sigh. After what felt like an eternity, he finally stood from his seat.

"A-Anyway, since you're here and all, just… you know… I can just offer you a room," the edges of his ears bled into a deep crimson as he headed for the vacant room and began tidying up.

Why is he doing this? Well, a gentleman can't possibly just let a lady travel all alone in the middle of the night, no?

"Hey, what's your name?"

The girl glanced at the male, unsure of what to answer. That was something she did not think of for the whole day since nobody asked. She found herself staring at nothing in particular as her mind drifted off into its world.

A light bulb went off in her head and she was snapped back to reality. Gravius wasn't looking at her, but he sure was waiting for an answer.

"Orange," said the female, causing Gravius to stop whatever he was doing and shift his focus to her. She blinked once then twice, puzzled by his reaction.

"What's that look for?"

Gravius clicked his tongue, recalling the name of a certain carbonated drink.

"Awwi."

"Huh?"

"Your name's Awwi," noticing the girl who was still confused, he elaborated his sentence. "I just named you 'Awwi', someone I know who looks similar to you."

'Someone' his head! 'It' wasn't even a person to begin with.

"'Orange' isn't your real name, right? No parents would name their child like that," he mumbled the last part, meant only for him to hear, "It's lame…"

Seriously, what was Gravius thinking?

Saying someone's name lame but proceeds to give them another name who he thought was lame too. Even the male himself didn't understand his actions, but he shrugged it off when the girl who he named 'Awwi' looked like she had been given a new life.

"Awwi..." She echoed. "I think it's a nice name."

Gravius was taken aback by her words, but he paid it no mind. After all, he was just done tidying the room and it was ready for someone to stay in. It wasn't too clean since all he did was use some magic to sweep the specks of dust away.

"Sorry about the mess, but this is the only vacant one at the moment," Gravius said bashfully, embarrassed at the fact. Awwi nodded as she walked into the room.

There wasn't much furniture, only a couch and a simple wardrobe. Though one would admit that the couch was nowhere good enough for a person to sleep on. However, do keep in mind that this is Awwi we're talking about.

She never knew the existence of a mattress, let alone seen one. With that said, sleeping on a couch wouldn't matter to Awwi. She made herself comfortable in the room in no time and gave Gravius a thumbs up, indicating she was fine.

Gravius simply nodded his head before closing the door behind him, leaving the female on her own in the room.

"She doesn't look like a local citizen."

He drew his brows together, recalling the reactions of those who had just met him for the first time.

They would freak out when they witnessed his magic with their own two eyes. After all, people in the modern days no longer possess such supernatural powers. To them, magic was just a mere myth written in fairy tales.

However, Awwi didn't even flinch.

Gravius did take a glance at her from the corner of his eyes when he used his magic earlier to see her reaction, but there was none. If his hypothesis is correct, Awwi is from another world.

"Is that even possible?" The male thought to himself, his nimble fingers already flipping the pages of a book about traveling between worlds.

…

"Haaa-" Awwi yawned as she relaxed her body on the couch.

The fact that she didn't need to sleep out tonight made her lower her guard down. Her eyelids became heavier, ready to shut her eyes completely when a screen suddenly appeared, the light forcing her eyes to open again.

It was the system, with words displayed on it similar to what Awwi saw earlier.

However, the texts were different this time. Unlike before, it was more like a question than a statement. The question mark situated at the end of the sentence caught the female's attention as she sat up straight for easier reading.

***

[Do you want to remain as a human? ( YES / NO )]

***

Awwi was no doubt bewildered by the question given.

It knew; the system knew she wasn't human before.

She went deep into her thoughts, not knowing what answer was for the best. She was indeed blessed with this opportunity to meet Gravius again and maybe get her revenge, but should she remain in this vessel which she knew nothing of?

There were only two choices given: Yes or No, and she has to pick one. The system wouldn't move onto the next message otherwise. The formal guarantees her life while the latter, well, there's no saying when she'll leave this world.

"So it's a 'live or die' question, huh."

Awwi leaned on the couch to think it through. She has more or less decided already, but it's always better to think twice before getting to a conclusion.

"Alright, I've decided," she sat up straight, her index finger hovering over the screen.

***

[You have selected 'Yes'. Are you sure you want to continue?]

[Back / Continue]

***

"Geez, why does it have to ask so many questions?"

Of course, she picked the latter. She's already come this far, she can't just back out now, right?

The texts disappeared and another message popped out.

***

[What is your goal?]

***

That was the question Awwi wanted to ask herself. What was her goal in maintaining a human life? To get revenge on Gravius? To live a second chance?

She doesn't know the answer.

Fortunately for her, there was an option to skip the question and return to it later. Perhaps she should learn more about herself before deciding anything, she thought.

The next moment, the entire screen changed and this time, it looked like an actual system.

There were various tabs on the top bar, tapping on each of them brings the user to the respective sections. A digital clock was displayed on the top-right corner of the screen, alongside the date just below it.

The first tab from the left has the word [Stats] displayed on it. Out of curiosity, Awwi lightly tapped on it and a message appeared.

***

[Name: ____ ]

***

"Name? My name?"

Awwi tilted her head in confusion before digging through the depths of her memory. It did not take long for her to recall her conversation with Gravius previously. Once she entered her name into the blank space given, she was taken to yet another screen again.

***

<Name: Awwi>

<Age: ???>

<Blood Type: N/A>

<Species: N/A>

<0 pts>

<Magic: Unknown>

***

Everything was displayed clearly and accurately, except for the [Age]. It had a question mark on it, as if the data was missing or unknown to the system. Awwi's eyebrows twitched at the sight of it, quickly picking up on her current situation.

"It must be because I lived two lives that it couldn't sense my age."

She wasn't mistaken, though. It was exactly the reason.

Awwi had lived for centuries as a carbonated drink. One could say that she's almost of the same age as Gravius. However, despite currently having an appearance of a young adult, she had only just started living in this vessel not too long ago.

So how exactly should her age be counted?

Just when Awwi was about to go deep into her thoughts again, she noticed the [Quests] tab was just beside the tab she was currently in. She tapped on it without much thought, only to find something interesting.

***

[Daily quest: Sleep for 6 hours]

***

It was no doubt a task for Awwi to complete. Her very first step towards maintaining her humanity officially begins, right here, right now.

"What time is it now?"

It was 1920 as displayed on the system. She didn't know how to read it nor know how long exactly '6 hours' is.

She thought of asking for some help from Gravius but quickly shook the thought off.

"I'm here for revenge, not ask for help."

Awwi tried exploring around the system a little bit more, hoping to find something. As she scrolled down the quests page, she noticed a similarity:

Every one of them has [Turn on reminder] below it.

She hesitated but went for it anyway. 'You wouldn't know unless you try,' that's a phrase she heard from someone during her journey.

***

[The alarm will remind in 5 hours 58 minutes]

***

"I think I did it right… Did I?"

She yawned once again and this time, her eyes couldn't open anymore. Awwi decided to hit the sack and resume her 'exploration' tomorrow.