The next morning, the soft, pale light of the artificial sunrise filtered through the window, painting the room in a quiet, golden haze. Haruto stirred, his eyes slowly fluttering open.
He didn't move for a long moment, blinking as his focus settled on the chair beside his bed. Daisy was there, slumped forward, sound asleep. In the morning light, he realized she wasn't wearing her usual tactical armor; instead, she had changed into a sleek, form-fitting black uniform—likely her off-duty commander's attire. It made her look less like a soldier and more like a civilian, a side of her he hadn't seen yet.
Retro, who had been resting on the arm of her chair, rotated his metallic frame to face Haruto. His lens whirred softly. "Good morning. Shall I wake the Master?"
Haruto quickly held up a hand, whispering, "No, no! Don't."
He felt better—his internal systems were functioning again. Encouraged, Haruto tried to move. His limbs finally obeyed, but as he sat up and attempted to swing his legs over the side of the bed, his coordination failed him. He slipped, losing his balance and crashing toward the floor with a heavy thud.
Retro tilted, observing the chaos.
The noise snapped Daisy awake instantly. She jolted upright, her eyes scanning the room with military precision until they landed on Haruto, who was sprawled on the floor. She didn't panic; she stood up with a fluid, disciplined grace and walked over to him, her expression a mix of irritation and genuine concern.
"You absolute idiot," she muttered, reaching down to grab his arm and help him back up. "I told you that you'd be able to move today, not that you were fully recovered. You're still a wreck—don't try to play hero when you can barely stand."
Haruto tried to stand on his own, his legs shaking violently, but Daisy didn't give him the chance to fall again. She signaled to Retro, who chirped a quick command. Almost instantly, the door hissed open, and a sleek, automated wheelchair glided into the room, coming to a smooth halt right beside Haruto.
Daisy effortlessly guided him into the seat. "Sit. You're going to break something else if you keep trying to be a martyr."
"Take it easy," Haruto muttered, though he slumped into the chair, relieved to be off his feet.
Daisy knelt slightly to adjust the straps. "Be realistic. Your legs were shattered at a molecular level. It's going to take four to five days of intensive treatment before you can even stand properly."
Haruto paused, the frustration showing on his face. Four to five days... He leaned back and let out a long breath. "Four to five days, huh? I guess that's fine. I've still got thirty-nine days until that ship leaves."
Daisy smirked, though it was a fleeting expression. "Thirty-nine days. Plenty of time to not die."
Haruto looked up at her, eyes hopeful. "Hey, Daisy... since you're heading back out, can you just drop me off back where we started? In your car?"
Daisy stared at him as if he'd just asked for the moon. She shook her head firmly. "That wasn't a normal car, Haruto. It's a high-tier reality-warping transport equipped with Level-Jumping tech. The fuel costs alone are astronomical; it's practically a war asset. I only used it because it was a desperate emergency. I can't just 'take a drive' in that thing."
She walked over to the wall, tapped a panel, and a hidden compartment opened, revealing a standard-looking, sturdy lift. She signaled for Haruto to roll inside.
"This is the wheel chair," she explained, watching him navigate onto the platform. "It's controlled by Retro, not you. It's manual, not automated—so don't try to tinker with it."
She stepped onto the lift beside him, the metal humming as it began to descend into the depths of the base. "But don't worry. As long as you're under my watch, I'll make sure you get where you need to go. Just stay in that chair and try not to break yourself further."
Haruto leaned back, his eyes tracing the steel walls of the lift. "Where are you taking me? Don't you need the doctors' permission for this?"
Daisy didn't even glance at him, her gaze fixed on the floor numbers counting down. "This is my home, Haruto. I give the doctors permission; I don't ask for it."
The lift chimed and the doors slid open, revealing a sprawling, ultra-modern garden that looked more like a bio-dome than a backyard. Haruto gasped as he looked up. Towering above them was a ten-story fortress of glass and obsidian. On the fifth floor, two high-speed stealth helicopters sat anchored on landing pads, and on the very top floor, a massive, sleek missile was primed in a launch silo.
"Wait a second..." Haruto stammered, staring at the sheer firepower. "This is your... house?"
"My base," Daisy corrected, though she already sounded bored with the view. "But we aren't staying here. I don't get any peace in this place, and I'm not bringing you here. We're heading to my sector apartment."
Haruto frowned, looking at the display of weapons. "Why? This place is a fortress. Why go to an apartment?"
Daisy pushed his wheelchair toward a secondary transport pad, her expression tightening. "Because my home is on the city's top-secret registry. If I stay here, I'm a target for every agency looking for high-level operators. The apartment is hidden—even my own superiors don't know it exists. Only you, me, and Retro will know where it is. If we want to survive the next thirty-nine days, we need to stay out of the spotlight."
Haruto looked at her, his curiosity piqued. "Why are you so worried about attention? Does it have something to do with being a Reincarnator?"
Daisy stopped, her shadow stretching long over the garden path as she looked back at him with a cold, sharp intensity. "Exactly. Reincarnators are hunters, Haruto, but we're also the ultimate prey. The moment someone realizes what we are, the 'game' stops being a secret and starts being a slaughter. We survive by staying in the shadows—or we don't survive at all."
Haruto winced, leaning back in the chair. "I get it, I get it. Every god and reincarnator out there is hunting each other, just like you were hunting me before you changed your mind."
Daisy reached out and gave his arm a sharp, painful pinch, her eyes flashing dangerously. "If you ever say that again, I will actually kill you. We are not the same, and I am not looking for a fight right now."
"Fine, fine! Point taken," Haruto muttered, rubbing his arm.
Daisy didn't waste another second. She snapped her fingers, and the automated wheelchair emitted a soft, high-frequency hum. Before Haruto's eyes, the metallic frame liquified into a stream of nanobots, swirling through the air before snapping onto Daisy's wrist in the form of a sleek, glowing bracelet.
Haruto's jaw dropped in pure excitement. "That's amazing! Can you teach me to do that?"
Daisy just rolled her eyes and climbed onto her heavy, matte-black motorbike, which had pulled up silently beside them. "Get on. And stop asking questions."
Haruto climbed on behind with the help of her. As soon as they were settled, seamless, reinforced helmets materialized out of thin air, encasing their heads in a heads-up display that showed their route in vivid neon lines. Daisy didn't wait; she revved the engine, and the bike roared to life, blurring into a streak of black light as they tore through the city's underbelly.
The ride was a chaotic blur of speed and precision. They bypassed the high-traffic zones and security checkpoints, weaving through the urban landscape until Daisy suddenly veered off the main road, entering a nondescript, industrial elevator shaft.
The lift shot upward with terrifying velocity. When the doors finally slid open, they were at the 312th floor—a level so high that the city below looked like a mere scattering of embers. They had arrived at her secret apartment.
Daisy tapped her bracelet, and with a soft whir of nanotech, it expanded and reshaped into the sturdy wheelchair. She helped Haruto into it, her movements efficient and devoid of any lingering hostility.
"Stay here for a second," she said, disappearing into the back room.
A moment later, she re-emerged, having swapped her tactical uniform for casual clothes: a simple black shirt and red shorts. She looked startlingly normal, a far cry from the lethal Commander who had been trying to erase him yesterday. "Alright, since you're officially 'safe'—at least for now—I'll give you the grand tour."
She wheeled him into her bedroom. It was sparse, but functional. "You'll be sleeping on the floor," she stated flatly. When she saw Haruto's bewildered expression, she quickly added, "Fine, fine. I'll pull out a spare mattress."
Haruto scanned the room. It wasn't 'girly' in the way he expected; it was a strategist's den. Detailed star-maps were plastered across the walls, tactical notes were scattered on every surface, and a pristine collection of high-caliber custom guns lined the wall like trophies.
"Touch anything in here, and you lose a hand," Daisy warned, catching his eye. "Understood?"
Haruto nodded quickly, eyes wide.
She rolled him through the rest of the apartment—a compact, high-tech kitchen, a bathroom, and a sprawling balcony that offered a dizzying view of the city clouds.
As they returned to the living area, the atmosphere finally settled. Haruto looked at Daisy, his curiosity getting the better of him. "Daisy? I have to ask."
She leaned against the kitchen island, crossing her arms. "Go ahead."
"Are you... from Earth too?"
Daisy went still. The air in the room grew heavy for a second before she answered. "Every Reincarnator," she said, her voice dropping to a low, somber tone, "originally comes from Earth. That's where the cycle starts."
Daisy leaned against the kitchen counter, her expression unreadable as she stared at the floor. "I was 24 back on Earth. An engineer. I spent three years obsessing over a prototype—a machine meant to calculate the peak potential of human existence. I wanted to be the most famous, the most accomplished person in history. One night, I saw a falling star. I didn't think... I just wished to be at the top of the food chain, to never be ordinary again. Next thing I knew, I woke up here."
Haruto nodded slowly, a melancholic smile touching his lips. "It's the same for me. I was so bored with my life—everything felt like a game I had already finished. Then, I saw a star. I wished for... excitement.suddenly i woke up here and gave a trail with three goddesses. And now I'm here, holding the power of gods."
Daisy looked at him, her eyes narrowing. "You were 'chosen' by the Gods through trial. I wasn't. I was just... picked. I became the vessel for the Goddess of Technology by sheer proximity to the system's core."
"Why the difference?" Haruto asked.
"Maybe it's because you hold the power of two gods," Daisy said, her voice dropping. "You're the only one capable of these impossible level jumps. It makes you a target, but it also makes you a monster in the eyes of the system."
Haruto looked down at his own hands, opening and closing his fingers. "The problem is, this power isn't mine. I can't control it. It's like a wild beast sleeping under my skin."
Daisy's gaze suddenly locked onto his left hand, and she went rigid. She grabbed his wrist, pulling it close to her face. Haruto flinched, but she didn't let go. Her eyes were fixed on the back of his hand, where five distinct rings.
"Haruto," she whispered, her voice tinged with genuine fear. "I didn't want to ask, but I noticed these when you were unconscious in the crater. They were pulsing with blinding light right before your heartbeat stopped."
She traced the faint, glowing markings with her thumb. "These aren't part of your ability. I've never seen a signature like this in any of the databases. Where did these come from? Do you have any idea what these rings are?"
Haruto went quiet, his mind racing through the encryption filters. He stared down at his hand, feeling the phantom static of the soul-link beneath his skin. For a moment, he hesitated, weighing the consequences of breaking his usual protocol. But looking at the raw, tired honesty in Daisy's expression, he decided to just let the truth slide out.
"They're engagement rings," Haruto said softly, his voice steady. "From my five fiancées. The ones I'm supposed to marry."
Daisy froze. For a split second, the clinical calm on her face fractured, replaced by a dark, simmering irritation. She leaned forward, her jaw tightening. "This isn't the time for ridiculous jokes, Haruto. you're throwing saste comedy lines at me?"
"I'm not lying to you, Daisy. I'm telling you the absolute truth," Haruto insisted, holding her piercing gaze without flinching. "They're soul-bound to them. That's why the system threw a massive electrical discharge when I tried to force them off."
Daisy studied his face, searching for any micro-expression of deceit, but found nothing but exhausting sincerity. She rubbed her temples, trying to calculate the sheer absurdity of the data.
"Fine," Daisy muttered, her tone shifting to an analytical interrogation.
"Let's track your timeline. How long have you actually been present in this world's system?"
Haruto tilted his head, performing a quick mental calculation of his internal logs. "Well... I've been asleep in a coma under your watch for a full month now. And before that crash happened... I think I have only been in this world for about two weeks max."
"Two weeks?" Daisy's voice cracked with absolute disbelief and sudden disgust, her posture turning instantly hostile as she looked down at him.
"Are you telling me you've only been operational for less than two months, and you're already two-timing five different girls behind their backs? I don't tolerate scum who manipulate people like that."
"No, no! Wait! You've completely misread the grid!" Haruto stammered frantically, throwing his hands up in pure panic as his face flushed bright red.
"It's not like that at all! I'm not cheating on anyone!"
"Then explain it," Daisy snapped, her arms crossed, her eyes freezing over.
"They all know each other!" Haruto explained in a desperate rush, his analytical composure completely breaking down for the first time.
"They aren't strangers. They're actually incredibly close—they're basically a tight-knit team and best friends. There is no peeth-piche manipulation happening here. We all stood together, and we literally exchanged and wore these rings on the exact same day!"
Daisy just stared at him, her high-tier intelligence matrix completely short-circuiting as she tried to process the sheer mechanical and social chaos of Haruto's domestic layout.
Daisy's eyes glinted with a mix of strategic curiosity and an unexpected, competitive fire. She smirked, leaning down until she was eye-level with Haruto.
"Well then, I'm officially looking forward to meeting these five. But that's only happening if you survive these next thirty-nine days."
She grabbed the handles of his wheelchair with a firm grip, spinning him around sharply.
"Let's see if you've got any real potential beneath that ' hero' act."
She pushed him briskly into the kitchen.
Haruto looked around, confused. "What are we doing here?"
"The kitchen is just the facade," Daisy muttered. She reached over to the high-tech oven and punched in a specific three-code combination.
Clunk. Whirr.
The heavy metallic wall behind the kitchen island didn't just slide open—it rotated on a silent, pressurized axis, revealing a hidden passage. As they rolled through, Haruto's jaw dropped. It was a massive, dimly lit command center, pulsing with the soft blue light of four oversized, curved monitors displaying complex data streams, holographic weapon blueprints, and real-time sector maps.
Every wall was covered in advanced diagnostic machines, neural-link cables, and floating interface panels.
"No way..." Haruto breathed, his eyes darting from one monitor to the next. The sheer amount of information was overwhelming, his HUD struggling to process the encryption levels of the room.
"Is this... your personal lab?"
Daisy walked over to the main console, her fingers flying across a holographic keyboard with practiced ease. "This is where I map the layers' movements and calculate the probability of survival.curious? I am the reincarnation goddess of technology This is why."
She turned back to him, her expression hardening into that of a commander.
"You've been relying on blind luck and emotional spikes to survive. That ends now. I am interested in your powers so, you're going to learn how to master that 'God' powe
r using logic, not just feelings. Ready to start, or are you still feeling bored?"