Philo quickly tapped away at the glowing green laptop in her hands, her fingers blurring across the keys as a brilliant wave of emerald data cascaded downward from beneath their feet.
In the blink of an eye, the golden vault dissolved into a flash of light, and the team materialized directly inside Daisy's headquarters.
Daisy was sitting comfortably on her sofa, sipping a drink. She raised an eyebrow as they suddenly appeared out of thin air, offering a dry, unamused smirk.
"Oh. Look who finally decided to show up." She glanced at the device in Philo's hands. "Wait... did you teleport using Philo's old laptop?"
"Yep!" Philo grinned, pocketing the device. "Anyway, I'm heading out. It's been way too long since I checked on my own turf."
Before Philo could vanish, Daisy sat up straight, her expression turning serious. "Hold on, Philo. We actually need to talk about something important. I'm coming with you."
Geeli crossed her arms, stepping forward. "Count me in too. I'm free right now anyway."
Haruto groaned, rubbing his tired eyes as a massive wave of exhaustion finally hit him. "Look, can someone just tell me where Lilith's mansion is so I can go find a bed to sleep in?
You guys can deal with whatever else later—I am completely dead on my feet and need to crash right now."
Daisy shot him a flat look, shaking her head. "You expect to just go sleep over at Lilith's place with those girls?" She crossed her arms tightly. "No way. You can't just stay with women like that."
Haruto threw his hands up in disbelief, glaring at her. "Oh, come on! Toya literally lives with them too, doesn't he?!"
Daisy blinked, opening her mouth to argue, but the words instantly died in her throat. She stared at the ceiling for a second, looking awkwardly away.
"...Look, I don't know. Anyway, you're right—he shouldn't be staying over there with them either."
Haruto stared at her, completely bewildered. "Wait, what's that supposed to mean? Are you saying I'm not sleeping at Lilith's mansion tonight?"
"Nope," Daisy replied smoothly, folding her arms. "I've decided to move into that mansion myself. You, Toya, and Rutherford are going to keep staying right here in this headquarters instead."
Before Haruto could even process that absurd rule, Marena stepped forward with a deadpan expression. "Well, I want to stay with Haruto wherever he goes."
Before Marena could finish, Daisy suddenly grabbed her by the shoulder, cutting her off mid-sentence and physically dragging her toward the exit alongside Philo and Geeli.
"Oh no you don't—you are not staying here," Daisy muttered firmly, pushing Marena toward the door with the other two Founders.
She turned back one last time, pointing a stern finger at Haruto. "Just don't do anything reckless or gross while you're staying here, got it? Retro is going to be watching you guys the whole time."
The heavy steel doors slid shut with a definitive thud, sealing Haruto all alone inside the spacious headquarters.
For a brief second, the room was dead silent—until Marena's distant voice echoed faintly from outside, shouting his name through the thick walls. Then, silence swallowed the room entirely.
An abrupt, heavy wave of loneliness washed over Haruto. Standing in the middle of the massive, empty room, the sheer scale of the headquarters suddenly felt suffocating.
Letting out a tired sigh, he dragged his feet over to the sofa and collapsed onto it, staring blankly up at the ceiling.
What am I even doing here? he thought bitterly.
Ever since he had arrived in this world, he felt like an absolute idiot just drifting along, letting events pull him every which way. Sure, he had tried working on his physical strength and basic abilities, but compared to the absolute monsters around him, he was still pathetically weak.
He remembered the terrifying power scaling of this world: women like Daisy were already on the verge of hitting Level 90, while the apex beings were comfortably maxed out at Level 99. And him? He was still stuck way down at the bottom, barely scratching the surface.
Frowning in frustration to fight off the creeping boredom, Haruto summoned his personal status HUD with a flick of his wrist, staring listlessly at the glowing blue interface.
He blinked.
He rubbed his eyes and looked closer.
Right there on the screen, Seraphine's level requirement or milestone jump—which had previously been sitting stubbornly at Level 80—had suddenly shifted. Without any warning or explanation, it had jumped straight up to Level 85.
Haruto stared at the glowing digits in sheer bewilderment. Wait... how on earth did that just happen?
Haruto's eyes scanned further down the status log, and he let out an even bigger shock. Toya's profile was flashing too—his barrier to clear the Level 80 milestone had suddenly unlocked as well.
Haruto slammed his hand against the armrest of the sofa in frustration. Damn it... everyone else is breaking past their limits while I'm stuck down here looking like a total weakling. I seriously need to step up my training, or I'm never going to catch up.
ZAP—WHIRR!
Suddenly, the heavy security doors hissed open, and a sleek, floating robotic sphere glided into the room. It was Retro—Daisy's AI weapon spirit, hovering smoothly in mid-air with its optical sensors glowing a sharp, disciplinary red.
Retro spun around in place, projecting a stern holographic expression as it floated right in front of Haruto's face. "Putting your feet up on the sofa is a violation of base etiquette, Haruto. Please sit properly at once."
Haruto rolled his eyes, crossing his arms lazily as he leaned back. "Oh, chill out. What are you, my babysitter? You act more like an old granny than a tactical defense drone."
BZZT!
A sharp, high-voltage jolt of electricity suddenly surged out from Retro's chassis, zapping Haruto straight in the shoulder.
"Ouch! What was that for?!" Haruto yelped, jolting upright and rubbing his stinging arm.
"That was a mild compliance shock," Retro replied in its cold, robotic monotone. "By order of Founder Daisy, I have zero tolerance for insubordination. If you fail to abide by the household rules, I am authorized to enforce discipline immediately."
Haruto glared at the hovering sphere, rubbing his sore shoulder. "You definitely weren't acting this strict before."
Retro's optical lens flashed a soft apologetic blue. "My apologies, Haruto. However, my master gave explicit instructions. I am programmed to have zero tolerance for insubordination."
Realizing arguing with a ruthless security drone was completely pointless—and wanting to avoid another painful zap—Haruto grumbled under his breath, finally sitting up straight with proper posture. "Fine, whatever. Happy now?"
"Extremely," Retro replied cheerfully, its lens reverting to a normal standby glow.
True to its word, the next 9 hours dragged by in absolute, suffocating silence as Haruto sat rigidly on the sofa, then went to sleep in the room and then watched the clock tick. Just as he was about to lose his mind from pure boredom, a sharp knock echoed from the main entrance.
Retro's sensor blinked. "Signal verified. Opening gate."
The heavy steel doors hissed open, and Toya, Rutherford, and Marena walked into the room.
Toya offered a casual wave with a grin. "Hey, Haruto."
Rutherford gave a stoic nod, while Marena subtly flashed Haruto a reassuring signal behind Toya's back.
Haruto's face lit up with immediate relief. He jumped off the sofa, walking over to them. "Man, am I glad to see you guys! What's going on?"
Toya lowered his voice, looking around the room before stepping closer. "Keep it down. Listen, we're not staying here—we're sneaking out right now to head somewhere far away for some serious, uninterrupted training."
Haruto blinked, caught off guard. "Wait, what do you mean?"
Toya placed a hand on Haruto's shoulder, giving him a knowing look. "Sit down, let me explain the plan..."