Character Creation Part 2

"… shua… Joshua…. Joshua, better wake up already. You'll be late for school."

Hearing her soothing voice the boy, Joshua, opened his sleepy eyes.

In front of him, a girl wearing an apron was holding a ladle. With her hands on her hips, she was looking down at him.

"… After 5 minutes…"

"…. *sigh*… Make it 2…"

The girl said with a sigh and left the room immediately.

Looking at the clock beside his bed, the time was already 6:30 AM.

He immediately got up and booted his PC. He quickly checked for new emails. There, only a single unread mail was present. Reading the sender, he smiled as he clicked the message.

"…. Yes!!!"

After reading the mail, he couldn't help but let out a loud voice.

A voice claiming 'Be quiet!' could be heard from below.

Joshua quickly changed into his school uniform. Then, he suddenly remembered something.

He immediately ran down towards the kitchen, there, the woman earlier was carefully watching over a boiling pot.

"There are no classes today, it's the graduation ceremony! It starts at 9!!!"

The girl got surprised a little due to his loud and angry tone. Then she giggled.

"I know. I just want to go out with you first before the ceremony."

"Then why not say so earlier?"

Joshua said while slightly looking away from the girl.

"If I told you that, will you have got up?"

"That…"

"In the first place, don't you think you should thank me for cooking breakfast for you?"

"I-I can cook for myself okay! It's not like I asked for you to do it…"

"Fufu. What are you getting red for?"

"Okay, okay! I get it!"

"That's the way. Wait a little longer, I'm, almost done here."

Joshua then sat down on the nearest chair.

The girl's name was Toujou Minami. The same age as Joshua and goes to the same class. She was half Japanese and half European.

By the way, Europe almost lost its influence once when the united front of Germany and Korea initiated a war with them. Even now, they are just barely hanging on top.

As he waited, he watched the girl's silhouette as she worked away.

Her long black hair tied into a ponytail swayed left and right every time she moved.

Even while being covered with an apron, her beautiful figure was clear to see.

She was slightly thin compared to her height which is taller than average. Her skin is pale and smooth looking.

Minami suddenly glanced behind. Her blue eyes shows a sign of mischief as she grinned.

"Oh my. I didn't know you have the hobby of staring at your classmate while imagining this and that first thing in the morning. Fufufu."

Joshua frowned, rebutting "Said the one who entered here without as much as asking."

"So you're not interested huh? Here, free service."

Minami said as she slowly raised her skirt. Joshua's stare involuntarily ended up on her thighs. Not long after, he regained his bearings.

"WW-W-W-WW-WHAT… What are you doing!!!"

"Ara. You're reaction's really cute."

"STOP TEASING ME!!!"

Just a little more and he would have seen something he shouldn't have. As Minami let go of her skirt, he made a sigh of relief.

"Even though I was serious?"

"… I-I told you to stop teasing me okay?!"

"Oh, there's a weird pause in your words. What was that for?"

"Please… Stop it already…"

Joshua already felt sapped first thing in the morning, sighing deeply.

For starters, the two of them aren't in any sort of relationship. Not siblings, not cousins, not lovers. They were just stuck with each other since they were children due to their house being right next to each other.

Moments later, the two of them finished eating while talking rubbish with each other. Right after finishing, Joshua went upstairs to get his bag and wallet.

After fetching his items, he went down straight to the door where Minami was already waiting.

"Let's go!"

And as she said, the two of them exited the house and started walking towards the business district.

Electromagnetic levitation was already applied to normal land vehicles. Also, due to advanced research on Artificial Intelligence, there's 0 chance of an accident including a car occurring.

However, also due to this reason, prices of vehicles exploded and reached unreasonable levels. They even banned the use of normal land vehicles that consumes fossil fuels, or even electronic ones, leading to a decrease in traffic.

Owning a car these days is like owning a large villa on a far-off private island. Or could mean that you will need to allocate half of your wage for a lifetime to pay it off.

This led normal citizens to either walk to their destination or commute.

After walking for several long minutes, they finally reached the business district.

Several stores were visible here and there. High-rise corporate buildings stood proudly, catching the eyes of any onlooker.

"Where are we going?"

Not liking the feeling of being left in the dark, he finally asked Minami about their destination.

"You did well to ask that!"

She stopped on her feet and turned around, her arms crossed in front of her modest bosom.

"We are going there!"

She then placed one hand on her waist and pointed the other far to her back. Following her point, it was directed to one of the largest structures around. A mall.

"I knew it…"

"Well, the place you thought should be approximately correct, however, I could say that the purpose you are thinking of is 100% off the mark."

She spoke confidently as she started walking once again.

'We're just gonna buy clothes right? What else is there?'

Thinking this, Joshua quietly followed Minami's lead.

Shortly after, they arrived at their destination.

Towering a total of 8 floors and is over a hundred meters high, spanning a length of a massive 500m. It was completely a monstrous-sized mall.

If you were to visit all the stores inside, you would probably need a week. It was so large that indoor transport was implemented.

On every corner, large glass tubes were placed with a large metal-colored ball inside. The ball was made hollow. It was a form of transport that is a mix of an elevator and an escalator.

It was a form of mass driver, a type of instantaneous transportation using electromagnetic force.

The two of them entered one of those things that has the 4th floor, west wing flashing above it.

After entering and pressing the close button, the ball immediately closed.

Magnetism quickly kicked on, lifting and pushing the metal ball along the tube's path. They could only feel the slight movement of the ball.

There was no fear of the ball going upside down while on its path due to the gyroscopic support that maintains the passenger inside at an upright position.

Just a few seconds later, the ball stopped. The door then opened radially showing them the scenery of the 4th floor.

"It should be around here…"

As they walked out of the ball, they quickly wandered around.

"'There it is!"

"… Eh?"

Joshua was perplexed. He was expecting them to go to a shop selling brand clothes. However, against his expectations, they went inside a shop that specialized in only a single franchise. Games.

"What are we gonna do here?"

"Just follow me and you'll know."

The two of them entered. As soon as they did, the shelves full of merchandise welcomed them. Each shelf were displaying a holographic image portraying the cover and title of different games.

The two of them walked straight towards the counter at the far end of the shop. There, a bulky-looking man was leaning against the wall while looking at his portable terminal.

He looked like a mercenary scanning through his day's target list, really. His thick mustache matched with the scar on his cheek gives the feeling that the man was a veteran.

Noticing the two, he quickly greeted them.

"… Welcome. Ya came at the right time lil' miss. Yer package just arrived."

The man spoke with quite an accent. Franky, it was quite intimidating for Joshua. If not for Minami, he would have quickly turned around and left.

"Really! That's great! How about the other thing?"

"Hahaha! It prob'ly arrived already. Installation'll be done fer free."

"Then, here's the payment."

Minami passed a small envelope to the man. The man check the content a little then nodded.

"Pleasure doin' business with ya."

"I'm counting on you for the future."

After finishing her small conversation, the man fetched something from the back of the staff room. It was a package. The man then passed the package to Minami.

Then, Minami went close to Joshua.

"Here."

She said as she pushed the package onto him.

"This is?"

Checking the content, he was left speechless. However, before feeling joy, he felt intimidated instead.

"… What's the catch?"

Nothing is free here in this rotten world.

"… Promise me that you'll agree first…"

"Isn't the order reversed? Let me hear it first before I decide. Well, as thanks, I'll consider it with a slight bias."

Joshua closed one eye and patiently waited for Minami to speak.

"I… I wish for you to help me…"

Minami said looking forlorn. After taking a deep breath, she steeled her resolve and spoke.

"I… I want to clear this game!"

Joshua was surprised by her words.

Well, it is a fact that Minami is a game junkie just like him. But for her to want to clear this game… Joshua slowly considered.

"… Let me remind you… The whole world wants to clear this game however nobody, until now, has any clue as to how. Are you serious?"

"…"

At his question, Minami nodded deeply. In her eyes, determination could be seen.

"..."

Well, what she was requesting was actually similar to his current goals so there is no reason to refuse.

"… Okay, Let's do it."

After a few minutes of thinking, he finally decided, responding with a wide grin. The more companion he has, the better.

Then, once more, Joshua checked the package.

On the front, the planet Earth with a lit fuse attached was drawn on a black background. Above it, written in extravagant lettering, the words "World Explosion" was written. Below the planet, the large words "Online".