Since leaving the cafe, the days had blurred into a routine of study, meetings with Quincy, Valentina, and Jake, rune experiments, exercising, recalling martial arts from my past life, and testing the limits of my mana.
During that time, I had learned more about this world in a week than most would in a year.
I had also uncovered a great deal about runes in this world.
Just as I had previously thought, I was the only one who could understand runes here.
Even if I taught someone, they would not be able to comprehend them unless I started from the very beginning of what programming was and how it translated.
I had also found other ways to decipher runes by comparing already translated ones with the old versions. The process took time, but I was able to learn basic logic and binary in runic form.
The problem was that although I had learned the basic terms, it was still not easy to use them to make codes, since codes did not work like English, where putting 'abc' together would form the word 'abc.'
In runic language, 'abc' might form a word called 'd,' and if I did not know that and wrote the symbol 'abc,' I would end up with countless bugs in the code.
However, one good thing I had done in the past week was get close to the main cast.
Contrary to what I had expected, the four of us hit it off pretty well, which only proved how much I vibed with weirdos.
I also used that opportunity to gather enough information about this world and the second awakening ceremony, since truth be told, I did not remember shit about that part in the novel.
What could I say? I read with an open mind. I could not exactly use my brainpower when reading slop, now could I?
Just like Lady Aoki had said, the government indeed sent an email to all newly awakened to meet up in the Hunter Administration Hall where they awakened.
Luckily for me, Lady Aoki had found a way to put my name on the list after I told her my situation.
Today was also my last day meeting her, since she had been training me for the past week.
Opening the door of the cafe, which I still hated the smell of, my eyes fell on the now familiar figure of Aoki standing behind the counter.
"Don't you think you're late, young man?"
I bowed my head slightly. "Sorry, sorry. I had something to do."
She let out a small smile. "Looks like you cut your hair."
"Huh? How did you know? Aren't you, well, blind?"
Aoki giggled softly. "I am blind."
I let out an exasperated sigh. "You're as strange as ever, Master."
"At least I didn't change my hair color twice."
My hands instinctively went to my hair, feeling its texture as if that would tell me its color.
After I began training with Aoki, she told me that I had a large mana capacity but wasn't utilizing it well. Unlike most people, I also had a lot of unrefined mana, which was most likely the red residual energy from killing the viruses.
We did a lot of mana training together, and after a great deal of effort, I was able to break down the red mana into blue.
Because of this change, my eyes turned from golden to sapphire, while my red hair turned black with light sapphire underneath. My face somehow became more handsome, and my height increased too.
"Since we have finished converting your mana, and I've taught you how to control it, do you think there is anything else you need to learn?"
"No… at least not until I get my unique skill this evening."
"Oh, that's today, right?"
"You should really keep track of time, Master."
I took the tea tray from her hands and placed it on the same window-side table where we had sat when we first came.
"Did you think about what I told you?" Aoki asked, sipping from her usual bitter tea.
When I first tried it, I absolutely hated the tea and did not even want to taste it. Because of her, I drank it again and again until I got used to it.
It wasn't like she didn't have other tea types. She probably wanted to use it to teach me something.
"Yeah, I thought about it."
She had asked me last week to quit my dream of being awakened.
I knew what she said was for my own good, but I did not even like the idea of coming to a world with powers and not being able to use them.
She said I could become a researcher with my brains or help her in the coffee shop. However, if I decided to go, I would face more dangers than anyone else in the world, since I would end up being the person Jake, the hero chosen by the world, would trust the most.
Trust wasn't a bad thing, but when someone trusted a person too much, they ended up placing a lot of responsibility and burden on them.
That burden might seem manageable at first, but as more was piled on, I would get used to it and end up swept away in a war I wasn't meant to fight.
I stared at the bitter black tea that rippled with each slight shake of my arm. "Honestly, I don't know what to do at this point."
I was many bad things, a playboy, an asshole, a scumbag, a criminal. One thing I wasn't was disloyal.
Now that I was close to Jake, Valentina, and Quincy, I doubted I would sit around if they got in trouble.
I had already changed the plotline where Quincy would die by Jake's hands, but there were far more problems than that in the story.
Should I mind my business and live a good life, researching runes and finding a way to gain abilities without regular awakening? Or should I get involved in a plot I didn't even know the ending of?
A smile formed on my face as I stared directly at Aoki. 'Well, no matter how much shit is in the future, I can't stay in a safe zone.'
This story was the last gift I got from her, after all. If I were to just walk away, she would get mad too.
"I plan on awakening with the others."
Aoki paused for a moment, as if I had caught her off guard. "Are you sure? There is a high chance the world itself will attack you as a way to break the others."
I relaxed into the chair. "I'm sure."
The cafe went quiet as the distant huff of the wind brushed softly against the glass wall.
"Looks like it's going to rain."
"I see..."
"Master, you can't…"
Aoki caught me off before I finished. "Shut it."