For Once, I Have Hope

"You are not that bad at gaming," Rio commented. "I expected you to lose terribly but you managed to put up a fight. You still lost though."

Lex's face twitched after hearing Rio's comments.

He was tempted to go for a rematch but Lex had learned his lesson to accept defeat. After all, he didn't manage to win a single game against Rio despite playing with her for two hours.

"You are an expert compared to me." Lex pointed out.

"Of course I am. I have been playing games inside this mansion for ages. Losing to you would be embarrassing."

"Let's play a different game. I bet I can defeat you in something I have been playing since my childhood." Lex challenged.

 "Look at the time though. I would love to play more but the time is 1 am. I need to sleep. Need to maintain my beauty." Rio winked.

"Um, where am I supposed to sleep?" Lex asked.

"You can either go sleep on the sofas or find a room which has a bed in it. Honestly, I don't even remember how many rooms have beds ."

"I guess we will have to sort through the furniture at a later date."

"Mhm." Rio let her spine touch the mattress of her bed. It was clear from her face that she was starting to feel sleepy.

"I will take my leave now." Lex headed towards the door. 

He was wondering whether he would have to sleep on a sofa or not when suddenly, Rio called out to him.

"Lex, will you be there in the morning? Answer without looking back."

Lex stopped while holding the handle of the door. Perhaps it was his imagination but he caught a hint of sadness in Rio's voice.

"I am not going anywhere." He said after giving it some thought. "You can go to sleep without worrying. I will be here tomorrow as well."

"I see. You can leave now."

Without looking back, he walked out of the door. It closed behind his back as a strange clicking sound came from the other side.

[ It is a door made using some weird kind of technology. ] Elfie, who stayed silent till then, explained. [ It's made in a way that makes it impossible for anyone on the outside to open it. ] 

'That's a good thing. It would be kind of weird if she managed to trust me super easily after facing whatever problems she faced in the past regarding Allen. It's clear that they didn't end things on good terms.'

[ You are right. I have a feeling that she was looking at you when you were cooking. ] Elfie agreed.

Lex decided to put his thoughts aside for some minutes as he started searching for a room with a bed.

***

'Ha… Allen, I hope this isn't one of your tricks…' 

Rio was currently lying on her bed with a tired expression on her face. Her mind was trying to figure out whether everything she experienced throughout the day was real or not.

In the past, many people, both males and females, came to her mansion to start working as a maid or a butler.

She allowed a couple of them to stay at her house but she kept her guard up. Fortunately, it was the right decision for her. 

All of them were sent to her house by Allen. After a few hours of staying at her house, they tried to kill her by using their powers.

Left with no other choice, Rio had to kill them. She was forced to turn into a cold-blooded woman whenever killing was involved momentarily.

Rio would still get the gut-wrenching feeling when she remembered the number of people who died over the past two years.

Due to these incidents, the amount of people coming over to the mansion decreased. Redrum later killed those who came to it.

Since then, the mansion's doors remained closed for a long time. That was until Lex appeared…

'A week. I'm going to monitor him for a week before deciding what to do with him.' Rio sighed. 

She stretched on her bed before getting cozy enough to get some sleep. As she closed her eyes, a single thought entered her mind.

'For once, I have hope. Maybe things will change for the better.'

***

"Phew, finally found it." Lex sighed in relief.

After ten minutes of opening random rooms around the mansion, Lex finally found one with a bed in it. 

Except for the bed and a small desk, the entire room didn't have any other furniture. Lex placed his bag of belongings, which he picked up from the sofas in the main hall, on the desk and sat on the bed.

'Elfie, how much time is left before I awaken my powers?'

[ About thirty minutes or so. I am pouring all the gathered EE to unlock a portion of your ability. You will require more amount of EE to unlock the rest of your ability. ]

'All right. In the meantime, are you going to eat me once you have fulfilled whatever mission you have?'

[ Huh? ]

'You already know that I have read 'I Hate Systems'. Even if you are not a full-fledged system, I can't help but think that you will devour me.'

[ … ] 

Elfie was stunned after hearing Lex's thought. She couldn't figure out if he was joking or not.

Simultaneously, Lex was wondering how his life had taken a completely different turn in such a short time.

A few days back he was wondering how to raise himself out of debt and find a job and now he was working as a butler for a beautiful mistress, that too in a parallel world.

If someone asked him, Lex felt that he was stuck inside the plot of a wannabe rom-com novel with fantasy elements.

[ Honestly, I have no idea what the end goal even is. The only thing I know is that I have to help you and make sure things remain interesting and safe. ]

'Sounds like you are some kind of host and my life is being broadcasted.' 

[ Who knows? I don't know about many things myself. ]

'Truth be told, I don't completely trust you. You can guess that much by going through my thoughts and looking at my personality. I hope you don't mind it too much.'

[ Well, I trust you. I am only going to work for your welfare you know. ]

'We will find out about this in the future.'

[ Hopefully. ]

'I guess you can share the details about this world now.'

[ Well, it's not much but I found out some stuff related to abilities. Humans on Gaia can unlock their abilities during 3 particular stages. The first stage is when they turn seven years old. ]

'It happens at a particular age?'

[ Yes, it does. As I explained earlier, unlocking abilities require a certain amount of EE. Those who unlock their abilities by age seven either have a low EE requirement or their bodies produce a ton of EE early on. ]

'I see.'

[ The second stage can take place during puberty. Abilities can randomly be awakened between ages 13 to 18. By the age of 18, EE production reaches its lowest point. The last stage happens at the age of 20. After that, the EE present in the body stabilizes. ]

'Those who unlock their abilities before 20 can still generate EE inside their body?'

[ Yes, they can. Basically, EE is an energy that builds up inside the body of every living creature on Gaia. Each race uses EE to use different powers. ] 

[ Yes, it does. Every human produces EE inside their body until they turn 20. ]

'I see. How old do you think Rio is?'

[ That's a random question. My guess is mid-twenties? ]

'Mhm, same.'

That put an end to their conversation and the duo became silent.

The silence continued until…

[ Lex, are you ready? ]

'I am.' Lex nodded confidently.

[ 3… 2… 1… Its starting. Forgive me if you get any severe disease like cancer or erectile dysfunction after this. ] 

"WHAT?!"