Maids VS Apocalypse

"You spoke to Kobayashi?"

Though the meaning went over his head at first, Mark soon understood what the Sergeant was referring to, and with that understanding came a swirling sensation in his stomach.

He had been trying to not think about it too much. It was time to have the conversation with his illustrator friend, which meant informing him about the maid summoning System and his role in it.

’He already saw Lara...’

Mark had yet to address the message his illustrator friend sent the other day, the one inquiring about a photo he found online. It was one of the photos people took of Lara while she was following him to the university campus. If he had mistaken her for a cosplay then all it would take is a single look up close to understand the whole story.

"Hey, focus." Ramsay snapped his fingers. "You’re keeping the details about your System a secret, remember? You need to make sure that part is clear."

"Right..."

Other than himself, only Natalie, Rebecca, and Ramsay knew that his Level 5 LRGS was based on Maids VS Apocalypse, or so he was told. It might be that either the Doctor or the Head General had told some people, but there was no point in worrying about that for now. As for Kobayashi, it was only a matter of time.

Preferably the System base would only be known by him. That ship had sailed already so Mark had no choice but to ensure the number of people in the know didn’t go beyond those four. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Thankfully the System didn’t require the updates to be published for them to work. He already took down the game and wiped most traces of it online, and once the CDC is done no one would know about it.

"I guess I should talk to him first."

"Yes," Ramsay closed his eyes and sighed. "Go talk to him."

The corners of his mouth rose slowly as Mark turned around. Only Lara noticed that he was smiling, but she didn’t care enough to mention it.

"Alright," Mark breathed in deeply. "We will now go meet the guy we came all the way here for. He’s the one who designed the appearance of your vessel so you should prepare yourself."

"Prepare myself?" Lara frowned slightly. "Why?"

"I... don’t want to talk smack behind his back, but... let’s just say he’s a little obsessed with maids."

Obsessed would be an understatement. The illustrator had made his entire presence online revolve around maids and barely drew anything that didn’t involve them. Still, that wouldn’t have been so bad if his tastes didn’t involve one of the most notorious archetypes in the weeb community: lolies.

Maids, lolies, and maid lolies. Those were the only things the illustrator known as Kobayashi cared about. One of the reasons Mark insisted on remaining Maids VS Apocalypse’s sole developer was because he knew for a fact that this friend of his would push for a loli heroine to be added to the game, age of consent be damned.

Lara might not have been his favorite but there was no way he wouldn’t lose his mind when seeing her in the flesh. Mark was worried about the kind of ideas the illustrator would get, that’s why he was prepared to take some extreme measures to ensure things don’t go south.

Lara still didn’t seem to get the idea, which forced Mark to give her a more direct warning.

"Just... try to not kick him into the ceiling, okay?"

~[ ]~

Apparently, this whole time the illustrator had been waiting in the suit right next to the one Mark woke up in. Franco and Alex were keeping watch. He was about to greet them when their expressions suddenly strained.

"Heyy... what’s going on?"

"My ass, that’s what’s going on," Franco said. He took a puff from his cigarette then blew the smoke in the youth’s way. "Who the hell thought you to use flashbangs like that?"

"... Oh..."

"Where did you get that shit anyway? You know why they’re called flashbangs? It’s because they only produce a flash! The light isn’t supposed to last more than a fraction of a second!"

The long-haired Italian was pissed. He had always been so chill that Mark didn’t know how to respond when faced with his anger.

"You messed up big time, Newbie." Alex wasn’t smiling, which was some serious bad news. "You should’ve warned us before using those things. It could’ve put all of our lives in danger."

Mark glanced at Lara and Ramsay then at the other two.

"Don’t tell me..."

"The others are fine." Franco clicked his tongue. "Be ready for a beating when the shrimp shows up."

A shiver ran down Mark’s spine. If those two were this angry then their petite squadmate would be on demon time when they next meet.

"I will say it again if you didn’t hear me. Never use that shit without warning us first, got it?"

Franco left with those words and Alex followed after him, leaving the dumbfounded Mark standing in the corridor.

"I guess some of the fault falls on me." Ramsay rubbed the back of his neck. "I should have warned you about a while back."

He had seen the item’s effects the first time it was used against Malarak. Something capable of blinding a Demon wasn’t to be underestimated.

"We should decide on a signal." Mark turned to face the door. "I’m afraid I might have to use it again soon."

He went and knocked on the door before the Sergeant could inquire about the meaning of what he said. A couple of seconds later a voice came from the other side.

"O-one moment, p-please!"

Confusion struck Mark and warped his expression. Just when he began to wonder why the voice sounded female the door cracked open. A disheveled ball of black hair peeked from the small gap. It moved left and right before rising up and facing the youth standing close by. The round glasses stuck between the strands reflected his face and the confused look he wore. They then turned to the man standing beside him and jerked up slightly.

BANG!

The door was slammed shut.

"..."

"..."

Mark turned to glance at the Sergeant but the bewildered look he gave showed that the situation was beyond him. They waited, and waited, and waited some more. Mark took out his phone -the real one- to check the time. Ten minutes passed before the door opened again.

"S-Sergeant Rider! It’s g-good to see you again!"

A young woman emerged this time. Her dark hair was gathered in a messy bun and the clothes she wore seemed two sizes bigger than her. Her round face, which had some Asian features, was slightly red. She clearly had trouble keeping eye contact and going by she paid no attention to Mark whatsoever he immediately got the idea.

"How are doing, Ms. Kobayashi?"

In the blink of an eye Ramsay transformed from the annoying piece of shit Mark had come to know to a very handsome young man with a smile that could captivate any woman’s heart. The change had been so abrupt that Mark had trouble believing his eyes.

"Please, just call me Kanna." The young woman said. "I-"

"Wait." Mark interrupted. "Your name is Kanna?"

The young woman was startled by his presence, so much so that she jumped in her place.

"Y-yes! I-I-I-"

"Kobayashi Kanna?"

"Y-yes!"

Mark’s stare brought tears to the woman’s eyes, but he couldn’t care less.

"You’re kidding, right?" He said. "Your name is Kobayashi Kanna? Your real name?"

"I-I-I-"

"And you are a woman!!?"

Fear quickly faded as the woman began to register what was being said and confusion soon took its place. It was then that she noticed the third visitor and her eyes snapped wide open.

"M-m-m-m-m-m-" A shaky finger rose to point Lara. "M-m-maid!" She went rigged, her mouth hanging open. Seconds later she gasped. "L-Lara!!?"

The silver-haired maid retained her composure despite the rude reaction and grasped the sides of her skirt, bowing her head slightly as she curtsied.

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ms. Kobayashi. I am Master Mark White’s maid, Lara Becker."

"Y-you’re r-real!!? How!!?" The woman, Kobayashi Kanna, looked up with a start as if she had just noticed. "Did you say M-Mark-" her gaze turned to the youth with brown hair. "White?"

"I’m as shocked as you are," Mark said. "I can’t believe you were using your real name this whole time."

"T-that’s... n-no way... I..."

Color drained from her face as her eyes kept darting between the three. It felt like she had seen a ghost, and considering that one of the people standing in front of her was a character she drew herself, the difference didn’t matter all that much.

The flood of info must have been too much for her. In just a few seconds, her mind seemed to snap as her eyes rolled over and her body collapsed on its own.