Maids VS Apocalypse

[Time until Complete Dimensional Collapse: 13:12:56:54] 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Mark wasn’t a stranger to spending days inside so it was only after they left the PK headquarters that it dawned on him they had been underground the entire time.

The autumn sky was a cloudless blue. Seeing it like this, one can hardly believe they were two weeks away from the end of the world.

’Not that the countdown matters that much...’

Mark felt it was pointless. After all, the monsters from the Underworld could cause it to decrease faster by ripping the Dimensional Border, and at the same time, the Peace Keepers would repair it, adding more time to the counter.

That made the whole thing seem like a tug of war that could end at any moment, with the countdown being nothing more than a representation of the time they have if no one were to attempt to speed up or slow down the process.

’Well, this is a little disappointing...’

Despite being a certified war machine, the truck Natalie gave them was a bit too quiet. Mark found the lack of engine sounds a bit underwhelming, even though he concluded that it was made this way to avoid attracting monsters.

After getting used to the vehicle there wasn’t much for him to do. On either side of the road, the entire landscape was nothing but the post-war wasteland with nothing but the red sand dyed with the blood that was spilled during the Great World War.

Nothing to see besides the occasional crater that has yet to be filled even after two decades.

Lara seemed to disagree as she kept looking outside the window this entire time, or so he hoped. Unfortunately, he was well aware of her foul mood and the reason behind it.

The maid was angry at him for what he did to the boy named Ron. Unbeknownst to him, Mark had accidentally released something called Soul Pressure, which Natalie described as an Awakened flexing their Soul to show how strong they are.

The only way to defend against it is to have a high enough Mind stat, and with the kid being a kid, he wasn’t mentally prepared to have something like that directed at him.

As expected, scaring a child to the point of passing out didn’t go well with any of those present; everyone believed it was childish of him to get so worked up over a kid proposing to his maid. It wasn’t that serious, they said, but Mark thought otherwise.

The first step to getting cucked is ignoring the potential dangers lurking around. He wasn’t going to make the mistake of allowing any potential rivals to make a move on his heroine, and if anyone dared to, he would do everything in his power to crush them before they could get anywhere.

’She said our contract doesn’t allow her to be intimate with anyone besides me, but...’ Mark thought, unconsciously putting more strength into the hand grasping the steering wheel. ’I can’t let my guard down.’

[Hey kid, your Soul Pressure is leaking again.] A voice spoke in his ear. [We’re trying to keep a low profile here.]

The warning transmitted directly into his earpiece brought Mark back to the real world. He glanced beside him and realized the silver-haired maid was giving him yet another disappointed look.

"Sorry about that." He smiled wryly. "I spaced out a little."

Lara turned away from him without saying a word. Mark could only sigh and return his sight to the road.

[You really suck at this.] Came the voice again.

"I don’t need you to tell me that, Mr. Rider."

The speaker, Sergeant Ramsay, was on his motorcycle about a dozen meters ahead of them. Learning that his surname was Rider should’ve been a hilarious discovery, seeing that he was referring to him as ’motorcycle guy’ the entire time, but the awkward atmosphere that followed Mark’s little stunt didn’t allow him the chance to laugh at the coincidence.

[My bad, I almost forgot all about the forty reviews that-]

There was a sharp squeaking sound as the truck swayed on the road.

"W-what!? Why do you-"

[I was spying on you for the past two years, remember?] Said Ramsay. [I have seen... things...]

Mark didn’t know whether he should be worried about what the guy saw or furious with the PKs for violating his privacy.

"You people have no shame," Mark mumbled.

[Of course we don’t. Do you even know what would happen if someone with your psychic potential is infected with Madness?]

"No, I don’t. I only learned about all of this barely a day ago."

[Touché] There was a moment of silence before Ramsay added another thing. [Don’t worry, I made sure to leave out the details from my report. No one is interested in which hentai you jack it off to.]

The truck swayed again, and this time it almost flipped over.

[Alright, enough with the jokes. Focus on the road.]

’This guy... I will make sure I kill him next time...’

The silence lingered for a couple of hours. At one point, Lara retreated to the back of the truck and remained there. That dealt a devastating strike to Mark, making him believe she couldn’t stand being so close to him. He had ruined her first impression of him and only kept making it worse.

He had hoped that things would change after she nearly killed him, but apparently that wasn’t happening.

’Seriously, how the hell do they do it?’

While keeping his sight on the road, Mark went through some of the stories he consumed in the past.

He was trying to figure out how the protagonists of those stories managed to balance the main plot and the romance. The conclusion he arrived at after straining his mind was that one couldn’t focus on both at the same time, meaning the romance aspect would have to wait until the main plot slows down a little.

’In my case, the main plot is...’ Giving it some more thought, Mark realized he couldn’t come up with a definite answer.

At the start he thought the main plot of his story would be surviving the monster apocalypse, but since the Peace Keeper planned to take him to the Overworld that was already off the table.

’No...’ his eyes narrowed as he thought of something different. ’There is no way in hell it would be this easy...’

Mark didn’t just consume stories; he wrote some himself. That required him to learn a few things about writing stories and the most important lesson he came across was that the plot should never progresses in the way the characters plan it at the start.

With that in mind, the idea that he might never get to visit the Overworld sounded a lot more plausible than before. At least not anytime soon.

’Reaching Stonegate, retrieving my stuff, finishing Natalie’s quest, going to Hope’s End, getting Kobayashi then going to Amberwood...’ As he listed his current goals, a terrible sensation slowly crept on him. ’Yup. Something is definitely going to happen along the way.’

Trying to predict how things would go sounded futile, though just knowing there would be some plot-crucial events in the near future was of great help.

’Or maybe that damned author will pull the rug under my feet and speed through everything...’

Whether something would happen or nothing at all, Mark understood that he had no say in the matter. One thing was clear, though. As long as he doesn’t make the mistake of thinking things will continue to go according to his plans, he will always be prepared for something to happen.

’Let’s not focus on the romance for now...’

After much consideration, Mark decided to push aside the matter of his relationship with Lara. With their story having just started, he understood that he didn’t have what it takes to conquer her heart.

He also suspected that not much would change until more heroines joined them. Once his harem starts growing, he expects his cold beauty of a maid to warm up to him.

’First of all, I need to get a handle on the System...’

~[ ]~

Stonegate’s skyscrapers soon came into sight and the old city wall followed right after. Even from a distance, Mark was able to spot some of the newer breaches left behind, either by monsters escaping the city or those trying to get inside.

Since going into the city wasn’t their objective for the time being, Ramsay drove off the road and Mark followed after him. They stopped at a nearby hill where they hid their vehicles behind some rocks.

About half a mile from their position, a fissure in space floated in the air, surrounded by a web of cracks that made it appear like the smashed surface of an invisible glass wall.

In the area surrounding it, a hoard of quadrupeds roamed sluggishly. From a distance, Mark likened them to a bunch of rhinos, and though his assessment wasn’t entirely wrong, it wasn’t right either.

For starters, the creatures were roughly the size of a mammoth. They had the general characteristics of rhinos, but what was supposed to be their gray hide turned out to be solid stone. The horns jutting out of their skulls were much larger as well, each looking like a blade carved out of polished stone.

The monsters looked to be peacefully feeding on the grass in the surroundings, except the there was no grass. They were lazily munching on the hard wasteland stone, crushing them with their teeth like it’s the most normal thing in the world.

After observing them for a couple of minutes, Mark lowered the binoculars he was using and handed them to Lara. He stared at empty space for some time then turned to Ramsay who was standing on a nearby rock.

"Don’t tell me we’re supposed to kill whose things first..."