Mistress Of The Evil Forest

■-■ 1: N■■e■■’s resolve.

clack—! clack—! clack—! clack—!

clack—! clack—! clack—! clack—!

In a dark, closed room, aggressive clicks of a mechanical keyboard can be heard. Sitting in front of the triple monitor setup is a gloomy-looking young woman who seems to be fully absorbed in the code lines on the screen.

She loves mechanical keyboards, especially when gaming. They give satisfying clicks; the keys have a nice long travel distance, not to mention their customizability. They are just phenomenal products if one buys the right ones, even when coding like this.

''Phew...''

She lets out a deep sigh, turning her head to look at the ceiling blankly. It has been too long since she gamed. 

''Should I just...''

She shakes her head. Now is not the time for that kind of thing. Browsing the web while her code is running, the woman stumbles upon numerous recruitment ads from the military. Looking at them, she falls into deep thoughts.

''Master, you should take a break.''

Suddenly, a female voice sounds behind her, together with a cup of water being placed on the table. Turning around, she sees her maid standing there with a gloomy face—not as gloomy as herself, but to be fair, 'native' gloominess will always win.

''..It's fine. Just, prepare for me something to eat.''

The maid ponders a bit before replying. ''Understood.''

As the maid leaves the room, the woman turns her gaze back to the monitors. It's time to continue her job. So she keeps typing like that for another hour or so before she notices someone else's presence in the room. More accurately, this person purposely let her know their presence.

''Still on work?''

From nowhere, a comfortable-looking chair appears some distance away from her. When the person flops down, she can see vaguely with the light from the monitors that he has shoulder-length black hair and a pair of black eyes.

''...''

She has only heard about this person before, but to think that he is right in front of her...

''Am I interesting enough for you to pay a visit?'' She asks the man.

''Certainly enough to attract the attention of those two.'' He replies. ''As for me... Who knows?''

''Hah... If you're here, mind helping me out for a bit?''

''You know I don't interfere.''

''Then why are you protecting Earth?''

''It is a neutral zone. A bubble separated from the rest.''

''...Didn't you let that pink-haired into Earth?''

''She formed a contract with me... Okay, well.'' The man sighs. ''It is true I allowed that because I found her antics interesting.''

''That crazy woman...''

''Let's do it like this instead. I shall give you an hour to game.''

''Oooh...!''

The woman immediately celebrates, wobbling her body on the chair.

''Single-player or multiplayer, do whatever.'' 

The man snaps his finger lightly, and time itself stops. The cup of water, whose content was rocking back and forth due to the woman's celebration, is frozen in place. The RGB lighting around her setup has also stopped fluctuating.

Only her computer is running normally.

Seeing the woman so excitedly setting up two of her monitors for gaming, the man just shrugs lightly. Then, the woman suddenly pulls out another set of keyboards and mice from the drawer nearby, plugs them into the case, and places them down near the man. 

''C'mon, play with me.'' She says.

She can now play video games with the mightiest existence in the universe. This opportunity truly comes once in a lifetime.

The man is a bit surprised by her boldness, but he rather likes it.

''Sure. Which game?''

''FPS. My computer has a split mode.''

''Why FPS specifically?''

''Cause I can brag about fighting with you in the future.''

''I see. Good one.''

So the woman quickly boots up a popular first-person shooter title. There are still people playing this game even though the world is in this state. The woman feels somewhat surreal.

Nevertheless, the match has already started, and it is now time to reap some kills.

Being able to play games after such a long time, the woman is having a blast. Her hobby is to cyber bully people through games like this, and her skill sets allow that. 

After two matches, they switch to a more relaxing game—a farm simulator.

While playing, the woman speaks up.

''Hey, be honest with me. Do you think we have a chance in this?''

''If you are not talking about the mutation rate of the crops, then I can't answer.''

''Just tell me your opinion.''

''You have. But it is small.''

''As expected...''

''Do not worry much. You know how it always ends in this universe.''

''A happy ending, huh... If my precious people all died, then would it still be one?''

''You said it yourself. A happy ending.''

Does that mean that she would get over the loss of them in the end, or would she be able to meet them again by then? She doesn't know. One thing she knows and is sure about is if she works hard enough, she will be happy in the end.

''Fired up yet?''

She turns to the man to see his face slightly smiling.

''Of course. I won't give up anything.'' The woman replies, her eyes filled with determination.

''Good. That is what I like to see.'' The man stands up and turns around. ''Enjoy your game. I will be going now. If fate allows, we will meet again in the future.''

''Alright.''

''Good luck.''

With that, the man blinks himself out of sight entirely. Turning back to the computer, the cup is still frozen. She still has time to play games.

''...''

She closes the game window with a smile.

''Always overworking myself like this... I deserve a raise.''