The next morning, Raizen was stirred from his sleep by knocking on his door.
"Master, there are two packages in front of your door," Ryo called out.
Raizen groggily opened the door. Sure enough, Ryo stood there holding two decently sized boxes.
"What did you order, Master?"
Raizen smirked. "A bunch of porn."
Ryo blinked. "Really? Can I borrow some?"
Raizen knocked him on the head. "Idiot. I'm kidding. I don't even have money. You think I'd waste it on porn? I haven't even gotten past page ten in Porn-Wub."
Ryo's eyes widened. "Wait—You read everything?!"
Raizen tilted his head, completely serious. "Why not?"
"You mean… even the weird ones? The cursed ones?!"
Raizen laughed so hard he shed a tear. "Oh, Ryo… for me, there is no such thing as bad porn."
They brought the boxes inside and sat at the table, both still half-awake. Raizen eyed the shipping labels—and paused.
The stickers showed two different logos. One from Xuē Liuyue's bar. The other, from Seo Yoori's fashion company.
Ryo's eyes widened. "W-wait. These are from those two?!"
Raizen nodded and casually explained the mess that happened the day before.
Ryo immediately panicked. "Master, it might be a bomb!"
Raizen broke into a sweat. "Wait—You think so?"
"We have to be sure! We should open it outside!, you know those women are not normal!"
⸻
Minutes later…
Raizen and Ryo stood outside in the yard, both wearing a ridiculous number of jackets, helmets made of cooking pots, and oven mitts.
They looked like poorly armored RPG characters.
Raizen picked up a stick from the ground.
He shoved it into Ryo's hand. "Here. Go poke it."
"Me?! Why me?! This was sent to you!"
Raizen scratched his head, obviously making it up. "Well, consider this… training. Character building. Nothing boosts confidence like facing a potential bomb, right?"
Ryo nodded nervously, still dumb enough to believe him.
He slowly crawled toward the box, sweat dripping from his forehead as he extended the stick—
Tap… Tap…
He gave the side of the box a gentle jab.
Suddenly—
Tick.
A sound.
Ryo's soul left his body. "IT'S A BOMB!!"
He ran behind Raizen and shoved him toward the box.
"You heard that, right?! There was a ticking sound just now!"
Raizen's smugness evaporated. "Wait, for real?!"
Now both of them were hiding behind a tree like two kids who broke a window and were waiting for it to explode.
Raizen muttered, "Okay, okay, think… Maybe we throw a rock or something?"
Ryo nodded quickly. "YES. Anything but going near that thing!"
They picked up a rock and threw it at the box.
Thunk!
The box flipped over, its flaps opening.
Both of them peeked over the tree cautiously—then froze.
Inside the box were… uniforms. Two of them. Neatly folded. Alongside a small round device.
And just then, they heard it—
Laughter.
They turned around.
A group of neighborhood kids had been watching the whole time, pointing and laughing.
Raizen muttered, "Tch… I should've stayed in hell."
Then shouted, "Scram, brats! Don't you have homework?!"
Raizen's eye twitched. "Shit… here i thought i'm back to my old self. Now I look like a goddamn idiot again."
He smacked Ryo on the back of the head. "You dumbass! You actually made me believe it was a bomb!"
Ryo whimpered, "B-but it ticked!"
Raizen sighed and knelt beside the open box. The ticking device was a small message sphere, common in this city—usually embedded into luxury goods. When activated, it played a short message or audio.
Raizen tapped it.
Click.
A digital voice played:
"Welcome to your first day, employee. Uniform has been prepared to match your size and specifications. Expect high standards and performance. Don't disappoint us."
He checked both boxes again.
One uniform bore the emblem of Xuē Liuyue's bar — a sleek, embroidered hanfu-style vest paired with black pants and gold-accented armbands.
The other was from Seo Yoori's fashion company — a tailored, all-white semi-formal set with a minimalistic silver pin bearing her logo.
Raizen raised an eyebrow. "Well, no going back now."
Ryo whistled. "You're really going to be working for both of them?"
Raizen's mouth curled into a devilish grin.
"I guess I'm in high demand."