"Why are you back?"
Lin pushed a freshly brewed cup of coffee forward, sliding it toward the girl who was staring at him without blinking.
"I missed you." Vil-V gave a light chuckle as sweet as honey, picking up the coffee and taking a shallow sip.
"..." Rationally speaking, that was the last answer Lin wanted to hear.
"But a small part of it is that I've finished touring the entire Mu continent, so it was about time to return." She added a bit of sugar to her coffee while Lin remained silent, then set the steaming cup back on the table and turned to open her ever-present briefcase. "Also, there's been some progress."
What progress?
Before Lin could even ask, Vil-V pulled out an injection gun, then from her chest... her chest?
Under Lin bizarre gaze, she extracted a vial of medicine from her deep cleavage and loaded the warm bottle—carrying her body temperature—into the injection gun.
"Don't look at me like that. This is my 'heartfelt gift,' so of course I kept it near my heart~" Vil-V made a motion with the injection gun as if piercing a heart and giggled as she drew closer to Lin.
This immediately triggered Lin alertness. He took a half-step back. "What are you doing?"
"What am I 'doing'... well, that could be many things. Why don't you inject this, and we can slowly discuss what to 'do' in the room? Don't worry, I'll just 'tease' a bit at most."
"What's in it?"
"Something that won't harm you."
Upon hearing this response, though Lin still held some suspicion, he sighed and gave in to Vil-V smile. "Make it quick."
Vil-V narrowed her eyes in satisfaction, her smile charming. "Lin, do you know what I like most about you? It's the fact that even though you're clearly worried, you still give me unconditional trust."
"...That's not what you said you liked most last time."
"Is that so? Then maybe it's because I like everything about you."
Vil-V stepped behind Lin, pulled back his collar, wiped the injection site with disinfectant, and aimed the muzzle at his neck, pulling the trigger.
Hiss——
The liquid slowly flowed from the vial into Lin body until not a drop remained.
"Alright. It will take about half an hour. Until then, let's chat for a bit about my performance experiences on the Mu continent."
Delta felt tormented.
After enduring hours of watching her own disgraceful past on video, she now had to suffer through hunger and thirst while listening to this pair of "scoundrels" act all lovey-dovey beside her.
Her gaze was resentful as she watched Lin, who listened to Vil-V year-long travelogue without uttering a single word.
"Haha, the look on that man's face when I told him he could sit at the next table and watch us eat—it was like he'd swallowed a mouthful of nails." Vil-V combed her side-hair, happily recounting the anecdotes of her journey. "But even if we really went, I wouldn't let him watch from the side."
Vil-V noticed Delta gaze at that moment. She tilted her head, a playful smile playing on her lips. "What is it? Do you have something to say?"
"No, nothing." Delta glanced at Lin. "It's just that you keep talking, but he acts like he doesn't care at all. He doesn't even respond. Don't you get tired of talking to yourself?"
Vil-V looked Delta up and down, her scrutinizing gaze making Delta extremely uncomfortable.
"Oh~ I see. You're quite dissatisfied with Lin."
"Huh?"
Vil-V rested her chin on her hand, staring smilingly at the confused Delta. "You must have very few friends, so you don't know what a conversation with positive feedback looks like."
"What does that have to do with him acting like a wooden block the whole time? Are you trying to say you're happy talking to yourself?"
"Communication comes in many forms. I am sharing my interesting experiences, not negotiating matters with Lin. Therefore, he only needs to listen to me, and at appropriate times, give me a nod, a look, or a vocal cue to let me know he's listening." Vil-V spoke eloquently. "When a person shares their own stories, whether happy or sad, they don't like others interrupting or cutting them off."
Changing her tone, Vil-V spoke to Lin with an extremely dangerous smile. "Of course, if Lin wants to 'interrupt' with his mouth, I wouldn't mind."
"..."
Lin truly couldn't stand her sudden dirty jokes sometimes.
Delta frowned slightly. "You've just convinced yourself of that, haven't you? I think he speaks far too little."
"That's because you aren't close to him. Actually, he's been speaking more and more lately. In the past, he could go an entire day without saying a single word." A hint of reminiscence flickered in Vil-V eyes as she thought back to her early encounters with Lin. "Though, it's a bit of a shame that I wasn't the one who changed him."
"...Wait, aren't you his girlfriend?" Delta caught a different scent in Vil-V words.
"Nope," Vil-V replied matter-of-factly.
Delta wore a subtle expression. She had witnessed the intimate interactions between Vil-V and Lin the entire time. While she was initially puzzled why Vil-V was always the proactive one, she never imagined the two weren't actually a couple.
Not a couple... and she can still say things like that?
"..." Lin suddenly "felt" something. He hesitantly rolled up his sleeve and pinched a section of his skin with his fingers.
Vil-V noticed Lin abnormality and smiled. "Oh? Is it starting?"
Lin pinched very hard, to the point of bruising. Delta winced just watching him, unable to understand why he had suddenly started self-harming.
"How is it?" Vil-V watched Lin with great anticipation.
The man silently released his hand and exhaled.
"Yes."
Though it was very faint—even with that much force, it was only a very, very slight sensation—there was "feeling" now. The void that had permeated his entire body was successfully dispelled the moment the medicine in his body took effect.
Even if it was just a little, he had the sensation of standing on the ground.
Even if it was just a little, he had the sensation of his soul filling his body.
Even if it was just a little, he... felt like a human being again.
In the two years since his Project Soldier Surgery, except for the sensory experiences he had within the Bubble Worlds of the Sea of Quanta, Lin had never felt this grounded satisfaction. This sensory revival allowed his brain—which had been lacking a part of its somatic information—to once again receive this vital message.
"That's wonderful." Vil-V clasped her hands together by her face, smiling happily. "So, next, would my dear like to eat first, take a bath first, or..."
Lin sat coldly by the table and pointed at the projection. "Finish watching first."
Delta: "..."