Robert Gwak had been thinking he was going through the worst days of his lives, which is what he had been thinking for the last ten years. However, for the first time in this week, he fell asleep with a relaxed mind.


    A small noise made him open his eyes.


    A stray cat was nearby, playing around with a beer bottle.


    He slowly sat up, grunting. He had a headache from the booze, but he was used to it by now. The good sleep was helping it feel less painful, too. He looked around. The sky was still dark, but the robot girl was gone. He let a breath out. He wanted to talk with the girl a bit more.


    He shifted his feet to stand up, stepping on a puddle beside the bench. He realized there were wet footprints on the street, staring from the puddle. A pair of feet had stepped in the water and walked somewhere. He immediately realized the footprints belonged to the robot girl.


    He stood up and slowly followed the trail, which led to an alley with no lights. It was hard to see the footsteps in the darkness, but then he realized the alley he was in looked familiar. He kept following the footprints, which ended in front of a particular dumpster he recognized. He could hear voices inside the dumpster talking.


    “Where have you been?” a very familiar voice for the man said.


    “I was close by. I apologize if I woke you up,” the female mechanical voice replied.


    A moment later, the mechanical voice said, “James, you said I should decide my how, right? My how for the journey.”


    “Yes, I did.”


    Robert was waiting for them to finish the conversation, but his small patience ran out.


    “I—”


    He knocked on the dumpster’s lid three times.


    The voices inside the dumpster stopped talking. The dumpster’s lid slowly opened, and the robot girl’s head emerged. Her eyes widened when she saw him.


    “Mister?” she muttered.


    “Follow me,” the old man said. He turned and started walking to the main street. He didn’t bother to check inside the dumpster; he already knew who the other person inside was.


    “Dad?” the familiar voice said behind him.


    Robert turned his head. James was standing in the dumpster, also surprised by the coincidence.


    “Long time no see, son,” Robert said.


    The old man led James and Chorong to the inn they had been in a few hours before. Robert walked in first. The same lady still held the counter. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw her boss for the first time this month.


    “Oh, Mr. Gwak, hello...”


    She didn’t finish her last sentence when she saw James and Chorong also walk into the inn’s lobby.


    “Give them Room 1012,” Robert said as he went upstairs through a wooden staircase next to the counter.


    The lady opened her mouth as if to say something back but then shut it again. She quietly reached for one of the keys hanging on the wall behind her and handed it to James. James quietly received the piece of metal, and then he hurried after his father. Chorong followed as well.


    When Chorong was upstairs, Robert was standing next to a door with a sign reading 1012.


    “It’s your entertainment fee, robot lady,” he said. He pulled out a key from his pocket and opened a door next to 1012. It had a sign reading Staff Only. Chorong looked inside, and it looked like a hybrid of an office and a bedroom.


    Robert walked inside and was about to close the door but then paused. He added, “That was horrible singing.”


    Chorong made a face that looked like: -_-


    Robert then added, “But...it was a good experience.”


    He motioned to close the door but then stopped again. “Oh, and James.”


    Chorong detected James tensing up.


    “...It is nice to see you.”


    “I know, Dad,” James replied, smiling.


    Robert closed the door and locked it.


    James used the key given by the counter lady to unlock the door to room 1012. He opened it, revealing a big room with two beds, closets, and nightstands.


    “Welcome to the suite,” James announced. He put the gun and the guitar inside one of the closets and jumped into the bed next to it. He threw his jacket into the closet. Chorong also dropped her backpacks into the other closet.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    James turned his body to face Chorong. “May I ask what happened with you and Dad?”


    Chorong explained what happened.


    “I see. That’s why Dad gave us the suite,” James said. “Thank you, Chorong. I really am grateful.”


    Chorong didn’t know how to reply, so she just smiled. She lay on the other bed and turned off the nightstand next to her. James also did the same. Only the moonlight that came through a gap between the curtains lit the room.


    “Oh, yeah, Chorong, what were you trying to say? When Dad knocked on the dumpster,” James asked.


    “…I think I found my how: my how of my journey,” the robot replied.


    “What is it?”


    Chorong clenched her hand into a fist in front of her chest. It was as if she was making a promise to herself. “I don’t want others to experience something called pain. I want to help those in pain so they don’t feel such a thing anymore.”


    “...”


    Chorong turned her body to face the busker. “What do you think of my how?”


    “Well, I did say only you can choose your how, but…” James smiled. “I think I chose a good employer.”


    James groaned as a ray of sunlight hit his eyes, waking him up.


    “Oh, gosh, I don’t want to stand,” he muttered.


    “Do you want help waking up?” Chorong’s voice asked. The busker realized it was coming from a close distance.


    James turned his head and found Chorong crouching beside his bed, her face really close to his. He reflexively pulled his face away from hers.


    Chorong puffed her cheeks, put the tip of each of her index fingers on each of them, and said in a high-pitched, childlike voice: “It’s morning! Wake up, or this cute Chorong will punch you!”


    James blinked. Chorong also blinked.


    The robot stood up. “My master had shown a video of Katherine doing this to wake him up.”


    James still didn’t respond. He was still in shock. His mind couldn’t comprehend that the mostly-expressionless robot and the girl who just acted cute were the same thing.


    Someone knocked on the door. Chorong opened it. Robert stood in the doorway.


    “Mr. Gwak,” Chorong greeted.


    “Good morning,” Robert replied. He was able to stand straight, indicating he wasn’t as drunk as last night.


    “What’s up, Dad?” James said.


    “I came to ask where you guys are heading.”


    James briefly explained what happened to him and Chorong and told his father they were heading to Mi-Ray. He then pulled out a map and laid it on a table where everyone could see it.


    “And to head to Mi-Ray, we will take stops at the villages and big cities so I can restock food. The next stop is here,” James said, pointing to a dot on the map labelled Yue.


    Robert scratched his chin, looking at the map. He glanced at Chorong briefly. Then, he pointed a dot very close to Yue. It was labelled Bulan.


    “I’d recommend here instead,” Robert suggested.


    “Why? It will make the route a bit longer,” James pointed out.


    “I have an adventurer friend. He’s been to Yue recently, and he told me that NURAT has been on the rise there.”


    James looked at Chorong and then back at Robert. The son nodded. “…Thanks for letting us know, Dad.”


    “Be careful on the way there. There shouldn’t be many Alphas between here and Bulan, but sightings of them in that area are becoming more and more frequent.


    “…Oh, and also, James, come with me for a moment,” Robert said. He walked out the doorway.


    James followed. Chorong was about to follow as well, but then Robert added, “It’d be nice if I could talk with you in private.”


    “Sorry, Chorong, but I think he wants to talk with me,” he said, making an apologetic smile.


    Chorong nodded. She wasn’t offended at all.


    James followed his father and went into his office.


    Robert grunted as he picked up a box from a corner and put it on his desk. Cans inside the box jingled as he placed it down.


    “Food. It will be enough for around a week or two. I also added some ammunition for your rifle, just in case.”


    “Thanks, Dad,” James said.


    “…Can I talk to you for a moment?”


    James expected this. He nodded and closed the door behind him.


    After packing up all their stuff and supplies from Robert, James and Chorong left the inn. Robert stood at the doorway of the lobby, watching them walk away. Chorong looked back and waved her hand at the old man.


    Robert smirked. He waved back. Chorong turned around to face forward.


    “Did you get to say a proper bye to your father?” she asked James.


    “I’d say so, yeah,” James answered.


    The busker and the robot left Tomorrow using an exit on the opposite side of the village from the gate they used. The exit immediately led to a forest.


    Using their digital compass and their map, they navigated through the forest. The ground was relatively flat, so the walk wasn’t too bad. They just had to be careful not to get tripped by tree roots.


    The sun went down, and the night fell. Just like how they did last time, they set up the tent and lit a fire using tree branches.


    “Starting soon, we might not be able to make a fire. We are going toward an area with more Alphas,” James said as he sat down in the tent.


    “Is it to make one right now?” Chorong asked, sitting down next to him.


    James shifted his body away from Chorong a bit. “Should be. We aren’t in that area yet.”


    Chorong stared at James. How he moved away didn’t feel like it was for giving her space. He looked…uncomfortable. He looked like he had something to say.


    “James, do you have something to say?” she asked.


    James glanced at Chorong as if he was surprised. “…Yes.” He took a deep breath and said, “Chorong, you are my boss, and I want to make something clear in our contract. Throughout this journey, if we get endangered, I will prioritize my life. I am not going to sacrifice my life in any means.”


    “Of course,” Chorong replied right away.


    “…Okay, cool,” James said, a little bit surprised by how neutral and calm she was. It was as if she had expected him to say such a thing.


    That was because she had indeed expected him to say such a thing. Back in the inn, James and Robert were about to start a private talk in the office. Chorong, with her sensitive auditory sensors, could hear their voices. She tried to adjust the sensors’ sensitivity, but the son and the father started talking before she could do so.


    Son, I don’t plan to control your life. But promise me one thing.


    What?


    Come back home alive. No matter what happens, prioritize your life. You are my son: you’re a person. She’s a robot.


    Chorong couldn’t help but feel a bit of bittersweetness. Still, she forced a smile. “James, it’s okay. I understand. I’m a robot, after all,” she said.


    And just a few hours later, James’s promise for his father would get tested.


    James held his rifle, aiming something in front of him. His hands—no, his entire body shook.


    I will prioritize my life, he remembered what he had said to Chorong. He didn’t know why he was remembering it now.


    Then, he heard a metallic crunch.


    “CHORONG!” he shouted as Chorong’s body flew across the air until it smashed into a tree with enough force to crunch the trunk’s bark. Her body then fell to the ground.


    She tried to use her hands to get back up to the ground. Then, she realized something was wrong. Electrical sparks were exploding near her left arm.


    Her left arm. It was gone. Severed just below the elbow. Electrical wires and mechanical parts swung around near the edge of the cut arm.


    In front of the busker and the robot was a beast: a giant wolf with red, glowing eyes.


    It was the duo’s first encounter with an Alpha.