Another World Mall

Michael looked up, staring at the sky. Even though the sky was clear blue, it felt like a dark cloud was covering the entire sky.

Ever since that day, he had lost the ability to smile. Only after Clovis was born did his smile return to a certain extent. However, the darkness in his heart still clouded his eyes.

In addition, what he was about to do now might violate what his wife had asked him. It would have been good if Carrick hadn't even bothered with Clovis in the first place. But the other party must have been so worried about Clovis' progress that he chose to kill him before he could grow.

Even if Michael didn't tell Clovis anything, Clovis might find out about it sooner or later.

Rather than let someone else tell the truth, Michael chose to bear that sin. At the very least, Clovis would be much happier to know it directly from his grandfather.

Michael let out a long sigh. "You already know our Hacfield family is targeted by a lot of people, right?"

"Well, it's the same for other big families. They must have a reason to come for us, whether it's for fame, money, or revenge."

Michael smiled bitterly. He patted Clovis' shoulder while saying, "I guess I should tell you everything. This is the beginning of everything."

Clovis' eyes were wide open. Whenever he asked about his grandma, Michael had always dodged the topic. This was probably the first time he had chosen to speak up.

…

49 years ago.

"This is annoying. Get the hell out of here!" The 23-year-old Michael punched a beast and blasted the entire body. The flesh and blood splattered everything due to the sheer impact. "Hmph. Weakling!"

"Oi, Michael! Watch out." A man younger than him by five years shouted from the distance, noticing the incoming beast.

"Heh. I know that already." Michael smirked, readying his fist.

However, a knife suddenly flew into the eye of that beast. Then, a woman latched onto the beast and grabbed the handle before cutting the beast with the knife.

The beast fell down to the ground as the sudden deceleration pushed her forward. Still, she spun a few times in the air and landed smoothly on both feet.

"!!!" Michael raised his eyebrows. "What are you doing, Lily?! That's my prey! Besides, why the fuck are you here?"

Lily chuckled. "As expected, you are always overreacting. Your expression is very cute."

"What did you say? Me cute?" Michael gritted his teeth.

"Stop it, Michael!" Kayne, the man who was later known as Berserker, stopped him.

"Shut it. I'm going to beat you up if you stop me, Kayne."

"How can you call yourself a man?" Kayne glared at him.

"I'm treating everyone as equal, whether you are a man or a woman." Michael snorted.

"In that case, let me see whether you have improved or not." Kayne stood in front of Michael, blocking his path to Lily.

"Oh, Miss Lily. You are here! Are you done with that side?" The young man who had warned Michael earlier approached them.

"Matt!" Lily waved her hand. "Still taking care of him?"

"Hahaha. I should be the one asking you that question. Even though we are from different groups, you are still coming here. Thanks as always." Matt waved his hand.

"I don't need people to take care of me!" Michael gritted his teeth. "Matt, you bastard. Whose side are you on right now?"

"Eh? But Miss Lily has helped us a lot." Matt rolled his eyes.

"That's right, that's right. You should stop, Michael. Do you know that people who have anger issues are not popular?" Lily smirked, teasing Michael.

"Who cares? Whether I will become popular or not, it's up to me."

"Right? You don't need to be popular." Lily's smirk turned into a genuine smile as though she was fine with Michael staying that way.

'Ah, this…' Matt scratched the back of his head. 'That smile of hers… She's clearly interested in Michael. You don't need to be popular? That's just because you want him for yourself, isn't it?

'Because of the beasts, humanity has lost 80% of its population, so the government doesn't have any policy regarding marriage anymore. They just want the people to give birth as much as possible, not only for the economy but also for the potential fighters in the future. More and more people are going to die because of the beasts after all.

'Though, I don't even know why this brute, Michael, is able to capture such a beautiful woman's heart…' Matt shook his head helplessly.

Lily was the country's top beauty. With that beautiful face, coupled with that well-endowed body, she could become a model at any time.

However, Lily's charm came directly from that smile of hers. She always had that smile, no matter how rough it was, making people think that everything was not over yet.

And the one who was obviously charmed by that smile was Kayne.

'My head hurts. Did that brute save the world in his previous life? To think he could get such a woman's heart…

'Back then, it was said that the world turned out to be a simulation. Maybe this is a dating simulation instead of an apocalypse simulation…'

Matt could only facepalm while shaking his head helplessly.

As Matt thought, this wasn't the only instance. Lily kept appearing from time to time.

As expected, Michael had always been angry as Lily appeared in a way that would be teasing to Michael, such as killing his target or even doing other provocative things. It was annoying to Michael, but he was the only one who thought that way. Others clearly saw it was Lily trying to get Michael's attention.

2 years had passed since that time. Because of the existence of unique abilities, Lily's growth gradually slowed down. Lily had been working tirelessly just to make sure she kept up with Michael so that she could be there again and again. But it was clear that she was bound to be left behind sooner or later.

However, it looked like her presence had been etched on Michael's heart.

For the first time in two years, Michael finally invited her. "Do you want to drink?"

All the people, including Lily, were so shocked at that time they couldn't even process the invitation for several minutes. Of all people, it was Michael who initiated the invitation.