"So? Aren't you going to free me?" Juliana asked again, more tame this time. That was the Juliana he remembered from the game, not whatever that screaming monster had been a moment ago.
Nick walked over to free her when a message popped up.
She groaned and began yelling more obscenities when Nick stopped, so he hid himself behind the message. Juliana was nothing like he remembered. She was supposed to be kind and caring...
Instead, she was kind of a bich.
>----------------<
"BIND!!!" A shrill voice from behind him made Nick almost jump out of his skin.
"FLUCK NO!!!"
She took one last fearful look at the system quest message before turning to run. It was nice that he saved her, but...
Nick raised his hand to ask her to stop, but before he could even speak, the rocks above the entrance collapsed, leaving both of them trapped.
Juliana pounded the rock once before lowering her hand, defeated. Turning back, she gave a nervous chuckle before saying, "Hey, let's talk about this, ok."
Nick was confused, but all he wanted to do was talk anyway. He didn't know what the system meant by binding her to him, but based on her reaction, he knew it wasn't anything pleasant.
Thinking back to the game itself, he didn't remember anything like that. The character would just summon the Valkyrie and then they'd join in battle forever.
Maybe this game world forced them to fight? So basically, the game wanted him to treat her like a battle slave...
He didn't want to do that. If she joined his squad, it should be of her own accord.
Giving his best attempt at a warm smile, Nick awkwardly waved at Juliana. "Talking sounds nice."
Juliana's scarlet hair fell to her waist, and as she approached Nick, she pulled at its ends. She stammered for a bit, trying to find the right words, but then a rumbling in the ground caused both of them to rely on each other for balance.
Juliana fell into Nick's arms as a gargantuan snake head broke through the ground. It found its prey a moment later, and as its eyes became slitted, the beast let out a low hiss.
--(C-Rank Monster: Desert Basilisk detected)--