111 An Upgrade

He learned so much during this time, especially pertaining to Puting Araw, Kamay ng Lagim, and the world of wielders in general.

On top of this, he committed to mind the layout of the entirety of the Philippines and South Korea. Including its sewage systems, underground tunnels, and everything else.

"Ahh, that was a fruitful four hours." Hayden stretched his stiff body from staying still the entire four hours.

He deactivated Divine Perception. The moment he did that, he was disoriented. He lost briefly blacked out, swerved to the side, and nearly collapsed. Good thing his sense of balance was to his rescue, allowing him to stabilize himself.

He massaged his right temple. "This is the first time I had a headache since that time… My brain went on an absolute overdrive absorbing all that information."

Hayden was extremely exhausted, mentally and physically. Right now, all he wanted was to collapse on Eun-ha's comfortable arms. And probably Sayuri's hug too.

'Oh yeah, I've got a date with her.' Hayden was reminded. He had this terrible feeling of exhaustion. 'Yeah, I got this.'

Hayden shook it off. He promised. He wouldn't dare to go back on a promise. A promise is a promise. For him, there was no backing out on a promise.

That was when a pretty youthful woman came in the room through the left doorway. She had a smooth and flawless white skin tone. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail. She wore glasses that made her look even more intelligent.

She was wearing what lab researchers would wear. A pink polo underneath a lab coat, black trousers, and black shoes. She carried four things: A set of uniform consisting of black combat fatigues, boots, and a trench coat, a mask, a smartphone, and an unassuming dagger with a jet-black blade.

"Here is your standard-issue equipment." The woman approached Hayden tranquilly. She handed him the equipment. "If you have any other requests, please go to the workshops. Also, it appears that your conjecture was right. The Voidstone you provided was hard enough to have the properties of metal, allowing it to be melted into a knife. This is valuable contribution to Pangkat Anino."

"Thank you very much." Hayden hid his exhaustion and smiled at the woman. Hayden noticed the woman's face blushed a little. She turned around and left without another word.

What were these, you ask? First, the combat fatigues trench coat, and boots. As you may have deduced, these were Hayden's uniform as White Fox. The combat fatigues and trench coat are both made of Nightsilk.

However, from what Hayden learned, Nightsilk has two additional amazing qualities. Its latent flexibility that allows it to stretch up to 50% of its size, at most, double. And its top-notch fabric properties: Waterproof. Extreme breathability. Lightness, and softness that makes you feel as if you are wearing a cloud. And its inability to crease at all, hence absurdly high drape.

The boots were made of a material termed as Dragon Leather as it came from a cognizant resembling a black dragon subdued by Pangkat Anino. With the name 'Dragon Leather,' the boots were naturally immune to fire and extreme temperatures.

Of course, it wasn't purely made of Dragon Leather. Its shoe soles were friction-inducing and makes no sound at all whenever you step on any surface, even when you run. It also wasn't squeaky at all. A supernatural paradoxical material indeed.

Moving on, the white fox mask wasn't as simple as it was on the surface. It was equipped with a Recording Crystal chip that contained ARCHIE.

On top of this, Pangkat Anino has apparently acquired Essence Technology. Hayden wasn't surprised by that.

As a result, the mask had the same neural interface as that of Jasmine's tablet and a controllable Whisperer embedded on the left temple area.

Lastly, its glass eyeholes had a built-in non-Fluxstone holographic projector for smartglass technology. This was controlled with the neural interface too.

The smartphone was an upgraded smartphone that has special access of the Knowledge Compendium Database and it was an Essence Technology one. Meaning, it can be charged by infusing it with essence energy.

Finally, the dagger. As mentioned, the dagger was a Voidstone one. Voidstone weapons might be the best weapon against wielders. This would be for when he can't use any weapon as a Puting Araw agent.

Placing the new equipment in his spare Space Ring, Hayden took off to buy ingredients for his and Sayuri's date.

In the market, Hayden was browsing through the meat aisle when he remembered something. 'Oh yeah, Aiko's birthday is tomorrow…'

Pulling out his old phone, Hayden texted Eun-ha and Sayuri. This way, he learned that they were planning a surprise party tomorrow night at their hotel suite. Hayden was reeled in to the plan.

Now, he was going to bake a cake for Aiko. And cook the food with Jin-ae. And help with decorations. And buy her a gift. Standard surprise party activities.

That's what he did for the next hour. As he gave Aiko a personal gift not long ago, Hayden bought an expensive violet cardigan. It was a simple and thoughtful gift.

Sitting on his SUV, Hayden changed into much fitting clothes for a date. A white polo underneath a black suit, black trousers, and black leather shoes. Again, he was always prepared for any situation. This suit was for an 'emergency' date.

"I never smell bad anyways." With his Divine Perception, Hayden was certain that he wasn't stinky at all. "Thank goodness for essence energy circulation always keeping me cool. And my parents for my 'no body odor' genes."

He drove to the hotel.

…..

Arriving, Hayden walked out of the elevator of the hotel suite. Cradled in his arms were Dusk and Dawn.

When he walked into the living room, there was Sayuri. She sat elegantly on the couch, wearing an extravagant one-piece red dress. A pair of white sandals engulfed her feet.

Her hair was tied up in a waterfall braid with loose curls. She had a beautiful pair of ruby dangle earrings on her earlobes. She had a beautiful bracelet enveloping her left wrist. The finisher was her red lipstick.

Her presence dwarfed the plainly dressed CHORUS members around her. Except Eun-ha. Nobody can possibly dwarf Eun-ha in Hayden's eyes. And Shu-Ching. Shu-Ching's physical beauty was too eye-catching.

Hayden gulped at the sight of her. He blinked. His heart thumped loudly. It was as if he was seeing Eun-ha for the first time again.

Putting down Dusk and Dawn, who cutely darted straight for Chung-hee and Mieko respectively, Hayden took out his phone. He messaged his mother and father to not come home for the night as he had a date.

'Yes, in the house.' He booked them a hotel room in Liwayway Hotel for the night. 'Where else can I have a date with someone this popular? It would cause an uproar in the industry…'

Eun-ha was the first to approach him. She first kissed him on the lips prior to arranging his suit. "Look who's ready for a date."

"It's still so weird. Hearing those words from my girlfriend." Hayden shook his head, grasping Eun-ha's tiny waist.

"Hey, hey, I'm not your date for the night." Eun-ha looked at Hayden in the eyes gently. An eye contact was all it took to reassure Hayden that this was okay and that she loves him. "She dressed up for you. Go."

"Yeah, okay." Hayden pecked Eun-ha on the lips one last time. Hayden slowly walked to Sayuri. 'I guess this is it… I can't plausibly resist someone that fairy-like. Nobody can. What is wrong with this universe?'

Hayden offered Sayuri his hand. Sayuri smiled at him and took it. When she stood up, she hugged Hayden tightly and kissed him on the cheek. Hayden hugged her back. He whispered in her ears. "Isn't this overkill for a date in my house?"

"A date is a date." Sayuri whispered back. "You got to dress up for the occasion."

"Fair enough." Hayden shrugged.

Meanwhile, the rest of the CHORUS members, at least those that didn't have boyfriends, experienced racing hearts. Specifically, Chung-hee, Shu-Ching, and Mieko.

As Chung-hee was the third to make a 'move' on Hayden, Eun-ha walked to the side of Chung-hee. Eun-ha leaned to her ears and mischievously spoke. "That can be you someday, Chung-hee-ya. Don't you want to be that guy's too?"

Eun-ha's words put an imagery inside Chung-hee's mind. As a result, she reddened fervently. You can figuratively see steam come out of her ears. Once more, she low key resembled a ferocious, yet cute, baby tiger.

She stormed back to her room. Eun-ha's eyes moved to Shu-Ching and Mieko. She slyly smiled at them. As the calm person that she was, Shu-Ching calmly shook her head. As for Mieko, as the 'shy type' she shook her head violently.

"Shall we?" Hayden bowed slightly and pointed Sayuri to the elevator with both his hands. Sayuri giggled. She walked forward. Hayden glanced back at CHORUS. "Please watch Dusk and Dawn in my stead. You like the two anyways. And they like you guys too."

The CHORUS responded with phrases such as 'no problem,' 'don't worry about these two little cuties,' and 'they'll be fine in our care.'

With that, the two walked to the elevator. Whilst walking, Sayuri happily got ahold of Hayden's right arm. In the elevator, Sayuri utilized her phone and privilege as a VIP to get them straight to the basement.

"You can do that?" Hayden narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah, didn't you know?" Sayuri exclaimed. "Eun-ha doesn't do this, doesn't she? She likes to tease you that way."

Hayden smiled wryly. "Guess she's mischievous by nature, huh?"

"Yeah, that's our Eun-ha." Sayuri giggled, resting her head on Hayden's arm. When the elevators opened, thankfully, there was no one. The two safely arrived at Hayden's car.

Driving out of the basement and putting the car on automatic, Sayuri immediately attacked Hayden with her aegyo. By forcefully rotating his chair and leaning on him. She tilted her head and pouted. Hayden caressed her cheek. "You're going to kiss me on the first date? We haven't even gotten to my house."

"You're chickening out?" Sayuri's expression didn't change, deeply gazing into Hayden's eyes. She shrunk the gap between her face and Hayden's by putting her arms around Hayden's neck.

"Isn't that an awkward position?" Hayden didn't back away at all. He talked in Japanese. "You like me this much, Sayuri-san?"

"Y-yes…" At the abrupt Japanese and first name basis, Sayuri was flustered. She formed a bitter expression. "Why do you do that?"

Without a warning, Sayuri pulled Hayden to her. The two's lips touched, their eyes closing to enjoy the kiss. In the midst of the kiss, Hayden put his hands on Sayuri's small waist.

The kiss went on for a few seconds. Pulling back, Sayuri instantly blushed. She realized what she did. "I-I kissed you… I actually did… And you didn't…"

"Hey, it's a date." Hayden inhaled deeply. "Whatever happens, happens. Wait, let me ask… You're not going to sleep in my house, right?"

"Who said I wouldn't?" Sayuri returned to her normal attitude. In fact, even cheerier than usual. "Of course I would."

"Oh…" Hayden blinked. "We're not at 'that' stage of intimacy yet, right?"

"What do you-" Sayuri understood what Hayden was implying. She pushed him away. She was extremely flustered. "No, no. We can't move that fast!"

"Thought so." Hayden breathed out in relief. "Don't worry, I wasn't anticipating it. I simply wanted to make sure."

For the rest of the trip, Hayden and Sayuri conversed of their own interests. She is apparently really into collecting all kinds of perfume and body mists around the world. And, as a wielder, fighting. And food. Specifically, Japanese cuisine, her own country's food.

That was why, for the date, Hayden cooked the best ramen he has ever created: A Meat and Seafood Ramen that combined the goodness of seafood and all kinds of meat. On top of this, he cooked Okonomiyaki, Unagi, and some Takoyaki.

He cooked the food the same way he cooked for Eun-ha: Upfront. He put on a flashy show for her. This impressed Sayuri. More so when she tasted the ramen.

"This is the best ramen I've ever tasted." On the table, Sayuri carefully and sophisticatedly sipped the noodles. "Tsk, we're all going to get fat at this rate."

"We all know that's impossible." Hayden removed his apron and sat in front of her. "We're wielders. You can't get fat no matter how much you eat. Some of you abuses it."

"Yeah, they do, don't they?" Sayuri giggled. She eyed Hayden carefully. Hayden made eye contact with her. The message that her eyes carried was: 'Will it be rude if I devour this food? We're on a fancy date…'

"Go ahead, eat it the way you would." Hayden spread his arms around. "You don't have to be walking on eggshells around me, Sayuri-san. Besides… I've seen you scarf down my cooking like no tomorrow abundantly. It's not an unfamiliar sight."

"Come on." Sayuri pouted at the mention of her ravenous consumption of Hayden's cooking. The volume of her voice fell. "It was too good."

"I'm messing with you." Hayden reached out his right hand and pinched Sayuri in the cheek. "Eat up."

From then on, Sayuri comfortably ate. In between bites, she was joking, laughing, and flirting with Hayden. The standard date stuff.

An hour passed. Hayden led Sayuri to his bedroom. There, Sayuri changed to comfortable clothing. By comfortable, that meant Hayden's clothes.

She donned Hayden's oversized hoodie without anything else except underwear. This was disconcerting and tantalizing for Hayden. Good thing he had a lot of self-control.

As for Hayden, he was in his comfortable clothing too. A black tank top and boxer shorts. The two laid down on Hayden's bed. Sayuri's head was on his chest as they watched a romantic action movie.

"Can you trade places with me?" Sayuri suddenly asked Hayden.

Hayden, who was dreadfully exhausted and on the verge of falling asleep, snapped awake. "Yeah, yeah, sure."

The two shifted positions. Hayden's head was now on Sayuri's arms. He buried his head on Sayuri's breasts. As this was her first time experiencing Hayden being the one to do the moves, she was perturbed.

Reluctantly, Sayuri patted Hayden's head. "You that comfortable in that position, Hayden-kun?"

Hayden didn't respond. Sayuri tapped Hayden on the head. That's when she perceived Hayden's even lowered than usual heartrate and relaxed breathing. "He's… Asleep… He must've had a long day, huh?"

Using his fingerprint to open his phone, Sayuri deactivated the television. She immediately turned the phone off. She didn't want to snoop around Hayden's phone. They weren't at that level yet. Well, even if they were, she still wouldn't do so. That is so not 2058.

…..

Waking up, Hayden felt a firm hug on him. His head was resting on Sayuri's collarbone. Hayden kissed Sayuri on the cheek, the signal that he was awake.

Sayuri groaned. Hayden whispered softly. "Switch positions with me."

Sayuri stopped embracing Hayden. With a few movements, Sayuri was now on Hayden's chest. He seized his phone by the nightstand.

Hayden pecked Sayuri on the head. Afterwards, he got to work. First, he sent a message to a woman in the Pangkat Anino selling a plot of land in Quezon City as she was moving in the provinces. He hit her up, bought the land, wired her the money, and acquired the land. The transaction went without hitches.

Second, he hit up Angelo Diaz, the main architect of Pangkat Anino who designed the Kapangyarihan building and their base.

He recognized his own value in Pangkat Anino, hence, he boldly requested a job for him. The job? It was to design his mansion in Quezon City. Of course, he stated that he'd pay handsomely for the job, at 200,000 credits.

You might ask, 'Why a mansion if it's eye-catching?' He was a celebrity. He has to have a befitting residence. Also, if he was going to have multiple girlfriends… The space was necessary. And for the sake of his of his own small startup plans for multiple Streamlink channels, he has to have the space, too.

When he was done with that, Hayden got a civil engineer with a materials company to coordinate with Angelo, Althea Padilla. He was going to pay her 200,000 credits and would provide and pay for everything the two needed.

The two created a group chat with him. They agreed that the job would be finished within February. Everything will be built per Hayden's instructions too, as long as Hayden has the cash.

Messaging one of the lawyers he met yesterday, Hayden paid him 100,000 credits to draft up a contract for the three of them and to take care of the building permit.

With that, everything pertaining to his residence was done. Next was Harper. She has already retrieved her sister by now. As such, he instructed her to lay low for the meantime and await further instructions. The last matter he has to take care of is…

'The Streamlink Expansion Plan.' Hayden thought. What was this plan, you ask? First of all, the element of surprise was his best weapon against his fans.

Accordingly, Hayden planned to create a few Streamlink channels that will be dedicated to different things. First was a channel for music, dance, and guitar. Second was a channel for animations and drawings. Third was instrumental composition. Fourth was drums. Fifth was an indie game programming channel. Sixth was a beatboxing, drumming, and weird instruments one. And seventh was an orchestral channel, where he'd compose and sing songs acapella.

One by one, when it's famous enough, the identity of the creator for these channels will be revealed. And the people will be shocked that it was all Hayden. Always has been.

There are also other prerequisites for the reveal, but Hayden will iron that part of the plan later on. That will not happen within, at least, a year or so after all.

'Oh yeah, I've got to stream too…' As he had a basketball camp going on, CHORUS' concert on Saturday, and his flight to World Government Island on Sunday, there was no time for him to stream. 'That will have to wait… What I can do for the channel in the present is to record for the Annual Youth Pride week.'

'Damn, they're busy…' Hayden looked at Sayuri lying on his chest. 'Busier than I'll ever be. Wow, can't believe they're making time for me.'

Hayden was touched. He was removed from this state when Sayuri yawned and woke up. The second she did so, she made out with Hayden.

When the little make out session finished, Hayden shook his head. "Wow, you're an aggressive morning person when we're alone.Wait, we're on the same page, right? You and I are in a…"

"Yes. You're in a polygynous relationship with me and Eun-ha." Sayuri shook her head with a smile. "Tsk, you better believe it, Hayden-kun."

"There was a time I wouldn't." Hayden reminisced the past. "This time, your kiss is too real to be a dream. Come here."

Hayden pulled Sayuri to him. Sayuri didn't resist, kissing back. Although they got sucked in the mood, the two didn't do any carnal deeds. The scene became steamy though, that's for sure.