Chapter 3: Do You Still Remember Who I Am?

A beautiful morning began with a grand reunion.

All the members of Aegis had gathered, filling the little hospital room to the brim. One by one, they approached, hopeful smiles on their faces, each lining up to ask Yuki the same question—

“Do you remember who I am?”

At that moment, Yuki’s head was spinning.

How could he remember all their names?

He only knew that, in the show, he addressed a certain formidable alien senior as “Senior Ayu,” called the bespectacled robot lady “Melika,” and as for the intelligent beauty in business attire—the president of Aegis—he honestly couldn’t recall her name.

He only remembered that police officer who often outsourced work to Aegis for extra business would always sidle up to the president and affectionately call her “Little Kanai”…

As for himself, he simply called her “President.”

With that, he barely made it through.

Just then, an old man in his sixties strode in, clad in a crisp police uniform. He greeted the president first, then turned his gaze to Yuki, who was sitting on the bed.

“Yuki, do you remember who I am?”

“…Good morning, Officer Sakura.”

“Ah!”

The old man’s wrinkled face broke into a wide grin, and he raised his hand, about to give Yuki his usual hearty pat on the shoulder. Yuki flinched, but before the hand could land, it was caught mid-air by Ayu, who had been standing watch nearby.

“Officer Sakura!”

Ayu glared, clearly displeased—Yuki was still recovering from a gunshot wound!

“Oh, oh, sorry, sorry, force of habit.” Officer Sakura withdrew his hand sheepishly, grinning with embarrassment.

…

Yuki picked up his small pad from the pillow, opening the Aegis group chat. Was this the equivalent of “DingTalk” in this world? One by one, he tapped through the organizational structure, scanning each full name and silently committing them to memory.

Then he opened a search engine to check for any recent giant monster sightings. Soon enough, he found a short video—though nearly two weeks had passed, it was still trending.

In the video, a monster sprawled across a building, shielding another monster from a rear attack with its back. It shrieked in pain, yet stubbornly refused to move.

Comparing the upload date to today, Yuki figured out where he was in the story’s timeline—just after the first episode…

At that moment, the doctor making rounds stormed into the room, eyes blazing with anger, and shooed everyone out except Ayu and Officer Sakura. Even from inside, the doctor’s lecture could be heard echoing down the hallway, reminding everyone to keep quiet in the ward. The group, chastened, could only mutter apologies.

Officer Sakura, spared from this treatment—likely thanks to his uniform—was probably assumed to be investigating the shooting.

Once the room cleared, Officer Sakura hesitated for a moment, then said, “Yuki, I’m here to ask you about the shooting incident.”

So he really was investigating.

Ayu stood up from his chair, gesturing for Officer Sakura to take the seat by the bed. After some polite back and forth, Ayu finally pressed Sakura’s shoulders, making him sit, then perched himself on a low cabinet nearby.

Confusion flickered in Yuki’s eyes, so he asked, “…Is the Department of Extraterrestrial Affairs investigating this? Is it related to aliens? Was the assailant an alien?”

Officer Sakura nodded. “You were attacked on your way home. We traced your route from Aegis to your residence and quickly found the crime scene. Our forensics team checked the area’s surveillance footage. There were many cameras around, but they all suffered malfunctions—gaps in the recordings, missing time. Still, after some technical reconstruction, we found traces of a suspicious alien.”

Malfunctions?

Yuki frowned slightly. Such electronic interference made him think of a certain criminal organization currently active behind the scenes…

If they were involved…

Officer Sakura, oblivious to the change in Yuki’s expression, continued as he opened a pad and played a video of a shifty-looking alien hurrying across an intersection.

“Ah, that one…!”

Yuki recognized him instantly—the insect-headed alien who had ambushed them during their monster escort mission.

Ayu explained, “Probably not the same individual, just the same species. To Earthlings, most aliens look alike.”

And vice versa.

Officer Sakura agreed, “Most likely from the same group. Aliens hiding on Earth often form clans, living together and sometimes working as a unit when there’s a ‘job’ to do.”

For example, when someone in the group takes a “good job” but lacks manpower, they’ll call on friends to share the profits.

Officer Sakura then asked if anything strange had happened that day, or if Yuki had any clues…

Anything strange…

Would transforming into a giant of light count?

Yuki thought for a moment and shook his head. “You’ve already seen Aegis’s mission briefing for that day, right? Aside from that, nothing else happened… On my way home, everything seemed normal. In fact, I don’t even know when I got shot—I only realized after I woke up in the hospital.”

Officer Sakura clicked his tongue in disappointment. Although he was a little let down, it was what he’d expected. After all, Yuki had been in a coma for days and reportedly suffered brain damage—even if he had any clues, he’d probably forgotten them by now.

He reminded Yuki to rest, asked him to contact him if he remembered anything, then put his cap back on and took his leave.