Once Eric went down the elevators to the ground level of the building where his penthouse was located in, he walked out into the cold streets of the crowded city and stared up at the gray sky in silence for a little bit.
While Eric wasn't too sure exactly so sure what his first steps should be in order to better prepare himself for the inevitable encounter with Aurora that was to come, one thing he did know was that Aurora should be around her 20th to 30th regression right now due to the number of times that he's been killed by her so far.
Additionally, if his memory served him right, it was also around her 20th regression that she started becoming extremely active as well.
This was solely due to the fact that she began to realize that no matter how much enemies she keeps trying to get rid of, there would always be a new one that would show up at some point, and she would have to repeat the regression cycle all over again.
It was like she was fighting against the entire universe, and no matter how much she would try to fight it, the universe wouldn't stop until it got what it wanted.
'Though to be fair, that's essentially what's going on here.'
However, since Aurora at this time didn't know that, she had speculated that perhaps there was a a large and hidden organization at play here responsible for this endless cycle of violence and death she seemed to always be stuck in.
As such, she spent the majority of her 20th to 50th lives trying to find and infiltrate this so-called organization, and Eric somehow wanted to take advantage of that naiveness of hers, especially considering that Aurora was relatively still naive at this stage compared to later when she became a ruthless killing machine who would immediately kill anyone who has deeply wronged her before without any hesitation.
'Hmm, but even if I wanted to take advantage of her naiveness, what should I even do?'
Frankly, he had no idea whatsoever.
Even with the memories of his 20 lives now, there really wasn't much he could do.
He was literally just a spoiled young master that always relied on his large and powerful family background for everything after all, and he had absolutely no fighting talent nor was he smart whatsoever.
Still, he had one thing going for him though, and that was...
'Money.'
And lots of it.
Eric let out a small, humorless chuckle that fogged in the freezing air as he thought about it.
In a modern world that ran on plot and the character archetypes within it such as this one, a villain with only money was probably one of the most useless villains to be, especially against someone with an overpowered regression ability like Aurora's.
In the long run, it would be as useful as having a pool noodle in a sword fight.
But at this time though, still very early on into the story, money was probably one of, if not the most useful tools to have.
"Maybe that could work." Eric eventually muttered quietly to himself as a plan formed inside his head.
Even though the plan he was currently thinking about was going to absolutely be dangerous, as long as he doesn't end up with a bullet in his head, he was willing to risk it.
Then again, considering his track record, he wasn't too optimistic.
Nevertheless, with that in mind, Eric took out his phone in order to look up for directions to a cafe called 'The Gray Cup.'
And after confirming that the cafe wasn't too far from his current location, he set off into the cold, busy streets of the city.
***
After spending about a good 15 minutes walking, Eric eventually found himself standing outside of the cafe he was looking for.
The cafe didn't look particularly special at all, and it had a warm yet simple atmosphere to it just like every other cafe and restaurant around it did, but Eric knew that this cafe was special for a reason.
There was a reason why this specific cafe was mentioned and appeared in the novel so often after all.
However, it was none of his concerns for now, and if his plan actually manages to succeed somehow, then it won't ever be a concern of his ever.
Once Eric stepped through the entrance of the cafe and was greeted by the warmth of the cafe and its strong aroma of coffee, he walked up to the counter and was greeted by the cashier there.
"Good morning, sir. What would you like to order?" A young man who appeared to be in his early 20s and was wearing a gray apron said with a professional smile on his face.
"Just a medium iced Americano for me please." Eric replied back politely and lightly smiled.
"Understood, your total is $5.49, will that be cash or card, sir?" The young cashier asked.
"Card." Eric then pulled out his debit card and scanned the card reader in front of him.
After the card was accepted, the cashier pulled out the receipt from the printer beside him and handed it over to Eric.
"The number of your order is on the receipt sir, we'll call you up when your drink is ready. Have a good rest of your day."
"Thank you, you too." Eric returned the same courteous smile to the cashier, and then walked off to an empty table that was located near the front window of the cafe and sat down, waiting for his coffee to be made.
Now of course, Eric obviously didn't really just spend 15 minutes walking all the way to this specific cafe in order to just drink some coffee, otherwise he could've just went to the cafe that was a few blocks away from his penthouse instead.
No, rather it was because part of his plan involved someone who worked at this exact cafe.
A woman that knew Aurora to be more specific.
And if the novel really mirrored the world he was currently in exactly, then the woman in question shouldn't be ordinary whatsoever...
At least in the future that was.
As such, while Eric waited for his coffee to be made, he attentively watched the employees from afar to try and find a woman that matched the description he had read in the novel.
Not before long, Eric's gaze fell on a young woman who was a little bit above average height, had brown bob hair, blue eyes, and was wearing the same gray apron that the cashier was wearing.
The young woman also had a very nice figure and body shape, and her face was quite beautiful, even if her expression was a bit lifeless.
Furthermore, there was a very noticeable dark scar mark that was on the left side of her arm, which made her stand out a lot more than the rest of the other employees.
'Looks like she's the one.' Eric thought to himself as he continued watching the young woman from a distance.
Eventually though, the young woman somehow noticed his constant staring, and looked directly back at him in an intimidating and cold manner.
'Yep, that's definitely her alright.' Eric inwardly sighed in his heart as he averted his gaze elsewhere.
Thankfully, it wasn't long afterwards that his order was ready, and once he heard his number being called, Eric stood up and headed back to the counter.
"Your drink, sir." The young woman who Eric had been staring at a little while ago said with the same lifeless expression on her face as she pushed the iced coffee towards him.
"Thank you..." Eric took the iced coffee off of the counter and then paused for a brief second before looking at the nametag on her apron and saying, "By the way, Miss Aria, do you ever feel like you-"
"I'm not interested in you, please leave me alone." The young woman named Aria suddenly cut him off sharply and then turned away from him.
As someone who has had to deal with numerous amounts of men approaching and harassing her on a weekly basis solely due to her looks alone, she knew exactly what the man in front of her was going to say, and she didn't want to hear any of it.
Additionally, the man in front of her gave off some sort of very weird and uneasy vibe as well, and she felt extremely uncomfortable just even looking at him.
"Hmm? Oh, no, no, that's not it at all. I just wanted to ask if-"
"Get the hell away from me now, you creep!" Aria, who was now completely annoyed with the man in front of her, raised her voice and yelled loudly enough for everyone in the cafe to hear, causing everyone to turn their heads towards the situation.
Some people even got up from their seats and got ready to jump in for Aria in case if something happened.
Eric wasn't surprised by her sudden outburst however, and after observing his surroundings and atmosphere for a moment and contemplating whether or not he should continue agitating Aria any further, he decided it was for the best that he should just leave now before anything else happened.
So Eric simply just nodded at Aria nonchalantly and then turned around to exit the cafe.
But right before he was about to step his foot outside of the cafe though, he took one last quick glance back at her and opened his mouth.
"The black scar mark on your right arm that you always keep assuming is a burn mark, it's not a burn mark at all, it's skin cancer that formed as a result of your burn. Go to the hospital and have a doctor examine it before it's too late." Eric pointed to the left side of his arm where the scar on Aria's was at and spoke out.
Then without saying anything else Eric quickly stepped out of the cafe and disappeared into the crowded streets of the city, leaving everyone in the cafe utterly confused and dumbfounded as to what the hell just happened.