Chapter 018 | “You aren’t the protagonist”

Alternative title: A visit from the Sage

...

Zinon, with the sound of metal scraping the ground behind him, left the Yaoyorozu mansion, only going a bit aways before slowing down his small sprint. 'First things first… the quest' Zinon thought to himself as the holographic screen popped up in front of his face.

*Daily Quest has been updated*

*Daily→ Monthly*

//Monthly Quest Added//

Rank: A-Divine

Obj. 1: Run 100 miles

Obj. 2: Do 1000 push-ups

Obj. 3: Do 1000 sit-ups

Obj 4: Do 1000 squats

Penalty: The feeling of your ball's getting sack tapped every second

Reward: +1 Mystery Box

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Seeing the much harder workouts, especially now that he actually had a stamina bar, Zinon swallowed dry. How the hell was he supposed to do this? Upon closer inspection he noticed it had turned from Day to Month, but he still had doubts.

With the endless stamina of the tutorial he could have done this easily, maybe even in a day. Although his body was still that of a game character, but now he could get tired.

"How come everything became like this after finishing the first quest?" Zinon asked himself, sighing as he walked forward at a leisurely pace. He would do a little each day, but only because he was curious about this mystery box.

"Well a tutorial is basically easy mode" A voice replied to Zinon's question, causing the boy to nod then snap his head to the side as a teenager stood there eating a bowl of ice cream, just a little ways away from the Yaoyorozu mansion.

"Uh… what did you just say?" Zinon said as he felt a cold sweat on the back of his neck seeing the teen look at him and answer the question related to the system. Would he need to kill someone to keep his secret? If so he'd rather do it farther from the mansion.

"You can't kill me the fuck? You're way too weak right now… Anyway, I only came to tell you not to mess up anymore. Since it was the tutorial you could have killed Kai right in front of your boss and still wouldn't have been caught… but now" The teen flashed a smirk as he appeared in front of Zinon, though the same height, it was like he was towering over the red headed lean muscular boy.

"If you fuck up you'll probably get caught… This is now hard mode… or at least normal mode… Anyway, I'll be going now Zinon, see you later!... Also, Momo was a good first choice, though I would have rather had Nemuri first… I suppose it's still possible… nah" The teen mumbled the last few lines as he steadily started walking away.

"Sage!" Zinon suddenly shouted out, his fists clenched as his face was a violent shade of red. Looking back, the teen looked at Zinon with a small gleam in his eyes that the red head couldn't quite place. 'Anger? Fear?... No… Excitement?'

"Zinon!" TheGodSage smiled widely yelling out Zinon's name before continuing to walk, mocking his earlier shout. "Why are you doing this to me! Why are you making me be evil!" Zinon yelled his voice slightly choking as, for some reason he couldn't place, [Gamer's Mind] didn't seem to be working.

"Me?... Pft!" TheGodSage let out a loud hearty laugh as he looked at Zinon with pity hidden in his excitement filled expression. "Are you dumb?... The system only reacts to your wants, Needs, and thoughts… You did this to yourself, idiot… it seems you're forgetting that you were able to decline the quest… hell you could have even cancelled it… not anymore though" The GodSage regained his composure as a calm smile came to his face.

"Well… Later Zinon, I can't wait to see what happens to you… But remember.. This world doesn't give a shit… you're not the protagonist… good luck, Seraph… prepare my afternoon bath" And with those words TheGodSage disappeared in a small string of light, erasing any footage from the last 10 minutes in front of the overseeing cameras.

Zinon stood still on the sidewalk, his fists clenched as his entire body was shaking in anger at the Sages words. "S-So… I'm just an evil bastard then huh?..." Zinon let out a small sigh as he relaxed his body and walked back to the mansion, he didn't feel like working out anymore, it was nearly time for dinner anyway…

...

"What were you two doing for so long? I even took a nap and you weren't here" Mr.Yaoyorozu said as Zinon and Momo were seated at the table. Zinon's daily quest had upgraded into a monthly quest, it was much more difficult, but would give 10 stat points for him to allocate himself, making it worth it.

Zinon, still thinking about TheGodSages words, looked over at Mr.Yaoyorozu with a small sad smile, "Sorry sir… I just had some things to think about… Momo helped me get through them… It won't happen again" Zinon said with a melancholic undertone to his voice as Momo didn't say anything. She saw lying in this situation to be the best thing to do. Though she did flinch when he said it wouldn't happen again.

'D-Does he mean that?... Did he not like it' A small unnoticeable blush came to the young girl's face as she thought of this, on the outside however she was calm and composed, just as she always was.

"Ah I see...it's ok... god knows I've done my fair share of crying in the past few hours... Zinon, I want you to meet me in my office" Mr.Yaoyorozu said as he finished his plate and left the table.

Zinon looked at the two girls before shrugging and following Mr.Yaoyorozu leaving Momo and her mother to themselves as the maids left the room as well.

"So... how was it~" Mrs.Yaoyorozu teased suddenly as she drank from a glass. Momo, as calm and collected as ever, just looked at her with confusion, though a small rosy hue was noticeable on her cheeks.

"I'm not sure what you are talking about Mother," Momo Yaoyorozu said gulping slightly as her mother's gaze sharpened before relaxing and a small gentle smile came to her face.

"Just use protection next time, and take this as well, right now" Mrs.Yaoyorozu slipped a small pill toward Momo and got up with a mischievous grin on her face. Leaving Momo staring at the small pill with a now noticeable blush on her face as she realized her mother knew everything...

...

"Tell me everything that happened that night, I want a full report," Mr.Yaoyorozu said, throwing on some glasses as he looked over a few files left on his desk from before.

"Kai didn't call and report?" Zinon asked, holding his breath as Mr.Yaoyorozu looked at him carefully. Nodding slowly, Mr.Yaoyorozu sat up and set the files down.

"He did call... but he couldn't tell me anything, something happened... do you know anything about that Zinon?" Mr.Yaoyorozu asked with a smile on his face as Zinon's hopes rose once again.

If kai hadn't told the boss anything... then he was in the clear... he could start planning... "It started with the warehouse, small business, and stuff... but a guy came…"

Zinon retold the events word for word, not leaving out anything until the events at the house. He didn't include the words All For One, something Momo's father caught but didn't comment on.

"And then he said something about a deal... That's all I can remember... sorry sir" Zinon bowed his head smiling inwardly. His story had matched up with everything he said before, and hopefully, it matched up enough to keep Mr.Yaoyorozu.

'I can't tell if he's lying… Zinon… I will trust you for now… I hope this isn't a mistake,' Mr.Yaoyorozu thought to himself as he visibly relaxed. Zinon saw this as a good sign and bowed his head once more, indicating he would be leaving now.

Just as Zinon reached the door handle however, Mr.Yaoyorozu let out one more word, making the boy pale and stop in his tracks. "All For One…" Mr.Yaoyorozu said, studying Zinon's reaction.

"Killed your father" Mr.Yaoyorozu finished. Hearing his words, Zinon let out a small breath of relief as he turned back. "I see… Thanks Mr. Yaoyorozu" Zinon said leaving the room. Zinon didn' care nor did he want to hear about his fake family, as far as he knew they had never existed… though if this were the case… Why was his heart feel so heavy?

"He was shocked… scared… sad… and joyful sir" A teenage girl around the age of 17 said, stepping out of the shadows behind Mr.Yaoyorozu. Mr.Yaoyorozu nodded and looked back at her.

"I see… when was he joyful?"

"As soon as you were letting him go" The girl answered, staying in a readied position, almost as if she was a soldier.

"I see… it must suck talking to an old man like me haha… Keep an eye on him… you are his partner now anyway… Inoue" Mr. Yaoyorozu said as the girl nodded with no emotion showing on her face.

"There is plenty of time for your two to get to know each other tomorrow… After all you guys are technically family now" Mr.Yaoyorozu said, sighing as he went back to his files, letting Inoue leave the room.

Inoue was Mr.Yaoyorozu's niece, from his side of the family… The Naraka family. It was by miracle… and rebelliousness that he had been married into the Yaoyorozu family. As the man, he took over the operations, as well as started his own shadow operations in line with his family, making the Yaoyorozu name grow over the years…

…

"Ok.. let's test out Momo's quirk" Zinon said quietly to himself as he looked at his stats. If he was going to do anything in this world, first things first should be gaining strength…