4 Chloe
Races and Continents
Dwarf - Northern Continent --- SH: 7 + WN: 1 = 8
**Werebeast - Eastern Continent --- SH: 42 + WN: 12 = 54
Elf - Western Continent --- SH: 39 + WN: 2 = 41
Human - Southern Continent --- SH: 16 + WN: 7 = 23
To save or not to save? That is the question!
Walk away and pretend not to see anything... ---SH: 16 + WN: 4 = 20
**Attempt to save the girl. --- SH: 37 + WN: 11 = 48
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As if driven by some unknown force, Lucas stopped in his tracks and turned around.
Before he knew it, he was already walking towards them.
"Hey!"
Lucas called out.
As expected, hearing him shout, the group turned towards him in confusion.
Lucas forced himself to act calm as he smiled.
"Seems like we keep running to each other huh? Are you on your way home?"
The blonde haired woman blinked in surprise.
Earlier, she had indeed seen him walk by but she didn't call out to him in fear of dragging him into this mess.
But now that he stepped in himself, she took the chance that the guys were distracted and got out of their encirclement.
"Lucas! I was waiting for you! Let's go back now."
"Eh? Ah, sure..."
This time, Lucas was confused about what's happening.
How did she know his name? And are they really just going to walk away like this?
Lucas turned back to the guys surrounding her earlier. They looked at each other and shook their head before walking away, laughing at each other.
"...They just walked away? Sorry, were they your friends?"
The blonde woman rolled her eyes and separated from Lucas.
"Do they look like my friends? Those were just some lecherous bastards who obviously saw my stunning body and wanted to hit on me."
"..."
This girl isn't humble at all...
"Also, there's a lot CCTV nearby as this is a park. If they did something to me, the cameras would've caught their faces. They're just a bunch of idiots wanting to test their luck by hitting on me. I was never in danger."
"I-I see..."
Lucas looked around when she said that. As she said, there were indeed a lot of cameras here. It was a safe neighborhood to begin with and there isn't a lot of crime happening.
The blonde woman saw his reaction and smirked.
"What, were you expecting a fight? Can you even with against those guys with that body of yours?"
She held his arm and pinched his muscles.
As Lucas wasn't one to exercise much, he isn't too muscular. However, he had worked part-time jobs a lot and in the past, he delivered newspapers and did manual labor so he isn't too skinny as well.
Overall, he had an average build and his looks can be considered as a bit above average since he had to tidy his face as someone who worked as a clerk or waiter.
To describe him, although not considered to be handsome, Lucas had a pleasant look that is more approachable and friendly.
Lucas laughed wryly when he saw her pinching his muscles.
"I wasn't thinking about fighting. If they really came at me, I would've run while shouting murder, it should be enough to scare them off."
The blond woman blinked in surprise before erupting into laughter.
"Pft- hahahahaha! That would indeed be a good solution!"
"Speaking of, if you knew that you weren't in any danger just now, why did you let them bother you that much? Can't you just tell them off? Or you can go shout rape loudly."
"Hahaha, I'm not as shameless as you! Besides, I've been through a heartbreak recently and I guess I was also considering their invitation subconsciously just to forget about it."
She sighed and shook her head.
Although now that she's thinking clearly, things would've been bad if she had let that continue. But there was no helping it, her mind wasn't right and she wasn't thinking straight at the time.
It was a good thing Lucas called out earlier and snapped her out of her thoughts.
Now, that same person is looking at her strangely.
"You...were considering...taking them all at once?"
"No! Pervert! What are you thinking!? I was talking about their invitation for a drink! I would've left them before I got drunk!"
Though she said that, she actually wasn't sure if she would still think clearly by that time. Of course, there's no need to say that to him.
Lucas blushed in shame as he thought of something dirty.
When the blonde woman saw his expression, she thought of something and smiled teasingly.
"Hmm, since you took me away from them, you owe me a drink! No need to go to a bar, I have some beer at my place, since you saved me, you should take responsibility and accompany me to drink, my dear white knight."
"Eh? But..."
"Come on! I need someone to accompany me drinking! My friends are all with their boyfriends and my boyfriend cheated on me so we broke up! I need to vent all my frustrations and smoking isn't helping me at all! I tried clearing my mind in the cafe but that also didn't work! I need to drink! Come! I'm not letting you sleep tonight!"
"H-huh!?"
Lucas nearly stumbled when he heard that.
She's not letting him sleep tonight? Then...what are they going to do all night!?
"Look at you and your dirty mind. We're just drinking! You can only use your eyes to ogle me as much as you want but I'll castrate you if you dare touch!"
"..."
Seeing her fierce expression, Lucas felt like he knew why her boyfriend cheated on her...
The blonde woman smiled as she dragged Lucas to her apartment building.
"My name's Chloe by the way. Nice to meet you, Lucas."
"Right, how did you-"
"You wore your nametag on the convenience store and the cafe, how can I not know your name?"
"Oh yeah..."
Lucas chuckled. He forgot about that.
As they reached her apartment building, Lucas hesitated for a while before speaking to Chloe again.
"Look, Chloe, as much as I want to accompany you to drink right now, I still need to go to work tomorrow. Also, I just got Portal so I wanted to play as soon as possible..."
"..."
Chloe stopped in her tracks as she turned around and looked at Lucas in disbelief.
"Are you seriously saying that you'd rather play a game than spend time drinking with a beautiful woman who also just happened to be single now?"
Lucas opened his mouth to refute but unable to say anything.
...When you put it like that...
"Huh? Hey, didn't you say I'm not even allowed to touch you?"
"Isn't ogling at me enough? Who knows, if you get me drunk, I might undress in front of you without realizing it~"
Lucas' heart skipped a beat as he heard that and saw her teasing look.
This woman is really bad for his heart! She's too damn seductive! She's practically a succubus!
Seeing him hesitate now, Chloe laughed and caused the two mounds on her chest to shake.
"I'm just joking with you. I can hold my liquor well. Rather than me, you'd probably get drunk after a few glass which is dangerous for me. How about this. Just one drink? And maybe dinner too? I see you have some takeout anyway. Come on, I promise I won't bite~"
"..."
Lucas sighed.
"Alright. Just one drink then..."
"Good! Let's go!"
As soon as Lucas nodded, Chloe grabbed his hand and dragged him into the building.
They both got into the elevator and went to the third floor where her room apartment room was.
The apartment building they were in now is only a block away from Lucas' own apartment. It could be said that they were neighbors.
Though, her apartment is relatively more expensive and better than his cheap apartment which meant that she was a bit well-off.
Entering her apartment, he could see that it was decorated nicely and neatly. Some decorations even looked expensive, suggesting that she was more than a bit well-off than he initially thought.
Lucas looked around and noticed there were two sets of essentials.
"Is there someone else at home?"
"Hm? Oh, don't worry. Claire's at her parent's house visiting at the moment so it's just me for a while here."
"Oh..."
As someone who never had a girlfriend before, it felt weird for him to visit a woman's house alone like this in the middle of the night.
The two of them walked over to the dining table where Lucas put down his takeout.
"Oh, you got two-piece chicken! Nice! I just need to reheat some rice then."
"..."
So this was your goal all along!?
Lucas felt he was cheated. Although he came here for drinking, it seems that all she wanted was to have a piece of his dinner...
Lucas sighed and no longer bothered with it. Since he was already here, he can only watch as Chloe takes the juiciest and meatiest thigh part while leaving him with a smaller neck part of the chicken...
Not only that, she took the gravy and poured about 70% of it on her own chicken...
Lucas swore never to go drinking with this woman ever again!
"Right, I almost forgot!"
Suddenly, Chloe moved beside him and leaned on him while stretching her hand out holding her phone.
*Snap*
While Lucas was still confused, Chloe took a photo of them together and she started posting on her social media account...
"H-hey! What was that about!?"
"Don't worry, I didn't include your face just now see?"
Chloe showed him the picture and saw that his face was indeed not in the frame.
It was mostly Chloe with a cute expression leaning on his chest that was shown.
There was a caption on her post.
[Met a nice guy today, we're now drinking at my place~ <3]
"..."
Lucas was speechless.
"Is that fine? Won't people think you're too...loose?"
"I don't care what they think. I just want to spite my ex and brag to my friends! Although you're not ugly, you're not exactly handsome either. But your jaw is nicely shaped. With your face out of the picture and just your jaw included, you will look very handsome and mysterious. Tell me, have you considered wearing a cowl like Batman to only show that jaw of yours?"
"..."
Lucas' face twitched.
No wonder her boyfriend left her! Although it looked like she's praising him, it still felt like she's insulting him instead!
Coming here was a mistake!
After downing a glass of beer, Lucas finished his meal as well and stood up to leave.
"Ah wait wait! Just one more thing!"
"Hm?"
Lucas turned around just in time for something soft to touch his cheek.
He blinked in surprise and saw Chloe separate her lips from his cheek and smiled without a hint of that teasing and sly look from earlier.
"Thanks for today. I really mean it."
"...You're welcome."
"Once you create your character in WGO, chat me up. My in-game name is Clo. You can ask me anything about the game that you don't understand!"
Lucas smiled and nodded.
"Alright. Thanks for the drink...I guess?"
He chuckled and left her apartment.
After closing the door, he sighed deeply.
This night was so exhausting and it felt like his feelings were played with a lot...
After a while, he finally returned back to his own apartment.
He tossed everything he was carrying aside and picked up Portal.
He unplugged it first as it was plugged into a socket so it wouldn't run out of battery while it was installing then lied down on his bed as he plugged it into a socket near his bed.
As he wore it, he pressed a button at the side of his ear and the screen lit up.
The game has finished installing so without further adieu, he started the game!
His vision went blank as his body went to sleep. However, his mind remained active in the virtual space.
The first thing he saw was a bright light, followed by a sea of clouds and a vast expense of land beneath him.
A figure then descended in front of him wearing a white gown and white wings behind her. She had long flowing golden hair different from Chloe's blonde hair that had a tint of orange.
The woman in front of him was nothing short of an angel. Perhaps even a Goddess!
Her smile was warm as she spoke to Lucas.
"Welcome, traveler of another world. I am the Goddess of this world, Hara. What is your name?"
At the same time, a golden window appeared in front of him.
[Please name your character.]
"Sword God!"
[Name has been taken. Please choose another.]
"Sword God 123!"
[Name has been taken. Please choose another.]
Lucas shook his head. There sure are a lot of shameless people out there...
"Then...Ultimate Mage!"
[Name has been taken. Please choose another.]
"Ultimate Mage 123!"
[Name has been taken. Please choose another.]
"What!? Who the hell are these pretentious bastards!?"
Lucas cursed.
[Name is available, do you wish to confirm?]
"HELL NO!"
Lucas sweated.
That was close...
After thinking for a while, Lucas finally decided on a name that suits him.
"Kirito!"
[Name has been taken. Please choose another.]
"Damn!"
[Name has been taken. Please choose another.]
"..."
Lucas thought again then decided.
"Shiroe!"
[Name has been taken. Please choose another.]
"Momonga!"
[Name has been taken. Please choose another.]
"Blank!"
[Name has been taken. Please choose another.]
"Grid!"
[Name has been taken. Please choose another.]
"Weed!"
[Name has been taken. Please choose another.]
"Imbreak!"
[Name has been taken. Please choose another.]
"..."
Lucas cursed again in his mind.
Who the hell are the bastards who took those names!? Aren't they too shameless!?
Lucas swore that if he ever saw the players who had these names, he would kill them a few times on behalf of the great beings who had that name.
Well, the last one is a bit unique. It's the name of the world's greatest writer. Is he also playing the game?
In front of him, the Goddess Hara felt a trickle of cold sweat on her cheek.
There's something wrong with this otherworlder, why is he shouting a bunch of names of other people??? Is he right in the head?
Without knowing that the Goddess is already thinking of him as a weird person, Lucas sighed and gave in.
"Lucas."
[Name is available, do you wish to confirm?]
"..."
Do all the players had such chuuni-ish and cringe-worthy names that his normal name wasn't even taken?
Lucas wasn't a normal name, to begin with, even if only the well-off people are able to play right now, there should still be a lot of people named Lucas as well.
Yet this normal name wasn't even taken...
Forget it, let's just accept.
"Confirm."
As he finished the naming, the Goddess coughed once and returned to her smiling face.
"W-well then. Lucas, which race do you belong to?"
[Please select your race.]
Lucas already decided on this so he didn't hesitate.
"Werebeast."
[Please select your sub-race.]
Here, Lucas was given a list of sub-race which will depend on what type of half-animal he is. As for the type and ratio of man:animal...that all depends on luck!
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CHOOSE: Subrace (Possible results...)
-Cat (Tiger/Leopard/Cheetah...)
-Dog (Lion/Wolf/Fox...)
-Cow (Sheep/Ox...)
-Fish (Shark/Octopus...)
-Bear (Grizzly/Panda...)
-Monkey (Gorilla/Orangutan/Ape...)
-Spider (Black Widow/Tarantula...)
-Bird (Hawk/Sparrow...)
-Lizard (Chameleon/Iguana/Dragon...)
-Snake (Cobra/Viper...)
-Rabbit (Lop-eared/Albino...)
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AN: For the possible choices, it isn't necessarily that the only ones I wrote will be the only types. There are still others as long as they fall under the same category. Choose the category and I will randomly choose the type. By that, I mean I will roll for it in my discord XD
Time limit is only 2 days so I can write the next chapter immediately.
