Chapter 28-29: No Rest for the Wicked
[Day 2]
Asahi took a peek around the hallway leading to the faculty office. Outside the said facility, Shiori paced back and forth, her anxiety evident as she awaited his return. Saeko, too, was nervous, though she concealed it well behind a calm, collected expression. But Asahi could still see her worry through the slight furrow of her brow and the trembling fingers wrapped around the wooden katana.
Shiori suddenly punched the wall. "FUCK! Why was I so stupid to actually believe he can fight that on his own?"
Saeko took a quick glance into the room before approaching Shiori and gently patting her back. "It was his decision to stay and fight. We, Busujima, never doubt a man's decision."
"I know, dammit. Right now I don't give a… Saeko, I'm sorry. I'm running to him."
Saeko gave a firm nod. "I'll hold the line. Just return to me soon and unharmed."
Asahi merely wanted to check for undead but he ended up seeing Shiori losing her mind over him. Every doubt about her melted away — she undoubtedly loved him.
"There is no need for that." Asahi emerged from his hiding spot before Shiori could rush off to find him. "Look who's back."
[–Shiori Busujima: Affection +13]
[–Saeko Busujima: Affection +29]
The mere sound of his voice was enough to make their affection points skyrocket. Saeko, whose affection was already hovering around 70, overtook Shiori in that moment — she became the second woman to reach 99 points. Yes, he didn't count Klyscha since she had more affection than the system could measure.
Shiori whirled around, her face lighting up with a radiant smile that could rival the sun itself. "I didn't doubt you! Not even for a second!"
He raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Weren't you running for me?"
"Eavesdropping isn't fair!"
(Telling a stalker to stop stalking is the same as telling a wolf to stop eating meat.)
'Said the goddess who stalked me for years.'
(...)
Saeko let out a long sigh and revealed a calm smile. "You killed it in no time."
Asahi's shoulders slumped. "I expected more from that thing. What a letdown it was."
The twins exchanged a look of surprise, their eyes widening as they fully understood the implication behind his nonchalant words.
[–Shiori Busujima: Affection +2]
Shiori casually took his hand. "Come with us. You won't believe what we discovered."
Asahi had a hunch about their discovery but he still followed their lead into the faculty room like a curious child. Saya was lying on the table, still unconscious from exhausting her elemental energy earlier.
"Cute and sexy..." Asahi mused to himself, still amazed by the ferocious magic Saya had unleashed in the face of death
Pyro was an element befitting her fiery personality.
'Still got her ass kicked.'
(She overused her elemental energy. But with enough training, she will get better at controlling the output to conserve her elemental energy.)
'Practice makes perfect.'
(Yes!)
Meanwhile, Shizuka, who had been keeping a close eye on Saya to ensure her safety, turned towards Asahi. Immediately, a smile lit up her face, radiating pure happiness.
"Aa-kun!" Shizuka nearly shrieked and threw herself at him and enveloping him in an almost suffocating hug. After confirming his safety through his warmth, she began to check him for any signs of injury. "Where are you hurt? Tell me quickly. I'll patch it up!"
"There isn't."
[–Shizuka Marikawa: Affection +9]
Despite his assurances, Shizuka insisted on doing a thorough check. While Shizuka diligently did her job, his gaze drifted to the gloomy pair of high schoolers in the room— Komuro and Rei. Despite coming out of the encounter with magic powers, Komuro looked as melancholic as a guy who had been rejected for the tenth time. Rei, on the other hand, seemed to have cried until her tears had run dry, now vacantly gazing at the ground.
Kyoko gently tugged at his shirt, leaning in to whisper to him about Hisashi's death and how it deeply affected Rei and Komuro's mental state. Asahi didn't expect the stern-looking Kyoko to have this level of empathy for the two.
'F for Hisashi.'
(F… We didn't see Hisashi becoming undead.)
'Must have been crushed by that Ravager.'
Asahi snapped his finger in an attempt to get Komuro and Rei's attention, but they remained motionless. "Rest, hydrate, cry — feel free to do whatever. But I expect you to be ready to leave the moment Saya regains consciousness."
His tone was firm, accepting no argument. He wasn't about to coddle them or lend a hand if they refused to help themselves. And ultimately, he wasn't here for the sake of the protagonists, but for himself — to level up, get Karma Points, and fulfill his side-quest of making a harem of beautiful lovers at the same time.
Komuro gave a halfhearted nod, while Rei continued staring blankly at the ground, unresponsive to the world around her. The grief of losing her boyfriend had been too much for her to bear.
Asahi sank into the chair and gazed at the cloudy sky outside the window. As a young master, he had never worked this hard, yet he did so today to save people.
People he barely knew.
'Plot twist of the century.'
A heavy sigh escaped his lips. "Shiori, can I get some water?"
"Catch."
He caught the bottle tossed his way, opened it, and gulped down the entire bottle in one go. With his thirst quenched, he asked Klyscha to show his status.
[STATUS]
Asahi Saijō Lvl. 9
Current level progress: 172/1215 XP
Race: High Human
Class: -
[ATTRIBUTES]
Strength: 54
Dexterity: 59
Constitution: 74
Defense: 90
Intelligence: 70
Wisdom: 50
Charm: 170
Magic: 306
Karma: 9,204
With just one piercing glance, he could grasp the growth pattern of each attribute per level. Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution all increased by a +3 with each level. Defense and Charm got a more substantial +5 per level. And Magic grew by an absurd +7 for every single level. Every level he gained nearly the same amount of magic a regular person had in their entire body.
(You get extra growth because of your race. You may praise me for looking out for your future.)
'I won't praise you, but I'll repay you with my body. Is that okay with you?'
(I shall prepare a new outfit for tonight's… repayment.)
'Great. By the way, Klyscha, you didn't give me the explanation for these attributes.'
The attributes were rather self-explanatory, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to confirm their effects.
(Oh, I really forgot about that! Take a look at this!)
Strength: Determines your explosive power and overall physical strength. The attribute also influences muscular endurance. Higher Strength allows you to wield heavy weapons and perform feats of incredible force.
Dexterity: Determines your agility, perception, reflexes, reaction time, and your ability to adapt to speed. Higher Dexterity allows you to easily dodge attacks, perform acrobatics, and excel in tasks that require precision and finesse.
Constitution: Determines your health, natural recovery, and stamina, while also reflecting your resistance to disease, poison, and physical exhaustion. Higher Constitution allows you to maintain peak performance over a longer period of time.
Defense: Determines magic and physical resistance. Higher Defense allows to mitigate more damage and reduces the impact of powerful attacks.
Intelligence: Determines your cognitive ability, capacity for learning, reasoning, problem-solving, and abstract thinking, while also reflecting your memory, creativity, and ability to comprehend complex concepts.
Wisdom: Determines your capacity for good judgment, insight, and understanding. Higher Wisdom makes you more efficient in applying knowledge and experience in your decisions, consider long-term consequences, and enhances your capacity for self-reflection.
Magic: Determines the depths of your elemental energy reserves. Higher Magic enhances the overall power of your spells.
Charm: Determines your physical attractiveness, charisma, and social influence over others. Higher charm allows you to easily persuade others and make them more open to your suggestions. Charm has more effect on opposite genders.
'Pretty much what I had in mind. I can probably handle every girl here with my stamina.'
(And some more.)
At that moment, the door to the restroom creaked open, and two young men emerged. One was a chubby boy and the other had an average build, and both wore glasses on their faces.
"H-Hey," stuttered the chubby boy, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment. "M-Marikawa-san. I'm Hirano Kohta."
The other young man slapped the back of Kohta's head in exasperation. "Don't be so stiff," he said, then smiled awkwardly at Asahi. "I'm Kazu Ishii. Busujima-senpai saved us both from being eaten alive."
They both knew Asahi as he was one of the icons of Fujimi Academy. Moreover, they possessed the common sense and social awareness to realize that while they may know of Asahi, he might not know them on a personal level.
Except he did know pretty much everything about them from the anime.
Kohta was a military nerd and Kazu Ishii had risked his life to protect Shizuka in the original timeline, an event that had not taken place in this world.
(They look more relaxed than the protagonists.)
'They lost their best friend to some bullshit infection. I too will be depressed in their position.'
(I won't let you!) Klyscha declared with great conviction. (No matter what happens, I'll find a way to cheer you up.)
'How sweet of you. One thing, though. Why did they come out of the same restroom?'
(Wait... are they...?) Klyscha's words trailed off, leaving an unsettling implication hanging in the air. Asahi could already feel his skin crawling at the mere thought. (I'm so sorry, my love.)
Asahi shook his head vigorously, as if to banish the disturbing imagery from his mind. He gave a smile, a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "That's all well and good, but what exactly were you doing in there?"
"Oh, that." Kazu Ishii rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Kohta was helping me clean up blood."
Asahi's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Were you bitten?"
"Almost," Kazu Ishii said, shivering from recalling the traumatizing memory. "That creature had me by the throat. I'd be dead if Busujima-senpai didn't strike its head from behind."
Asahi nodded at Saeko before gesturing to Kohta and Kazu Isshi to the seats in the corner. "Why don't you two take some rest?"
The two nodded eagerly and scurried off to collapse into seats in the far corner of the room, bonding over their shared trauma.
"No rest for the wicked," Saeko whispered as she took the seat in front of him, her tone calm yet firm. From her calm expression, one would never expect her to have a crush on Asahi. "Hmm, Asahi-kun. Did you perhaps receive a Vision during your battle?"
Saeko was right to suspect Asahi of possessing a Vision as it would explain his near-supernatural strength and skill. None of them would ever suspect of him having the support of a literal goddess.
"Nope." Asahi's response was quick and decisive, shooting down her theory with a single word. His gaze drifted to the bright red gem clutched tightly in Saya's clenched fists. "Saya did."
"Takashi and Miyamoto also did," Kyoko cut into the conversation, relaying the brief information Komuro had given them about the Vision and its abilities. "Walking corpses, deadly infection, and now elemental powers… nothing feels real anymore."
Kyoko's words dripped with exhaustion. She seemed like she'd rather return to her tedious everyday job than deal with this new reality. Asahi couldn't blame her for wanting the easy route as the vast majority of people would react in pretty much the same way.
Shiori took the seat right next to him. "Then how do you know the gem in Saya's hand is a Vision?"
Shizuka grasped his elbow and gently pulled him for attention. "I didn't know Aa-kun could fight like that… Nee-san is worried you're hiding some big secret. Aa-kun, tell me it isn't so."
"I'm also curious," Kyoko said, turning to Asahi with a deadly serious expression. She tilted her head to the side to expose her creamy neck and touched the spot where an undead had sunk its teeth not long ago. "I was infected but you injected me with the cure. Just where did you find it?"
Saeko's eyes widened. "Asahi-kun, is she right? Do you possess the cure for the infection?"
Asahi suddenly found himself under the intense scrutiny of four women, one of whom was his blood sibling. They all looked hungry to tear down the mysteries surrounding him, perhaps to know more about him, or simply end the outbreak with the information in his possession.
Asahi's eyes drifted from one lovely face to the next, whereas his mind wondered, 'What bullshit do I feed them?'
...
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