Chapter 21: Not all heroes wear capes, some drink Oolong Tea

"Phew, it's finally done!" Maple wiped away the nonexistent sweat on her brow and exclaimed happily. On her panel, in the talent section, there was an additional talent named [Absolute Defense].

During this time, Umaru had been diligently hunting monsters and refrained from aimlessly wandering around the main city. As a result, her level had increased from level five to level seven.

"Ah, there are still three levels to go before reaching level ten. It feels so far away," Umaru sighed as she walked away from the wild monsters and approached Rei and Maple.

"Umaru, you're here too! I've already acquired that skill," Maple happily shared her joy of acquiring the skill with Umaru. But then she remembered something. "Oops, it's getting late, and I still have some homework left for today."

"Does Maple-san still have homework to do? It's better to log off now. You wouldn't want to be late for school tomorrow," Umaru suggested, completely disregarding the fact that she too would have to attend school tomorrow.

"Well then, Umaru, big brother, I'm logging off. We can play together again when the opportunity arises." Maple bid her farewell, and her entire form vanished like a bubble, her avatar turning gray.

"Well then, senior! Let's keep grinding!" Umaru exclaimed.

"If I recall correctly, this girl stayed up until dawn last night. She behaves like a model student in school who never falls asleep in class. Yet, here she is, still so full of energy. You truly are an LV5 Super Night Owl," Rei remarked, extending his hand to fist-bump Umaru's outstretched hand.

[Sleepless: You no longer require sleep, and sleep deprivation no longer affects you.]

Rei gathered materials while Umaru dispatched the wild monsters. With the golden equipment provided by Rei, there was no wild monster on the first floor that could match Umaru's prowess.

The night passed swiftly, and at around eleven o'clock, Umaru's character suddenly froze and was surrounded and beaten to death by several mobs.

After idling in the Main City for an hour, Rei's avatar turned gray.

"It seems I can't pull an all-nighter after all. Goodnight, Umaru"

...

Early the next morning, Rei removed his overheated gaming helmet, freshened up, donned a clean school uniform that had been washed and dried, and exited his house. As soon as he opened the door, he spotted Umaru and her brother, Taihei, stepping out of their house.

"Good morning, senior." Upon stepping outside, Umaru transformed from her hamster form into that of a beautiful girl and greeted Rei politely.

"Good morning, Umaru" Umaru looked remarkably fresh, showing no signs of having stayed up late.

Taihei nodded, then glanced at the time on his phone, his expression shifting slightly. "Oops, Umaru, Rei-san, I need to catch the bus now. I am going to be late for work, and you guys should head to school early."

"The company is clearly yours, why the rush?" Rei couldn't comprehend the urgency, though he was taken aback.

"This is the reality of life. Even if it's your own company, being late is unacceptable," Umaru explained, still forgetting the fact that she too had to attend school.

With Taihei vanishing from their view, Umaru lowered his head and apologized, "I'm sorry, senior. I accidentally fell asleep last night and didn't inform you beforehand."

"It's alright. You should have gone to bed earlier,"Rei replied nonchalantly. "You also stayed up late the night before yesterday."

Hearing Rei's words, Umaru chuckled sheepishly. "Hehe, you have to enjoy playing games while you're young. In a few years, you'll be like my brother, unable to stay up late even if you want to."

[High School Entrance]

The eternal fragrance of youth lingered in the air. Girls could be seen in their uniforms, donning short skirts regardless of the season.

"Senior! Senior!! Senior!!!"

From a distance, before entering the school gate, Rei heard Hana's loud voice echoing in the distance. Her head tackled his torso as her large chest squished against his waist.

"Uzaki-chan, maybe you should find another way to greet me," Rei straightened his back as he looked at the small ball of energy in his embrace. He was genuinely amused.

"Senior, have you already grown tired of me?"

"Indeed, with Umaru-chan besides you, you've completely forgotten about your cute junior who cared for you all this time."

Hana puffed her cheeks, not expecting this betrayal from Rei.

"No, that's not what I meant. I just thought, perhaps you could greet me in a different manner next time," sensing the increasingly curious looks from the surrounding students, Rei clarified quickly in a loud voice.

"I knew that senior couldn't survive without me..." Hana said playfully, teasing Rei.

Rei: "..."

"Uzaki-chan, I didn't quite catch what you said earlier. Would you mind repeating it?"

"Huh? I said that you forgot about your cute junior now that you have Umaru-chan besides you?"

"Can you repeat that again."

"Senior, have you already grown tired of me?"

"Yes, I've grown tired of you."

Hana: "!!!"

Hana widened her eyes, opening her little mouth, revealing a pair of cute little canines, and playfully punched Rei's arms in mock anger. "Senior, you're so mean! I'll ignore you today and let you squirm in discomfort!"

As she said that, she clasped her hands and rushed towards her classroom, before stopping abruptly. Then she turned back, grabbed Umaru's hand, and dragged the stunned Umaru over to the classroom.

"Rei, good morning."

"Morning."

Rei turned around and saw that it was Iori and Motoharu. When they spotted Rei, they immediately caught up with him on both sides.

Iori's expression was solemn, but his overall demeanor exuded joy. He approached Rei closely and inquired in a hushed voice that only the three of them could hear: "Rei, what happened yesterday? I feel like I did something... extraordinary, but it's all a blur."

Motoharu also adopted a serious tone and said, "I can't tell if what happened yesterday was real or not. Rei, please enlighten us. If it's true, we'll be legends. If not, we'll just let it go."

Rei: "..."

Seriously, you two had oolong tea yesterday and you can't even tell if what you did was real or not?

"What did you do yesterday? I have no idea," Rei feigned confusion.

Seeing that Rei's demeanor didn't suggest deception, Iori and Motoharu released their grip on him.

Standing aside, gazing towards the sky with a raised neck, one couldn't tell that yesterday Iori and Motoharu saw Rei being abducted by a gang of ruffians, and they attempted a daring rescue. In order to summon their courage, they downed oolong tea until they were drunk: "Since you don't know, let's not dwell on it. Knowing too much might not be good for us."

Upon waking up, Iori and Motoharu found themselves in the infirmary. Baki woke them up before school ended. They felt like they had done something amazing, but Baki insisted that he and Rei were the ones who found the duo unconscious in the ground.

Beckoning Rei to the side, Iori later inquired if the Oolong Tea was too strong...

*******

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I forgot to publish yesterday and as usual, the WN writer interface doesn't give a duck about the scheduled setting.