Forging a new bond

[Bowling Alley – Lucky Strike Live]

I was overjoyed when I heard that we were going to go bowling and darts.

Thanks to my Talents, bowling and darts were really easy for me. Sharpshooting Talent worked for anything related to long-range.

My sight and hearing improved. My accuracy improved. It had a diverse use; my Talent even improved my throwing.

That was why… bowling was easy.

"Strike!"

I got another strike, and Mirana glared at me while gritting her teeth in frustration.

"He's too good…" Muttered Ao.

"Yeah…" added Lily. "It's as expected from him."

She answered Ao confidently, as if she knew me.

I dusted my hands and looked at Mirana with a smug smile.

Her glare intensified. She couldn't even hit a strike once, so her competitive spirit was lifted.

"Woah, you got another strike. You are too good at this, Vincent."

Zaiden approached me with a bowling ball in his hand. It was now his turn.

"It's nothing. I am good at this."

"Hahahaha. You are. Look at me. I will get a strike too."

"Show me then. I doubt you will be able to get a strike."

"You can do it, Zaiden! Defeat that guy!" Encouraged Mirana.

Zaiden smirked a little and got into a pose. His pose was good, and he threw his ball.

It was easy for him to get a strike with his body spec. However, there was a factor that made him unable to get a strike.

When the ball was in the middle of the lane, it made a sudden turn and left the lane.

Surprised, Mirana exclaimed. "Ah!"

"Oh?" Zaiden was not too surprised. He was a reincarnator, so he knew about that.

The bowling ball left the line without hitting any pins.

"I think I'm unlucky today." Muttered Zaiden. He scratched the back of his head as he turned to Mirana.

Unlucky. That was it; Zaiden's E-Rank Luck had made him unable to get a strike.

He knew about it even before his Awakening because of his memories.

After seeing that he couldn't get a strike, I smirked before sitting in our seat.

The girls other than Mirana also sat in our seats, so I purposely sat on the edge.

The seats were composed of two couches. The seat arrangement was me, Ao, and Lily on the first couch, while Lisa and Shina sat on the couch across from us.

When I sat beside her, Ao suddenly spoke.

"You are really good at bowling, Vincent."

I looked at her with a surprised expression. I never expected that she would start a conversation with me.

She also looked surprised.

"Ah, I forgot. Can I call you Vincent? You can call me Ao."

It seemed like she misunderstood my surprise. I didn't bother to correct her and nodded my head.

"That's good. Also, are you good at bowling because you exercise every day? I saw you running in the forest every morning."

Oh. I understood why she was willing to talk to me.

While Ao was strict with the others, she was someone who respected those who worked hard. Not only that, but she also respected someone who wanted to become an Awakener.

She saw me training in the forest each morning, so she thought that I was someone who worked hard in order to increase my chance of being an Awakener.

I could use this…

"Yeah. I always trained myself in the morning and night to increase my chance of becoming an Awakener to the point I lacked sleep. That's why I always sleep in the classroom."

Not only did I explain why I slept in the class, but I could also gain her respect with this.

Ao's reaction was as I had expected. She smiled brightly.

"I see! So the rumors about you hanging out with shady people late at night are just that—rumors! It's false!"

She raised her voice. It was loud enough that everyone in the room could hear her. She certainly did that on purpose.

Mirana's body twitched a little. She heard Ao, huh? Even Zaiden looked at me with respect now.

I looked at Ao to guess her intention. She just smiled at me without showing her intention.

Lily also smiled beside her before murmuring something.

"So he's training at night? I know that he's a kind person."

I could hear her thanks to my enhanced hearing.

"Oh! So you want to become an Awakener too, Vincent?" Asked Lily. "Zaiden and I wanted to become one too."

"Yeah…" I answered her weakly.

My Trait, Deceitful, allowed me to lie easily. It also made other people believe what I said more easily; even the most cautious people would believe me if what I said was reasonable for them.

I somehow knew what I should do to gain what I wanted from the other people.

This time, I wanted them to feel sympathy for me, and I knew what I should do.

"As an Orphan, I have nothing worth mentioning from my childhood. Living in an orphanage is hard. We are desperate to live, and we only have a little to eat."

I paused a little to see their reactions. They were hooked on my story.

I then clenched my fist and spoke with a determined tone. "I will become a strong Awakener. I will become strong enough to make a lot of money."

My story contained no lies. They were all the truth.

By mixing vague words in my sentences, the others would think about what I wanted to do with that money. Combined with my previous story, they would arrive at one conclusion.

"I see… The Academy students are wrong about you…"

"U-umm, I-I'm sorry… I never knew that you had such intentions."

"Is that so? I don't know if you are such a good person."

Lisa, Shina, and Ao looked at me with a sad gaze.

Lily, however, looked at me suspiciously.

"Hmm…"

"…?"

I looked back at her confusedly. She was the only girl that I couldn't understand. She was full of mystery.

"I see… you have a hard past, huh?"

I nodded my head and answered her. "It's nothing."

After I answered Lily, Zaiden and Mirana approached us from a distance.

Mirana looked guilty. Her hands squirmed around, and she glanced at me now and then. Zaiden pushed her from behind.

"You can do it, Mirana." He encouraged her.

She nodded a little, then looked at me. No, she tried to look at me.

The atmosphere turned awkward. No one said anything, they just looked at us.

"Umm…" She tried to say something, but all that came from her mouth was a small mumble.

"What?" I urged her. Zaiden pushed her lightly with a smile.

"I-I am sorry for what I said!"

I blinked my eyes a few times. Did she apologize just like that? Wasn't it too easy?

It was good for me, but it was too sudden. I expected to at least hang around with them for a few days before getting Mirana to apologize to me.

"No problem," I answered her with a knowing smile. "A lot of people think I am a delinquent. It doesn't bother me anymore."

Mirana looked at me with a gaze full of guilt. Seeing her gaze, I understood that this world was not my novel, and she was not the character that I wrote.

Her personality and past were the same, but this world was the real world.

"Don't feel guilty about it."

"But I said mean things to you."

She was a good girl. She was a bright and energetic girl. Sometimes she acted childishly, but it was the normal childishness of a teenager.

"Don't worry about it. As I said, I am used to it. So don't mind it again. I will be happy to be your friend… As you know, I have no friends because of the rumors."

"Then what about me?" Zaiden suddenly interrupted me. "Am I not your friend?"

I looked at him and smirked. "Well, I guess you are a friend. Although you are a bit creepy."

"Hey! What part of me is creepy!" Shouted Zaiden.

The girls were laughing at our exchange. Mirana also had a bright smile again. We were joking around for a while, and the atmosphere turned normal with laughter.

"Because we are done with bowling, let's go play darts!" So shouted Mirana, who had just regained her energy.

"Yeah!"

We then changed to the place to play darts.

Needless to say, I hit bullseyes without missing a single throw. The victory today belongs to me.

***

[07:00 PM]

[Academy]

Zaiden sat on the bench in Academy's park while looking at the sky. He was exhausted after playing with his friends all day long.

"Vincent Dihart." He muttered the name of a boy who had just become his friend. "I can't remember him in the story. This world is real, so I know that not everything is the same with the novel. But… at least the location of the artifacts and what happened in the world is still the same as in the novel."

He had been in this world since fifteen years ago and had made a lot of friends.

When he was a year old, he suddenly regained the memories from his previous life. He knew this world as it was the world within one of the novels that he read, 'Awakener's Dead Harem.'

He knew that he was the main character from his name, and he had saved his childhood friend from the monster outbreak. Not only that, he had secured the Artifacts hidden in the Academy ground.

However, the real story hasn't started yet. In three weeks, he would be awakened as an Awakener. The main story would start, and he would face a lot of trials.

There was one thing that he hated in the novel called 'Awakener's Dead Harem.' They were the heroines.

They all died in the story because they were involved with the protagonist.

That was why the first thought that he had when he realized that he had reincarnated in this world was to save them.

"It's my responsibility to save them." He clenched his fist. He had a determined look as he lowered his face.

At that moment, a familiar voice called out to him from the side.

"Oh, Zaiden?"

Zaiden looked up and saw Vincent in a tracksuit. His body was drenched in sweat, as he made a small running motion while looking at him.

"Vincent? Are you always training at this hour? We were just back from hanging out; why don't you take it easy for now?"

"Nah, I can't do that." Answered Vincent with a smile. "I can't rest easily because I need to get stronger."

Zaiden smiled back at Vincent. "I see."

He understood the desire to get stronger. He also wanted to get stronger, as only he could save the world from danger in the future.

That was why he trained hard in the morning.

But, seeing Vincent, who trained himself even at night, a desire to train harder was lit within him.

He stood up and stretched his arms.

"I guess I will run too. Can I join you?"

"Feel free too. I still have 10 laps left."

"Well then, I will join you on your last 10 laps."

"Then, let's go. We can talk while we are running." Vincent then ran first, leaving Zaiden behind.

Without wasting a second, Zaiden followed Vincent, and they ran side by side.