Patience is Key

Following the discovery that Kirou made, he didn't immediately try to put any of his thoughts into action. As for the reason behind this, Kirou wanted to verify the feasibility of his plans once again, as well as obtain more information. And for that reason, Kirou led his newly tamed pet towards the underground cavern using the original entrance.

The duo had managed to come across many monsters along the way towards the cave entrance but both Kirou and Asura made quick work of these creatures. By the time the duo had arrived at the underground cave, another hour had passed as Kirou once again mined out all the mineral resource points that they came across. During this action, Kirou was greeted to the surprise of seeing Asura excavating mineral ores on its own at those mineral resource points. This further gave Kirou hope of his new long term plan for the future was within his sights.

Upon seeing the giant badger mole cub swaggering in with Kirou, the two clones only glanced at it before looking away while the two creatures looked at the badger mole with peculiar gazes. While it may not seem like it with how they work with him, both creatures still retained the memories they had of fighting Kirou before they were tamed. Looking at the creature with a curious expression on its face, both were wondering how it could manage to make such an expression after experiencing their master's terrifying fighting ability.

Kirou paid no attention to his pets' strange behavior and just told Asura to go play while he went over back to the forge to deal with all those ores he had recently obtained. Before leaving the creature on its own, however, Kirou made sure to give Asura, along with Shadow Arachne and Tank a bowl of stew made from female boar meat. While Tank and Shadow Arachne were looking at the bowls in confusion, Asura dug into its bowl very quickly and finished it just as fast. It then turned its head towards the other two who swiftly grabbed their bowls before leaving the area, leaving a pouting Asura to go sit by the lake.

And like that, Kirou spent the next few hours processing materials while his clones and pets went about doing their own things.

******

At roughly six the next morning, Kirou removed his gaming headset and sat up in his bed. He allowed a few seconds to pass before his eyes regained their focus and he got out of bed. As usual, he did his routine stretches for roughly fifteen minutes before he went to the bathroom to wash up and take care of his standard morning bathroom routines.

Roughly an hour later, Kirou left his apartment and made his way towards the subway station. During his trip, he kept feeling a tug within his mind, as if there was something that he was forgetting about. After thinking about it for a few minutes and not being able to remember what it was, Kirou just threw the thought to the back of his mind.

Kirou's attitude towards the issue bugging him went like this, 'If it's important, I'll remember when the time comes and if it isn't, then so be it.' Like that, Kirou continued on his trip to the subway station, completely forgetting about the challenge he had issued to that college pickpocket, Su Jinya.

*********

By the time that Kirou had arrived at the subway station, he was already acutely aware that someone was watching him. While the stare didn't possess the kind of hostile intent that he was used to during his previous life, he was familiar with this kind of stare. It took Kirou a few seconds to remember why he felt that this stare was familiar and after doing so, a smile formed on his face.

Kirou acted as if he wasn't aware of the person watching his every move with a simple smile on his face while inwardly he was thinking, 'So that's the reason for that nagging feeling I got earlier. Today's the start of her training and with all the stuff I've been doing in-game these last few days I completely forgot about it. Interesting. Since that's the case, I'll go easy on her this time.' Following the end of that thought, Kirou took out his smartphone and made it look like he was browsing the web.

Roughly ten meters away, blending in with the crowd around her, Su Jinya was staring at Kirou with the eyes of a predator, stalking its prey. That being said, Su Jinya wasn't in any rush to confront Kirou at the moment. She was keenly aware of how big the gap was between the two of them are at the moment. With that thought in mind, instead of just going in blindly and being forced to go the entire day without an item, possibly one that she would really need, she would rather spend time observing Kirou before making her move.

While thinking like this, a small blush had unconsciously formed on her face as she remembered the end of the note she was given while in the dessert shop. She forced herself to calm down as she thought to herself, 'I'll definitely get back at that perverted bastard. That being said, I should probably make some preparations ahead of time so that if he really does try to take something, it won't be anything important.'

Though Su Jinya thought like this, there was something within the back of her mind secretly hoping for Kirou to make good on his promise. In fact, if it were possible for someone to see through Su Jinya's current attire, they would realize that she was currently wearing underwear in a very bold and solid color, following the advice that Kirou had offhandedly given her on that day.

That being said, this is a discussion for another time as Kirou's train had arrived and he boarded it without facing the expected challenge from Su Jinya.

******

As Kirou strolled through the entrance of the game studio's lobby, he had a somewhat peculiar smile on his face. Most people that he passed by only took a glance at him before looking away while there were the odd few that were speculating on the cause of the smile.

As for the person in question, Kirou was busy thinking about the meaning behind Su Jinya's actions earlier. If the reason she held back after watching him for so long this morning was the reason that he was thinking of, how could he not have a smile on his face? 'It seems like she has potential. Interesting. I wonder how long she'll be able to keep this up before launching an attack?'

After that thought had gone through Kirou's mind, he shook his head slightly before walking into the security office on the second floor. In there, he greeted everyone before going to the changing room to put on his security uniform. When he got out, Kirou clocked in and started his shift at work.

**********

Yin Jia Rong or Secretary Yin as most of the people in the studio calls her, had arrived at the studio quite early, so she too had seen the smile on Kirou's face as he entered the building. While she was a bit curious at the sight, she kept the expression on her face neutral as she greeted Kirou in passing. He had returned the greeting and both went their separate ways without another word to each other.

Unfortunately for Secretary Yin, however, was that as soon as she left, a few of the gossip mongers started linking her to Kirou's smile. What's worse was that as soon as Secretary Yin returned to the floor with her office on it, she was greeted by the sight of Shen Jiang standing by the entrance to her office, waiting for her.

Secretary Yin wanted to scowl at the sight of the man but when she remembered what was about to be discussed in the meeting later that day, she allowed herself to calm down. There was even a ghost of a smile on her lips as she approached the office which went unseen by everyone as they all had their eyes focused on their computers, trying their best to avoid looking at Secretary Yin at the moment. Everyone was aware that Secretary Yin hated dealing with Shen Jiang while Shen Jiang was interested in the bespectacled beauty. They knew better than to allow him to be waiting for her at her office door but someone had allowed him in and none of the other secretaries, no matter how brave and curious, were willing to deal with the head secretary's wrath for allowing someone she hates to get so close to her workspace.

As soon as Secretary Yin got close to her office door, Shen Jiang decided that it was time for him to speak up, "Good morning, Secretary Yin. How was your weekend?" Shen Jiang asked this knowing full well what he did to her over the weekend. He did so with the intent of both mocking her and seeing a ticked-off expression.

Contrary to his expectations, Secretary Yin wasn't angered by his words. In fact, she even allowed a sweet smile to grace her face as she stared at Shen Jiang, momentarily distracting him from seeing the mirth in her eyes. With her objective achieved, she slipped by Shen Jiang and entered her office, closing the door behind her. Just as the door was about to slam shut, however, it was stopped for a bit and Shen Jiang could hear Secretary Yin's words from the other side, "My weekend was quite spectacular, Gamer Shen. I got to witness a few clowns performing from up close. I have to go now as I have work to do now so I won't see you out. That being said, I do look forward to the guild meeting later on." Following those words, Secretary Yin closed the door to her office, leaving Shen Jiang lost in a daze, still thinking about her sweet smile.

Shen Jiang stayed like that for a few moments before he finally sobered up. He took a look back at the office door while picturing Secretary Yin who was now working behind it. After deliberating for a few moments, Shen Jiang adopted his usual office smile before turning away from the door and leaving the Secretarial Department. As he left, he allowed the words that Secretary Yin spoke earlier to play over in his mind.

Due to the smile that Secretary Yin had given him, Shen Jiang only noticed the words that entered his ears but failed to recognize the mirth that was in her eyes, nor the tone she had said it in. If he had any idea as to what was heading his way, Shen Jiang might have done his best to return the item he coerced from her but alas, it would be too late by the time he notices. While it had sounded normal, maybe even sweet to his ears, the other secretaries in the department got goosebumps all over their bodies when they heard it.

While they had no idea what the two were talking about, those secretaries knew Secretary Yin. A cold tone or the lack of one from Secretary Yin is her standard method for dealing with people she dislikes but the moment she starts acting sweet, that was the moment it meant that something big was about to happen. A few secretaries genuinely thought about warning Shen Jiang of the impending crisis but all the secretaries could see that Secretary Yin was eyeing them from her office, just waiting for someone to move. Some secretaries may have the hots for Shen Jiang but none were willing to lose their jobs over it so they all kept their heads down and focused on their work.

As for Secretary Yin, after giving her staff the death glare from inside her office and getting the response she wanted, she did a quick nod before starting on her own work. For now, she had a few things she needed to prepare for with her branch guild, along with thinking of possible methods she could use to entice a certain someone she and the top brass of the guild in-game will be meeting later.