*KNOCK*
*KNOCK*
A soft knock was heard in Andrew's hospital room. "Mr. Kim?" A soft muffled voice came from the other side.
The nurse didn't hear anything from inside. She thought he was sleeping in. She honestly thought he was sleeping. So, imagine her shock as she pushed the breakfast cart into the room, that the room is completely devoid of Ji-ho Kim. His bed is made and his hospital gown is laid out, folded neatly on the bed.
She groaned when she saw this. "Seriously, again? Where did he run off too, now?" This isn't the first time a nurse came to his room to find it vacant. In fact, it's become a sort of daily occurrence. However, as much as she's unhappy on him disappearing again, she's glad to see that he's improving. Even if his improvement is entirely... unnatural to say the least.
She grabbed his plate off the cart and placed onto his night stand, but just when she walked past the open window, she caught movement outside. She stopped and was shocked to see what she saw. It was Ji-ho Kim, jogging at a slow pace.
The feelings she felt wasn't awe or wonder, but at the same time it wasn't anger or hatred at the sight of him. Instead, a small part of her felt happy that the young man was exercising. She's also glad that she didn't walk in on him doing sit-ups like last time. She remembers, scolding him big time for that.
But she's glad he's taken up running. It would definitely do him some good, instead of staying cooped up in this room all day.
(Scene Change):
Andrew plopped down on a bench, completely drenched. He heaved and he panted, trying to slow down his rapid heart. On top of that he was sore all over. "Ah... man..." Was all he could muster up to say, before he went back to gasping for air like a fish out of water. He looked up to sky and saw the clouds. It helped to calm down his heart rate.
[QUEST INFO]
[DAILY QUEST: BODY STRENGTHENING HAS ARRIVED]
[GOAL]
1. PUSH-UPS [100/100]
2. SIT-UPS [100/100]
3. SQUATS [100/100]
4. RUNNING [10/10KM]
[SUCCESS!!]
Andrew looked at his success with pride. 'It's been nearly a month since I first woke up in this world. After my first run-in with the centaurs, I made it a priority to finish the daily quest, no matter what. As much as I want to go back to the penalty zone, I know I still can't take on an army yet.' He thought as he flexed his arm. He felt the strength in it, and it honestly made him feel good.
'During that time, I realised two things about the system. It really does have a mind of its own. It was only a week after my first penalty that the system changed the goals on the body strengthening mission. With this new body I could barely finish the old set, but this then made me realise another thing about it: it's a real slave driver. But I'm not gonna complain. The results are coming in, nicely. I'm just glad this isn't a different system.' Andrew thought as he looked down at himself.
'Oh yeah, it was nice of Nabi to bring me new clothes.' Andrew examined the T-shirt and shorts, but he couldn't help but cringe. 'As if there wasn't enough evidence that this guy was nerd.' The cute magical girl on a pink background, surrounded my clouds and a rainbow made his skin crawl the first time he locked eyes on it. Considering it brought up a memory of a certain level 1000 otaku crossdresser in the anime.
But right now, it's covered in sweat so it can be tolerated at least, however he's definitely buying new clothes. On another note, the shirt did feel more baggy today.
Then the screen changed again:
[QUEST REWARDS]
[1. FULL RECOVERY]
[2. ABILITY POINTS X3]
[3. RANDOM LOOT BOX]
[ACCEPT THESE REWARDS?]
[YES/NO]
Checking to see if no-one was around, he luckily found nobody. "Yeah, activate Full recovery." Andrew immediately felt his fatigue disappear again, but he was more glad to find the soreness gone. "Oh yeah, that's the spot. All right, time to look at my status." He turned to the second window and saw how many ability points to use.
But what really toot his own horn, was the sight of his stats.
[STATUS]
[LEVEL 1]
[HP: 100/100]
[FATIGUE: 0]
[STR: 20]
[AGI: 15]
[PER: 10]
[VIT: 10]
[INT: 15]
[ABILITY POINTS: 12]
'Nice! I have more ability points to use. I always try to keep a few stored before I use them. Which makes moments like these all the more worth it!'
"Put everything into strength." And with that the ability point count dropped to zero.
[STR: 20 -> 32]
Even though he didn't feel the effects at all, the sight of his stats increasing almost made him want to go another round. However, he knows that everyone would find it strange. Andrew already heard the rumours going around the entire hospital. Talks of the 'miracle teen' going around between the nurses. They already think it's weird enough for him to train at this level of intensity, so if they see him, immediately perform at an even higher level then who knows what will happen. 'I think I'll try it at a different time.'
He looks up to see the window still has one reward showing. The Random Loot box. 'Oh right! Almost forgot. Best go back inside then.' Andrew then left the bench and walked back to his room.
(Scene Change):
Back in his room, Andrew had switched his clothes back to the hospital gown and sat on the bed. After finishing the last bit of breakfast on the plate, he summoned the system screen again to show him his reward.
"Give me the loot box." Andrew asked with his hand held out. In a flash of light, appeared a simple looking red box wrapped in a yellow ribbon. He stared at it for a second, hoping it was something good this time.
The ribbon started to unwrap itself from the box, moving like two snakes and when the finally came off, the box then opened up, revealing a yellow light that shined in the palm of his hand. When the light disappeared, all that was left in its place was a small vial filled with red liquid. A small screen floated above it, calling it a Healing Potion.
Andrew just stared at, blankly. "Really? Another one. Give me a break." He said as he summoned the inventory screen and put the vial in. After absorbing the vial, the number increased to thirty. "I was hoping it would be something like a instant dungeon key or a dagger! But not this! If I get anymore I would have to start selling them." Andrew said before his landed on the pillow.
It's not like he doesn't appreciate having healing potions on hand. However, it's starting to seem like that is all the system is going to give him as a reward. In a way, he can't be angry or ungrateful because considering the amount he currently holds, he could be ready for whatever quest the system might have in store for him, in the future. 'But still, there's nothing wrong with getting a cool weapon or skill or something!' That was honestly what he was hoping to get.
His grumbling did not continue before he heard a hard knock against his door. A second later, the door opened to reveal the doctor, with a clipboard under his arm.
"Good morning!" The doctor said, giving him a smile that looks like he's hiding something underneath. "I heard you had a nice run. It's good to hear someone so young taking their health seriously."
It felt good for Andrew to hear him say that. Most of the nurses started to nag him about it. "Thanks, doctor." He looked and tried to guess what the doctor was holding underneath his arm. "Are those my results?"
"Erm no. These are my notes." He said as he took Andrew's paperwork out of the folder, next to his bed. He walked back to the small desk positioned at the foot of his bed, and started to work.
"Oh, but what did my results say? You did take a lot of blood, doc." Andrew asked.
"Yes, and they all came back relatively normal. I'm actually quite impressed."
"Really?"
"Yes. I must admit, when I received your first results, I was caught off guard because of your..." He stopped that sentence, but Andrew could tell what he wanted to say.
"Girth? Size? Chunky? Husky? Meaty?... Fat?" Andrew asked trying to fill in the blanks. Which only made the doctor more uncomfortable. Even until the point that he picked up his notes, with his information and aimed for the door. But before he could leave, Andrew stopped him.
"Look, doc. If I'm being honest, I understand. I mean, when I woke up, I was kind of... amazed at my size." Andrew calculated every word that was about to leave his mouth. Not wanting to blurt out the truth. "But, I promise I'm gonna take my health seriously. I don't wanna end up back here again."
The doctor paused for a moment, mulling over what the young Ji-ho said. The doctor had to admit, it was nice to hear a young man promising to be more vigilant when it comes to his health. Usually he would just write it off as something a child would say, who in reality just wants to leave the hospital as quickly as possible.
"I'm glad to hear that. But do try to take it easy. You can hurt yourself just as well from exercising too much, you know." With that the doctor left.
'Tell that to the system. He's probably gonna to start on the discharge forms.' Andrew was nervous at the thought of leaving. He became more anxious about it over the month. He asked himself a lot of questions once. He would have liked to ask his new 'sister' about it, but every time he tried to, he would shut down and make stupid observations about the weather.
It frustrated him, because it wasn't like he was shy or anything, but on the other hand how could he do that? He always gets this feeling that he's intruding into someone else's life. Does he even have the right to know?
Before he could be sucked into that rabbit hole again, he softly slapped his cheeks with both palms. 'Nope! Whenever I'm with Nabi, I should just focus on playing the part of an amnesiac little brother.' It would be easier than outright telling her, he's the soul of a dead young man from another universe. If he did, he can already the imagine another set of hospital walls, but this time with no freedom and a straight jacket.
'However, if this were any other world, that would have been my toughest task.' Andrew thought as he got off the bed and walked to the window. 'If I tell her the truth, there may not be a guarantee that I would end up in the looney bin. If the other residents of this world find out about my origins and my powers, who knows what problems that would cause. I could be on the receiving end of a three-way, tug-of-war and I only have two arms. That's only thinking about the top three factions.' Every time Andrew thought about them, he always comes up with nothing.
After all, they are the factions of Angels, Fallen Angels and Devils. These guys have been in a three-way deadlock for centuries. Probably even millennia. He can't deceive them or force them to do anything, even with power. In the end, war is something he doesn't want. The casualties would number in the trillions if such a war would kick off.
It's already bad enough that there are superpowers like that behind the scenes, but Andrew also knows about the morons trying to reach that very goal. If they found out him, it would a strong possibility that they would do anything to either get him on their side or kill him. 'To start off, based on what I remember, there is - Raynare and the other rogue members of the Grigori. To be honest, I don't even know in what part of the story I spawned into. For all I know, she could have already killed Issei. However, still they are the most likely suspects in Ji-ho's death. But killing them would at best get me on Azazel's radar and that's a headache I would like to avoid. So how on earth can I-'
But just before he could finish plotting, the door opened again. Turning, he saw another nurse with Nabi standing in the hall. "The doctor will be here to speak with you two, once he's finished." Nabi thanked her before she walked away.
"Oh, hey sis!" Andrew said. That felt like he was trying too hard. He's wondered what kind of guy Ji-ho was before he died, but alas you can't find personality traits on his general information. Unless the doctors were feeling vindictive.
"Hi Ji-ho!" But nonetheless, Nabi was happy to hear him. "I heard the nurses talking earlier. Is it true you took up jogging?" She wasted no time in asking that.
"Hehe yeah, I felt a little claustrophobic being cooped up in this room." Did he sound a little too natural there? At this point, Andrew's just winging it.
"That's great! Oh wow, you also lost weight!" Okay she sounded way too happy, saying that. But Andrew didn't pay much attention to her words. He noticed she walked in here with two large, plastic bags in each hand. They looked like new clothes. 'Wow, it's like she was sent.'
"Okay! Here's the good news. The doctor told me, you're being discharged today, so I went to pick up some new clothes for you!" She then took out, five pairs of identical looking clothes. They look like school clothes. Andrew felt the pants, and it kind of reminds him of the material for his old school uniform.
The uniform consisted of a black blazer with white accents running down the edges of the collars and on the ends of the sleeves; a white, long-sleeved, button shirt with black vertical linings; a black ribbon; black pants and shoes, still kept each in their own boxes on the floor. "Whoa, are these school clothes?" Andrew asked, trying to feign ignorance.
"Yup." Nabi said. "The school sent them. I didn't know when you were gonna leave here, so I asked them to drop these off, while we wait." Andrew was touched. She really looks like the responsible-sibling type. However, looking the uniforms themselves, made him realise what he wanted to confirm.
"What school do I go to?" Andrew asked.
For a split second, Nabi looked kind of sad, but it was gone the next second. "It's Kuoh Academy." Andrew only looked confused on the outside, but on the inside he already knew it.
"Oh cool. But wait, what month are we in?" Nabi kept her smile, even though Andrew can see she's holding back a lot of sadness.
"It's March. You're... supposed to start your third year, in April." He was surprised. But then, Andrew saw her sadness coming to the surface, about to break through. Her throat tightened, and her eyes burned thanks to tears, threatening to come out. She turned away, not wanting her little brother to look at her.
But Andrew could only feel his own wave of sadness when he looks at her. Some part of him wanted to hug her, but another part felt that was inappropriate. Overall, he didn't like to see her so sad. Instead, he moved to put a hand on her shoulder.
She felt the tender grip on her shoulder and was surprised. "It's okay, Nabi. I'm okay. Look, I know I... died. And it was scary. It scared me too, when I was out. But I'm back now. Look at me! I'm as healthy as a horse now. So, don't be sad." It felt uncomfortable to say that. For Andrew to act like Ji-ho Kim and try to comfort his 'sister', did not feel right to him. Did Ji-ho even act like this, when he was alive?
"I'm not sad." Nabi finally said, through chokes and snorts. But when she turned around, Andrew was taken aback. Her face was pinched and wrinkled to the point she looked like a completely different person. Her eyes had two large streams of tears running down on her wrinkled cheeks and there was even snot dripping out of her nose. "I'm just happy, you're alive." The snot moved a little when she said that.
Andrew couldn't hold back at all and let out this belly-aching laugh. It was so loud, it could even be heard from outside the building. Nabi's face contorted again, but this time in annoyance as she fished for a tissue in her bag. When she finally got one, Andrew was rolling on the floor, holding his stomach. "Ho!! I can't breathe... I can't breathe!!"
"You jerk!!" Nabi yelled into her tissue. "You always do this!!"
It was good to hear, that he and Ji-ho shared a love of laughing at the ridiculous. That will definitely help him blend in.
"Haha... ow. Ok, I'm sorry. It's just... *snort* that booger looked like it was going to hypnotize me." Andrew said. The joke didn't land though. Nabi just turned away with a huff and a clear pout. But her little brother still tried to stiffen his laughter.
'Wow, she looks adorable.'
The situation could not go on, however, as the doctor finally returned. "Ah, hello Miss Seongwoo! It's good you're here." He then saw Andrew on the floor. "What are you doing on the floor?"
"Uh..."
"Ji-ho, get up!" Nabi said. Andrew scrambled to his feet and made got himself ready for a long-winded, scientific explanation.
(Scene Change):
After a long talk with that doctor, Nabi and Ji-ho/Andrew finally the left. They left in silence, but the doctor pretty much explained what Andrew was hoping for. After some research and consulting with colleagues, the doctor said, Ji-ho is suffering from retrograde memory loss, brought on by a traumatic event. The more accurate term is PTA or Post-Traumatic Amnesia. Andrew thought it would be a good cover for his lack of knowledge about Ji-ho's life.
Other than that, the doctor said Ji-ho has made a full recovery.
While Nabi signed the discharge papers at the front desk, Andrew put on new clothes, which unfortunately was just a different otaku shirt with a pair of jeans that was a little too big now. The only way to hold them up was for Andrew to have his hands in his pockets, since he didn't have a belt. The only things that fit him are his size 10 sneakers.
When they were walking to the car, Andrew was trying to visualize it. What was the model? Is it a sportscar or a normal family vehicle? But when he saw the actual car, he couldn't believe it. It was a plain white, 2012 Honda Odyssey. Basically a soccer mom's car! 'It looks like it's good condition, but damn!!'
But he got in without making a fuss. The interior looked great. Nabi knows how to look after her stuff. When the saw the car, he thought there was going to wrappers or something else littered everywhere, but luckily not.
After that, they left parking lot and drove away from the hospital. Andrew couldn't help but feel a little giddy as he's checking out all the sights. Despite knowing about what goes on behind the scenes, this town looked rather homely. It looked just like in the anime.
His opinion did change a little, when they passed a street that had all the love hotels, lining down. From a glimpse, he could see a lot of men with women looking like they are exiting the gathering place of debauchery. 'Seriously?'
But like a switch, the scenery changed again and once more he saw the homely setting. This time though, he didn't take in the sights anymore. His eyes were looking at town. The people and the buildings, but his mind was somewhere else. On the things he might do in order to survive this aggro-horny world, in order to protect himself and by extension Nabi.
Before long, they turned down a normal looking neighbourhood. Each house was two-stories, with a terrace on some of them. Their shapes were different. But their colours, looked relatively the same. But in essence, this looked like your typical suburban neighbourhood. Good for families and it didn't look like it was far from anything.
However, his sight-seeing came to a slow, gradual stop and then he heard Nabi unbuckling. Andrew followed suit and got out of the car. He grabbed the bags from the trunk, despite Nabi's protests to do it herself.
When he looked up at the two-story house, he was in awe. The house itself was painted in plain white, but the size surely made up for everything else. Looking up, he noticed a balcony with a sliding-glass door. "Wow, is this our house?" Andrew asked. Nabi looked at him with a small smile.
"Yup. Come on, I'll show you where your room is."
"Wait, are our parents home?" Nabi got sad again.
"No. It's just us." Andrew could tell in her voice, how painful that line of questioning might be and voted against doing it.
'I should probably be smart about this. Better hold off on that for later.'
They entered the house in relative silence. But the second he did, he nearly walked further down the hall with his shoes on, stopping only when he noticed Nabi taking hers off. He quickly copied the motion before stepping on the smooth, wooden floors. Nabi was the first to exit the hallway, but Andrew took his time. He looked at the pictures on the wall. Each one, only showed him and Nabi standing together. In everyone of them, Nabi looked cheerful, either trying to hug Ji-ho or doing something whacky around.
Ji-ho on the hand, looked like he would rather be doing something else. In every picture, he had this sad, miserable look on his chubby face. His hair was a mess and his uniform made him look like a slob. On one particular photo that showed him standing in front of a school gate. Again he looked unkempt and his sister is doing a peace sign, while leaning on him. The plaque on the wall behind them, read: Seoul Private Academy.
'Wow Ji-ho! Way to look miserable even with your life.' Their lives were definitely different. Compared to Ji-ho, Andrew felt like a bum. So, it drove him up a wall, seeing him look so pathetic.
"Ji-ho!" Andrew heard.
"Coming!" He hurried along, before he entered a room to his right. It was the living room. He was met with a big-screen tv with a large, L-shaped couch in front of it. 'Oh this is awesome!!' Andrew practically drooled over it.
He saw movement in his peripheral and turned left. Nabi was standing behind a counter, in the kitchen. "Sorry! I stared at the pictures."
Nabi giggled. For her, it was nice of him to do so. She secretly worried that Ji-ho might be uncomfortable when he came back to their house, but to hear him be so curious about his life before his death, made her happy. "It's fine, Ji-ho. I'm gonna get started on lunch. It's your favourite."
Andrew looked at her with a small sense of curiosity. What was this guy's favourite? By the look of him, Andrew thought it would be anything deep fried in tar.
*Growl*
On que, Andrew felt a rumble in his stomach. "Yeah, sounds good. Can I check out my room? I wanna put these away." Andrew asked, showing the multiple bags.
"Sure. It's upstairs. Second room on your right." Andrew thanked her and went to find the stairs. He went back down the hallway and found the stairs leading up to the second floor. When he reached the top, he followed the directions and found the room.
The door was, unlike the plaster walls, was made out of brown wood. It even had a sign on it, saying: Ji-ho. Unfortunately, the only normal thing about his room that Andrew could see, because when he opened it, he was met with a pitch black room. 'Why the hell are the curtains closed? It's pitch black in here' Andrew thought.
The floor was soft, almost like he had carpet floors. He managed to find the bed to drop the bags on and then went back to finding a light switch. Andrew went with his gut and found the switch next to the door. Flicking it on, he was met with the a strange sight.
The entire room was decorated in everything anime. The walls were a light blue, with a pink ceiling. On the left side of the bed was a life-size, cardboard cut-out of a magical girl. The same one on many of his T-shirts. It scared him a little. On the right side of the bed, the entire wall had shelves on them. Five to be exact. On each shelf, separated at a precise distance, are many figurines of... magical girls.
Behind him was his PC setup, which all things considered, looked pretty good, but some part of him still advised caution. Left of the setup, was another five rows, with figurines on them. He turned to take a look at the closet, which was on the right from the door. The doors were painted pink, like the ceiling and carpet floor.
Despite the warning signals in his brain, Andrew wanted to see what was in there. He walked to them, but stopped just before opening one of the doors. With the amount of danger he's sensing, he might as well be in a horror movie. Like Annabelle, looking through the closet in the movie, Mama. But he steeled his resolve and yanked the door open. It slid to the right to show many magical girl outfits on hangers. Andrew froze.
His breath caught in his throat and his eyes refusing to blink, despite the overwhelming urge to look away. He took in every detail. The different colours. The fluffy skirts. Even the stupid hats!
"Nope! FUCK THIS!!" Andrew yelled before he booked it, out of the room. 'This guy was a fucking freak!'
(Scene Change):
Later that night, Andrew sat on the living room sofa, in the dark. He had to explain to Nabi earlier, since she heard him yell and saw him running down the stairs, like someone running away from a serial killer. She was surprised to say the least. She left his room just the way it was, because she believed it might help him with his memory. However, she was quick to understand why he was freaked out.
She admitted that she never liked her brother's hobby, but she didn't know how to deal with it. From her tone, it sounded like Ji-ho was quite the brat. 'Jeez, if me and him ever saw each other, I would have probably buried him somewhere remote.' Was what he thought in that moment. But in the end, Nabi made lunch, which was just normal, instant noodles in a cup. She said it was his, Ji-ho's favourite ever since he was a kid. Andrew tried not to judge, but after everything he's seen, it was getting harder and harder to do. Still he ate it and showed his gratitude.
Before she went up to her room, he asked if he can sleep down here tonight and she said it's fine. Then she left the room and he hasn't seen her since. Now it's almost midnight.
'I gotta make a few changes. Instant noodles is nice and all. Great to have once in a while, but I think the more traditional option might offer more nutritional value. My friend, back home offered me some cupped noodles once, but he said it's second best, compared to traditional Kimchi.' He thought, but the mention of his friend brought up some nostalgia. 'I wonder how everyone's doing right now? Are mom and dad okay? Are my friends okay? I guess my boss will have to send out fliers again. I just wish I could have said goodbye, at least. Did I even tell them that I love them.'
He looked around the living room again and there was the sense that everything he's seeing right now, is his current reality. It felt like someone took the scales off his eyes. This world was fictional, and now it's real. He eyes hardened.
"Status." He whispered. The system screen popped up. He looked through his stats and wondered something. "Why don't I have any magic?" The question has been on his mind ever since he first saw this screen. "And why haven't gotten around to testing out what I can do? Jinwoo got to kill a giant snake, in just four days after the Double Dungeon event and here I am, sitting around still after a month."
It's not like he was begging to be thrown into a dangerous situation, but he still wanted to know how far he's gotten. "It's obvious, I'm stronger than an ordinary human, but how would I do against the supernatural here? I still don't know if I can even handle a stray devil or not."
It was frustrating to say the least. After all, he isn't entirely happy about his current circumstances, but he doesn't want to see himself growing strong while sitting on his ass. But how can he?
"How did Jinwoo get the key to an instance dungeon, again? Right, in a random loot box. So what, am I just supposed to wait?"
He put his head to look at the ceiling. The lights from the screen, illuminated the room with a light blue hue. He used to consider himself a very patient guy, but with this new thing in his life, he couldn't help but feel annoyed.
But before he could wallow in his restlessness any more, he heard something familiar. He looked back to see the screen changed. It showed:
[NOTIFICATION!]
[PLAYER SEEMS AGITATED. DOES PLAYER WANT TO TEST HIS STRENGTH?]
[YES/NO]
"What the?" Andrew stared at the message. He couldn't tell if he was shocked or surprised. "Did the system... listen to me?" The message didn't change, indicating that it was in fact, waiting for a response. He figured this was as good a time, as any.
"Yes."
The screen changed, saying:
[IN DUE TIME.]
[POWERS AND PRINCIPALITIES CONTROL THIS WORLD. PLAYER IS STILL NEW. THE SYSTEM WILL GUIDE PLAYER'S GROWTH, AS LONG AS PLAYER KEEPS A LOW PROFILE. UNTIL SUCH TIME, WHEN PLAYER REACHES REQUIRED STRENGTH, DUNGEONS AND OTHER FEATURES WILL REMAIN LOCKED.]
"Wait, what do you mean by that?" Andrew asked, and then he realised he might have been a little too loud.
[PLAYER MUST REACH REQUIRED STRENGTH.]
[STRENGTH IS CLOSE, BUT STILL TOO LOW FOR OFFICAL DUNGEON EXPLORATION.]
"Oh come on. Jinwoo could do that while still in the hospital. What gives?" Andrew kept his voice low this time, but there was still a noticeable growl in his tone.
[THIS IS A NEW WORLD. A DIFFERENT WORLD.]
[PLAYER MUST GROW WITHOUT DRAWING ATTENTION. POWERS AND PRINCIPALITIES WILL NOT TAKE KINDLY TO UNKNOWN THREATS.]
That statement froze him. He couldn't utter a single word even if he wanted to. After a few seconds, he regained his composure. "What do you mean? What threats?" His heartbeat got faster.
[AUTHORITIES HAVE NOTICED PLAYER'S ARRIVAL AND ARE INVESTIGATING.]
[CONTINUE DAILY QUESTS UNTIL PLAYER REACHES REQUIRED STRENGTH LEVEL.]
Then, just like that, the message screen vanished before Andrew could respond. But honestly, what could he say? The system just warned him that there are people who knows something happened. Maybe they even know about the penalty game? But how?!
His chest felt heavy.
Andrew's mind is going a million miles a minute. This was what he was worrying about. 'This is bad! If Rias Gremory finds out about me, who knows what will happen!'
He stood up and walked to the kitchen. He grabbed a glass and filled it with water before swallowing it in one big gulp. The cold tingled down his throat, calming him down. 'Okay, let's say they know about the [soul transfer] event. That doesn't mean they know about me yet. They might know something strange happened recently, but if they knew exactly, they wouldn't be investigating.' He placed the glass on the counter, before leaning on it.
'Then I guess, I have follow the system's advice. I have to take the worst case scenario into consideration and say, they might have sensed me going to the penalty zone. So I have to keep up with the quests to avoid them narrowing down their search.' However his planning halted, when he thought of something else.
'Or maybe the system is just blowing smoke. Sure, the system was designed to help the [Player], but that's only to grow stronger. That doesn't mean it cares about my well-being.' He sighed again, tucking his head to his chest.
"This is way too much. I'll just sleep on it and deal with what might happen next, tomorrow." Andrew whispered as he walked toward the couch. He grabbed a blanket, that Nabi left him and laid down on a couch pillow. It's not comfy, but it's better than getting a stiff neck against the arm, in the morning.
[TO BE CONTINUED]