Hiro's analyze snapped through them one by one, displaying the info he needed.
Name: Street Gangster
Level: 14
Type: Urban Pest
Affiliation: Hostile Detection too low. Figure it out yourself, chump.
Special: Same old story.
Resistances: See above.
Secret: Not seeing squat with your current stats.
Then, the second gangster's info popped up.
Bloodthirsty Psycho
Level: 35
Type: City Nightmare
Affiliation: Hostile Detection insufficient. Good luck guessing.
Special: Haha, nope. [Pro tip: start running. Like right now.]
Weakness: I don't know.
Resistances: You're toast.
Secret: Stats not there yet. Better luck next life.
Finally, the third scan.
Plush Paradise Owner
Level: ???
Type: Legit Vendor
Affiliation: Hostile Detection too low for details.
Special: Feel bad for the poor guy. Bro's just p*ssy whipped.
Weakness: Locked.
Resistances: Locked.
Secret: Not happening.
Hiro's blood turned to ice at the realization of their predicament. He yanked at Hanako's grip, trying to bolt. "Let go, now! I'm not dying over this bullshit."
The level 35 lunatic cracked his knuckles, voice a gravelly snarl. "Come here, you little shit. We're gonna pulp you. Grind you into paste. MEAT PASTE!"
Behind the counter of a nearby stall, the teddy bear shop owner who was still simpy-eyed, frantically yelled into his phone, probably summoning more city enforcers.
Hanako didn't budge, planting her feet with one hand still locked on Hiro's arm while the other rose, palm glowing soft pink.
"If they kill me, I'm coming back as the world's pettiest ghost," Hiro muttered, pulse hammering. The thugs closed in, leering at Hanako with tongues lolling like starving dogs.
[Hanako has activated Cleansing Pulse!]
[Charm status removed from 3 enemies!]
The trio blinked hard, grunts turning to confused groans. The psycho scratched his head. "The fuck was I doing? Chasing some kid for no reason? I need a stiff drink. Bernie, you in?"
"Make it three," the plush shop owner mumbled, shaking off the haze. And just like that, they shuffled off into the crowd, muttering about bad days and dive bars.
Hanako lowered her hand, exhaling. "Let's move. That silver-haired pest slipped away again." Hiro's stomach sank.
That girl is a walking charisma nuke and they'd let her loose in Sato City?
Just a recipe for disaster. He needed countermeasures. Like some sort of skill, or item, or anything to block that area-wide mind-fuck. If he can't, he'd end up bankrupt, dead, or worse: both.
Quietly, he swore to himself: never go out broke. Dying poor was for suckers.
He'd rather be a rich loser than a broke sucker.
They regrouped with Kaito and Lumina a few blocks over, under the shadow of a towering skyscraper. Hiro laid out the near-death scam fiasco. Kaito's expression stayed cool, but his eyes sharpened.
"We'll handle her eventually," he said. "For now, priority is making our mystery man here less of a liability."
Hiro shot him a glare, but Kaito just held that infuriating blank stare.
He shook his head. "Privileged assholes," he grumbled, brushing past.
[Kaito and Lumina have temporarily joined your party!]
Against Hiro's half-assed objections, the group invaded his apartment. Kaito didn't look impressed, which suited Hiro just fine because Lord knows he wasn't fishing for approval.
The girls, though?
Hanako moved around with curiosity, touching a shelf here, glancing out the window there. Lumina bounced on the couch, electric-blue hair flaring under the lights.
Rin's texts pinged nonstop. She even sent a "call me?" text which he dodged with a lame excuse about timing. Part of him considered inviting her, but this was war prep, not a chill session.
At eight sharp, the system chimed like it was waiting for its cue.
[Quest completed. Reward: 20 EXP and $20.]
[New Quest: Patrol the treacherous midnight streets of Sato City. Quest is Mandatory and cannot opt out. Reward: $50 and 150 EXP.]
"Time to roll," Kaito said, already heading for the door.
"Who appointed you captain?" Hiro shot back, but Kaito's blank stare killed the heat. "Kidding. Let's move."
"Your jokes need work, rookie," Kaito deadpanned, stepping into the hall. Hiro muttered some creative curses under his breath but followed anyway.
Outside, under the hum of floating street lamps, Hiro summoned his short sword from the system inventory. The sword materialized in a faint shimmer of spirit energy.
The group jolted back with their eyes wide, staring like he'd pulled a dragon from his pocket.
"You just… conjured a sword from nowhere," Lumina breathed, reaching out to touch the hilt. "It's solid. Real steel. How?"
Hiro blinked. They had no clue about inventories? Should he say something or play mysterious?
Malphas's warning echoed in his mind to make friends.
'Fuck it,' he thought, not caring.
"You guys don't have storage space?"
"Storage?" Hanako echoed, tilting her head.
"One of my abilities, I guess," Hiro said, shrugging. "It's called Dimensional pocket. There's list stuff I stored in it in my head. When I think about it, poof, out comes the item I want."
Kaito's cool cracked for a second with actual excitement flashing. "That's… insanely useful." He cleared his throat, resetting to neutral. "Details?"
Hiro smirked, savoring the win. "Basics only. Can't spill all my tricks." Hanako and Lumina's eyes sparkled with that starry awe that made him uncomfortable. There was that hero worship trope. He's just a guy trying to survive.
"Enough gawking," he said. "We'll be here till dawn at this rate."
He sighed and they made their way into the night.
Sato City's underbelly woke up after dark where the shadows grew thick between glowing billboards, alleyways echoed with distant bass from underground clubs, and the occasional patrol drone whir overhead.
Two blocks in, trouble spawned quite literally from a ripple in the air. It was a squat creature that materialized.
It was blue-skinned with pointed ears twitching, and standing maybe three feet tall with softball-sized yellow eyes and midnight slits for pupils. It only wore a ragged loincloth that looked comically out of place, glaring up at them.
Hiro analyzed quick.
Lesser Gremlin
Level: 10
Type: Minor Fiend
He dismissed the rest, maybe learning from the system's sass. It wasn't worth the read tonight.
[Your party has entered combat!]
Hiro lunged, channeling Vital Thrust into his steel blade which then flashed with precision. The gremlin sidestepped with surprising agility, cackling in a high-pitched squeak.
"Bold meat sacks, coming at me like that," it taunted. "Allow me to return the favor."
Its foot shot up, nailing Hiro square in the groin with pinpoint cruelty. Pain exploded in a white-hot, nauseating wave. He crumpled immediately, wheezing a high-pitched yelp, and curling up in agony.
"I dub this the Ball Buster," the gremlin crowed, doubling over in laughter.
[Critical hit!]
[Hiro's HP has dropped to 78%.]
[Hiro is stunned!]
Kaito shook his head. "If you're gonna flex with pocket dimensions, at least don't drop your guard down there."
Hiro groaned through the haze, catching the women's sympathetic winces and barely hidden facepalms.
After that, Kaito blurred in unnatural speed throwing a right hook punch that launched the gremlin skyward like a rocket. A massive sapphire star-heart burst from Lumina, slamming into it to finish it in an explosion of cosmic light.
[Battle victory! Reward: 50 EXP and $20.]
Hanako's hand found his shoulder, warmth flowing that was both gentle and restorative.
[Your HP fully restored.]
The pain ebbed instantly. Hiro stood, dignity bruised worse than his body. "Yeah… that happened."
Hanako's giggle was soft, almost musical. "Reminds me of Kaito and the rampaging boar incident."
Kaito flashed over, clapping a hand over her mouth. "Not a word. Or I'll bring up the beach festival disaster."
She muffled a laugh as he released her. "Truce, truce."
Kaito exhaled in mock relief.
The patrol pressed on, until seven squat figures emerged from an alley ahead; pumpkin-headed brutes with vines trailing like whips and marching in eerie unison like possessed soldiers. Orange glows pulsed from their carved eyes.
Hiro gripped his sword tighter. "We've got company."