Thank you, @meech for joining the memberships.
I'm truly grateful.
Bonus (1/1)
....
Chapter 145: Yui and the Little Secretary—Wife Material Traits Are No Joke!
...
Bad luck: arriving at a Safe Zone ruled by White Moon Cats.
Good luck: the "Ferocious Beast" that White Moon Cats evolve into is the White Tiger—the apex predator of the 40th Floor!
"Eh? Is there a problem?" Yui Yuigahama asked, looking utterly bewildered.
"Take a look around," Ai Hayasaka said calmly, scanning their surroundings.
Yui finally took in her environment and let out a startled cry. "Hey, hey, hey! Why is our beast sanctuary full of cats?!"
Cats as "ferocious beasts"? I may not be the smartest student, but you can't fool me like that, Yui complained internally. Hayasaka, however, remained composed and turned her gaze toward Seito.
"The bad luck was encountering cats,"
Hayasaka noted. "So, what's the good luck? Don't tell me it's just running into you, Seito-kun?"
"Of course not," Seito shook his head with a smirk. "These cats can evolve into the legendary White Tiger. Once they transform, our Safe Zone will be the most powerful on this floor."
Both girls froze.
White Tigers? Aren't those divine beasts? Why would they be classified as "ferocious beasts" here? They couldn't quite wrap their heads around it, but they didn't dwell on it for long. This was God's Domain, after all, not a book of ancient mythology.
Seeing them lost in thought, Seito quickly unsummoned Little Sun-Moon. They had seen her before, and he didn't want to overcomplicate things. As Sun-Moon vanished into the pet ring, the surrounding White Moon Cats all turned their gaze toward Seito. They now looked at him as their master—after all, he was the master of their Queen.
"I'm going to head out and hunt some beasts," Seito announced. He stepped out of the cavern, and the two girls immediately followed.
Outside the cave, the environment was daunting. Massive trees towered at least fifty meters high, their dense foliage blotting out the sun and plunging the forest into a green twilight.
Boom!
Crash!
"Awooo!!"
"Roar!!"
Violent sounds erupted nearby. Seito looked up and saw a thirty-meter-tall leopard-like beast. It had pitch-black fur and glowing scarlet eyes, looking extremely predatory. Facing it was a forty-meter-tall ape with two pairs of horns and four muscular arms, which were currently raining blows down on the leopard.
[Black Flame Leopard]
Level: 82
[Calamity Ancient Ape]
Level: 81
The stats of the two Mini-Bosses appeared in Seito's vision. The spectacle was breathtaking. The players weren't exaggerating, he thought. I just stepped out and immediately found two powerhouses.
The 40th floor was a land of treasures, but it was also a graveyard. For the strong, it was a playground; for the weak, they were nothing but cannon fodder.
Yui and Hayasaka caught up. Seeing the titanic struggle ahead, they instinctively tucked themselves behind Seito. His back felt like the safest place in the world.
"Seito-kun, should we wait to scavenge the remains?" Yui asked.
"No need to scavenge, but..." Seito turned to Yui and placed a hand on her head, gently ruffling her hair. "Yui-chan, when we're alone in the game, you can call me by my name. But when others are around, let's stick to our in-game aliases."
"Eh? I... I understand!" Yui stammered, her face flushing. The sensation of him stroking her head was... unexpectedly comfortable. It made her heart flutter like a trapped bird.
Beside them, Hayasaka gave him a dead-eyed stare. Here he goes again, the "Little Secretary" grumbled to herself. Is he planning on flirting with every single girl in our class?
"Hmm?" Seito glanced at her. Noticing her lifeless, judgmental gaze, he suddenly stepped into her personal space. Before she could react, he leaned down and pressed his forehead against hers.
"Little Secretary... are you thinking about something naughty again?"
"Ugh..." Hayasaka froze. Staring into Seito's sapphire eyes—which held that distinct golden hexagram pattern—she felt her face rapidly heating up. "I... I..."
She was speechless. She scrambled back a few steps to put distance between them. Although she acted like a love guru when advising Kaguya Shinomiya, she was actually a total novice herself. She had spent so much time serving Kaguya that she'd never had a chance to experience romance.
Seeing both girls so flustered, Seito teased, "You know, Yui and the Little Secretary really have 'wife material' written all over them."
"One who would never argue with her husband..."
"And one who is a pro at cooking and housework."
"I wonder who the lucky guy will be?"
Yui and Hayasaka were mortified, their faces turning a deeper shade of crimson. They looked at each other and then looked away, overwhelmed by how blunt he was being.
ROAR!!!
Suddenly, a shadow lunged from the brush behind Hayasaka!
Seito vanished, using Spatial Displacement to appear behind her in a flash. His Dragon Blade cleared its scabbard in a blur.
-100m+
Thud!
The beast was dead before it hit the ground.
[Killed Ferocious Beast. Gained 20 Evolution Points.]
Seito scoffed. "A measly Level 30 beast. Where did you get the courage to try an ambush?"
The girls finally reacted, spinning around to see the corpse. An ambush? The 40th floor really was a deathtrap.
Seito turned his attention back to the two giants fighting ahead. He reached out and gave Hayasaka's head a brief, reassuring pat. "Be careful, Little Secretary. Don't let your guard down."
With those words, he gripped his Spatial Dragon Blade and strode toward the Bosses without looking back. Feeling the lingering warmth on her head, Hayasaka felt a strange, fluttering emotion rise in her chest, her face still tinged with pink.
...
Thank you for reading.