Rain was lost in his thoughts about the urgent problem he had, completely unaware of his surroundings, murmuring under his breath with worry, "Friends… friends… friends…"
But soon, he reached the root of it all.
A hesitant, strained smile formed on his face. "How the heck do people even make friends…?"
He didn't even have the answer to such a simple question.
After all—
In his entire life, he had only ever had one friend… back in his childhood.
[Hubby!] With a worried expression.
A grin—no, a hopeful, teary joy—spread across Rain's face as his eyes fell on the screen. A sudden idea struck him. 'Yeah! I could ask her… but first.'
His expression shifted instantly. Straight into Oscar-level acting.
With soft, sweet words and perfectly timed puppy eyes, he leaned slightly. "Can't you help me?" His face—dangerously hard to resist.
[So cute… umhm, of course hubby, I got plenty of ideas] Her eyes sparkled as she somehow managed to control herself after witnessing Rain's "adorable" expression.
A smug grin slowly appeared on Rain's face, pride overflowing.
'I'm such a great actor… I definitely deserve an Oscar.' Whether it was delusion or actual talent—who could say.
"What is it!?" he asked, eyes practically shooting stars with excitement.
[There are plenty, so let me think about it, hubby…] with a thinking expression.
[How about you beat them near death? Then they'll have no choice but to accept your conditions, and you can ask them to become friends] with a cheerful expression.
Rain's face went stiff—not just stiff, completely frozen, like his soul left his body for a second. He blinked slowly and looked again, maybe he misread it, but no—the same words, the same insanity, unchanged.
'…That's how you make friends…? BECAUSE I'M DAMN SURE IT'S NOT.' His thoughts screamed, barely held back from escaping his mouth.
A strained, almost painful smile appeared on his face. "Any other idea…? A little less… extreme."
The reply came instantly—almost too instantly.
[Then how about poisoning them and blackmailing them into becoming friends in exchange for the antidote… or else they can die happily]
Something cracked inside him, clean and precise, like his sanity just gave up. 'I don't even need confirmation anymore… she's a complete lunatic.'
"Anything else… haha…?" Rain forced out a dry laugh, his expression twitching like he was one step away from losing it completely.
[Umm… we can always kidnap their family and blackmail them, or we can also castr—] with an innocent smile, as if her words were completely normal.
"Okay, stop now. I've had enough!" Rain said bluntly.
'Ah yes, of course… clearly the problem is me here, expecting normal advice from her—what was I even thinking?'
He let out a deep breath as he finally pulled himself out of his thoughts. "What to do now…" he murmured, completely unsure.
"Why not drink some fresh juice?" someone said as a glass was offered to him. Rain took it without thinking. "Yeah… you're right," he said, taking a sip. "Hmm…"
Then his eyes shifted—and froze. The person in front of him… the surroundings… his brain finally caught up. He almost spat the juice out, barely managing to gulp it down at the last second.
Rain was surrounded—completely surrounded. Almost all the girls from the class had gathered around him, staring at him like he was prey and they were a pack of lionesses. Each one had unique features: some had animal ears and tails, some carried tree-like traits, while others had strange, almost object-like characteristics.
And every single one of them was looking straight at him.
"What's happening here…" Rain murmured with a confused, uneasy expression as his eyes darted around his surroundings, sweat forming on his forehead, completely unsure of the situation he had somehow landed himself in.
But the answer was right beside him. He leaned closer to Neona and whispered into her ear, "Why are all these girls surrounding me?" his voice low, tense.
She let out a soft laugh, a playful smile forming. "Haha! That tickles~"
Rain hit her head lightly with a faintly annoyed expression. "Just answer me already."
"Un! About that…" she said with a carefree smile, "these girls asked me for your phone number, so I told them to just ask you directly. But they were hesitating… so with a little push from me, they finally gathered the courage. But since you were lost in your thoughts, they didn't want to disturb you and just… waited." She gestured around casually. "At first it was just one girl… then two… and before you knew it, it turned into this."
She smiled proudly. "Am I not generous?"
Rain's face twitched, a forced smile barely holding.
'Why, you bitch… causing trouble for me.'
The girls were talking among themselves in low, excited voices, their tones filled with curiosity and shy admiration—some whispering about how cute Rain was, others nervously wondering how they should ask for his number, exchanging glances, small smiles, and hesitant giggles.
Amid all that noise, all those overlapping voices—one thing slipped through clearly, cleanly, like it was meant only for him.
They wanted to become his friends.
For a brief moment, Rain just stood there, his expression blank, as if his brain had stopped processing entirely. Then slowly—very slowly—his eyes widened, the meaning finally sinking in. His lips parted slightly, his grip tightening unconsciously as a surge of emotion rushed through him, something warm, overwhelming.
His face lit up, not just with happiness—but with a kind of joy that bordered on disbelief, like someone who had been starving and was suddenly handed a feast. His eyes shone, his smile stretching wider and wider, barely contained, almost trembling with excitement as his fist clenched tightly at his side.
'Just me… and my luck!'
For once—just once—
It felt like fate had actually sided with him.
But his happiness—just as it peaked—shattered into pieces the moment new words appeared on the screen.
[Hubby, don't even think about it.] with a flat, emotionless expression, as if she had already seen straight through his thoughts
Rain's smile froze, his excitement collapsing instantly. "Why not…? Don't I just need to make four friends to complete this task?" he murmured, confusion and frustration mixing in his voice.
[You misunderstood, hubby…] she replied with her eyes gently closed, and a brief moment of silence followed—the kind that felt wrong, heavy, like something bad was about to happen.
[These pests aren't worthy!]
Her gaze turned cold, murderous, and something leaked through the screen—just a little, a very small trace—yet the moment Rain felt it, his entire body stiffened.
An immense, suffocating pressure brushed against him, so overwhelming it felt like it could crush something as massive as a T-Rex into nothing if fully unleashed; his instincts screamed, his nerves went wild, yet strangely it didn't actually press down on him, he only felt it, like standing at the edge of something far beyond his understanding. But the fear—that was real, a chill running down his spine sharper than anything he had ever experienced, his body trembling uncontrollably as a primal instinct surfaced, fear so pure and overwhelming it felt completely alien to him.
'Crap…!'
Around him, the girls dropped one by one like puppets with their strings cut, every single one collapsing to the ground unconscious in an instant.
Neona was the only exception—barely holding herself upright by gripping the edge of a bench, her nails—no, claws—digging deep into the wood as her body trembled violently, her teeth clenched tight with a thin line of blood trailing from the corner of her lips as she instinctively resisted the pressure; but in reality, she had already lost consciousness the moment it hit, everything that followed—her grip, her stance, her struggle—nothing more than her beastly instincts acting on their own.
Rain stood there, his face completely changed, all excitement gone, all joy erased, replaced only by fear and hesitation as his eyes locked onto the screen.
'This aura… it's way too powerful…!'
[Ah! Sorry, hubby!] with a panicked, flustered expression as she finally came back to her senses.
"Hah… hah… it's alright, no big deal," Rain said with a forced, hesitant smile, sweat forming all over his face as traces of fear still lingered in his eyes, fully aware now that in front of her, he was nothing more than a bug in terms of power.
[Really, hubby!?] with an uncertain, slightly worried expression, as if even she wasn't convinced.
"Yeah… really," he replied, still forcing that smile, desperately covering up the fear crawling inside him.
[You're the best, hubby!] her face lit up again with genuine happiness.
But Rain—
Rain had understood something important just now.
Something he wouldn't forget.
'I should've never underestimated her… from now on, I need to choose my words and actions carefully… at least if I still love the little life of mine.'