NOVEL NEXT Chapter 2: Blessing This Goddess With A Shopping Trip!
Chapter 2: Blessing This Goddess With A Shopping Trip!
Part 1
Waking up the next morning was harder than usual…
Even though I had been waking up early the past few days for the sake of grinding in the dungeon, this time I woke up for a different purpose.
Still, I forced myself to do it.
While I could just go to school and check out if there's any doors there leading to a goddess's domain, I figured that there were also lots of other event rewards that were only available in school.
For example, there was that quest reward that gave 30 exp, as well as an increase in the 'Knowledge' and 'Bravery' stat…
The fact that going to school increases bravery… Don't tell me that was an insult aimed at me?
My mother looked up at me as she saw me coming down the stairs. She said,
"Hah… I already know you're not going to school…"
"I'm going to school."
"No way…?!"
My mother almost fainted on the spot after my announcement.
"...Don't be fooled, okaa-san… Nii-san probably just wants to get an early advance on his allowance and is just pretending to go to school…"
Kazuto said something rude again. I walked up to him and ground my fist on his head.
"Owww?! Stop it?!"
Instead of stopping me from hurting Kazuto, my parents were too overjoyed by my proclamation that I'd go to school to notice. They cried tears of joy while embracing each other.
"Dear… Our son will finally graduate from being a NEET!"
"I thought it was hopeless…!"
Did they really have to make such a big deal about this…?
Congratulations! Your 'Satou Family' bond has reached Rank 2!
Satou Family, Bond Rank: 2
At Rank 2, your family will give you some leeway as you recover from being a NEET. Your parents will raise your allowance if you attend school like you promised. Your brother is still ashamed of you, but won't deny the existence of an older brother at school if the topic comes up. If you mention wanting a non-blood related step sister again, your parents will beat you to near death.
Rank Up Rewards: 500 yen bonus allowance per week (total 1,000 yen). Parents will call the school and request for days off if you ask (limited once per week). Kazuto won't insult you as much when you talk to him
…500 yen bonus allowance… My allowance doubled?!
I figured that raising bond ranks would give me rewards… But this is pretty good?!
Don't tell me that the allowance will keep increasing when I level up the bond rank…?!
The ability to excuse myself from classes once a week was good, too…
I turned to Kazuto and said,
"You know, you're not that bad… I can tolerate your company. Sort of."
"...Are you trying to praise me? That's gross, nii-san."
Warning! Your Bond Rank almost decreased!
…It can decrease, huh?
I left him alone instead of trying to force a bond rank increase.
…
…
I finished up my breakfast, went up to my room and changed into my school uniform.
It had been a while since I wore it, so it felt weird looking at myself in the mirror wearing a school uniform.
Once I was ready, I headed out and walked to the train station.
As I boarded the train, I noticed other kids from my school. Some of them were chatting to themselves while there were those who were on their phones, or trying to get a reading assignment done while standing in the train.
I passed the time while looking over at the 'Adventurer's Card' app.
After all, I was the type who was addicted to looking at stats in RPGs. Even though I know nothing has changed, I will obsessively keep going back to the stats menu to check up on my character's progress.
There's an addicting rush I get whenever I see those numbers go up. I can spend all day theorycrafting the best builds in those RPGs, and now that feeling has transferred over to my daily life.
Instead of seeing my character in an MMO get stronger, it was my actual body that was improving, and it was all recorded by way of RPG-like stats.
…It was really quite exciting.
However, when I look at stats like 'Attractiveness', 'Charisma' and 'Potential' with low totals next to them, I only feel depressed about the whole thing.
'Attractiveness' didn't really offer much in the way of dungeon crawling, I would certainly like it to be at least in the 70s.
Rather… Am I really so ugly that the app would describe my attractiveness level as below average?
I arrived at my stop while my head was full of these thoughts.
Along with knowing that I'd have to endure going back to school again, my mood plummeted once I saw those low attractiveness stats.
Furthermore… Having a low potential meant that I was untalented, right? Isn't a rating of '10' too low when it comes to potential?!
Shaking those depressing thoughts from my head, I left the train station and headed to my school.
As I was heading over to the gate, I noticed a floating door in front of it, similar to the one that leads to the dungeon.
"...So it's really there, huh?"
Just like the others described, there were doors in front of the schools of those who could enter the dungeon…
Like with the dungeon, no one reacted when I opened the door and stepped inside it.
Inside the door, there was a white room. I saw a girl sitting on a chair in the middle of the white room.
She was a beautiful girl with blue hair and a pink hagaromo. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that she was the most beautiful girl I had ever laid eyes on, possessing a glamor and charm that surpassed any of the idols and actresses I saw on TV.
With her blue hair that looked natural, she was almost like an actual anime girl come to life. She was every otaku's wet dream…
Just as I was in awe of this beauty, she opened her mouth…
"You finally showed up to school, huh, you HikiNEET?! What's up with that?! Even though you had a guaranteed bonus of 30 exp from the quest reward, as well as other stat boosts, you skipped out on going to school for three days?! How much of a HikiNEET are you?!"
Even though I just met her… She's already saying all these rude things about me?!
"Forgive me for not going to school, goddess. I was merely too excited to explore the dungeon and fight those monsters…"
"...Liar. I looked at your record and you're a full-blown NEET. I bet if there wasn't a 'go to school' quest, you would have dropped out eventually. What a loser."
I don't care how beautiful this girl is! There's just some things you can't say…!
Taking a deep breath, I swallowed my pride and said,
"In any case… I'm here now, goddess. I heard that you give out artifacts to those who can enter the dungeon?"
"...Just call me Aqua. You're right about that. It seems that Eris doesn't agree with my methods, but I feel that it's more efficient to raise the levels of you humans if we give you powerful weapons and abilities! Isn't it more fun that way? Surely, it's boring to just watch you humans struggling to clear the dungeon on your own…!"
"I'm curious about that actually… What is the dungeon's purpose, in the first place?"
She took out a bag of chips from what appeared to be thin air. After opening it and munching on some, she said,
"Fufu… The dungeon is the work of us divine beings! Are you impressed? We made the dungeon, and the monsters inside it, to train you humans for the upcoming invasion of the Demon King army on your world…!"
"...Eh?"
I felt like I just heard something really important.
"Are you slow? You heard me. The Demon King army is coming over to invade your world!"
"Oi, I'm gonna need more information than that?! Why are they coming here?! When are they coming here?! Is there a deadline?!"
"...Too many questions! They're coming to your world because they've succeeded in taking over their original world, and they want even more territory. Unfortunately, they discovered a way to create portals to your realm…"
"Aren't we in a lot of trouble?! Are you telling me they can just come over to our world anytime they want?!"
"Not really. They're limited in how many people they can send over at a time. They can also only appear when there's a full moon in their world and your world."
I let out a sigh of relief, almost having a panic attack over what I heard. I said,
"...So if they're limited in how many of their forces they can send at once, why don't we just tell the military? I'm sure they can send a couple tanks and fighter jets over to deal with the threats."
"No can do. Weaponry from your world can't affect travellers from another world. Think of them as superior beings from a higher dimension than yours. Guns, bombs and even nuclear weapons can't affect them."
"Huh?! Aren't we screwed, then?!"
She smiled and wagged her finger at me, which was covered in chip residue. She said,
"That's what the dungeon system we created is for! You see, our plan is to raise warriors to protect your world by having them enter the dungeon and get stronger by fighting the monsters inside, as well as acquiring gear that will work against the Demon King army! However, not just anyone can enter the dungeon. Only those with the potential can enter the dungeon… And for some reason, that ends up being youth like you…"
"I see… So I'm actually a chosen one… Huh?"
"Yes, unfortunately."
"...Eh?"
She didn't seem all too happy about that.
"Since your stats are so low and you have the useless 'Adventurer' class, I thought about just cutting you off from the program, but you can be a good distraction while the real heroes beat up the bad guys, I guess!"
…This girl is really starting to piss me off!
If she wasn't a goddess, I would have smacked her already.
"Alright, enough with the chit chat. I'm a busy goddess! You're here to get a cheat item, right? Just don't let that tight ass Eris and her stupid followers catch you using it, or you'll lose the item."
By Eris' followers, I assumed she was talking about Chris and Darkness, who were tasked to collect the artifacts from those who were given one by Aqua.
With a wave of her hand, Aqua summoned a book in front of me. I opened it and turned the pages.
"...?!"
There were all sorts of legendary swords, armor and insane abilities in there…!
With these powerful cheats, my low stats didn't even really matter anymore. I could raise my levels with ease!
"...What should I get? Holy Sword Adrondight? Cursed Sword Muramasa? Hmm… There's even a skill that boosts magic power, huh…?"
While I was looking over all these insanely powerful cheats, Aqua munched her chips and eventually let out a sigh.
"Look, can you hurry it up? You're a useless HikiNEET who won't accomplish anything, anyway. You'll just end up as a mook out there in the battlefield. Just pick anything you want, so you can enjoy your little minigame in the dungeon, but leave the real fighting to the big boys, OK?"
She made a dismissive shooing gesture with her hands as she urged me to hurry up and pick an item.
…Calling me a mook… Saying all those rude things…
"Oi, first of all, does the handle 'RNGod' mean nothing to you?! I'm the top ranked player in every MMO I play! I'm not just some scrub, I'm probably the best chance you've got against the Demon King army!"
"...Just because the dungeon system is like a game, doesn't mean that it is. Do you think an otaku like you can surpass someone with higher natural specs? I already have candidates in mind who have a real chance of going against even the Demon King. To be frank, you're just an afterthought, so why don't you hurry up and pick whatever and scram!"
Even though she's beautiful, this Aqua bitch really thinks she can mouth off to me like that, huh?!
She's just lucky I'm not like one of those edgy protagonists from those revenge genre LNs, or I would have already done something despicable to her.
"Fine… You want me to hurry up and choose whatever, right? You said that I can choose anything I want from here, right?"
"...Yeah, that's what I said. Hurry up and do it. I haven't got all day!"
"Fine. I'll choose you as the one item I can bring along."
"...Finally. That took forever. Alright… Wait, what did you say?"
Suddenly, a white light filled the room and a figure descended from above.
When I looked up, I saw a beautiful angel with white wings. She smiled and said,
"...The visitor's requests have been approved by the higher ups. Aqua-sama, I will take over your duties from now on…"
"Huh?! Wait… T-There's no way that's allowed?! I don't count as an 'item', right?!"
"In order to help the humans of this world defend themselves, Aqua-sama will be counted as an artifact to assist Satou Kazuma… The higher ups have collectively agreed on this decision."
"...Isn't that too fast?! Wait, wait, giving the humans free heavenly artifacts was my idea to begin with! You can't just turn this on me?! Eris doesn't agree with this, remember?!"
"B-But… You did insist that since you outrank Eris-sama, that we should listen to you and ignore her…"
"Then why aren't you listening to me now?!"
While Aqua was arguing with the bewildered angel, I laughed while walking over to Aqua, mockingly wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
"Hah…! What do you think about that? The guy you insulted and called a bunch of rude names will now own you. That's what you get…!"
"Nooo?! Keep me away from this guy?!"
I laughed as I dragged Aqua away from her own domain. The angel smiled and waved at us.
"Good luck, hero candidate Satou Kazuma-sama! If you protect your world and defeat the Demon King and his army, heaven itself will grant you a wish!"
"...A wish? You mean, I can wish for anything I want?"
"Yes! Please work hard for the sake of defending your world! We look forward to your heroic deeds!"
"Oiii! Don't just wrap this up without my permission?! There's no way I can just go with this weird guy! I'm a goddess, you know?!"
"Rest assured, Aqua-sama, you can return to your original post once the Demon King is defeated! Please work hard!"
"This damn angel…! I bet this is your plan, to take my position, right?!"
Aqua was struggling and she was stronger than me, so I couldn't drag her out of the room. Thankfully, the angel snapped her fingers and the room disappeared, leaving us outside the school gates.
"Nooo! Help me! This pervert is…! Hmph!"
I covered Aqua's mouth with my hand, before anyone could get weird ideas about me.
"Haha… Aqua-san, you're a bit confused… Come here!"
"Somebody save me…?!"
I dragged Aqua away before she could cause a scene.
Part 2
"...Oi, stop crying already."
After dragging Aqua off away from the school, she started hugging her knees and bawling her eyes out.
"How could you do this to me?! Not only was I kicked out of my own domain, you even designated me as your item?! Are you insane?! How could you treat a beautiful goddess like me this way?! The heavens will curse you!"
"...Actually, didn't they give me their blessing? It actually seemed like they were in a hurry to get rid of you…"
"Gah! I can't believe I'm trapped in this world with this rude human! Listen, you better not even think of doing anything weird to me!"
Even though she looked like a beautiful girl, her personality was a complete turn off. I stopped seeing her as a girl the moment she opened her mouth.
"...Whatever. I'm gonna go to school now. I need to complete that stupid quest…"
"Hah? How dare you call my quests stupid! My cute Appuri-chan made those quests to help you grow, you know?!"
She calls this app 'Appuri-chan'?
It always annoys me when people give nicknames to random things.
"Wait… You're the one who created the app?"
"That's right! My Appuri-chan is designed to measure your real life specs and gamify them to help users understand their strengths and weaknesses! It's impressive, isn't it?"
"...Does that mean that it's your criteria that determined that I have low attractiveness, charm and potential?!"
"The system is absolute… If that's what it said, then it must be true…"
"No, I refuse to believe that! If someone like you made the app, it must have a bunch of faults in the coding!"
I just about had it with this girl. Sighing, I looked at her and said,
"...I'm gonna go to school now, so just go ahead and kill some time somewhere."
Turning around, I started heading to the school.
"..."
She followed me when I started walking to the gate again.
"...What are you doing?"
I asked, looking at her as she followed behind me.
"I'm not familiar with this world and you're planning on just leaving me behind?! How insensitive can you be?!"
"I don't really care what happens to you, to be honest. You can even go back to your realm if you want."
I didn't care if she was a goddess or whatever. She was already proving too much of a headache for me to deal with.
"Didn't you hear what that angel bitch said?! I can only go back once the Demon King is defeated! That means I'm stuck in your world until that happens!"
"...So what can we do? I need to go to school."
"Why don't you just skip? You're always doing that, anyway."
Damn this girl..!
"Listen, do you want me to go to school or not? You're the one who sent that 'go to school' message along with the random loot box…"
"Well, it's not really me… It's the app that generated the quest on my behalf."
She tried to avoid responsibility, even though she was the one who made the app.
"Look, just go to that cafe over there and bum around for six hours or so. If they start kicking you out, just go to another place."
"Don't you need money to go to places like that? I didn't bring any money with me."
"Fine! Here, take this money and leave me alone for a few hours! I'll see you later!"
I reluctantly handed over the allowance my parents gave me for going to school. 1,000 yen went down the drain for this girl…
"Ohh! Maybe you're actually pretty nice?! Thanks, Kazuma!"
Aqua smiled and took the money, stuffing it in her pocket, before running straight to the cafe.
Not even hesitating to take the money…
I sighed and turned back to go to school. To think that I was actually looking forward to going to school, if only to escape having to deal with Aqua for a while.
…
…
"Eh? What is Satou-san doing here?"
"I thought he died?!"
"...Huh? Who is Satou?"
Those were the responses I got when I showed up to class.
Since I didn't attend class ever since the term started, my classmates were confused when I suddenly came in unannounced.
The homeroom sensei was confused as well, since I only showed up to take tests and to hand in homework. Well, my mother was the one who handed in the homework for me. I only went to school to take tests, so that they wouldn't expel me.
Even then, I didn't go during school hours and took the tests in the teacher's lounge.
As long as I maintained my high grades, they allowed me to stay at home. Even though it was a so-called elite college prep school, they didn't care about their students as long as they had good grades. Scoring in the top 10 in your grade essentially meant that you could do whatever you wanted.
The only good thing about these college prep schools was that there weren't any delinquents around to make your life a living hell. The student body was mostly a bunch of bespectacled bookworms whose only purpose in life was to get good grades to get into a good university.
Sure, there were the occasional jocks and such who got in because of an athletic scholarship, but those guys weren't that common.
Quest Completed! You have conquered your NEET tendencies and attended school!
Reward: +30 exp, +1 Intelligence, +1 Bravery
…That insulting message… It makes sense that Aqua designed this app!
That aside, the substantial exp gain and the increase in two stats at once was a welcome upgrade.
In regards to the 'Bravery' stat, it would take a lot to raise it to average levels, but it seems that there are ways to raise it.
"...Satou-kun! Are you looking at your phone right now?!"
Since I was checking the app during class, I almost got in trouble on my first day back.
Part 3
As soon as the school bell rang, I made my way out of school grounds.
Part of it was that I didn't want to stick around school as much as possible, but I was also worried about what Aqua was up to.
Based on my brief interaction with her, she definitely seemed to have some sort of screw loose. Pair that with her mental deficiency and it was a recipe for disaster.
Thankfully, I found her quickly enough at one of the fast-food chains in the area. At least she had the common sense not to wander too far off from the cafe I told her to go to.
I would have preferred if she stayed in that one place, but I wasn't so unreasonable that I'd expect someone to stay in one cafe for six hours with only 1,000 yen to spend.
When Aqua saw me, she waved her hand around.
"Kazuma, Kazuma! Look, this place has a sale going on! Burgers are only 100 yen each! Give me more money so I can buy some!"
"...I gave you all of my money. Just be grateful that I gave you money instead of leaving you to wander the streets."
"You know… This is your rare chance to hangout afterschool with a beautiful girl like me. Don't be so stingy!"
"I really don't have any money! Besides, there's other things you have to worry about aside from burgers!"
I sat in front of her as she ate the two burgers she bought. She was really digging into those burgers…
"Do they not have burgers in your realm?"
"I could teleport food and items from your world whenever I want, as long as I had the money to pay for it. You saw me eating chips, remember?"
"...Huh? Isn't that too convenient?!"
The ability to summon whatever you want as long as you have money… A NEET would kill for that ability.
"And you took that away from me! I had such a comfy life in my realm and I had a good salary as a goddess, too! Now I can't even enjoy burgers on sale because you're a broke ass NEET!"
"...If you put it that away, I feel a little bit bad."
If I had such a good life and someone else took that away from me, I'd murder them on the spot.
"That's why you have to make it up to me! How are you going to take responsibility?!"
We got a few strange looks from the people around us once Aqua shouted the words 'take responsibility'.
"...Quiet down, will ya?! Look, I do feel partly responsible for you, so it's not like I'll just leave you alone. I'll somehow convince my parents to let you stay at my place."
"You… You really think I'll fall for that?! This isn't some kind of romcom! Why would I live with a loser like you?! I already know that you're looking forward to some perverted events, like walking in on me changing or taking a bath!"
"...What kind of 90's shoujo manga are you referring to? These days, inversions are more common than straight up tropes. What will happen instead is that you'll walk in on me taking a bath instead of the other way around."
"No one wants to see that kind of fanservice!"
I sighed and leaned forward, giving her an annoyed look.
"Look, I don't have any other solution. As you know, it's not like I can ask a friend to let you stay with them."
"I know."
She was only agreeing with me, but it still pissed me off.
Eventually, she frowned and looked down at the empty burger wrappers balled up on the table.
"...It's not like I have a choice. Fine! I'll stay with you! But if you try anything perverted, just know that heaven will smite you for defiling a goddess's purity!"
Not like I had any desire to try anything with an idiot like her.
…
…
When my family got home, they looked at Aqua as if she were an alien.
"...Our boy finally crossed the line. He snapped and kidnapped some famous idol!"
"She… She doesn't look Japanese… Is she a foreigner? This could turn into an international incident?!"
My parents assumed the worst when they saw Aqua.
In their minds, the fact that I was even in the same room with a girl who looked like Aqua meant that I must have committed a heinous crime.
Kazuto rolled his eyes and said,
"Relax. Nii-san probably just won a charity thing. You know how celebrities often do community work for the needy for tax deduction purposes…"
"Oh, that makes sense!"
"So our Kazuma is sponsored by the 'Make-A-Wish' foundation, huh?"
"He should have just asked them to give us a free trip to DisneyLand…"
This shitty family…!
What happened to the family bond rank up?! I thought it said that Kazuto would insult me less?!
This is like when TV programs will find creative ways to get past censorship, even when the government tightens regulations on them.
I shook my head and said,
"She's a friend of mine from abroad who is having issues with her living situation. She was supposed to stay with relatives, but there's been a miscommunication. She can't find a place to stay on such short notice, so she asked me for help."
"...I find it hard to believe that Kazuma is friends with such a pretty girl!"
"I find it hard to believe that Kazuma has a friend…"
"I find it hard to believe that the house isn't surrounded by police by now. Nii-san, you're a better criminal than I expected."
It wasn't my imagination. Kazuto's insults were only getting more inventive.
I turned to Aqua, urging her to play the part, since they didn't seem to believe my story at all.
"It's true…! If it wasn't for Kazuma helping me, I'd probably have to go back to my country! That would be such a waste of plane tickets, plus I really want to stay here in Japan! Won't you please let me stay…?"
She batted her eyelashes at my parents.
"...! Of course! How can we deny such a cute and nice girl?! You're welcome to stay here, Aqua-chan!"
"Do you need an allowance?! Of course you do! We'll give you 2,000 yen a week!"
Her allowance is already double mine?!
That rank 2 bond reward is useless…!
"Oh, thank you so much! I promise to be a good girl while I'm in your care!"
Aqua said, doing a good job acting like an innocent girl.
At least, compared to how she usually was.
With my parents agreeing to take Aqua in, they gave her an unused guest room to stay in.
I watched her tidying the place up as she settled in.
"...I can't believe they agreed to it so quickly."
"Fufu… That's the privilege of being a beautiful girl like me!"
Damn this unfair world.
I couldn't really blame her, though. If I was a cute girl, I'd use every advantage that came along with it as I could.
After Aqua finished cleaning up her room, we went downstairs to eat dinner.
"In celebration of Aqua-chan joining our family…!"
My parents went all out and ordered catering.
Also… She's already part of the family?
"Thank you so much! Oh, this sushi tastes really good!"
"Hehe… We're glad Aqua-chan likes it! It's really expensive sushi!"
"Eh? I feel bad if you're spending that much just for my sake…"
"Don't worry! We can afford it! We'll just have to decrease Kazuma's allowance for a while!"
I was already regretting having her stay at my place.
Part 4
The next morning…
"How do you like your eggs, Aqua-chan~?"
"Sunny side up, please!"
Aqua was still getting the royal treatment.
Even Kazuto, who was normally grumpy in the morning, was all smiles around Aqua.
"I have a project today… Wanna see it, nee-chan?"
"Sure! Oh, that looks really good! Do you mind if I make some additions?"
"Eh…? What are you doing with those grains of rice… Wait… Why is this so good?!"
Somehow, Aqua managed to make a work of art by only sticking a few grains of rice on Kazuto's collage.
After eating breakfast, I got up and prepared to go to school.
I still thought that going to school was a pain in the ass, but Aqua told me last night before bed that there's a bunch of quests and rewards I could unlock by going to school.
Of course, there was the very real possibility that she was just messing with me, but I didn't want to miss any chances.
I was the type who hunted down every last piece of content in a game, every achievement, easter egg and game feature.
If it wasn't 100% completion, I wouldn't be satisfied.
While I was about to head out, Aqua came out to the door, wearing the hand-me-down pajamas my parents made me give to her.
"Don't forget that your parents told you to help me shop later. I'm going to need help buying a cell phone, as well as a few new outfits."
"...I can't believe they're spending more money on you than they have on me in the last year. Did they forget that I'm their son?!"
"Why don't you start acting like one for once. Shoo, shoo! Go to school already!"
I wouldn't have even agreed to help her shop for a new phone if she didn't tell me that she can also download the app. Once she unlocked her class, she could help me explore the dungeon.
Even though I missed out on getting an OP artifact, I still had a real goddess at my disposal. She may be an idiot, but she was bound to be useful in combat.
Keeping her future usefulness in mind, I tolerated her shooing me away and headed to the train station.
Since I lived in a rural area, there was a vast difference between the town's local train station compared to the one in the city, where I got off at.
There were pastry stores, bento stores and even gift shops. The most popular shop was probably the smoothie store, which sold energizing fruit smoothies for those who needed a boost to start up their day.
There were various girls my age crowded around the smoothie store, seemingly not worried at all about being late for school. Not like I could judge them for poor attendance habits.
…That didn't stop me from becoming envious that they had spare money to spend on things like smoothies. Even I'd like the occasional treat to help me get through the day.
I shouldn't have given all my allowance money to that idiot…!
Once I got off the train station, I walked through the street that would lead me to my school. Along the way, I saw the dungeon door in the middle of the road.
Resisting the temptation to grind in the dungeon and potentially earn myself some more pocket change, I dragged myself off to school.
The door in front of the school was gone, or at least, I couldn't see it anymore. They were really intent on keeping Aqua out for good.
…I completely understand!
After getting through the annoying bag inspection at the front gate, conducted by the goody-two-shoes student council, I headed inside, put my shoes away in the shoe locker and headed over to my classroom.
The sensei was already there, ready to take attendance. We went through the rise and bow routine before I was allowed to sit down and drift off into space.
"..."
Wait, maybe I should actually pay attention if I want to earn rewards.
I paid attention to the lesson and even took some notes…
However, multiple classes went by and I didn't see any reward notifications on my phone.
That bitch… She tricked me!
She was probably in her room, laughing her ass off, knowing that I was playing the part of a good student, with nothing to show for it.
"Alright, we have P.E. today! Boys leave the room first!"
The boys removed ourselves from the classroom and waited for the girls to change.
Even with the expensive tuition, this school still couldn't buy a changing room.
Once the girls finished, the boys went in and changed into our P.E. uniforms.
Since I was used to wearing tracksuits, I found a sense of comfort when I removed my school blazer and tie in exchange for the school tracksuit.
"...Ugh. I heard we're running today."
"Seriously? That sucks."
As I heard the others complaining about the P.E. class ahead, I saw it as an opportunity to finally complete that jogging quest I kept failing on.
There was a huge difference between jogging by yourself and having a beefy P.E. teacher yelling at you to keep running. The difference in pressure was incomparable.
We headed out into the field and the P.E. sensei, a star alumni who was supposedly this bigshot judo club captain, commanded us to start running around the track for the entirety of the class.
"Keep going! Don't stop! Persistence builds character!"
He started yelling things straight out of a motivational poster you'd find in a dentist office.
Thanks to all his yelling, I was able to push myself and reach the thirty minute mark.
I didn't have my phone on me, but sensei kept his promise and made us run for the whole class, which was a little more than thirty minutes.
Once we were done, we headed over to the showers to wash the sweat off.
I hurried over to class afterwards and checked my phone.
Quest completed! After about a hundred tries, your fat behind was finally able to jog for 30 minutes without stopping!
Reward: +30 exp, +1 Speed, +1 Stamina
Those messages were getting even more rude.
More and more, I wanted to strangle that girl.
Three new quests are available!
Get the librarian on duty to recommend a book to you! Quest rewards: +30 exp, +1 Bravery, +1 Charisma
Join a sports club! Quest rewards: +1 in all physical stats
Drink an Energizing Smoothie from the train station! Quest rewards: +30 exp, +1 Stamina, +1 Charisma
There's a quest just for drinking a smoothie?!
Rather, why aren't there any dungeon related quests anymore?!
…Well, at least Aqua was telling me the truth that going to school would unlock a bunch more quests.
I was still wondering why the smoothie one was included, though.
Did the system really think that going to a trendy smoothie store, frequented by a bunch of schoolgirls, was a challenging enough trial for me?
But perhaps it wasn't as easy as it seemed.
In the first place, I still couldn't afford to buy one yet.
Part 5
"You want me to recommend a book to you?"
Just like the quest said, I asked the student librarian on duty for a book recommendation.
She's a cute girl with brown hair tied into a ponytail. The ID she wore said that her name is Hinamori Rin.
"Ah… Well, I've actually been away from school for a while because I was sick, so I haven't familiarized myself with the library yet. If you have any books you like, I'd like to check it out!"
"Oh! If that's the case, I have this awesome book I've been reading lately! Please check it out, senpai!"
Ah… This girl is a first year, I thought.
And she's even calling me senpai.
You've successfully deceived this innocent, impressionable girl! Your 'Cunning' has increased by +1!
I didn't want to raise my stats this way!
The fact that 'Cunning' was my second highest skill was also quite concerning.
She searched around for the book and came back, handing it over to me.
"This book is called 'The Magic Tanuki Girl'! It's a fantasy story about a magician girl who has a tanuki tail, which leads to her village discriminating against her and…"
"Erm… I'd rather not hear any spoilers…"
"Ah, sorry! So, would you like to check it out?"
"Yeah, sure. Thanks for the recommendation!"
After presenting my school ID to her, she scanned the book to sign it out and handed it over to me.
Quest completed! You managed to interact with a cute, younger girl without making a complete fool of yourself!
Reward: +30 exp, +1 Bravery, +1 Charisma
Wasn't there a way to change the settings of this app?!
The cruel messages almost made me want to uninstall it altogether!
Still, just like that, I was only 10 exp away from reaching level 3…
I considered going to the dungeon to get some EXP, but I remembered that I had to escort Aqua with her shopping.
…
...
Even though I didn't take any detours when heading home…
"You're late! You're supposed to sprint all the way home! You probably took your sweet little time, didn't you?!"
I was met with an irate Aqua.
"...What's wrong with taking the scenic route when going home? After a hard day of school, I also want to unwind."
"Of course a NEET like you thinks that school is hard!"
"I'm not a NEET anymore!"
She scoffed and stepped out the door. Wearing that weird pink hagaromo again, she also wore the blue, idol-esque outfit that she had on when I first met her.
"...We really do need to get you a new change of clothes. You stand out too much."
"Then let's get moving!"
Even though I just came from the train station, I found myself going there again, this time with Aqua following me.
Since she was beautiful on the outside, she received a lot of stares, especially from men.
"Excuse me, miss! Are you interested in doing modelling work?"
"Wow, is that cosplay? That's really cool! Say, you want to grab some tea with us?"
"Hey, are you a celebrity? Mind taking a selfie with me?"
Those were the reactions she got from the people passing by.
After Aqua took a selfie with a group of girls, she gave me a smug look.
"See? That's the kind of treatment that a high-ranking goddess like me gets. You should be like them, Kazuma. You should worship me!"
"I don't think they were really worshipping you, though?"
"They clearly were! Want me to prove it to you? Everyone, I'm starting a photo shoot now...!"
I dragged her off to the cell phone store before she could attract any more attention.
"Welcome! What kind of phone are you looking for today?"
A saleswoman immediately came out to greet us when we entered the store, with a big smile on her face.
When she saw Aqua, she probably assumed that she was a rich celebrity or foreigner.
"Hmm… I want one with a good camera, since I want to take lots of pictures of myself!"
What an ego she has.
"Fantastic! Then, I recommend this one! I'll even add a case of your choice as a bonus…!"
I let the saleswoman deal with Aqua, while I walked around the store.
My phone was three years behind the current model, but I didn't have any problems with it yet.
I never really used it for anything other than giving my parents the occasional message, usually demanding them to give me my allowance.
Until I got the app, I rarely used the phone, which was why it was still in good condition.
"Alright! I'll buy this one, then!"
"Thank you so much! That will be 70,000 yen!"
"Here you go!"
I saw Aqua take out a wad of cash that my parents gave her.
…Why were they treating her so well?! 70,000 yen… that was way more than the amount of allowance I received in a year!
She even still had a fair bit of money left to spend on buying clothes…!
If I was born as a beautiful girl, was this the kind of treatment my parents would have given me…?!
"How do you like my new phone, Kazuma? I got a blue case. Isn't it cute?"
Aqua said, showing off her new phone.
"...I'm still in disbelief that my parents gave you so much money."
"Oh, actually, your brother Kazuto gave me a bunch of money as well."
That guy fell in love with her, huh?
Part 6
I spent the next few hours accompanying Aqua with the rest of her shopping, zoning out through most of it. Since I had no idea about women's fashion, or fashion in general, I just nodded along to every outfit Aqua showed off to me.
She got some flashy clothes, stuff that a city girl would wear when hanging out with friends at a trendy cafe. Once she was satisfied with her purchase, we left the store.
"That was fun, wasn't it! Spending money that isn't yours is the best feeling in the world!"
"You do realize that you're talking about my family's money, right?"
"Hah. Don't worry! I should be able to pay them back once we start exploring the dungeon together!"
I didn't realize that she was planning on paying them back.
The sun was setting by the time we went outside. There was an orange glow all around the streets. We found ourselves walking leisurely and enjoying the sight of the sun setting in the horizon.
"You know, I don't really see sights like this back in my realm. It's just a white, empty space, after all."
"But you can summon anything you want in there."
"That's true, but it's not like I can summon natural sights like this. What, you think I could just make the setting sun appear in my realm?"
I chuckled at the mental image of Aqua melting as she summoned the sun in her realm.
She narrowed her eyes at me, and said,
"...You're thinking something horrible right now, aren't you?!"
"How'd you know?"
"You had this awful look on your face."
While we were walking to the train station, I noticed the smoothie store. When I let out a sigh, Aqua said,
"Huh? What's the matter? Are you reliving some kind of embarrassing memory you had in this train station?"
"...Nothing like that! It's just that I got a quest to buy a smoothie from that store, but I don't have any money right now."
"Hoh… Well, I suppose I can lend you some money! You'll have to pay it back with triple interest, though!"
"Huh?! Why?! Besides, don't you still owe me 1,000 yen?! You should be the one paying me back with interest!"
I started pulling on her cheeks, making her cry out in pain.
"F… Fine! I'm sorry! I'll pay for the smoothie, OK?!"
Once I let go of her cheeks, she rubbed them and handed me the money.
We lined up at the smoothie store. If Aqua wasn't around, I probably would have looked out of place, since the line was filled with schoolgirls and couples.
"Welcome to Sunshine Smoothie! We make the most energizing smoothies!"
After the staff greeted us, we looked at the menu.
Aside from fruit smoothies, there were even veggie smoothies…
I never had a veggie smoothie before, and I didn't feel like trying it now.
"...I'll have a strawberry banana smoothie."
I went with a safe purchase, since I didn't know what else to choose.
"Here's your strawberry banana smoothie! Please enjoy!"
We left the line and found a sitting area to stay in while I tried the smoothie.
"How is it?"
Aqua asked, as I sipped the smoothie through the clear straw.
The sweetness of the banana and the slight tanginess of the strawberries was a classic combination. The thickness of the drink also made it enjoyable to drink with a straw.
"Yeah, I can see why people always come here to drink breakfast smoothies and enjoy a treat afterschool."
"...I want to try it! Gimme!"
She took the rest of the smoothie from me and tried it.
While she was drinking the rest of the smoothie, my phone buzzed.
Quest completed! You stepped out of your comfort zone and tried going to a trendy smoothie store!
Quest rewards: +30 exp, +1 Stamina, +1 Charisma
Drinking smoothies from the 'Sunshine Smoothie' store will increase your Stamina and Charisma by +1 (effect limited to 1 smoothie per week)
The once per week limit meant that I couldn't just chug down smoothies endlessly to raise my stats, huh?
Not like I could even afford to do that.
"Ah, that was refreshing! Alright, I figure we should go home by now!"
"Wait, you drank all of it?!"
"...What's the matter? You only purchased it because of the quest, right?"
"Hah?! Couldn't you tell that I was enjoying it?!"
"Ow, ow! Fine, I'm sowwy…?!"
I started pulling on her cheeks again.
Congratulations! You have established a bond with the Goddess of Water, Aqua!
Aqua (Goddess of Water), Bond Rank: 1
At Rank 1, Aqua will eventually act reasonable once you threaten to punish her. She will still actively try to go against everything you tell her to do. She sees you as a warden that she must tolerate in order to return to her home. If the chance to leave you behind comes, she'll eagerly take the chance.
"Why you little…!"
"Why are you pinching me harder?! What did I do?!"
I decided to punish her even more once I saw that awful description of our unlocked bond.
…Could it even be called a bond?
I certainly didn't feel closer to her at all!
Finishing the smoothie quest has caused you to level up! Congratulations, you are now Level 3!
"Oh…! I leveled up!"
I let Aqua go to deal with more important matters.
Deciding to go all in on [Enemy Detection], I spent the skill point I got from levelling up to rank up the skill.
Congratulations! [Enemy Detection] has reached Rank 3!
You can now determine the number of hidden enemies with the [Enemy Detection] skill!
As expected… This was quite the useful skill to rank up.
At Rank 2, the [Enemy Detection] skill would only tell if there were enemies present, not how many there were.
I could be walking into a crowd of monsters without realizing it, if I hadn't ranked up this skill.
"Hm? What did you spend your skill points on?"
Aqua said, leaning over my shoulder to look at my phone.
"...It's none of your business! Just focus on downloading your own app, so we can start exploring the dungeon as soon as possible! You'll have to work hard to repay me for everything!"
"I don't owe you anything! I already paid for your smoothie!"
"You drank most of it!"
We ended up coming home late because we argued for a while in the train station.