The Mad Rat's Lab

"Fufufu."

We slowly walk through the flea market, letting ourselves be pushed forward by the crowd. Laura has stopped paying attention to the stalls and is instead laughing like a fool, a slight blush on her face, as she continuously touches the earrings she's wearing. Every time the wind blows and her long hair covers them, she quickly moves her hand and places her hair back behind her ear.

"Fufufu, thank you, Andreu."

"Yeah, yeah…"

How many times do I have to listen to you repeat the same words?

"I love them. Don't they look pretty on me?" Laura strikes a seductive pose, showing off her earrings.

Although her body isn't as developed as her succubus Champion, I don't think this is a bad thing. When she acts like this with her Champion, it's a bit too much. A bit over the top. A bit forced, if you know what I mean. She isn't used to the difference between the real and virtual bodies, and her gestures, although tempting, feel forced and fake.

But this doesn't apply to her right now. Under the light of the lamps, showing off her earrings with a smile on her face, she…

"...You look pretty."

"Of course I do! I put in a lot of effort today… and the earrings you gifted me…"

Laura lets her voice trail off. At the same time, she approaches me from the front and places her arms around my neck, making sure I can't run away. She puckers her lips, and…

My eyes start swimming around in a panic, searching for a way out. She's going to devour me!

Luckily, or maybe not, depending on your point of view, they lock onto something not far behind her. Something we've almost missed.

"It's almost time!" I suddenly shout. "We're late!"

You're right. What I see is a clock. A clock pointing almost at half past ten.

Unlike when Clara used this excuse to run away earlier, now it's real. I swear it has nothing to do with Laura's actions. Doing this and that, we lost track of time, and it's almost time to meet with Ricard and my sister. If we don't start moving right now, we'll be late for sure. In fact, we might be late even if we start moving right now.

Laura looks back with a reluctant face. She licks her lips in disappointment, but still releases her arms.

"Tsk. You're right, we can't waste time. With this crowd, it'll be hard to move, and we might be late. The last thing I want is to miss the fireworks or not get a good spot to watch them… We all agreed to watch them together."

Having said this, Laura locks her gaze with mine and winks. "Andreu, you're saved…"

Fiuuu! I'm saved. That was too close for my comfort–

"...for now, fufufu!"

Oh, no! Luckily, nothing happened today, but it's just a matter of when, not if! The demon will come back and suck my soul out of my body!

…maybe it isn't as bad as it sounds?

No, Andreu. Don't let yourself be seduced by a dirty succubus! Don't fall for her lewd tricks!

As my thoughts spiral into chaos and they grow more and more stupid with time, I let Laura drag me. Going against the crowd's flow is a slow and hard endeavor, so we instead take a side street and use it to go back to the meeting spot.

By the time we reach it, we find Clara, who's waving at us from afar, and Ricard, who's surrounded by three guys.

Clara, still uncomfortable with strangers, is waiting a few meters away from Ricard.

We approach her first. Mostly because Ricard seems a bit too 'enthusiastic' talking with the other guys, slightly scaring us, but also because Clara pleads with her eyes and anxiously waves at us to come closer.

"Andreu, Laura!" Clara charges at my chest, giggling, and presents her head for me to pat. Which I don't. I don't want to reward her for doing whatever she pleases with my time. "How did your date go?"

I roll my eyes. "It wasn't a da–"

But Laura interrupts me, leaving me with my mouth wide open. "The date went well. Thank you, Clara, for bringing him an hour earlier. It was really fun!"

Aha! I knew it was something planned by you two!

Clara… you set me up! You set your dear and kind older brother up! How dare you! Just you wait, the punishment when we go back home will be legendary! I promise you that the earlier cheek-pulling session will be nothing in comparison!

Fufufu! Hahaha! Revenge! Reveng–

"Oh, you came!" Says Ricard, approaching us and interrupting my thoughts. "I was starting to think you wouldn't come…" He suggestively raises an eyebrow, his eyes alternating between me and Laura.

What are you insinuating, you bastard!?

Noticing my glare, he awkwardly coughs and stops fooling around. "Anyway! I'm glad you came. I prepared a surprise for you three."

As if we had agreed to do it beforehand, Laura, Clara, and I turn our heads towards the three guys he was talking with until now.

Is he talking about them? From their poses to their attire, to their faces… Everything about them screams the word 'nerd'. They're classical nerds, taken straight out of the nerd manual.

What the hell does he want to do with those guys? Did he confuse reality with the game and think they'd make nice additions to his soul collection?

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"...Them?" I say the question everyone's asking inside their heads.

Ricard turns his head to look behind him, at the three nerds. "No, they aren't the surprise. They're my friends." Seeing our incredulous expressions, Ricard gets slightly angry. "Didn't you all come earlier too, to spend some time with friends? Why wouldn't I?"

No, we aren't surprised by that. We're surprised by the fact that you've actually got friends!

Not counting us, I mean. I thought I was the only one who could survive your incessant need to talk about game stuff without dying in the process… physically. Mentally, I've died quite a few times already.

My eyes dart from Ricard to his 'friends' and back to him, my mouth wide open. From Ricard to his 'friends'. From his 'friends', to him. Laura and Clara do the same.

No matter how many times I repeat this set of motions, it still feels like a lie.

Tired of our reaction, Ricard sighs and finally admits the truth. "Haa… They're my undead buddies, okay? They've been my friends since elementary school, and we've been playing games together ever since. We agree to meet from time to time and exchange points of view and strategies for the games we play."

Aaah, now it makes sense. It isn't that Ricard has made friends, but that he has painstakingly brainwashed them since they were kids, and they turned into something he calls 'friends'...

Now it all makes sense.

"I'd love to introduce you to them, but they're too timid, and the fireworks will start anytime now," adds Ricard. "Come on, I'll show you a nice place to watch them."

After those words, Ricard says goodbye to the three guys, who by the way were still waiting nearby, and starts walking away.

We follow after him, trusting his words without question. That is, until he starts picking what look like random streets, each one narrower and darker than the last. Laura and I exchange a look, and seeing her reluctance, I know that she's relying on me to ask Ricard what's going on.

Tsk. At times like this, I wish I didn't understand her so well.

"Hey, um… Ricard," I hesitate. "Where are we going?"

Is he bringing us to a place with no witnesses? A place where he can turn into one of his 'friends'? If so, I'll have to run away…

"Yes...?" Ricard turns his head to look at me. "Ah! I didn't explain, did I? Hahaha!" His cheerful laugh, accompanied by the lack of surrounding light and his excited, almost glowing, eyes, gives me the creeps. "Didn't I say I prepared a surprise? We're going there!"

He's going to kill us, right? Yeah, he's definitely going to kill us.

"But we agreed to meet to watch the fireworks, and we're going in the opposite direction…"

I struggle to find any excuse to run away, but Ricard shuts it down as soon as I say it. He tilts his head, as if not understanding what I mean, and says, "That's where we're going! To a place to watch the fireworks!"

"I see…" I close my eyes, shaking my head.

I knew he was crazy, but I thought he could still maintain a decent conversation… Not anymore, it seems.

The tall buildings surrounding us and the narrow streets are completely blocking our view. I don't know where Ricard wants to bring us, but I don't think there'll be a good place anywhere near. Furthermore, the more we walk, the further we get to the place where they shoot the fireworks from.

Well, the ones who were dying to see the fireworks were Laura and Clara, not me. I don't really care. If we can't see them because of Ricard, he's the one who will have to take the full brunt of their anger.

I shrug my shoulders, locking eyes with Laura. 'I can't do any more than this', I say with my eyes. She nods in response, and we continue walking.

During all this time, Clara stays completely silent while grabbing my arm and smiling. Laura does the same with my other arm.

The road suddenly turns and starts going up. The slope is significant, and I get slightly tired, although nowhere near as Ricard. He asks for a pause before continuing – a petition that, since we have no idea of where our destination is, we have no other choice but to accept.

Finally, more than ten minutes later and just five before the fireworks start, we come out between two houses and through a few trees to reach the top of the cliff.

"What do you think? Isn't it perfect?" Asks Ricard with a grin on his face.

"Hmm…" I'm not sure what to say yet.

We're in a small gap between two houses. The trees above us provide cover from the sun, and also block most of the view, but there's a gap right at the cliff's edge. There's also a wooden fence so no one falls, and a bench to sit and watch the view.

The most interesting thing is that the gap isn't wide, but taking into account the direction it faces… We'll have a perfect and elevated view of the fireworks display.

Not only is the angle perfect, but the only disadvantage we'll have from watching them from here is the slight delay between the light explosion and the time the sound reaches us. No craning our necks up, no lying on the ground and getting dirty, no falling ashes on top of our heads…

It's all advantages!

"How did you know about this place?" I ask Ricard. "And why isn't it filled with other people?"

Usually, places like this are always crowded.

"Well…" Ricard scratches his head. "My cousins live nearby, and we've always watched the fireworks from this spot. Together, the whole family. But this year they're on a cruise, and I'm the only one left who wanted to come. That's why I brought you here! Aren't you happy I knew of such a perfect place to watch them!? Hahaha!"

"So this is why there's nobody nearby…" Mutters Laura in realization.

Ricard approaches me and places a hand over my shoulder.

"So, how about it? Aren't you feeling the need to be my disciple, so I can teach you everything I know? How about it, Andreu? You just need to say 'yes'. I already have a full manual of all the rules and basic information you need to know. It's just about a thousand pages long, you'll finish it in a short–"

*Bang! Bang, bang!*

Luckily, the fireworks start just at this moment, cutting him off. Naturally, we all shut up, sit on the bench, and watch them.

When the fireworks display ends, we all remain seated on the bench.

Laura, sitting right next to me, and resting her head on my shoulder – which is a bit uncomfortable, by the way – is the one to break the silence.

In a dreamy voice, she slowly says. "Tonight was great. This summer was great. We've spent lots of time together, finished the preliminary matches, and are now on the famous DMA event! But everything must come to an end. After this, we'll have to give our all, and then return to college."

Oh, right. The summer is about to end–

"Noooooooooooo!"

I turn my head, alarmed, just in time to see Ricard suddenly stand up while screaming. Ah, it's just him.

"Why did you have to remind me!? We'll have to go back to studying, and doing homework, and doing exams…!"

Ricard starts pulling at his hair.

I feel you, my friend. I feel you. I'm tempted to stand up and pat Ricard's shoulder to cheer him up, but his screams are too loud. I don't want to get any closer to him than I already am.

"Hehe," Clara chuckles at his despair. "Do your best, Baldy. You'll soon actually turn bald if you keep pulling at your hair like that, Baldy."

"Noooooooo!" Ricard screams again. "How many times do I have to say it!? Don't use that name outside the game…"

I ignore Ricard's panicked voice and relax on the bench. The sea breeze ruffles Laura's hair and makes it rubs my face.

Hmmm… if not for a certain someone's screams, this wouldn't be that bad.