NOVEL NEXT Chapter 2: First battle?
(Ryoto's pov)
Ryoto: "Uh... hi?"
Karen: "Smooth."
'Shut up, Karen. I can feel your eyes rolling.'
Lala: "Hi, my name is Lala!"
Ryoto: "Nice to meet you, Lala. You can call me Ryoto. What are you doing in my bathtub? Not that I'm complaining, but the bathroom isn't the place I thought I would meet a girl."
Lala: "I was escaping from my pursuers, but unfortunately, they cornered me, so I was forced to use this..."
She showed the device that looked like a bracelet on her left wrist.
Lala: "My invention 'Pyon-Pyon Warp-Kun'. I can't specify the destination, but this makes it possible for a living unit to wrap a short distance!"
Ryoto: "I see, I see. You are lucky then to land somewhere safe and not 100m in the air."
Lala: "Don't worry, even if that happened, I wouldn't be hurt."
'I don't know how to respond to that.'
Karen: "How about going out of the bathroom, or do you want to ogle her breast the whole night."
As lovely as this idea is, Karen is probably right.
Ryoto: "We shouldn't stay here too long, and you would probably want to dress up."
I got out of the bathtub and handed her a towel.
Lala: "Thanks."
We went to my room without anyone noticing us.
Lala: "Hey, I have a question. Why do you always have closed eyes? And how do you see without opening them? I didn't see you have any problems with navigating through the house."
After all, she is a scientist and inventor, and you can't be one without considerable curiosity.
Ryoto: "My eyes are... unusual on Earth, so I keep them closed most of the time. Do you want to see them?"
Lala: "Can I?"
I practically could see stars in her eyes.
Karen: "Didn't you plan on keeping them a secret?"
'I won't be able to hide them forever, but I'll keep my eyes closed for most of the time. I'll probably let my family know, or I'll ask Lala to cover for me, or she could even build glasses or eye contacts that would hide them.'
Karen: "Is it a good idea?"
'I don't know, but hiding them would only create unnecessary drama.'
Karen: "But revealing them could do the same."
'True, but in that case, I have a 50/50 chance to choose correctly, so I shouldn't dwell on it too much.'
Lala: "Hello, are you okay?"
She waved her hand before my face.
Ryoto: "Sorry, I got lost in thoughts. To answer your question, yes, you can."
I opened my eyes, showing them to Lala.
Lala: "Whoa, I've never seen eyes like that? From what planet are you?"
Ryoto: "I'm from Earth."
Lala: "Earth? When did Earthlings acquire such eyes."
Ryoto: "They didn't. These eyes are unique to me."
Lala: "They sure are mesmerizing."
She looked into my eyes and just stared. I looked back at her. We didn't look away from each other for a second until...
Peke: "Are you okay, Lala-sama!?"
It was Peke and one of Lala's inventions, but unlike most of them, he seemed to be really advanced AI or even have his own will. Looking at his aura, I could see a small flame-like light inside him. Peke's aura was white, while Lala's was pinkish.
Lala: "Peke! Oh, I'm so happy! You were able to escape too?
Peke: "Yes! I was lucky since the ship wasn't outside the Earth's atmosphere!"
Peke then looked at me and pointed his finger in my direction.
Peke: "Who is this Earthling with closed eyes."
Lala: "He's the one living here, and his name is Ryoto."
She then turned to me.
Lala: "And this here is Peke."
Peke: "Nice to meet you."
Lala: "He's an 'All-Purpose Costume Robot' that I made."
Finishing her explanation, she threw away the towel that covered her body.
Lala: "Well, Peke, I leave it to you."
Peke: "Understood"
Peke then transformed into Lala's clothes. I could only describe them as out of this planet... or made by a modern fashion designer. Either of them would work, honestly.
'Can't you be more like Peke?'
Karen: "Can't you be more like Lalam, intelligent and competent?"
'Why do I even try?'
Lala: "How is it? Doesn't it look nice, Ryoto?"
Ryoto: "Yeah, looks great, but you probably shouldn't go out like this on Earth."
Lala: "Why?"
Ryoto: "Because-"
I couldn't finish explaining because of two men in black suits. They had the same tail Lala had, so they probably are from the same planet.
__________
*PING*
*NEW QUEST*
Mission: "Save the princess"
Objective 1: Escape with Lala from the house.
Bonus Objective 1: Defeat the pursuers.
Reward: 70 SP, Title feature unlocked
Bonus Reward: 150 SP, Get Spider-man's powers (Includes superhuman strength, speed, reflexes, durability, small healing factor, heightened senses, ability to climb walls, and spider-sense.)
Failure: You'll start recording embarrassing videos and upload them to the internet for the world to see.
Duration of punishment: One week
__________
The two men tried to take Lala home as I read my new quest. Lala attempted to free herself and even bite one of them, but it wasn't enough.
I threw the book at the hand holding Lala, grabbed her hand, and ran away through the window.
Lala: "Ryoto!?"
We ran on and jumped from one roof to another to finally end up in the park.
( A/N Don't ask me how, that's how it was in the manga.)
As we were running there, a truck flew above us and landed in a way that blocked our escape route.
Pursuer 1: "Do not interfere, Earthling."
'My mortal enemy, Truck-kun. So meet once again.'
Karen: "Focus on your enemies."
'Right, I should probably do that.'
I opened my eyes, revealing their blue color. They looked mechanical. While they still could be recognized as eyes, there was something otherworldly about them. Depending on who you're asking, they could be described as beautiful or scary, but one thing is sure. Anyone who faced them would say that they were terrifying.
A pair of magic-like circles appeared before my eyes. They had a similar pattern and color to the ones present in my eyes.
The very same circles appeared before Lala's pursuers. At that moment, they both screamed and punched each other. It was enough to make both of them unconscious.
I poked them with a stick a few times to ensure that they were unconscious, and fortunately, they were.
I sighed in relief.
Karen: "It seems that even an idiot like you can do something useful."
'Less abuse, more rewards.'
__________
*PING*
*QUEST COMPLETED*
Reward: "220 SP, Title feature unlocked, Get Spider-man's powers (Includes superhuman strength, speed, reflexes, durability, small healing factor, heightened senses, ability to climb walls and spider-sense.)
Title acquired: "Beginner fighter"
__________
'Karen, what kind of effects do titles have?'
Karen: "Depends, some of them are useful and can make you stronger, learn faster, or different kinds of effects, but there are also titles that don't do anything and are just there to make you feel embarrassed or ashamed."
'And what kind of effect have my new title?"
Karen: "It makes it a little easier for you to learn combat-oriented activities. It's not a huge boost, though."
'Better than nothing, I guess.'
Karen: "Oh, I forgot to mention."
'What is it?'
Karen: "Prepare for pain in 10...9...8..."
'...'
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END
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