My name is William, an American traveling overseas in Japan. Recently I died and met a blue-haired goddess named Aqua. She offered me the chance to go to another world to defeat the demon king and gave me the option to choose any ability or item. I picked the ability to have large amounts of stamina. After struggling to find my way to the guild, I eventually stumbled across it.

After meeting the guild receptionist lady, she explained that I would need to pay a fee. Realizing I had no money, I had to scrounge up enough money from random streets.

I decided to pick "adventurer" for my class. I heard that it was the weakest class; however, I did not think too much about it. Now it was time for my adventure to begin!

Or so I thought...

It has been a month, I can't find a party, and no one except the staff has noticed me. Even though I'm in another world, I still am a loner!

Defeated, I look around for an easy quest.

Defeat five giant toads.

What the hell? Giant toads, only an idiot would pick this.

Looking around, I managed to find one that could work.

Harvest the seed of a watermelon.

Surprisingly the reward is 80,000 eris each.

Why is no one taking this quest; it's just watermelon.

I sigh and decide to go to the blond-haired receptionist.

"H-hey, I'd like to do this quest for the watermelons; do you know where they would be?"

For some odd reason, she looked surprised and worried.

"W-well, the forest nearby is full of them, but aside from that, are you really sure you want to do that?"

I don't like how she said emphasized the word "really."

"It's just watermelon; what's the worse that can happen?"

She looked at me like I was crazy; I decided to ignore it.

Walking into the forest, I noticed a large patch of green round balls.

What the hell is that; why are watermelons so huge?

That's when; I noticed the vines moving like tentacles, stretching towards me.

Oh shit, It's alive!

I quickly throw my entire body to the side to avoid its attack.

I decided to do something stupid.

Instead of running away, I ran towards the watermelon.

The vines charged at me once more; I closed my eyes and went for it.

Please work! I keep saying to myself. I learned a new skill a couple of weeks ago "high jump." A skill that is equivalent to a double jump in games.

"High jump!" I screamed, I jumped right onto the swinging vines.

As I was charging at the watermelon while maintaining my balance, I noticed the vines started to loop back around.

As the watermelon drew closer, I prepared myself. Grabbing my small sword in hand, I activate the high jump again.

I fling myself directly on top of the watermelon; without thinking, I thrust the sword down right onto the watermelon.

Starting from the top, I put all my body weight down, sliding down the melon as the sword cuts the melon in half.

The vines wiggle before dropping down.

I collapsed onto the ground panting, I cannot believe that I had just done that.

All that for a SINGLE watermelon.

Wait...

Single watermelon.

Suddenly it clicked.

I forgot that there was a patch of watermelon.

Screw it; I got up from my hands and got back to work.

000

I look back on the work I have done, eight of them lie dead, and now I just need the seeds.

I begin to dig inside each, having to ignore hearing the wetness as I scrape past all the "meat" of the watermelon.

After three hours I found all eight seeds, they are about the size of a normal seed, but they all only had one.

All that work for eight tiny ass seeds!?

I flinch, realizing just how much damage I took. My legs looked extremely bruised. It feels weird to realize how a watermelon almost beat the shit out of me. I decided to call it a day and returned to the guild.

As I opened the door, I noticed all the chatter die down; all eyes looked at me. I had attention on me for the first time in years and I hated it.

As soon as I started to walk, I looked down to avoid eye contact.

I started to hear whispers clearly about me.

I silently put the seeds in front of the guild receptionist lady, "here."

"Y-Yeah," she awkwardly responded before handing me the eris.

After an awkward silence before she speaks up, "May I ask what happened?"

I explain it, keeping it short and sweet.

"Are you alright?" She asked concerned, "You seemed quite confident in your ability."

I sighed before stating, "I didn't know they were living creatures."

She looked surprised and confused.

"What do you mean? It's common knowledge that they are alive."

"Ah."

With that, I decided to call it a day. I purchased a room and went to sleep.

The next day I decided to use bandages to wrap around my legs. Satisfied, I head out after cleaning myself off.

I noticed that the rumors and attention vanished as quickly as it was spread.

I noticed they were all talking about two new girls who were "crimson demons." Never heard of such a species, but it piqued my interest.

This is where the benefits of being a loner come in. I can listen in on a bunch of conversations at once. From what I gathered they are a race that is known to have advanced magic and chuuni personalities.

Best to not get involved.

I never got to see them, almost like every time they were at the guild I was out adventuring.

Something else happened that day, the same day that they arrived, two others also arrived. One was an easily angered boy around my age Kazuma. He was from Japan and seemed to like to harass any women he could get his hands on. The other was a girl with aqua-blue hair who seemed to constantly beg for money and was an idiot. Wait a minute, was she the goddess Aqua!?

...

Best not to get involved.

From that day onward I continued to live my life, adventuring ... alone. Eventually, Kazuma defeated the demon king, saving everyone. He seemed to earn a lot of respect at first until he started to brag about it every chance he got. To be honest, it was a sad sight to see. As for me, I continued to live on as normal. Adventuring alone for the rest of my life.

Or so I thought.

It was on a particular day that I met a girl who would change my life. I was walking in a forest when I heard a cry for help, rushing to the scene I saw a red-eyed girl who was on the ground. In front of her was a beast I had never seen before, It was a four-legged creature with one large eye. Its grey fur seemed to almost glow faintly. I noticed it slowly crawling toward her as she shivers in fear.

Best not to-

"Hey, You! Don't just leave me here!"

I wanted to run; it seemed like it was quite powerful. At the same time, I couldn't just let someone die, especially if I can prevent it.

Screw it! I charged forward at the beast and swung my sword. It jumped to the side and focused on me. I charged at it again, stabbing right into its eye. It charged wildly in random directions. Before I knew it, it charged straight at me; then everything went black.

000

I woke up to glowing red eyes staring at me.

"Ahh!" I screamed, causing her to scream as well.

I quickly pushed my head up, causing our heads to hit each other with a loud thunk.

"Ouch!" She said while rubbing her head.

I felt awful and didn't want to leave a poor impression, so I decided to apologize.

"I'm sorry!" x2.

Eh?

Did we apologize at the same time?

"I'm sorry for getting yourself involved in my problems!"

"No, I'm sorry for thinking about running away!"

"No no, I am sorry for startling you!."

"No no, I'm sorry for hitting your head!"

After profusely apologizing to each other for a while, we both collapsed on the ground tired.

"S-still, thank you for helping me." She said sweetly, giving me an innocent smile.

I couldn't help but feel my cheeks burn up.

"Y-yeah, it's no problem." I said, scratching the back of my head.

I noticed the golden clip on her hair that held a red ribbon, her clothes were black and revealed part of her chest. I had never seen this girl before, so she must be new, so I decided it would be best to inform her at least.

"Those woods are dangerous, but since you're new to this I supposed you didn't know that. They don't really tell you these things when you begin." I informed the new adventurer.

Unexpectedly, she curled up in a ball.

"Hehe, was I so bad that I came off as a beginner?" She gloomily asked.

Eh?

"Wait, your not a beginner? I've never seen you before at the guild. I'm sorry, I didn't realize." I felt terrible and cringed at what I said.

Her eyes dulled, "don't worry, I'm used to it."

Damn now I feel worse.

We sat there awkwardly before she jumped up.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you, but I gotta go!"

Disturbing me, what is she on about?

"Ah, wait! I never got your name!" I yelled, but it was too late; she was far away from me.

I sighed and called it a day.

000

The next morning, I decided to get up late in the afternoon. I couldn't stop thinking about that girl, it's not like I had a crush on her or anything. It's just that she seemed quite interesting, she seemed relatable to me.

As I head to the quest board, I notice that girl in the corner of my eye.

She seems like she's timidly standing all alone.

She seemed quite lonely, could she like being alone? I guess I'll find out at some point.

I decide to walk towards her, "hey."

I noticed her head perk up as she jumps slightly.

"Oh, h-hey." She silently says.

"H-hey."

... After ten seconds of awkward silence, I decided to break it.

"Hey, d-do you want to do a quest together?" It is a bit weird to ask this after whatever the hell happened yesterday, but it was worth a shot.

"No."

So quick!

I was contemplating whether or not I should walk away.

I decided to push, "Any reason why?"

She looked at me, "because someone always intervenes even if I say yes."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, my level is extremely high, so no one wants to take me in; even if I do, it never lasts long. Plus, everyone seems to act like I'm not even here."

I sigh, "Believe it or not, I can relate to that; my whole life, the only ones who acted normally is my family."

"Really?"

I can't tell much, but she looks skeptical.

"So, what do you say, should we go together as a team of loners?"

I put my best puppy face I can muster, "Pleaseee~?"

"Alright, alright! I get it! Just don't say that again."

"Alright, to the team of loners!" I stated excitedly to finally have a team member.

"Please stop saying that!"

"Team of loners!"

'You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"

000

We both head to the board to see if there are any good quests.

"Pick anything you want, since you're my first friend."

"F-friend, y-you think of me as a friend?"

For some reason, she reacted weirdly when I said, friend.

"Of course, since we're a party and all. I think we should get along!"

"Ehehe, friends." She mutters.

"Well, I guess we'll start at the beginning, my name is William." I held out my hand.

"Ah," she clears her throat before posing dramatically.

"My name is Yunyun! Archwizard and wielder of advanced magic and chief of the crimson demons!"

... Ah, she a crimson demon, that makes sense now.

I could tell she was embarrassed at the end, as her face got redder as she went on. Somehow, she still said that with confidence.

After her dramatic introduction, she shook my hand, "I'm look forward to it."

"Wait you said you're the chief? Why aren't you back in the village?"

"Well being chief doesn't always mean I have to be there, so I usually just adventure alone."

After our introductions, she picked a quest and went to the receptionist.

"Ah, Yunyun, another quest alone?" The guild lady said.

"No, I'm actually am going with a f-friend."

I don't know how I feel about the way she said, "friend."

The guild lady sighed, "You're going with him again, honestly you shouldn't be pressured into going with him; you know he's just going to harass you again right?"

Yunyun shook her head, "No, it's someone else."

The guild lady looked surprised, "Someone else?"

'Y-yeah, his name is William," she timidly stated.

The guild lady looked confused, "William," she kept repeating until she put her fist on her other hand. "Oh that guy, the one who killed those watermelons!"

Yunyun looked surprised, "Wait he did what? Those are extremely dangerous!"

"Yeah, he even confidently stated, 'It's just watermelon.' Like it was no big deal! Then when he came back he was covered head to toe in watermelon, along with bruzes."

"Eh? I didn't think that he was the idiotic type!" Yunyun stated.

I felt my eyebrow twitch. I yelled, "Hey, I can hear you from over here you know! It's embarrassing so please stop!"

"S-sorry." x2.

000

After a long walk, we decided to take a break.

I stare at the large lake in front of me, "Woah, I've never seen such a large lake, I can even see my reflection!"

"Yeah, I sometimes come here when I'm not doing quests. I haven't been able to do a quest with someone in a while, so it's a nice change of pace." She looked down at the water, a sad smile on her face.

"What happened to them?" I asked.

"Both found lovers I suppose; we sometimes meet, but not often. Ever since the demon king was killed, monsters have gotten easier to deal with. Even my rival hasn't been as active, only using explosion magic on her walks."

"Your rival?" I asked.

"Yeah, we both made challenges to see who would win."

"I see, guess you won a lot," I said.

Suddenly she flinched, "Y-yeah, I beat her in everything and won all of them!" She stated as sweat ran down her face.

"Wow, you must be amazing!"

"Y-yeah, though sadly we haven't challenged each other for a while."

"Then after this is over, why don't you go and challenge her."

"... That might work! It's been a while since I've done that"

"It will..?" I confusingly asked.

"Yeah... A-anyways, do you want to start heading to the dungeon?"

"Yeah, good idea."

000

"Looks like we're here." I stated.

"Yeah, they say that there is something down there that gives anyone who reads it forbidden knowledge."

My eyes widen, "That actually sounds really cool."

"R-right... I think we should grab it and destroy it."

"Eh? But why, it must be forbidden for a reason!"

Why would she ever want to destroy such a cool-sounding thing?

She turned to look at me, "Are you sure you're not Megumin in disguise?"

"Who's Megumin?"

"Ah, she is my rival, the one I told you about earlier."

"With a name like that, I also assume she's a crimson demon?"

"Yeah, we both grew up together in the crimson demon village."

We decided to end the conversation and began to walk down the dungeon stairs.

Suddenly I froze; Yunyun took notice, "What's wrong?"

"I-I-Is it just me or is it REALLY dark down there?"

She stared down at the remaining stairs, "Yeah? I guess."

She said it so casually!

"H-hey, why don't you go in front of me and I'll follow closely behind."

"Sure." She looked at me oddly, I noticed her eyes started to glow.

She giggle slightly as she moved past me.

"What's so funny," I asked.

Could she have figured out that I'm scared of the dark? How embarrassing!

"Eh? Oh, it's nothing; it's just been so long since someone has been in a party with me, I can't help but feel excited."

I blushed and rubbed the back of my head, "Well, I'm glad you feel that way, since I feel the same as well." I smiled a bit.

We finally get to the bottom as the hall ends at an open arch.

"Well, this is it," stated Yunyun.

With a sigh, we walked into the open; I couldn't see much, but it looked like a big circular room with three other doorways.

As we were about to enter one of the doors, suddenly I heard a large crack.

I didn't want to scream, but I couldn't help myself; I don't know how someone can act so normally in an open, almost pitch-black room.

"EEK!" I screamed as I jump and crash into Yunyun.

"Ow..." I open my eyes to notice I was on top of the back of Yunyun; as quickly as I fell, I shot back up.

"W-what was that for!?" Yunyun exclaimed.

S-she was covering her body and her eyes glowed even brighter. I won't lie, her eyes glowing intimidated me.

"S-sorry, it's just I-" As I was about to explain myself she interrupted me.

"W-wait, don't tell me you're afraid of the dark?"

I sheepishly looked away, "Yeah..."

"Geez, you sure you want to do this?"

"Yeah, I think I can manage."

I pause for a second, taking a deep breath, and I ask a bold question.

"Hey, c-can I hold your hand?"

I would have never noticed, but her glowing eyes made it easier to see that she was blushing.

"E-eh!?"

"W-wait, I didn't mean it in a weird way!" I quickly rushed to explain myself.

She stared at me before sighing, "I-if that's all, then I don't mind I guess."

She timidly grabbed my hand, "b-better?"

I shyly nod, "y-yeah."

000

As we walk, I couldn't help but be focused on our hands. I never held anyone else hand before, let alone a girl's hand. It almost looks like we're a couple!

"W-why are you staring at me like that?" She asked.

"A-ah sorry, i-it's just I never held anyone's hand before."

"I see, I thought you would be intimidated by me."

"Intimidated, why would I?"

"For some reason, after spending a couple of minutes with me, most seem to run away from me."

That's sad, I never expected this, though something tells me it has to do with her eyes and her obsession with "friends."

"Well, you won't have to worry about me, you're nice to talk to," I state.

She smiles a little, "thanks."

After that, we walked in comfortable silence.

000

We continue to walk until we come across a giant unlit torch.

I used tinder and watch as the torch ignites.

Suddenly the entire hallway lit up, revealing... absolutely nothing.

We did this for the other halls.

Returning to the main room, a pillar rose from the ground.

"The hell?" I questioned, I noticed a hole in the side, just enough to fit a small group of people.

Still dark, Yunyun led me into the hole. While I could see it, there was no way in hell I am letting go of her hand.

I felt the ground tremble before the pillar started the lower.

Suddenly Yunyun started to panic, as did I.

"AHH, what do we do, what do we do!?" Yunyun screamed.

"I-I don't know, hopefully, the pillar doesn't get stuck!"

I've seen too many movies where elevators fail and drop.

Lucky for us, it didn't and stopped at a large room, similar to the one above.

Unlucky for us, when our eyes adjusted, we were met with an unsightly scene: a massive pile of bones.

Great, a dark room with dead bodies, just what I needed.

"Well, no turning back now," I said, as there was no turning back.

We started to walk forward until the whole room lit up with a dim light.

"Hey William, I think I found a way out!"

When the hell did she let go of my hand? At least the light helped a bit.

"That's good, why don't we-" I was cut off as the passage closed.

"Ahhh, what do we do!?"

Suddenly all panic ceased, as we started to hear movement... coming from the corpses.

I look over in horror as I see the skeletons all assembling into one abomination.

"H-hey, Y-Yunyun, I think it's a good time to run."

"I think that's a wonderful idea!"

With that, we started to bolt to the pillar.

"Whatever you do, keep running and don't look back!"

"Got it!"

We got closer and closer to the exit.

"We're gonna make it, we're gonna make it, there's no way we can't make it!"

Suddenly Yunyun started to yell at me, "What's with the red flags!"

Just as she said that; the pillar retracted itself.

We both stand there shocked, looking back I see this creature walking towards us.

"Y-Yunyun, it was short, b-but I was glad you were my first friend!"

This is it, we're about to die.

She grabbed me by my shoulders and shook me, "I'm glad we are also friends, but don't give up yet! I refuse to die, so fight with me!" She had a determined look in her eyes that I could not ignore. I could tell she was freaked out but refused to back down.

She's right, I should give up, not yet; After all, I'm the guy who killed a patch of watermelon!

"Look!" I noticed she was pointing at something

In the "mouth," it had a glowing red orb that pulsed.

"That's good and all, but how the hell are we going to get it."

"LIGHT OF SABER" I heard her shout, suddenly a blade made of light shot forth and was about to pierce the orb. However, its "mouth" is closed.

It would have been cool to see if the mouth wasn't made from a bunch of hands.

"Shit!" I yelled.

It turned its head towards us and started running forward.

I started to hear an odd sound that was growing louder, so I looked in the creature's direction and noticed the orb was growing extremely bright.

"Yunyun, circle around it from the right and I'll go to the left; I think it is about to charge an attack!"

She nodded, and as we began to circle it, it shot off a large laser beam, that started to head in Yunyun's direction.

I used "freeze" to freeze its legs to turn its attention on me.

As expected, the simple sheet of ice broke quickly, but it seemed to work.

As it turns its head, an idea popped into my head.

"Yunyun, do you think you can freeze its mouth open?" I asked as we met on the other side.

She looks at me strangely before realizing my plan, "Yeah, I think I could do that."

As the laser stopped, it let out a distorted roar before charging at me.

Without a second, Yunyun used "freeze gust" and aimed at its mouth.

I gave her a thumbs-up before rushing towards the beast, "Alright, I'll take it from here!"

As I started to get closer to it, I used my "high jump" ability to jump into its maw.

With a quick slash, the orb shattered at dimmed.

"We did it!" I shouted with joy.

I began to run towards the outside of the mouth before the bones started to collapse.

"Ah, Shit!" I screamed.

I felt like my life flashed before my eyes before everything went back.

000

"-Iam, Illiam, WILLIAM," I heard a voice shout my name.

My eyes slowly opened to see Yunyun panicking.

I let out a soft grumble, "Y-Yunyun?"

I looked at her, still out of it.

"Ah, William, you're alive!" She stated before pouncing on me.

After that, she helped me up, "So, is it over?"

She nodded, "Yeah, that was definitely terrifying."

With that, we went in the direction of the newly opened doorway.

We came across a chest; as I was about to walk forward, Yunyun stopped me.

"Wait, I want to check something real quick," She then proceeded to grab a nearby rock and chuck it at the chest.

"What is that supposed to do?" I ask.

"Sometimes there are mimics that like to trick people into opening chests."

Stepping forward, I opened the chest.

"A note?"

What I saw was not gold or any riches, but a simple small paper with text on it.

Yunyun put her hand out, "Alright we finally have it, let's destroy this."

Shit, she is going to destroy this thing, I have to think of something quick!

"Ah, wait!"

She stopped, "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing, I was just thinking that maybe I should hold on to this note until we make it out, just to make sure nothing happens to us."

She stared at me for a few seconds before nodding, "I suppose that could work."

As we walk back to the entrance, I check to see if she has her back to me. As I confirm she is, I quickly begin to read the note.

"Dear reader,

Please be my girlfriend if you get this.

A person like you who is surely strong and tough must be a hot girl.

I never had one before, and want one before my death. Never before have I seen someone as pretty as you before. Liking someone has always been a dream of mine. As I said, this is a final request so, please. Killing that beast was something that even I couldn't do, so if you killed it you must be a strong dominant girl right?

Expecting a reply soon, thanks."

There was a name, but it was scratched out.

I stared at it with deadpan eyes.

Yunyun took notice, "Are you okay?"

I suddenly shouted, "I ALMOST DIED FROM A MONSTER JUST TO READ A LOVE LETTER!?"

Yunyun looked at me accusingly, "Wait, so you read it?"

I guiltily turned my head.

For the rest of the way, Yunyun began to scold me.

I felt bad, but it just sounded too cool not to read.

I never liked to be scolded so I began to tear up and sniff.

She only scolded me for a minute and I was already tearing up, how embarrassing!

She stopped her scolding and placed her hands on her hips.

With a deep sigh, she said, "Geez, just don't do it again okay?"

"Sure..."

With that, we finally made it out and began to head home.

"So, that was intense," I said.

"Yeah, sorry for yelling at you like that; I guess it was stress and I was worried something might happen."

I rubbed the back of my head, "Sorry about that."

She suddenly giggled, "though that careless action and you wanting something that looks cool really reminds me of Megumin; I guess that's why I feel more comfortable around you."

I smile sheepishly, "Thanks, me too; I'm glad we're friends."

"You know, I wasn't always like this; before I was chief I used to be a lot timider and never really spoke my mind much."

My eyes widened, "Really?"

Yunyun definitely was easily embarrassed and a bit shy, but never did I think she couldn't speak her mind.

"Yeah, I guess experience from being a chief has changed me a bit."

She then put my hands into hers, causing me to blush. "So, I may not be perfect, but I look forward to being your friend," She then proceeded to smile at me.

I returned it, "Thanks, I may be stupid sometimes but I'm glad you're my first friend."

We then continued to walk into the sunset, not as strangers, but as friends.

From now on, we won't have to be lonely anymore.