I rose an eyebrow as we waddled out of the brush, the large, slightly gothic structure imposing itself on me with plenty of vigour. Glancing at Yuuma who stood beside me, a grin on her face, I stepped towards the large structure and stopped short of the large, double doors that appeared to be made out of an old but hard wood.
"You live here? In this church?" Yuuma, who was wearing a short black skirt, a yellow knitted sweater, thigh highs and brown ankle boots, sighed from behind me.
"Does it look like I'd live in a place like this?" This out of character remark was slightly shocking to hear, however, as she stood beside me and pushed the right door open with a grunt, I spoke once more.
"But you asked me if I wanted to go to your place. Doesn't that usually mean your house?" The door swung open with a mighty creak and, before she stepped into the dark interior of the building, she set her gaze on me from over her shoulder.
"You were thinking of something dirty when I sent you that message, weren't you?" With a furious blush spreading across my face, I vehemently denied Yuuma's offhanded remark and followed after her, marvelling at the insides of the building.
To put it simply, it was a rather nice building to look at because of its high ceiling and stained glass windows that let the light in to penetrate the darkness, creating a humble and gentle ambience. However, not mentioning the rows upon rows of pews and the altar at the very back of the building, it was fairly empty and held nothing more than lavish carpets.
What the hell would Yuuma even do in here?
"So, what do you think?" She spoke, almost as if she was reading my thoughts. Standing next to her and folding my arms across my chest, I spread my gaze across the interior once more. The door slammed shut behind us.
"It's pretty empty."
"Yeah, it is."
"…What do you even do in here?" I asked, watching as Yuuma took a seat on a pew that was closest to me. She patted the spot beside her with a small smile, seemingly waiting for me to claim my spot next to her.
As I slid onto the seat next to her, my hands idle on my knees, she responded. "I like to sit in here and absorb the atmosphere, you know?" I furrowed my brow in response.
"You mean to tell me you just sit here doing nothing?"
"Pretty much. Sometimes I'll read or sleep or do other things." I couldn't help but want to ask what these 'other things' were, but I managed to restrain myself, knowing that dirty thoughts would fill my mind.
"It seems…kinda boring." Yuuma nod once.
"It is."
"Then why do you even come here?"
"Because I have nothing better to do."
"So you don't have any friends or a part-time job or any hobbies that would fill your time?"
"No, not really."
"Oh." Was all I could say in response, not believing her in the slightest. I mean, if her skills at the arcade the other day were anything to go by, she must visit it quite often. Although, because I was fearing for my life in some minor way, I didn't bring that up lest I make a somewhat grave mistake.
But with nothing else to say, we awkwardly sat in place, refusing to meet each other's eyes. After a moment, I glanced at Yuuma and saw her hands fiddling around in her lap. I quietly sighed and turned away, observing my surroundings once more as I composed my thoughts.
With my life on the line, shouldn't I be thinking of things to say to delay the inevitable? Small talk, forced attitudes and conversations – all of them were probably pointless as the high amount of tension, both sexual and violent, wouldn't be broken by mere icebreakers. I was pretty much a socially awkward kid too so I couldn't find it in me to build up the courage to speak.
Now staring up at the roof, not knowing what to do or say, I observed the pattern of the flaking paint on the ceiling, tracing the cracks with my eyes. Finding this potentially life-threatening encounter rather mundane, the eventual swaying of the trees in the wind disturbed the awkward and deafening silence. Yuuma took this opportunity as a chance to display her courage as she opened her mouth to speak.
"Say, Issei…" I hummed in response, glancing at her several times as she slowly twisted her body, her hands firmly planted on the pew as she leaned closer to me. Through the power of the holy skill Libido Suppression, I managed to not look at her large chest and swallowed a lump that had formed in my throat instead, my cheeks feeling a little hot as my heart sped up, "Do you…really love me?"
[Libido Suppression has levelled up. Libido Suppression: Level 2/10, is now active.]
In an instant, my mind calmed down and my cheeks became cold, a quiet sigh escaping my lips as my beating heart slowed down.
"Of course I do, Yuuma. Although we've only known each other for a short time, it's been fun hanging out with you." Thanking whatever god was out there for my completely normal speech, I watched as Yuuma placed a hand on my cheek, turning my head to face her. While I was staring into her gentle, violet eyes, I pivoted my body so I was sitting on an angle while facing towards her and leaned in closer, her eyes closing as I did so.
As our lips were about to connect, the hair on the back of my head stood straight, my entire body seizing up as my danger sense began to run wild. With a forced smile, I pulled my head back, cold sweat steadily forming on my back, and Yuuma opened her eyes. She tilted her head to the side, looking very cute, as she spoke.
"Is something wrong, Issei?" I turned my head away lest my danger sense fade away from a false sense of security and scratched my cheek in false embarrassment.
"I do love you, Yuuma, but I don't think we've known each other long enough to see where this road would end." As Yuuma corrected her posture, I swear I heard her click her tongue in what would be disappointment.
[Acquired skill: Mana Detection.]
If it wasn't for this skill, I may as well be dead; as I was leaning in to kiss Yuuma, I felt something spark in the air and change in an instant, an exciting energy filling the space right behind my heart. Leaning back seemed to have dispelled the compression of the mana behind me…
I held back the urge to sigh and turned away from Yuuma, an awkward silence falling upon us. Not speaking, not moving and not willing to acknowledge each other's presence, we both sat in this abandoned chapel with nothing to do.
That was until the doors were slowly pushed open.
The bright light pouring through the door, momentarily blinding me, I used an arm to shadow my eyes and squinted, trying to make out the figure of the person who had entered the building. To say there were beyond my expectations was probably logical.
I mean, with golden blonde hair and emerald green eyes, wearing what appeared to be a peculiarly unique nun uniform, a girl entered the building with heavy breath. As it seemed as if she was unable to breathe, I made a movement to stand up to go to help her but Yuuma beat me to it.
Jumping to her feet and wandering over to the girl, Yuuma spoke to her. In English. I was unable to discern the contents of their conversation bar a few words and phrases, but I was able to pick up the blonde girl's name.
Her name was Asia.
I assumed it was spelt like the continent but it was definitely pronounced differently.
However, after a few minutes of exciting uneventfulness, Yuuma and the girl walked over to me, a suitcase trailing behind them.
"Issei, this girl is Asia. She's come from abroad on business regarding my father's co-worker's field of expertise." From that short sentence, I could tell that Yuuma was implying I should leave, something I would gladly do when considering what was about to happen to me. So, with a sigh and a weak smile, I pushed myself to my feet and nod once.
"Alright, I get it. I'll leave and let you do whatever it is you need to do." I left the building with a natural, calm stride, cold sweat running down my back. After a few meters, the door slammed shut behind me, however, I did not look back as two thoughts appeared in my mind, my next step faltering as I pursed my lips.
Yuuma definitely wanted to kill me, that much was now obvious, and that Asia girl was probably in danger.
Now that I was all alone, I had nothing to do again.
Trying to discover my mana was probably going to be a waste of time again, despite having the Mana Detection skill, so I was stuck with nothing to do. Thinking back to what my options were before Yuuma messaged me, none of them were exactly appealing anymore so I was left wondering the streets with my hands in my pockets.
In the end, I head off to the arcade with what little money I had on me.
What did I play for a few minutes?
Nothing other than Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Arcade.
Why did I play it?
Because virtual idols are cute and because it's one of the easier rhythm games around.
Yeah, I kinda suck at rhythm games but they're my passion. Music is good and so is Miku, so there was no contest in my decision. However, I was only able to play for a short while due to my lack of physical currency and wallet, so I left the arcade feeling a little bitter while once again not feeling like doing anything.
I mean, exercise? Nah, I'm lazy.
Find another dungeon? Nah, monsters are scary.
Play games at home? I really don't want my mom to find out I play eroge or Gal Gun.
Go to school? I can't really turn up to school without my uniform.
Continue to think about this crap without doing anything productive? Yeah, that sounds like a me thing to do.
Although it was wasting time, it was filling my mind and was acting like a filler while the gods ironed out the plot that is my life. Thinking of that, would something even happen today? I mean, I'm not omnipotent or omniscient…
"…Nine…ten…!" Ten push-ups was all it took for me to collapse onto my stomach. I was weak, I knew that, but I thought that I would be able to do at least twenty. Turns out I was wrong. Sit-ups weren't any better nor were squats; what was my STR stat for if I couldn't even do push-ups that were equal to its value? What even is its value!?
Oh, maybe I need to surpass that unknown number through mental willpower alone to naturally increase the stat. Although, I'm probably not even going low enough when doing push-ups so I'll need to slowly build up to it. Same goes for squats and sit-ups where the sit-ups are pretty much crunches.
Yup, I'm definitely weak. The only thing I probably have going for me is my AGI and maybe my LCK.
I think I have ten stat points to invest from level-ups, though, so maybe I should waste all of them on STR, VIT and AGI. Actually, should I become a speed-based build or strength orientated? Tank, DPS or…a unique build. Crit-based wizard? LCK based priest? There's so many options and not enough skills or insight for me to make a decision.
Actually, I haven't even seen my status screen ever since the tutorial showed it to me, even though I poured stat points into LCK when playing rock-paper-scissors with Yumma!
Oooooh, it popped up with a single thought!
NAME: Issei Hyoudou
LEVEL: 4
EXP: 182/400
AGE: 17
RACE: Human
CLASS: Hentai Fiend
Title: Leader of Perverted Trio
HP: 160/160
MP: 8/8
STR: 15
VIT: 16
AGI: 11
DEX: 10
INT: 8
WIS: 5
LCK: 15
POINTS: 10
The first thing that came to mind was my abysmal MP stat. Although it's pretty much the only thing that's worthy of mentioning because it's that bad, I didn't expect it to be exactly equivalent to my INT stat. I mean, looking at my VIT, it increases my HP by ten with every point it gains, so why can't my INT do the same to my MP? Wait, is it because of class or race restrictions? Considering the fact that Yuuma and Mittelt are apparently not human and they can freely use mana, I'm assuming it is, which pisses me off.
I mean, I didn't even choose my class. Considering I don't like hentai, I could assume it's meaning pervert, but that's not important here. I'd like to point out that the class is not true to who I am because I didn't even get a say in what it was going to be!
I'm fine with the title, though, as it is kind of true, but that's beside the point. The point is that I'm not a Perverted Fiend because I'm neither an evil spirit, demon nor a devotee that is dedicated to worshipping the art of perversion! At this point, I may as well roast the titles, but these titles are confirmed to have no effect. However, just because I'm getting angry, I'm gonna say that maybe I was lied to and the titles do have an effect.
Ok, now it's time to calm down, Issei. There's no need to get that mad, not that I really was in the first place. I mean, it's just a game and games are supposed to be fun and you only get a little mad at games sometimes because of stuff that doesn't make sense. Although, when I think about it, it's not really a game because it's real life, but…
[Skill acquired: Anger Suppression.]
Phew. That's better. The hot pit that had formed in my stomach has faded away. I am no longer Kratos from God of War, so I can be zen and peacefully reflect on everything that is wrong with my stat sheet.
Bah, I can't be fucked doing that right now so I'm just going to sit here quietly and try to use my mana. I did acquire the Mana Detection skill so it should be easier than it was before, but thinking about my abysmal mana stat, I might not even have enough mana to use magic, never mind feeling it inside of me.
But it can't hurt to try, can it? I mean, I have nothing better to do, so it's okay if I probably waste my time. However, how would I go about using my skill? Is it a passive skill or is it an active skill? Well, if I sit still and not think of anything, I'd discover what kind of skill it is.
[Skill acquired: Meditation.]
Upon acquiring that skill, the message appearing behind my retinas, I felt something gradually build up in my body; it was a cool, calming sensation that ran through all of my limbs and appendages as if it was blood and, as the feeling solidified itself in my body, I discovered an instinct and urge to pull the mana outside of my body to use it.
In less than a second, the pleasurable sensation was gone, my mind becoming blank as a wave of mental exhaustion covered my mind. I wasn't sure what had happened next as I was lying on my back in my room, winded and physically weak, but I muttered out one sentence that summed up the whole situation perfectly.
"…Bloody…useless…MP stat…!"
Acquired Skills (Chapters 4 and 5)
Hand-to-Hand Combat: Level 1/10 – 5% EXP
You can now beat things up without worrying about anything. Isn't that a good thing?
Mana Detection: Level 1/10 – 2% EXP
There was something in the air. What was it? It was mana, you dummy!
Anger Suppression: Level 1/10 – 1% EXP
Nothing can make you angry now, not even MOBA games! Well, you don't even play them, but I think you get what I mean.
Meditation: Level 1/10 – 3% EXP
Wow, you've unlocked the ability to sit still and think about nothing. Well, you're not that good at it yet because you're Issei Hyoudou, but it might get better.
Wow, it hasn't been a whole month! Well, it's been two weeks, so it's not that good of a time for such a short chapter but it's better than nothing. By the way, I'm not one hundred percent sure if I fixed everything while editing this, so if anyone catches anything that they think is wrong or bad, don't be afraid to tell me about. I'll look at it and fix it if it needs fixing.
Thank you for reading Rock-Paper-Scissors.