Chapter 65: This Isn't Sparta!

Today was the fifth day Shido spent with Marina in this world of visual reality.

For some people five days can be insanely long, but for others they're short as a snap, all depends on how the days are lived through.

For Shido, it's the latter.

"Ow…"

He was sprawled out across the field, groaning and in various states of pain. This virtual world healed any bruises he had accumulated in a very short order, however it didn't relieve the aches he'd got in this way.

Wiping the sweat off his forehead, he stared at the sky above the stadium, and couldn't help but exclaim how tough things had been for him. He felt that he grew more familiar with the blue sky outdoors than the ceiling of his room!

"Having cold feet, Pussy Itsuka?"

The familiar taunting voice lingered in his ears. Ignoring his building fatigue, he rose to his feet.

"Even a girl fights better than you, so why don't you become Shiori forever hihihi—"

Shido's eyes twitched slightly. As much as he acknowledged that she was lighting up his fighting spirit, he felt utterly annoyed after getting beaten and flapped down like a fly again and again. Of course, Marina had her fair share of defeats, but not enough to grant him the superiority.

By taking a deep breath, he summoned the time Angel [Zafkiel], shooting himself with the fourth bullet {Dalet} to heal his injuries; then he summoned the key Angel [Michael], thrusting the tip into himself to switch on turbo mode.

In the past few days, Shido went through a series of cruel training sessions of utilizing his Angels to the best of his abilities.

Thanks to her, he went from "single-threaded" to "multi-threading", and now he could diversely integrate different Angels to meet the varying combat scenarios. After all, Marina was not showing him any mercy, he had to adapt if he wanted to survive.

"Pansy!"

"Tiny-dick boy!"

"Can't satisfy a girl in bed!"

Marina degraded Shido like trash, provoking him in the most irritating way.

"Hey, that's not true! Every girl I slept with loved..."

Shido protested, but his voice trailed off due to embarrassment.

Damn it, almost tricked by her…she's luring me to lose my cool.

"Really? Did you examine the size of my tool up-close and personal? During my sleep? And by your pussy?" Instead, he shot back loudly: "Too chickenhearted to ask me to plug into you while I'm awake?"

"You…" Marina was choked by the unexpected backfire of her previous mocking. She kinda deserved it.

Seeing Marina's cute and annoying cheeks, Shido had a mixed feeling burning up in his chest. A couple days ago, she was such a sweet young maiden during their date together, and yet, she turned into an arrogant lass.

Although she had stopped using her clones, she was still able to beat seven shades of crap out from him. As much as he hated to admit it, she was holding both tactical and strategic advantage.

At least he could humiliate her…by words. But verbally stabbing her won't be enough, he must corporally knock her off her high horse.

"Here I go!"

He summoned the flames of [Camael] and the ice of [Zadkiel] before mixing them together. In a short while, the entire stadium was filled with water vapor.

Correct, it was the same method that Rinne had used with her Guardians.

Feeling her visibility decreased to record low, Marina wasn't surprised in the slightest, simply staying where she was and examining her situation.

Suddenly, the flow of the fog altered irregularly.

Marina shifted her body to the left, and in the next second, a chain flew past where she was standing earlier.

If she didn't move, she would have been tied up already.

'Taking advantage of low visibility, he attacked me with Yuzuru's [Raphael] next.'

Marina was still unfazed, and her eyes were calm.

Then, she felt herself slipping on when she landed. It turned out that Shido also froze over the ground when he created the fog! The friction was reduced to zero thanks to the ability of [Zadkiel].

She instinctively activated her flight ability, and flew above the newly-made rink. However, a key appeared on her route of retreat and thrust its tip toward her body…

"How naive."

She disappeared from the spot!

In the next moment, she teleported behind him, and opened her arms, planning to use the same trick of electrocution again.

However, when she touched him, his body went "poof" and dissolved into tiny particles.

That was not all, these particles became tenacious strings and coiled around her body, before tightening up.

"Got her!"

Shido jumped out from a new portal, pumping his fists in the air joyfully.

But to his surprise, the strings went through the girl that was supposedly trapped!

It was as if she was transparent.

'How?'

Before he could figure out why, she dissolved into tiny particles in the air!

"Iron Sand Railgun!"

A clear voice entered his ears from the left side, and he felt something hot coming his way.

Shido quickly reacted by transforming his body into styrofoam.

To his knowledge, Marina's long-distance attacks were all related to electricity. As long as he made his body an insulator, he would save himself some pain.

However…

"AHHHH!"

His stomach was shot through by an enormous laser beam!

"204th Fight: My victory!"

…

Oh shit, here we go again…

When Shido came to, he saw the familiar blue sky that he grew to hate.

Rubbing his belly, he was relieved that it regenerated completely. After all, this was a virtual world that could resurrect players from their death.

Earlier, he used one trick in another and almost got Marina, but her body somehow turned transparent!

It didn't make sense to him at all!

Also, what was the last attack that got him? It hurt like somebody's been beating him with rubber hoses for about six years.

He gritted his teeth out of frustration, but when he shifted his head a little, he felt something soft on the back of his head.

"…A lap pillow?"

"Baka, don't say it out loud!"

An unpleasant voice came from above.

As it turned out, Marina sat on her knees and placed Shido's head on them. When he woke up, she was caught off guard and wasn't able to escape this embarrassing situation on time.

"Although it's training, I feel your head…. might be hurting ... .you know, bumping on the ground so many times… and you passed out... that's why I…"

"Hahaha…"

"Stop laughing! Do you think it's funny that you slept like a baby?"

Marina pouted, puffing her flushed cheeks as she grabbed a handful of Shido's hair.

"Your thighs are way too good, can you blame me for enjoying them?"

Shido grinned lightly, enjoying her comfortable lap pillow with his eyes closed.

"….Aren't you a smooth talker, Shido Itsuka? Usually, you would jump up with embarrassment."

"After everything I have been through, I don't feel jumpy anymore."

Hearing such words, Marina blushed more and her cheeks looked like ripe apples. Whimpering, she pulled on Shido's hair without mercy!

"Aw aw ouch… sorry, my fault…"

Feeling the pain from his scalp, he pleaded mercy right away. Fortunately, she let him off easy.

"Marina?"

"Yes, Shido Itsuka?"

"How did you turn transparent? What was in your last attack? A little hint, please?"

"You will have to figure it out!"

Marina answered proudly, giving Shido's forehead a flick.

"Right right, you just came up with such a brilliant tactic, we don't wanna ruin your little winning streak…" Shido laughed as he nudged on her fair thighs, making the girl a bit itchy. "If I remember correctly, it's 140 wins and 64 losses for me."

"Don't get cocky! I will catch up for sure!"

"Good luck with that."

She retorted with her fist pumping in the air, but she wasn't mad. Instead, she enjoyed this little peaceful moment quite a lot, but as much as she wanted to continue...

"Well then, that's enough training for the time being. We will log out shortly."

Marina declared.

"Why?"

Shido asked in surprise. Although it was a good thing to get out of this harsh training, he felt that he needed more time to be able to hold his own in combat, subjectively marked by defeating Marina every single time. He estimated another two or three weeks were needed to achieve that.

"You have heart, but slow and steady wins the race."

Marina grunted, shaking her head slightly.

"Everything happens here is essentially an external feed inputted to your brain, and one's brain drains approximately a quarter to one third of overall stamina. So what will happen if you stay here for too long?"

"Hypoglycemia?"

"Correct. Moreover, don't you have other affairs to settle in the real world?"

Hearing her question, Shido recalled momentarily, before finally answering:

"Ren is still on the run, and some directors or DEM agents might be behind her…"

Shido couldn't refute. No matter how "real" a VR world could be, his physical form still remained in the real world, so he had all sorts of responsibilities to honor: Enemies to defeat, loved ones to save, he also needed to eat food, drink water…and return them to the earth.

"There's also ongoing research about how personality being affected by prolonged exposure to virtual reality experience, the result may be undesired."

Indeed, if he stayed in this virtual reality for too long, his personality might change drastically as well, and it would probably be bad.

"We will train here more often, but won't stay more than needed. Otherwise, you won't be able to avoid adverse effects either physiologically or psychologically. If you were to develop any signs of addiction, I will subject you to treatment of compulsory withdrawal!"

"Who would get addicted to such a Spartan experience!?"

Shido almost cried.

And what her "treatment of compulsory withdrawal" would be? Why does she think that I "want" to be addicted?

For a brief second, he imagined Marina clad in a naked apron, gently feeding him a spoonful of porridge and wiping his mouth…

"Are you thinking about lewd things?"

Marina's sharp voice snapped him out of it.

"Not at all!"

Shido almost jumped. Damn women's instincts!

"You better not be…"

Marina murmured, her head turned away from him. A faint hue could be seen on her cheeks, not sure if she was angry or just embarrassed.

Before he could find out, she snapped her fingers, and the scenery around them changed, giving him the feeling of riding a roller coaster, his head turning upside down until he lost consciousness again.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw the familiar faces of his girls…

"Welcome back, Darling!"

Miku was holding a plate of sandwiches. Its aroma tingled Shido's nose and made his mouth water.

Speaking of which, he didn't really finish lunch earlier, and now he's starving!

Gotta have Marina or Maria to construct a device to have me properly fed and watered while I'm away in the VR world. Probably take inspiration from those hypersleep chambers in the Alien franchise.

Shido quickly grabbed one and stuffed it in his mouth, devouring it like a hungry wolf that hadn't seen a prey for days. The delicious juice spread throughout his taste buds, and he almost cried!

"Is it good?"

Miku asked.

"So guud…"

He said with his mouth full, paying no heed to his tabling manners.

Worried that he might choke, Mayuri went to the kitchen and quickly grabbed him a glass of water.

"Tank yo…"

Shido drank the water and felt better.

Where are the others?

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw a little girl grabbing a sandwich from the plate. Then, she jumped in another direction.

Tracing her petite body, he saw that she stopped in front of two older girls.

Marina was sleeping on Rinne's shoulders!

As it turned out, exerting the power of time flow in the ratio of 1:1,000 had taken a toll on the Artificial Spirit, and she passed out at the end. Her sleeping face looked full of fatigue.

Seeing her like this, Shido felt hurt in his heart.

"Mama, is Marina-san gonna be alright?"

Rio asked with concern.

"Don't worry, she is just a bit tired."

Rinne gave her daughter a soft smile.

Rio nodded happily, then she raised her cute petite hands, feeding her mother the sandwich.

"Say ah~"

"Ah~"

Rinne happily took a bite of the sandwich.

"Awwwwwwww~~~~~"

Miku squealed in happiness as she witnessed this sweet scene.

Rinne smiled happily and continued eating the sandwich, until it was finally gone.

"Rio-chan is such a good girl!"

Miku took another sandwich and put it in Rio's hands quickly.

"Can Rio-chan feed your Miku-san too?"

She asked cutely.

Rio looked at her mother, who gave her a nod in defeat.

"Ah~"

Rio called out.

"Ah~"

Miku happily chewed on it, her rosy cheeks bulging like a squirrel.

"Miku, that isn't very lady-like…"

Rinne gave her a bemused smile, handing her a glass of water.

"Yaaaaa~~~~so this is Oyakaton….I'm in heaven right now~~"

Miku finished the water in one gulp, making some more questionable comments.

"Hmm? Rio doesn't understand… isn't oyakaton food?"

"Th—-she doesn't know what she's talking about!"

In the face of her daughter's question, Rinne flushed and glared at Miku.

Miku, however, still didn't get the message. Instead, she reached out her arms and pulled Rio over!

"Haaaaa~~~ Rio-chan is so soft and cute, I want a daughter just like you~~"

She hugged Rio tightly and rubbed her cheeks against her bosom!

"T—thank you, Rio is happy… to hear that."

Rio didn't dislike the hug, though Miku's giant mounds did give her trouble speaking.

"How—how big is your chest, Miku-san?"

"!?"

Rinne wanted to intervene, but her daughter's next question made her stop.

"My bust size is 94cm~~ bigger than anyone here~~"

Miku stuck her tits up proudly like an elegant swan.

Rinne bit her lips unhappily, but couldn't help looking at her huge bosom. Even though hers was quite plump as well, it was no match for this celebrated idol's.

"You seem to be very proud of these giant tits of yours…"

Suddenly, a cold voice entered the room.

At this point, Miku felt a chill down her spine.

When she raised her head, she saw Marina with a "benevolent" smile on her face.

"…so why don't you train with me next, cow-girl? I can teach you how to make those racks of yours even bigger!"

"Help, Marina-san is so scary!"

Everyone laughed as Miku let out a whimper; the living room was as lively as always.

…

When they finished all the sandwiches, Marina tapped Shido's shoulders.

"You got an incoming phone call."

She handed him his cellphone, and the screen showed an unknown caller.

Normally, there should be no signals on this level of elevation, but with Marina and her ability here, that was another story.

"Hello?"

He answered cautiously.

"Shido Itsuka!"

A familiar voice entered his ears, drawing his attention.

"Your cousin and Mayuri are missing! Do you know where they might be?"

Crap…

Now that he realized it, he and Mayuri disappeared from school during lunch break because...you know… and a lot happened after that, no way in hell would he remember something trivial as attending class!

A/N:

Maybe going back to school is a good change of pace. After all, it's advised to take some sunshine every day, which is good for health.