A/N: I'm now uploading this story on QuestionableQuesting under the same title and same username. If you want to see sketches from me as well as small changes I added to the story, then feel free to check it out! I believe you will need to create an account to view the story.
Chapter 22: A Heist For This Thief Duo!
Part 1
We had another match the next day after moving on to the second round.
"Fufu… It seems you have some app-users on your team. But you're not using your cheat items, are you? I can tell."
One of the players said this to me and Mitsurugi.
"How can you tell we're not using cheats?"
"Heh… Wouldn't you like to know? You see, I have these contact lenses that lets me see the complete information of anything I see! I can tell what equipment or abilities you're using! Also, it's very surprising that you're not a virgin, Satou Kazuma."
He could even see our virginity status, huh?
Also, he seemed completely shocked that I wasn't a virgin.
"...This will be a tough match."
Mitsurugi said, while the app-user taunting us laughed.
I held my hand up to the app-user who was boasting about his cheat-item.
"[Steal]."
"Hah, there's no way your luck stat is high enough to steal my cheat item from me! Eh? Why do my eyes feel exposed?"
I held up the contact lenses he was boasting about.
"I'll hold onto this for you."
"Please wait?!"
Another guy blocked my way as I turned around and started walking away.
"Hold on there… I can't let you steal my teammate's cheat item! That's unsportsmanlike behavior!"
Says the guy who was abusing cheat items in a highschool soccer tournament.
"If you don't give those lenses back… Then I will be forced to use these cleats that let me summon a lightning dragon whenever I make a kick!"
Was he planning on killing people in this tournament, or what?
"[Steal]..."
"M-My lightning dragon…?!"
"Alright, I was gonna give these back to you, but it's too dangerous for idiots like you to be walking around with such artifacts."
I was starting to see Chris's perspective.
"P-Please wait?! We're nothing without those cheat items! Please give them back!"
Mitsurugi sighed as he followed me while I ignored those app-users.
"Are you really gonna keep their cheat items? Won't they need that to fight the demon king army?"
"Forget the demon king army, those guys will ruin the city on their own."
Giving these guys the ability to fire lightning dragons from their feet… What the hell was Aqua thinking?
"Well, I suppose you're right."
Mitsurugi relented after he couldn't find a way to argue.
With their artifacts confiscated, the app-users couldn't stop us in the game.
I sped away as they were chasing me with [Escape, then set up some short passes with Mitsurugi.
We developed quite an excellent chemistry while playing so many games together. I didn't even need to look to know where he was going to be.
Still, the other players were app-users as well who had their own skills.
"We're not gonna let you humiliate us like this! [Leap]!"
One of them jumped incredibly high in the air to contest a cross.
I looked at Mitsurugi, but he just shrugged.
"...Don't look at me, I can't jump that high."
I sighed and used [Wind Breath] up at the ball, pushing it out of the way before the app user could make contact with it.
"Gah…?!"
I retrieved the ball and moved up the field, only for the other app-user to block my way.
"I won't let you pass! [Power Kick]!"
He went for a slide tackle.
"[Freeze]..."
I froze the ball to my feet, getting it stuck there.
"Eh…?"
He blinked in surprise when the ball refused to budge from my feet when he tackled me.
Furthermore, the momentum of the tackle made me fall over.
The referee blew a whistle and assigned a yellow card to him for reckless play.
By this time, I had already unfroze the ball.
"What…?! B-But… It wasn't…!"
He tried to argue, but the referee wouldn't listen to him.
We won the game 3-0.
"We're advancing to the semi-finals! I'm so proud of all of you!"
The coach's face was hidden by a waterfall of tears. I was worried he'd get dehydrated at some point in this tournament.
"To think we'd make it this far… You're the difference maker, Satou!"
My teammates praised me as well.
I shrugged and rubbed the back of my head.
"...I couldn't have done it with all your support. Not only in the game, but in practice as well…"
"...Satou! Even though I secretly hated you because you're getting so much attention from girls now… I respect you now!"
"I hated you so much because you kept bringing that cute first-year girl to your games… But now you have my loyalty!"
"I still kinda hate your guts because you're already better than me despite being a noob a month ago…! I've been playing since middle school, you know?!"
What awful teammates I had.
When we headed out of the tunnel, the fans started cheering for us as we exited.
"Kyaa~! Mitsurugi-kun!"
"Kazuma-kun, please look at me!"
Our fans increased from last time. In fact, weren't there a lot of fangirls this time?
Mitsurugi just gave them a polite smile and moved on, but…
I winked at the fangirls calling my name.
"Thank you for your support… Your cheers help me play at my best form…"
"Kyaa~! We'll keep cheering you on, Kazuma-kun~!"
I chuckled and gave a final salute while walking out.
"...Sigh… Your charisma and attractiveness increased by 1."
"You don't sound too excited to announce that, Appuri-chan."
"Kazuma-san… Do you want me to tell mama on you?"
Appuri-chan said this when I retrieved her from the locker room after changing to check on my stats.
"...? Your mama is fine with me flirting with other girls, you know? It's part of her religion or whatever."
"That still doesn't make it OK for you to just flirt with random girls!"
"That's exactly what she said, didn't she?! Your mama doesn't care even if I sleep with other women!"
I thought that I was alone in the locker room since the others already left, but…
I didn't notice that the coach was still there.
"Satou-kun… Don't tell me that you have a daughter at your age? And you're even cheating on her mother…"
Crap.
This overly emotional coach got a misunderstanding.
"Um, no, that's not it…"
"I-It's true! My papa here is cheating on my mama!"
This stupid app…!
"Oi… I thought you're supposed to support me…!"
"I'm designed to support you, which is why I'm ensuring that you stay faithful to mama…!"
This stupid bratty app!
If only she was real then I'd give this AI brat a good spanking!
"Satou-kun… I'm your coach so please let me give you some advice."
"No, thanks."
I quickly made my way out of there before it could get even more awkward.
Part 2
That night, I heard the window to the team's hotel room opening again.
A female thief with a slim body accentuated by a skintight bodysuit entered through the window with an acrobatic flourish.
…This wicked female thief!
All female thieves must be punished!
"Kazuma-kun… Are you…"
I threw a rope at this female thief.
"...! T-That won't work on me this time!"
She moved out of the way, expecting the attack.
However…
That was just a decoy rope I threw.
I threw the real rope, aiming it at the place she dodged.
"[Bind]!"
"...?!"
The female thief was bound, her mouth gagged by the rope as well.
"...I don't know who you are, evil female thief! But I'll interrogate you right now!"
I dragged off the struggling female thief to the closet.
"Hmm… This female thief must surely be hiding weapons here!"
"Mnn…!"
I started rubbing her ass through that skintight suit. The material of the suit didn't hide any of her curves at all.
"...Hm… Maybe I should search here as well?"
My hands went up to cup her breasts.
"Mnnn~!"
She let out an erotic squeal.
Oh?
I was about to stop at that moment but…
I looked at her red ears and the way she was shaking. She also stopped resisting.
…Maybe she started liking it midway?
If it was something like that, then the courts would surely side in my favor, right?
It's not sexual harassment if she likes it, right?
One hand continued to grope her chest, while the other hand slipped down again to grope an ass cheek.
Just like I thought, she was responding well to my touch.
…I should know, because Aqua made those exact sounds whenever she was turned on.
Again, I meant for this to be a harmless little prank, but if this female thief is this receptive…
Well, let's just drop the act and admit that she's Chris already.
If Chris is this receptive, then wouldn't it be ungentlemanly of me to stop right here?
And isn't that one of the cliches I hate seeing in anime and manga? When the beta male protagonist stops even when the girl is clearly in the mood…
Not me! If a girl lets me, I don't care what happens next, I'd even go all the way in that same instant!
And it wasn't that long ago when I declared that I'd go on the Chris route.
There were some obstacles along the way, but…
Just to see how she'd react, I poked my erect member against her ass.
"...!"
She instinctively rubbed back against me.
Oho.
Someone sure is excited, isn't she?
In that case…
I kept prodding her again. She kept moaning and didn't put up any resistance.
…Getting off on getting tied up like this and groped by a guy she knew.
"Chris… Do you like this kind of captive play?"
"...?!"
"It seems like you're enjoying this kind of play… Do you like being tied up and being held captive? Forced to do whatever your captor wants to do with you…"
This time, she wriggled away from me.
Then she went to a hook in the closet and managed to take off the rope binding her mouth with it.
"Y-You're going too far now! Kazuma-kun, what's wrong with you?!"
I stared at her impassively, not affected by her response.
"Hah? Don't even give me that act when you were eagerly rubbing yourself on me and going 'mnn~!', 'mnnn~!'. If you really didn't like it, I'll happily walk with you to the police station right now and turn myself in! But be a mature woman and admit it if you were turned on!"
She stared at me in shock as I gave her this ultimatum.
"...I-I'll overlook this incident for now because Kazuma-kun is gonna help me!"
She completely changed the subject.
"Help you with what?"
"...Did you forget already? I'm going to steal cheat items from the app-users in this hotel. For some reason, a lot of them are in the tournament, right?"
Because they were a bunch of attention seekers who wanted the glory of winning a national tournament.
They also probably discovered, like I did, that joining a sports team was a good way to raise stats.
"Hm? Did I say I'd help you?"
"...After doing all that, you're not gonna help me?"
She blushed and gave me a pout.
"All that? It was just a bit of touching… Don't tell me Chris is a virgin?"
She blushed even harder, tears in her eyes now.
"Geez! Come on, just help me!"
"Hah… I just wanted you to leave Mitusurugi alone because I can vouch for him. Look, I even got you these cheat items."
I handed her the contact lenses and shoe that I got earlier, dropping it from my inventory.
"...! Wow, you sure are good at this, Kazuma-kun! Ugh… These stink…"
She scrunched her nose in disgust as she put the cleats away in her own inventory.
"See? I already helped you out, so leave me out of this."
"K-Kazuma-kun, I thought we were friends! Please help a friend out!"
I looked at her, then down at her slim body.
"I don't do things for free, you know…?"
She noticed me looking at her body and placed her hands protectively around her chest.
"D-Didn't you already have enough fun touching me…?"
"That was just a freebie. We're talking about how you can compensate me for helping you now."
"What do you mean a freebie?! I don't let guys just grope me for free! …Fine, what do you want? Well, I can already guess what you want…"
She mumbled while glancing away.
I considered trying to get as much fun out of this as I could, especially knowing that Chris didn't hate this at all.
She had her physical needs as well, even if she didn't admit it.
Still, I didn't want to push her too hard. It wasn't like I only viewed her as a hot girl I wanted to play around with. I really did see her as a friend.
So, I decided to go easy on her.
"How about a handy?"
"Ehhh?!"
She placed a hand over her mouth as she remembered that there were people sleeping outside.
"...Kazuma-kun, why would you ask me for that?!"
"Hm? I was going easy on you, though?"
"Is that what you call going easy?!"
I mean, I could have just asked to go all the way.
"Come on, Chris. Are you telling me you're not the slightest bit curious about this sort of stuff? You can't pretend like you weren't enjoying what we did earlier."
"But we're friends, so…"
"Then we can be friends with benefits."
"You're insufferable!"
I could see the conflict on her face. Her eyes darted about and she fixed her mouth into many shapes. Finally, after a couple minutes of thought, she sighed.
"...J-Just make it quick."
"Humu. That vague reluctance coupled with the clear desire in your eyes is very erotic."
"I could do without the commentary!"
I nodded and started to take my joggers off for her. She glanced away, but I could tell her eyes were still on me, especially as I started to take my boxers off.
Her eyes widened when she saw my bare member.
"...I-I can't believe we're doing this."
She muttered, as she kept staring at it.
"Just stop trying to pretend you don't wanna do this."
I didn't know too much about Chris's personal life, but she struck me as a sheltered girl.
She was strangely innocent about a lot of things despite being around the same age as me. Even Aqua, who spent almost her entire existence in some closed-off realm, was a lot more honest and forthright with her sexual desires.
Still, I could sense that Chris was the type who could be considered a 'closet pervert'.
Sure, I was at fault for groping her at the start.
But I even groped Megumin's butt a few times before. Megumin didn't start moaning and become a shivering mess. Even Darkness didn't react as strongly as Chris did.
That was the reason why I was even going this far… Because I knew she wanted this. Of course, she couldn't admit it right away, as she had her pride.
Her hand slowly made its way to my exposed member, until I felt her soft fingers on me. I gave her an appreciative moan.
"That's it… Keep touching me."
I smirked as she gave me a soft glare.
But rather than argue, she kept stroking me.
Soon, she got immersed in the task, her eyes completely magnetized to my member as she stroked it with her hand.
If I wasn't sleeping with Aqua, I would have finished right away. That was how good her hand felt and how erotic this whole situation was.
I remembered how I got misled by our first outing at the coffee shop. I got all excited thinking it was a date.
Instead, Chris started yapping about Darkness nonstop.
I thought that my chances with her had dried up at that moment.
Yet now, here she was giving me a handjob.
"Where do you want me to cum?"
I said, warning her as I finally felt my climax approaching. Just thinking about how impossible it seemed to get to this point was making me even more aroused.
"Eh?! Um… N-Not on my clothes! This is rare gear!"
"Then you better find a way to not get it dirty… I'm gonna cum…!"
"...?!"
In a panic, she went down on her knees and opened her mouth.
"Hnnngh!"
I moaned as I blasted cum onto her open mouth, trying to aim it directly on the tongue she stuck out.
Some of it got on her face, but none of it dripped past her chin.
"Hah… Hah…"
I admired my handiwork, looking down at her tongue covered in my seed.
"...Not bad for a wicked female thief…"
She almost didn't look like she knew what to do with the cum in her mouth, until she eventually did the natural thing and swallowed it.
She looked up at me, before blushing and glancing away.
"Geez… Are we done now?"
"Yeah, sure. I just have a question, though?"
"...What?"
"I could have just cum on your hands or something. What compelled you to go down on your knees and take my cumshot in your mouth like that?"
"...?!"
This time, she slapped me on the cheek.
Part 3
We went outside to talk about retrieving the cheat items.
"This is my plan. We use our skills to sneak into the rooms one by one. If the app-users find us, then we use [Bind] to stop them. We will try not to harm anyone."
Chris explained her plan while we stood under a streetlight.
I waited for her to finish, then I said,
"Nah, that's too much hassle."
"You got any better ideas?"
I nodded and took out some fabric, a mask and a wig. Chris stared curiously at them.
"Why are you carrying those around, Kazuma-kun?"
"You see, I unlocked this [Disguise] skill recently. I also have the [Smithing] skill."
To demonstrate, I used the [Smithing] skill. The fabric wove together and formed into the material I had in mind.
I put on the newly formed clothing and mask, and with the [Disguise] skill, the material seemed to blend with my skin, forming a second skin. The mask and wig that looked like cheap plastic looked like real human hair and skin now.
I copied the appearance of the tournament's main official.
"I'm going to claim that the tournament staff spotted some players taking pictures of the girls highschool team while they were taking a bath. The staff will confiscate the phones of each of the boys to check if they're hiding pictures there."
The girls high school soccer team were also having their own tournament and using the same hotel. It wasn't hard to believe that some guys would get the idea to snap some pictures of the top girls players in the country.
Chris narrowed her eyes at me after hearing my plan.
"You sure are devious, Kazuma-kun. You come up with the most dirty plans."
"Hey, I just take the most efficient route. If we did it your way, we'd be doing this all night."
"So what do I do? It doesn't seem like I have a place in your plan."
"Just make sure the real official doesn't wake up. It will cause problems if there's two of him walking around."
"Gotcha. Then, I'll rely on you for the main part. By the way, if we're doing this, then we need codenames."
"Got it. Your codename will be 'Lusty Female Thief', while my codename will be 'Big Boss'."
"Why do you get the cool codename while I get that embarrassing one?! I want to be called 'Big Boss'! You can be 'Assistant-kun'!"
"No way. That's lame as hell."
She frowned, before she started grinning and said,
"How 'bout this? Let's play janken. Whoever wins gets the nickname they want."
I chuckled at her overconfidence. My janken skills were even enough to fool an all-seeing devil. Who did she think she is?
I decided to up the stakes a little, knowing I'd win.
"Fine. But if I win, I get to do whatever I want with you after the mission is over."
She blushed but ended up nodding.
"Y-You never stop with that, huh? Alright, I agree to those terms!"
"Then… Jan…"
"Ken…!"
"...Pon!"
I actually lost.
This was the first time in my life I lost at janken.
Chris pumped her fist in celebration.
"Yes! Alright, you have to call me Big Boss!"
"Sure…"
"Sure, what?"
"Sure, Big Boss."
"That's more like it, Assistant-kun!"
I was so shocked that I didn't even try to fight it.
How high was this girl's luck stat if my 90 luck stat lost to her?! Is she even human?!
While Chris looked for the official's room, I went over to the hotel staff and asked them to send a message to all of the player's rooms, telling them to wake up and meet in the hotel's lobby.
Wearing my disguise, I waited at the lobby as groggy and confused players gathered there. I noticed my own team came down as well, Mitsurugi among them. I just hoped he wouldn't notice that I wasn't around, although the way he was looking around seemed to indicate that he was looking for me.
To try and distract him, I went ahead and started the speech I prepared. I used [Versatile Entertainer] to imitate the official's voice from when I heard it in the opening ceremony.
"...It pains me to say that there have been some miscreants who took pictures of the female players!"
There were gasps all around.
I slowly nodded, before continuing.
"It's because of this that I request that…"
"It was me! I did it!"
My head snapped around as someone unexpectedly stepped forward.
"I'm sorry! I couldn't help it! Please don't penalize my teammates! I'm the only one who should be punished!"
…I didn't think that someone would actually take pictures of the girls teams taking a bath.
Not only that, they even admitted to it.
"Uh… Yeah. Let me get your phone, then, so we can thoroughly delete those pictures."
I took his phone, just in case he was an app user.
"We'll also need to look at everyone else's phones to see if you took pictures…"
I said, which was met with protest by the players.
"Hah?! Didn't you already find the culprit?!"
"This is an invasion of privacy!"
"Why do we have to suffer because of a couple of perverts?!"
They were all making very good points that I couldn't refute. If I was in their position, I'd also say the same things.
"...The girls reported that they saw many culprits. That means it was more than one person who did it."
The one who turned themselves in meekly raised their hand.
"Um, actually it was just me."
This guy was really messing with my plans.
If you're gonna be a pervert, at least stick with it until the end. Why was he having a redemption arc now?
"...The girls said that there were other perverts who came in at different times."
"But we were all in the dining hall, right? So the ones who weren't there are one of the culprits!"
To my surprise, Mitsurugi raised his hand.
"...Well, I will make sure to investigate who wasn't there during mealtime."
"Um, excuse me. I have something to say."
Mitsurugi still kept his arms raised. Not only that, the others all turned their attention to him.
"...The investigation will continue tomorrow. You can all return to your rooms now."
"Um, please let me speak."
Mitsurugi kept trying to get my attention no matter how many times I tried to ignore him. Without much of a choice on the matter, I nodded to him, reluctantly giving him permission to speak.
"If we're talking about those who didn't appear during mealtime, then those who didn't show up to this meeting are also guilty, yes?"
This guy…!
Was he really ratting me out?! He was really so much of a goodie two-shoes that he'd rat his own teammate out?!
"I-I don't think it necessarily means they're guilty… Maybe they're just too tired from performing very well for their teams, haha…"
"No, that guy is right! Let's take attendance right now and see who's missing!"
A random player made this even more complicated and troublesome for me.
"...Very well. Let's take attendance."
I had no choice but to go along with the flow.
Surely enough, the only one who wasn't in attendance was myself.
"It's this Satou Kazuma, huh? He does seem suspicious!"
Based on what metric, punk?
I had to hold myself back from snapping at these guys.
Mitsurugi raised his hand again. I already had enough of him, but I had no choice but to let him speak again.
"I know this may be biased, but I don't think it's Satou. Besides, he already has a girlfriend. There's not reason for him to take creep pics of random girls."
Since he knew that I had something going on with Rin, he covered for me. If he was gonna defend me anyway, then why did he even bring that up?!
One of the players didn't seem satisfied with that. He said,
"No, let's investigate him! Where is he, anyway? He should be in this meeting!"
These guys were really starting to piss me off!
"Ahem. I will go up to check on him."
I said, hurriedly leaving the lobby before they could say anything else.
I went to the room and waited a little bit, before going back to the lobby. Then, I said,
"...I spoke to this Kazuma-kun. He seems to be tired from carrying his team through two straight victories and is currently resting in bed. After all, he is the undisputed MVP of this tournament, so it's understandable. Of course, none of you would know what it's like to have the pressure of the ace title weighing on your shoulders…"
"Hah?! You're supposed to be the official, right?! Why are you so biased?!"
"Is this Satou guy your nephew or something?! There's nepotism going on here!"
"I bet you found out that your nephew is the one who took those pics, and you're covering for him!"
This situation was getting worse for me the more I tried to cover for myself.
Having had enough, I raised my voice.
"Shut up, you misbehaved children! I already checked Kazuma-kun's phone, and the only thing I found is pictures of his beautiful girlfriend! I bet none of you knows what it feels like to have a girl, huh?! After all, which girl would be interested in a bunch of bullies who go around accusing an innocent person of wrongdoing! Now give me all of your phones so I can check them, or I'll start handing out disqualifications!"
Rather than take a diplomatic approach, I used the official's authority to force them to hand their phones over.
"You will receive your phones back later. Oh, by the way, Satou Kazuma's team should take care not to disturb Kazuma-kun. He is your best player after all, and he deserves the rest."
When I went up to the room earlier, I made sure to stuff some pillows under my futon to make it seem like I was in a deep sleep.
The players started grumbling before handing their phones over, dropping them in the bag I held out. Mitsurugi also dropped his phone in.
With the bag in hand, I went up to the official's room, where Chris was waiting.
I found Chris watching over the official, who was sleeping peacefully.
"How did it go… Why do you look so exhausted?"
She said, while looking at my tired face after I took off the disguise.
"Let's just say that it might have been easier if we went along with your plan. I got these, at least."
I showed her all the phones.
She smiled and accepted the bag. Then, she withdrew a box-like object from her inventory.
"This is a storage box, a rare item that can hold a lot of objects inside. It can then be stored within the inventory, counting only as one item."
"I'd like one as a reward for helping you out."
"...You should have thought of that before asking for a lewd request."
She frowned at me, as she set to work on using [Steal] to take the cheat items away from the phones.
It only took about half an hour for her to steal the items, as she was able to identify the phones with the cheat items in them with the maxed out version of [Detect Treasure]. When it came to Mitsurugi's phone, I convinced her to let him keep his cheat-item.
Then, with the disguise on, I brought back the phones to the hotel staff, asking them to give them back to the players in the morning.
With that, we successfully stole the cheat items.
Your 'Cunning' has increased by 2!
Part 4
"Gahhh…! What happened to my cheat item?!"
"My holy lance…! That thing had passive health regen…!"
"Noooo! My sacred bow that deals increased crit damage!"
In the morning, a bunch of app-users were mourning the loss of their items.
"I knew that the official was suspicious! He gave such a boring speech in the opening ceremony, too!"
I felt like he didn't need to say that last part and just wanted to complain about the official's boring speech.
However, when they went to confront the official, they found that he didn't even know what they were talking about.
"This could be the work of the Demon King army!"
"Or it's someone with the thief class who played a trick on us!"
"Damn it! When I catch that thief I'll…!"
While the other app-users were freaking out, Mitsurugi worriedly checked his phone, only to find that Gram was still there.
"Hah… What a relief."
"Good for you, Mitsurugi."
"Uh-huh… You wouldn't have anything to do with this, wouldn't you, Satou?"
He immediately became suspicious of me.
"Why do you say that?"
"I mean, I'm the only one who didn't get my item stolen. And I know for a fact you have the [Steal] skill…"
I showed him my phone, at the skills tab.
"From what I heard, you need a maxed out [Steal] skill to remove items from one's inventory, right? Look, my [Steal] is at rank 1…"
He sighed in relief when he saw that.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Sorry for doubting you."
I actually felt a bit bad for tricking him now.
"By the way, you should really train more to raise your stats, Satou…"
He said, while looking with concern at my stats.
"Mind your own business…"
I took my phone back before he could comment anymore about my low stats.
Even with all the commotion about the missing cheat items, the tournament was still set to go as normal. It wasn't like the cheat users could complain to the organizers that their cheats went using. In fact, it was better for the tournament that they lost their cheats.
With all of the cheat items gone, that meant that our opponents for the semi-finals were below their usual ability.
Still, they had four app-users who could still use their skills. Furthermore, they were eager to take their frustrations out on us from getting their cheat items stolen.
"This is for my Flame Blade-chan!"
With tears in his eyes, the opposing defender managed to take the ball away from me with an unexpected sliding tackle. He then passed it to the striker who blew past the defenders and easily scored a goal.
The defender, who had tears in his eyes as if he was playing for a dead lover, ran back to his teammates to celebrate.
With that goal, the score was 2-2.
"Hah… We're outnumbered in terms of app-users."
Mitsurugi said, helping me up from where I fell from the sliding tackle.
"It's time for you to start using active skills, Mitsurugi."
He gave me a disappointed look.
"I told you, I can't do that. I can't help having advantages because of my passive skills, but using active skills is going too far."
This goody-two-shoes was still on about that.
"Listen, you're just evening the playing field. Look at those shameless app-users. They're using skills left and right. I bet they're even using skills just to flirt with their female manager. Don't you feel bad for our teammates who are losing because those guys keep cheating?"
I pointed to our team, who were exhausted after trying to keep up with the physically superior app-users.
Mitsurugi's eyes softened and he said,
"Fine, you've convinced me again."
He really should just do as I say from the start, seeing as how he always agrees with me in the end.
From then on, Mitsurugi took over the match.
"S-Stop that guy!"
Even with multiple people guarding him, Mitsurugi charged through them like a freight train.
"[Overpower]!"
He increased his raw straight and shook off the bodies trying to stop him.
The keeper had no chance to stop his empowered shot.
With Mitsurugi going all out, I didn't even have to do anything.
That guy really made me do so much work up until this point, when he could just take over the match all on his own…
And with that, we moved to the finals.
Part 5
For our last match, I saw some familiar faces waiting for me in the hotel, after I finished a short team practice.
"I can't believe our son is in the national championship! I'm so proud of you!"
My mom said, holding me in her arms.
I couldn't even remember the last time she hugged me, but she was giving me quite the embrace right now.
"...You've really come far from where you were a few months ago, Kazuma. I'm proud of you, really."
My dad patted me on the shoulder.
I didn't expect my parents to show up. Not only did they surprise me by showing up, they even told me they were proud of me.
"Y-You're pretty cool right now, I guess, nii-san…"
Even Kazuto had some nice words for me.
I couldn't help but think about how I was a NEET for all those years, how much trouble I must have given to my family. It wasn't like I improved myself because I wanted to make up for all those years. I just wanted to have fun playing out my fantasy RPG dreams in real life.
But I couldn't deny that my life was getting better, and my relationships were also improving. I also couldn't deny that it felt good to have people, especially my family, recognize my growth.
"T-Thanks… For showing up and all."
I didn't know how to deal with their praise, so I just avoided their gaze and glanced to the side.
Your bond with your family increased!
Satou (Family) Bond Rank: 6
At rank 6, your family respects you for the continuous growth you've shown, ever since you've stopped becoming a NEET. Your brother accepts your relationship with his crush and respects you for managing to woo her. If you mention wanting a non-blood related sister again, your parents might reluctantly consider it.
Bond Reward: Your parents will support you financially as much as they possibly can
I thought that the bond rewards from my parents got power crept by everything else but…
Wasn't this new rank-up reward kind of ridiculous?
Even though they were so stingy before, it was saying that they'd support me unconditionally now?
To test it out, I said,
"Say, dad, can I have some money? My funds are kinda running low right now…"
"Oh? Yeah, sure. No problem. I only have 10,000 Yen in cash right now. Is that enough?"
Was this really that stingy father of mine who couldn't even lend me 2,000 Yen before without asking me to pay it back?
With shaking hands, I accepted the money from him.
"Oh? Kazuma, there you are."
Of course, if my family was here, then Aqua would also be there. She was eating some takoyaki as she approached us. She was dressed in a blue top and a pleated skirt.
"Ah, Aqua-chan! Are you back from your shopping trip? There's lots of good stores in Tokyo! Do you want an extra 20,000 Yen?"
"Yeah, sure!"
Wait, I thought he said he only had 10,000 Yen with him? And why was she getting more than me?!
"...Don't tell me, Aqua, that you also have a bond rank with my family?"
I said, leaning over to whisper to her.
She nodded, while licking the takoyaki sauce off from the stick she just finished.
"Yup. It hit Rank 7 today, actually."
Wasn't that higher than mine?
She reached the max rank with my family before I did.
And here I was getting emotional over my close bonds with my family.
"...Nii-san, do you want to go to the arcade?"
Kazuto asked, giving me a smile.
"No way. Play on your own, brat."
"...?! Why are you so mean to me?!"
Just when I was starting to get along with them.
"Oh? Senpai, is that you?"
I turned around and saw Rin approaching us. She smiled when she saw me and jogged over. She was wearing a green hoodie and a white skirt, as well as a tan purse. My family turned to look at her.
"Who's this, Kazuma-kun? A friend?"
My mom asked. Rin smiled at her.
"Yup! Nice to meet you, I'm Hinamori Rin!"
"Ehh… Is she the girl you were talking about, Kazuma?"
Aqua asked, examining Rin from head to toe.
I started sweating. They knew about each other, in a vague sense, since they knew that I was seeing two girls. But this was the first time they were meeting each other.
"We're gonna check out some shops so you kids have fun!"
My parents chose the worst time to leave.
"Why don't we have some tea, then?"
Rin suggested to Aqua-san, giving her a cheerful smile.
"Yeah, sure. Let me just finish my takoyaki first."
And so, I found myself in quite the hellish situation.
Part 6
"Here's your milk teas!"
The waitress said, placing our cups down on the table.
Rin was still all smiles, while Aqua was giving her a curious look.
I kept expecting them to pounce on each other at any moment.
Then, Rin said,
"So, um, how do I say this? Are you senpai's other lover?"
Rin blushed a little as she couldn't find another way to broach such a touchy subject.
Aqua chuckled and said,
"Wow, you just went ahead and said it, huh? I like her, Kazuma, she's got guts. Yeah, and I guess that means that you're…"
"Yup, I am."
They shared a giggle. I sighed in relief, glad that they were finding humor in this love triangle of sorts we found ourselves in, rather than getting all hostile about it.
"Kazuma, you seem surprised that we're getting along."
Aqua raised a brow as she saw me relaxing.
"Can you blame me? These sorts of situations can go south pretty fast."
Rin shook her head.
"Not necessarily! And you made sure to communicate with us a lot. It's not like this is a surprise to us, right?"
"Yeah. I gave you my permission and everything."
I wondered how much of this was caused by the bond reward I got from Kazuto, the ability to have two girlfriends at once, and how much of it actually had to do with what they were talking about.
I'd really prefer it if the app didn't have anything to do with their acceptance, since I wanted them to be OK with this of their own volition.
"So, I take it you're an app user, Rin?"
I almost spit out my tea when Aqua said that.
"Oi, what are you saying?!"
Thankfully, Rin only tilted her head.
"App-user? What kinda app? Ah, I like to use a grocery shopping app to keep track of discounts!"
"Oh, that's a surprise. I sensed potential in you, so I thought you'd be an app-user, too."
This got my attention. I turned to Aqua and said,
"Eh? Rin has potential?"
"Yup. Well, it's kind of faint right now, so I guess that's why the app didn't sense it."
Come to think of it, I did find it a bit strange that Rin's bond rewards gave me all kinds of dungeon related skills and even increased my mana capacity.
For non app users like my family, they didn't even get their own personal bond categories, being grouped together as my family instead. And all the bond rewards from the Satou family line were non-dungeon related.
"Um… Is there something I should know?"
I turned to Aqua, who just shrugged her shoulders.
"It's all up to you, Kazuma."
I considered not telling Rin, since I'd prefer it if she stayed out of danger.
But it would be even more dangerous if demons came over and Rin didn't know what to do. I lied to her about the Vanir pager, but that wasn't really a good countermeasure in case the worst case scenario happened.
I sighed and turned to Rin.
"...Um, how do I get started with this…"
"Why don't you just show her the dungeon, Kazuma? We should be able to keep her safe if we stay on the first floor."
Aqua had a point. I didn't even know where to begin to explain the app, the other world and everything else.
"Um… T-The dungeon? I don't think I'm ready for that kinda play…"
Rin blushed, assuming all kinds of things.
After assuring her that wasn't what we meant, I used the Service Locator function of the app to show me to a dungeon entrance in Tokyo.
Then, after a short train ride…
In the middle of a crossing, there was a floating door.
Aqua and I both clearly saw it, but Rin didn't see it at the start.
"I'm supposed to see a door?"
Rin said, squinting her eyes at the spot we pointed at.
Aqua smiled and went behind Rin, gently holding her head.
"Yeah, right there. Don't try to imagine it. Your imagination will actually overlap with the reality in front of you. Just clear your mind and you can see it."
From Aqua's words, it made sense to me now why Rin couldn't perceive the dungeon doors.
Rin was an imaginative girl, always reading books, always thinking about all her favorite stories and imagining herself in fantasy worlds.
Since she was always inventing her own realities, she couldn't find the fantastic world that was right in front of her.
Rin took a deep breath, then did as Aqua instructed.
Then, after a moment…
"...! I can see it! Whoa, that door really is just floating there!"
Rin was finally able to see the dungeon.