Ch.6The Beginning of Obsession

It’s hot. I’m sweating like crazy. I thought I’d sell my soul for a can of beer right now. But I’m a minor… damn it.

“Hey, you’re sweating a lot. Want to drink this?”

Umi approached me quickly as I was resting.

She was holding a bottle of sports drink. The cap was already opened for easy drinking.

No. Really… why is she acting like this? You weren’t this kind of person. You used to be more rude. Please act like your normal self. There’s nothing scarier than this for someone who’s possessed a character.

However, Umi was looking at me with a strange sense of expectation.

“Ah… I don’t like that it’s already opened.”

I immediately waved my hand.

“Why not?! It’s brand new?! The amount hasn’t decreased at all!”

Umi exclaimed.

“You could have put some weird drug in it when you opened it. Smells like crime.”

I said.

“No way?!! Just accept people’s kindness!! You’re so suspicious!!”

Umi immediately protested.

Well, it’s half a joke.

“This whole situation is too suspicious. The very existence of a beautiful girl speaking kindly to me is pure fantasy.”

I said.

“You… must have had quite a depressing youth.”

Somehow Umi gave me a pitying look. Shut up. Don’t look at me like that.

“Haah. Thanks.”

Enough with the jokes, I accepted the sports drink.

Gulp-!

It wasn’t as good as beer, but it seeped into my bones sufficiently. Now my thirst was quenched, and if I could just smoke one cigarette… Ah. I’m a minor. Shit. Is this the constraint of being underage?

“Ahhh… this is heaven.”

A pleasure-filled moan naturally escaped my lips.

“………”

But somehow Umi’s reaction was subdued. Umi was… staring at my neck. What? Is there something on my neck?

When I looked at her, Umi belatedly blushed and changed the subject.

“What are you, an old man?”

Ah… her comeback was a beat too late. This wouldn’t work as a comedy routine.

Well, whatever.

“You must have been really thirsty.”

Umi had somehow squatted down next to me. No. Why are you suddenly sitting beside me? What’s with this distance? Is this what being social is like?

‘And……’

There was also a nice smell. A fragrance similar to flowers. Probably some cosmetic she applied. My heart felt ticklish. Even though I was mentally a man in his mid-twenties, right now I was a high school boy. This was too stimulating from a high school boy’s perspective.

“I smell of sweat. Move away a bit.”

I said to Umi.

“You definitely do… smell a bit.”

Umi said, sniffing.

“Hey. Did you really have to say that out loud?”

“Hehehe. Sorry.”

Umi smiled mischievously.

Despite saying I smelled of sweat, Umi didn’t increase the distance at all. What’s her problem, seriously?

“By the way, the dojo’s evening session ends at 7 PM. What are you going to do when you go back?”

Umi asked.

“Shower, eat dinner, and take a night walk?”

I answered. I’d like to call it a walk… but it was actually beating up monsters in the hidden world. Not peaceful at all.

“Really? Then can I join you for that walk?”

Umi made an impossible, absurd suggestion.

“Sorry. I prefer to walk alone.”

I answered.

Kiryu Umi was supposed to join as a companion after contacting the player following that incident in the first week of March. Until then, she was just an ordinary high school girl who knew nothing about the hidden world or monsters. She only vaguely felt that something was off about the city atmosphere.

‘Should I give Umi an early taste of the hidden world?’

Honestly, as someone possessing a character, I did consider it. The idea was to level her up early to make future monster hunting easier.

However, the risk was too great. Umi getting involved in events earlier than the player could significantly change future events. The butterfly effect was hard to ignore.

Not interfering with the game’s flow except to avoid my own death—that was my principle.

Monopolizing opportunities? Taking out the mastermind early? As a web novel writer, I acknowledged there was some satisfaction in those ideas. But actual possession was different from web novels. Web novel developments always assume the best-case scenario. One small misstep and things could go wrong.

“I need some alone time to think. Thanks for the offer, but I’m sorry.”

So, I declined.

“……….”

Somehow, Umi looked frustrated. Her face was also flushed.

“Number!!”

Suddenly Umi shouted.

“One! End of count!!”

In that moment, traumatic memories of military roll call flashed through my mind, and I turned my head 90 degrees and immediately shouted “End of count!”

‘Ah… there’s shooting practice tomorrow, so make sure your weapons are in good condition. Any patients… none?’

The unenthusiastic voice of the duty officer.

‘No TV extension tonight?’

The snarky voice of a fellow soldier.

‘Ah!! I need to watch Show Me the Money!’

And the outcry from the barracks. All of it momentarily vivid in my ears. Even the sound of the first night guard fumbling with his uniform.

Damn… still so vivid years after discharge. Is this PTSD?

Anyway, I came back to my senses.

‘This Japan… has no conscription.’

Realizing that made me feel incredibly comfortable. Japan… is the best!!!

Anyway.

“W-what? Why are you suddenly shouting?”

Umi asked with a confused expression.

“Ah… sorry. Don’t mind me.”

“Hehehe. You’re really weird.”

Umi stopped laughing and immediately put on a serious face again.

“I meant phone number?!! Do you use Line?”

“Ah… yes, I use Line.”

I learned that even hikikomori use messenger apps. Good to know.

“Then let’s exchange Line contacts. Okay?”

Umi said with an expression like she was swallowing her pride. Her expressions really change every second. Honestly, there’s never a dull moment.

“Sure.”

I took out my phone.

And Umi and I exchanged contacts. Haah… honestly, this also deviated from the game’s flow. But at this point, I couldn’t help it.

“S-so!! Let’s go somewhere fun next time!”

Umi said that and then returned to her room upstairs in the dojo.

Kiryu Umi… she was starting to move differently from the game’s flow. I need to be a bit cautious, I thought.

——-

At that moment, Kiryu Umi was pulling her hair in frustration.

‘I got his number first!!!’

That point hurt her pride too much. Since Shota showed no intention of asking for her number, she had no choice but to take the initiative. If she didn’t swallow her pride here, their relationship would go nowhere.

‘But still… saying I might have put drugs in the sports drink… hehehe. What kind of idea is that?’

Kiryu Umi laughed to herself, trembling.

‘And yet… he rejected me again?’

Kiryu Umi felt angry again. She had sweetly suggested going for a walk together, but Shota rejected it as if he really disliked the idea. He wasn’t playing hard to get—he genuinely didn’t want to. That made her even more upset.

‘I’ll definitely… make him look my way.’

Kiryu Umi’s obsession with Shota was subtly growing stronger. This was no longer just about stubbornness; it was a matter of “winning.” She felt like she couldn’t maintain her self-respect if she lost.

‘Come to think of it… his Adam’s apple looked quite manly…’

She had inadvertently stared at his Adam’s apple moving as he drank the sports drink.

‘And his sweat smell… wasn’t that bad…’

It was a strangely arousing scent.

‘W-what am I thinking?!!’

Soon, Kiryu Umi shook her head vigorously.

“Ufufu. Our daughter seems to be having complicated feelings.”

Watching that scene, Asuna laughed knowingly.

———-

“Thank you for your hard work!!”

After finishing the evening session, I said to Gonzaemon.

“Hahah! Yeah! If you skip practice, I’ll come after you, so don’t skip!!”

Gonzaemon said, patting my shoulder.

“Phew……”

I returned to my room and prepared for another slime hunt.

Ding-!!

And at just the right timing, I reached level 4. Was it because I wore the hakama? Or perhaps due to last night’s slime hunting that accumulated enough experience points. I reached level 4 at the beginning of the third week.

‘Strength: 20’

‘Speed: 15’

‘Endurance: 12’

‘Luck: 1’

‘Magic Power: 0’

Honestly, the increases weren’t that significant. Strength went up by 2 to reach 20, but the other stats remained the same. If this were a game, I’d immediately save and reload.

“Strength level up.”

But the satisfaction of seeing a stat change to double digits is something only gamers understand. I immediately struck a muscle-flexing pose in front of the mirror. Though my body was still slender, there was definitely more lean muscle.

Anyway.

‘It’s getting slower…..’

I could feel the intervals between level-ups getting longer. Even spending a full day training only raised my level by 1. Once I start school, my growth would stagnate. From my two weeks of experience, I learned one thing: my experience gain rate was much slower than the player character’s. Is this inevitable for an extra? That’s what I thought.

‘Well… I’ll think about that after avoiding the event in the first week of March.’

I immediately got up and took out the metal pipe I had hidden behind the closet. Survival came first—experience points meant nothing if I couldn’t stay alive.

At midnight, I opened the window and headed for the old town district again.

——–

Arriving at the old town, I immediately jumped with my metal pipe in hand.

“I have arrived.”

Swish-!

Holding the metal pipe, I aimed at the swarming slimes.

“Grrrr!!”

“Grrrr!!!”

The slimes immediately rushed toward me.

“Hyaaaah!!!”

Trusting my strength, I swung the pipe in a wide horizontal slash.

Splat-splat-splat-splat!!

As the horizontal slash hit directly, the slimes’ bodies shattered into pieces.

“Weak… too weak. Please… someone please.”

I walked slowly, stepping on the exploding remains of the slimes.

“Someone please… kill me.”

Free me from the tedium of life. I was involuntarily overcome by the anguish of being the strongest in the world. Sigh… is this the price of power?

Well, enough with the dramatics.

“Grrrrrr!!”

My nemesis had arrived. The evil magic-casting Magician Slime. Last time I had to run away in my underwear, but now I was confident I could win.

“Kyeeeeeeeek!!!!!!”

I immediately charged toward the Magician Slime, screaming.