Empire State University, Cafeteria, Lunch Break:
"So, when did you get back?" Marko asked while eating his pasta.
"Last night," I said, bringing the forkful of pasta to my mouth. But it was intercepted midair by a naughty kitty sitting on my lap, who took my hand and brought the fork to her mouth, eating the pasta.
I left on Friday night and arrived back on Monday night after three days. Funny how I had experienced three months in that world, but here, only three days had passed.
I brought another forkful of pasta to my mouth, but once again, Felicia took my hand and ate it herself.
"Okay, that's it," I said, annoyed. "Go sit on the chair."
"But I like it here," Felicia said in a mock whiny voice as she ground her ass on my lap.
I rolled my eyes at her antics and slapped her ass, which jiggled in response. She yelped, got up, and sat beside me on the chair with a pout.
Then Felicia's expression turned mischievous. She whispered huskily in my ear, "Instead of touching my ass in such roundabout ways, why don't we find an empty classroom, and you can then touch it all you want?"
"I am right here," Marko said, exasperated. "Can't you two keep such talks to yourself when you are alone?"
We obviously turned a deaf ear to Marko's tantrums.
"Good idea," I said with a thoughtful look, but then shook my head. "Forget it, maybe some other day."
The idea was tempting, but I was tired. After three grueling months, I finally returned last night. Both Felicia and Frances were already there, waiting for me at my place.
By the way, Frances would never have entered my house without permission, but it might be Felicia's influence that made her agree to her plan.
That's how both of them cornered me in my home, and we ended up not sleeping till dawn. Felicia didn't have classes in the morning, so she got her beauty sleep, but I had to cut my sleep short to arrive at university on time.
Felicia smirked at my thoughtful look. This naughty kitty knew what I was thinking.
"By the way," Marko said, trying to change the topic. He asked, confused, "Aren't you looking taller than before?"
"Maybe a sudden growth spurt," I shrugged.
"Really?" Marko asked skeptically, then shrugged too and went back to eating.
"Hey, Kevin," Gwen said with a sweet smile as she arrived at our table. "Glad to see you're back."
"Hey, Gwen," I said with a smile, ignoring the mocking smirk Felicia gave Gwen as she put a hand on my lap. "It's good to be back."
Gwen's lips twitched as she saw what Felicia was doing, but she tried her best to ignore it.
"Should we meet in the library after classes?" Gwen suggested. "It's been a while."
"Yeah, sure," I nodded. "Definitely."
Gwen smiled and left. I once again pretended to ignore the challenging smirk she gave Felicia as she turned to leave.
"Another lost, pitiful lamb unknowingly walking towards the wolf's maw," Felicia commented with a smirk.
I raised an eyebrow. "Are you jealous? Or perhaps, feeling sorry for her?"
"Jealous? Maybe," Felicia said with narrowed eyes. Then her expression turned playful. "As for feeling sorry for her? Never."
She leaned close and whispered huskily in my ear, "Rather, I am looking forward to hearing that stuck-up bitch squeal your name from beneath you."
"I. Am. Still. Here."
Did Marko say something?
Whatever, I didn't have to think about what he said because I was now seriously considering Felicia's offer of finding an empty classroom. I didn't want to do it, but Felicia wasn't making it easier.
"Are you going to play with her feelings and emotions just like you did to me?" Felicia continued and licked my earlobe for a brief instant.
I felt a cold shiver run up my spine, but I didn't show it on my face.
Two can play this game.
"Why?" I said, turning my face to her. I held her chin with my finger and made her look into my eyes. I asked with a grin, "Are you having second thoughts? Regretting becoming a big bad wolf's personal fuckdoll?"
Felicia didn't waver her gaze. She grinned, "If you are a big bad wolf, then I am a big bad bitch." She pulled me in by my collar. Our lips were so close they were almost touching.
"Regret?" she repeated the word, as if it tasted funny. Her voice dropped to a dangerous, velvet purr. "Baby, regret is for girls who still think 'good' is an option." She smoothly ran the nail of the index finger of her other hand on my neck.
"I don't regret the first time you pinned me down and made me scream your name. I don't regret the way my thighs still shake when you look at me like you're deciding how to ruin me next. I don't regret a single bruise, a single mark, a single time I came so hard I forgot how to speak."
Her hand drifted lower, cupping me through my pants with slow, deliberate pressure. The table hid her actions. Then she pulled back her hand the next instant.
"But here's the part you keep forgetting, wolf." She said, leaning in slightly, that her lips brushed against mine, then pulled back. "You didn't break me into your bitch. I chose the collar. I picked the chain. And I still wear it because it looks fucking good on me."
"So no, I don't regret shit. What I do regret—" her hand again shot down, palming me roughly through my pants, squeezing just hard enough to make my breath hitch, "—is every second you waste talking instead of fucking me stupid."
Then, as if nothing had happened, she pulled back completely and went back to eating as if nothing had happened.
Snapping out of my daze, I realized the whole cafeteria had fallen silent and was staring at us. We talked low enough that they shouldn't have been able to hear us, but our actions sure didn't leave anything to the imagination.
I ignored the various emotions, such as longing, envy, and hatred, present among the students. I looked at Gwen. Her face was red, not entirely from shame, but also from anger and jealousy.
I calmly went back to eating. Soon we finished our lunch. I checked the time on my phone. There was still some time till the next class—enough for doing something important.
"Let's go," I said and got up. Felicia grinned and got up too. We left the cafeteria together.
—
Empire State University, Library, After Classes:
The time wasn't enough. I was late for the class.
Anyway.
I was in the library and waiting for Gwen. Until she came, I decided to check the fruits of three months' labour.
Name: Kevin Kolt
Rank: E1
Titles:
Third-rate Warrior
Attributes:
Strength: E1
Agility: F3
Constitution: F3
Endurance: F3
Vitality: E1
Intelligence: F3
Wisdom: F3
Perception: F3
Willpower: E1
Charisma: E1
Passive Skills:
Gamer's Mind
Gamer's Body
Observe
Driving (Expert)
Martial Arts (Apprentice)
First Aid (Adept)
Stealth (Expert)
Acting (Adept)
Silver Tongue (Adept)
Firearms (Adept)
Programming (Adept)
Throwing (Apprentice)
Parkour (Apprentice)
Danger Sense (Novice)
Active Skills:
Brutal Strike (Novice)
Mark of the Hunter (Novice)
Side Missions:
Taxi Driver (100/100) (Complete)
Vigilante (100/100) (Complete)
Paramedic (100/100) (Complete)
Delivery (61/100)
Burglar (100/100) (Complete)
Art of Persuasion (100/100) (Complete)
Sharpshooter (78/100)
Assassin (15/25)
Mage (1/3)
Party Members:
Frances Barrison
Felicia Hardy
From a measly F1 rank, with my blood, sweat, and tears, I finally arrived at the E1 rank. And this was just the beginning.
I had made good progress in various missions and skills in the last three months in the other world.
I had completed the Vigilante, Paramedic, and Burglar missions. Like the Paramedic mission, the other two also had hidden objectives.
Title: Vigilante
Hidden Objective: Eliminate one superhuman criminal
Bonus Reward: Seikuken Training Manual (History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi)
Title: Burglar
Hidden Objective: The cumulative worth of stolen items is more than 5 million dollars.
Bonus Reward: System Module: Inventory Unlocked
For now, I can't start training the Seikuken, as it requires a minimum F3 Perception and an Adept-level Martial Arts skill.
On the other hand, I could use the Inventory right away. Initially, I thought the system didn't have the inventory feature. Still, I now understand it was just gated. 5 million dollars was a huge requirement I didn't know I could have completed without stealing the research from the University and Oscorp.
Both the Paramedic and Vigilant missions also gave stat increases, increasing Vitality and Strength, respectively, to E1. The Burglary missions increased my Stealth skill to the Expert level.
Not much increase in the Delivery mission.
I had completed two objectives of the Sharpshooter mission and increased my Firearms skill to Adept level.
Similarly, I completed two objectives of the Assassin mission. This increased my Agility and Perception to F3 and also gave me two new skills.
Mark of the Hunter
Type: Active Skill
Level: Novice
Description:
Marks a target within line of sight. While marked, the user can continuously track the target.
Within the True Sight Range, the target's precise location is revealed on the map.
Within the Trail Sense Range (up to 5× True Sight Range), only the general direction of the target is known.
The mark has a limited duration and must be reapplied upon expiration.
Duration, range, and maximum simultaneous marks scale with Perception.
Current Parameters:
Max Marked Targets: 3
Max Duration: 30 minutes
True Sight Range: 30 m
Trail Sense Range: 150 m
Danger Sense
Type: Passive Skill
Level: Novice
Description:
Alerts the user to immediate threats directed at them.
Provides a brief instinctive warning moments before danger occurs.
Range, sensitivity, and warning time scale with Perception.
These skills are good, but with the increase in my rank, the difficulty of the Assassin mission has increased manifold.
The increase in both the Constitution and Willpower stats was a surprise.
The increase in Constitution was thanks to the heart core Felicia and Frances found in the dungeon that they gave me yesterday.
As for the Willpower stat, it increased because of the two intense injuries I suffered. After I had woken up the next day after losing my arm, the Gamer's Body skill not only healed my arm, but due to experiencing the gut-renching pain, my Willpower stat also increased.
Lastly, I completed the first objective of the Mage mission, which increased my Intelligence and Wisdom to F3. For the three spells required for the objective, two were the Touch of Warmth spells from the Eromancy school and the Minor Heal spell from the Order school. For the third one, I had learned another Order school spell.
Minor Barrier
Type: Spell
School: Order
Rank: Novice
Description:
Conjures a fragile magical barrier around the caster or a targeted point.
The barrier absorbs a limited amount of damage before shattering.
Lastly were the Party Member slots. Those slots increased with my rank. Till F3, I got one per sub-rank increase. Once I reached E1, I got two instead of one. So now I have a total of five slots, three of which are empty.
As I was busy sorting my gains, Gwen finally entered the library and sat beside me.
"Hey, Kevin."
"Hey."
For the first few minutes, we settled into a comfortable quiet, reading our own books. Of course, I had noticed Gwen occasionally fidgeting as if she wanted to say something. I didn't help her and let her stew in.
"So, I heard you and Felicia are now together," Gwen said, looking casual, breaking the quiet. Of course, the way she looked at me intently from the corner of her eye, pretending to be reading her book, showed the statement was anything but casual.
"Hmm," I hummed, my focus still on the book in my hands. "She was pretty persistent, and I realized I was being too cruel not even to hear her side of the story."
"In the end, we cleared the misunderstanding, and now we are together," I continued.
"Oh," Gwen said in a low voice, her eyes dimmer than before.
We once again went back to reading quietly. But this time, there was a faint sense of tension in the air that I pretended to ignore.
"But are you sure she is right for you?" Gwen asked, once again breaking the quiet.
I laughed lightly. "What do you mean?"
"No, don't take it the wrong way," Gwen stiffened and said defensively. "I am just looking after you. After the stunt she pulled last time, who is to say she wouldn't do something similar again?"
"Gwen," I said, finally turning my face to her. "Are you still upset with Felicia regarding that incident?"
Panic appeared in her eyes, but I continued without letting her speak. "Because if you are, I totally understand. She disrespected you in front of our fellow students. If you want, I will tell her to apologize to you. She should be sorry."
A brief flicker of excitement appeared in her eyes when I suggested that Felicia apologize to her, but she smothered it immediately.
"What? No," Gwen denied hastily. "I have already forgiven her."
"Ok," I asked, looking confused. "Then what's the problem?"
Gwen looked like she was backed into a corner.
"No, it's nothing," Gwen stammered. "I just care about you." She put a hand over mine.
"There is not much common between you and Felicia," Gwen continued, carefully considering her words. "You deserve a girl who can match you in intellect, not just an arm candy like her."
I laughed again. "Now, that's a serious assumption regarding my taste."
"What I meant," Gwen began, her gaze soft and earnest, looking directly at me, "is that you're destined for big things, Kevin. You're brilliant, you're driven. You need someone who gets that. Someone who won't pull you down or distract you with… less important things."
Gwen's face went slightly red when she said "less important things", but quickly went back to normal. I laughed so hard in my mind, as I knew exactly what she meant by that.
"And you think Felicia isn't like that?" I asked with a meaningful smile.
"No, I mean," Gwen stammered again. "I mean, she is chaotic."
Her words were getting passionate as the stammering stopped. "Shouldn't you be with someone stable and steady who understands you and whom you understand? I mean, how much do you even know about her? How much does she know about you?"
"Maybe not much," I said with a fake thoughtful expression. "But we can always get to know each other."
"Yes, you can," Gwen nodded with difficulty. "But instead of getting to know an arm candy with whom you don't know how long your relationship may last, isn't it better to get to know someone who is actually intellectual and not just a pretty face, who can match you and support you?"
"But Felicia is pretty intellectual," I defended.
She can be intellectual when it comes to her favourite activity: burglary.
"Wouldn't an intellectual partner who also serves as arm candy be the ideal blend?" I went on.
Gwen went quiet for a moment. It was fun to watch her struggle.
"So that's what he prefers," Gwen said in a very low voice. I couldn't even have heard it if not for my improved senses after the stat increase.
Gwen looked me directly in the eye. "Even if that's the case, don't you think you were pretty hasty in making her your girlfriend?"
By the end, her voice was reduced to a husky whisper as she leaned in towards me.
"What if there was someone else who could be better than her?"
She looked me directly in the eyes and leaned in further.
The moment her lips were about to touch mine, I immediately covered my mouth with my palm, and her lips fell on the back of my hand.
Gwen's eyes widened, looking hurt. She backed off immediately.
She might have expected some excuse or apology, but she got something else.
"Gwen," I said with a stern voice. "Is everything alright between you and Peter?"
"What?" Gwen exclaimed. "What does Peter have to do with this?"
"Gwen," I said calmly. "I know you like Peter. Yes, he can be a bit dense, but many guys are."
"Gwen," I continued earnestly. "I consider both Peter and you my great friends. And I don't want to hurt my friends. I care about you. If you are angry with Peter, you shouldn't take it out like this."
"What are you saying?" Gwen said, her voice louder. She sounded even more confused.
"I am saying you don't have to get back to Peter like this," I said patiently. "Even if you are angry with him, there are other ways to show it."
Gwen just looked at me, too stunned to even speak.
"I am not angry with Peter," Gwen said, coming to her senses. "It has nothing to do with Peter."
"Fine," I said, placating her. "It is not if you say so."
"It is not," Gwen almost screamed.
"Is it me?" I asked. "Did I confuse you?"
Now, Gwen looked even more confused.
"If I gave any incorrect signals that made you misunderstand, then I apologize; it wasn't my intention. I appreciate both your and Peter's friendship very much, and I would never think of betraying Peter when I know how much you like Peter."
"Who said I like Peter?" Gwen snapped.
"You don't?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No, I, yes, I mean, no, I mean, yes, I, no," Gwen stammered. "It's complicated."
"Why do you have to make it so complicated?" I said with a soothing smile. "You are a great vigilante who isn't afraid of defeating armed criminals. Why are you getting confused here?"
"What have I told you, Gwen?" I said, and Gwen looked at me in question. "Believe yourself."
"I respect you as a friend, and I will definitely help you get together with Peter," I said with conviction. "I promise."
Gwen looked at me quietly. I also stayed quiet. Then, a few moments later, as if a switch had been flipped, the hurt, sadness, and confusion left her face. She looked like she had come to a decision.
"You will help me, won't you?" Gwen said, as if stating a fact. "You consider me your friend and want to help your friend."
"Definitely," I nodded.
"I guess I understand what the problem is," Gwen said in a low voice.
"Thanks, Kevin," Gwen said, a strange vigor on her face. "I remembered something, let's catch up tomorrow."
"Sure, no problem, Gwen," I said with a smile.
"Bye, Kevin."
"Bye, Gwen."