Chapter 3: Today's Wind is Quite Boisterous
"No, let's talk about it after I go to college." "Eh! Ryusei-kun is that kind of person!" "What kind of person is that kind of person?" "Someone who only knows how to study... Hehe, Ryusei-kun, listen to your big sister. This is the perfect age for you to fall in love! Studying isn't that important, enjoying your youth is what matters most!" "Sorry, Sayuri, I don't have an entire apartment building to collect rent from like you do." "If Ryusei-kun wants one, he can have one too!"
Sayuri turned to look at Ryusei, a meaningful smile appearing on her small face. Ryusei felt like her words were hinting at something. No, sis, I'm not even an adult yet. You'd go to jail!
Ryusei was silent for a moment, then said, "Sayuri, I've reached my room." "Eh? We got here so fast." "It's only the third floor, after all." "For me, the third floor is quite high."
Sayuri took out the bunch of keys, picked one out, and opened the door. "Alright, it's open. Let me see, Ryusei-kun's room is surprisingly tidy inside." Sayuri took a breath and continued, "There's no strange smell in the air either, not like a boy your age at all." "..."
Ryusei silently swallowed the words he was about to use to invite her in. Better not. He had already confirmed that this Landlord Miss was truly a bit strange. If he actually invited her in, he was afraid it might turn into something else.
Sayuri's joking stopped there. She put away the keys and said with a smile, "Then I'll head down. Ryusei-kun, remember to bring your keys from now on." "Mm, thank you, Sayuri." "Come over to my place when you have time, big sister will treat you to juice." "...Mm."
After Sayuri left, Ryusei entered his room. On the living room table, he found his room key and a wallet. Inside the wallet were some of his identification documents, a bank card, and a few banknotes. Ryusei tried to put away the wallet and keys. With a thought, the wallet and keys in his hand disappeared, reappearing in his inventory. This made things much more convenient.
Ryusei then went to look at the bedroom. Some textbooks were on the desk, a school bag was on the chair, and the pillow and sheets on the bed were clean. "Although it looks a bit old from the outside, the interior environment is actually quite good." Ryusei was quite satisfied with the accommodation arranged by the system. This apartment was much better than the cramped rental he had in his original world.
Ryusei pushed open the bedroom window. He didn't know which neighbor was cooking, but a faint scent of grilled fish wafted on the wind. Smelling this, Ryusei felt his stomach rumble. He walked to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. It was empty. It seemed he would need to eat out tonight, then withdraw some money from the bank, and finally go grocery shopping at the supermarket.
Ryusei closed the refrigerator and saw a kitchen knife on the cutting board. After a moment of thought, Ryusei put the kitchen knife into his inventory. After all, this was Beika Town, the city of crime. It was perfectly normal to encounter three to five potential criminals when going out to buy groceries, so carrying a weapon for self-defense was very important.
Walking to the living room, Ryusei saw a baseball bat in the corner and also put it into his inventory. Pushing the door open, just as he was locking it, Ryusei suddenly heard a panicked scream from downstairs. "Ah!!! Help, help!!!" That voice... it was Sayuri!
It seemed something had happened to her! Ryusei's heart skipped a beat. Should he say this was truly Beika Town? The Landlord Miss had just helped him, and although it was a small favor, he couldn't just stand by and watch her die. He'd go check the situation first.
Ryusei's mind raced. He took the baseball bat out of his inventory, gripped it in his hand, then ran to the stairs and leaped directly from the stairwell. Just as he was about to land, Ryusei jumped again. [Skill: Double Jump]. With the second jump, Ryusei's downward momentum from falling three floors abruptly disappeared. His state was somehow reset, as if he had only jumped down from a single step, landing easily. His knees and ankles were unharmed, and he didn't make much noise.
Ryusei tiptoed to the wall, then poked his head out to check the situation. He only saw Sayuri standing alone outside a closed door, shouting for help. Ryusei observed for more than ten seconds, seeing no one inside the door attempting to burst out. The situation didn't seem that urgent.
Ryusei walked towards the Landlord Miss, holding the baseball bat. "Sayuri, what's wrong?" "Ryusei-kun!!" Sayuri's eyes lit up as she pounced on him as if he were her savior. "Quick, save me!!" "What exactly happened?" "A snake!! There's a snake in my house! This long! It suddenly appeared under the table! It scared me to death!!" "So it's just a snake..."
Ryusei breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that. He had thought she had encountered some kind of robber or other criminal. "Ryusei-kun!"
The Landlord Miss looked at him with teary eyes. Ryusei thought for a moment, then told her, "Leave it to me. Stay here, don't move. I'll go kill it." "Be careful, Ryusei-kun!"
Ryusei picked up the clothes pole from the hallway, carefully opened the door, and entered the room. Under the living room table, he saw the snake. It was a twenty-centimeter-long black snake, flicking its tongue at him. Ryusei held the clothes pole in front of him with one hand, guarding against the black snake lunging. With the other hand, he picked up the baseball bat and smashed it towards the snake's head. A few thuds. The snake's head flattened, and the entire snake lay motionless. At the same time, Ryusei heard two unusually crisp sounds. Two copper coins suddenly burst from the snake's body and fell onto the tiled floor.
Ryusei looked at the two copper coins lying quietly next to the snake's corpse, feeling a bit surprised. Where did they fall from? Was it a game-like setting where monsters drop money? Was a snake considered a monster? Besides money, would there be experience points?
Ryusei thought for a moment, then opened the [Attribute Panel] to check, but there was no experience bar or anything similar. It seemed there wouldn't be any.
Ryusei closed the system panel, bent down, and picked up the two "copper coins" from the floor. They felt cool to the touch and seemed no different from real-world copper coins. They had clearly burst from the snake's corpse, yet they were not stained with any blood, nor did they even have a speck of dust from the floor. The front had a large circular ring pattern. The back had a small circular ring pattern. Other than that, there were no other patterns or text. Ryusei was curiously examining the copper coins in his hand.
From outside the door came the Landlord Miss's faint voice: "Ryusei, Ryusei-kun... Are you alright?" Ryusei put the copper coins into his pocket and replied, "I'm fine. That snake has been killed by me. You can come in now." "Really?" "Really."
The Landlord Miss cautiously poked her head in. Seeing the dead snake on the floor, she patted her chest, let out a long sigh, and said, "That's great! Ryusei-kun, you're amazing! I'm so glad you helped! Otherwise, I wouldn't know what to do!" Ryusei pointed at the snake's corpse on the floor and asked, "This, do you want to keep it?" The Landlord Miss vigorously shook her head: "No, no! Ryusei-kun, please throw it away for me! I don't dare touch it!" "Alright."
Ryusei grabbed a trash bag, picked the snake's corpse into it, tied it up, and picked it up. He picked up his baseball bat and said, "Then I'll be going, Sayuri." The Landlord Miss thanked him repeatedly and saw him to the door.
Ryusei arrived at the garbage disposal area outside. This was the apartment's internal garbage station, where specialized personnel would collect and sort the trash. Seeing no one around, Ryusei put the baseball bat in his hand into his inventory.
He looked down at the trash bag and thought for a moment. Since snakes were "monsters" that could drop copper coins, then their bodies might also be some kind of "material," right? It would be a shame to just throw it away; keeping it might be useful later.
Ryusei also directly put the trash bag in his hand into his inventory, then turned and left. Walking on the street, Ryusei took out the two copper coins that had dropped from the snake he killed earlier and examined them in his hand. Large circular ring... small circular ring... he had no idea what they meant. However, for now, knowing didn't matter.
Ryusei put one copper coin back into his pocket, then tried to put the other copper coin in his hand into his inventory. Unlike the baseball bat, the copper coin didn't go into a separate inventory slot; it simply disappeared. Ryusei looked at the top left corner of the inventory, where the wallet-like icon now showed:
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