145 Gradually Slipping into the Abyss (1/2)
‘Honestly, Brother Seiji is so…’
Shika was feeling embarrassed inside.
But, strangely enough, it wasn’t uncomfortable… in fact, it felt rather nice.
Eating together with him, speaking with him, and being praised by him… was really enjoyable.
She almost felt like crying when she compared her current life with the way she used to live.
‘No, I shouldn’t cry here. I should be smiling in front of him at such a time.’
Shika displayed a smile that came from her heart again.
Her slightly shy and moving smile almost caused Seiji to fall into a daze.
Only when she sat down again did Seiji regain his senses.
‘My little sister’s too cute! What should I do!?’
He felt that he was gradually slipping into the abyss… No, he had to stop thinking about it!
”Thank you for your performance. I understand what a ritual is now, so we can finish our meal.”
”Yeah…”
Neither of them spoke for a while after this, and only the sound of the pair eating remained.
Since the ‘ritual’ was what Shika just performed… then the [Beginning Technique] in the system was probably referring to the most basic version of what she just performed.
Seiji presumed it was similar to an entry-level technique in martial arts.
If he truly wanted to learn cultivation, he would have to wear a special outfit… he was rather curious about its appearance.
‘Would Shika-chan look even prettier if she performed that ritual again while wearing it?’ Seiji really wanted to see it. ‘Well, I’ll have plenty of chances in the future!’
…The abyss was beckoning.
‘So what!? I really want to see!!’
Seiji forcefully banished his idle thoughts after inwardly commenting on himself.
”Ah… I have one last question: how do I become a Yin Yang Master? Are there any other conditions apart from Mana and Spiritual Power?”
Shika shook her head. ”I don’t know. I… I’m just a retainer, so I only know about retainers.”
”Oh…”
”Sorry…”
”Eh? You don’t need to apologize, it’s not like this is anything to apologize for. If you don’t know, you don’t know.” Seiji smiled again as he patted her on the head. ”Don’t say sorry so often, especially to me,” he said in a forceful yet gentle tone as he looked into her eyes.
”Okay…” Shika nodded slightly.
She felt like crying again. How unseemly…
She needed to get used to this feeling.
The warmth and comfort… that she received from being together with him.
…
After they finished eating dinner.
Seiji brought the trays and plates back to the kitchen, where Mai informed him that Natsuya still hadn’t returned.
Due to this, he decided to go back to his room and grind for some points.
‘I have a new statistic now, with a new category of options and four lesser options within it, but there’s no new [Items] to go along with this update! Just what are you thinking, system!?’ As usual, Seiji had a stream of energetic comments.
This was completely against the maxims of any successful MMORPG!
A massive update must be accompanied by new items that people could spend money on! If a huge update didn’t have any new products to purchase, not only would the game lose out on large potential profits, the richest players would curse at the game developers!!
This otaku that wanted to spend his money (okay, points) was angry!
But in the end, it was all useless.
After finishing his immature small fit of rage, Seiji could only silently grind whatever he could.
Then he logged on to his email and discovered that Editor Yoshizawa had sent him a new message.
The contents of the message stated that his short novel ”I’ll Die If I Don’t Become Handsome!” had been formally accepted by Thunderbolt Literature.
As long as he printed the contract in this email, signed the bottom, and mailed it to their editing department, his novel would be published in next week’s magazine.