The noon was over, yet the wind was still warm and smelled of the forest. It was blowing at me while I was walking through the forest toward the dormitory.
Toward my new home…
When I had reached the doorsteps, I took off my shoes and stepped into the hallway. Everything around me was silent. Neither Murakami nor Aoi had been back yet.
I was about to walk into my room when for some reason the first door on the right side attracted my attention.
"…"
Lu told me that there was a person living in that room. That's strange. I had yet to hear anything from that neighbor of ours. Even if she was skipping school, shouldn't she at least visit the toilet from time to time? Or throw away the bottles, at least…
Whatever, it didn't concern me. At least for now.
I was about to turn away from the door, when suddenly… I heard a rustling sound coming from behind it.
Then, under my surprised gaze, a little white piece of paper slipped through the slip below the door. What's that? I picked it up. Turned out, it was a note…
"Ah! Wait!"
I was about to read its content when a sharp woman's voice rang from the side. I saw Aoi appear in the doorway. Her face was pale.
Without even taking off her shoes, she rushed into the hallway and took the note from my hands.
I fell silent.
Soon, after Aoi calmed down, a slight flush appeared on her cheek. She seemed embarrassed for what she had done.
"It's… personal," the girl said and lowered her head. I wasn't sure, whether she tried to nod or to avoid my eyes — a move typical of liars.
"Okay," I said simply.
If something is personal, it's personal. I wasn't going to concern myself with that stuff.
Lu was surprised by my short answer. She ground her teeth.
"Thank you… I… I need to take off my shoes. You should always do that when entering the dorm, that's our rule," the girl proclaimed with a stern face. For some reason, it felt like she was lecturing me and not herself.
Aoi went back to the doorway and took a paper bag. Seems like she had the time to go to the store after the end of the classes.
"Ah, can I use the kitchen?" she asked me.
"Sure," I said and entered my room.
There, I fell to the futon and opened the magazine.
I was trying to keep calm, but there was a crisis hanging above my head. I had to raise my physical attributes. and quickly. Otherwise, I won't be able to even take the sword before the beginning of the tournament… Or reach the required score.
[Type: Training ark
Genre Score: 0/30
Mission: prepare for the tournament of thousand leaves. You will receive 10P for every level of Kendo mastery.]
"Ha…"
I sighed.
No choice there, I opened the page with the SHOP.
Then I froze.
The stuff in the catalog was different from the last time.
I was confused until I heard the voice of Yuji:
"What, are you surprised? The stock updates after the end of every Ark…"
So that is how it is. I was worried that every item was different now (there were still some that I wished to buy) however, it wasn't the case. Most of the stuff was the same. However, some new things appeared.
One new item was particularly interesting:
[EXTREME Training mode
1. While in that mode, the endurance recovery of the MC increases by 10 times.
2. The MC will be immune to all injures inflected by training (expect the deadly once)
3. Training will have a 2x effect on characteristics growth.
4. Unorthodox training methods will have 2.2x.
5. Deadly once: from 4x to 7x depending on the level of danger…
6. Training with living things while in that mode is impossible…
Suddenly, I remembered some moments from anime when the MC does something completely insane that should ruin his body and becomes stronger because of it.
So… If I use that mode, I will accelerate my growth by several times. Good. Very good. Seems like that was my only choice now.
Trying to keep calm, I looked at the price of that item:
[30 Points]
While I had 27.
…
Now that's an unpleasant feeling.
I was short just by 3 points
What should I do?
I was trying to think of something when suddenly, I felt the pleasant smell of fried rice. My stomach growled. Quite crackling was coming from the kitchen. Seems like Aoi was cooking something…
Wait…
Once again, I took a look at my missions.
There was one way for me to earn the required points… It's just…
I bit my lips and placed my ear to the surface of the door. Time trickled by, and soon ten minutes had passed. The sound from the kitchen quieted down. I heard Aoi walking back to her room. Then, after some more time, she walked out again and went to the other end of the hallway.
I went out and looked at the door there.
It was the toilet.
There was only one bathroom in the dorm, for men and women. Thinking about it now, it was somewhat strange… Just like it was very suspicious that I was the only man in a dorm with three girls. What a convenient setup… Seems like I have to thank the clown for that.
Whatever. I had something urgent to do. I approached the door of the toilet and took a deep breath.
Really hope it works the same way in this world it does in manga… And that she won't call the police.
I opened the door wide.
And right away my gaze fell on the girl sitting on the white chair with her skirt (not only) down. I was fast to shift my sight to her eyes.
Aoi was looking at me with her lips open.
One second passed, two seconds passed…
I said:
"Sorry, so it was taken, I didn't…"
I couldn't finish my line. A roll of toilet paper smashed against my face. I fell down and crashed on the floor.
[Injury from a Tsundere received! Plus 4 Points!]
(27+4=31)
...