Chapter 4 - Naoya's First Time

As the day went on, Naoya received more and more attention from his peers. "Naoya-senpai, can we shake hands?" asked a junior girl, to which he replied, "S-sure." The hallway echoed with the sound of some girls' small squeals, "Kyaa ~!" The kouhai then ran to her group of friends.

Observing Naoya and the juniors with a mischievous smirk on his face, Sai said, "Naoya, it seems your 'time to shine' is here, huh?"

"I didn't know a game of basketball could make you famous," Naoya replied, "Well, you did clutch the fourth quarter by a half-court shot in mere seconds."

He looked away with an awkward face. "It's because Aria gave me those buffs!" he said to himself. "Plus... I noticed something after that basketball round..." he thought as he turned to Sai. "I'll go take a leak for a bit."

"Yeah, make sure to come back before classes!"

Naoya nodded and walked quickly to the men's bathroom. He locked himself in the stall and swiped the air, revealing the system that had the same features as the gacha game "Fantasia Chronicles RPG". "I just did the weekly task, huh..."

On the screen in front of him, the weekly tasks were:

Login to Fantasia Chronicle for 7 days.

Complete the Daily Challenge.

Participate in Arena Mode.

Participate in a physical activity event.

He exclaimed in his mind, feeling frustrated, "Some features will be added in the future, my ass! Are you telling me this is a new feature?!"

"But I'm more curious about Arena mode." He swiped around the system panel, exploring its features. "Oh? I can see my units at my party. Does that mean I can also summon my favorite unit?"

Realizing that he was running late for class, Naoya quickly left the bathroom after washing his hands. As he entered the classroom, his seatmate Charlotte looked at him curiously and asked, "You're late, did something happen?"

"No, nothing," he replied, trying to hide his frustration.

"Hmm, by the way, I heard you play Fantasia Chronicle RPG. Wanna play later?" Charlotte asked.

"I'm going to study later," Naoya lied, knowing full well that he would be playing the game instead.

"Ah, I see. Well, have fun studying then," Charlotte said with a smile.

"Thanks," Naoya replied before taking his seat, trying to prepare for the next subject.

As the school day came to a close, Naoya slung his bag over his shoulder, ready to make a quick exit. But before he could leave, he was intercepted by his friends, Sai and Sato.

"You seem to be in a rush, my friend," Sai remarked, a sly grin on his face.

Naoya rolled his eyes. "I have to study, okay? Not all of us have your devil-may-care attitude."

Sai chuckled. "That's true. But you know what they say about all work and no play."

"I'm guessing you have some sort of play in mind," Naoya said, eyeing Sai suspiciously.

Sai's grin widened. "A mixer, my friend. You should come with us."

Naoya was taken aback by the invitation. "You want me to socialize?!" he exclaimed.

Sai simply shrugged. "Why not? It'll be fun."

Despite feeling a bit uneasy about the idea, Naoya remembered the weekly task he saw on the system panel. "Well, I do need to complete a weekly task," he thought to himself. "Fine, I'm in."

Sai's face lit up. "Alright, that's the spirit!"

Sato let out a sigh and smiled at Sai, then pulled out a wad of cash and handed Sai a 1000 yen note. "Did you guys make a bet or something?" Naoya asked.

Sato nodded. "Well, yeah. I bet that you wouldn't join us in a mixer, but it looks like I was wrong."

"Sorry, Sato."

"Thanks, guys," Naoya said, trying to calm his nerves. "Let's go."

As they made their way to the karaoke, Naoya couldn't help but feel nervous. "Ugh, I'm bad at singing..." he said while holding his stomach. "I can feel the butterflies."

Sai chuckled. "Don't worry about it, Naoya. You're not here to sing, you're here to socialize."

"But I don't really want a girlfriend from a mixer," Naoya protested.

Sato shrugged. "That's fine, but you never know who you might meet. Just talk to some of the girls and see where it takes you."

Naoya took a deep breath. "I'll try my best, but I feel like I'm in a visual novel or something."

Sai laughed. "That's the spirit! Who knows, maybe you'll meet your perfect match tonight."

As they walked inside, they were surprised to see Charlotte among the group of girls at the mixer. "Charlotte?" Naoya exclaimed in disbelief.

"Naoya?" Charlotte looked equally surprised to see him there.

"You know each other?" one of the other girls asked.

Charlotte hesitated for a moment before admitting, "Yeah, we're classmates."

Sai spoke up, "What are you doing here, Charlotte?"

"My friend invited me," she replied with a shrug.

Sato grinned mischievously. "Well, isn't this a lucky coincidence?"

Naoya groaned inwardly, wondering how he was going to survive the next hour with Charlotte at the mixer.

As Naoya stood there feeling slightly overwhelmed, the other girl beside Charlotte spoke up excitedly.

"Wait a second, aren't you that person who made the half-court shot yesterday!?"

Naoya nodded awkwardly. "Y-Yeah."

The girl beamed. "My name is Layla! Nice to meet you, Naoya!"

Naoya managed a small smile. "Nice to meet you too, Layla."

"Don't be shy, come over here!" Layla gestured for him to come closer. "I actually wanted to meet you! After all, you looked so cool yesterday! You're even known at other schools!"

Naoya blushed a bit at the praise. "I-Is that so..."

Charlotte chimed in, "That's right! Naoya did the unexpected!"

Naoya rolled his eyes internally, thinking to himself, "Again, it's all thanks to Aria's buffs..."

As the karaoke session drew to a close, Naoya remembered that he had something important to attend to. "I gotta go now," he announced to the group.

"Studying, huh?" Charlotte asked with a knowing smile.

Naoya felt a pang of guilt for lying, but he nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I have an exam tomorrow."

"Aww, that's too bad," Layla said with a pout. "But hey, Naoya, can we exchange Line IDs?"

Naoya blinked in surprise. "Uh, sure."

He pulled out his phone and opened the Line app, scanning Layla's barcode as she did the same with his.

"Sweet! Thanks, Naoya!" Layla said happily.

Naoya smiled back, feeling a little more at ease now that the mixer was coming to an end. "You're welcome."

As he turned to leave, he noticed that Sai and Sato were both engaged in conversation with their respective partners, leaving Naoya to make his exit alone.

"Phew," he breathed a sigh of relief as he stepped out of the karaoke room and made his way home. "Socializing sure is tough... But hey, at least I managed to complete my weekly quest. Wait, does that mean I have to do this again?" He groaned inwardly at the thought.

As Naoya was checking his weekly tasks on the system panel, he accidentally swiped and pressed the "Arena" button.

"Eh?!" Suddenly, a bright light surrounded him and he disappeared. When he opened his eyes, he found himself in an unfamiliar place with the system panels still in front of him.

"Wait, I should be seeing some elemental reactions around me, right?" Naoya collected himself and surveyed his surroundings.

He found himself standing on a flat terrain, surrounded by water. "So, I'm in the sea? That means I might be fighting a..."

Suddenly, a deafening roar echoed across the water, and a massive sea dragon emerged from the depths.

"Niraxia..." Naoya whispered in fear, realizing that he was indeed facing a formidable opponent.

******************************************************************

Q: What is Fantasia Chronicles RPG?

A: Fantasia Chronicles RPG is a thrilling gacha game that boasts a massive collection of 121 units for players to collect and use in their battles. To succeed in this game, players must use their strategic skills to navigate levels and overcome challenging opponents.

One key element of Fantasia Chronicles RPG is the presence of eight distinct elements: Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Lightning, Ice, Light, and Dark. Each element has its own unique strengths and weaknesses that players must carefully consider when assembling their team and planning their battle strategies.

- Fire: Weak against Water, strong against Ice

- Water: Weak against Lightning, strong against Fire and Earth

- Wind: Weak against Lightning, strong against Earth

- Lightning: Weak against Earth, strong against Water.

- Ice: Weak against Fire and Earth, strong against Earth

- Light: Weak against Dark or Shadow, strong against elements

- Dark: Weak against Light, strong against elements