I ran my hand through Saya's hair gently as she drifted off to sleep. Glancing to the side, I could see a smile on her face as she embraced me.
"I thought racial features weren't that important, but apparently they are," I mused to myself.
Even though her racial features were C-, they really meant something. Despite Saya being a virgin, she had stayed with me for over four hours before going to sleep.
I retrieved my phone from my inventory and saw that it was eight in the morning. From the sounds outside, it seemed like Saya's father's men had already started working.
I needed to start the stream as well. I sighed as I put the phone back in the inventory, closed my eyes, and enjoyed the morning calm.
I must have dozed off because I woke up to Saya stirring next to me as she woke up. She yawned, sitting on the bed with her legs in a "M" shape and rubbed her eyes. It was clear she was still half asleep, as her eyes looked vacant.
As she sat up, the blanket I had placed over both of us fell to the side, exposing her naked body to me again. I smiled slightly at the cute and sexy scene, deciding to stay silent as I waited for her to fully wake up.
I watched as the light returned to her eyes, and she realized where she was. It didn't take long for her to notice that I was in bed too. She glanced at me briefly before blinking a few times and looking at herself.
It was funny to see her remember the previous night, as I could see her face gradually turning red, matching the color of her hair.
When she realized that last night wasn't a dream, she let out a small "Eep" and pulled the covers around herself, making a cocoon with the blanket.
I chuckled as I poked the "cocoon" with my finger.
"Good morning, little lioness. Did you sleep well?"
I saw the "cocoon" shudder at my touch and the sound of my voice before it stayed still, and Saya did her best turtle impersonation, poking only her head out as she looked at me with a red face.
"W-was it n-not a d-dream?" she said softly, stuttering, avoiding eye contact.
I sang, "Nope. It was very real, I was even surprised." I let a mischievous smile appear on my face. "You were quite aggressive yesterday, Saya-chan~." I finished by poking her cheek with my index finger.
I didn't like using Japanese suffixes, but it was worth it as Saya reacted to my touch and teasing in the cutest way possible, quickly pulling her head back into her small "cocoon" and letting out a small embarrassed squeal.
I could hear the beginning of her hasty embarrassed murmurs before I couldn't take it anymore and started laughing by myself.
Saya didn't seem to like that too much, as she reached out of her improvised cocoon and gave me a punch that missed miserably and hit the mattress, making me laugh even more and start dodging her blows.
After a few seconds of her failing to hit me, I grabbed her little "cocoon" and pulled her onto my lap with the blankets wrapped around both of us, creating an improvised cocoon.
She let out another "Eep" when she felt my naked body pressed against hers in the small space, shortly followed by falling silent, biting my chest while giving me little punches.
I let her vent her "anger" while I hugged her and continued to chuckle softly. It didn't take long for her to stop and rest her chin on my chest as she looked up.
She looked into my eyes, still red, and puffed up her cheeks, pouting.
"Idiot... (Baka...)."
Cute. I couldn't help but gently hold her cheeks, which only made her pout even more. It was a good way to start the day, but as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end.
After a few minutes of this, Saya seemed to remember the more serious matter from last night, the stream.
"So..." She began while still snuggled inside our "cocoon." "You didn't have the stream on while...?" She looked to the side, and I could see her face slowly turning red again.
"You're only thinking about that now?" I chuckled lightly, which made her bite me again, this time with more force before speaking.
"It's serious! I hadn't thought about it before! You didn't have the stream on, right?" She seemed concerned, so I spoke seriously.
"Of course not, Saya." I lightly flicked her forehead. "Not even when you decided to have fun in the car earlier." I grinned mischievously at her deer-in-the-headlights look.
I ran my finger along her jaw and lifted her head to make her look at me, smiling at her blushing face.
"What? Did you really think I'd keep sleeping while you were doing that?"
She opened and closed her mouth like a goldfish a few times before giving up and putting her face on my chest and muffling a scream. I let her vent and played with her a bit more before taking a deep breath and putting on a serious face.
"Saya." I said in a neutral tone to get her attention. When I saw that I had it, I began.
"Ask away; I know you have questions, and I'll do my best to answer them." I sighed as I hugged her gently. "I can't promise to have all the answers, but I'll try my best."
Saya wasn't slow; she realized from my tone that the conversation was more serious and nodded in agreement.
"The stream." She started. "I can't say it's not weird or unreal..." She shook her head, and I started tracing circles lightly on my shoulder.
"But I believe in you. It actually would explain a lot of things." She thought for a moment before asking.
"If you're a streamer, can I watch the stream too?" She continued making the small circles with her finger unconsciously.
"If it's true, I recognized what I think is Iron Man in the stream chat, so it means you can stream across realities..." She left the question unspoken.
I sighed lightly and took out my phone from the inventory.
"Yes, it was Stark. I don't know if I'm surprised that Marvel exists here or not." I said lightly before showing her the phone screen.
"Here, your answer."
[Invites (Locked - 13/10000)]
I could see that she had understood what that number meant almost instantly, as her cheerful and peaceful look dimmed a bit while she became thoughtful.
It didn't take a genius to figure out that what blocked my stream invites was the number of viewers, as thirteen was the exact number of viewers I had.
Inviting other people myself, actually, that was one of my first thoughts when I came to HOTD, not to mention SP. But I quickly found out it wouldn't be that easy.
I had some time to think about it. Why would the stream block my invites? Why could I only invite someone to the stream with ten thousand viewers?
Curiously, the answer I found made a lot of sense. The stream, as far as I understood, operated on merit.
Are you strong enough to tackle this dungeon? Congratulations! Here, take this reward.
Are you strong enough to survive in this world and complete this mission? Congratulations! Here, take this reward.
Are you famous enough in Terraria to get ten thousand viewers without inviting them? Congratulations! Here, take the right to invite someone yourself.
It wasn't hard to understand what this meant. The stream wanted me to be active in Terraria, not just slowly complete missions, but to interact with that world.
Sure, it wasn't really necessary, as I could very well survive without inviting people to watch the stream myself, but...
I sighed as I traced Saya's spine with my finger slowly, making her shiver slightly.
I don't think it's a coincidence that the only thing blocked by the number of viewers is my invites, after all, it's written in my title.
'The Streamer, the one who is watched by all beings, the one who can go to all worlds, participate in all stories, see everything, know everyone.'
The important part here was "Go to all worlds" and especially "Know everyone."
I clicked my tongue in annoyance. What a tasteless prank. It was obvious that I would meet people I liked while traveling through worlds, people I would like to keep talking to, keep seeing.
That was the stream basically saying, "Well, you want to invite them to watch you without relying on luck? Get off your ass and do your job!"
And it wasn't an unrealistic number, considering I had thirteen viewers in just over two weeks with the stream, taking into account that I knew what? Four people in Terraria?
Markos and Emily from the forge. Gerald, the bartender, and Nyssa, the guild receptionist.
That was the number of people I knew in Terraria, and still, I already had thirteen viewers in two weeks, and if I knew more? Or better yet, and if more people knew me?
A hundred people, a thousand people, ten thousand people?
The number of ten thousand viewers wasn't something unrealistic or that would take decades. I just needed to really be active in Terraria, and it wouldn't take long to reach that number... But at what cost? Because, after all...
"The tallest tree attracts the most wind." I unconsciously said aloud, which made Saya snap out of her thoughts and lift her head.
"I understand..." She started. "If I can't even invite myself to watch the stream, then taking me..." I cut her off before she finished.
"No!"
I could see that she was startled by the intensity of my denial, and she even seemed a bit hurt.
I didn't let her thoughts run wild and explained.
"Saya, the world where the stream sent me is not a good place." That was the understatement of the year. "You know the zombies outside?" I pointed to the window, to which she nodded slightly.
"They spread whatever turns other people into zombies by a bite, right?" Like a super rage, it was certain death if you got bitten, but it wasn't hard to avoid; you just had to not get bitten.
"And what if I told you that in the world where the stream sent me, there's a microbe capable of doing something worse, much, much worse." Not to mention the sentient mass of flesh that competed with Corruption for the title of the most horrible thing in Terraria.
She widened her eyes, surprised, as she exclaimed in a louder voice.
"What?"
She seemed almost frightened, which wasn't strange, considering her whole world had basically ended in less than a week with this zombie virus, and now I was saying there was something much worse. It wasn't strange for her to have this reaction.
"Yes. There's something much worse than this zombie virus in Terraria. Not to mention the monsters there too."
I sighed as I ran my fingers through her hair.
"It's not a place I'd want to take you, even if I could, you know? Terraria wasn't a vacation world. It might seem peaceful and calm on the outside, but I knew well the horrors that place hid.
She seemed to deflate slightly at that, but nodded. "I understand, it's just... It's sad." She hugged me lightly. "You're leaving, and I don't know if I'll see you again."
I shook my head and lightly tickled her stomach, making her squirm and laugh as she tried to push my arm away. I did that for five or six seconds before stopping.
I let her catch her breath before speaking.
"Saya, I'll be honest, I don't know if what we had here was just one night or something more." Ignoring the fact that a long-distance relationship was stupid, especially a distance between dimensions, I didn't have time for that, not as weak as I was.
"But I can promise you one thing." I lifted her chin slightly and looked into her eyes. "You will see me again; I will come back to this world, that's a promise."
Even if the stream didn't have a way for me to come back here, which I highly doubted, I would find a way myself to return.
I had grown attached to some people in this world not to come back. Saya, Alice, Kohta, Saeko, Rei, Shizuka, Takashi, even Zeke, who didn't like me much for some reason.
My family on Earth wasn't the best. Aside from my grandfather, I didn't have someone I really liked in my family, so the group was something new for me.
"So don't make that sad face, okay?" I finished by lightly poking her nose, which made her squint before sighing exasperatedly and smiling.
"It's a promise then, right?" She smiled before furrowing her brow again. "And what are you saying about this being just one night?" She smirked mischievously. "You take my virginity and want to run away? Don't even think about it, got it?" She pointed her finger at my chest and said slowly.
"Even if I have to wait, you said you'll come back, didn't you? So you're mine~"
I smiled slightly and teased. "What's this? Did you change from tsundere to yandere? Should I be worried?"
Saya blushed slightly when I called her tsundere and then huffed lightly and changed the subject.
"Another thing, you said the stream was watched in various worlds, right?" I nodded in agreement. "The one who appeared in the chat, the second viewer, was Iron Man?" She asked curiously.
I didn't deny or try to hide.
"It was, just don't let Stark know that you know him, he'd be insufferable for days talking about how his fame transcends worlds or something."
She nodded slowly, and I could see that she seemed amused. I took advantage of the moment to stand up while carrying Saya with me in my arms. She let out a small scream with the change of location and grabbed my neck reflexively.
"Devas?!" She asked confused. "Where are we going? I'm not dressed!"
I looked down and teased lightly while pinching one of her nipples, which made her let out a small moan before quickly removing my hand.
"What? Afraid I'll take you out like this?" I said jokingly as I went to the bathroom in the room. I'm glad Souichiro gave me a room with a private bathroom; otherwise, I would have to "smuggle" Saya out of the room while we both stank of sex.
"I'm possessive, little lion, if you said I was yours, you logically are mine." I didn't even bother to open the bathroom door; I just put her in my inventory and went in.
"So, Saya-chan~." I said provocatively as I put her on the floor and turned on the shower. "I won't let anyone see your naked body; that right is mine now~."
I put my hand beside her head, trapping her between my body and the wall. I'm sure this was something Japanese, and by the way she was blushing and looking at me, it must be something romantic too.
Let's say we took longer than usual in the shower, I just hope no one asks why Saya had a silly smile on her face and was limping.
[...]
POV: Saya Takagi.
"Why do you have that strange smile on your face and why are you limping?" That was literally the first thing Rei asked me when she saw me. I almost stumbled when she asked that, and my still weak legs didn't help either.
Damn Devas and his fat dick that had fucked me for hours last night and even more time in the shower after that...
"Not that I didn't enjoy it..." I mumbled unconsciously.
"What did you say?" Rei raised her eyebrows and put her hand to her ear. "I couldn't hear, what are you mumbling there?"
I raised an eyebrow at her. "Why do you want to know, Rei?" I couldn't help the dry tone in my voice. I might like Rei as a friend, but this was something else.
She took a step back, not expecting my dry response. I took this time to scan the room.
Devas was talking to my father in the corner of the room; next to them, Komuro-kun and Hirano-kun were standing, probably participating in the conversation but silent at the moment.
Shizuka-sensei was with my mother talking about something, while Alice-chan and Zeke were playing around them. Lastly, the stray cat, or Saeko-senpai, who was behind Devas like a soldier, or in this case, a samurai, waiting for orders.
I still needed to talk to her. It was obvious that, like Rei, she had a crush on Devas, but it didn't matter. At this point, I had already won. I'll make that clear to both of them later.
In the meantime, Rei seemed to have recovered and resumed her interrogation.
"What do you mean it's none of my business?!" She raised her voice a bit but lowered it when she realized some people were looking and approached me while speaking more quietly.
"I didn't see you the whole morning, and you weren't in your room. Where were you, Saya-san?"
I ignored Rei for a moment as I looked at Saeko-senpai. She had noticed our conversation and said something to Devas. Judging by the exasperated look he gave her, it was probably something like her asking for permission to leave her post or something.
I took advantage of her approaching and waited for her to get closer to respond. I waved for Saeko-senpai to come closer. When she was about the same distance as Rei, I waved for them to approach.
"You want to know why I'm like this, Rei? I assume you do too, Saeko-senpai, and also where I was, right?" Seeing both nod in agreement, I took a step forward and put my arms around both of their shoulders, whispering slowly in both their ears.
I seriously considered just saying that I was getting fucked and moaning happily all night and most of the morning, but that would only bring unnecessary trouble. So, I just hummed lightly.
"It's none of your business~."
I ignored their shocked looks and went to Devas with little hops to mask my limp and jumped on his back while hugging him.
"So, what are you guys talking about?"
The look on my father's face when he saw me clinging to Devas's back like a backpack was priceless.
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Hey! I'm back from the dead, sorry for not posting anything this weekend or on Monday (it's 3 AM here, so it's already Tuesday). I got sick because it rained a lot, and I had to go out in the rain several times due to a problem, which ended up giving me a cold. But I'm better now!
Well, let's get to the chapter. What can I say? It was a conversation, didn't clarify everything, but it helped with some things. The next chapter should have a time skip, and after that, a "diary" style chapter where Devas narrates what happens in the next two months. So, we're shifting from HOTD to Terraria again!
I won't drag this on for too long. Sorry for not posting anything again. Comment on what you think of the chapter, point out errors, share theories, ask questions, or suggest ideas to help with the story. That said, good night to those staying and happy reading.
PS: Can someone explain to me how someone earns a domain expansion in Jujutsu? Their explanation is kind of lame, basically, "You're awesome, congrats, here's your domain expansion." A better explanation would be appreciated, but from what I remember from the manga, that's pretty much it.