The Day After
"When you feel life,
You grab it in desperation.
But as time goes on
You realize,
Life's nothing but an illusion."
I.
I woke up earlier than usual this day. Mystica is still sleeping beside me, her face looks so much gentler when she's like this. I remembered what happened last night and smiled as I swayed her hair back. I kissed her cheek and said "I love you" before going downstairs.
"Status." I stayed in the backyard and looked intently at my current attributes.
Name: Jean Martin
Level: 10
Bonus Status Points Available (100)
Strength: 20
Note: Well, well, well, looks like somebody's doing more than just jerking off all day to build up those biceps huh?
Speed: 15
Note: You're still slow as hell, don't get cocky. Well at least, you'd have a tight race with the turtle now rather than just outright losing to it. Haha.
Intelligence:180
Note: Damn, your brain must be on steroids right now. NEEEERD.
Stamina:100
Note: Basically… First is, you don't get tired easily. Second is, you won't die easily huh. Third, good luck when you get captured and tortured. I bet you won't love your dear stamina by then. Hehehehe.
As always, the side comments on the status points are rude. But I gotta hand it to whoever made them, that's a lot of dedication if you made a pun for every addition of a single status point.
Also displayed on the window is my current level. On the Entertainers' Ranking, I've already reached 987. Just a bit more and I'll be safe from the culling that would happen two weeks from now. But I need to work harder. Those ahead of me will make their effort so I need to double the effort they display.
"How about King? What is he ranked?" I searched for his name in the rankings and found it as part of the top 100 Entertainers.
*King Bisset - Rank 98*
"To think he's already this far ahead." I smirked, more eager than I was earlier in increasing my level.
"Wait for me King, I'll catch up to you in no time." I told myself.
Next, let's view necromancy. The status window shows that it's still at level one. That's to be expected because all I ever did was raise some small insects. Plus, it says here that I need 1,000 status/experience points allocated to it before it goes up a level. Right now I'm at 500 points already, halfway before I level up my skill.
Lastly, I went on to call Heidi-sama. I didn't dare contact her on the previous days because I haven't made any progress yet. She saved me after all and, if I call her without any results then she might be disappointed in me.
I clicked the call button and it rang just like any regular telephone from back home.
"Yes~ Heidi here speaking. Queen of the Underworld and torturer of the souls of all ungrateful mortals who received her blessing." She's definitely gonna kill me.
"H-Heidi-sama."
"Hmmm~ Ohh are you that boy who never made the effort to call his goddess?
"Uhmm…"I can feel how cold her voice is.
"What was your name again? Hmm was it Dead? Maybe it's Castrated? Or maybe your name is Iron Maiden?"
"Soooorrry!"
"HMMMMM!"
I'm gonna die.
I'm gonna die.
I'm gonna die.
I'm gonna die.
I'm gonna –
"Just kidding Jean~ Hahaha. You know how much I love you right?" I feel my knees shaking right now.
"I seriously thought you'd kill me. Haha."
"Well, that's still an option. Haha."
"SOOORRRYYY!" I said again in agony.
"Kidding. Kidding." She said, giggling a little.
"So what's up Jean? How's my dear Entertainer doing?" Heidi-sama wants me to tell her the whole journey, from the moment she hung up on the first day.
"Oh, and, if you leave anything out, I might accidentally reap your soul." She added.
*Sigh*
I told my whole journey thus far. The place I am staying at and the other Entertainer I met. I also told her my plan on gaining experience and where I used my Necromancy skill. I also told her about Mystica, but left out the details of me and her being in a relationship.
"That's quite the progress you've made Jean! Nothing less from my dear Entertainer." She said, amused.
"To think you would go all out on intelligence haha. Plus, the method you used to entertain is really unique." This feels a lot like I'm an employee making a report to my boss.
"Thank you Heidi-sama." I'm glad that she's satisfied from my performance.
"However." Heidi-sama's tone suddenly got serious.
"You shouldn't leave out the part that you have a lover."
I froze at that moment.
How does she know?
"Jean, don't be stupid. I'm a goddess and your soul is directly linked to mine. You think I wouldn't know? I only made you report because I wanted to see how much you'd actually tell me."
I don't know what to say anymore. I feel more guilty now that she brought out that she already knows everything.
"Don't feel so burdened. I'm not disappointed in you Jean." She continued.
"Just a piece of advice okay? You're not staying in that world so never let anyone go inside your inner circle. They'd make your decisions harder to make."
"Yes Heidi-sama. Thank you."
With that my goddess closed the communication link. I let out a deep sigh and went on my way. I realized how indebted I am to Heidi-sama. She isn't as malicious as the other beings of her kind. It would've been fine to rebel against an evil god/goddess but, with Heidi-sama, I need to make sure that I do my utmost best.
"I'll do my best Heidi-sama!" I shouted, thinking she'd hear me.
II. (Mystica's PoV)
There is the sound of a crowd just outside my window. My eyes slowly adjusted to the morning light as I rubbed them gently with my hands. Then I noticed, this isn't my room.
"Where am I?" I thought.
Suddenly, all memories of last night came rushing back to me. The sensation feels weird because I have never remembered this much in my entire life. It has always been bits and pieces, but nothing this grand.
"Wait…"
"Whaaaat?!" The things which happened last night started entering my brain.
"Nooooo! Stoop!" I told my brain, flustered over the things which took place. This is a like a theatre show, but I'm both spectator and audience. That stareee, that huuug, that….K-KISS?!?!
*Memory used, remember all the cheesy stuff you did last night!*
*The move is super effective!*
*Mystica fainted from shame.*
"Oh?" I woke up facing the pale white ceiling.
"So all of that was just a dream? Of course it was!" I told myself. But as consciousness completely came back, so did all the memories. Clear. Vivid. Memories.
I screamed at the pillow and then looked around me.
"This is definitely not my room."
"Mystica you idiot!" I shouted in my head.
*Sigh*
"I better get going. Jean is probably out there working his ass off again."
Unlike my normal methods, I placed a lot of care and attention on how I look.
"This isn't for him." I told myself.
"This is for the residents we will gain today."
"For the residents."
"For the residents."
"For the residents." I kept on telling myself.
Without me noticing I've already reached the front yard. Close enough to see Jean clearly. He must have noticed that I'm here because he looked at his back.
"Good Morning Mystica." Why is he smiling at meeee! Faaauuqqqq!
*Jean used normal smile!*
*The move is super effective!*
*Mystica fainted.*
When I came to my senses, I'm back at my room. Jean is there sitting at a chair, left leg folded over his right and staring outside the window.
"Hey how are you feeling?" He said, noticing that I've woken up.
"I'm feeling kind of better." Just keep your distance so I can recover.
"You suddenly fainted so I got worried." He stood up and touched my forehead. My heart started beating so loudly that it feels as if it would burst out.
"Just rest here for now okay?"
"Okay." I replied.
"Wait how did our plan go?" I remembered that this is the day when we will take in residents. If Jean is here taking care of me, does that mean we failed?
"Don't worry everything went smoothly." Jean gave me a reassuring smile.
"Can you walk now?" He asked.
"Of course I can. It's not exhaustion that caused me to faint. It's you." I told myself.
"Yes, I'm all good now." I said standing up straight.
"Good, then come with me." He said extending his hand to me.
This time, I'm ready so I took it even though my heart wants to explode. He opened my door and, as soon as he did, I heard laughter.
"Huh?"
Jean smiled as he made me touch the balustrade of the second floor. Below us, I see the longue and my tears started falling uncontrollably. There are people filling the lounge, laughing, eating, chatting, and having fun.
"Jean…this is…" I stumbled for words. I never expected our plan to go this well.
"Yeah." Jean said; smiling as he looked at the lounge.
"This is just the beginning." He said.
III. (King's PoV)
"JEAN YOU BASTARD!" I threw empty liquor bottles on the ground. This is already the third week of the month. One more week and ten other Entertainers will get removed from the list. Yet, that bastard managed to stay alive.
Not only that, he even managed to take away a lot of my precious customers. His ranking has gone up to 780 while my ranking slowly went down to 193. At this rate, I'll be the one killed on the next culling.
"YOU'RE NOTHING BUT TRASH!" I'm usually calm and composed but nobody else is here right now. I can be as unsightly as I want.
"Welcome customers." I heard Jean's voice through the communication wire that I stuck to his clothing. It was easy to place with how good I am at hiding things on my hands. When I made that tap on his shoulder and told him to leave, I also stuck it to his clothing. A small piece of machinery that is difficult to see.
"Jean, you're the one assigned in cooking today, right?" Oh, it's that woman who owns the inn. She never showed any interest in me and that made me want to taste her all the more.
"Yes Mystica I'm coming." That bastard seems to enjoy her company so much. Well, he must be having a blast since their lovers now.
"It must've been difficult for his virgin ass to get laid back on earth." I opened another bottle of beer and chugged it down my throat.
I haven't been doing so good myself. Most of the women who crawl up to me don't even approach me anymore. Since my customers dwindled, a lot of people have lost interest in my shows. That mean's they also lost interest in me altogether. Those who attend my morning act, those who pay to see my magic at night, every single one of them have lost interest. I never expected him to have such a huge impact on my performance at this town.
"Hey Jean, stop being so clingy people might see us." Those two are flirting again.
An idea suddenly struck me. Like Satan himself, bestowed wisdom on my drunk brain. Now that they're attached to each other so much, if I cause harm to one of them, the other person will also be affected mentally. Oh this is gonna be fun. I haven't killed an entertainer since last month, my skills may be getting rusty. A smile crept up my face and I couldn't hold it back.
"Let's do some magic."