Chapter 17: Chapter 17

Asahi looked at the System screen in front of him for a whole minute before he could even think.

‘Fuck… FUCK! Okay, okay… breathe.’

He took a couple deep breaths in order to calm himself down.

Looking at his hand, and seeing that it wasn’t trembling, he went into the apartment.

As he walked towards the living room, he heard Fumiko’s voice. She and Mayumi were in the living room playing video games.

He greeted them passing by, saying that he was going to put away his backpack and change, to which they greeted him back, not unlike their usual interaction.

Entering his room, he closed the door, and tossed his backpack onto the bed.

He then started to change into shorts. ‘Please, buy the stone.’

[ It is in your Spatial Storage. ]

‘Thank you. I assume you didn’t activate it on me.’

[ I did not. ]

‘Good.’

As he finished changing, he sat on his bed and looked at his inventory screen, seeing a fancy cubic wooden box there. He made it appear on his hand, a 12cm box, made of dark blue wood, which didn’t seem to have been dyed.

He detached the little clasp in front of it, and opened the box.

Immediately, he felt psionic matrixes of a complexity that he couldn’t even begin to understand, and it all came from an unassuming rock, the size of a tennis ball. The only thing odd about it was its perfectly spherical shape.

‘This thing feels quite powerful. Get me a needle, please. Actually, scratch that, get me a utility knife.’

Upon thinking that, the red utility knife appeared in his hand.

He made a cut on his finger, without even a wince, and smeared the blood on the rock. As he did so, a refreshing sensation spread over his consciousness, akin to drinking a cold glass of water in the hot summer.

‘Wow, that felt good.’

When he looked at the stone again, the blood was gone, which didn’t surprise him at all. What did surprise him a bit, was that there was a small crack on it.

He sucked his finger to clean the blood from it. ‘Interesting. This thing is gonna crumble after the 4^th use, isn’t it?’

[ Yes. ]

He slapped his face with both hands. ‘Alright, let’s do this.’

Asahi was scared and anxious, but it was something that he had to do, sooner rather than later. With the closed wooden box and two needles in hand, he went back to the living room.

Seeing that the girls were still playing, he spoke with a serious expression. “Can you pause for a bit? I need to have a talk with both of you, and it’s the long and important kind of talk.”

Mayumi paused the game, with a concerned expression. “Sure, is everything okay?”

Fumiko looked equally concerned.

He sat on the center table, in front of them, taking a deep breath. “By now, I already have said this to both of you, but there are some things about me that I couldn’t tell you. Well, now I can.”

Fumiko added. “But…”

“But there are two caveats. First, is that there is no undoing this conversation, it’ll change a lot of things, and you can’t tell absolutely anyone about it, for both their safety and yours as well. The only thing I can tell you beforehand is that I didn’t do anything wrong or bad, and that you’ll fully understand why you can’t tell anyone as soon as I tell you what it is.”

Both girls looked at him with a quizzical, but serious expression.

Fumiko asked. “What is the second caveat?”

He opened the box, and showed them the stone, holding the needles on the other hand. “I’ll need you both to trust me, and put a drop of your blood on this stone. I know how crazy I sound right know, believe me. I’m risking having you think I’m crazy in order to give you both a choice.”

The girls looked at each other, showing a lot of concern in their expressions, and nodded, each grabbing a needle from his hand.

They pricked their fingers and each let a drop of blood fall on the stone. As the blood touched the stone, the same refreshing sensation that Asahi felt, washed over their consciousness.

Both girls looked at him with confused expressions, speaking in unison. “What was that?”

“Permanent immunity to mind-affecting effects.”

They looked at him in silence, like they were waiting for an actual answer.

He started to become visibly nervous. “I meant what I said. That was what I needed to get for both of you in order to be able to tell you everything. Look at the stone.”

Looking at the stone, the girls’ eyes widened, because it was quite cracked, like it was about to fall apart.

He closed the box, and put it to the side, then extended his hand, receiving the needles from the girls.

Slightly trembling, he took a deep breath. “Should I start?”

Both girls nodded, not knowing what to say.

He looked at the floor, then back at them. “I have a System. Not quite like it, but resembling the ones in novels and manga. I’m going to make so that they say hello to you, so a translucent screen will appear in front of each of you, that only you and I can see.”

Both girls’ brows furrowed, as Asahi did a countdown from five with his right hand.

As his hand became a fist, the girls were startled.

[ Hello, it is nice to finally make your acquaintance. ]

They looked at the screens in front of them, flabbergasted.

Mayumi tried to touch it, but her hand went through.

[ Sorry, I am not tangible. ]

Fumiko realized something. “Fuck… Immunity to mind-affecting effects. If you needed us to have that, it means that there are others. Many, many others.”

Mayumi looked at him with widened eyes, realizing that Fumiko’s words made complete sense.

Asahi fiddled with his fingers, trying to control his anxiety. “Not with a System, no, I’m the only one. But there are what I assume to be millions of powered people out there. This is all quite recent to me as well.”

The girls took a deep breath, trying to process the information.

Seeing Mayumi and Fumiko in deep thought, he started to grow restless. “I know that you need time to process this, but I need to add something.” He started to tear up as he spoke. “I never did anything to either of you using my powers, or anyone else for that matter. I don’t even look at the Relationship part of the System, and I don’t even know the specific details on how to get points. My interactions with you were all genuine, I never did anything to you or with you due to any reason related to the System.”

They looked at him.

He was trembling, with tears running down his face.

Starting to sob, he spoke. “I’m sorry, I wanted to say something earlier, but I was worried that either of you would get hurt. Please, don’t hate me, I swear that I only became able to get that stone when I was about to enter the apartment earlier.”

He didn’t look like the man they were used to, but a scared little boy, terrified that everything he held dear would be taken away.

Tearing up, they both sat beside him, and gave him a warm hug.

Mayumi caressed his face. “It’s okay, we’re not going anywhere.”

Fumiko held his hand. “Not a chance. We’re with you, all the way.”

He tried to dry his tears with the back of his hand, but they kept pouring out. “I’m sorry…”

The girls tightened their hug, as if to reassure him that they would not leave.

Mayumi was reminded of the night that he broke down, the night he told her about his past without sugar-coating it. The Asahi in front of her looked even more vulnerable, like he could break apart at any moment, which made her chest tighten.

It took a dozen minutes or so for him to somewhat calm down.

Drying his tears with the back of his hand, he spoke softly. “I thought I could handle telling you without breaking down like this, but with every second that passed, the feeling that you wouldn’t want to be near me anymore, just grew. It’s not that I don’t trust you, I wouldn’t be telling you all this if I didn’t.”

Fumiko kissed his cheek. “We know.”

He took another deep breath, and gave each of them a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, for being so understanding and patient with me. Let’s go sit at the table, I want to look at both of you while I tell you the rest.”

The girls nodded, and they moved to the kitchen table.

 

He looked at the table, then at the girls. “How much do you wanna know?”

Fumiko replied without a hint of hesitation. “Everything you’re willing to tell us.”

Mayumi nodded. “Agreed.”

He scratched his head. “Okay, so everything, then let’s start with the System first. Brace yourselves, because this is gonna get borderline insane.”

The girls nodded.

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“There is only one System bearer at a time in our universe. The instant they die, a creature that is being conceived at that moment, whose species has the bare minimum of average intellect, gets a System. As for what kind of System, it depends. However, the System comes locked, and it alters the entropic laws around the bearer, generating what we consider bad luck. This is in order for the bearer to earn a System, like a trial of sorts, which explains my past.”

The girls frowned.

“It’s alright, I already came to terms with that, for the most part at least. Now, when and how it was unlocked. At one point, the engineered bad luck disappears, and one stroke of good luck that equates to the cumulative bad luck throughout the years is generated. For me, that was meeting you, Mayumi.”

Mayumi’s cheeks reddened. “That’s sweet, but…”

He shook his head. “I’m not just saying that, it is what the System told me, and I agree with them. So, depending on what one does with their good luck, they may or may not receive a System. Mine unlocked while I was asleep, during my first night in this apartment. Technically, you unlocked it Mayumi.”

She blinked. “Me?”

Fumiko looked at him quizzically. “How?”

“The type of System that one can unlock, is based on the individual, on something that they want, crave, and/or were deprived of. In my case, there were two things that stood out, love and lust. Deep down I wanted both of those feelings directed at me, more than anything else. If I managed to make someone care for me without a single ulterior motive, I’d unlock the Love System. If I managed to make someone that I’m attracted to, become attracted to me as well, I’d unlock the Lust System. Mayumi however, felt both on the first day we met, which ended up merging the two, creating the Love & Lust System.”

[ That would be me. And no, the two of you are not my parents. ]

The screens slightly startled the girls, but the thoughts in their mind about what they just heard didn’t slow down.

Mayumi displayed a complicated expression, but not a bad one, being mainly embarrassed.

Fumiko looked at her and smiled, then at him. “It that name the reason for you to emphasize earlier that our interactions weren’t in order for you to gain points?”

He nodded, slightly nervous. “The vast majority of things costs points within the System, and the basic ways to obtain them are the obvious; affection and sex. On purpose, I asked the System to not show me the details of how I earned points or the specific amounts. I only look at the total of points I have, and even that, I rarely do. There are quests, but I also asked them to not show me any that are related to a specific person, especially the ones I care about, which caused me to only have seen three quests so far.”

Mayumi chuckled. “That is very much like you.”

Fumiko nodded, smiling.

Asahi smiled, then remembered something. “Oh, there is one other person that knows about the System, Trish. I needed to have someone to talk to about the System, and she was my only option. There are two reasons for that.”

After a brief pause, to gather his thoughts, he continued. “First, I’m the only one capable of divulging information about the System. Other people can’t, either physically, or through having their mind read, or even speaking through telepathy. The reason I needed you protected from mind reading, was because I wouldn’t tell you about the System and lie about other powered people. The second reason is obvious, Trish has powers. As for what they are, you’d have to ask her, since I didn’t ask her permission to share that with you.”

Both girls nodded, only being surprised by how only Asahi was able to divulge information about the System. They were smart enough to have noticed that there was something more between him and Trish, just by the way he talked to them about his interactions with her.

They never pried, because it didn’t seem that he wanted to talk about it. But just by listening about the existence of powered people, they put things together in their minds, with one point in common between them being that if Trish had powers, she could already have the immunity that he had to give them, since they didn’t know that only Asahi could divulge information about the System.

Seeing that they weren’t surprised about Trish, he smiled. “I knew you two already suspected something regarding Trish. Thank you for not asking questions before. Okay, are you ready for an incredibly long info dump? Believe me, we only touched the tamest parts.”

Fumiko looked at him awkwardly. “Can we eat something while we talk? I’m really hungry. We were waiting for you to get home to eat together.”

Mayumi nodded. “I’m really hungry too.”

Asahi looked at them, then nodded. “We can skip to a specific part then. What do you guys wanna eat? Pick anything, and it doesn’t need to be a consensus, you can each choose a different thing, and there is no need to worry about the price.”

Immediately understanding that it was something related to the System, they both started thinking.

Mayumi spoke first. “Boeuf Bourguignon, with rice and veggies.”

Fumiko went rogue, trying to test things. “A Philly Cheesesteak Calzone.”

Asahi smiled at Fumiko’s cheeky attempt to test the System. “They’ll appear on the table in 3, 2, 1…”

As he finished counting, what they asked for appeared on the table, steaming hot and absurdly well-made.

Not only it startled them a bit, but made their mouths go agape.

Smelling the food, their stomachs started making noises.

“What do you want to drink? Same deal.”

While they ate, Asahi told them absolutely everything.

All he knew about the System, the parts that he was avoiding on purpose, and everything he knew about powered people.

He showed them his powers, the things he could do with them, and all his Skills.

He also showed Mayumi what her Relationship screen looked like the only time he saw it, which made a tinge of red appear on her face.

He then showed both girls their current Relationship screen, making their faces go completely red, and reiterating that he didn’t look at it, nor did he had any intention of doing so.

The girls paid attention to everything, while keeping the mood light, even joking around a bit when Indomitable Lover came up.

The whole combination of conversation and meal lasted for a few hours.

 

After he finished telling them everything, the table had dirty dishes, and empty containers, cans and wrappers. The girls looked mentally tired, due to the massive info dump in the span of three hours.

Asahi, looking calmer than he was when the conversation started, spoke. “One last thing, and this is something that I learned how to do this week. My inventory works through interaction, but it doesn’t need to be of the physical kind. I can put anything that I can interact with my Psychokinesis directly into my inventory, and make it appear at whichever location I can sense.”

Fumiko raised her left eyebrow. “So, you’re saying that you can rob a bank by just walking inside?”

Asahi nodded, making things on the table disappear in groups, then appear inside the trash or the dishwasher.

He then massaged his temples. “It’s a bit taxing doing what I just did though. Different things, going to different places, and having to mind their position as they arrive. I think robbing a bank would be less taxing.”

Mayumi yawned. “Sorry, I’m just really tired.”

Fumiko caressed her face. “Me too.” She then looked at both of them. “How about we take a quick shower and go to bed?”

Asahi nodded. “Yeah, I’m really tired as well. Do you guys wanna talk just the two of you?”

The girls got up almost simultaneously.

Fumiko walked to Asahi and gently pulled him up. “We told you we wouldn’t leave you alone, and we meant that literally, at least regarding today.”

Mayumi hugged him from behind. “Unless you want to be alone tonight.”

He shook his head. “Nah, I really, really don’t.”

Fumiko smiled. “Let’s go then.”

After a shower, the three of them cuddled in Mayumi’s bed, enjoying each other’s warmth until they fell asleep.

 

In the middle of the night, Asahi woke up.

There wasn’t a set arrangement when the three of them slept in the same bed, but that night he was in the middle on purpose.

Despite being overwhelmed by learning that the world they knew was just an illusion, a misdirection to hide the whole picture, the girls still prioritized making sure that he was okay and taken care of.

He looked at them, sound asleep, and teared up a bit. Those were good tears though.

Gratitude.

That was what Asahi felt since their conversation ended, and they went to take a shower. That was what filled those tears.

He closed his eyes once more, only to realize something; he wasn’t sleepy, and was completely rested.

‘What time is it?’

[ 3:37am ]

Asahi looked at the message and started thinking.

Yes, he could just ask the System and would get the answer, but he liked to think for himself.

‘If active powers can synergize with a passive, and given your capabilities, there should be no reason for passives to not be able to synergize between themselves. The reason I’m already feeling rested, it’s because the Mind Fortress and Basic Hyper Bodily Health passives synergized, isn’t it?’

[ Correct. Currently, four hours is enough for a full rest. This time will shorten as you improve your body and mind, but as it always was, it can increase if you overwork yourself. ]

‘Yeah, that’s expected.’

He looked at the girls again.

‘I’m gonna stay in bed for today. They went through a lot to make sure that I was okay, so it would be an asshole move to just get up and go do something else. Besides, it feels really nice and comfortable here.’

He thought about what to do while he waited. ‘Might as well do what I have been postponing.’

After taking a deep breath, Asahi started to explore the Store.

 

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