The next morning, Tadashi went to the gym earlier than was arranged. Yet, the lights were already turned on. /She's already here?/
As he was about to enter, Aimi's voice travelled from behind him. "Tadashi-kun, good morning!"
Tadashi turned and looked at her with incredulous eyes.
"You're starting to work out too?" Aimi asked with a bright smile, paying his expression no mind.
"You exercise this early in the morning?"
"Of course. I have to stay in my top form." Aimi grinned while she flexed her small bicep.
While she walked past him, Tadashi caught her by her arm. His other hand cradled her chin to turn her head towards him. He ignored the expectant look in her eyes and continued to stare hard at her. After a while, he let go of her as suddenly as he grabbed her.
"Aimi-san, you weren't being truthful, were you? Your eyes look tired and dull. You're obviously not used to this. Go back to sleep. You need it."
Aimi served them breakfast as soon as they sat down. "Good work to the both of you!" They said their thanks then dug in. While Tadashi continued to eat normally, Naoko paused after her first bite. The taste was incredibly bad, so bad that it was an assault to her senses. This could not be a mistake, could it? Even if it was intentional, Aimi should not be dumb enough to give Naoko spoilt food only to ruin her image as a cook and jeapordise this journey by having someone fall ill. So, it should be safe to eat. Although, the pause was brief, it was enough to catch Tadashi's attention. "Igarashi-san, how's the food? Is it to your taste?" It sounded a little funny that such questions were coming from Tadashi instead of the cook. Naoko hesitated about telling the truth. She did not want her words to be regarded as slander."How about you try it?" She offered with a sweet smile. Tadashi stared at the meat and rice in her spoon in surprise then
"How are you?" BaoBao asked enthusiastically. He had completely forgotten that he had been hopping mad just a moment ago."If you're asking about my host's performance, it's almost perfect.""Do have fun with your host?" BaoBao elaborated.The other system immediately frowned. Not only did he not react to her host's performance rating, he was now asking about something completely irrelevant. "Fun?""Yeah! My host's really great to be with! How's your host like? She keeps making things hard for my host but I shall forgive it if she's like that because of a mission."Her frown gradually deepened to the point that she looked slightly intimidating. "You're really enthusiastic for someone who's strong enough to fix the data that I corrupted that quickly. That girl's your first host, isn't she?"Right after BaoBao nodded, she continued without waiting to see if BaoBao would have something to say. "I knew it. I've never met a veteran system b
Naoko's and Tadashi's morning practice went smoothly with each of them focusing on their task.When Naoko was done with her mecha practice, she looked at Tadashi who was still hard at work with his eyes closed and a slight frown on his forehead. Naoko squatted down in front of him and waited silently for him to open his eyes by himself. With a disgruntled tone, he said softly, "Nothing at all.""It should be expected. You're just beginning. It'd be more surprising if you got something immediately."His eyes slightly rounded in surprise. Normally, someone would sound more comforting than she did. However, the way Naoko said it with such a flat expression and like it was a matter of fact reassured him more than any sympathetic or kind smile would have.He laughed then said, "You're right. Let's go for breakfast."This time, Aimi did not do anything funny to Naoko's breakfast. In fact, she gave Naoko a larger portion than the o
Later that day, the group went through the same procedures that Tadadshi did. They split into two and took turns to practice mindfulness right outside the hover ship. Since, Naoko had to be in the hover ship while Tastuya was out, Tadashi took Tatsuya, Isamu, and, of course, Aimi. At night, they went through another mindfulness practice, except that this time it was to tune into their own bodies. Tadashi offered to singlehandedly guide everyone through it so that Naoko could focus on her individual practice without interruption. For a newbie who sensed his own spiritual energy just this morning, Naoko had to say that his guidance was commendable. Both times, Aimi behaved like she had a talent for it and got the sensation by the end of each session. Each time she did, she jumped at Tadashi in her joy, mimicking what Tadashi did to Naoko in the morning. It was a clear jab at Naoko, which she chose to ignore. It was not as easy for Tadashi, though. The first time, he was caught
As the days passed by uneventfully, Naoko caught on to Aimi's strategy. She was slowly but surely adopting Naoko's ways. The things she did. The way she dressed, behaved, and expressed herself. She even expressed an interest in the martial arts that Naoko practiced, then learnt it by herself through the web. However, with the knowledge that Aimi was a fellow transmigrator, Naoko was willing to bet that she definitely had prior experience and knowledge. The way she moved was far too natural. Nonetheless, it was increasingly frustrating for Naoko to witness how everything Aimi did, Aimi did and looked better. It was a painful reminder of how she would never amount to much. The others had only shown a brief and itsy-bitsy interest in martial arts until Aimi practised it too. Watching how Aimi could make the boys, including Tadashi, do things just by doing it herself made Naoko cringe. Unbeknownst to Naoko, it was merely a matter of coincidence that Tadashi expressed his interest at the
Not long after they resumed their comfortable silence in each other's embrace, there was a knock on the door. "I guess it's high time we should return." Naoko commented a little drily. "We don't need to." Tadashi tightened his hold on Naoko. [He lashed out at Aimi in front of everyone.] BaoBao grabbed the chance to fill her in on what happened with a single-line summary. Right after BaoBao said so, Aimi's voice traveled through the closed door. "Tadashi-kun... Na-chan... I'm sorry... Please, can you let me make amends?" "You can do so by leaving us alone." Tadashi harshly bit out. Naoko lightly pursed her lips, wondering how would this affect the rest of the story and journey. There was a pause before Aimi replied dejectedly, "Okay... I'll see the two of you tomorrow morning..." Naoko waited for awhile before she looked up at him and asked, "Erm... Tadashi, how long do you intend to st
Naoko considered confronting Aimi about it, but BaoBao warned her that it may not be helpful. [There's an extra restriction when hosts inhabit the body of lead roles. They have to stay in character unless changing it is needed for the scripted story to make sense. The purpose is so that the other characters do not gain an awareness, start questioning, and create further bugs in the world.] /So what you mean is... Other characters in the story cannot experience what Tadashi, or rather the familiar soul inside him, goes through?/ [Yes. That's why when there is a familiar soul transmigrating along with our host, it is taken as the host's responsibility to take that into account and manage the consequences of that or...]BaoBao fell silent. /I'll be deemed as incapable?/Naoko completed his sentence for him. [Yes...] BaoBao refrained from telling Naoko that the co
Isamu and Tadashi immediately went to the pilot seats. However, the hover ship refused to follow their commands. Everything ran as per normal, they were just not taking off. Tatsuya rapidly brought up images after images of the hover ship. Finally, an image showed their hover ship being pinned to the ground by the needle sharp tails of some bugs. The parts destroyed were not crucial but enough to hold them down. "I knew their exteriors were hard but not THAT hard!" Tatsuya exclaimed in terror. They had witnessed how it got violently knocked around and out by the sand twisters without suffering a single open wound. "Abandon ship! To the mechas now!" Naoko yelled decisively when Tatsuya's mind seemed to have frozen in panic. Just then, a tail shot through the roof dangerously close to the command table. "Naoko!" A strained voice rose above all the surrounding noise and made Naoko's heart feel like it was caught in a tight grip.&n
RenRan began napping. A lot. Souls did not need sleep, but they could choose to do so. FanHai was one of those who seemed to never catch a wink of sleep. While RenRan slept, he stayed by her side, always keeping himself busy with something. This carried on for a good time before she began to catch him with his guard lowered after waking up. ‘A while more.’ RenRan did not believe that a man like him could keep himself entertained this long and resist a cat nap with her. At this point, BaoBao cried out in frustration. There were a few times she could have slipped away because he had already fallen asleep with her! He even dared to cuddle with her. That spot was only reserved for two people! Him and the familiar soul! “Is it really too much to assist by waking her up?” He challenged the elder one. “Is it so hard for her to stay awake in a world that doesn’t need sleep?” He challenged BaoBao back. “...That’s easy for you to say.” Then, BaoBao puffed his cheeks and returned to gl
RenRan’s eyes opened wide. No matter how hard she pushed against him or how much she pounded his chest, shoulders, or head, he persisted on. She tried to bite him, but he avoided using his tongue and skillfully moved his mouth in tandem with her attempts. With his hand cupping the back of her head, she could not break the kiss either. She was at his complete mercy. ‘I should have dropped the act earlier. This isn’t worth it!’ Fear slowly gripped her heart as she wondered how far he would take it. Then, he stopped, just as suddenly as he started. “Enough?” He grinned and meaningfully applied greater pressure on her lower back. His move made RenRan conscious of the rock hard member against her abdomen. Immediately recognising what it was, she fiercely pushed against his chest and demanded, “Okay, let me go! I’ll properly spend some time with you first!” He smiled with satisfaction. “Like I thought.” Then, he let her go. “You wouldn’t have to waste so much time and energy if you jus
RenRan’s heart jumped but she poised herself promptly, ready to grapple with whoever had manhandled her. “Why’d you run away from me? Didn't we have deal?” The somewhat familiar deep voice cleared up the situation. “I’m not running from you.” RenRan explained as she attempted to pull her arm out of his strong grip. “You know you can’t lie with this within us.” He pointed at his chest and kept on his tight smile. “You got to try harder than that to convince me.” RenRan frowned. “And I was precisely following that to find you, as agreed.” His smile gradually disappeared as his gaze dropped to study her entire body. “…You’re weaker than the last time I saw you.” RenRan had nothing to say in response. Instead, she attempted to twist her arm free again. “Even so, I’ve never heard of a compass malfunctioning because of this before.” Annoyed with his accusations, RenRan tuned in
RenRan headed for a condensed group of swirling sparkles that was just a little larger than her. ‘So, my mission is to achieve my dream no matter the cost. What’s my dream? To find YingTao? No, I’ll definitely find him. It’s just a matter of time. Then, I’ll find out that YingTao doesn’t want me anymore. And I’ll want him back...’ RenRan thought of everything that had happened in RenRan’s life. ‘I can only hope that her dream’s that simple...’ She began to think of all her misdemeanors, then ways to right her wrongs. [I should stop you right there. If it wasn’t clear enough before, as long as you’re in the story scenes, you’re supposed to do and say all the things the original character did.] ‘What? You didn’t say that earlier.’ [I mentioned earlier that it's risky to provoke this world’s consciousness into doing anything. So, we can only observe this world. What do you think this mea
Luna was right. She had inhabited Luo RenRan’s body. RenRan’s family belonged to the working class, but her gripe was not their standard of living, it was her parents’ favourtism for her brothers. She was the only girl, and she was the oldest. Anything her brothers did, she was responsible for. Any wrong they committed, they were let off with a more lenient punishment, while she was supposed to forgive and forget. Their expectations for her and the restrictions they imposed on her could not be compared to the standards they held her brothers against. The only solace she had was that her siblings never directly crossed her line, even when she was old enough to start working. If only it stayed that way forever. “RenRan... Forgive your brother, okay? You know he only took it because he needed it and only you can help him. If you have someone you need to blame, blame your father.” A gentle motherly voice coaxed her. “If your father helped, none of us would be
“Wh- What am I doing here?” BaoBao looked around in shock. He recognised this place. The last time he was here, it was to defend Luna. “Why am I back here?”The elder one sighed. “Why did you do it?”“D- Do what?”Gasps were heard around him.“It lies.”“It truly deceives.”“Surely, that’s bad.”“This can’t go on.”“It’s always this one system.”“Clearly there’s something wrong with it.”All the administration looked at the elder one, waiting for the go ahead. The elder one looked at BaoBao so intensely as if BaoBao was a specimen under his microscope. BaoBao gulped. He felt exposed. What was with this elder one? Whatever the case, Luna had already been sent to the next world. He could not dilly dall
“Don’t ignore me! I know you’re awake!” Someone pushed Luna’s shoulder hard. Her eyes flew open, and a purple and black galaxy unfolded before her. Her bottom left whatever she had been sitting on, but she did not fall. There was a resistance that made her body glide instead. Luna blinked a few times, stunned. "I dare you to say it again.” The same voice challenged her. Luna turned towards the source. There it was again. The sensation when she moved was familiar. However, she had no time to make sense of it. The deep voice belonged to a burly woman, instead of a man like Luna had assumed, not that it made anything better. Her guest looked as friendly as a starving lioness. Luna straightened her neat celestial-like robes while she quickly collected her thoughts. It shimmered and shone brighter than the glow emanating from her body. The fabric was so silky to touch that it was like water. Although it was transluc
“LUNA!” BaoBao jumped onto her. Luna grunted from the impact. It reminded her of how much he had grown from the first time she met him. ‘How is he so weightless but so heavy at the same time?’ “Hi BaoBao,” she laughed lightly, “Is this your new way of sending me to the next world?” “Huh?! No, no! It’s far too soon to be sending you to the next world, isn’t it?!” Luna laughed even more. “I was just teasing.” BaoBao blinked innocently. “Oh.” Luna looked at him endearingly. “You’re still so much like a kid.” She rubbed the top of his head lovingly. “Don’t systems live for eternity, if nothing goes wrong?” “Mmhm, what about it?” “It still felt that long to you?” “YES!” BaoBao confirmed without a second thought. Luna laughed. “Let’s spend some time together before heading to the next world.” BaoBao’s heart warmed and h
Nozomi closed her eyes and thought hard about his request. It did not feel right or good to take his years, but she had no right to dictate how he should live his life.‘Since he’s really fine with it...’Nozomi pushed her hands forward to cup his cheeks. “Okay...”Hikaru’s eyes brightened up. He promptly retrieved his book and readied himself. Nozomi watched Hikaru activate his magic with interest. The way his book’s ribbon splits and transforms into a robe and staff never got old. “Thank you, for going along with my wishes.” His heartfelt gratitude was reflected in his eyes as well. Nozomi smiled in understanding and squeezed his hands that were once again holding onto hers. Hikaru closed his eyes and focused on her presence, then said the incantation that he had memorised by then.Green glowing vine marks appeared