"I should probably do something rather than bore myself to death," Reiji said as he dragged himself downstairs.

He grabbed a can of soda from the fridge, plopped onto the couch and turned on the TV.

"I knew you’d be here..."

The sound of the novella playing on the screen echoed through the living room.

"Bitch, serves you right..." Reiji commented when the usually calm pushover FL slapped the antagonist.

Reiji was completely focused on the screen, commenting on everything like someone personally involved in the story.

[...]

"Oh shit..." Reiji’s eyes widened in surprise. "System, did you see that...? That was messed up... Hahaha!"

"She thought the person she was having sex with was her boss, but no, it was her lover who killed her in her past life... Haha... The FL has definitely lost some brain cells. Don’t you know the size of the dick entering your temple?"

After a while, Reiji’s stomach started growling at him. That was when he picked up his phone only to realize it was already thirty minutes past midnight.

He stared at the time for a few seconds before letting out a tired sigh.

"I missed dinner..." Reiji muttered helplessly.

Normally Hina would’ve already forced him to eat before it even got this late. The apartment suddenly felt quieter than before.

Reiji opened the fridge, grabbed a bottle of cold water and drank directly from it.

"...I don’t feel like cooking anymore."

After putting the bottle back, he dragged himself upstairs and flopped onto the bed.

Silence...

The room felt strangely empty. Reiji stared at the ceiling for a while before eventually closing his eyes.

***

The next morning.

Reiji woke and reached for his phone to check the time. The moment the screen lit up, his sleepy expression instantly disappeared.

"Fifty missed calls?!"

All of them were from Hina. Reiji immediately sat up from the bed.

"..."

A helpless smile appeared on his face.

He already knew why she couldn’t text him normally. If someone accidentally saw suspicious messages between them, it would create unnecessary problems.

And he couldn’t call her back either unless he wanted Kaori or the others becoming suspicious.

"...She must’ve arrived already."

Even while saying that, Reiji still stared at the missed calls for a while longer than necessary.

After freshening up, Reiji quietly completed the system’s daily quest before making a simple breakfast for himself.

The entire time, he kept glancing at his phone.

Nothing.

After eating, Reiji returned upstairs and laid down on the bed with his phone beside him. He kept staring at the blank screen like a housewife waiting for her husband to return home.

Minutes slowly turned into hours.

Eventually, his eyes slowly became heavier until he fell asleep without knowing.

~Ring! ~Ring!

Reiji frowned as he reached for his phone. As soon as he saw who was calling his eyes snapped open instantly. He opened the phone only to see several more missed calls from Hina. Then the phone started vibrating again.

"Hina..."

Reiji immediately answered the call.

"Rei-kun...!" Hina’s voice sounded relieved the moment he picked up.

"...Hina...?" Reiji asked while rubbing his eyes.

"Yes Rei. Why didn’t you pick up my calls?" Hina said a little angrily. "I missed you a lot."

Reiji felt his chest tighten slightly hearing those words.

"I’m sorry I fell asleep, but you just left yesterday."

"I know..." Hina whispered. "But it already feels too long."

Reiji couldn’t help but smile bitterly. He too strangely felt the same.

"Where are you calling from?"

"The bathroom..." Hina answered quietly.

"Huh?"

"I first tried calling from the airplane toilet..." she admitted shamelessly. "But Mom kept asking why I was taking so long."

Reiji rubbed his temples. "...Hina."

"What? I wanted to hear your voice..." The sound of her soft breathing echoed quietly through the phone.

Reiji slowly laid back onto the bed.

"...Did you arrive safely at least?"

"Mhm. The hotel is really big..." Hina said softly before lowering her voice even more. "But I don’t like it here."

"...Why?"

"Because you’re not here."

"..." Reiji fell silent. For some reason, hearing her say that made the empty room feel even quieter.

The two of them continued talking quietly for a while longer before Hina reluctantly ended the call after hearing someone outside the bathroom door.

"...I love you Rei-kun."

"I love you too..."

Click!

The call ended.

Reiji slowly lowered the phone and stared silently at the ceiling.

Then his eyes drifted toward the floating system interface still hovering quietly in front of him. It had appeared a while ago when he was on the phone with Hina. But he didn’t bother with it.

[Unclaimed Rewards Available]

[Bronze Mystery Gift Box]

[Mystery Item]

"...Right." Reiji muttered softly. "I still haven’t opened those yet..."

"System open them..."

Ding!

[Mystery Item Opened!] – [Devil’s Ring (E)]

[Boost every demonic skill by thirty percent and nullify every demonic attack.]

Ding!

[Bronze Mystery Gift Box Opened!] – [Skill: Wind Cutter (D)]

[Create a wind-like blade that is able to cut anything at D-Rank and below.]

Reiji stared at the system screen amazed. The rewards were always nice.

Soon it was already afternoon.

Reiji quietly cooked a simple meal for himself before eating alone at the dining table.

The apartment felt unusually silent.

Normally Hina would’ve been talking beside him nonstop while occasionally feeding him or nagging him about eating properly.

But now there was nothing.

Only silence.

After eating, Reiji stared at the empty plate for a while before lazily leaning back against the chair.

"...I don’t even feel like washing the dishes."

Even so, he still forced himself to stand up and clean everything before heading back upstairs.

The moment he entered the bedroom, the silence became even worse.

His eyes unconsciously drifted toward Hina’s side of the bed.

Then an idea popped into his head.

"...Why not play games?"

Reiji’s eyes lit up slightly. Both he and the previous Reiji used to be massive game addicts, so the room still had a gaming laptop setup. It had been a while since he touched it.

Reiji immediately walked over to the desk and opened the laptop.

The familiar startup sound echoed softly through the room.

"...Damn, I missed this."

A grin slowly appeared on his face.

Though the games from this world and his previous world were different, they were still the same in a sense.

After adjusting himself to it, Reiji completely immersed himself in gaming for the next few hours.

Sometimes he cursed loudly.

Sometimes he laughed like an idiot.

And sometimes he slammed the desk after getting killed by campers.

"...YOU TRASH PLAYER!"

Hours passed surprisingly fast. By the time Reiji finally leaned back against the chair, it was already dark outside.

"...That actually helped."

For the first time since Hina left, the apartment didn’t feel as suffocatingly quiet.

Then suddenly his eyes drifted toward the floating system interface again.

[Requirement For Entering The Celestial Plane]

[500 Dungeon Cores Required]

"..."

Reiji stared at it silently.

Then he slowly rubbed his chin.

"...If I do a few more raids..." A thought quietly formed in his mind. "Well, anything to keep myself busy... This totally ruined my plans... If it’s really three months, I don’t know how I’ll cope."

Then Reiji suddenly remembered the crossover period.

"Ahhh!!!"