Chapter 9: I Need To Visit A Gate. I Need To Get Stronger

BOOM!

A red beam of light pierced through Reiji’s chest from behind. Reiji’s hand froze mid-swing as he stared at the hole on the left side of his chest.

’What the...’

Reiji coughed up blood as he fell face first on the back of the dragon.

Thud!

His body lay motionless on the dragon’s back as blood seeped out of his chest.

Ding!

[Host has completed the system penalty by surviving thirty minutes in the Devil’s Island Dreamscape.]

The air shifted, and his vision flickered. The world around him shattered like glass and he disappeared from the dragon’s back.

After a few seconds, a figure slowly descended from the sky. It was clad in a black robe, its skin a pale shade of red. It had three horns on its head and long elf-like ears. It somehow looked like the depiction of the devil.

Its eyes scanned the ground and the dragons, as if searching for something... or someone.

"I thought I sensed a presence here." The creature muttered to itself.

It flew down towards the back of the white dragon. And the black dragon, who had been calm all along, suddenly went berserk the moment it saw the creature, acting just like the white dragon had been behaving towards Reiji.

But it paid no mind to the black dragon and landed on the back of the white dragon. It noticed one of its scales was on the verge of breaking.

"Strange... how did that liquid touch your scales?" the creature spoke as it touched the fragile scale. A red light enveloped its hand, and the scale that was about to break slowly began to recover. "It seems the person who did this escaped before I arrived."

The creature patted the white dragon’s back, then jumped down, heading toward the black dragon, each step carrying pressure and dominance.

Unlike before, the white dragon now looked calmer, staring at the creature with almost puppy-like eyes, nothing like the berserk state it had been in earlier.

The creature stepped right in front of the black dragon. A dark red, menacing aura radiated from it, making the fog tremble. But the black dragon wasn’t intimidated and stared back, its eyes filled with hatred and endless killing intent.

Seeing this, the creature stared at the dragon and spoke calmly. "Sooner or later, you’ll fall under my control."

But the dragon’s eyes showed firm defiance.

***

Meanwhile, back at Reiji’s apartment. His body slammed back into reality like he had been thrown out of a nightmare.

He curled up like a ball, clutching his chest, trying to breathe normally. "One second late and I would have died." Reiji’s voice came out weak and hoarse. If the system had been one second late, he would have died.

"What the hell was that back there?" Reiji muttered under his breath. He couldn’t even sense it coming until it pierced through him. Reiji released the hand clutching his chest and placed it on the left side of his chest.

Thump Thump

His heart was there, beating normally, as if the strike he had just received had never happened. Reiji breathed a sigh of relief, both hands slumping to the floor, exhausted.

"Hahaha. I can’t believe I almost died for real." Reiji laughed, mocking himself, trying to hide the fear.

After a few minutes of rest, Reiji stood up, but his legs were wobbling as he tried to steady himself. The fear was still embedded in his heart. But his eyes turned cold.

"Whatever that was... I’m going to get stronger and kill it."

With firm determination planted within him, Reiji headed upstairs.

***

The next morning.

Reiji was lying on the bed with Hina snuggling in his arms like a child. He couldn’t deny it felt nice.

The reason they were able to cuddle like this was because Hina had called her camp mistress that she had run away. They weren’t surprised because it wasn’t the first time she had done it and wouldn’t be the last.

Yuki headed downstairs, ready for breakfast, but heard the doorbell. When she went to answer it, her expression turned dark and she was immediately dragged away. Yuki cried like a baby, muttering that she hadn’t eaten her breakfast yet.

"Why didn’t you go out to jog like usual today?" Reiji asked with genuine curiosity.

"We didn’t cuddle like this last night because of Yuki. Now that she’s gone, we might as well use this opportunity to make up for last night." Hina raised her head, looking at Reiji with a mischievous smile.

’She looks so cute.’ Reiji thought, planting a kiss on her forehead. Though he was only giving in to Hina’s request to cuddle her, it helped him forget about what happened last night.

Hina’s smile grew even brighter.

Ding!

[Bond Points +2]

~Ding! ~Dong!

Reiji suddenly felt a cold chill crawl up his spine. ’Why did the room suddenly become cold?’ Reiji wondered.

He failed to notice Hina’s dark expression.

~Ding! ~Dong!

"Hina, I think you should go answer the door." Reiji said with a mysterious smirk.

Hina raised her head and stared at him, her dark expression shifting into confusion and curiosity.

She reluctantly got up, releasing herself from his embrace, and went downstairs. Her eyes widened in surprise.

Reiji sat on the bed with a smirk as he stared at the system panel showing the daily quest that had just appeared moments ago.

"It seems I won’t have to worry about the system’s penalty for now." Reiji muttered under his breath, but something barely noticeable flashed across his eyes.

After Hina finished handling the papers and signing them, she hurried upstairs like an excited child. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Hina burst into the room, her footsteps quick and light, barely containing her excitement. The papers in her hand fluttered as she rushed toward him, her eyes sparkling.

"Rei..." she called, tilting her head slightly. "That package I just signed for... don’t tell me..."

She stepped closer, narrowing her eyes playfully. "You bought a treadmill?"

Reiji leaned back slightly, a faint smirk on his lips. "What do you think?"

Hina stared at him for a second before her face lit up brightly. She immediately threw herself at him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. Her grip lingered a little too long, slightly possessive.

Her fingers curled into his shirt as she hugged him tighter, as if afraid he might disappear.

"You’re the best, Rei-kun."

Reiji let out a small sigh.

Unbeknownst to Hina, the treadmill had indeed been ordered the day before, when she and Yuki had gone out together. Reiji had ordered it so he could complete the system quest. It wasn’t all that bad if Hina used it with him, since they were technically a couple, after all.

’But it’s still not enough.’ Reiji thought. He knew that whatever had attacked him was definitely not D-Rank. He wasn’t even sure if the dragons were D-Rank. After all, dragons were powerful creatures.

’I need to visit a gate. I need o get stronger’