-----
The three vampire butlers were left startled.
Their faces clearly showed immaculate confusion and incredible shock.
Just what did the sickly, weak, and pathetic young master just say?
Why did he, out of nowhere, start talking like someone completely different?!
“Maybe we heard it wrong…”
“Young master, please, you should just-”
As a butler extended his hand to “help” Vlad, the young vampire showed his sharp fangs back at them and quickly slapped their hand.
SLAP!
“Ugh?!”
Crack!
The sound of bones breaking resonated across the room, and the three butlers’ eyes widened in suspense over what that sound might have meant.
“For butlers, you seem more useless than a shoe that bites its wearer, what did I just say before?” Vlad slowly stood up, his presence becoming overwhelming.
“H-Huh?”
The butler looked back at his own hand.
It was twisted to the other side, and every single finger was crushed, blood coming out as the bones pierced the skin.
“What…?”
The two other butlers, still trying to process what was happening, looked back at Vlad.
Despite his sickly appearance not having changed, his eyes did.
They emanated the intelligence, fierceness, and wisdom of an old demon!
“I asked you if you HAD any decency!” roared Vlad. “Your faces… Are so ugly! You bunch of good-for-nothings are not even worth my time!”
As Vlad roared back, his Aura started swirling; the Blood Energy that Vampires possessed surged from within his Blood Core, while the Golden Ki that the Heavenly Demon cultivated surged from his Soul.
Both energies combined, creating an incredibly overwhelming pressure that made all three butlers step back!
However, they quickly realized that this still didn’t make sense!
They were paid by Vlad’s siblings to torment Vlad and his family until the day they died. Why were they acting so afraid out of nowhere?
“Who do you think you are?!”
“You damned lowly Dhampir!”
“E-Even we servants have a higher authority as pure-blooded vampires than you, a failure of our kind!”
The three butlers lost their patience, hissing back at Vlad as they showed him their fangs. Their blood auras surged, and all three of them rushed to attack him!
Their claws became long black blades sprouting out of each finger, and the one that had his hand broken had already regenerated it, part of the Vampire's basic abilities, [False Immortality]!
Paul felt euphoric at this moment. He never thought that the game would make him feel so alive before!
Yeah, the Heavenly Demon was... Well, he was gay, and he was obsessed with finding himself a “male bride” or whatever.
But he was super OP, wasn’t he?!
Even with the sickly body of Vlad, the mere soul of the Heavenly Demon was enough to give him tremendous strength.
And it was shown yet again as the claws of the traitorous butlers rushed down to tear his face apart.
“Pathetic little wimps, you don’t amount to a single thing, begone! I don’t accept any ugly man on my property!” roared the Heavenly Demon, his Golden and Crimson Aura combining together.
{Blood Dragon Arts}: {Infernal Onslaught}!
Paul’s mind flashed with information, and as he was filled with inspiration, within seconds, he came up with a technique, combining the Heavenly Demon’s knowledge with Martial Arts, which his character came preloaded with, and then combining them with Vlad’s Blood Energy.
The result?
Shocking!
BAAM! BAAM! BAAM!
His fists moved, and three blazing punches hit the three butlers in the face, their bodies being set ablaze the very instant they dropped over the floor.
“Gryyyaaagghh!”
Their screams of agony reverberated across the entire manor, as Vlad didn’t stop there.
“You’re as ugly as you’re hard to kill, aren’t you? Cockroaches!”
Vlad had no mercy, fully knowing how much these bastards had tormented his family and how he had already discovered the medicine they were giving him was actually poison that only worsened his sickness!
“You deserve nothing but a painful and agonizing death! I shall regain the honor of my family this very instant!”
{Blood Dragon Arts}: {Heaven’s Step}!
CRASH!
With a furious step downward, Vlad crushed the head of one of the butlers before they could do a single thing; the skull and the brains splattered into the floor.
“W-Wha…?!”
“What the fuck?!”
The two other butlers couldn’t believe their eyes as Vlad, the weakest of the entire Imperial Family, killed a pure-blooded Vampire.
And not just any, but one that had reached Tier 3 of Blood Core Refinement! At this Tier, every Vampire would unlock their Blood Aura, which, based on the development of their Bloodlines, could become incredibly strong.
Yet the weakling that barely had a Tier 0 Blood Core killed someone at Tier 3?!
It made absolutely no sense!
But Vlad allowed them no time to rest.
Paul felt possessed by an unending rage as he saw a notification appear in front of him.
[The Character Background Trait: [Heavenly Demon’s Soul (Legendary Grade)] has been activated!]
[For 10 Minutes a day, you’ll receive 50% of the Heavenly Demon’s former strength and abilities. And all debuffs and status effects will be canceled.]
[However, your mind and body will be possessed by his unending rage, charisma, and personality!]
“Ah, so that’s why I’m going insane…”
“Wait, please have mercy!”
“D-Don’t do this, young lord!”
CRASH!
Paul watched himself crush the heads of the two other butlers as they begged for mercy, but his eyes seemed completely cold. They died agonizingly and painfully, yet he seemed to enjoy it a bit.
“Well, they were pieces of sh*t anyway... This game’s brutal, though; it even lets me kill NPCs like this? I guess there are not many rules, huh?”
Before he could do anything else, he saw the corpses of the butlers dry out as his body automatically absorbed their blood and leftover blood energy.
FLASH!
“T-This is so refreshing!”
He felt completely refreshed, as if he had taken a warm bath after an arduous day of work. His body felt lighter, and even some of the symptoms of his sickness disappeared.
Ding!
[You have slain [Traitorous Vampire Butler (Tier 3: Rank 1)] x3!]
[The Character Background Talent: [Insatiable Gluttony (Legendary Grade)] has been activated after the conditions have been fulfilled.]
[You have automatically extracted the Blood Energy of your victims.]
[You gained +3.000 Blood Energy.]
“I can automatically drain Blood Energy out of victims? Wait, can Vampires do it so easily?!”
FLASH!
But it didn’t end there; the Blood Energy was automatically repurposed as his weak Blood Core absorbed it completely. Shining with crimson light, his chest resembled bright Christmas lights.
“W-Wha…?”
[Your [Blood Core: Tier 0] has absorbed 3.000 Blood Energy and has Ranked Up to Tier 2: Rank 1!]
[You gained +3.000 Blood Power (BP)!]
[You gained +1.000 Strength (STR), Vitality (VIT), and Dexterity (DEX)!]
[You have unlocked the Racial Skill: [False Immortality (S): Lv1]!]
[You have unlocked the Racial Skill: [Blood Bending (A): Lv1]!]
[You have unlocked the Racial Skill: [Bloodline Absorption (S): Lv1]!]
“Nice…”
Paul couldn’t help but smile as he watched the notifications pop up.
“Wait, Bloodline Absorption?”
He quickly kneeled down and touched the dried-out corpses.
[The Racial Skill: [Bloodline Absorption (S)] has been triggered!]
[The Character Background Talent: [Insatiable Gluttony (Legendary Grade)] has been triggered!]
[By completely absorbing a corpse, you can gain a larger part of their Bloodline and even steal Stats and Skills.]
[Do you wish to Absorb the Corpse?]
[Yes] [No]
“Wait, no way… Seriously? Did Vlad have such an OP ability this entire fucking time? Maybe I didn’t need that background…” Paul thought. “No, wait… Without the Heavenly Demon’s Skill, I would have never been able to get enough strength to even kill the butlers to begin with.”
In fact, once Skill’s timing ended, he was sure his body would collapse.
“If I want to get out of this fucked-up situation, I need to just do it, I guess... Ugh, it still feels yucky.”
He pressed “yes” all three times, and the corpses were completely devoured by giant jaws that surged out of Vlad’s Blood Aura, only leaving behind their clothes and other items as loot.
[You have absorbed the three corpses of the [Traitorous Vampire Butlers (Tier 3: Rank 1)]!]
[You have stolen the [Lesser Sange Family Bloodline Fragment] x3, and you’ve automatically absorbed them.]
[Your own Bloodline: [Thin-Blooded Dhampir Bloodline (Tier 0)] has absorbed all fragments and Ranked Up to [Strong-Blooded Dhampir Bloodline (Tier 1)]!]
[You gained +1.000 Blood Power (BP)]
[You have unlocked the Racial Skill: [Venomous Claws (B): Lv1]!]
“I’m done… Ugh.”
Being finally done, Paul collapsed over his bed; the Heavenly Demon’s Talent was deactivated once the ten minutes were over, and he felt like dying even after growing so strong.
[The Effects of the Character Background Flaw: [Triple Shattered Meridian Physique] have been activated, all your stats have dropped by 90%, and your body has been inflicted with {Partial Paralysis}!]
“This is the worst…”
Feeling rather sad after having such a fun rush, Paul decided to look at his Status for once.
In Fantasy Story Online, everyone had their own personalized stats and progression systems.
It seemed that Vampires used the Bloodline and Blood Core Progression System, a very unique system that no other race had.
-----
[Player Name]: [Vlad Von Sange VII]
[Titles]: [Iron Blood Empire’s Seventh Prince]
[Blood Core]: [Blood Refinement Realm (Tier 2: Rank 1)] (Blood Energy: 500/1.500)
[Bloodline]: [Strong-Blooded Dhampir Bloodline (Tier 1)]
[Race]: [Dhampir (Weak Bloodline)]
[Class]: [Seventh Vampire Prince: ★]
[Subclass]: [None]
[Blood Power]: [5.250]
[Strength]: [1.300]
[Vitality]: [1.100]
[Dexterity]: [1.250]
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
[Character Background Traits]: [Insatiable Gluttony (Legendary Grade)] [Heavenly Demon’s Soul (Legendary Grade)]
[Character Background Flaws]: [Triple Shattered Meridian Physique (Legendary Grade)] [The Lonely Demon’s Last Wish (Legendary Grade)]
[Racial Skills (4/5)]
[False Immortality (S): Lv1] [Blood Bending (A): Lv1] [Bloodline Absorption (S): Lv1] [Venomous Claws (B): Lv1]
[Class Skills (0/5)]
None Equipped.
[Subclass Skills (0/5)]
None Equipped.
-----
“Ahh, does this mean that the Martial Arts I used don’t count as a Skill? Huh…” Paul thought as he sighed. “Well, I could probably unlock some other Stats too… I think I read somewhere that you can unlock the Spirit Stat if you make a contract with a Spirit, and also the Arcana Stat if you create a Magic Circle, and also… Was there something like Ki?”
The World of Fantasy Story Online was designed for the player to explore; even the status window and the various mechanics of this RPG game all revolved around discovery.
You were usually given a first set of stats and abilities, and then it was up to the player to find out what else was waiting for them out there.
Doing certain tasks would yield beneficial results, and Paul had read a couple of guides online in anticipation of the game.
“But these Flaws…”
The Meridian thing was already the worst, but then there was the flaw of the Heavenly Demon, the “The Lonely Demon’s Last Wish”!
The moment he focused his gaze on the flaw, a familiar message appeared again.
-----
[The Lonely Demon’s Last Wish (Legendary Grade)]
The Heavenly Demon is gay.
Throughout his entire life in the Realm of Murim, the only thing he did was fight and survive, never finding someone to love and cuddle with at night. And maybe do other things too.
Now that he has reincarnated, he has decided to find himself a beautiful, lovely male bride to marry and make a big family with.
To retain your sanity and not go mad from all the suffering the Heavenly Demon has gone through, you must find a male bride to fulfill his wish of being happy!
Available Time to fulfill his Wish: 364 Days, 16 Hours.
If you don’t fulfill the Hidden Requirement in time, you will lose your Sanity and the control of your Player Character permanently.
-----
“Why a “male” bride? Just why…” Paul muttered. “Hahh…”
As he started to think about what to do next, he couldn’t help but remember someone he had met today who was still living rent-free inside his head.
His lovely smile, his beautiful blue eyes, and his playful personality made him want to hate him, but he simply couldn’t.
“Why am I even thinking about him? Ugh…”
Paul quickly dismissed the status window as he tried to sit down, concentrating.
“Right now, nobody knows I just killed the butlers. My mother never walks out of the room, and my sister must be sleeping right now…” Vlad wondered, his sharp red eyes glancing through the window.
There was a dark garden outside, the night was beautifully illuminated by the moonlight, and there were no stars. A perfect night for Vampires and other night creatures to walk out, the Realm of Obscuritas, however, had this climate 24/7.
He took a look at his Inventory, finding inside the clothes of the butlers, which offered some basic stat boosts—better than his lame pajamas. However, what caught his attention wasn’t that, but the medals he had also looted out of them. They were red-colored medals with a crimson eye and two bat wings on each side.
With a quick inspection, he learned that the item was called [Silver Moon Family Emblem], it belonged to the Silver Moon Family, which was the Family of the Emperor’s fourth concubine, the mother of the fourth vampire prince, Asthartez Von Sange.
“So these butlers were hired by my older brother to harass us, bully us, and overall make our lives a living hell... Alright, I get the gist of it,” he nodded. "Now what, do I take revenge? I can’t move too much now though…”
[Then cultivate, you fool!]
“Hm?!”
Suddenly, Paul could swear he heard a voice echoing inside his head.
“Must’ve been my imagination-”
[It’s not your imagination, idiot!]
“What the fuck? Are you inside my head right now?!”
[I am your own self; I am the voice of your previous life, a whisper that will lead you towards greatness! Also, don’t forget to get yourself a male bride! I need… I need some love!]
“Okay, okay, I get it! Don’t repeat it inside of my head!”
[Good! As long as you can find yourself a decent man, someone beautiful is a must! He must also have a playful personality; I dislike boring fools. Ah, right! The biggest thing is... He must have a pure heart, yes! [And if possible, he should also give good kisses.]
“Oh my god, would you stop talking about it?!”
Paul was dying out of cringe.
[Eyes that reflect the moonlight! A beautiful smile! Lips that would make you want to devour them with kisses! A good and wide hip to grasp! And a harmonic voice too! Yes!]
As the Heavenly Demon kept blabbering about, Paul immediately began to recall Chris again!
This was getting worse; he had to quickly move on and think about something else.
“Okay, tell me how to cultivate already! Do you have to be so horny, man? You’re dead already!”
[I’m not dead; I’m literally you! But okay… I shall first teach you how to access the Inner Realm Fragment inside our Soul. It is there where you must begin your path of Cultivation.]
“I’m listening…”
[First, close your eyes.]
“Okay…”
[Now, concentrate on a single thing.]
“Like what?”
[Obviously, the thing you want the most! Think about the cutest, most perfect male bride!]
“What?! Cut it off already!”
[I am telling you the damn truth, you mongrel! To access your soul, you must align with your deepest desires and... You know, let them come to you and stuff.]
“What sort of explanation is that?”
[Just do it!]
“I’m not!”
[You’re too afraid! Did I really reincarnate into this idiot? Maybe I should simply delete this new self and simply take over, hm? Would you like that instead?]
“…Okay, I’ll do it.”
Paul didn’t want to wait six months to make a new character, even less when, in those six months, he wouldn’t be able to play the game and everyone else would get ahead in the metagame!
He closed his eyes again and concentrated.
Chris came into his mind again.
It was always him!
Why?!
He only met him for like half a day, and he couldn’t get him out of his head now.
“Hah…”
His cute giggle resonated inside of his mind as Paul smiled a bit.
FLASH!
And in that moment, his consciousness dived into a sea of gold as he found himself floating within an endless heaven.
[You have accessed your Inner Soul Scape.]
[Inside, you can only move using your own Consciousness through an Astral Projection.]
“T-This is…?”
[See?! It was easy! You just had to think about that cute guy you met.]
“You can read my mind?!”
[I just saw a small glimpse of what you were thinking about, mostly to trigger the ability to enter your Soul Scape. Now, into more important matters… There it is! Look, over there.]
“Ah…”
Paul’s eyes widened as he looked at the enormous bubble of rainbow light floating in the middle of this endless heaven.
Inside, there was a small, floating island-like terrain.
He flew there using his own consciousness, created some sort of Astral Avatar and trespassed the bubble with ease.
[You have accessed the [Heavenly Demon’s Inner Realm Fragment (Decaying)]
[Inside this Inner Realm, you can do a series of many activities, such as building a farm, raising martial beasts, and cultivating your soul.]
Paul found himself standing in front of an endless grassland; there were some trees here and there and a single small, golden-colored mountain.
“This is like my own personal island…” Paul smiled, looking rather excited. “If I could make a farm here and raise pets, maybe I could get stronger!”
[Hah, that’s not even the real deal; look over there. That’s what WE stole from those Orthodox Faction bastards.]
Paul looked in the direction of a huge golden building.
It was a gigantic floating golden temple; its gates opened before him as he floated inside.
There was a huge library inside, full of all kinds of scrolls and books, and the second room had a giant treasury full of all kinds of materials.
“T-This is incredible; it’s all mine?”
[Indeed. Now, at your current Soul Strength, you unfortunately can’t drag anything above a certain grade of quality, so first thing first, grab the [Soul Tempering Cultivation Technique] Book and the [Soul Eating Fist Martial Arts] Scroll.]
“Okay…”
Paul followed his past life’s advice, grabbing the scroll and the book, which had clear Chinese letters he could somehow understand through the game-like interface that translated them for him.
After that, he moved to the Treasury.
“Grab ten [Lesser Soul Pearls] and five [Soul-Stealing Screaming Roots], then grab that Lowest Grade Alchemy Cauldron and the [Riverspring Water]…”
Vlad obediently took everything, his long silvery hair waving by the windy atmosphere of the Inner Realm Fragment.
Once he was done, all the items materialized outside of his Soul, and he gasped in disbelief.
“It all became real…”
[Luckily they had some low-grade stuff, but it’s not as much as the best treasures. Your Soul needs to get as strong as a Nascent Soul Realm at the very least, or you won’t be able to get any of the good stuff!]
“So it’s all based on my Soul Cultivation at the end… Got it,” Paul nodded.
If Chris was here watching him right now, he would be laughing about how seriously he was taking everything, even more when he acted like such a socially awkward guy in real life.
[Now, let’s begin.]
He was guided by the Heavenly Demon, as he first created a concoction by mixing all the ingredients. Boiling the Riverspring Water first, and then crushing the Soul-Stealing Screaming Roots into a pulp.
After placing them into the boiling water and mixing them together, he added all the pearls as they were. The process happened faster than he imagined, as his soul seemed to leak a tiny amount of that golden energy he had used before.
FLASH!
The alchemy cauldron bubbled, and the concoction he made was ready, surging from the water as an already existing item—a golden-colored pill!
“What’s this, ibuprofen? Wait, I thought it was a potion?”
[It’s a pill. Consume the pill!]
Ding!
[Congratulations! You have successfully synthesized the [Soul Energizing Pill (B+ Grade)] x1!]
[You learned the Subclass Skill: [Alchemy (C): Lv1]!]
Paul quickly took the pill after looking at the new notification.
The effects were almost instantaneous; his soul overflowed with a golden aura, a sea of gold covering his surroundings.
It felt as if his own consciousness and senses had expanded everywhere!
“Woah…”
He felt like the first time he smoked weed, which he didn’t dare to repeat ever again afterward.
It was such a terrible sensation that it made him want to puke out of all the dizziness.
[You have consumed the [Soul Energizing Pill (B+ Grade)] x1!]
[Your Soul has been Energized, full of Soul Ether!]
[Because of this, your Senses have expanded through your temporary Soul Aura.]
“Ugh… I feel terrible…”
[Bear with it! Open the book and read it; once you’re done, you’ll learn the cultivation technique. Use it in conjunction with the scroll to learn the martial arts.]
“Okay, boss…”
Paul felt like he was just following a game guide, but he didn’t mind at all, honestly.
He did just as we were told; reading the book, he learned the fundamentals of Soul Tempering.
The process was very easy; he had to use Soul Ether to constantly break his soul, crack it, and then heal it with the Soul Energizing Pill effect.
Much like how muscles develop through wear and tear and then recovery, the same was true for his soul.
As it was torn apart and healed over and over again, it would grow stronger!
The Martial Arts were also simple, to say the least.
It allowed him to imbue his hands with Soul Ether and directly touch the soul of a foe, stealing a piece of it with each blow.
It was incredibly lethal, ignoring most defensive physical stats. With enough blows that connected rapidly, he could kill his target before they even received an actual wound.
However, it was also very intensive on the Soul Ether energy, and he only had a limited amount.
[Through the constant tempering of your Soul, your Soul Ether has increased drastically.]
[You unlocked the Soul Ether Stat (SE)!]
[You gained +100 Soul Ether.]
[You gained +60 Soul Ether.]
[You gained +40 Soul Ether.]
[You gained +20 Soul Ether.]
[…]
Paul meditated cross-legged, tempering his soul, which hurt quite a bit, but that he could bear with thanks to the Heavenly Demon constantly distracting him from the pain by talking about his world; it was a very shitty one.
“Wait… So you’re telling me that when you killed that young master guy, another one showed up?”
[Yes, they never stopped coming! I was getting bored, and they were all ugly. It was very hard to find a beautiful man…]
“…Maybe you shouldn’t be so picky?”
[I am picky because I am the honored one between heaven and earth, and I do whatever I want! Now shut up and temper your damned soul.]
“Sure, sure…”
Paul shrugged; he was getting a lot of help at the end of the day.
Once he finished, Paul felt refreshed.
[Congratulations! You have successfully refined your Soul and formed your Psyche!]
[Your Psyche: [Spiritual Golden Sea Psyche (Tier 1: Rank 0)] has Ranked up to Tier 2: Rank 1!]
[You gained +1.500 Soul Ether.]
[You learned the Class Skill: [Soul-Eating Fist Technique (S): Lv1]!]
FLASH!
“It worked? Sitting on my ass doing nothing helped me get stronger?!”
Paul couldn’t believe all the Xianxia nonsense was true all along.
[Now you’re set for your Soul Foundation, next is fixing your horrible physique, but that’ll be for later. You should rest now; do more, and you’ll get worse.]
“Wait, what’s it? I want to play more…”
[Play? Life’s not a game, kid; go to sleep now.]
“Hahh…”
Paul couldn’t believe it; the game itself was telling him to stop playing!
Giving up, he quickly rested his head on the soft pillow and closed his eyes.
While he tried to sleep and considered logging out, he started to think about his next step.
“Once I can move around, I’ll need to grow even stronger and retaliate. The deaths of those butlers won’t be known for now; there’s no evidence left of them. But once they realize they died, my brother will come after me, most likely,” he thought.
It was rather obvious that this whole background’s plot would revolve around family disputes for the first story arc, so Paul had to think of ways to retaliate before getting fucked over by his siblings.
Getting stronger was a priority, but also planning a strategy or scheming something wouldn’t be so bad either.
“Maybe if I could take advantage of a third party…” he thought. “I’ll need to investigate more about this world and my family in the library tomorrow then.”
Paul wanted to play more, but he had been playing for like four hours and was feeling hungry, so he quickly logged out after a deep contemplation and sighed in relief.
He enjoyed the rest of the evening eating dinner with his mom, who wouldn’t stop talking about her job, which he happily listened to while nodding as he checked his phone for any strategies about the game.
He searched for new ways to get stronger—anything that would help. His next idea was to get a magic circle and unlock the Arcana Stat; getting to learn Spells was a must!
Yet the looming shadow of tomorrow’s college day was also making him feel slightly depressed.
If it were up to him, he would just play the game all day long, but he had to go to college, get himself a professional title, and get a job. Such were the struggles of any young man his age. He had his savings, but they wouldn’t last him forever.
Programming wasn’t an easy career either; he had gotten slightly dusty lately, so he was planning on working on a few things to get ready for any tests that the professors could throw at them in the first few weeks.
The thoughts about Chris had mostly faded away from the young man’s head, as half of his brain was thinking about Fantasy Story Online and the other half about his college and his career.
Yet, once the next day arrived, Paul sighed, his brain’s capacity going overloaded as only one thing was inside once more.
A little mischievous demon lives rent-free inside.
“Paul! I brought you a new pencil.”
Chris's adorable voice echoed behind him as he walked to the classroom.
“Oh, Chris… You didn’t need to,” Paul said, receiving the pencil from Chris, whose soft hands once more touched his larger, manlier hands.
“Don’t worry about the details, dude~ I owed you that much,” Chris shrugged. “Anyways, I was thinking about giving you my number, though. Can you give me yours? So we can keep in contact about tests and stuff.”
Very casually, this hottie just asked him for his number!
“E-Eh?”
Paul blushed a bit.
This was big!
Yet he couldn’t help but also feel disappointed.
Because the one asking his number was a man and not a girl!
“Hey, Paul? Hello? Is someone there?” Chris teased him some more, smiling cutely while raising an eyebrow.
“A-Ah, sure… Okay, fine,” Paul sighed. “Just don’t text me memes or something, okay? I use it exclusively for important things."
“Ooh, okay, mister important, I’m so very sorry for asking your number…” Chris laughed, as they exchanged numbers. “There~ I’ll add a little heart to your name, heh.”
“What? Why would you…?” Paul blushed even more.
“Why not? Anyway, let’s go inside, dude! What are you spacing out about!” Chris walked inside, and Paul couldn’t help but glare at him angrily.
And then, almost by instinct, the way he moved his hips sexily was something out of this world.
Especially because Chris had a really big rack tightly wrapped around his blue jeans, it was a deadly combination.
“W-Why does he walk like that?!”
Paul was dying inside; he just couldn’t believe Chris was a man!
However, he quickly calmed himself down and simply sighed, walking inside and sitting down.
As he sat down and attentively heard the classes while writing down stuff, Paul slowly began to shift his eyes to the left.
Chris was sitting there again.
“Why did he sit by my side again?” he wondered.
He quickly tried to ignore Chris, but the young man kept doing weird things.
He wasn’t even paying attention to class, and he was once again drawing things in his notebook.
This time, it wasn’t just anime characters; it was also creatures and basic human anatomy.
“He’s good…”
He was surprised by his amazing drawing skills, the details, and the shading; everything was on point.
“Hm~?”
But Chris noticed he was looking.
“Eek!”
Paul quickly averted his gaze.
But it was too late!
“Hey, what were you watching? Don’t you think it’s a bit rude to look at what I do so attentively? Paul~?”
Chris gave him once more that teasing smile that made him both angry and embarrassed.
“S-Shut up, I wasn’t looking…” Paul looked elsewhere, yet Chris noticed how red he was.
“Hahah, it’s fine; you can watch if you want, bro,” Chris shrugged. “You like my drawings?”
“I… Well, you do draw really well, I have to admit it,” Paul said.
“Is that so~? So you like it?" giggled Chris. “Want me to draw you something?”
“What? Why? No, just pay attention to class, Chris,” Paul sighed.
“Sure, sure…”
Chris didn’t pay attention to class.
He kept drawing stuff, and then once the classes came to an end, he showed something to Paul.
“Look, I drew you.”
“Huh?!”
Paul stepped back as he saw the drawing.
It was an almost 100% realistic illustration of Paul.
Down to the very last detail!
And above all, it shows him with a very embarrassed facial expression.
“Like my skills~?”
“Y-You’re good… but this is too embarrassing! Did you have to draw me?!”
“Hahaha! What’s wrong? You can keep it, bro.”
Chris gave the drawing to Paul and then quickly gathered with the girls he had made friends with.
“See ya later. I'm going to go with the girls to grab something to eat. Don’t be a loner and make another friend. I can’t just be your only friend, dude.”
“W-What? Oi!”
Paul only got angrier after that comment, but Chris was long gone.
“Hah…”
He indeed felt lonely the moment he left.
As he went to buy a cold tea at the cafeteria, he kept looking at the illustration that Chris gave him.
“Nobody had ever done something like this for me…”
He couldn’t help but feel a bit moved.
“He’s not that bad… Maybe.”
The rest of the day went on as normal, classes after classes, some with Chris and others alone.
Once the day of studies came to an end and Chris was preparing himself to get back home, Paul walked towards him.
Yes, he was the one coming to him now.
“Hm? Paul?” Chris tilted his head adorably. “What?”
“Err, I wanted to repay the favor from yesterday, so... Wanna go eat something out? Not the cafeteria necessarily…” Paul muttered, feeling embarrassed. “To hang out... You said we were friends, so is it awkward?”
“Hahaha!” Chris only laughed at his face!
All the self-esteem and courage that Paul had mustered to ask a friend to eat out with him came crashing down, shattering into countless pieces.
“Are you okay? It’s fine; let’s go eat something. It's just that you were way too cute to ask me out like that!” Chris laughed. "So, where do you plan to go?”
“C-Cute?” Paul muttered. “He called me cute again! Why does he do that?!” he thought.
“Paul?” Chris asked.
“A-Ah, yeah… I mean, I can’t pay you for the most luxurious meal, but…” Paul muttered. “I know a place; let’s go.”
“Sure~ Lead the way!” Chris nodded.
Like that, their first unofficial date (?) began.
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