“Good morning!”

“Good morning to you too.”

As soon as I enter the classroom, the guys greet me. I give an appropriate response and sit at my usual place.

“Oh, hi there. It’s unusual for you to come this early.” Ricard says as soon as I sit down.

“Yeah…” I agree. “Today is one of those miraculous days when neither of the two buses I take were late.”

“Ahaha.” He scratches his head. “I feel you… public transport is usually shit. If only we were as lucky as Andreu, who can come walking…”

“You’re right.”

And talking about the devil, here he comes.

“Good morning, Ricard.” With a sleepy face, he sits between us and yawns. “Oh, and good morning to you too, Laura.”

“Good morning, Andreu. What’s up with the baggy eyes? You almost look like one of Ricard’s undead minions. Did you have more nightmares?” I joke, trying to get his attention.

“No, this time it wasn’t anything of the like. I just… spent too much time with the slot machines and went to bed too late…”

His voice trails off, almost like he’s falling asleep.

Slot machines? What the hell’s he talking about? He, who likes to spend all his free time playing games or meeting with friends, spending time in a casino? It can’t be…

But contrary to my reaction, Ricard’s eyes start shining brightly. Oh, so it’s something related to DMA… I should have expected it.

“The slot machines…? Do you mean the Mutation Vats!?” He grabs Andreu’s arm and starts shaking it. “Tell me everything! I want to know everything, in detail!”

“Ok, ok, I will... But stop shaking me, please.”

“Sure thing. So… what did you get? Anything interesting?”

“Well, I got mostly failures, but–”

Ricard interrupts Andreu. “Did you get anything good? What are you going to use it for?”

“Let me explain, don’t interrupt!”

And like this, both of them start excitedly talking about the game stuff, like the two nerds they are. Though Andreu is less so, Ricard can be considered the king of nerds.

As I observe the two, debating about how useful or useless a Stitched with Echolocation can be, I start thinking.

Aaah… what a shame… here goes yet another chance gone to waste…

Why? Just why? Why aren’t you looking at me? You only glanced at me a single time before starting to talk with Ricard. I spent thirty minutes in front of the mirror before coming, but you ignored me…

This isn’t fair.

After dressing up and putting on some makeup, I can feel the gazes of most of our classmates on me. There are some who are even drooling!

But not you, the only one I care about…

Even Ricard, the nerdiest of nerds, tried to woo me before he found out I liked you and not him. Fufu, it was funny to see his face when he misunderstood the reason I got close to you two.

Though, I can’t deny he’s a good friend. He helped me with my first steps into DMA so I could chase after you. He even looks for opportunities so I can spend some time alone with you.

But you never react…

What are you, a rock? Is your heart made of stone!? Why do you never react to anything I do!?

Haaaa…

I sometimes ask myself why I even try so hard, but then I remember your clumsiness and recall why I’m like this.

The face you make when you fail at something, sometimes with a plan of your own, is so adorable… The trembling lips, the look of despair… Like a puppy! But you never stop trying, and when you finally succeed, your reaction is so funny I can’t stop laughing.

Yes! You’re a cute, silly man.

But, after trying for so long, anyone will get tired… If it weren’t because of my pact with Clara, I might have thrown the towel by now.

She told me you actually find me attractive.

That you’re actively ignoring me because you’re not sure what you actually want.

That my efforts are slowly paying off.

So I’ll persist! I’ll pester you until you fall, and then I’ll devour your soul and plunge it into darkness, like the amazing succubus I am! Fufufu!

And then, I’ll be able to come walking to class too!

Maybe.

Of course, this isn’t the main reason I’m doing all this, but it’s still a nice side benefit. Fufufu!

“Shht! Shut up, the teacher is here and class is about to start!”

I stop Andreu and Ricard’s heated conversation when the teacher comes into our classroom.

Ugh, how much I hate this teacher who treats us like little kids… In fact, everybody hates her. Everybody except those who, for some reason, think she’s beautiful and like being mistreated. Disgusting perverts…

----------------------------------------

Haaaa… finally, the class has ended. I swear, this might be the worst class we have in the whole degree. Not because of the content itself but because of the teacher.

But well… let’s forget about it for now, Andreu. There are more important things to do right now.

As Ricard and Laura stand up, I call them.

“Hey, Ricard, Laura. Are you free this afternoon?”

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

“Why do you ask? I was planning on invading a few human dungeons to collect easy and plenty of souls for my eternal undead army, but I can always do it another day…”

Yeah… I kind of expected Ricard to say something along these lines.

Laura looks at me with inquisitive eyes. “Why do you ask?”

Now comes the moment of truth, I must choose my words properly! I know Ricard will agree to my request, but I also need to drag Laura into this, or else… my head might explode soon, due to information overload.

I certainly don’t want to do this with him alone.

“Well, you see…” I try to make the best puppy eyes. “I need help to capture some monster because I can’t do it alone, so I was thinking of asking you to go with me. So, do you want to play together with me this afternoon?”

Ricard’s eyes start gleaming with a dangerous light.

“Oooh, so you’ve come to ask the great and amazing me for help! I see, I see… Of course, I’ll help! How can I abandon my pathetic and noob friend when he needs my support? Hahaha!”

Ahh, so annoying… If he continues with his antics, one day of these, I’ll snap and punch him in the face. But I’ll stay quiet because I need his help… For now.

Laura thinks for a while before answering.

“Today afternoon…? I can make some time for it, but I need to know when you want to meet.”

She tries to dissimulate, but I can clearly see her excitement. In fact… is it my imagination, or is she actually more excited than Ricard? Wait, wait wait! More excited than Ricard… is this actually possible!?

“Why don’t you ask your sister too, Andreu?” She adds. “This way, it would be the old team, playing together!”

“The old team, you say… it’s only been two weeks since the tournament, it isn’t that old.” I counter.

“You’re right. But we haven’t played together since, so it’s the old team.”

“Ok, ok… I won’t argue about it.” I surrender. “But my sister, huh? Well, I’m sure she’ll agree as long as she doesn’t have other plans, so…”

“If your sister joins us, it means the League of Evil will make a comeback! Tremble and shiver, players, because we’re back! Hahaha!”

Please Ricard… can you drop that lame name already?

I send a deadly glare at Laura. She was the one to talk about the old team, so it’s her fault. In response, she turns slightly red and turns her head away.

Yeah, feel shame, Laura. You’re the one responsible for Ricard’s outburst. I’m gonna blame all the time Ricard spends in this state on you.

But surprising both of us, Ricard stops talking bullshit about the League of Evil, albeit temporarily, and asks me a question.

“...Wait! You said you needed our help to capture a new unit, right?”

“Uh… yes, I did.”

Why do I have a bad feeling about Ricard’s question…?

“Then tell me, tell me! What do you plan to do? Which unit do you need? Maybe I can help you with my vast knowledge!”

All alarms start sounding at the same time, warning me of the danger. But I can’t ignore him, can I? After all, I DO need his help with this.

Oh, how much I wish I didn’t…

“I’ll tell you, so calm down, ok?” I say.

“I’m calm. I always am! As calm as the sea without wind!” No, Ricard, you aren’t. But well, it isn’t like I can change his personality, so I’ll have to bear with it.

I describe what I need. “So… what I need is an earth elemental that isn’t humanoid–”

“Ooh, do you plan to create a new Chimera?”

“Yes, you’re right. But let me finish first, will you!?”

“Ok…” Ricard’s eyes dim and his expression warps. He now looks as if his soul left his body.

Hey, Ricard… do you always need to be so dramatic? I decide to ignore his stupid actions and continue my explanation.

“The problem is that I want it to be strong, maybe around the 400 cp range? I’m not sure. And I also want it to be very big, and have the shape of some predator, like a bear or tiger. Alternatively, the shape could come from the other unit, I don’t really care, but I do want it to be able to change shape so that it looks like a normal rock. But the main problem is I don’t know much about the Primordial units, nor do I know where I can capture such a unit…”

As I talk, Ricard’s expression starts brightening up. Every time I explain one of my doubts, his eyes shine more and more. Oh my god, I’m going to regret this so much…

We’ve now left the classroom and are walking to the next one. There’s Ricard on one side, and Laura on the other.

“Oh, I see!” Chimes Laura from my side. She nods to herself as if determining she’s right, before continuing. “I’m sure this is related to the giant claw marks at the entrance, right? Is this monster a new boss, or something similar, that you want to put in the big cave?”

These kinds of things show her experience as a game master for TRPG. She guessed most of it from only a part of the info she got.

“You’re surprisingly close,” I say. “But it won’t be a boss monster, only a strong one. I plan to make it look like a rock and give it several adds that can do the same. They’ll hide and only attack those players who are extremely unlucky to poke at them by accident, or those who attack them intentionally. Kind of like a secret, and extremely difficult, fight.”

“Ooh, I see…” She nods again, imagining what I’m saying. “It’s similar to a scary movie. And then, when they’re surprised, they’ll be like: ‘Aaah, save me!’ and stick to the closest player, won’t they?”

She demonstrates what she’s talking about by grabbing my arm and sticking to me. But… did you really need to stick so close to me to demonstrate it?

I try to keep my face as impassive as I can and turn to look directly at her face.

She holds my gaze for a few seconds before blushing and turning away, liberating my arm.

You, really…

“Ohoho, I see now! So this is why you need my counseling, don’t you?” I hear dangerous words from the other side, so I turn around. Ricard is trembling in excitement at the prospect of what’s to come. “So tell me, Andreu… do you have free time after this class? Do you want to eat together?”

I shiver in despair.

No, please, not again…! I knew it was going to come, but it’s scary anyway! My eyes spin around, searching for a way to survive. And they inevitably get stuck to my only option: Laura.

‘Please, save me! Don’t leave me alone!’ I try to convey with my eyes.

She smirks and returns the look. ‘Help? With what?’

I’m sure she’s doing this on purpose… She wants me to beg and offer something in exchange.

‘Come eat with us, please... Don’t leave me alone with him!’ I pray to god she understands what I want with my expression and desperate eyes.

She slightly tilts her head to the side and raises her chin as if indicating me to continue. ‘What’s in for me?’

‘I’ll treat you to lunch, and I’ll also let you ask for anything.’ I plead with my eyes.

‘Anything?’ I see a dangerous gleam in her eyes.

‘Well, not anything! But I’ll owe you one.’

She reluctantly nods. ‘Ok…’

Wait a moment… is that a smirk I see on her face? Hmm… I’m not sure about it. Well, the important part is that I got what I wanted, and successfully dragged Laura into this mess.

Ricard hits me a few times with the elbow. “So? Are you coming or not?”

“Yes, I’m coming to have lunch with you... And you, Laura? Do you want to come?”

We already agreed on it, but we must make it look as natural as possible so that Ricard doesn’t suspect anything.

“I don’t know… maybe, if you treat me…” She says, holding her hands behind her back and making a sly smile.

“*Sigh…* Sure, I’ll treat you…” I agree.

“Then sure!” She hops in glee and hugs me to show her thanks.

“Then let’s go! We can’t be late for class because otherwise, there’s a chance the teacher will get angry and tell us to stay after the class ends. Come on!” Ricard starts pushing me from behind.

“Hey, calm down. We’re still on time.” I complain.

“But we can’t risk it!”

I struggle to get rid of him as he alternates between pushing and dragging me. Meanwhile, Laura observes us with a smile on her face.

Well, there go my plans to do some homework before playing DMA… With Ricard’s ‘knowledge drilling’ session, there won’t be any time left for them.

But well… who cares about homework anyway?

[https://i.imgur.com/ZGSK4Pl.png]

“As expected, Clara agreed to play with us.

‘Clara, are you free this aftern–’

‘Yes! Let’s do it together!’

I couldn’t finish my sentence before she agreed to whatever I was going to ask. But this is weird because, usually, she lets me finish talking so I can’t change what I was planning to say. Maybe, she already knew it beforehand…? Nah, it can’t be.”