[Quest completed. Reward: 400 EXP].

[Warning: you are about to enter a dungeon. Dungeon type: place of power. Difficulty: Super extreme. You have already pre-selected yes, so no takebacks.]

Clyde’s eyes widened. The white house was huge, almost a mansion, but a dungeon? A place of power?

“Ah fuck,” he said softly, recalling everything he knew about a video game dungeon. He assumed a place of power meant something on a smaller scale, personal—but just as dangerous. He probably didn’t have to worry about monsters spawning, but the yandere. Just what the fuck was he doing here? “System, cancel quest.”

[You cannot cancel main story quests.]

“Are you fucking kidding me?” he hissed. “She’s…” he paused when he heard her voice.

“Coming!”

[Warning: #$#%$^$$##%#$%#$#@$#%$%]

Clyde cleared his mind. He had only one choice. Think of Chika as the friend he knew and not the crazy. Ignore the obvious signs, pretend they didn’t exist, but not to an unreasonable point where he’d end up dead.

The door seemed to glow as it opened, revealing a bright white light that disappeared quickly then the silvered haired girl was there, smiling. Normal on the outside, but something felt off inside.

“Hey,” Clyde said. “Looking good.” She looked different in her casual clothes to the young man. Less like an honor student and more girly. A flowery designer shirt and matching pink skirt—normal.

“Hi,” she said. “Come in. Everyone’s gone for until tomorrow.”

She pulled Clyde in. A tingle of…something flickered through his body as if he entered another dimension. He shadowed her lead, taking off his tennis shoes at the front door, then following her.

The first thing he noticed as they passed through the kitchen was a large knife plunged deep into the heart of a watermelon.

“Care for any?” Chika said.

“I’m good,” he said, dulling his ‘what the fuck’ senses as much as possible.

Chika shrugged.

“Guess I’ll put it up. Better get the knife out or my dad will have a fit.”

“Let me,” Clyde said as he moved ahead. He almost flash-stepped toward it. He placed the knife into the dishwasher. Chika put the watermelon on the bottom shelf of her fridge.

“You’re a guest—come on, let’s go watch movies. I’ve ordered an amazing cheesecake to be delivered in a couple of hours.”

A couple of hours. Clyde felt his heart drop. And what was with this running sweets gag. He’d have to triple his jogging sessions just to burn off the calories.

Chika led him to the living room. On the way, Clyde couldn’t help but think just how much of a dick the system was.

The silver-haired anime girl’s living room made his own look like a closet. When Clyde sat on the center sofa, he felt absorbed into a world of absolute comfort. One that threatened to never let him go. Chika saw opportunity, snatched the remote off the table nearby and then dropped next to Clyde. Very close to him. She pressed a button on the thin remote. The massive, super-thin TV presented them with a Netflix-like platform of shows and movies. All anime to Clyde. He felt a little used to Satavia though.

“Let’s watch this one. It’s pretty funny.”

She selected a title that seemed relatively normal—at least judging by the title art. A peaceful pink-haired girl and some boy her age standing behind her.

Chika didn’t give him even a second to read the description. She snuggled against the young man. He internally pleaded with his body not to embarrass him with an erection. He was wearing jeans, but a bulge could only go unnoticed for a short time.

Soon, he and Chika were laughing and cracking jokes as the movie went on. But halfway through, a reoccurring theme caught Clyde’s attention. The main lead turned into a knife-wielding psychopath out of nowhere. While she didn’t actually stab anyone, because the movie tried way too hard to keep its comedic timing, this didn’t go unnoted by Clyde.

Chika stood up.

“Bathroom,” she said, “I’ll be right back.”

Clyde allowed himself a sigh when the pretty girl left. If only he was worried for nothing. If only. He pulled out his phone and created a group chat, adding in everyone but Chika. She didn’t officially agree to fight with them, so he felt justified. He named the new group, Team Stone.

Clyde: *sly face emoji* Toru, are you feeling okay?

Toru: oh, fuck off

Harumi: hahaha. Hi guys!

Kitome: kill yourself. Oh and hi Harumi.

Seth: …

Seth: So Toru, how did it feel, you know? Was it good?

Toru: *eye roll emoji* *middle finger emoji*

Clyde: LOL. Anyway, I’m at Chika’s.

Toru: …. Good luck.

Clyde: why do you say that? Do you know something about her?

Toru: Got to go, bye.

Seth: He’s just jealous, Clyde. Unlike you, he’s the slime fucker. Hahaha.

Harumi: Don’t be mean guys. *frowning emoji*

Clyde put away his phone as he somehow sensed Chika’s return.

“I see you’re laughing over there,” she said. “Memes? Don’t hold out on me.”

The jealousy aura stirred, invisibly, but no doubt, stirred.

“Nah, it’s nothing important,” he said. “Just picking on Toru.”

“Ah, that’s always fun until he does his stupid stares,” she said. “Annoys the hell out of me.”

“Right?” Clyde said. They laughed. “Last night was especially rough for him.”

“Really? What happened?”

“I won’t go into detail but drop hints about slime the next time you see him. You should get some interesting reactions.”

“Slime?”

Clyde chuckled.

“Let’s just say he has a thing for monster girls.”

Chika laughed.

“If you say so.”

Suddenly, there was a man’s scream from the movie. The girl made a brutal kill with a kitchen knife that looked suspiciously identical to the one that was in Chika’s watermelon. He shook his head. If this was her idea of a joke, he wanted no part of it. She had a wide sense of humor, but none of it ever touched the dark.

Then the scene went into a very passionate sex scene between the two leads. The boy had no idea that the girl sliced and diced any love rivals and friends behind his back while treating him like a king. He was head over heels in love with her, but she, madly for him.

Chika snuggled even tighter against Clyde and rested her head on his shoulder.

[Your relationship with Chika has changed from friend- closer level 1 to friend- closer level 2 and ??? sexual desire?]

He turned to see her looking right at him, blush on her face. She had the anime girl look of wanting.

Suddenly, Chika launched an aggressive kiss while grabbing his horn.

“I can’t hold back anymore,” she whispered. There was a perverted look in her eyes. “I won’t hold back anymore.”