Chapter 67: No Longer an Idiot
"Is something wrong, Yuki?" Nyquella asked, tilting her head in confusion.
"..., how am I even supposed to answer that question?" Yuki sighed, rubbing his temples. "Why do you want to be my property, or my pet? Why not just be my girlfriend?"
Nyquella blinked, her cheeks flushing slightly. "Is... is that an option?"
"Why wouldn’t it be...? Do you have some kind of kink or fetish?"
she froze in embarrassment realizing that she was a massive pervert in Yuki’s eyes, well even more of a pervert.
"Well—"
"Doesn’t matter," Yuki interrupted with a wave of his hand. "I’ll gladly be your master if that’s what you really want."
Turning serious, Yuki crossed his arms. "Now... are you going to the event in a small swimsuit, or completely nude?"
"..., in a swimsuit."
"Oh..."
"Why do you sound so disappointed?!"
"No reason! Let’s finish washing up and head to bed. Tomorrow is the first day, after all."
"Right!"
........................
"AHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
"Gods! What the hell?!" Nyquella cried, stumbling off the jet ski and collapsing onto the sand, wheezing heavily.
"Are you okay, little lady?" Samuel one of Yuki’s coworker, a tall soft man asked nervously, taking a cautious step back.
"Too much spinning..." she wept, clutching her head. "Nothing should go that fast and shake that much! Where’s Yuki?!"
"Ummm... he’s kitesurfing," Samuel replied, pointing toward the water. "...Do you need something? I can—"
"Nyquella, are you okay?" Yuki asked, suddenly standing right beside him.
"Holy hell!" Samuel yelled, jumping forward in surprise. "Why do you always do that?! And weren’t you just in the water?"
"Yes and what do i always do?" Yuki asked innocently.
"Nothing... never mind!"
"K." Yuki turned around, walked over, and gently hoisted Nyquella up to carry her on his back.
"Yuki, you humans are insane," Nyquella groaned from over his shoulder. "Speedboats, jet skis, skydiving, rafting... literally every beach activity involves extreme speed!"
"We love moving fast and feeling the wind in our hair. It makes you feel—and look—cool!"
"Your coworker Tom literally got flung through the air and smashed into the ocean so hard he blacked out!"
"A small price to pay for an unforgettable moment of joy," Yuki declared proudly.
"...You people are crazy."
"Do you want to go do something a bit calmer instead?"
"Yeah... let me watch them play beach volleyball," Nyquella said, her eyes lighting up.
"You just want to watch their breasts bounce while they run around, don’t you?"
"Yes, I do," Nyquella admitted shamelessly. "Now let’s go! I don’t want to miss it!"
Yuki and Nyquella sat under a palm tree, shamelessly watching the ladies play beach volleyball. Every time someone jumped to save the ball, the display was... undeniably lively.
Nyquella would give a live cometary about the fluidity of the ladies breast and then in the same breath complain about having small breast, she would then turn to Yuki and ask him if he is sure about them being together since she was... not flat but not that big in the chest area, and was short.
Yuki then had to convince her that he in fact loved her, it wasn’t much convincing all he did was pet her head and she folded like a lawn chair.
After enjoying the view, Yuki took Nyquella snorkeling. He gently guided her out into the ocean toward a massive, vibrant coral reef, showing her all the unique and beautiful species residing there—from tiny starfish to colorful tropical fish.
Of course, Nyquella insisted on trying to catch and analyze almost every creature they passed, leaving Yuki with the exhausting task of stopping her from grabbing a pufferfish because it "looked cute," or a sea urchin because it was "spiky-spiky"—whatever that was supposed to mean.
As the sun began to dip below the horizon, marking the end of the day, Yuki and Nyquella walked hand-in-hand along the shoreline, enjoying the view and each other’s company.
The soft ambient sounds of crashing waves, chirping seagulls, and crunching sand filled the air. However, the usual sound of Yuki humming to himself was absent. He was staring blankly ahead, completely lost in thought.
He didn’t know why, but he felt strange—as if he wasn’t the real Yuki, like he was living inside someone else’s skin. Looking back on his actions since arriving in this world, a shocking number of his choices had been utterly reckless and stupid.
For a professional who specializes in survivability, I sure have a bad habit of running headfirst into life-threatening situations, he thought to himself.
"Why did I even enter the ruined city? That was an awful idea... And why did I dive into that dungeon in the first place? Gathering essence cores would have been infinitely safer and faster if I had just hunted snow wolves instead..."
Realizing just how foolish almost all of his past decisions had been, a cold chill ran down his spine.
"Yuki? Are you okay?"
"Yeah... I’m fine. I was just thinking about something... I think?"
"...Let’s head back and get something to eat. Maybe food will help clear your mind."
"True! ," he said, forcing a bright smile.
Later that night, while they were sound asleep in bed, Yuki woke up drenched in a cold sweat.
He had been carrying a strange, unfamiliar sensation in the back of his mind—one he usually brushed off, but which had been growing stronger with each passing day. Deciding he needed some fresh air, he slipped quietly out of bed, walked through the quiet house, and stepped onto the balcony.
"...Sigh. What is going on with me lately?" he murmured, leaning over the railing.
"...Is someone there?" he called out randomly into the night air, not actually expecting a response.
Silence.
"Come on, I know you’re there."
"Do you?" a deep, resonant voice answered from directly behind him.
"HOLY—!"
CRASH!
"Ouch..." Yuki groaned from the floor, having tripped over his own feet in shock.
"It seems you are still a clumsy idiot after all," a massive, toned, six-eyed entity wearing a high-end suit observed coldly, his feet hovering a few inches off the ground.
"Who are you? Are you an Administrator too? Never mind—of course you are," Yuki said, shaking his head as he stood up. "Why are you here? Wait... I called you, didn’t I? Gods, my head isn’t working right."
"What do you want, Yuki?" the man asked, sounding as though he would rather be literally anywhere else.
"Why is my mind so messed up? I feel like I have two completely different personalities warring inside my head."
"That is because you do, in a sense."
"Elaborate, please."
"Your original personality is resurfacing due to your brain’s ongoing reconstruction."
"Wait... I thought I was acting like this because of the brain damage. Are you saying it’s finally healing?"
"Yes and no. Your brain has technically been healed ever since you entered this world. The lingering fog was simply maintained because I willed it to be so."
"What?"
"You are one in a million—well, 1 in 1.324 million, to be exact. You are exceptionally powerful. No one in a very long time has chosen such a absurdly min-maxed stat build. You are practically an immortal weapon; unless you are completely atomized or have your core destroyed, you will regenerate no matter what. You are far sharper than the average person, and an expert at charm—the fact that you managed to make Vee fall in love with you despite acting like an idiot is staggering."
The entity sighed, adjusting his suit jacket. "To make a long story short: you refusing to become a Demon King is a massive wrench in our plans, because if you were your normal, calculating self, you would grow far too powerful, far too quickly."
"So... does that mean I’m going to revert back to my old self entirely?"
"No. You are permanently stuck as a blend of both, but you will no longer be an idiot.... probobly"
"Will you remove all of my system restrictions, then?"
"No," he replied flatly.
"Oh."
"However... I can lift some of your restrictions, provided you give me something in return."
Yuki narrowed his eyes, his mind working with crisp, sharp clarity. "Take my blood contract, place a limit on my item shop, and give me back my full base strength."
"Done."
"...Already? That fast?"
"Yes. Now I need to test it."
"What do you mean by—"
CLAP!
he teleported Yuki into the middle of the city before simply dropping him. In the next instant, Yuki felt weightless as he was launched 400 meters into the air, before plummeting straight down and slamming into the pavement below with a loud POP!
Splat!
The high administrator stood over Yuki’s body just waiting like it was another day at the office.
"Huff... huff... I’m alive," Yuki gasped, staring up at his hands in genuine surprise as his crushed bones and torn flesh knitted together in seconds.
"Yes, you are. Your baseline regeneration has officially restored."
"I see..."
"Do me a favor and stick to merely exploring the world," the six-eyed god warned, floating down beside him. "I do not have the time to intervene in the petty affairs of mortals, so do not go overthrowing local governments or hunting down Demon King candidates. And stick to women on your own level—I do not want to see or hear of you making a Goddess, an Administrator, or any high-ranking divine entity fall for you. I have enough headaches to deal with as it is."
"Are you implying there are Goddesses out there who actually like me?"
"Don’t stroke your ego, kid. I can strip away your little safety bubble just as easily as I gave it back, so behave."
"...Okay. Noted," Yuki said, wiping dust and blood off his arms. "...So, the Administrator who was here earlier... is she my boss now, or...?"
"No, she is not. But you are currently her only lifeline, so do with that information as you wish."
"Well, while you’re here, can you configure my pocket dimension for me? And make it so the Administrator can’t read my mind?"
"Done," the entity said casually, snapping his fingers. "Yuki."
"Yes?"
"Do not sleep with Nuvellia. She is your assigned Administrator. I don’t care what happens—if she becomes emotionally attached to you, I will personally delete her. I have no use for biased subordinates in my service."
"...So, the fact that I just fell from the sky, turned into a pile of blood and flesh, and had zero psychological reaction to it... is that going to change?" Yuki asked innocently.
"...No."
"Oh."
"Goodbye, Yuki," the god said, his form beginning to blur.
"What a weird conversation."
"Stop thinking about sex, you degenerate," the voice echoed directly into his mind.
"Why are you still here?!" Yuki yelped, startled. "...Hello? Did he leave...? Wait, where am I? Where are my clothes?!"
SNAP!
With a flash of light, Yuki was instantly teleported back onto his apartment balcony, fully clothed.
"You could have done that the whole time, and you just left me standing naked in the street?!" Yuki blurted out in annoyance.
He looked up at the quiet night sky and let out a long sigh.
"...Are all Administrators just complete assholes?"