Kiss-Shot was a bit surprised when she heard Souta's invitation:
"You're Leaving Already?"
"You... you're already planning to leave so soon?"
"Yeah," Souta nodded, explaining, "I can't prove my identity here, I don't have a place to stay—it's really inconvenient. Plus, I have things to take care of in the real world. And another reason is..."
Souta pulled out his system phone and glanced at the new member's username in the friend group chat:
"I'm curious about this newcomer named Shirotsumekusa . I plan to go back and look them up online. If you don't have anything pressing to do, you can come with me and check out the real world."
"The real world... that sounds interesting."
Kiss-Shot thought for a moment before nodding in agreement.
"I'm quite curious about the works you've described, and I also want to know my original fate. I accept your invitation."
"We Should Head Out Now"
"Then let's not waste any time. We should leave now," Souta suggested.
Kiss-Shot seemed a bit overwhelmed by Souta's impatience.
She had lived for over 500 years, her pace of life was incredibly slow, and her natural tendency to procrastinate was maxed out.
"Why are you in such a rush?"
"Because I'm curious!" Souta sighed. "I think my curiosity is bordering on an obsession... No matter what, I have to find out who this Shirotsumekusa really is today! Besides, you don't have anything urgent to do, so it doesn't really matter whether we leave sooner or later, right?"
"Of course, I have things to do!"
Kiss-Shot looked at him with an expression of dissatisfaction.
The way Souta phrased it made it sound like she was just idling around all day.
"What's So Important?"
"What exactly do you need to do?" Souta asked, surprised.
"I need to go back to that store from yesterday and buy more donuts."
"...But we already spent all the money we took from Episode. How are you planning to pay?"
"I've already memorized what the money looks like," Kiss-Shot said smugly.
"Have you forgotten? I have the ability to create matter."
Souta scratched his cheek.
This was the first time he'd seen someone so openly and proudly declare their intent to counterfeit money.
Then again, considering his own plan to get rich by selling his saliva in the real world, did he really have any right to judge?
"Wouldn't that be kind of unfair to the shop owner?"
Without waiting for a response, Souta bent down and scooped Kiss-Shot up into his arms.
"What Are You Doing?"
Kiss-Shot looked at him in confusion.
She didn't mind being carried by the man who used to be her familiar, but she couldn't shake the feeling that Souta's personality had changed—he had gotten a lot bolder.
Had his time as her familiar influenced him?
In this world, a vampire's personality could subtly influence their familiars over time.
"This is just how the transfer works. Female group members have to be hugging me for the system to teleport us," Souta said casually.
He didn't bother explaining further and instead wrapped up the conversation with:
"There are plenty of donuts in the real world, so stop messing with the store here. I'll order you some delivery when we get back! Now, let's go."
A flash of white light enveloped them, and the two figures in the hotel room slowly faded until they disappeared entirely.
Returning to the Real World
As soon as Souta stepped back into his apartment in the real world and saw the thick layer of dust covering everything, he instantly knew—his guess had been correct. Several months had passed in the real world.
From this, Souta deduced that the system likely sent out invitations roughly every three months, using the real world's timeline as a reference.
Of course, whether this frequency would change in the future or if multiple invitations would be sent at once remained uncertain.
Kiss-Shot walked around the apartment in a white sundress, her slender, pale legs exposed.
She took a few steps, leaving tiny shoe prints on the dusty floor.
"You're Kind of... Poor?"
She continued inspecting the surroundings and then made her evaluation:
"You seem... rather poor."
"Mind your own business."
Souta rolled his eyes and said,
"Open up the windows and let some air in. I'll clean up."
At that moment, Souta wished he had some sort of wind-manipulation ability.
That way, he could just summon a gust of wind, blow all the dust away, and be done with it.
Technically, both his Half-Cold Half-Hot Quirk and his matter-creation ability could generate wind.
But that would require precise control over airflow, something he wasn't skilled at yet.
Left with no other option, he had to clean the old-fashioned way—with a broom and a mop.
After about an hour of hard work, the apartment was finally spotless.
Souta then went downstairs to recharge his electricity and gas cards before treating himself to a long, relaxing shower.
Once refreshed, he retrieved his laptop from his bedroom and powered it on.
"Kiss-Shot, just give me a second. I'll look up who the new guy is, then find a way for you to watch Monogatari."
"Oh? That's a good idea."
"You can read Japanese, right? If so, I'll find you the raw novels."
Kiss-Shot proudly puffed out her chest and declared:
"I can speak Japanese, but I can't read it."
Souta was speechless.
Was this really something to be proud of?
"Alright then, you'll just have to watch the anime."
Souta typed that into the search bar, opened Baidu, and began searching for the name "Shirotsumekusa ".
Kiss-Shot, curious as well, leaned in to take a look.
Of course, being illiterate, she couldn't understand a single word.
At first, Souta didn't have high hopes of finding anything useful.
After all, he suspected that "Shirotsumekusa " might just be a made-up alias.
However, what happened next completely exceeded his expectations.
He actually found it immediately.
"Shirotsumekusa : The protagonist of the in-universe game Eternal Wars Megalosphere from the anime Re:CREATORS. She lives deep within the hidden Kassel Forest and possesses a song that can heal all wounds. She is also the original inspiration for Military Uniform Princess, Altair... Wait, the original inspiration for Altair!?"
Souta froze for a moment, staring at the screen in disbelief.
He muttered under his breath:
"Now that I think about it, in Re:CREATORS, Altair was originally a fanmade derivative character..."
A user named Shirotsumekusa ...
Could the newcomer in the chat actually be Military Uniform Princess, Altair!?
"...Yeah, no doubt about it."
Souta's eyes filled with certainty.
Kiss-Shot, who had been staring at the screen, blinked in confusion.
"So, you've identified the newcomer?"
She was still trying to process all this information.
Of course, being unable to read made it even harder.
"Yep, 90% sure," Souta nodded.
Then, he logged into Bilibili and searched for Re:CREATORS, pulling up the anime right in front of Kiss-Shot.
"The new member is a character from this anime. Her name is Altair. This series is actually pretty interesting. Do you want to check it out?"
PS: Managed to post this Chapter before midnight. That counts as earlier than yesterday, right? (totally serious expression)
One more Chapter coming up in a bit.