PRSR | Chapter 8.6

“An Awakened protection quest.”

“…What?”

“During the monster wave, use the newly acquired skill to protect Awakened 200 times.”

“…”

It seemed like he had timed it perfectly, revealing the quest only after we had pinky-sworn and copied it.

‘…He couldn’t have manipulated the conversation to get a date, could he?’

Surely not. My rat wouldn’t do that.

‘Jjikjjiki… no, Rio wouldn’t act clueless and hide the quest details just because he wanted to go on a date with me.’

Rio flashed me a grin that seemed twice as bright as usual.

“It’s perfect timing, isn’t it, Soul?”

…You little rat.

“You did that on purpose!”

“What?”

“You lied to go on a date!”

Shouting it out made me feel unexpectedly embarrassed. To think those words had come from my mouth.

“I never lie to Soul.”

“That’s the same thing.”

“It’s completely different.”

Rio smirked and tilted his head, then held my right hand in both of his and brought it close to his cheek.

“Soul… do you dislike going on a date with me? Even after we promised?”

Kang Rio, that little rat, trying to escape the situation by being cute.

“Going on a date is about two people getting to know each other before they start dating. You said I needed time to adapt. It’s exactly what we need, right?”

“…Fine. I’ll keep the promise.”

Since he was cute, I decided to let it slide this time.

“Let’s go now. On a date.”

“No.”

I intended to have a simple walk around the field and call it a date, but Rio stopped me by grabbing my arm.

“You seem to know little about dating.”

“Me? Not you?”

“A date is something you schedule a time for and meet up.”

Well, all appointments generally start with setting a time. But… we live together.

“Let’s meet at 8 a.m. tomorrow.”

“That early?”

“The earlier we meet, the longer we can date.”

“Usually, you should keep the first date short.”

“Why?”

“Keeping it short leaves a bit of longing, which makes the other person look forward to the next date.”

Accepting my ignorance about dates, Rio simply nodded. His eyes sparkled.

“Then shall we meet at 12 for lunch?”

“Sure.”

“Great. Let’s meet in front of the inn.”

That sounded strange, considering we were always together. What did he mean by meeting in front of the inn?

‘Is he trying not to return together today?’

Was he aiming for a real date feel by even booking separate accommodations? We couldn’t even communicate with the Tutorial Field residents, and we had no money. Was he thinking of hiding as a mouse?

‘What is he thinking?’

While I was confused, Rio returned to the inn with me, his expression as happy as any rat-turned-beastman could be.

‘Does meeting tomorrow mean breaking up once and meeting again?’

Rio stayed by my side as I changed clothes, washed up, ate dinner, and prepared for bed until the moment I lay down.

‘…It’s the same as usual.’

Why did we even schedule a time and place?

“Good night, Soul.”

He clung to my back, wearing matching couple pajamas, just like any other night.

“Soul, good morning.”

The next morning was no different. He stayed with me as I washed up, had breakfast, and got ready to go out. It seemed he had merely substituted ‘Let’s leave at 12’ with ‘Let’s meet in front of the inn.’

“Soul.”

“Yeah. Almost ready.”

“I’ll go out first and wait.”

“What?”

As the appointed time approached, Rio left the room first. I thought he was just speaking figuratively, but he actually closed the door behind him.

“What?”

It was so sudden. He had been acting normally, then this unexpected move.

I quickly grabbed my stuff and followed him out. Rio was standing in front of the inn, waiting for me.

“Hello, Soul. I missed you.”

“What is this all about?”

“What do you mean? We agreed to meet here today at this time.”

We had agreed to meet, yes. But I hadn’t expected such a contrived encounter.

‘He must have really wanted to create a genuine dating atmosphere.’

Even if he tricked me into dating, he was still naively sweet.

“Ah, right. So… um… did you think of a date course?”

“I did.”

“Restaurant, café, cinema, arcade?”

“Yes. But I should drive up to Soul’s place, pick you up, and kiss you under a streetlamp on the way back.”

“There’s nothing doable about that.”

“We could kiss now, though. Should we?”

Rio leaned in as if he had been waiting for it. I quickly raised my hand to block his approaching lips.

“Let’s go eat first. I’ve picked out a restaurant.”

Just mentioning the restaurant made Rio’s eyes sparkle excessively. ‘Was he this excited about our date?’ he must be thinking.

“Don’t think too much and follow me.”

“I don’t think about unnecessary things. I always think about Soul.”

“Usually, that’s what you call unnecessary thinking.”

The restaurant I chose was one of the more expensive ones in the pricey port city.

In the port city, vegetables and fruits were particularly expensive, so Rio couldn’t enjoy his favorite fruits to the fullest. He once felt disappointed seeing an apple that used to fit snugly in his embrace grow to the size of a fist. He could have reverted to his mouse form, Jjikjjiki, to eat it, but he steadfastly maintained his human form because he wanted to be seen not as a pet mouse but as a potential romantic partner. Every time I saw him like that, I wanted to let him eat as much fruit as he wanted. I’ve been struggling a bit because I haven’t been able to butcher monsters in my pajamas, as it would attract too much attention, but I didn’t think of skimping on expenses for Rio, especially not today.

I ordered a fruit salad for Rio and a fish dish for myself.

“Look at this, Soul. I ate the water on the orange, and it tastes like orange. Did the flavor transfer?”

“That’s not water; it’s orange dressing sprayed on top.”

“This lettuce is super crunchy. Try some.”

“I’m good.”

It was nice to see him happy, but him constantly trying to feed me was a bit concerning. Being two guys sitting in a restaurant visibly dating could draw unwelcome attention…

“Soul, look at me.”

I was glancing around, so Rio grabbed my cheeks with both hands and turned my face back to him.

“Just look at me.”

“Ah, sorry. It felt like people were staring…”

“When you’re on a date, you should focus on your partner.”

“Right.”

Yes, we were on a date, so I shouldn’t worry about others. This isn’t Korea, and the people here are mostly Tutorial Field residents. We won’t see them again once we complete the quests. Whether I go on a date with Rio or dance Flamenco on the table, they probably won’t care much. Hmm, dancing Flamenco might attract attention…

“Got it. I’ll focus on the date.”

“And on me, Kang Rio, not just the date.”

“Sure, sure.”

We finished our meal and moved to a bakery. Since there were no places to just drink tea in the Tutorial Field, the bakery was the only option that could create a café atmosphere. We bought some black tea, cold milk, and two slices of bread and sat on the terrace, which somewhat felt like being in a café.

Café dates usually involved talking about each other. I continued to probe Rio with questions I’d been curious about while he drank his milk.

“What’s the reward for the sub-quest you received yesterday?”

“It shows up as a question mark.”

“Is there a way to check how many times you’ve protected someone during the quest?”

“The Quest Window shows the count. It says zero, slash, two hundred.”

Like [0/200].

“Once the quest starts, we’ll have to test it out. I need to see if the count goes up by the number of Awakened in the range just by using the skill, or if it only counts when the skill actually blocks a monster’s attack. And whether it counts if the same Awakened is protected multiple times…”

“Soul.”

“Yeah?”

“No quest talk.”

Rio’s expression was quite serious. He looked either angry or as if he wanted to show that he was upset.

“During a date, we should only talk about us two.”

“But this is also about the two of us.”

“That’s work-related, and I want to have a more personal conversation.”

“What do you want to talk about?”

“Um…”

After a moment of thought, Rio asked in a tone like he was mimicking a drama scene.

“What do you like, Soul?”

“Sleeping in.”

“You’re supposed to say that your favorite mouse, Jjikjjiki, is what you like most.”

“Do you have my answers scripted too?”

We continued our conversation with the lines, “Kang Soul’s favorite mouse is Jjikjjiki. Kang Soul’s favorite person is Rio,” while sipping our tea.

Then we replaced our next stop, a cinema, with watching street performances. Among these, Rio especially enjoyed a one-man circus. He clapped along and, following the example of others tossing coins, he threw a gold coin.

“No, Rio!”

I quickly caught the flying gold coin. Others were throwing copper coins, so why was he throwing gold?

“Soul, look, an arcade!”

The next date venue was supposed to be an arcade.

The place Rio pointed out hosted games like shell game and three-card monte—street gambling setups.

Well, it was a form of entertainment, albeit one that could consume a lot of money.

“Let’s play just one round.”

Rio boldly bet a gold coin. There were silver and copper coins available, but why did he keep using gold?

“Wow, it’s a win.”

Ah. I should have bet two more gold coins.

“Let’s play one more.”

“Should we?”

Rio quickly became wealthy.

“This is fun.”

“It’s fun because you’re good at it.”

“Is it hard to spot the cup with the stone?”

After being kicked out of the gambling spot, we had a simple dinner and headed back to the inn.

Rio slyly interlocked his fingers with mine.

“Did you enjoy the date?”

That question was laden with meaning.

Whether he felt during the date that he could be a lover rather than just family. Whether he was adapting well. Whether he wanted another date.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure yet. But if it was just about whether I had fun, then yes, I had. It was the first time since we’d been dropped into the Tutorial Field that I could forget about quests and survival and just relax.

“I had fun.”

“Good. So, should we kiss now?”

“Why does it end like that?”

“The date itinerary ends with a kiss under a streetlamp.”

“And then we’re supposed to part ways, are you okay with that?”

He didn’t like that idea, as his face instantly fell. That expression was so cute that I laughed.

“What are you waiting for? Come on up. Let’s eat some apples.”

I opened the inn door wide to hurry him inside, and Rio’s face lit up again.

Rio asked with a bright smile, “Is that like the ‘Do you want to eat ramen?’ line from Tutorial Field?”

I should have just kissed him when he asked earlier.