PRSR | Chapter 9.6

“Soul? What’s up?”

“You’re right. That Manager we saw must have chosen the reward. He’s watching us.”

“…Watching Soul?”

Rio’s expression twisted into a scowl.

“Not just me—us.”

“How dare someone spy on Soul. I’ll kill them.”

Rio sprang to his feet and swung his fist at the empty air.

“It’s fine. They’re not around right now.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Seems like they only watch us when we’re not conscious of it.”

Rio wholeheartedly believed the excuse I threw out on the fly. I waited until he calmed down before asking the next question.

“What happens if we upgrade the pajamas?”

“The cooldown decreases to 72 hours.”

“Wow, that’s a big drop.”

“Also, the skill duration increases slightly, and your presence becomes more faint.”

“Presence? No more detailed explanation?”

“Nope. That’s it.”

The explanation felt lazily put together, like someone didn’t bother to finish their work. Could a Manager really get away with handling things like this?

“Well, I guess we’ll have to check it ourselves.”

“To check, Soul would have to get attacked.”

“True.”

“No need to check. I’ll make sure you never have to use that spell in your life.”

“If that was your plan, you shouldn’t have enchanted my pajamas in the first place.”

“But… just in case.”

“Then let’s test the performance of the pajamas for those ‘just in case’ moments.”

Rio, left without a comeback, jabbed at the innocent apple rabbit with his fork.

“Did you get a new quest?”

“Yeah. It says, ‘To proceed with the final quest of the tutorial, move to the final area, the city of Wight Ridge.’ The quest starts in ten days, and the detailed content will be updated then.”

“Final quest?”

Was it because it’s the tutorial? It felt like I hadn’t even done that many quests yet, but it was already the last one. Was I supposed to feel bittersweet? Nostalgic? Nope. Not at all. Just the thought of moving from being the only non-Awakened to becoming one of the many ordinary humans was enough to make me tear up with joy.

“You seem happy.”

Rio’s sulky voice sounded like he was jealous of the quest.

“Let’s figure out how to get to Wight Ridge later. Considering travel time, ten days might not be enough. We came all this way, so we can’t risk missing the quest start time and failing. Let’s go early to prepare and level up—”

“Soul.”

“Huh? Why? Want me to peel another apple?”

“Not that. Before we talk about the next quest, there’s something else to take care of.”

“Take care of?”

Rio smiled brightly. Does this guy know just how good-looking he is? That radiant smile, which could melt even a mortal enemy, felt ominous to me.

“It’s praise time.”

“Praise… time?”

I thought he’d let it slide this time, that maybe yesterday’s finger-kiss was enough. But no—he was just biding his time, waiting for the right moment. Kang Rio, you sly fox.

“We already kissed yesterday.”

“That wasn’t praise; it was just a kiss. And it was an indirect one, too.”

He wasn’t wrong, but somehow I still felt tricked.

“Besides, you like kissing me, don’t you, Soul?”

“What?”

Rio’s smile shone twice as bright as usual. His grinning face radiated a foreboding aura.

“You… you were awake last night, weren’t you.”

“Yup.”

“……”

Should I jump out the window?

“I was so happy when you kissed me first without me even asking. Do it more often from now on.”

“I didn’t!”

“But you were going to.”

“But I didn’t.”

“Then do it now.”

Rio, as persistent as ever, puckered his lips and leaned toward me.

“How many monsters did we catch yesterday for you to demand this many kisses!”

“1,356.”

He actually counted that?

“No way. I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“How am I supposed to kiss you a thousand times?!”

“1,356 times.”

“Even drops of water can wear down a rock over time, but with a thousand kisses, my lips would definitely be ruined!”

“Aren’t lips supposed to be open already?”

“They’ll get chapped, okay!”

I crossed my arms into an X, building a wall between Rio and me. There was no way I was accepting this “praise time” if it meant preserving my lips.

“Soul…”

Rio looked at my crossed arms as if they were an unbreakable fortress. He could easily pry them apart with one finger if he wanted, but his flustered reaction made me waver again.

When I slowly lowered my arms, Rio let out a small sigh of relief.

What a simpleton.

“Then let’s increase the praise to level two but reduce the number of times. 135 level two praises. How about that?”

“Level two praise?”

What’s that? Kissing while remaining human?

As I puzzled over it, Rio’s face came closer, and suddenly, our lips touched. I wasn’t too surprised, as I was mentally prepared.

That is, until something warmer and softer than lips tried to slip in.

“Ah!”

Startled, I swung my fist hard. Thump. The feeble punch of a non-Awakened landed on the shoulder of the top-ranking Awakened.

“Sorry, I was just… really startled.”

“Ouch.”

Rio clutched his shoulder as if he’d broken a bone and took a step back, then sneakily leaned his head on my shoulder.

“It hurts, Soul.”

The audacity of his attitude wiped away my surprise and embarrassment, leaving only a chuckle.

“Don’t lie. It doesn’t even tickle.”

“My shoulder isn’t hurting, but my heart is. It’s beating too fast.”

Even without saying it, I could feel Rio’s heart racing as if it would burst. All this from not even a proper kiss but just a rub of tongues. What does that make the person who threw a punch in surprise…

“To anyone else, it would look like you were the one who got kissed.”

Like a coquettish rat, Rio nuzzled his head on my shoulder and rubbed against it, and I grabbed his cheeks. They were hot as if burned by fire.

Staring at his handsome face this close reminded me of last night’s failed attempt at an emotional kiss. I had an excuse then because he was asleep. What excuse do I use today?

“Soul, don’t you like level two praises?”

“…How is this level two? For me, even a human kiss is level three praise.”

Perhaps it was catching. My face felt hot. Pressing firmly on both cheeks, Rio’s mouth opened into a triangle. Handsome people stay handsome even when you squish their face.

I tried to appear nonchalant as I pulled his face closer.

“Just checking.”

No more excuses left, just doing what needed to be done.

As Rio’s eyes widened and his face drew closer, our lips met again. The sound seemed to support Rio’s earlier claim, “You like kissing me, don’t you, Soul.”

Mixed feelings swirled within me. It was awkward but not necessarily in a negative way.

It was incredibly embarrassing. Was it because he was a man? No, that wasn’t it.

Just… Rio liked me with such a pure heart that the thumping of our hearts and the heat of our bodies felt too vivid, and it felt strange.

‘Silly rat.’

With a bit of a pout, I bit Rio’s lower lip gently.

“…Ah.”

Thinking the next logical step after lips would be a tongue, Rio’s triangle-shaped mouth twitched, but I pulled away, leaving only a bite mark.

This was my revenge for startling me.

“You were planning to do this 135 times to me?”

“…Then how about 13 times?”

Rio, who wasn’t good at bargaining, threw out a drastic suggestion.

Apparently assuming I’d accept, he hurriedly pressed his lips forward like a rat trying to snatch back a stolen apple.

I turned my head, avoiding another attempt at level two praise.

“Why?”

“Instead of this, let’s go on a date.”

“A date?”

Upon my suggestion of a date, Rio fell into deep thought. Kiss or date? He wanted to kiss immediately, but a date promised a longer enjoyable time together, making it a tough decision.

“Thirteen dates?”

“Just one.”

After some thought, Rio made his choice.

“Let’s go on a date.”

“That’s unexpected. I thought you’d choose a kiss.”

“Physical affection is important, but spending time together strengthens the relationship between lovers. I want to do more couple-like things with you, Soul.”

Saying this, Rio casually took my hand and flashed a subtle smile.

“And usually, kisses are included in the date itinerary from the second date onwards.”

“I’ve never heard that before.”

“Well, you don’t know much about dating.”

Date and kiss. Rio seemed pleased with his logical choice, apparently forgetting that 1,356 kisses had transformed into just one date.

“When shall we go on the date? Now?”

“We need to move towards the quest location first. We can’t be late to the quest because of our date.”

“Then let’s hurry. If we arrive early, we can spend more time on our date.”

After finishing our meal, we headed straight to the Brown Merchant Caravan’s port city branch. A few employees, who remembered my face from the time of the Awakened rescue, greeted us warmly.

“There are two ways to get to Wight Ridge: a somewhat dangerous but faster route, and a safer but longer route.”

“How long does the safe route take?”

“Usually a month.”

“And the fast one?”

“If you’re lucky, four days. But if you encounter monster attacks, it could take up to a week or ten days.”

To someone who used to live in a world where you could cross the opposite side of the Earth in a matter of hours, a four-day travel sounded absurd. I missed airplanes. Or even trains.

“The first two days will be by carriage. After that, once you reach Totgrove Forest, you’ll have to proceed on foot.”

“Can’t we continue by carriage inside the forest?”

“The paths in Totgrove are too narrow to be navigated by carriage due to the terrain. You could ride horses, but that would make you a bigger target for monsters.”

“Are monster attacks frequent enough to delay arrival by several days?”

“In that forest, there are many monsters that travel in packs, making battles particularly lengthy. Once an attack starts, it can go on for days.”

At the port city near the Level 50 appropriate zone, those monsters would be no match for Rio. A single Wind Cutter from him would sweep them all away, but swarms were preferable to trickling encounters.

However, I was worried about how many Awakened could reach the final quest area.

“That’s why the average travel time can extend to a week or ten days. Of course, that’s based on the average of those who arrived alive.”

“Once we reach the forest, do we just follow the path straight to Wight Ridge?”

“There is a detailed map leading to Wight Ridge, which also includes features of the local monsters. It’s only 10 gold. Would you like to purchase it?”

While buying the outrageously priced map, I asked one last question.

“Do you know where outsiders with black hair are staying?”

“There’s an old inn just to the left of the eastern entrance. Outsiders usually stay there. You can’t miss it; the door is blue.”

“Thank you.”

“Thank you for visiting Brown Merchant Caravan today. We look forward to your next visit.”

With the intention of bringing as many Awakened as possible to Wight Ridge, I headed towards the inn.