Free Web NovelChapter 22: Separation
"Tell me you didn’t pack my son’s entire wardrobe... fufu," Kaori teased as Hina dragged her suitcase over to the car.
A sleek black Mercedes-Benz was parked quietly outside the house, its polished body reflecting the evening glow.
Kaori stood beside the car with a playful smile on her beautiful face. Her long black evening dress hugged her figure gracefully while the golden floral designs near the sleeves gave her an elegant and luxurious aura.
"It’s nothing..." Hina replied softly.
"Hand it over to the driver..."
The lady dressed in a sharp black suit immediately rushed over to collect the suitcase.
Before Hina could refuse, she was suddenly pulled into the car by two young girls.
"Hina-san!"
Both girls hugged Hina tightly. They were Reiji’s little sisters.
The twins were treated like princesses by the family. Both of them wore stunning dresses with small floral patterns on them. They had long silky black hair like their mother and though they were still little, their adorable faces were already pretty enough to rival Hina in the future.
Hina smiled softly and ruffled both their heads. "My two little troublemakers."
"We missed you so much..." Both of them looked around but didn’t seem to see someone.
"...Hina-san, where is Nii-chan?" Yuna, the elder of the twins, asked.
"Uhmm.... Reiji went to another country for an exam..." Hina lied to them.
The twins stared at Hina with their big black eyes full of suspicion for a moment before breaking into sweet smiles.
"Nii-chan is such a big meanie..." Yui said angrily with a pout.
"Too bad for him, we got Hina-san with us..." Yuna chimed in with a smirk as she grabbed Hina’s arm even tighter.
’Rei-kun is not a meanie, you little rascals. He just doesn’t want to complicate things, otherwise he would’ve come to hold you guys.’ Hina thought while ruffling their heads even harder.
After a while, Kaori and the driver got into the car and the female driver started the engine. The vehicle roared to life as they left the apartment.
"Mom..?"
"Yes dear..." Kaori responded casually.
"How long is the trip...?" Hina asked. Even now she already missed Reiji so much and they had only just left the house.
"I’m sorry, I totally forgot to tell you. Well, it might last for three months... maybe even longer..." Kaori said very casually.
"...Eeeehhh?!"
Hina’s eyes widened in shock. Beneath them were tears she was desperately trying to hold back.
"I know it’s too short... I wish it could be like one year, but since I still have the company to look after, I can only spare three months." Kaori said with a sigh.
The corner of Hina’s mouth twitched slightly.
’A year?!?! No way, I’ll die!! Three months is already too much!!’
But Kaori didn’t know what Hina was thinking, so the journey continued as the car sped off toward the direction of Hina’s House.
***
Back at the apartment, Reiji lay on the bed facing the ceiling, seemingly thinking about something.
"System, I remember you saying I unlocked a Bond Status or something, right?"
Ding!
[Partner’s Bond Status]
[Does the Host wish to check your current partner’s Bond Status? [Y/N]]
"Just asked if there was something like that..." Reiji muttered to himself. "Yes.. yes..."
Ding!
[Partner’s Bond Status]
_____
[Partner Name: Morikawa Hina (Origin)]
[Class: Unawakened]
[Age: 18]
___
[Bond Level: SSS]
[Affection: Max]
[Loyalty: Max]
[Obsession: Max]
[Possessiveness: Max]
___
[Status: Yandere]
___
[Stability: 50]
_____
"...What does Stability mean?" Reiji frowned.
Ding!
[Partner Stability represents the mental and emotional balance of a bonded partner.]
"...Mental balance?"
[The lower the Stability, the more emotionally unstable and unpredictable a partner becomes.]
Reiji slowly turned toward the window.
"...And Hina only has fifty?" The thought sent a cold chill up his spine.
"What about the Origin tag beside her name?"
Ding!
[The Origin tag is simply a tag given to a partner that was already in love with the Host before the system!]
"...Okay, so are there no benefits for me or my partner...? I mean for the Origin tag." Reiji asked shamelessly.
[...]
"Fine... Whatever. Show me the System Market..."
Ding!
[Opening System Market...]
_____
[SYSTEM MARKET]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Host Level: LV3]
[Available Currency: 100 Xcoins]
___
[CATEGORIES]
[Skills]
[Weapons]
[Consumables]
[Support Items]
[Partner Items]
[Mystery Shop] (Locked)
[Celestial Items] (Locked)
___
[Recommended For Host]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Basic Mana Potion] – 15 Xcoins
(Restores 30 Mana)
___
[Minor Healing Potion] – 20 Xcoins
(Restores light injuries)
___
[Basic Iron Sword] – 50 Xcoins
(A cheap beginner weapon.)
___
[Dungeon Tracker Stone] – 40 Xcoins
(Detects nearby Gate activity within 300 meters.)
___
[Partner Gift Box] – 100 Xcoins
(Random item capable of increasing Bond Points.)
___
[Beginner Stat Pill] – 80 Xcoins
(Permanently increases a random stat by +1.)
___
[CD] – 10 Xcoins
(Protection during sex with thin yet strong material that gives a near-skin experience while also providing proper protection.)
___
[Stamina Pill] – 20 Xcoins
(Boosts the Host’s stamina by +10 temporarily for 5 minutes.)
___
[Cheap Instant Noodles] – 2 Xcoins
(Recommended for financially struggling Hosts.)
_____
"..."
Reiji stared at the final item silently.
"...System."
Ding!
[Yes Host?]
"...Did you just call me broke?"
[...]
[The Host currently owns 847 yen.]
"..."
[Financially struggling.]
"Shut up." Reiji said with slight irritation. But the system was right after all. He was financially struggling. The reason was because he couldn’t leave the house and he didn’t dare to. So no job.
But despite his parents being loaded, Reiji... or rather the previous Reiji... was independent.
But if he needed something he could use the family card, but with Hina not here, it would lead to several suspicious problems Reiji didn’t want.
Ding!
[Does Host wish to convert his savings to system currency? [Y/N]]
Reiji stared at the system interface. This was definitely the system mocking him in disguise.
So he decided to play the game too.
"1 yen is equal to how many Xcoins?"
Ding!
[1 Xcoin = 1 yen]
Reiji rubbed his chin while staring at the system interface like a professor who had won several Nobel Prizes trying to solve a difficult question.
"So a dollar is equal to how many Xcoins..." Reiji finally asked.
[1 Xcoin = 1 unit of any currency on Earth including dollars, pounds, yen, rupees, yuan, naira etc.]
"..."
"Is there a discount?" frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
[(눈‸눈)]
"...Okay, take half a yen from my savings and convert it to half an Xcoin..."
[...]
Ding!
[Does Host wish to spend 7 days in the Soul Torture Chamber?]
Reiji swallowed. Maybe he had pushed a little too far and didn’t dare bother the system anymore.
After a while of staring at the ceiling, Reiji finally stood up.
"I should probably do something rather than rot myself to death," Reiji said as he dragged himself downstairs.
He grabbed a can of soda from the fridge, plopped onto the couch and turned on the TV.
"I knew you’d be here..."
