The duo returned to Toru and Kitome then explained the situation .

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"We'll need to do something about her later," Toru said, "but for now, let's focus on making mystery man here less embarra.s.sing . "

Clyde's glare combated against Toru's defensive, but somehow playful, blank look . He shook his head .

"Freaking rich boy types," he muttered as he pushed past Toru .

[Toru and Kitome have temporary joined your party!]

The group decided to hang out at Clyde's apartment, against his protests . He didn't feel any joy from impressing Toru, but the girls were fine . Chika's texts came a bit more frequently . She even asked to call, but Clyde lied, stating it was a bad time . He considered inviting the silver-haired young woman over, but came to his senses, realizing this was a battle party, not a regular party . At eight, Clyde received a welcoming prompt .

[Quest completed . You have earned 20 EXP and $20]

[Quest: Explore the dangerous, super deadly night city . This quest is mandatory and cannot be refused . Reward: $50 and 150 EXP . ]

"Let's get moving," Toru said .

"Who died and made you leader," Clyde said but was met with a blank stare . "I'm kidding . Let's go . "

"Your sense of humor is lacking, weakling," Toru said then stepped outside . Clyde muttered a few choice words under his breath then followed . He pulled his sword out of his inventory, causing everyone to flinch, jump back, and stare at him open-mouthed .

"How did…you made a sword appear out of thin air," Kitome said then touched the handle . "It's real . How did you do that?"

Clyde's eyes widened . They knew nothing about inventories . Should he tell them? Would that bring Mortem down on him? Oh well, Clyde thought .

"You mean you don't have an inventory?"

"Inventory?" Harumi said .

"I guess this is one of my abilities," Clyde said . "I can store items in a separate dimension and view them as a list in my head . Whenever I need something, I select it and pop, summon it . "

"Oh, that is so cool!" Toru exclaimed, surprising everyone . He cleared his throat . "Go on . "

Clyde gave him a victorious smirk then said, "that's pretty much the gist of it . I can't go telling all of my secrets . " The starry eyes of Harumi and Kitome made the young man frown . "Let's go before I grow old standing here . "

The group nodded at Clyde, which made him sigh, then off they went . It didn't take long for the first enemy to show up, two blocks away . A creature with blue skin and pointy ears sp.a.w.ned from seemingly nothing . It stood at a height of three feet . It glared at them with large yellow eyes the size of softb.a.l.l.s, irises as dark as midnight . Clyde found it funny that it wore a dark brown loin cloth . He a.n.a.lyzed it .

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Generic Imp

Level: 10

Type: monster .

Clyde canceled out the rest of the prompt, not in the mood for the sa.s.s . He decided to beat everyone to the punch and attack .

[Your party has entered combat!]

He dashed at the imp, activating Precise slash . The imp dodged, laughing .

"You humans are ballzy, I'll give you that," it said in a comical voice . "Let me repay your kindness . " The imp kicked Clyde in a spot that lowered his chances of having kids, just a bit . The young man squealed and collapsed, holding his groin . "I call that attack, the nutcracker . " The imp laughed .

[Clyde took a critical hit!]

[Clyde's HP remaining: 78%]

[Clyde is stunned!] .

Toru shook his head .

"Clyde if you're going to be the man of mystery with a cool ability to store literally anything in a pocket dimension, please try not to embarra.s.s yourself . "

Clyde groaned and tried to ignore the facepalms of the women . Toru suddenly moved fast—almost a blur . His hook sent the Imp upward . A glowing giant pink heart emerged from Kitome's direction and finished the job .

[Battle completed . Victory! Reward: 50 EXP and $20 . ]

Clyde felt Harumi's healing touch . A second later, the pain vanished, enabling him to stand .

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[Your HP has fully restored . ]

"Well, that happened," Clyde said . Harumi giggled .

"I should tell you the story of Toru and the goat . "

Toru blurred over to Harumi and covered her mouth .

"Don't you dare . Or I'll unveil what happened at the beach . "

She laughed as he removed his hand .

"Fine, fine, it's a truce . "

Toru sighed in relief . Clyde laughed inside . If he raised his relations.h.i.+p high enough with Toru, he may learn that secret . He pushed the evil thought to the back on his mind .

The party continued the patrol and encountered seven pumkos, marching like a group of soldiers .

[Your party has entered combat!]

"They're all level thirteen . Good," Kitome said . "This is where you'll haul some experience . "

Clyde's eye twitched as she donned a twenty-second transformation . For some reason unexplained reason, the enemies politely waited . When she finished, one them clapped .

"Bravo, bravo . Your naked view is appreciated," a pumko said, causing the magical girl to blush furiously . "Ah, smells so nice . So hungry . Come girl . "

It wiggled a black tongue at her .

[Enemy used taunt!]

[Kitome is enraged . ]

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Kitome dashed toward the group and unleashed a flurry of punches that did nothing to the creatures .

"Ah s.h.i.+t, she's going to end up getting raped," Clyde said as he raced forward, Toru and Harumi following . He took an internal note of the slight combat changes with a party . He'd also have to learn to fight with them properly . He struck at the first pumko with Precise slash then followed up with a roundhouse kick .

With hands outstretched, Harumi unleashed incredible magic . Clyde's jaw dropped .

[Harumi casted Thunder streaks . ]

Streaks of electricity jolted from her fingers and covered the monsters . They screamed .

[All enemies are stunned!]

[Toru used Brawl shout!]

"Kill them!" he yelled .

[Party attack boosted by 15% . Party fighting spirit increased by 20%]

Clyde felt the effect of the skill enter him, intoxicate him . He whooped with the others and soon, they were beating the s.h.i.+t out of group of monsters .

[Battle completed . Victory! Reward: 400 EXP and $220 . ]

[Congratulations, you have reached level 7! Stats increased! You have learned Scatter Shot!]

[You have earned 3 free points which could be distributed to any of your stats . Use them wisely . ]

Clyde smiled, hyped . His hopes have been confirmed . Distributable stat points are the honey and s.e.x of every gamer . He'd save these up, jam them toward one stat and see what happened .

"We're not done yet," Toru said . "If there was a squad of these things moping about here, there's a chance that the leader's nearby . He's most likely a minor official in the demon lord's army . "

"The demon lord's army," Clyde said then sighed . "I seriously hope you guys aren't talking about going up against an entire freaking army . "

"No, idiot," Kitome said . "We're aiming for the demon lord, but in the meantime, picking off his officials will make things easier . "

"Well, it's not the worse plan I've heard," Clyde said, "but if it levels me up, I'll take it . "

The party continued throughout the streets, avoided a police patrol that pa.s.sed by every now and then, and slaughtered another handful of imps and pumkos .

The police especially bugged Clyde . With the increase of monsters, they weren't accomplis.h.i.+ng anything . What if the demon lord had roots in the city government?

Just then, he spotted a pet.i.te young woman sitting on the bench, eating a candy bar without a care in the world . The blonde hair with twin tails triggered his anime trope senses .

This scene wouldn't be disturbing if monsters didn't roam the city like bottomless gluttons . The news already reported missing people every now and then . Mostly the homeless, but a few late workers vanished too . Clyde put up a hand and then silently pointed at the girl . His party nodded and followed him .

"Excuse me," Clyde said to the girl . She ignored him, munching heavily at the last of her chocolate bar . "Hey, it's dangerous out here . You may want to go inside . " The girl continued to ignore him, driving his anger . He shook his head then turned to the others . "Forget it . h.e.l.l, watching her tackle that thing makes me want to chomp up the cupcakes you brought over, Harumi . "

Abruptly, the girl stood, starry-eyed . Clyde turned back to her . "What's gotten into you? Are you back to earth yet?"

"You said cupcakes," she said then wiped away what Clyde hoped wasn't drool .

"Yeah," Clyde said . "And?"

"I want cupcakes . "

"You could just walk to the convenient store—"

"Give me cupcakes," she said, well into Clyde's personal bubble . "And I don't have any money . My boss is lousy at paying us . "

The sweet scent of perfume and…candy, surprised Clyde a little . Still, just because she had a pretty face—Harumi barged in between the two .

"Who are you?" she said . "Anyone with an ounce of wit wouldn't be out here after dark, unless they had a way to manage . "

"I want cupcakes!" the girl suddenly paused, her eyes gazing at Harumi's chest . Clyde stepped back, feeling the tension in the air . He also pretended that he didn't notice the girl's lack of…Harumi's secret weapons . The girl glared at him anyway before poking at a b.o.o.b . "It's not fair . "

Harumi gave her a confused look, but Clyde figured she knew d.a.m.n well what the girl implied . She stepped back .

"I am among the eyes of the great demon lord!" she said, pointing at the group . "Remember that! Especially you…you cow . " She ran .

"s.h.i.+t, catch her," Clyde said, rus.h.i.+ng forward but suddenly, the girl disappeared . "Dammit . I should've a.n.a.lyzed her . "

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