"Oh, and within your talent, you have the ability to a.n.a.lyze anything, anyone . The more you increase your relations.h.i.+p with someone, the more you'll see . Including secrets, without their knowledge . They may even tell you things . So be kind . "

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The way Mortem said the word, kind, tipped Clyde off a little . Main characters of anime trait? No, don't overthink it, Clyde . He needed to keep his head straight and get out as soon as possible . If that meant leveling up, he'd do so . Like an RPG, right?

This didn't have to be all bad . If the being was true to his word, they'd take him back to his timeline and he'd shake off this whole thing like a bad hangover . Not that Clyde drank . He wasn't good with alcohol . He became a master of excuses to avoid attending his friends' parties just so he wouldn't be urged into drinking . He'd turn it down; peer pressure wasn't a problem—but people would get curious . Ask too many questions . Call him out .

"Before I go," Mortem said, "Remember this . All rules of anime apply here . Oh, and…you may want to invest in a bus pa.s.s or a bike . Bye . "

"Wait!"

Too late . The being vanished and time resumed . The map icon appeared on the corner of his mind's eye . Fortunately, his apartment wasn't too far away .

As he walked, Clyde couldn't help but be amazed that he was actually living in an anime . The setting, the people, everything . He found it surprising they didn't make him deal with Yen, the j.a.panese currency . Dollars? How boring .

When he rounded a corner, he caught sight of a wallet on the ground . No one else seemed to care, so he picked it up and glanced at the ID . Some pink-haired girl named Harumi Akagi . Or if one wanted to be full weaboo, reverse the first and last name, Clyde thought .

The culprit just happened to be the person walking away, dressed in a school uniform .

Something inside Clyde stirred . A warning sign? This could be his awfully annoying, cliched start to his own anime . Still, there was no need to be a d.i.c.k . He didn't want anyone to steal this girl's money . He bet she lived alone like a lot of anime characters did and depended on it for survival . If so, she was clumsy . f.u.c.king careless . But hey, s.h.i.+t happened right? Maybe he being here is more of a coincidence than arrogance .

Just then, a prompt appeared in Clyde's vision .

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[QUEST: return the wallet to Harumi . Accept: Yes or No . If you do not accept, you will be suspected of theft . Reward: 5 EXP and 5 dollars . ]

Well, there goes that choice, Clyde thought as he accepted the quest . Easy experience and five dollars . Better than nothing, Clyde guessed . He hurried to the girl .

"Excuse me . "

She turned around to look at him .

"You dropped your wallet . "

The anime girl gasped and blushed .

"Thank you so much," she said as she gave him a short j.a.panese-style bow .

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[QUEST COMPLETED . You have received the reward . Your relations.h.i.+p with Harumi has changed from Stranger to Friendly . Returning someone's wallet to them without stealing from it truly shows your character . In a cold world, you are a warm light . ]

"It's no problem . Just be careful . " Clyde headed off before she could say another word . Or so he thought he was going to be long gone .

"It looks like we're heading in the same direction," the girl, Harumi said . She held out a hand . "I'm Harumi . "

Clyde was thankful they didn't do the honorifics here—he didn't want his life to be even more of a pain in the a.s.s . He accepted her handshake .

"Clyde . I'm new in town," he said . "I'm headed to my apartment . "

"Wait . You must be the new neighbor I heard we were getting," Harumi said . "They loaded the vacant apartment next to mine with a bunch of furniture and stuff . "

Clyde held his neutral expression, but inside, he was baffled . He didn't want to deal with any annoying anime tropes, yet they were fluttering to him, like blood-starved leeches . If he got sucked into some weird s.h.i.+t, he'd never get home . h.e.l.l, he could be even killed by a…yandere . Just like Mortem warned . They were rare in anime, but one could never be too careful . He'd try to avoid raising the relations.h.i.+p stat . Pink-haired anime girls were dangerous .

"Let me buy you lunch before we head back to the apartments," Harumi said . As if on cue, Clyde's stomach growled, anime-style . He sighed as hunger flooded through him . He couldn't ignore basic needs .

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"If…you don't mind," he said then gave the girl a sheepish smile .

[SECRET QUEST COMPLETED . By accepting Harumi's kind hospitality, you received the following rewards: 10 EXP . A 5 % boost to your relations.h.i.+p gain with Harumi and any of her friends . 5 dollars . Making friends is an important step in adapting to your new life here . ]

Clyde didn't like the sound of that but thanked Harumi for treating him . While they ate ramen, he unintentionally got to know her a little better . It turned out that the uniform she wore, which was a blue s.h.i.+rt and skirt combo, belonged to the academy in which he'd be attending . Clyde just f.u.c.king knew she'd be in his cla.s.s . The system had him by the throat . She'd probably call after him as he left to walk home together . This…was a slice of life trap and if Clyde didn't do anything, he'd be stuck in it . How would he level up if he's stuck at a slow pace? Level grind at night . Risk sleep? A good way to end up with debuffs for the day . He pushed the thoughts aside as they reached the apartments .

"Do you need any help settling in?" Harumi said . Clyde felt a little bad for his thinking earlier . What was it Mortem said: everyone here had consciousness, a life . Maybe he won't find himself sucked into any tropes after all . He knew he'd be naïve to believe that, but hey, a guy could dream .

"That's okay, you've helped me a lot already," Clyde said then smiled . "See you around . "

Harumi's door was only some feet away from his, so she smiled warmly at him as she slowly unlocked the door to her place . He accessed his inventory and willed the key to appear in his pocket . To his relief, it did . He reached into his pocket, pulled out the golden key, and unlocked the door .

The apartment looked quite luxurious . Fully furnished, TV included . The kitchen had s.h.i.+ny floors of marble accompanied by a stainless-steel fridge, granite countertops, stove, microwave, toaster, and even a blender . Clyde hoped he didn't have to pay any rent—because he'd be screwed . The place may look like anime, but as if the artist put years into the details . This wasn't a two-dimensional plane of existence, but everything still had the appearance of a two-dimensional anime . Maybe on steroids .

The large living room had nice fluffy black sofas accompanied with a fifty-inch smart TV . Glossy floors . Clyde's room was nice and tidy . He peeked into a closet full of casual clothing and school uniforms . A paper awaited him on a nightstand . It revealed that the academy was a college . Somehow, he knew it'd be ran like an anime high school . He kept his status as first year . His eyes widened when it said all earned credits would be transferred into his record on Earth . His time wasn't wasted . Good .

His list of cla.s.ses wasn't too strange . Well except for one . Thankfully, next to them indicated how the credits would be transferred . Interesting .

Cla.s.ses:

Satovia History 1

Romance Literature 1

Sciences 1

Crafting 1

Clyde could live with this . He checked the clock on his nightstand . Five . The only thing that really kept him from losing his s.h.i.+t was Mortem's warning . The words promising to return Clyde to his timeline .

He opened a drawer and found what he was looking for . School supplies . He wrote a reminder to himself, accessed his inventory and placed the note inside . No use of being completely unprepared for practice . Clyde was no stranger to a.s.sumptions and false hopes, so he pushed aside the thought of home for the moment . He was really in an anime world . He rushed to the bathroom and stared at what he saw reflected back . An anime version of himself . He flinched but focused . To his relief, the illusion went transparent . There, reflected his true self . He was still alive, not in some afterlife, maybe after having some ridiculous heart attack or being hit by a truck . Mortem and his masters were playing a game . He and this Viper were the pieces . That thought infuriated Clyde, but what could he do?

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