Waiting for the Rabbit to Come

The system was still the same system.

Its random weekly items were always somewhere between useful and ridiculous.

There was nothing to think about. Noah spent two thousand points without hesitation and bought the Rokushiki Iron Body Skill Scroll, by now an old hand at the process.

The remaining items would take some careful consideration.

"Wasn't the Taijutsu Training Acceleration Card I bought before 1,000 points for seven days?"

He stared at the 60-day card, pondering. "So 60 days costs 10,000? Seven times eight is fifty-six, eight times eight is sixty-four. Even if you multiply the days by eight, it should only cost 8,000 at most, right?"

Seriously, it was bad enough that buying in bulk didn't get you a discount, but how had they secretly tacked on another two thousand?

What a rip-off.

If his mental arithmetic hadn't been so good, he might never have noticed the scam.

But there was no helping it. Even with the price hike, this item was indispensable. He still had to buy it.

Ten thousand points later, the Acceleration Card was his.

"Only eighteen thousand points left..."

As Noah was figuring out how to choose among the remaining items, he happened to notice a discreet little button at the bottom of the shop. When he clicked it, detailed descriptions appeared for each item.

He was certain this feature hadn't been there before. For the items from the previous two weeks, he'd had to buy them before he could check them in his inventory.

It was a very useful improvement. It would keep him from getting tricked by an item's name and wasting his points—a pleasant surprise.

"Looks like the system's features will gradually improve as the game progresses."

To compare it to an RPG, he was still in the beginner's village. There were plenty of things he'd have to wait to unlock until he entered the main city and explored.

Noah was looking forward to the system's new features.

The two items he'd already bought were old favorites, so there was no need to check them again. He went straight down the list and read the descriptions of the other four items.

[Name: Gravity Training Field]

[Type: Permanent Item]

[Description: Can be activated or deactivated at any time with a thought. Once activated, the player can freely adjust the gravitational force acting on his body. The standard gravity of the current world is 1 unit, with a minimum setting of 1 and a maximum setting of 100.]

[Note: A treasure from King Kai's Planet. Its high price is because getting one from North Kai is no easy feat.]

["You'll have to tell me a joke and make me laugh!"]

"Must-buy."

Noah gave his opinion in a few simple words.

[Name: Blue-Eyes White Dragon Summoning Card]

[Type: Consumable]

[Description: When used, it can summon a virtual projection of a fully grown Blue-Eyes White Dragon anywhere within a radius of 500 meters. The projection can move freely under the player's control, but cannot cause any damage to or affect the real world in any way. Total uses remaining: (3/3)]

[Note: A cheap, low-end summoning card that doesn't seem to be of much use. But as a man, who could possibly turn down a Normal Monster with an attack power of 3,000?]

"Exactly."

Noah nodded emphatically. "I can't turn one down, so this is a must-buy too."

[Name: Infinite Luosifen]

[Type: Permanent Item]

[Description: When used, the player receives a large bowl of prepared luosifen. The entire bowl must be finished before it can be used again. No cooldown and no limit on the number of uses.]

[Note: The deity who created this item originally intended it to be a simple staple food that could fill your stomach, like red bean bread. But everyone knows that a first draft and the finished product are always at least a tiny bit different.]

[At least you can use this thing as a weapon. When you're angry, dump it over your enemy's head. It might not do much damage, but it'll be deeply humiliating.]

["It's pickled bamboo shoots! I added pickled bamboo shoots!"]

An item that could guarantee he'd never go hungry sounded pretty useful too. He should get it.

He just wasn't sure how spicy it was.

"..." Noah instinctively touched his backside, his eyes sharpening.

"If I could choose, I'd rather have Infinite Red Bean Bread. I wouldn't mind eating it until I felt sick. At least I wouldn't have to risk bleeding down there..."

Besides, there was always Moss Head in this world. Whenever he got tired of bread, Moss Head could bring him a fragrant bowl of Japanese ramen.

[Name: Clock-out Reminder]

[Type: Permanent Item]

[Description: None]

"What does that mean?" Noah was heartbroken. "Just because it's a cheap item that costs five hundred points, it doesn't deserve any rights? It doesn't need a detailed description? This is blatant discrimination and a double standard!"

He didn't need the thing himself, but what if the person who activated the system was some lecherous, monkey-faced old man?

For him, it'd be an absolute necessity! What was the point of leaving out the description?

Unforgivable!

In summary.

Aside from the Clock-out Reminder, which he had no desire to buy whatsoever, all three of the other items were must-buys.

But he had barely any points left, so... he couldn't put off the side quest any longer. It was about time he went to make a withdrawal.

Noah closed the status panel, turned, and headed straight into the ship. He made his way to the second floor and stopped outside a private suite, the sort of room only senior officers were entitled to occupy alone.

He didn't knock. He simply leaned against the wall opposite the door and gazed silently at the familiar entrance.

A porthole was beside him. The morning sunlight broke into countless tiny spots of light that fell across his face.

Some young female Marines passing across the deck below happened to look up and caught sight of the handsome black-haired boy's heart-stirring profile.

His face was calm, his brows slightly furrowed, his gaze distant.

Noah looks so handsome when he's deep in thought, too. What's he thinking about? Is something bothering him? If only I could read his mind...

That was more or less what was going through the minds of the blushing Marine girls.

They stopped in their tracks, and only came back to themselves after their companions urged them on. Reluctantly, they tore their eyes away.

Noah hadn't noticed what was happening below. At that moment, he really was thinking hard about something.

It just had nothing to do with being troubled.

"Time for my second-favorite activity: flirting with Momousagi..."

Noah mused to himself, his brows drawing tighter and tighter. "Wait, no. Lately, I think I've been enjoying chatting up pretty girls more and more. This isn't good."

Damn it, even his favorite activity, training, seemed to be losing its place.

Come to think of it, what did you call this behavior—waiting outside Momousagi's door for her to wake up?

Waiting for the rabbit to come?

A gentle sea breeze drifted in through the porthole, leaving him inexplicably refreshed.

Noah stretched, then lazily yawned. Just then, the door in front of him swung open, and a rabbit with a sleepy face, also yawning, suddenly appeared before him.

The two yawning people froze at the same time, staring at each other.

An eerie silence settled over the hallway.

After a long while.

Momousagi finally raised an eyebrow and broke the silence.

"That's unusual, young man."

She looked at Noah with an amused smile. "You're not at the training room getting in extra practice first thing in the morning. What are you doing outside my door?"

The anime concentration in this chapter was off the charts. If you got some of the jokes, you're clearly a longtime anime fan. (Laughs)