Chapter 38: Truth or Dare
"So you want to go skydiving, huh?" I muttered lowly.
Laura nodded excitedly, her eyes shining as she knelt on the bed with her hands on her lap.
Sighing, I pressed my hand to my forehead and asked, "Where did you even watch skydiving that made you interested?"
Even though I hadn’t explored the world to a large extent, I was sure the people of this world hadn’t reached the level of radicality of my former world—to jump off high places just for the thrill.
"I watched it on the Star Stream," Laura responded with a finger on her cheek.
Stretching my neck, I replied, "Of course you did." Walking to the window, I mumbled, "I still don’t know why it sounds so familiar... hmm."
"It’s nighttime, and I don’t know the layout of this place apart from the forests and boutiques, so do you have any locations in mind?"
"And remember we have less than an hour, so let’s make sure we do everything right," I added.
Laura thought for a moment before answering, "I know a spot, and I can fly us there so we don’t waste time."
Nodding, I opened the window and gestured for her to jump out with a neutral expression.
Laura looked at me strangely and asked, "Why can’t we follow the front door?"
"And what would I tell Kurt and his wife? When I’m spotted, don’t forget I have a date with Kurt for the Dragon Ball games," I explained.
Nodding dumbly, Laura flew out of the window, and I followed quietly.
As we walked down the concrete street, still bustling with life, I could hear sounds coming from the nearby bars and markets—but one conversation caught my attention.
"I heard Brinehurst is no different from a mass killing site."
"Yeah? No wonder I always perceived a foul odor whenever I passed through there to the training grounds," another man replied. "I always tell my wife, but she says my nose is too sensitive. But isn’t that all the more reason for her to believe me?!"
The conversation eventually derailed into talks about their wives and the problems they came with, so I stopped eavesdropping.
Not wanting to worry Laura, who seemed to have a lot on her mind, I decided to get to the bottom of this on my own.
"So where is this place you were talking about?" I asked as I stared at the stalls that lined the streets.
"It’s not too far off," Laura replied.
Shrugging, I placed my hands in my pockets and followed diligently.
After a short while, a grassy field bathed in moonlight, its beauty heightened by the silver glow, came into view.
A gentle breeze rippled through the lush green blades, while luminescent insects drifted in the air, adding a touch of magic to the night.
I was in awe as the beautiful scene came into view, and I instinctively turned to Laura, who had a beautiful smile on her face.
"D—did you plan all this?" I asked hesitantly.
Nodding, she asked anxiously, "What do you think?"
I was at a loss for words and couldn’t help but stare blankly at Laura.
"Do you not like it?" she asked with her voice barely above a whisper as she stared at the ground.
Snapping out of my reverie, I answered, "No, I love it. I don’t know what to say. I—"
"Then don’t say anything." She interrupted with a cheeky smile as she placed her finger on my lip.
Removing her finger, she pulled me to the middle of the field—which also happened to have a small stream that flowed to a nearby farm.
"Sit, sit." She gestured as she sat on the ground.
Sitting down with surprise written all over my face, I asked, "You never wanted to go skydiving, did you?"
Chuckling softly, she replied, "What do you think, genius? I can literally fly. Why would I want to jump from a place I can fly to?"
The realization dawned on me, and I scratched the back of my head embarrassingly.
"Now, how about we play a game?" Laura spoke.
Staring at the moon, I answered, "Sure."
Thinking for a moment, she suggested, "Let’s play Truth or Dare."
Facing her, I answered, "Alright then, you go first."
"Okay, Truth or Dare?" she asked excitedly.
"Truth," I answered.
"Hmm, what do you fear the most?" she asked.
My face darkened as I thought of the numerous answers to the question that floated in my mind.
A moment of silence fell over the place before I glanced at Laura, who had worry creeping into her expression, and answered,
"I’m afraid of many things, actually."
"Right off the top of my head, I can think of twenty things that I’ve been afraid of ever since I got reincarnated into this world."
Laura placed her hands on mine as she asked worriedly, "If it’s too much, I could ask another question, or better yet, we could play another game?"
Shaking my head with a smile, I answered, "I’ll be fine. I just need to be selfish and share the burden with someone."
After a brief hesitancy, Laura nodded as she bit her lip softly but didn’t let go of my hands.
"Despite how much I tried to play it cool and go through things the way I’d always read about in my novels—the way main characters did—I was still unsure."
"Unsure if I was even doing things the right way—I don’t know the basics of this world. Heck, I don’t even know the name of the world I was reincarnated into. I’ll be interacting with different species of people, and that scares me. Sure, I was a good negotiator in my past life, but I was never a good conversationalist. How will I cope when I have to join a party or make connections? I haven’t even explored the possibilities of my skills... there’s so much I haven’t done," I spoke in a breath.
"...and you won’t be there to help me anymore," I added as my shoulders slouched.
Neither of us spoke as we both stared into the flowing stream with unreadable expressions.
"You rush things," Laura eventually broke the silence.
"You’ve only been in this world for what? A few months? And you’re already thinking about things you’re supposed to achieve in a year?"
"And MCs that you read about in your books? Are you even listening to yourself? What makes you think you’re the main character—or that there even is such a thing as a main character—in this world, huh?"
"You’ve achieved and gone through so much in so little time to be comparing yourself to a fictional character that you read about."
"Give yourself a chance and go through things one step at a time. If it’s the Clark that I know, I’m a hundred percent sure that he’ll be able to handle whatever the universe throws at him," Laura finished with a reassuring smile on her face.
I remained silent and fiddled with my hands before asking, "Do you think I’ll be able to do it?"
Laura laughed and answered, "It’s going to be a long and hard journey—especially without me, but I’m a hundred percent sure you’ll survive."
Rolling my eyes at her smug smile, I splashed the water a little before saying, "Thanks for this."
"You’re welcome."
[Ding!]
[Dissociation time imminent!]
[19:14]
A constant ringing sound resounded unfeelingly as a blue interface appeared in front of us.
"Guess we don’t have much time," Laura spoke.
I nodded in response, and a thought immediately crossed my mind: "What would happen to the system and the missions when you leave?"
She thought for a while before answering, "I was only meant to be a guide, so it should still be functional. But there won’t be as many missions compared to previous times."
Lying on the grass with a resigned smile, I said, "I’m scared of one more thing."
Laura lay next to me silently as she waited for me to speak.
"Going back to the Rothschilds," I revealed.
Laura’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she asked, "Why is that?"
Glancing at her with a wry smile, I answered, "Miriam."
Laura’s eyes turned cold for a moment but reverted so quickly that you’d wonder if it was even there in the first place.
"What about her?" she asked in a neutral tone.
Turning my side to face her properly, I answered, "You know what I’m talking about."
"No, I don’t know," she answered with a deadpan look as she turned her back towards me.
’Haaaa... how am I going to go about this, and in less than eighteen minutes, no less?’ I mused.
’I’ve never been in a serious relationship, but if all the romantic media I consumed over time was even remotely correct, then this should work.’
Thinking thus far, I inched closer to Laura and slowly wrapped my arms around her, placing my hands on her stomach. Her body jolted slightly at the touch, but other than that, she gave no other reaction.
"Isn’t she supposed to stammer, saying something like, ’W—what do you think you’re doing?! What am I supposed to do now?’"
I was panicking inwardly, but I had come too far to chicken out now.
Taking a deep breath, I decided to say whatever I felt at the moment and see where it led me.
"You’re my first companion," I whispered.
"I’m not a scummy person that would continually chase after girls, but the mark you and Miriam have left on my heart is too big to ignore."
Closing my eyes, I rested my head close to hers, her warmth brushing against me, and though her body stiffened at first, it gradually eased into my touch.
"I’ve agonized over this more times than I’d like to admit. Although I’m not at the level where I could properly have either of you—nor am I sure I could ever reach said level—I just wanted you to know how I felt."
There was no response from Laura, but I waited patiently as I continually inhaled the rosy scent that emanated from her hair.
"Do I have a say in this?" she asked with a tiny voice.
"Yes." I nodded.
"I don’t like sharing, but I know how she makes you feel, and I know I have a much bigger place in your heart, so I’ll allow it, just this once."
I smiled warmly and jumped over her back to face her.
A heavy blush, half-hidden beneath her loose strands of hair, came into view; her eyes trembled, unable to meet mine.
Tucking her hair behind her ear with a loving gaze, I spoke, "It’s going to be a long while before I’ll be able to stand next to either of you, but I’ll be selfish and ask that you wait for me. Is that too much to ask?"
Laura shook her head slightly as she thought, ’He’s really close’.
Looking at his perfectly chiseled face and glowing blue eyes that shone brightly, she was in a daze.
’I really love him’.
A wide smile formed on her face, coupled with the blush that never left; her beauty was heightened to a godly degree.
’I want to kiss him’.
’I want to kiss her’.
Two thoughts with the same purpose.
The result?
A kiss that conveyed their emotions better than any words could.
After a while of lip contact, they pulled away breathlessly and stared deep into each other’s eyes.
"How much time do we have left?" Laura asked as she caught her breath.
"Five minutes," I responded.
"..."
Noticing her sad expression, I came up with an idea and suggested, "I saw some nice earrings on our way here; I could buy them for you?"
Her eyes visibly lit up as she nodded enthusiastically.
Smiling softly, I stood up and pulled her with me as we adjusted our crooked clothes.
Staring at the picturesque landscape once more, we walked in the direction of the market square.
...
A being with scaly red skin and white eyes hid in a tree close to the location where one visible person lay some moments ago.
Its crusty face formed a frown as it climbed down with its four feet and crawled to the spot where he lay.
"Eil-vrahn ti-sho nehre, Jamirhe rmodi jorr wiajl," it spoke with a croaky voice.
After sniffing the spot for a little longer, it disappeared from the location with a face filled with confusion.
---
Hello, author here. I was really tired today, but I love you guys, so I had no choice but to wake up at 5 a.m. to write this.
In the last text, you’d notice that there was a weird-looking language there. Well, that’s a new language I cooked up for this species, and it’ll be translated here:
"Divinity was here. Master has to know about this."
If you want more of this, just say so and I’ll add it to the auxiliary Chapters.
Peace out ✌️ (hehehe, powerstones~)