Chapter Five
"Chester."
The name left Monica's lips as she exited Ren's apartment. Her once bright eyes instantly dulled upon seeing a man of five foot eleven in front of her, holding a bouquet of flowers.
"Baby, I've been looking everywhere for you." Chester scrunched his eyebrows as he began to advance in her direction, his polished leather shoes clicking against the cheap hallway tiles with each step he took. "You've been avoiding my calls again. You know how I feel about that right?"
Monica moved backwards with each of Chester's advances till her ass collided with Ren's, who just exited the apartment and was fumbling with keys trying to lock it.
"I'm so sorry, Mr Esper!" Monica apologised, flustered, moving away from Ren as her cheeks began to turn the colour of a tomato again.
Click.
Ren finally managed to close the door and turn around to access the situation at hand.
"Miss. Monica, is everything okay?" He raised his eyebrow, staring at the guy bearing a bouquet and then at the lady clutching her purse.
Monica opened her mouth to offer Ren an explanation. However, Chester beat her to it. "Monica, who is this fucker? Are you cheating on me?" Chester grabbed Monica's milky white arm in a bone crushing grip as his ugly face got even uglier.
"Let go, Chester... You're hurting me." Tears filled Monica's ruby eyes as she tried to free her hand from Chester's grip.
Ren's body stilled as Monica's words replayed in his brain.
'Oh! I'm used to pain.'
The easy, slightly amused expression that had been on his face moments ago hardened as Monica's whimpers of pain filled his ears.
"Release her."
Ren warned in an unamused tone as he slipped the apartment keys into his pocket, letting his hands fall loosely at sides. His eyes remained fixed like a hawk on Chester's, making Chester swallow the lump in his throat as he still tried to act brave.
"Who the hell do you think you're talking to? This is between me and my girl." Chester yanked Monica closer, using the grip on her arm as she stumbled forward with a soft whimper. "I spent three hundred bucks on these flowers for this whore. And now, I find her sneaking out of some broke-ass guy's apartment—"
"Chester, please, it's not like that—" Monica begged, tears running down her cheeks as her hands tried to loosen Chester's grip.
"Shut up, whore." Chester hissed without sparing Monica a glance as he kept his locked on Ren, ignoring his trembling feet. "Get lost, loser. Do you even know who the fuck I am?!"
"Release her." Ren repeated the same two words again, unbothered by the threat. His expression blank as before, making the anger coursing in Chester's veins spike up.
"Who do you think you are to tell me the fuck to do?!" Chester pushed Monica as he charged towards Ren, completely blinded in his anger. However, before his slow punch could have even hit Ren in the face, time stopped.
Chester. Monica. Even, the fly buzzing around. Froze in their respective motions.
['WRATH' and 'PRIDE' are bored by the host's lack of action. The tutorial mission is paused. Re-assigning a new mission…]
[Special Mission Assigned : Show The Mofo His Place]
[Show The Mofo His Place : Beat Chester up in a way that entertains and makes 'WRATH' and 'PRIDE' satisfied.]
[Rewards:]
<1 - Memories Of The Previous Owner>
<2 - An Unexpected Useful Connection>
[Penalty:]
<1 - Get Beaten Almost To Death With No Money For Hospital Bills>
<2 - Lose The Opportunity To Have Monica As A Love Interest>
<3 - Lose All The Nineteen Dollars In Bank And Loansharks Find You Immediately>
<4 - Deletion Of The System>
[Note : The tutorial mission will resume after the new mission. No progress made shall be lost.]
[Time remaining before automatic failure : 59 seconds]
Ren didn't even get another moment to blink as time unpaused. Thanks to his military instincts, Ren swiftly turned sideways on his heels while putting his right leg out, causing Chester to lose his balance and fall flat on his face.
BAM!
"Monica!"
A panicked female sound came from the other end of the corridor, making Ren tear his eyes from Chester to see the new character that had entered the stage.
"Crystal…" A whimper left Monica's lips as Crystal instantly got on her knees as she wrapped her arms around Monica, checking her body for injuries while her platinum hair covered her face from Ren's view.
[Time remaining before automatic failure : 24 seconds]
'Still?!' Ren's eyes scrunched in confusion as he stared at the pulsing red translucent screen that flashed in front of his eyes, immediately dulling the view of the two women he was staring at.
[The host must offer a blow to the designated opponent to stop the automatic failure.]
[Time remaining before automatic failure : 19 seconds]
"You're going to pay for this, fucker!" Chester yelled, standing right back on his feet as he charged at Ren again.
"Mr Esper! Watch out!" Monica's worried eyes matched Ren's through the pulsing red screen as Crystal flipped her platinum hair finally allowing Ren to stare into a pair of clear oceanic blue eyes.
Ren's eyes immediately drowned into the ocean as his other hand raised instinctively, blocking Chester's incoming punch while he threw one of his own at his nose without sparing him a glance or letting go of Chester's fist.
BAM!
[Mission has been successfully accepted! Please proceed to complete the mission successfully.]
The pulsing red turned to a calm blue once again as Ren's grip tightened on Chester's trapped fist. Ren yanked the man toward him, meeting his momentum with a rising knee to Chester's abdomen as he knocked all air in his system out.
"Heuk!" Chester wheezed as tears filled his eyes. Ren, however, was completely unbothered by Chester's pain as he let go of him, allowing Chester to fall on his knees and vomit. "Bleghhhh!"
To Crystal's surprise, the handsome man who had just saved her friend, never once broke his eye contact with her nor did he seem to be feeling proud that he had just beaten up a guy.
'Is he some undercover military agent already hired by someone else?' Crystal scrunched her eyebrows, thinking as she watched Ren make his way in her direction, completely ignoring a vomiting Chester on the floor.
Ren immediately snatched Monica from Crystal's embrace as he lifted her up in his arms, making Crystal follow his movements.
'Are all women on this planet that big?' Ren couldn't help but wonder as his virgin eyes were fixed on Crystal's huge breasts covered under her high neck top and her model-like body that barely seemed to reach his neck.
"I'm s-sorry, M-Mr. E-Esper." Monica whimpered, apologetically as tears filled her ruby red eyes again, making Ren tear his gaze from Crystal for the first time since she entered.
"Let's go to the hospital first, Miss Monica. It seems you have a habit of twisting ankles."
[Special Mission Completed Successfully!]
['WRATH' has been entertained by Chester's beating and his current state.]
['PRIDE' is satisfied by the fact Chester was given no importance and ignored throughout the mission duration.]
[Rewards have been transferred to the host.]
[Tutorial Mission is resumed….]