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Itaru was so thoroughly distracted, tense and alert for hidden enemies, that he didn't realize he was already standing in front of his mission location, until his phone started vibrating.
Pulling it out of his side-pocket, he saw the two rapidly blinking red figures standing in front of the marked x on the screen. Besides alerting Itaru for his missions and enemies, the smartphone also showcased a miniature map of the 24th floor, with countless corridors and hotspots clustered with monsters that he was desperately trying to avoid.
Shoving his phone aside, Itaru scanned the hallway he left behind, before analyzing the area in front of him.
A glass wall blocked his entrance, but Itaru could see the room inside was empty, with lone cubicles, scattered supplies and overhead lights that flickered on and off. To his left was a glass door with an electronic code lock, which probably required the password he acquired earlier.
Beside him, Izumi moved closer, pressing herself against the glass. For a minute, he watched her tiny form, hovering in space with the wings on her back flickering from blue to red to green, a sign she was feeling agitated by something, and scanning the area for traces of mana.
Gosh. Even in her miniature faerie form, she was adorable.
Before he could stop himself, Itaru patted her tiny head with one finger, a gesture meant to wave her concerns away, and because he couldn't help himself.
As Izumi reached for a lock of his hair to tug painfully in retaliation, Itaru simply moved away and punched in the code for the glass room before them. Standing back, he braced himself as the doors slid open with a hiss.
When he took a step inside, he was immediately ambushed by several black shadowy wraiths, remnants of an old demonic power, swaying in the wind and determined to destroy him. He deftly avoided them, sliding to the left and slicing them down with the katana on his back one by one. Like an indescribable tingle, he could feel his experience rise at the same time he cut down their health points.
By the time he reached Chikage's desk, however, Itaru was breathing heavily, and leaning against the desk for support.
When he turned, he felt another sensation pass through him, a lightness that made it easier to breathe again, and his muscles relaxing.
Izumi's healing magic.
Itaru felt his mana power and health points recover fully to 100%.
"Thanks," Itaru shot her a grin.
Izumi tilted her head to the side. "No problem."
It wasn't hard to distinguish Senpai's desk, neat, unobtrusive, and free of personal belongings, minus the obviously misplaced spice rack in the center and a laptop, which was locked with a password.
Itaru flipped the laptop open, typed in the special words they learned from the Spice Quest an hour earlier, and watched as the second drawer on his left automatically slid open.
Quickly, Itaru fished for the item inside, which was a shining, silver coin. Words flashed before him, bright bold letters that he let wash over his consciousness.
[You have earned Chikage's coin. This will allow you to summon him in battle now.]
The coin flickered out of existence, and he let himself sigh in relief.
On their way to the first floor, Itaru reviewed the objects they've collected for the past hours, sliding his smartphone open to the [summons] category, while Izumi peered over his shoulder.
Itaru was frowning at Masumi's earphones, mildly annoyed with his stats, including his strengths and weaknesses in battle. As much Itaru loathed to admit it, the boy dealt extra damage with his sharp tongue and quick reflexes. Masumi's versatility with various weapons made him a useful summon, if only the boy wasn't distracted by the tiny faerie every three seconds, and actually followed Itaru's orders for once, instead of cutting him down (accidentally) every three seconds.
Itaru swiped to the next photo, and Citron Jr's empty, but endearing eyes stared back at him. This particular stuffed item took longer to acquire, since it involved a lot of trekking in areas outside the office building, but he needed Citron, who immensely doubled Izumi's offensive magic. The downside was that they still lacked the complementary weapon for him, unlockable only through a secret quest, which they have yet to find.
Then, there was Senpai, whose stats were overpowered even as a summon character, and whose particular item took hours to acquire because of various boss-level monsters on the way to the 24th floor, and a handful of secret Spice Quests that only crazy spice lovers could recognize. But Itaru needed him in particular if he planned to win the final mission.
Mildly satisfied with his inspection, Itaru swiped over to his profile, scanning his stats, and making sure they were at their maximum limit, as well as seeing if his weapons were all updated at a level he preferred.
Itaru suddenly felt Izumi bouncing on his shoulders, trying to get his attention. Her hand was pointing at something on screen. "You could do some more antidote potions and buffers. And the Bane of Demons could use more improvement."
Itaru contemplated that for a moment, before he shook his head.
"It's fine."
Izumi stomped her tiny foot in protest, wings fluttering in a red color. "But-"
"It's fine," Itaru reassured her again. "I'm not going to use Bane of Demons anyway. It's too heavy for me in battle. I plan to switch it out with Saint's Protection at the Final End."
He also did not want to admit that he would rather not trek back to a specific location in the office, and hunt down extra materials for a weapon he didn't favor- materials also likely guarded by an annoying monster boss.
Itaru didn't want to admit he was feeling too lazy to get them, actually.
Izumi still didn't look appeased for some reason.
Aiming to distract her, he leaned in closer. "Are you worried about me, director?"
She glared at him. "I don't want you to die!"
He couldn't help but tease her now. "But you promised to protect me, didn't you?"
Before Izumi could retort, the elevator doors dinged open, signaling their arrival at the first floor.
Tsuzuru greeted them with a disgruntled look behind the reception desk, his impeccable striped suit and glasses different from his usual getup. Beside him, Sakuya waved happily, hair slicked back and also wearing a formal business suit. The two reminded him of college interns that were hired by his company sometimes.
With a sigh, Tsuzuru pulled out his notebook, which acted as a save-point. "What did you do?"
"Finally got senpai's coin," Itaru smirked. "Thanks for the hint."
Tsuzuru sighed, writing down Itaru's accounts of the various marshmallow bosses near the 24th floor elevators, the hidden password, and other latest bouts of defeat against the enemies since they last met. Out of the corner of his eye, Itaru saw Izumi float to Sakuya's side. The tell tale ding inside his head signaled an additional item in his inventory, followed by several more dings, as Izumi proceeded to haggle with Sakuya for items.
Itaru's lips quirked. She was buying materials for him again, despite his insistence that they would be fine for the last battle, and that he could handle it.
Izumi was still studiously ignoring him, however, happily chatting with Sakuya now, as Tsuzuru prodded him to continue to recall his epic battles.
By the time they were finished with their last-minute business, Tsuzuru finally handed him the code to the basement for the final mission.
Once they stepped off the elevator that led to the basement, Itaru found himself standing inside a battle arena. Instead of an empty, dim parking lot, they were surrounded by empty metal seats that circled the entire perimeter from top to bottom, with a huge spotlight in the middle of the dirt floor. Itaru's shoes clanged as he crossed the metal bridge, stopping just near the edge of the circular arena, and he felt Izumi tense in anticipation for an immediate threat.
A second later, an old man stepped out of the darkness, the spotlight highlighting his shiny bald head. He was dressed similarly in formal business attire, the navy suit failing to hide his bulging middle, and his left arm replaced by a mechanized laser beam gun. There were also several weapons floating behind him, from pickaxes to heavy clubs.
"Must we do this, Chigasaki-san?" The voice echoed across the floor.
"I'm afraid I have to insist," Itaru replied curtly, shifting his stance to an offensive one, and summoning his preferred weapon.
The old man sighed. "Very well."
Itaru heard the first notes of a choir nearby, jarring and angry. Sounds of a hiss followed, the metal bridge behind them moving away to block their exits. Then, the old man finally summoned several wraiths, their forms swaying eerily as they blocked Itaru's path.
Itaru breathed in slowly as Izumi showered them in a protection buffer, a red shell closing around them both, followed by numbers flashing in his head as his stats started rising. Another large health bar appeared on the left side of his periphery, indicating the enemies' strength.
Itaru didn't think; he simply charged.
"Stop giving me overtime work!" Itaru bellowed, and aimed for the weakest points.
Itaru didn't know how long the fight had been going on - minutes, hours, or days - but he was breathing heavily around the boss' second form, feeling the last vestiges of his health points struggling to rise, as well as losing his concentration.
Somewhere in the middle of the battle, he vaguely remembered Chikage dealing massive damage, completely destroying the mechanized arm, but they were still struggling, especially when Itaru realized his health was depleting at a faster rate compared to his boss, and they hadn't even unleashed their third form yet.
Izumi provided MP and healing as much as she could, aiming her offensive magic to the enemy as well as providing protection for the remaining party members, but she was depleting her power too fast, and since her health was tied to his, she was also, essentially, losing strength like him.
Out of the corner of her eye, he saw her faerie lights blinking in and out, and Masumi catching her tiny form just in time before she fell to the ground.
Goddammit. This was so fucking annoying.
With a grunt, Itaru brought himself forward and sliced the nearest enemy in front of him.
"Get fucked, assholes!" Itaru threw a potion at the enemy lines that cut their damage in half, and charged into the fray.
By the time they reached the boss' third form, however, which resembled a demonic robot with metal wings, his party was partially obliterated, and the last of their healing potions was dwindling to an alarming level. Masumi was out of commission since the last battle, and because Itaru refused to waste any more of their revival magic on him. Chikage's health bar was also struggling to heal faster than usual, even with the additional healing potions and speeded recovery time magic on his person.
Before he could move again, there was a sudden inexplicable, blinding, white light that promptly brought Itaru down to his knees, and paralyzed him to the ground.
Unable to stop the pain coursing through him, he hissed in pain and clutched his chest.
What the actual fuck.
Somewhere in the distance, Itaru thought he heard Izumi screaming his name, but he couldn't answer her for some reason, and he briefly wondered if he could just re-download this sequence again.
"Itaru! Itaru! Itaruu!"
"Itaru?"
Someone shook him again. "Itaru-san?"
He gasped awake.
Itaru found himself staring at the black television, leaning back helplessly on the couch, and still wearing his office attire. He felt something wet across his cheek; he wiped it away, before realizing it was drool, and made a face. Something shifted beside him, and he turned to see the director staring at him worriedly.
"Good evening," she started carefully. "You okay?"
It took Itaru one more second to piece that he fell asleep in the living room before he could make it back to his suite, and Izumi was watching him throughout the entire time.
"I didn't want to wake you, but you started getting restless and I was worried," she filled in the silence.
Confused, he scratched his cheek. "I see."
He was still feeling groggy, but he was conscious enough to remember fighting a flying mechanized version of one of his supervisors from work, demanding some form of compensation, and he didn't feel like explaining it somehow. So, Itaru mustered some semblance of a reassuring smile at the director and reached for his suitcase on the coffee table.
Wearily and slowly, he stood up. "I think I'll head up. I've troubled you enough, haven't I?"
Before he could make for the doors, he felt something tug at the cuff of his suit jacket.
"Wait!"
Izumi stood before him, a line of worry appearing on her face again.
"Itaru-san, I know it's impossible to ask, but please go to sleep tonight." Izumi gestured at his face. "You look so exhausted. Please."
Just like that, Itaru's shoulders suddenly dropped, feeling the weight of workload and projects catch up to him at once. He wanted to sink back to the couch again, and never move. He felt tired, in ways words couldn't explain, but Izumi asking him to take a break for once made him reconsider.
Maybe he could afford a few drops in his rank tonight… It won't hurt him, will it?
Izumi was still regarding him carefully, waiting for his response. Unable to help himself, Itaru also reached for her, and patted the top of her head to regain some of his needed HP and MP refill.
Izumi, the healing fairy.
"Okay," His lips curved gently in a soft smile. "You go to bed too. It's getting late."
"Promise me! I don't want you to fall asleep during warm-ups tomorrow," Izumi called out to him again, when he turned away to leave the living room.
Itaru waved a hand, and drawled sleepily, "Yes, yes. Goodnight, fairy."